%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |
My personal thoughts on news, world events, Items of interest, ect...ect... |
|
I have been seeing a lot of blogs lately which call for stronger gun control laws, or the repeal of the 2nd amendment. Before I address these issues I feel it necessary to give a short bio on my family tree so that readers of this post may better understand where I am coming from. Many generations ago two brothers, the first of my ancestors to come to America, boarded a ship as passengers to were it was at the time popularly referred to as the New World. They had had to wait several weeks before they were allowed to board, causing them to have to spend their passage fare for a place to stay, and food. Thus they made a deal with a wealthy potash merchant, who paid their passage in return for several years as indentured servants. When they landed in the fairly new colony of Jamestown they were required to keep firearms for hunting food, and for defending he settlement. Through the passage of time and expanding generations, my ancestors have fought, with the help of firearms, marauding Pirates, and Indians. They defeated the French for their King, and later they took up arms to defend their way of life from a tyrant, helping to establish the United States of America. They fought the Mexicans. In one war they fought both to free themselves form a country which they felt no longer served their best interests, and to preserve the Union. They rode with Custer, and they charged up San Wuan Hill. They fought the Huns in 1916, and the Nazis, Italians, and Japanese in the 1940's. They fought off waves of Chinese infantry in Cho'sun Reservoir, and Charley in the Mekong Delta. I myself, and my M16 helped to liberate Kuwait from clutches of a ruthless dictator. Fate has determined that I have no sons to continue the fight, but my brother does. I am sure they will do their part, and the fight will go on until we fight the last battle in the last war. Then all the people of the world will unite in brotherhood, and peace. This is why we have fought and given of ourselves all these generations. So that one day no one will have to fight again, and the world will be a better place for those who come after us. I have come to the conclusion that those sad persons, who would appeal the 2nd amendment have either forgotten what those who came before them fought for, or they are simply newcomers here who have no deeper ties to this nation past a few generations. Those who can't understand because the haven't given of themselves to build this nation, and therefore have little respect for our customs. Those in Europe think it's a free-for-all in this country as far as owning a firearm is concerned. This is not so. Many of our state and local government laws make owning a firearm very difficult. Our federal Government has a 15 day waiting period for the purpose of Checking the background of perspective purchasers. It is illegal to ship even BB guns to some states, unless it’s through a licensed Federal firearms dealer. I guess that if it’s a choice between the two, I would have the fifteen day waiting period include a psych evaluation from a qualified psychoanalyst, and possibly mandatory NRA firearms safety classes taught in our public schools. |
| Illinois is joining other States who tromp on the rights of their citizens, but it’s ok because they are the minority. Funny how that argument didn’t fly for women’s suffrage, or civil rights activists. Granted the subject, tobacco, for which the state law makers are currently discussing banning, is not especially healthy , or popular, it still is constitutes the loss of a right that we Americans should not stand for. This is the second step in the big brother knows best type of governmental policies which are more proletariat then freedom loving Americans deserve. The first being the seatbelt law. They are taking your right to choose for yourself away from you, one small issue at a time. Where will it stop? Meat contains fat, which clogs arteries, causing taxpayers millions of dollars in medical treatments. Maybe our lawmakers should start a sin tax on meat, and meat products, until it becomes too expensive and unpopular for the average American to purchase, then one state at a time they can ban that too. Sugars are making us fat…. On and on it goes… They are making a mockery of our constitution and bill of rights. Two documents which my forefathers fought and died for, and which separates us from all the other people in the world. I fear that Washington, Jefferson, Adams and Franklin, would be terribly disappointed in us, if they could see us now. Then one day the second amendment on the chopping block, and it’ll be too late by then because the government will, by then, have all it’s little sheep trained to believe it knows best. Remember people when they take that one way you will be forever powerless to stop them from making little socialist robots out of us all! |
