The Masting of Chief Cosby

What? He got busted? How, why? UA, DUI, cussed out a officer? What he get?

The Captain found him guilty? 30 and 30? Nope. (NJP for you not in the know)

A Court-Martial? Nope.

An Act of Congress? Nope.

By decree of Lord Poseidon himself? Nope.

Ray Maybus, Secretary of the Navy, said so. That’s it. No judge, not jury, other than that of the Liberal Media and the ignorance and random outrage of social media. That is all.

Side Note One: (I would have loved to been a fly on the wall when who ever brought this up the chain and how low or how high it started from. I would also love to see how many emails and memos and PowerPoint slides were generated because of this. We don't have a Navy to run or anything silly like that.)

navy-revokes-bill-cosbys-honorary-title

Side Note 2: (I will grant that the US Navy, and the US military as a whole has a sexual assault problem. This, sexual assault, is a problem of humans, not a problem of Sailors. This problem, in the military, in my opinion, has been highlighted by increased reporting, not by increased sexual assaults. Any sexual assault is bad, that is not in question. So this is a touchy subject for the Navy and our military, and our Colleges for that matter. But remember, Bill Cosby is not the US Navy or even in the US Navy.)

Back to my rant...

Accusations now equals guilt.

But he’s not a “real” Chief. No shit Sherlock. But he is a real human, and a real American, and in our country and our system, he has rights and protections and assumptions under the law. Specifically the right and legal protection/legal assumption to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Not presumed and found guilty by the internet and lame stream media until he dies. Which is what will and is happening. Bill Cosby will die, most likely soon. Reputation destroyed. The women who made accusations will fall back to obscurity and it will all be forgotten. Then at the Hollywood I love me shows, they might, but probably won’t, do a little montage of Bill Cosby along with the other Hollywood types we “lost” in the past year. No trail. No jury. No judge. Accused and found guilty all in the same breath.

Is Chief, I mean Bill Cosby guilty, I would go with a 99% yes, but that doesn’t matter. He is accused, not convicted, not found guilty, but accused of rape and sexual assault. Just as Bill Clinton was/is accused of rape and sexual assault. Is Bill Clinton guilty, I would go with a 98% yes. They both have had accusations and settlements in the past, not just one, but numerous each. But we seem to love and celebrate and admire the white Bill, the one whose wife thinks she should be the next POTUS, along with most of the lame stream liberal media. And the other Bill, well he is an old tired black man. He’s in the “pants up, don’t loot crowd” not the “hands up, don’t shoot” crowd. He’s an easy sacrifice and distraction. Let him die. Al Sharpton probably signed the death warrant personally.

But wait, what? Bill Clinton what? Yes, it is true, he is not the gentle statesman, grandfather, semi vegetarian and possible future first man the media shows us. He’s a ladies’ man, consent encouraged, but not required.

rape-allegations-bill-cosby-bill-clinton

Here’s the problem. The real problem. We are letting public opinion be the judge, jury and executioner over random people and acts. This is dangerous. Just as it is dangerous, literally in Ferguson (police in the right) and New York (police in the wrong) and UVA (don't know a damn thing about this one, just know there is new doubt) as some recent examples. Letting the people and media decide has lead to real death and real destruction. Continuing this will not fix our broken and or flawed system, but only make it deliver or not deliver justice more randomly and lead to the ruining of more lives either through false guilt or false innocence. And it will encourage more sentences to be handed down by popular opinion via the news media and internet. I wonder how long until regular people will get to carry out the sentences as well? Maybe the person who’s youtube video has the most hits will get to be a special guest hangman or headsman?

So to all the Facebook and media lawyers, or as well call them in the Navy, Sea Lawyers, stand fast, calm the eff down. Get some facts. Let the justice system work or not. You, on the internet, is/are not the justice system.

And in other ridiculous and lame news about ridiculous and lame people.

investigation-lena-dunhams-republican-rapist-story-falls-apart-under-scrutiny

Speaking of Adults

Crickets.

That is what you have heard from TOA, and especially on a night like last night. Why? I have been busy. That is a standing excuse. The other one, well, the reporting for a while, months and weeks, had pointed to the GOP doing well, how well, well that was another story. It's kind of like talking about the sun coming up. Knowing it is going to happen, and it not being a bad thing, is hard to bitch about. I can not lie, I am happy with the outcome. I am mostly hopeful about the next 2 years, maybe 6, maybe 10. But that is just way too optimistic, and the world changes so fast now, there is just no telling. That is why I am also a little fearful. Here is why.

The Republican House has gotten so much undeserved shit from the President and the Democrats and Liberals at large about being the "do nothing congress." That is not just unfair, it is plain wrong. The House as passed over 350 bills in the past few years and sent them to the Senate. If any body can be called the "do nothing congress" it is the Democratic Majority Senate lead, or mislead, by Harry Reid. He, alone, or maybe under orders from Obama, has sat on all those bills. In a way, insulating President Obama from having to veto or pass what ever is fed up to him. Over 100 of these bills were passed with 100%! That means all the D and all the R from the House voted yes, and still the Senate, the Democratic controlled, do nothing Senate, sat on them, and still does. Now that the GOP holds both the House and the Senate, President Obama will have to pass or veto. Meaning, he will actually have to make decisions and be held accountable for them. 

Now to the part of why I am fearful. What is more dangerous, a lame duck or a wounded and angry duck? Now give that wounded and agree duck a pen and a phone and nothing to loose, and you have our President. I am afraid of what he might do just because he wants to. He has shown that law, courts and prescience really don't matter when he wants to do something. How big, crazy and controversial can or will he go? I don't know, and I don't know if the House and Senate know either. They might want to let him go hog wild, on the chance that the next president will be a Republican and would love him or her to have the same untethered power. Just a thought, a scary thought. Scary both present and future.

