Sunday, September 27, 2015

September Rant

I find it disconcerting when people take such glee in cutting funding for welfare or food stamps or some other program designed to help the poor and the needy. They take delight in pointing out the abuse and corruption of the system, outing people they see driving a fancy car or wearing flashy jewelry and using food stamps or receiving government assistance. They always want to abolish the programs and strip all the entitled recipients from the program. It's always ... blah, blah, blah... "I don't want MY taxes to go to lazy people!" but you never hear about the real problem. 

The real problem is corporate welfare. We pay corporate welfare out to employees who cannot sustain a living on minimum wage and part-time jobs working for conglomerates like Walmart. We blame everything on the scuzzy bum who rips off the government while blithely sitting by watching corporations and billionaires write our laws! It's disgusting and I think it's ignorant to rant about the little things while we're getting screwed in the meantime.

I've seen random pie charts and other information about government military spending and it looks like we are wasting billions of dollars that could be used in this GD country to rebuild our infrastructure. I've been bitching about that ever since the Minnesota bridge collapse in 2007 that killed 7 people. Anyway, I appreciate visual effects so I was able to find several charts with graphics about military spending. If you get as steamed as I do about these things, it would be worth a look at America's staggering military budget

I don't care how many mamma's you know who are 'hos, or how many crack-heads who are getting a free-ride. They are not the problem. The problem is corporate manipulation and corruption in our government. Our politicians are bought and paid for. I'm not discounting the greed and corruption on either side. It's just more obvious in the Republican party because they vote for war, vigorously defend the second amendment (the right to bear arms), while supporting the death penalty all while trying to block women's access to healthcare and trying to prevent abortions, and deny veterans benefits.

People haven't woken up and realized the Republicans have corporations hands so far up their butts that if you look real hard you might see it when they open their big fat mouths and spew their hate and disdain for the unwashed masses.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and announce who I believe is the best and only candidate at this time. I've always been fiercely democratic, ever since the time I was duped by Richard Nixon when he promised to get our troops out of Viet Nam. I think that was the most powerful campaign promise he made. The only problem with that was that it took too long to finally get out of Nam. After that, I looked at all politicians with a jaundiced eye. That's the last time I supported a Republican.

This time we are having a peculiar race for president, to say the least. The top runner in the "clown car" is Donald Trump. He is not a politician. Let me repeat, he is not a politician. He's just a glorified personality who became famous for his bloviating bluster and nonsensical remarks. I really don't like the Donald. Can you tell? Anyway, he's blown Jeb Bush out of the water and only has Ben "I am Black" Carson, and Carlie "I destroyed HP" Fiorino as close contenders. Oh, will the wonder never cease on the right? They pull out a lot of millionaires and self-serving windbags every election cycle. I'm still waiting for a Bush uprising. The Koch brother's pet project, Scott Walker, just dropped out of the race along with Rich Perry who withdrew recently.

On the left it's been pretty quiet, at least according to the media. Hillary has kept her head down watching the clowns on the right, awaiting her time in the sun. So far on the left she really doesn't have any impressive competitors except for one lone socialist Jew named Bernie Sanders. 

We need some good old fashion debates with the democratic candidates so all of America can become familiar with the potential contenders. Everyone knows about Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and former first lady and wife of Bill Clinton. Her reputation precedes her and you either like her or hate her but either way you know about her. I know nearly nothing about Lincoln Chafee, Lawrence Lessig, Martin O'Malley, or Jim Webb. I haven't ever heard of Jill, Stein, a third party candidate.

I've lived long enough, it would be nice to see a woman president and if any candidate was qualified it would be Hillary Clinton, but if push comes to shove and the democrats get behind Bernie Sanders, I won't hesitate to vote for him. I adore him. He speaks from the heart and he isn't bought and paid for. He's not in the pocket of big business or OPEC. As far as I can tell, he's his own man and he has always supported the poor and middle class and the working men and women in his 30 years in government.

