Best Times and Worst Times to Be

How many decades have people been saying that this country is going to hell in a hand basket while others have claimed that everyone has thought that of their society even back in the days of Socrates? Both are right. That's because civilizations decline and there is always someone around to point to that fact.

Sometimes I think I was born too late or too soon. That is because I would have liked to have been part of the American revolution, or its ascendance, yet I have been riding the crest of its demise. That is the way of the baby boomers. They were a quantum jump in the progressively idiotic generations. There are things which clouded the whole adventure, but it is still the best effort toward freedom ever.

Now it is accelerating in another direction. Under the guise of dealing with yet another crisis--immigration---lunatics Schumer and Graham want to force biometric IDs on the regular citizens of the country. For our own protection. Things like that are just blocks in the wall. The eventual result is a citizenry under extreme control. We once again become serfs in a medieval nightmare; a high tech version of the one we fled, and whose ills fired up the minds of those who structured this place.

Once that heavy handed insanity has a firm enough grip, people will begin to think, and eventually find ways to loosen the hold. That's the case that makes me feel like I was born too soon. I'd love to be there when the next true effort to be free takes hold. I expect it won't happen for maybe seventy five or a hundred years, at the soonest. No way this ball will unravel as the result of switching from democrats controlling things to republican. It's like Russian roulette with only two cylinders and two bullets. Not a good game.

It may take another twenty five for minding one's own business to become really difficult in some cases, such as my case. It may take less. Only four until the insurance scam becomes a huge tool for keeping people under the thumb. Those who scoff at that notion are either painfully optimistic, have a vested interest in the thing, or are simply misguided, maybe imbeciles. The same people who saw nothing wrong with rights given up under the war on drugs, and later under the war on terror, and now the war on obesity and what?--insurance companies, bad health? Always rights go.

Does it not concern anyone to know that the USA has a larger portion of the population in jail than anywhere else? Granted, some places just shoot you, but it is not logical for a free country to have such a prison population, and a system which is well known as a haven for perverted punks to rule supreme over the less vile inmates. Sick, very sick.

Anyway, I think the best times to live are when things are on the upswing--like when flight was just being mastered---or when the iron is hot enough to strike and the chains are cast off. Now is not really either case. It is the time of people being stupid enough to fasten the shackles on themselves. Many who appear to oppose these things are all for other forms of tyranny. It is a matter of taste. They won't resist the temptation to make others do as they like, just like those who support the current trends have no issue about forcing people to do what they see fit, and no problem deciding what you should give and to whom.

It is not bad to have been able to see little hints of some of the climb. Of course there were cultural factors which had not caught up with the technology. So now all that is used to control your lives, not really enhance them. At least that is the growing trend, all the rage these days.

The problem of people disregarding the rights of others is really the root of most evil. The number one vehicle which ensures this behavior is government. Didn't start out so much that way, but that is how it has played out. That would be disputed by Castro, Chavez, and Obama. Probably by Bush, McCain and any other number of career politicians and would be despots. No matter. I stand by the statement.

Never before have I heard so much direct discussion of freedom issues, and never before have I seen free speech under such a cloud. Interesting. You just never know. Five years ago I had absolutely no desire to camp or sleep in a tent. Now I picture that as the main way to spend the night when I consider future road trips. I did it on the way here.

The effect of repeated phrases and propaganda on thinking is pretty strong. I wonder how long it will really take before those not constitutionally capable of going along with the state's agenda just drop off the map altogether. Lots of people disagree, but few find it more painful to go along than to resist or drop out. they are the lucky ones--not dumb enough to be willing contributors to the mess, and not crazy enough to let it make them self destruct or sacrifice unnecessarily.

Of course many bright people encourage all this control. That is because they somehow envision themselves as part of the elite who are above the run of the mill chump. They expect to be part of the brain trust. Many are in fantasyland because they are not even well connected and brains are not truly valued by those who want control.