Here at the few bright points.

The racist south elected a black male. The racist Mormon white Utah elected a black female. I think the only people who have race and sex problems/issues are the Democrats. Get over it. Or like your people say MoveOn. It's about politics and policy, not gender and or color. Moving on.

Massachusetts elected a Republican Governor. Bravo. My future state both scares and excites me. Mostly scares. Just as they surprise me both negatively and positively.

New Hampshire stuck with a Democrat. NH has kind of an identity crisis. They are surrounded by blue. They are independent and rual but have been infiltrated from the south by liberals. Anyways, she was an incumbent, not to hard to hold a seat. I liked Scott Brown. I like Scott Brown. I don't think he is a carpetbagger at all. For one, a carpetbagger was one who moved south, and Brown moved north. And two, there wasn't really a vacuum. At worst he is an opportunist, but no more so than Hillary Clinton. In fact, far less than Hillary was when she "moved" to New York and ran for Senate. He at least he is from NH. Hillary, born in IL, school in MA and CT, then moved to AR. How does NY fit in to that? It was a open senate seat in a reliably Democratic state. But the media still questioned Scott Brown. Eff them.

The country writ large did well with conservative governors. I watched MSNBC a little during the elections and the day after as well. Its fun. They are much more entertaining than watching FoxNews, even thought Fox is better and less biased. Anyway, that idiot Ed what ever his last name is form the Ed show is such a joke. His sole purpose in life is to talk to as many other liberals and progressives about how bad/evil/bad and evil Scott Walker is. This dude (Gov Walker) has won. Been recalled and won. And then won again. The full force of the unions and the progressive PACs have gone against him each time, as well as MSNBC and The Idiot Ed and he has won. I guess the people of Wisconsin are smarter than we give them credit for. Don't cha know! He will for sure be some sort of player on the national scene in the next few years.

So, on the day when the adults seem to be in charge again, or at least more in charge, this link below, which is a great link on its own, is appropriate. Did I say adults? I meant the lesser of two evils.

Why Growing Up Is Hard to Do (But Why the World Still Needs Adults)

Peace fellow humans.

P.S. I am negotiating terms with a possible guest blogger, would TOA readers be interesting in that?

Wrong Direction

We need Peace Officers, emphasis on the Peace part, not Domestic Direct Action Warriors funded by fear and public indifference who are supplying these departments with their blank checks. We need a public that is paying attention at town meetings. Who ask the hard questions on why there police need these items and tactics and training. We need good officers to stand up and say this isn't right, when it's not right. I know in some of their guts and hearts they know this. Imagine how much of this would have to go away if we stopped the silly war on drugs? Or would they just find another reason. There's always another reason if you want there to be.

This is only half the story from the view point of looking in. I'm sure things look different for those who are looking out. Still, very troubling. But just one of many troubling things in 2014 America.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/10/swat-warrior-cops-police-militarization-urban-shield

Course Correction

This is what is looks like when someone who actually deserves a Nobel Peace Prize receives one. Congratulations to both of these humans and BZ to the The Norwegian Nobel Committee for not making jokes of themselves this time around.

http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_GB/laureates/laureates-2014/announce-2014/

Kailash Satyarthi

Malala Yousafzai

Upside-Down Value Systems

Here is a little something out the ordinary for TOA. But not really. This is about food and values. Two things that are essential for human life. Two things that are what The Orthodox American is all about. Lets talk about it:

The home-cooked family dinner.

I heard about the Slate article before I read it. I read the title of the Mother Earth News article before I read it. But before I read either, I had taken sides. Knowing the source, and knowing, or not knowing the author, it was pretty easy and self evident. I like to give things a chance, but sometimes it's not worth your time to, just to find out what you already assumed.

Here they both are. You can read them first or just skip down to my ramblings.

Slate

Mother Earth News

Lets start with Slate. The author is an unknown, but that is typical. They take anyone who is semi good at grammar, votes the left way, and gives them a column. They are a left of center site. Sometimes they have a good point. Most of the time the back up the populist progressive/liberal talking points. If you had to put them in a box, which is not a hard thing, you could say they are or represent the Democratic Party, the Obama voter, the Hope N Change crowd. Not just simply, but complexly. They speak "for" the urban/suburban person. They are pretty ok with government, as long as it is being run by Ds. They weren't ok with government from 2000 to 2008. They are the high density places, the places that vote for Pelosi types. They are on the coasts. They are NPR and MSNBC. They thrive on excuses and blaming. Back to the article. It is a whinny bunch of excuses that jab at something the other half of the country holds dear. The family diner. They try to make a point of the unnecessary-ness of the family. Just as our ever growing, cradle to grave, welfare state government does. The disintegration/dis-assembly of the family unit (not my place to define but you know it when it's present and you know it when it's absent) is part of what is wrong with America, but that's a whole other post.

Now lets take a look at the Mother Earth News. A mag that has some very hippie tendency's, but they always comes back to self reliance and personal responsibility. Always. And it's why I love them. I actually only get pissed when they get all AlGore on us and fall for global warming climate change, but that is not too often. They have been around for years, like 30+ years. My parents, in their 60s now, grew up with dreams of "back to the land" fueled by Mother Earth News. Now on to the author of the rebuttal article. Joel Salatin. The Man. Now I am a man who does not have many, if any, heroes or idles. Joel Salatin is on a very short list of living people that I highly regard and admire. He is The Orthodox American. He is rural America. He speaks for the farmers and workers the middle of the country, the regular folks (Folks as in good-regular people, not the "folks" that Obama uses.). Fly over America. Here is the part where I should say he represents the Republican Party, the Rs, but I can't. Why, because I know (not personally) Joel Salatin, and he is a lover of liberty. He is, what all republicans should evolve to. A libertarian. A lover of liberty. Not just the part of the party that opposes the Democratic Party. That is just the lesser of two evils, and is half the reason where are in the mess we are in. He is a believer in ideals. In values. The same ideals and values Mother Earth News delivers to readers.