| I’ve not written my blog in 3 days. News hasn’t been interesting enough to comment on. Well the Iranians Changed that! I read an article which I found both sad and amusing, coming out of the AP newswire. It seems that the hard line Islamic government of Iran has issued an edict to barbershops in Iran, banning western stile haircuts, eyebrow plucking, and make-up application on Iranian men. Barbers caught doing these procedures will face stiff fines, and can run the risk of loosing their license to do business. The sad thing, is that their government feels it can control the free will of their nations young people. Look back through history, you wont have too far to look, and you’ll find that suppressing the free will of the people doesn’t work. Ask King Louie of France, he lost his head over keeping the little man down. King George III, lost the American colonies, Czar Nicolas, the list goes on. Even here, in the land of the free, kids quit cutting their hair, adopted the drug culture, free love, burned their bras, protested their government, all to the dismay of their parents. It occurs to me, that all we need to do to change things in that country, is flaunt what we have. Set up radio stations, which broadcast western music and ideals. Analog television signals, broadcasting educational, political, and social programming, intermixed with a good portion of commercials. Show them what their missing. If MTV, The Simpson’s, and South Park can’t incite the younger generation to overthrow their government and adopt western lifestyles, I would be surprised. |
| Politics? You may ask me what party I belong to, Republican or Democrat? That’s a very good question. I wish I had a simpler answer. My parents were staunch Democrats. They voted Dem. in every election no mater what. For them the choice was simpler. When I was first entering the job market, Dem. Jimmy Carter was finishing up his second term. He was a likable guy, good foreign policy, bad interior financial policies. I say this because for the last two years of his Presidency , the only jobs I could find were agricultural. Factories were not hiring, I couldn’t even get a job pumping gas, but I could and did work on dairy farms, and I had my fill of mucking smelly stalls, hay baling in the hot sun, getting stepped on and kicked by 500 lb. cows. Getting up at 3:30 AM to wash udders and milk cows, and doing it again before bed. Every day , no Sunday’s no Holidays, for the paltry sum that the farm made on a gallon of milk. I joined the Army as soon as I could and got away from that life. I’ll not lie about it, since I was a very small boy and my Dad came home from Vietnam, it had always been my dream to serve my country. I suppose that’s a heredity thing, cause all of the men in my family through the generations have felt this way. I do however feel that had I not joined, I would still be washing cow teats at 4:00AM. The Reagan Administration was a high time for me. We had a charismatic President who wasn’t a crook, was not afraid to strike fear into the hearts of our enemies. The cold war ended. Our economy was strong, and being an American was something to be proud of again. George Bush’s presidency was at first a continuation of the great Reagan era. Although I must admit, having spent time in the Saudi desert we would have served ourselves better had we got rid of that Dictator in Iraq then. I mean America needed a total victory, and we stopped short. I understand that he was afraid of upsetting the Arabs who had joined the coalition, but I think even they would have preferred to have the inevitable done then as well. When I returned home things had gone to hell and I opted to leave my chosen career to save my marriage. Through the Clinton administration I worked. We will leave it at that. I wasn’t impressed with his first lie…“I smoked marijuana, but I didn’t inhale.” I say, “Horse puck!” That one statement is probably what got him elected. Then there was the White Water scandal. That was more Hillary’s gig then his. “Wanna buy some unusable Arkansas swamp land?” Then their was the intern who couldn’t swallow. The trophy dress stain, and oral sex is not infidelity. He would have done better ,when reporters asked about his affair had he said, “It’s none of your damn business!” instead of “I did not have sex with that woman!” Now we have George W.. He had the potential to be a good president at the beginning. Then 911 happened, and all that potential went out the window. It’s not entirely his fault. I mean a war we didn’t want was thrust upon us. Domestic policies have a way of being shoved aside when your country gets Pearl Harbored. The War in Afghanistan and on terrorism I support whole heartedly. In light of how crappy our intelligence networks caught on to the 911 plot, he should have stepped back and had his information on Sadam’s Iraq checked over before going to Congress and the U.N. for permission and support to go to war. From a soldiers point of view, at the outset I thought our troop concentrations were too low. How can you hold a country safe with so few men on the ground. We aren’t talking about civilized people like in Europe. We are talking about a part of the world where people are intentionally kept ignorant , so that their governments and religious leaders can use them as cannon fodder. How else do you get a person to strap C4 to his chest and blow up a bus load of innocent people on their way to work, or shopping for food at the open street bazaar? Well too little too late. We are