Voting this year?

A young man of my acquaintance recently posted a note on social media suggesting we all refuse to vote this year.
He goes on to explain how both parties are now under the control of corporations or big money and as a form of protest we should just not bother to vote.
My response to this would be “Not voting is giving up, they have beat us into submission.”
I would also say you do not have to vote for a member of either major party, you can vote for someone in the many “fringe” parties. They have parties supporting all philosophies from the far left (communism) to the far right (Libertarians).
If that still fails to fill your needs, write in your choices; Donald Duck for Senator?
Another commenter on the thread suggested we needed to overhaul our government like they did in Iceland. I would have to do some research before I could comment on this action but, it may be a good option.
Someone also suggested it is going to take a revolution to get our country back in our hands. This may be true but, I hope not.
Any way friends, busy day today so will end now. Whatever you do today do it with gusto.

Will’s Journey

Will always felt he had followed the correct path. For the most part anyway, he had obeyed the rules. He had been kind to others and did not harm those who were weaker than him and could be taken advantage of.
Will grew up with the attitude of just go along to get along, never straying far off the path.
Then one day, after he had reached young adulthood, Will had left the woods. He was walking now through a meadow filled with fresh grass and wild flowers. Still following the right path or at least he thought he was.
It was a warm sunny day with a slight breeze and Will whistled lowly as he walked on, taking in all the glory of a beautiful day.

Out of the clear blue sky came a bolt of lightning. It came with a loud boom and the bright flash striking close enough to Will to put him down hard on the ground.
Will was not killed by this bolt but he was damaged badly, he was injured to his very soul and the scars received from this bolt would remain with him for the rest of his natural life.
Will took a long time to recover from this blow and it was during this time that Will reached the conclusion that he could no longer just follow the right path and things would be all right. Will decided that he could no longer leave things to fate; he learned that he alone would have to be responsible for what happened in his life.

And so today, Will carries on, still following the right path but always aware of his responsibility to take care of himself and keep an eye out for bolts of lightning.

What if someone breaks into your house?

What are you going to do, throw a book at em?
That line sounds like it came right out of the Guns and Ammo advertising brochure . And that is the line used on a young man to convince him that he needed a gun.
So I took a quick look around the table and did a quick survey. The men at the table have a combined lifespan of about 200 years. In that 200 years they have experienced a total of zero / break ins.
Another excellent marketing ploy used by the Gun industry.
Think about it.
Posting from the warm climate of Florida, flak jacket at the ready. 😉

Guns and Religion

After blogging for a while I find that these two topics garner the most views and controversy.
I find that fact a little interesting as my main concern is income inequality.
I feel that if this issue were addressed, most other issues would be less virulent in our discussions.

But then on the other hand I also suspect that these issues are being used by those in power to manipulate our thoughts.
The NRA has a team/group designated to jump on any and all gun control posts and work on denigrating the poster in any manner available. They also put efforts into instilling fear in citizens of this country. Gun sales increase with each and every school shooting.

While religion has supporters of the victims of the worlds elites efforts at controlling the masses, most religions support the goals of the one percent.
I would have to do some more study in religion to ascertain a solid reason for this paradox. In my youth I was taught that religion was designed to be kind and loving. Doing what was needed to help those less fortunate than us.
Today the majority of Christian society supports the Republican Party. Perhaps it is the single issue of abortion, but it seems to me that the learned leaders of these groups would be wise enough to see the wrongness of their ways.
You don’t suppose they are also on the take do you? I know that in medieval times the pope and the Kings of various countries had a thing going.

Personally I think if the average person had the ability to earn a wage that provided a decent standard of living many of these so called problems would be negligible.
What do you think?

Syria

Well I see the corporate controlled MSM is back to harping on the situation in Syria. War mongers are in their glory and the military industry is counting the money to be made.

Why in the hell do we have to get involved in this religious war in the mid-east?

This morning one of the cable networks had a short story about a 4 year old boy who had run off into the desert in an effort to escape the cruelties of the war.  This lad was found by UN workers and eventually returned to his family. At least that is what the MSM would want you to get all choked up about.

How about they show us something about a 4 year old boy diving in dumpster’s right here in America looking for something to eat?

How about they show us something about the senior citizen deciding on whether to spend his money on medications or food this month?

How about they show us something about the thousands of children that go to bed hungry and then go to school hungry?

How about they show us something about the thousands of school systems being shut down for a lack of funding or perhaps just an effort to privatize them?

Aye my friends we have plenty to be concerned about right here in America before we venture into foreign lands trying to settle their disputes.

War is Hell, but it is profitable. Think about that before you jump on the MSM bandwagon.

Hung Jury in Michael Dunn Trial

Attention middle aged white dudes in Florida with smaller than normal appendages and larger than life guns.

The Florida judicial system has put young black teens in a protected status. They are no longer free to shoot and kill at will.