This post has gotten a bit jumbled and I am somewhere between rambling and mumbling, but I am ok with that. My commentary is just a bonus or a detraction to the source links I share with you. The only point I wanted to make, is what was written in Slate is a great example of what is wrong with our country. And what Joel wrote is all that is right with our country.

Eating a home cooked dinner with my family is a very important thing to me. I did it a lot as a kid. I enjoy it now as an adult. I have eaten hundreds if not thousands of dinners (some good, many not good) in really crappy places, chow halls, mess halls, on ships, in my rack, in tents, on the plane. Can you say MRE? Now that I am home more, I savor the time and the food. I appreciate my wife immensely each and every time we sit down and eat what ever wonderful dish she has made. She does most of the cooking. She does a great job at it. It saves money, it tastes great, it is better for us. I truly believe it is a positive thing for our family, any family, and I think my seven year old daughter agrees. I love it, and I know my wife loves it when the little girl says things like "this is the best dinner ever, I want to have the same thing for breakfast!" I think it sets a great example for her. For Slate to crap on that is just sad. It is typical, expected, and it's what is wrong with America.

P.S. Maybe someday I will do a post on my "heroes" living or no longer living. Maybe even throw in some fictional ones in there. Maybe try to spot light one each Friday or something. I'm just thinking out loud here. Don't hold your breath.

P.S.S. I know above I crapped on the dinners I ate while deployed, but I want to amend that slightly. Many of those crappy meals in crappy places are some of the best memory's I have of being in the Navy. Why? Because I ate them with some great people. Shipmates. I forged great friendships over a piece of beef that had been killed twice, once by the butcher and once by the cook. Had some great conversations sitting around the chow hall after dinner drinking my fourth Fanta. Talking about family's and dreams. Commiserating as sailors sometimes do. Sometimes eating in science because we were all just so hungry and tired from a long ass day. Sometimes eating alone when I needed time to myself. I just wanted to add that as bad as the food was or wasn't, the company was always top notch.

Perspective

It only takes an occasional glance at the rest of the world to remind you/us that we really don't have many troubles in America.

The bus driver who has raped 12 little boys (and doesn't think he's done anything wrong): Why thousands of Pakistani children are falling prey to paedophiles

The Modus Operandi of ISIS: A War Waged on the Battleground of Women's Bodies

Boko Haram and the history of child rape in jihad

The Psychology of Sex Slave Rings

And this is just one issue.

From Russia With Love

Good evening slash good morning readers. I had some awesome Applewood Smoked Double-Cut Bacon Served with spicy fresh corn salsa and two tasty brewed beverages along with a side of adult conversation for dinner tonight. It was all thoroughly enjoyed. Strangely, or not, we did not talk politics that much. One of the topics dabbled in it a bit. It was on the arrogance of the modern science community officially or unofficially led by NDT and his show Cosmos which I mostly like. But most of the conversation was about all of our lives, and that is how it needs to be sometimes. After heading to bed very early due to the effect of the food and drink, I awoke and was not able to fall asleep again. This led me to some bed iPhone surfing. I have discovered that I use Facebook for much of my quick news headlines. I follow most all of the MSM or LSM outlets and that leads me to many of the articles I read during the day, and night. I might need to do another post sometime refreshing my readers where I get my news and information. And maybe get some feedback on where they get theirs, besides the infrequent The Orthodox American Blog. I truly hope this is not the only place you get your information from. Anyway, this one caught my eye and got me out of bed to write this post.

“Do you remember the joke: ‘Whatever Russians make, they always end up with a Kalashnikov?’ I get an impression that whatever Americans touch they always end up with Libya or Iraq,” 

That was a quote from Putin speaking at an event in Tver Russia yesterday. Here is the full article.

What are the kids calling it these days? Burn? Dis? Am I dating myself? Do I care? Either way, ouch.

Putin has clearly brought Russia back to the super power status, shedding the title of former super power. He is pretty much going to do what he wants, and I doubt any fake lines in the sand or sanctions or Article 51 is going to do anything to stop that. I could be wrong, but if America had no appetite to go into Syria two years ago, we will have even less of an appetite to go to war with Russia in Ukraine. Furthermore no other country or group going to go up against Russia and Putin. But the House and Senate elections are in full swing, and the Presidential race will soon start up and you just never know what people who want to control you will say to get you to vote for them. I sense many Hawks will present as Doves and vice versa.

I am sure I am not the first amateur thinker to say this, but these sure are interesting times we live in. I wonder if there ever was an uninteresting or boring time to live in? If you pay attention at all, I don't think that is possible. Have a great long weekend, those who have one. Some of us don't. Not that I'm complaining or anything.

Peace

Nun

I wanted to make sure my blog was still here and hadn't been taken over by squatters. It hadn't.

This was going to be a one sentence post, a photo and a link. It ended up a bit longer and more. I can never just KISS. Damn.

There of course is so much to write about. I choose to think and to talk to people about most of this stuff lately, and I have been busy. I am enjoying talking to one of my IS2s. She is taking an online course in international relations and I am helping her form ideas and outlines for her assignments.

There is "locally" this thing down in Ferguson MO. It is sad, as all killing and death is. But it is more than just another killing. It is exposing (bringing to light to the millions who have not been paying attention for the past decade or so) the massive militarization of our domestic law enforcement. But I am not here to talk about that subject today. I don't feel like doing that kind of damage to my mental and physical health today.