Bernie Sanders is the only one not waffling back and forth on the Keystone Pipeline and fracking. He believes every American should have single payer insurance and free education. That is an incredible dream, if you ask me. I never thought we would have ACA but Obama did it and now that he has laid the groundwork the right president can expand on that and improve it. But no president can make the kind of changes needed until we have congressmen and senators who are willing to work for the people and with the president to guarantee us all a better and brighter future.

I'm not asking you to vote for Bernie Sanders but I am asking you to research him and his ideas and see if his economic programs and social justice compare to your own. I am asking you to register to vote (you know who you are) and be sure to research and vote for the candidate that will do all they can in their power to create a society that doesn't exclude the needy and the infirm and works for your better good.

We're at a time in our lives when we have access to more information than ever before but we tend to cluster in groups of our peers and listen to the fear and misinformation shared among us. We think Big Government Is Bad and No Government Is Better. Wrong! Without government oversight we might all be eating asses and eardrums in our sausages. Without government oversight thieves will try to manipulate the system to assuage their own greed at the detriment of the masses. Anybody remember the Mad Cow scare? Have you ever wondered if it's getting in our food supply today? We don't have enough food  inspectors now. How bad will it get when there is no government oversight. Instead of cutting protective agencies, we should be expanding them. Any fool can see that.

I want my children and my grandchildren to live in a world with clean air and water and safe food, not GMO (genetically modified organisms) and earthquakes and polluted groundwater because of fracking.

I want my family to live in peace and not have to worry about terrorists and mass shootings in America. I want better for the future. Not crap. Not the shit the sharks on the right are shoveling.

I guess that's all I have to say about that right now. 

AS ALWAYS
PIO

Monday, September 14, 2015

SEPTEMBER

It's fall around here, people. Summer's slipping away. I'm glad Donny and I got to take a vacation before the weather turned cooler. We took a road trip to Panama City Beach. Our friend, Joann, went with us. We shared a condominium on the twenty second floor. I had vertigo until I got used to looking down. It was worth it though because we had a spectacular view.

We haven't been on vacation for about ten years. It was perfect. The weather was warm but not scorching hot and there were a few tourists but not enough to overcrowd you.

We saw sea turtles swimming in a line near the shore one day and Joann swore there were whales in the ocean. Huge dark shadows floated underneath the water. We could see for miles. 

The earth really does curve when you can see the horizon but the most awesome optical illusion was looking at the sea and getting the impression that the water rose above the land and was as high at the balcony. I think I spent a large part of vacation imagining disasters. Jaws, tsunami, Cast Away. You get the drift.

The last time we went to Panama City the boys were little and we went during a hurricane. I didn't want to do like we did before and turn around and drive back home. Although the weather channels were predicting a storm we lucked out and it was partially cloudy but otherwise mostly clear weather. I thought vacation was perfect.

We went to Captain Jack's for an all you can eat seafood buffet one night. Joann hates seafood but she was a good sport and came with us. Donny and I scarfed down crab legs and shrimp until we nearly burst. Well, I did, anyway. I love crab legs but I wonder who looked at those ugly creatures and thought "Hey, I bet those would taste great steamed and dipped in garlic and butter." Thumbs up, to them. Joann dared me not to squirt her with crab juice. She didn't want to smell like a fish. She cracks me up.

When we came back home, Donny had an appointment to see one of his heart doctor's. They checked Donny's defibrillator and said he was doing great. I am so proud of Donny. He is amazing for a man who had a quadruple bypass. He deserved a vacation. Bless his heart.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Butch, Katy, Kim, Susan, Carol, Larry, Corbin, Gail, Melissa, Melody, Erin, Emily, Debbie, and Jesse

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Resaca Rose

RIP
Gary McNamer, Robert Burchfield, Jack Rat

REMEMBER
Labor Day, Rosh Hashanah, Autumn

AS ALWAYS
 PIO
PBS 9-14-15 Monday 10:15 pm EDT
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