While this jury ended up being hung on the 1^st degree murder charge the finding of guilty on all other charges should put this bum away for the rest of his life.

Personally I accept this as a win for the good guys.

And speaking of good guys; this did not come out in the trial but it has been stated that during the whole incident of the shooting in the parking lot. There were two or three good guys with guns in the same parking lot. Go figure?

Of special interest to me will be the popcorn shooting trial. This one may result in a first degree conviction as the assailant is reported to have left the theatre to get his gun before killing the victim. And even more important is the race of the victim.

Getting back to Michael Dunn here is an interesting video of an interview with a neighbor of Dunn. The video runs for about 34 minutes but will give you some insight into the real Michael Dunn vs. the lying sob on the witness stand.

Video of Michael Dunn’s neighbor

UAW loses election in Tennessee VW plant

While I am personally unhappy with these results, I actually look at this as a positive thing. This vote took place in Tennessee; a red state that voted for Romney 59.5 percent to Obama’s 39 percent. A state that has citizens who grew up being taught that unions were communists’.
The workers were threatened with a loss of jobs and the company was threatened with a loss of government support. These threats came from elected government officials. The legality of these threats is questionable and may have repercussions.
The outside efforts to defeat the union in this election included non other than political gadfly Grover Norquist. This character went so far as to put up a billboard indicating the demise of Detroit came about because of the UAW. Norquist overlooked the fact that when GM and Chrysler were both going belly up and had to be bailed out by the federal government it was the management team that was called to D.C. He overlooks the fact that Ford was working with the same union workforce and survived the disaster unscathed. The only difference was management.
The results of 53 percent to 47 percent under these conditions are good news. Not long ago the union would have been lucky to get 20 percent support in this location.
We are moving in the right direction my friends and victory is in sight.
Carry on, carry on!

Not sure if this is the poster from Florida.

Somewhat interesting thread on Facebook last night; a friend posted the fact that he had a dead possum in his back yard. His concern was his small dogs. He felt he had to remove the possum from his yard to protect his dogs.
Well there came a bevy of responses some humorous some not.
“How do you know it is dead? It may just be playing possum.
Pick it up, if it bites you it is not dead, otherwise not sure.
Possums are good eating, enjoy.”
The posters concern was disposing of said possum.
“Put in a dumpster.
Bury it in the snow.
Do nothing, the ants and buzzards will take care of it.”
Poster not really sure it is dead.
“Put a bullet in its head.
Don’t have a gun.
Use a baseball bat”

And then a lady from Florida said. “Don’t have a gun? I live in Florida and we all have guns down here, need them for our protection.”
A couple of us got on her about guns and the stupidity of owning them.
The original poster removed entire thread before it got too nasty.
My question to all and any is. Is that really the general feeling in Florida? Have the citizens of that state been brainwashed to such an extent that they all feel they have to have a gun for protection?
Is the state overrun with thugs racing about in an effort to rape and pillage at will?
Why do you people from Florida think like that?

Got a small refund from the Federal Government yesterday

I momentarily thought about just telling them to keep it 😉 I do respect and support our government.

And then I came to my senses, if they were to keep the money the Republicans in the house would just use it to build another bomb or prison. Or worse yet they would use it to give another tax break to the billionaires that support them.

So I will continue to pay my fair share of taxes and continue to work on getting the tax laws re-written so the uber-rich will pay their fair share also.

Well, I can dream can’t I?

Here is a Facebook page you all can like if you also want fairness in taxation. Check it out.

https://www.facebook.com/RobinHoodTaxUsa

And again we talk of perspectives

We watched Dallas Buyers Club yesterday. We both thought it was a good movie. Profanity aside, I guess you just have to accept it if you want to watch a current movie.
This movie came highly recommended to me by a hard-core right-winger. He told me it was a darn good movie and I should watch it.
After watching the movie I have the feeling that we have different perspectives on the movie. Most likely he saw a movie that depicted an aids sufferer that lost his battle with the government to care for himself as he felt was best. (Damn government interfering with our personal lives.)
I with a different perspective saw the movie as depicting an aids sufferer that lost his battle with the forces controlling the government; in this case big Pharma.
I am a firm believer that we do need these various government agencies to protect ourselves from ourselves. Who among us would feel less safe when boarding an airplane were the FAA to be eliminated? Who among us would have confidence in depositing moneys into banks were the FDIC to be eliminated? I could go on but my message is clear.
The problem with these agencies stems from having corporate insiders in charge of the agencies they are supposed to be watching.
Remembering back to when Dick Cheney set up a U.S. energy policy behind closed doors with the power brokers in the energy industry. I am reminded of how these managers decide what is good for their industry rather than what is good for America. Just like our elected representatives care not for what is good for America but just what will get them re-elected in their gerrymandered districts.
Well enough for today. It is bright and sunny but still cold outside, stay warm.