There is what is going on in Israel and Gaza to talk about. I am more ignorant that I would like to admit on the subject. I would love to think of it as self defense, but I know it is much more complicated than that. I am sure it would be very simple if it was the US against say Rhode Island, and Rhode Island only had Muslims in it and they were shooting rockets at Massachusetts. I am sure not so many Leftys would be defending RI when there beach front property on the Cape was being blown up or if sky scrapers in Boston where falling. But since its over there, and the Palestinians are the minority now and not he Israelite, the Leftys go with the newly oppressed if they are wrong or right.

There is what is going on in Africa. Hell that is like its own blog. Between Ebola and kidnapping and the always shitty affairs in the HOA. Africa's stock is not going up. China has a crush on it. Well, it's resources, but it could not care less about the humans. That is not really "breaking news."

So what am I going to talk about, or write about, or simply point out. I am going to point out one little thing that is going on in Iraq and that is the blitzkrieg of ISIS or ISIL or what ever the name of the week is. They are bad. That is not news. They are growing, and fast. That is kind of news. Obama is for some reason having to do what he said he wouldn't do in Syria and that is bomb one group of people to save another group of people. There is much read about the differences, of Syria and Iraq. In this case I see very little. What ever. What I want to point out is the specific targeting of Christians in Iraq. There is all sorts of stuff floating around the web about convert or die, die anyway. Pay or die. Die even if you pay. Convert or leave or die. Or die even if you leave. What ever you have read, it is true. Some bad dudes, who happen to be Muslim, are killing other dudes who are Christians

Ok, now, I know some of you think I am Christian. I think I have written on this before that I was raised Catholic, but don't identify myself as one of them, and have not for at least 20 years now. I consider myself human and seek the wisdom in all religions as well as the wisdom in no religion. I am a student of all regions. At least the major ones, and some minor ones. Sometimes that is the original texts. Sometimes it is news and blogs. Sometimes it is the wiki page. Sometimes it is talking to other humans. I know a little about a lot of religions. I find myself siding with Christians both world wide and in the US. I do think that Christians are persecuted around the world as many religions are in many places. I would say that south America, which is a whole bunch Christian is not persecuted per say, but there are many other shitty things about that continent and the plight of most people there. I also think that Christians, even though they are the biggest religious group in our country, are persecuted to some degree in the US as well. Atheists are kicking Christians out of all sorts of places. Town greens where mangers are (or used to be set up at Christmas). Schools, meetings, sports, ANYTHING. Anywhere that has even a whiff of the Christian god or Jesus, some atheist is freaking out and is trying to give them the boot. They want nothing in the place of something. Which brings up another point.

Atheism is a religion. Atheists are mad. Atheists are confused about the issue of the "separation of church and state." It is not a thing. It is a line or a concept from a obscure letter from one of our presidents, a good one, to a church in Connecticut. That is all. A line in a letter. What the Constitution does say is:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Lets focus on the "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech..." part. It says nothing about not being able to pray at a football game. And it shouldn't because football had not been invented when the Constitution was written. Long story short, allowing something is not the same as a law establishing a religion. This, like all the original amendments, has over the years, been perverted. What ever, I have gone off on a serious tangent here.

Back to the point. Israel is protecting itself and dealing with a old situation and Jews are killing Muslims. There are also Muslims killing or trying to kill Jews, but that is little reported. In Iraq, you have Muslims killing Christians, and very few care. At least not the same ones who fakely care about the Jews killing the Muslims. Well, I have noticed some of my Facebook friends have changed their profile pics to what I Googled as "a J looking Arabic letter." Well this is what I found out.

The thing that looks like a "J" is really the 14th letter in the Arabic alphabet. You can read the link below. I'm not going to get all into explaining some stuff I know jack about and someone else has already written about. Anyways, it is to show solidarity with the Christians that being killed and raped and beaten and run out of their homes in Iraq. I would say I stand with those people. I stand with anyone who is being really persecuted. Am I biased? Maybe. Am I a Christian sympathizer? Maybe. Am I a Christian apologist? Maybe. Do I care what I am labeled by most people? No.

Mosul Christians: And Then There Were Nun

Read and listen to what is going on in Iraq. If you are going to speak up for the Muslims being killed by Jews you should be speaking up for the Christians being killed by Muslims. If not, you're either confused, a hypocrite, ignorant or a little bit of all three of those. Most Americans can be put into one or most of those categories. Of course, I'm not talking about my readership. Y'all wicked smart.

So there you have it. Now you know. If you didn't know. Read the post. Read some other stuff. Pay attention. Or as always, don't. Ignorance is easy and common. Kind of like writing a blog.

Aloha

Everything Is Awesome OR The Sky Is Falling

Going to keep it short. Try.

I read a good amount of stuff today. Mostly on the situation in Iraq. Some on the overall view of how things are in our country and how our leadership is doing. It is so amazing that two different people, actually two different groups could see the same world and give two, almost polar opposite assessments.

So, here is the cheerleader group. The Left. Paul Krugman to be exact. Well, he thinks Obama is doing awesome. Some of what he is saying might have some truth in it. Key word some. But as he tries to point out all the wicked awesome achievements, he totally omits any failures or shortcomings. You can't do that. You don't get to just put your successes on your resume. Just ask a football coach if he only counts his wins and would expect a future employer not to ask how many games he has lost. Maybe a bad analogy, but you get my point.

Everything Is Awesome

Then, you have this critic, Jonah Goldberg I like some of his stuff. He is card carrying member of the opposition. Something all administrations and parties need. Works for Foxnews and The National Review. I can get with most of his stuff. They really love Reagan. Anyway, you read this it is like the end of the world, at least of our country, is here. I would tend to agree we are on that road. His list compiles many of the problems and failures, and even leaves some out.