Still it makes them feel better to chuckle in that ivy league way as lesser humans attempt to voice their concerns over loss of rights and property. One day it will bite them too. Already the oppression has bit them, but they are slow to see it. Some are so worried about getting lumped in with anti abortion bombers or religious fanatics that they ignore reality. They buy into the lie that you must be either left or right as defined by someone like Chris Matthews. God forbid you fall into a camp that earns a sneer from Jon Stewart. So, you get smart people who basically bargain their rights for some sense of peer view security. They can be cool, and appear real smart.

They don't know it but I do. They are not really as smart as I am. And they certainly have far less soul.

Like A New Car

It must be how big heavy people feel when they lose fifty pounds or so on a healthy diet. You forget how much extra baggage you are carrying around. That was the way of my car.

I had to empty it because the two, plus, stacks of boxes which were stored in a friend's garage had to go. They are moving from A to B, again. These have not been opened since I moved from Memphis. They were part of the batch that was shipped on pallets. I'm sure something good is there; maybe my humanitarian award. Whenever I question if I have a heart, I refer to that as proof. Got the idea from the Wizard. He gave the Tin Man something along those lines to prove to him that he had a heart.

Anyway, once my car was emptied, which took well over an hour, the back sat up higher and it feels about 500 pounds lighter. That's several kilo's worth. Mostly I had tools, bits of wood, and unidentified things I couldn't live without.

Just to offset things, I've been putting on more weight. I doubt I'd be accused of being radically obese, but it comforts me to rebel against a busy body government which has become involved in whether you are a fatso or not. It is especially annoying because most of the feds who want to promote the fat police are chubby, jowly slugs, and/or they are addicted to botox and plastic surgery. That is their right, but really, when did people become so docile and idiotic that they would pay others to police their diet and health at gunpoint?

OK. No one has decided what you can carry in your car, as long as it isn't guns, drugs, or opposition to despotism. In CA maybe marijuana will be voted legal. These clowns will figure out how to turn a cash cow like that into something that costs yet more money. In theory it should make money. It is highly doubtful it will increase long term use or make it more available to kids. I'd decriminalize poppies and whatever you want to grow for your own use or even for sale in small quantities to adults. The war on drugs is a WAR For Control of drugs. It is a war to guarantee the inner city and in places like Memphis, the outer city, become and remain cesspools of violence, hatred and ignorance.

Just like terrorists, if drug traffickers were really targeted by our government then they would not have jailed border patrol agents who inconvenienced them, and they'd treat things differently. First Bush, and those before him, and now Obama plays the border game, finding excuses to harass citizens while facilitating the drug traffic and gang activity

They even try to raid legal medical marijuana places in CA. A case where the feds and the state are dispute about who has jurisdiction. Figures that California would only fight for freedom along that front while protecting people from themselves with so many other nanny laws I can't keep up. It is one are in which no government ought be involved.

So, light as my car now is, I will not be hauling kilos of pot across any border; not with Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, etc. I am itching to fill it up with long trip goods and take off for a month or two. Maybe I can make it as far as Maine this time. Isn't that the state which has OK to carry gun laws? Always in search of freedom, and people who can handle it.

So, my new business is solving disputes and dispensing advice. I will offer these services until I save enough for my road trip. $5 for simple cases which can be resolved in one page, $20 for more complex problems and issues that involve unreasonable panicky neurotics. Pay me the $20 and I won't actually call you a "drama prone twit" or "insanely ignorant scumbag", even if you are. That's because I am a professional of the highest standards. Just send a message and we'll arrange treatment and payment, not necessarily in that order. You'll be glad you did. I'm great at solving everyone's issues except my own. And I have relatively few, so what the hay.

Even though my car is 20% lighter now, people still tend to taIlgate given the chance. That is the one most annoying thing about many parts of the west. They will tailgate, even if they don't want to pass or go faster. The implications are not fun to contemplate. Large pickups are the number one offenders, followed closely by young chicks in compact cars like Honda Civic. It is not just me, I've confirmed the trends with others. If you are in search of a woman between 20 and 35 in CA, better bring some bear spray with you. An angry group. Or I should say, a group which contains a large number of very angry units. Many are sweethearts, I think. Even so, the road doesn't lie. But the highway patrol has been known to spin a yarn or two.

