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