The Sky Is Falling

Actually, that was not the article I was thinking I read today. I think I merged two of them together, but that was is good too. Hey, that's what you get for a free blog.

This one might be the one I was thinking of.

So, the sky is closer to the earth today then it was yesterday. I can't tell you it's rate of descent, but it is descending. But if you think everything is awesome, good for you. I happen to think you are either naive, fatally optimistic and or both. There is also a chance that I am wrong. I see that chance as slight. And the people who rate the US bonds I think partially agree with me, but to each their own.

Keep you eyes and ears on Iraq and this massive influx of underage illegal immigrants, and the dude who beat Cantor and another awesome fuax debt ceiling fight (that last one is still a way out). It has come the point where you only have to watch the news on Friday, because that is the only day that your government wants to release any information. Then they pray that the Liberal media never get around to it and or it get forgotten over the weekend and they can start of Monday with a clean slate. That is how dumb they think you are. And if I have any awesome IT type readers, please contact the IRS and help them find a few years missing emails. I guess the term "not a smidgen of corruption" actually means, I have been assured all the evidence has been destroyed.

Peace out. But more importantly, keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.

RIP CHBC

Dear Ben & Jerry's

WTF?

In your pursuit of "fair trade-ness" and GMO free-ness you have turned a product that people loved and didn't have a problem with into a product, that at least speaking for myself, sucks.You put principle over product and broke your product.

I am also interested in a better world as you claim to be. I too share your distrust for GMO stuff. But Coffee Heath Bar Crunch was not the freaking problem! It is and was not what is wrong with the world! Coffee Toffee Bar Crunch sucks! Your solution to not a problem is now a problem.

I already didn't like my money, that I freely gave you for an awesome product, going to your whack-job causes, but I put product over principle and bought your product, because it was freaking good. It was freaking awesome. Was. Coffee Toffee Bar Crunch really sucks. I might have to throw it away. I don't even know if I can finish it. With each spoonful the taste of disgust, loss and sorrow grows stronger and stronger.

Remember that sweet motorcycle trip I took up to your factory in picturesque Vermont?  Carving up scenic and historic Route 100 on my BMW R1100R. It was awesome. A fond memory. At least it was for me. I doubt you even remember me. I was branding myself for you, and then you go and do this to me. After my loyalty. Did I ever mean anything to you?

I know I am not alone. There are others out there with hurt souls like me. I may seem like only one man. But, I am one man. You have lost this man. You have lost a customer, a loyal customer. What McDonald's might call a "heavy user." I was a happy user. No longer. I am gone. After 30ish years, we're done. I am breaking up with you. This isn't as hard as I thought it would be.

So, it is now with great pleasure, I can announce, today, I will not no longer be buying your product. It wasn't broke, but you tried to fix it. With thinking like that, I can see why this country is in the state it is in.

Your Formerly Loyal And Happy But Now Completely Disgusted Costumer,

Me



The link to the sucky ice cream.

A Little Out of Practice...Thoughts On Energy

Hello blog fans. It has been a while. Some of you might be confused because my last post I put my heart and soul behind Hillary Clinton, or was it Elizabeth Warren. Either or, it don't matter, it was just an April Fools Joke. I think, I hope, most of you knew that. So, if you were scared I lost my mind, I didn't. And if you were excited I joined their struggle, I didn't.

Moving on. I am going to post this article (way at the bottom) kind of as a warm up. I can't go right into hard core posting or I might pull something. So, this is a nice easy jog around the track.

This subject, energy, is a tricky one with me. On one side, I tend to be with the use what we have, and lets not price or clean energy regulate ourselves into high cost fuel. I say that because our main competitors and threats in this world, China and Russia are not and will not. And PS, the middle east hates us. And others who are not necessary threats, like India and others, also are not and will not. So, if we ban coal, or make it almost impossible to use coal, we hurt ourselves. If we make energy so expensive, we hurt the poor and ourselves.

Now pollution is another story. One I don't want to dive into in this post, but maybe another time.

Then there is this other side of me, one who personally is a hyper conserver. I drive a one cylinder 400cc scooter that gets over 55 miles per gallon. My other vehicle is a Honda Fit that averages over 30 miles to the gallon. We are at the bottom 10% of energy users in our neighborhood. We cook in our toaster oven often. I even have flash light night with my daughter where we don't turn on the lights after the sun goes down. I also have designed a very energy efficient/independent home. My carbon foot print is for sure smaller than the average Americans.

So, it seems my actions do not match my thinking. Maybe I am a closet tree hugger, but more likely I am just an out of the closet cheapskate. Those of you who know me, know I do not share the optimism of the future. At least not an optimism pertaining to the energy future for America or the world. One where gas is cheap and abundant. It will not be. Other countries are hungry for it. Between oil and water, there will be grotesque amounts of blood shed and money spent to control both of those in the future. The less we need, the better we will live. Or maybe we will just live. Those are my thoughts, if you don't share them fine. I am fine with that. I am fine with people driving trucks and cars that get shitty gas mileage. I am fine with people keeping their AC cold as hell and having dozens of electronics on in their house. That is a choice, and those who want that can pay for that. Same goes with electricity and heat.

It's when you make energy more expensive than it needs to be you really hurt the poor and you really hurt industry. So what is the solution, what is the right answer? I don't know. I only know what I do, and I am not qualified or interested in making that decisions for others. As I am on most subjects. Now, if you want my money (taxes) to pay for other peoples choices, then yeah, you should listen to me. You should conserve. You should retrofit your house with a wood cook stove, and turn off the TV. But otherwise, I really don't care. But if all your eggs are in one basket, and that basket gets real expensive to fill, that is your problem.

So, here is something to read on the topic. I could find dozens of links, but I will only post a few.