I have to wonder, as I look out on this pretty country on a typical sunny, perfect temperature day, why people in this country engage in violence and stupid pushy efforts to control others. As nice as it is here, people ought to be free of all but the most essential of control. Got live free written all over it.

Never mind, you probably wouldn't understand anyway.

Learn Something New Occasionally

Today I learned:
That I can be radically impatient when caught off guard and I feel that property damage could happen.

Bing Crosby had a lot to do with the development of Rancho Santa Fe and Del Mar Race track.

There are people who vacuum bowls of fruit.

I may be prone to confusion in some emotional contexts.

A typical game of Survivor on television involves the contestants who don't get kicked out by the others camping out in Samoa or Borneo or wherever for approximately seven weeks.


I can't believe I have actually been keeping up with friggin Survivor. Since I have, I am especially happy to say I am glad the Villains are winning and I hope Russell manages to feed Boston Rob to the sharks. Probably my prejudice against Massachusetts and thereabouts. I also like that chick whose clothes always seem to be falling off. Like she has no idea and couldn't find something to wear for their contests that would stay put. Good girl. Not someone I'd trust. Entertainment and trust do not always live in the same house.

If You Are Part of the Crime, Shut Up

Just when I thought being Tiger Mistressed to death, we enter the era of Mr Sandra, Jesse James, and more mistresses jumping out of the woodwork for their day in the sun. Sandra appears to be the only blank canvas, from what I can tell.

The thing that gets me in both cases is that the man is considered degrees more creepy with each urchin that jumps into the limelight. It's as if knowingly participating in a deception, messing with a married person, is OK. The only not OK part is if you are married. It makes no sense to me that as soon as the cat is out of the bag proud cohorts jump to the front of the class to tell of their involvement.

It's like a burglar who uses different getaway drivers every time gets caught then all the drivers come forward to brag about their role in the affairs and the media and public act as if they are righteous victims.

Enough already. Once the deed is known, all these publicity seekers and news whores who use them for ratings only serve to further hurt the family and aggrieved spouses. Not that any of it is actually the world's business anyway. It's odd that many of the oft quoted and revered dead icons of the 60's, and others, were prolific womanizers, yet now it ruins people. Yet the overall attitude toward sex in various incarnations is quite a bit broader.

There is some hypocrisy to it, particularly because the people broadcasting this stuff and interviewing the other women with respect, as if they are doing something noble, are the same people who quote past philanderers with a reverence usually reserved for supernatural beings.

I knew Sandra screwed up when she turned me down for whatsisname.

What I Like About the Modern American Coup

When things go to hell all around me, I'm usually at my best. So, there is a little secret pleasure inside when I see things come down that will likely put me even further out of mainstream. By default, an outlaw.

There are a number of people who already see the boot for what it is, and plenty who will figure it out. I predict the number of people who fall off the official map will grow tremendously. Not talking about trouble makers, just people who can't handle the official hoops and intrusions any more. I think I probably reached that point many years ago; before Bush, before Obama.

I'll bet a lot of friends who accused me of being paranoid and wrong when I said the encroachments which they felt did not apply to the innocent would come back to bite them are less of that mind now. I like being right, although I'd rather just mind my own business and not fear breaking laws if I don't approach my health as prescribed by gangsters. Hell, that is really only the tip of the iceberg. People have accepted plenty of other encroachments without blinking. "If it keeps us safe, I'm all for it". That one covers a lot of territory. Check your premise thoroughly, there, Bosco.

As of today, I've seen the light, had a vision, and decided I am now a member of both the Amish culture and the Christian Science religion.

It never ceases to amaze me how easily intelligent people are taken in by crooked salespeople, even when they obviously employ strong arm tactics. And how easily people sucker for anything that they think will be free for them. Bad upbringing I guess. Or maybe it is a bandwagon thing. I'm not at all mad.