in it, and even if we don’t like it we should see it through to the end. After all an unnecessary victory is preferable to an unnecessary defeat. The unfortunate thing I think is that these soldiers would have better served their country in a war against North Korea, who actually poses a real and considerable threat to the United States ,and our allies. Catching Osama has become second stage business due to concerns over the sovereignty of Pakistan. Funny how that never occurred to us in Afghanistan, or Iraq. I could swear I heard George W. say that if you stand in the way of our capturing and/or killing of Osama Bin Laden , we will remove you! (or that was the gist of his speech, anyway) Oh well, I miss seeing the flag wave from every home and business I pass. Back to the question , What party do I belong to? I have long considered myself an independent. You see that way my vote actually counts for something. The tie breaker. So I will do as I have always done, and research the past political histories of each candidate, and vote for the one who is charismatic, tough on foreign policy, honest on domestic and personal issues, steadfast, and most of all confident. Those traits are what in my eye, make a president competent. As far as I can recall we have only had two Presidents which fit this description to a T…Teddy Roosevelt, and Ronny Reagan. Since the candidates offered this election don’t strike me as fitting this mold, I will vote for the one who comes closest. |
| Condo and Townhouse Associations the American Nightmare I purchased a townhouse last year. It was my first home purchase, and at the time I felt proud of the accomplishment, considering the cost of housing in the Chicago suburbs. As the year has progressed, however I have found that my piece of the American dream is clouded by a much bigger piece of old style communistic hardliner governing system, known as “The Association”. (Cue the ominous music.) “The Association” are a group of political type storm troopers which spend every second of their monthly meetings, trying to find ways to worm their way into your home and control every aspect of your life, by issuing edicts and proclamations, which control how you park your car, (on the apron you own, in front of the garage you own) and decorate your home. (You must submit proof of liability insurance, a contractors license number, a building permit issued by the town, and a diagram of the changes made, before approval to plant flowers.) I am soon going to have 3 licensed drivers in my household. Thus any reasonable person can see that I will then need space to park a 3rd car. I have only parking for 2 cars so I must go to “The Association” for a permit to park a third on the street. I’m told that the parking permits are now handled by an outside contracted parking administrator. They say that “We only allow street parking for guests, you are allowed 4 guest passes per month.” I tell them that the 3rd car is for my daughter “A permanent resident of my house.” The answer that the association gives me is “Your family is too large, Move out!” Now we aren’t talking about a BIG family here…we are talking about a man, his girlfriend, and a teenage girl… NOT grandpa Walton and 3 concurrent generations of family! What’s next…are they going to tell me which way to wipe, forwards or backwards, next time I have a bowel movement! What about the money we residents send in every month. Six times this past winter I had to shovel snow from my walkway, and driveway entrance. The bushes in front of my house haven’t been trimmed in at least 2 years, and my daughter, a certified lifeguard, can’t use the pool without me being present because she isn’t 18. She is the same age as the hired lifeguard who is not a resident! Their outside contracted parking administrator, and landscaping contract are only the first in a long line of mismanagement of funds, I am sure. Then I’m told that if I don’t like the current administration I can vote them out next election….Who would I vote for?….I don’t now, nor do I want to know any of these people. My only hope for real American freedom, is to sell and run as soon as my daughter graduates high school. Want to bet on how long it takes me to list this hell hole? |
| 04/27/2007 The problem with pot My older sister introduced me to the wonders of pot smoking, on my 13th birthday. The years which followed, were some of the best times of my life. By the time I joined the army, I had developed a tendency to purchase and use roughly a ½ ounce of the wonderful leafy gift from heaven, each week. When I joined the army I went on a pot sabbatical, shying from the use of it, for fear of loosing the career I had always wanted. Quitting was no big deal. I probably went through 15 seconds of withdrawal, accompanied with the easily shrugged off urge to take a hit when friends were smoking it. Completely unlike the nagging need, and mood swings associated with quitting cigarettes. Nine years later I got married, and left the army. Looking back on it, it was my biggest mistake, as I loved serving my country, but the life style wasn’t especially great for keeping a marriage together. Both my wife and I partook in the occasional use of pot. We had good and bad times, none of