As always, enjoy or don't.

And try flash light night.

And I did go a little longer than I wanted to, but I'm ok.

Here is a lefty type environmental site I frequent. It occasionally has good stuff. Grist

Here is a article on a paper. Morality-Cheap-Energy

Here is the paper. The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels

Oh, and I just read these. The Long Emergency (Amazon) (wiki) and Too Much Magic (Amazon)

The Evolution of Me

I have not been talking about this publicly, but I have been doing a lot of reading lately. This is part of the reason why my posts here have been so infrequent. Besides spending more of my time at dailykos.com and moveon.org, I have been drawn in by these four books: Dreams from My Father, The Audacity of Hope, It Takes a Village and Living History, which I just finished and it only took me two boxes of tissues. Wow, what a story (of an amazing, accomplished, smart woman)! Anyway.

When I woke up this morning something was different. I didn’t just see things in a new light, I felt things in a new light. Things are good. They really are. I mean, Obama is in his second term. Democrats control the Senate. You're in your Prius, driving to your job at a non-profit, drinking your fair trade latte from Starbucks, listening to NPR talk about last nights Daily Show. And how John Stewart totally OWNED FAUX NEWS!!! Awesome. The new iPhone will be coming out soon. Fingers crossed. Things are freaking awesome. But even though most things are awesome, we can find things that need some work. Things were pretty messed up when President Obama took His oath of office on that historic day in January of 2009. And we all know why. If and when, you, we, step back and take it all in, it really becomes clear that the things in our country that need work and attention (and there are only a few because things are pretty awesome) do so because of the actions or in-actions of a small group of selfish and ignorant and mean people who happen to have a majority in the House of Representatives at this time and quite a few of the Governorships. Well let me tell you something. That can change. That needs to change. Whatever may come in the elections of 2014 does not matter. What matters is the sweeping and historic change I will be a part of in 2016. It's Her turn. Today, I am putting all of my human efforts behind making Hillary Rodham Clinton the next President of the United States, but more importantly the first woman President of the United States.

If there is anyone alive, today, on earth, that can follow Hope and Change and take it to the next level, it is Her. It's Her turn. Now I know what some of you are saying, “she’s not black.” Yeah, but Obama was not a woman, and we didn’t hold that against him! Come on now, you, we, need to open our eyes, and change the filter through which we see the world. Don’t just look at people as Kenyan or American or see them as having a penis or a vagina or both, or neither, or even classifying them as any sex. That’s not only wrong, but it’s mean. I mean do scientists put themselves in that kind of box when they're researching? No. No they don’t. So, let’s look at people as what they really are, humans. He is human and She is human. We need a female human in the Whitehouse. That’s all you need to know. Republicans, Conservatives, Tea Party types and most Christians, NOT HUMAN. Hello? Wake up.

So, yeah, I’m on board, I’m in Her camp, and I’m not afraid to say it out loud, and I expect if you’re not now, you will be soon. Because if it didn’t hurt enough to be called a racist when you were wrongly against Obama, it will sure as hell sting real real bad when you’re called a sexist if you dare be against Hillary. I mean do you remember when you were a kid and how bad it hurt to be called smart when you answered the teachers question correctly in front of the class. Remember that pain. All your classmates looking at you, in disgust. Just because when you were asked, you answered correctly. Don’t make that mistake, again. Breath, breath. Keep it positive, keep it positive, keep it pos-o-tive. Ok. Back to positive.

I feel like such a weight of pessimism has been lifted off of my soul and a new lightness of optimism now runs through my veins. I look forward to all of you joining me, side by side, hand in hand, at the rally and at the phone bank, making sure this country remains headed in the Right, I mean correct direction. For Americas sake, it’s Her turn. Thanks for listening. And may your creator, if you have one, bless you and these United States.

P.S. Oh, and I just read some stuff from this guy named Neil deGrasse Tyson, any of you heard of him? I had not, but WOW. Wow, wow, wow, wow and wow! I mean, I have not paid too much attention to what former Vice President Al Gore has had to say since he has been out of office, but this Global Warming Climate Change IS A BIG FREAKING DEAL! Hello! WTF is up with all “these people” all of a sudden having such a problem with settled science? Didn’t any of them watch Bill Nye the Science Guy when they were kids? If a Bill Nye says it, it’s truth. It’s science. If another scientist says something different, it’s not science or “skepticism,” its denial. They’re not Bill Nye. They’re not “The Science Guy.” Where would we be today if Copernicus would have been a skeptic? We’d be screwed, that’s where we’d be. Ahhhh, it just gets me so mad, I just want to teabag some of these people. Sorry, that was out of line. What’s next with these people, they’re going to be all running around saying that our whole monetary system is a fraud based on perpetual debt and is ultimately unsustainable? Please people, grow up!

Hillary Clinton 2016-2020-2024

Bill of Rights (Specifically Amendment Two)

I am going to keep this one short. Below is a great read from Reason. They really rarely disappoint. It is about a few cases that are upcoming specifically about our Second Amendment. If you care about the Bill of Rights, which should be everyone reading this, you should care about these cases.

If we don't protect our rights, they will go away, and they have. If we don't exercise our rights, they will go away, and they have. Citizens with out guns are not citizens, they are servants, and in many millions of cases, end up dead. Killed, not by NRA members or rednecks and not even by gangs or criminals, but their own governments. The Second Amendment is a check against that power. That is all.

http://reason.com/archives/2014/03/18/five-gun-rights-cases-to-watch

Fat Cat Bankers Stealing Your Retirement Money

I have not been blogging for a while. Sorry. I have like 5 saved drafts. Most of the time I see a cool article I want to talk or rant about. Make a draft with a note or two and then never get back to it. This one caught my eye, and I am actually going to follow through.