I'm going to see if I can get a bunch of people to sneak into Mexico or Guatemala with me, then we will march on the capital and demand services, rights and better treatment. I bet they will accommodate us graciously. Maybe we can all sneak into Havana and protest for acceptance and service. Ought to work.

Making History

Why is it that people who love to involve themselves in the lives of strangers salivate while claiming they are "making history"? What the hell does that mean? My parents made history when they conceived and gave birth to me. It certainly was a red letter day in my history. Anything that ever happened is history.

The ego driven assume they haven't made history unless they do something that forces huge numbers of others into some scheme or another. I remember the Watergate hearings and all those puffy, jowly legislators solemnly claiming they were making history. They would mug for cameras in their best imitation of how they thought famous dead statesmen postured. It was like a hollywood version of the continental Congress, sans the substance. The real issue on the minds and in the speeches of these guys was History. I'm making History. I guess they want to claim Washington's place on the dollar bill.

A bit of it is understandable, but it is better to let the future decide the larger significance rather than sit there trying to audition for a place in history while not telling the truth, doing the right thing and behaving with integrity. That lust for lasting fame is an unhealthy thing, and arguably tells of an emotional /and or mental disorder.

Everyone makes history in some way. I guess the earliest humans don't get much credit for it because they couldn't publish their deeds. Some of them tried by writing on the cave walls. I doubt they concocted schemes to control the other savages in the clan under the guise of making history. It was most likely a very transparent power play. Back then, as far as I can guess, power plays were not quite as disguised as they are today. The use of force no doubt led to certain conventions of civilization which made that form of persuasion frowned upon. Of course, people found ways to rationalize it, but the rationalizations became the necessary ingredient. If you could claim it was for the greater good, then you could get away with it.

That has evolved into quite an art; such a complex discipline that it often involves the one being controlled by force believing he is being protected . It is for your own good. When a thing becomes complex enough, even very intelligent people carry the rationale and logic into a place akin to dadaism.

What would be a remarkable landmark in history would be for freedom to be legalized, and for people to lose their fear of it, and to lose their wish to exert power over others when those others are not infringing on anyone else's rights. The tendency to be OK with accepting things taken from others against their will would also have to go. A massive psychic change is about the only hope, I guess. It sometimes happens on the individual level, and that's a start.

Amazing Lapses of Judgement

Lately, the hauntings have returned. Woes over the ones, and opportunities, that got away. Then I was wondering what was behind all the misguided turns in the road, and the freeze that stills my mind and body when it is time to take positive action.

I'm still uncertain. The freeze is habit, most likely; conditioning that cut so deep that I react the same as when a gun was to my head, even though it is no longer there. Hasn't been for almost the last 2/3 of my life. That gun was one that forced inaction.

Some of the tale can't be told because it would sound stupid and present an unfavorable indictment of relatives, alive and not, who had and have their own demons, albeit in much better wrapping than mine. I think I must have done something already that pissed them off. I wasn't even invited to, or sent an announcement of the last wedding in my family. I accidentally found out the deed had been done, online. The worst thing is that, without understanding what is going on, I assume that I must have inadvertently committed some error, and I feel guilty even though I'm ignorant of what it was I did. I've done so many stupid things. Who knows which included witnesses.

In my defense, I have concluded that although I understand right, wrong, and some aspects of reality, I do not quite grasp some things social. Much of civilized life baffles me. As a result, I have been known to assume that people all think and act a particular way, even though it makes no sense, then in an effort to join em if you can't beat em, I suspend reason and do what I perceive is the way it is done, then I suffer because my initial sense of reality was correct despite the appearance that society sees it otherwise. Boy do I suffer from those times when I exercised that kind of bad judgement.

Those times of absurdity have become much less frequent, but you never know. Over the years there was usually a woman who figured prominently in my foibles. I've become far lonelier and less easy, but find I make fewer errors in judgement which anyone would notice. My main errors now are mostly related to that freeze up syndrome. Then the panic of knowing I am a waste washes over me, and I know I don't have to be. There may be a better way. Or else this is the best I'll ever do or be; the zenith of my so-called life.