which would have been affected either way had we not smoked it. When our marriage ended nine years later, it was over her infidelity, not pot. I quit smoking pot when I got my CDL drivers license. Another career driven decision, and haven’t touched it in many years. AOL published an article about the dangers of smoking the weed today, and having used it, and quit, I find myself in a position of some authority on the subject, and therefore must speak out in defense of a poor little plant which has gotten a bad rep over the years. Now I’m not saying everyone should go out and smoke a joint. That would be irresponsible of me. What I am going to do is include an excerpt of the above mentioned article, and draw attention to the one phrase that makes this article, and the study it was drafted for, meaningless. Then I’ll add a few words of personal observations, on pot and another drug which is legal and, as far as I am concerned, far more dangerous. Note the excerpt below: According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Adminstration, marijuana was involved in 242,200 visits to hospital emergency rooms in 2005. This means that the patient mentioned using marijuana and does not mean the drug directly caused the accident or condition being treated, SAMHSA says. You will no doubt note the last sentence of this article. I would like to see their figures on alcohol. After a bit of research I have found that in the United States in 2005 there were 254,000 motor vehicle accidents , where the police reported alcohol was a contributing factor. Of those 16,855 accidents included fatalities. Now I’m not saying that it’s safer to smoke pot and drive then it is to drink a few beers and do the same. I am saying that you will note that the AOL article states that their figure is the total hospital emergency room visits concerning mention of marijuana. I realize this figure is probably low as only a fool would mention he smoked a joint before he climbed the ladder to trim the branch off a tree. Whereas the figures I show are only the national figures on alcohol related car accidents, an have nothing to do with the guy who mowed his foot off on a Sunday morning after drinking a couple beers. If this were the case, my figure would definitely be larger. Also I would like to see the statistics on how many police arrests were made nationally, for the same year, involving parent or spousal abuse, where Marijuana was a contributing factor, along side those cases where alcohol has been a factor. After a brief search I found tons of information on the relationship between alcohol use and parental/ spousal abuse, and absolutely NOTHING on marijuana’s relationship to the same. I also found an article stating that 2/3rds of rapes on collage campuses are alcohol related. (Usually the female has consumed some amount of alcohol before the rape occurred.) And no statistics to show that pot had dulled a woman’s senses enough to make raping her easier. From my own personal experience, I have NEVER smoked so much pot that I couldn’t recall events which happened on the following day, although I have wondered how I got home after a night out with the guys drinking beer. I have NEVER smoked so much pot that I became ill, although I have leaned over the toilet bowel and regurgitated beer. I have NEVER smoked pot and been involved in a fist fight, but I’ve been arrested for barroom brawling. No matter what the circumstances, I don’t abuse women, but I have seen many a woman beaten after her partner has had a few too many. Having read this post, and my earlier posts, you may note that I don’t seem to be any dumber then the average person. I may have lost a few brain cells, but I think you’ll agree that my thoughts are clear and concise. As far as short term memory loss, this I can give no opinion on that, as it has always been my habit to disregard Items of conversation which have little or no meaning in the day to day running of my own affairs. So if you ask me what you said last night, it’ll be because I consciously chose not to remember that portion of our conversation do to irrelevance, not because my short term memory has been affected by smoking pot. I would love to read feedback on this article, so if you have an opinion ,one way or another please feel free to leave your comments. |
| 04/26/2007 As a gringo construction worker, in the Chicago area I find myself in charge of crews of Hispanic skilled laborers. In fact the company I work for has a disproportionately larger Hispanic workforce, 6:1. Of this ratio I am confident of the legal status of about 1/8th of them. The rest , although I can not prove it, I am reasonably sure are working, and living here, on forged documentation. Now, before I go off on my rant, let me first state that I harbor no ill feelings toward anyone who wants to better their personal situation. I would begrudge no one the opportunity to experience the American dream. After all at one time or another most of us who are legal here now, were at one time, or have ancestry which were Immigrants. If you have read my earlier entries you will note that I am very aware of my own ancestry. The issues I have, are with legal status. I pay taxes just like everyone else. I have a social security