7 Numbers that Show How Most Americans Were Robbed of a Comfortable Retirement: Millions of baby boomers are the victims of 35 years of deregulated greed

First off, deregulated? Noting in America has or is deregulated. Nothing. Everything, and I mean everything is regulated in America. Everything. But lets move on.

I am not saying any of this is false or a lie or not true or fictional or made up. It might be, I just don't know enough to know it's percentage of accuracy or inaccuracy. I suspect each of these "7" things has some bit of truth to them. I just think that the situation as it is, is not just the fault of the fat cat evil banker slash rich person. Bankers are one of the party's we need to blame, but not the sole bad guy in this.

So who is to blame?

I think the actions and in-actions of Congress and the Executive and the Fed Res (over the last few decades and last few years) have all had a hand in the dwindling of the vast majorities of America's savings and retirements.What to see where your money went? Take a look at where your purchasing power went (here). Back to Fed Gov blame. Dodd-Frank? Come on. For those of us in aviation that bill or regulation (or what AlterNet calls deregulation) is what is known as FOD (Foreign Object Debris, or the shit that makes airplanes fall out of the sky for you civvie types). That bill was written by Wall Street for Wall Street and the more you learn about it the more you learn it's sole purpose in life is to protect Wall Street and throw a little tiny scrap bone to the common man. It doesn't regulate Wall Street it regulates Main Street.

So who else is to blame? I think that each person has to take some of the blame. You know, personal responsibility. Now that is something that has been regulated almost out of existence by state and federal governments. Spending habits, consumerism, saving habits or lack there of. Too many people put so many of how ever many or few eggs they have in one basket. They are all in the stock market. That is a recipe for disaster. Not only that, but they are so ignorant of how things work. I am not saying I am an expert, but I know enough to know I don't know much and I know more than the average dude or dudet. They are in to pension funds, and have no idea where or who manages those funds. 401K, what's that? Roth IRA, what's that? They could be driving their Prius to a weekend protest against the XL pipeline, and 30% of their retirement fund could be in big oil. At least buy an Apple product, many large funds and pension programs hold AAPL. But then you're back to eggs and baskets.

Anyway, this article had some good points. And obviously it is one very left-progressive point of view. Hmmm. Why doesn't the federal government get into the retirement business? Oh wait, they are, its called social security, it's sad, outdated, unsustainable and they are still looking for where Al Gore buried that "lock box." He put all his eggs in APPL and made out like a bandit. (this author is jealous) Then bought a shitty left wing media company, pretty much idled it for a few years and sold it to the terrorists for a fat, fat, FAT profit. THOSE DAMN 1%ERS!!! Back to Al Jazera, at least they like to tell the truth occasionally, mixed in with their agenda, unlike our state sponsored media. I digress. As I sometimes do. Well, maybe they, the Fed Gov, should double down on a retirement program for the people. Isn't that always the left-liberal-progressive solution? If something is failing and on a big ass scale, pour more money into it, on a big ass scale. (healthcare) But this time, they can use "the peoples" money. (healthcare) Wait, what? They have that? Oh yeah, it's that silly MyRA* (another fact sheet here) thing Obama pitched the other day. How about this "crazy" idea, you might need a tin foil hat to understand this. It's just a slick scheme to get the"working class American people" to buy more of Americas debt. By the time they get any money back with interest, the other type of interest will have made the principle plus interest worth less then the principle they started with. Oh, and the main stream money people love the idea. It keeps their scheme going as well. I hate it when our projected reality makes the Matrix look like a good deal.

 * I am semi in favor of this idea I just think it is a Dollar Spot quality band aid for a compound fracture and it's a distraction from other real and big and real big problems.


Anyway, this has been a semi-quasi-unintellectual rant, but I am sure some of you started this article with that preconception. I hope some of you, or even one of you, got something out of it. At least it didn't cost you anything, except time.

Peace.

























Oh, you scrolled down this far? Observant. Or lucky.

Here is some last minute (unsolicited) advice: Land, food production and preservation, personal protection, lessen your reliance on the grid and fossil fuels, a modest and efficient house, little to no debt, live with in your means, silver, maybe some gold, cash, savings and some, and I mean some, money in the market. It's all a balancing act of eggs and baskets. But what do I know? Or what don't you know?

http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/

I totally agree with Elizabeth Warren

No, you did not read the title of this post incorrectly, I totally agree with Elizabeth Warren. Not on everything. I don't even agree with myself on everything, from day to day. I still don't like her much, don't agree with her on most things, and think she is an over all danger to the future of our country, but on this one thing, at this time, I agree with her.

So, what is this magical thing she said or did that I agree with? Allowing the United States Postal Serivice to be a bank/credit union.

Exhibit One
Exhibit Two
Exhibit Three

Yep. That's it. Here's why. She, they, make a good point that the poorest of us, what ever number of income you wnat to go with, I don't care. They, spend a good amount of their money, getting their money. They, use check cashing services and pay day loans just to operate in life. I don't know if they actually have other options, but lets just say they don't. They, spend like 10% of a paycheck just to cash a paycheck. That is a little high. They, spend double and some times triple digits on interest for a few hundred dollar loan, due in a few weeks. That, is semi criminal high. Now, imagine if they, could go to the post office and chash their checks. Maybe for free, maybe for 1%. Now imagine if they, could get that $250 loan for 5% or 10%. They, have a fairly good rate of paying back the pay day loan people. You can only burn the bridge once, why not. If you don't pay, then the next time you want your check cashed, you would, and the next time you wanted a loan at a reasonable rate, you would. Why no let the USPS get that 1% fee and that 5% interest. Why not let the USPS shine a little by helping out those in our nation that could use some help to conduct business of life? I see no down side to this, but I am sure there are some.