number. When they were first issued SS#’s were your private property. Your Secret identification code that only you, your boss, and the Social Security Department of the US government had access to. But since it has been used as an acceptable form of identification, those numbers have been made easier for criminals to get control of. The amount of identity theft going on in this country can attest to this. With these numbers imprinted on fake documentation, an identity thief can jack you up for drivers licenses, jobs, credit cards, mortgages, and taxes. There is an Hispanic woman and her child held up in a church in Chicago for almost a year. She is seeking asylum there, and can not leave for fear of capture, imprisonment, and deportation., for this very crime. Although she has lived in this country through two amnesty programs she never registered for, she continued to live here on stolen/faked I.D., and now that it’s time to pay the piper for her illegal activities, she runs to this church and demands asylum from prosecution and deportation. The INS has stated that they will raid and remove her at a time they determine, but still her child goes to school, and gets healthcare on the taxpayers buck. The illegal aliens and their hired council, claim that they are only taking jobs no one else wants …This is a load of horse dung! More and more have become confident enough in their forged credentials, to compete for skilled labor jobs. These jobs are paying anything form $12 to 31$ per hour, depending on whether they can read and write English well enough to fill out the proper paperwork needed to enter a union. Not only aren’t they declaring and paying their taxes, but the unclaimed tax money sits unused and undistributed back into our economy. We’re talking about billions of dollars a year. Not far from where I bought my house is an apartment complex where I used to live. In one 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment lived at least eight couples, and their children. The 16 cars with the same address on their parking permit were only the first clue on the substandard living conditions they are willing to put up with. The landlords love them, because they charge $800.00 per month to the first couple then an additional $100.00 for each roommate. The illegal tenant loves this because it allows them to split the rent, in the case of the above example 16 times. The money that is saved is sent back to their country where it benefits their families, but does the U.S. economy damage by not being re-circulated here. This blog has been, so far, very Hispanic oriented . This is because the Hispanics are the greater number of illegal immigrants in this country. Not because I dislike them any more, or less, then those from old communist block countries, Arab or Indian, who are here illegally. Here is another little tid-bit for you to chew on. Take any Muslim extremist, cut his hair and beard off, dress him in poor western style clothing, and he could easily pass for a Hispanic. With the rate that illegal aliens from south of the border are entering this country, it’s easy to see how thousands of terrorists could enter without anyone being the wiser. In closing I would like to state that I feel for the plight of the illegal aliens. I hope that one day we can find a simpler system to screen, and allow persons to enter this country legally, under work permit programs, with tax numbers, and benefits which are amicable to all parties involved. |
| Shortly after I returned home from the army, I caught my now ex-wife in a compromising possision with who I thought was my best friend, on my living room floor. We got devorced of course. I payed my child support, and for a year after life was almost normal for me. Then one night I was awakened by the doorbell. Upon opening the door I was confronted by DCF agents, and presented with costody of my 3 year old daughter. I'll spare you all the details of that mess, and skip to last year. My daughter turned 14 and started to become a young woman. The changes in her have been difficult for me to deal with. My girlfriend tells me that I act like a jealous boyfriend every time my daughter leaves the house. In a way thats how it feels. You see for years I have been THE MAN, as far as my daughter has been concerned. I buy the food, I buy the clothes, I dry the tears, and so on, and now she doesn't need me any more. So yeah, it feels a lot like when I caught my wife cheating on me, only harder, because this I have to live with, and that I didn't. As the year has progressed though, I have found ways of coping, and now that she is about to turn 15 I feel more confident in my new roll. It just took time for me to adjust to sitting back, letting her make her own choises, staying out of her way, and trusting her to do the right thing. Even though she has yet to bring home a boyfriend, which is another hurddle I haven't jumped yet, I have spent the time preparing for the eventuality of it. I'm prety sure the boy will servive it at any rate...lol. Still, I miss the days of teaching her to look both ways before crossing, and the first time my hand left the bicycle seat and she peddled down the sidewalk on her own. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