Now, for all you who are like the USPS is going broke, loosing money all that. I agree. I agree 110%. But, the idots we contiue to elect over and over are going to keep the USPS alive. They will pour, dump, trickle, shovel money to keep it alive. They will not let it die. It is going to stay around. So, while it is here, why not let it try to make some money some other proven ways? Then instead of trying to regulate the check cashing and pay day loan people out of bussines, give the people a viable alternative. Then the shady guys might have to change their rates and or bussiness practices. Could happen.

Again, the USPS is going to be around, regardless if they are raking in the profits or bleeding our tax dollars. They missed the boat on email. A your.name@usps.com could have been on par with yahoo.com and gmail.com, but they missed that boat. This is something that could turn the Titanic that is the USPS around. I might just be heading toward another iceberg, but at least we could get a few more people off before then.

Peace, and buy forever stamps, because regardless, the price of a stamp is only ever going to go up.

Lazy Link Post

I am being lazy. There is much to talk/rant about, but I don't feel it is worth the effort today.

This whole Cristy thing is an MSM frenzy about nothing. It's a opportunity for Hilary's numbers to raise and the MSM is all over that. I mean the chance to back back to back "historic" Democratic Presidents. First the first black, now maybe the first woman. They got to help her no matter the cost. Ignore Benghazi, but this bridge closer thing, yeah it's pretty much disqualifies Cristy for 2016. Who ever the R horse is in the race, I will mildly support them only because they are the lesser of two evils. But make no mistake, both choices will be evil. I will vote Libertairan or not vote. I allready know the D does not, can not and will not represent me or my beliefs or my interests, never mind the what is best for the country or the constitution, and for an R to get my vote, I don't even know what they would have to say or do for me to believe them never mind vote for them. In a rigged system, the only solution is to opt out.

Wow that little paragraph turned into an apathetic voting rant. Interesting.

Continuing on the Liberal criticism, simply they are currently in charge and effing things up, never mind the sheer amount of material to work with is endless, this was a good read.

The era of Gesture Liberalism is at hand.

As always, enjoy, or don't.

New Years Potpourri Post

This was going to be a short post. Like most of my posts, it started out with a quick little idea. This one started off while I was listening to the morning “news” on the “radio.” They were saying how the new Fed chick (her name is Janet L. Yellen), the first woman to hold the position, historic hype, is going to be a breath of fresh air at the Fed. That alone was enough to discredit those who deserve no credit to begin with. I mean come one, the most reported trait she has is how much she is going to be like the Ben Bernanke. That's what inspired my joke. Here it is. She is so much like the former Fed Chairman she will most likely grow a very groomed very grey beard by the end of her first year. One that would be worthy of accompanying that lovely gray mane of hers. That was it, that was my joke. It was way more funny in my head. Kind of like the Federal Reserve, it is one giant bad joke. The other point that has been brought up over and over and it will be touched on at the end of this blog, is the historic-ness of the first time any person on thing happens. All I can think of now when I hear that said is the line from the fine animated feature length move “The Incredibles.” “When everyone's super, no one will be.” We are to that point. If we try to make everything historic, nothing is historic. And that is the case with the new Fed Res Chair. Not super, not special, not historic.

Moving on, past my bad jokes. This post also serves as a proof of life post. I am still alive, and like I have said, I think many times before, it is not due to lack of material to blog about that this blog goes unserviced. Let’s take a peek at a few topics.

ObamaCare. A mess by design. A mess due to incompetence. A mess because no one wants to tell the King or anyone one close to him, that the magic thread is really not magic at all, it fact it’s a straight up lie. A few things I want to know is how the DSH and the Whitehouse can change this law as they go along. That part has not been explained to me, and most likely never will. I am guessing it was little bits of “at the discretion of the Director” or “at the discretion of the President” written into the law by the dutiful Dems to cover their asses. I wonder if any of them even know those caveats were in there, seeing they didn’t read it before they passed it. This is all a stepping stone to a single paying (that single payer being the United States Government via me and you, the tax payer). The more this fails, the better single payer looks. Again, failure by design.

Taking money from middle age military retirees. A.K.A., ME! The one percent reduction in cola for military retirees before they are 65. That is me. That is me in a very short number of years. That is money directly out of my wallet. I wish they would take a little piece of all these alleged valuable benefits I am told I have instead of  taking away actual dollars. It is only going to get worse. They know they can chip away at Vets and we will “Solider” on. I have had a 20 plus year agreement/contract with the government of the United States via the United States Navy. I held up my end, I expected them to do the same. Unfortunately, I expect nothing less from the shitty representation in the Legislative and Executive branches that we currently have, to take away from me, while fighting to give more and more to those who have no such contract and have given no service or sacrifice for their entitlements and or benefits. It is both sad and infuriating and will only get worse. Stand by for Bonus Army Redux.

Hillary “Benghazi” Clinton. The last thought I had on my drive into work was this: Hillary 2016. I know, if that is the thoughts that I have, there could be something wrong with me. Anyways. It is time for a woman President. Even my six year old daughter who knows very little about our government and our Presidency has asked many time why their has been no women Presidents. We might even be over due for a woman president. But it is not time, and more importantly, it will never be time for Hillary “Benghazi” Clinton to be that woman. I mean if it is a woman or if it is another man, if they are from the Republican or Democratic Party, like she said, “What difference, at this point, does it make?” They, he or she, will just keep us trucking down the road to destruction with less freedom and more tyranny along the way. They will inherit a massive and growing pile of shit. I guess the best we can now hope for is the taking responsibility and not a constant drum beat of blame the predecessor. Shake the eight ball until you get a negative response, and that's most likely the truth.

So, Happy New Year. Peace.