That's right, I have succumbed to self-pity. It will change. Most things do. Even as we speak I am slightly less concerned about it.

It beats being a well meaning doctor in a John Edwards style lawsuit. Imagine building an honest career and practice, then having all you own and the reputation you built destroyed by some sleezeball in court using junk science, playing on the class envy and ignorance of a jury. I guess this current state of personal angst is less than trivial by comparison.

Hiding from My Life, Considering Tyranny of the Majority Concept

The idea that the job of America is to spread democracy, or that our fabric is about pure democracy is misguided. Overdone, democracy is tyranny. That is why you have to have limits on it. Most of the biggest problems in civilization can be traced back to tyranny of the majority.

Freedom and democracy are not one and the same. For matters which are under the proper jurisdiction of the common conscience, then it is properly decided by majority will. The only way freedom is maximized is to protect the minority from will of the majority in matters of property life choice, etc.

Our system is designed to maximize, in theory, the individual freedom of citizens, however, throughout history the actual principles upon which it was constructed were bypassed, and the result was always bad. That does not discount the validity of the structure, only the validity of the reasoning which has allowed unequal treatment under law.

When special treatment is given to groups based on some identifiable characteristic which has nothing to do with behavior or belief, or any reason devoid of merit, there is risk of a tyranny of the minority. We live in an age in which both sides of that coin operate. Usually it amounts to an oligarchy which finds dividing the population into blocks by varying treatment is able to better maintain power in this manner. That all works because people are more than happy to accept favor at the expense of others, and enjoy believing that life's hardships are visited upon them alone, because they are victims. Too bad so few seem to see that the extra hardships are almost always created by that same oligarchy which pretends to show them special favor.

It is still troubling that the possibility of forced health insurance purchase is on the table. Those who compare it to auto insurance are guilty of faulty logic. If that is the case, can you opt for liability only? Auto insurance is to protect the lender in case you destroy the collateral for the car loan, and to protect others in case you cause damage to people or property with your vehicle.

Had it not been for the twist of thought which allowed courts to deem others responsible for normal risks of living your life on earth, much of the medical mess would be less costly and cumbersome. The idea that the only answer is universal insurance is kind of a jump. I guess those in the insurance business and the related financial businesses like it. It does have its use, but it has become bizarre.

I remember the time before all the hoops; before you had to go to a primary care provider so you could get a referral to see a dermatologist for a raging rash--something most would know was under the purview of a specialist. There was a time that minor surgery could be done without signing forms absolving the surgeon of all liability. I had some bump where I bit my lip and I had to sign all kinds of things acknowledging that I understood I might die from the simple surgery. They didn't even put me under. Of course, first the insurance was going to pay, then not, then the doctor's office was to handle it, then they said, "No, you handle it", then this then that. I just ignored any further mail.

They idea that more government involvement will cure this is one I don't believe. It is primarily tricky regulation that has allowed the insurance game to become what it is. Everything is a code, which any good trouble shooter knows does not always fit the situation. The task of the people messing with your body is to cover themselves ahead of time in case you sue or die or go crazy. The least of the worries is fixing your problem. Those are the things best addressed.

Regardless of all that, free people should have a right to opt in or out, to pay as they go, or to simply take their chances and refuse medical attention if they choose. Someone stands to make a fortune off this forced participation. It has nothing to do with taking the burden off society for those who abuse emergency room services.

Anyway, the reason that there is a cumbersome process for passing laws, requiring a large majority, and requiring both houses of congress is to prevent the majority form being able to run roughshod over the opposition, and to prevent acting on whim. If you've ever witnessed crowd control, or even large committee debates, you know how quickly and easily the majority can change its view. If there weren't barriers to enacting laws they'd be proliferating like rabbits on fertility drugs. They are proliferating like rabbits as it is. Mostly because no one can resist stolen money and special treatment. If it is extorted by government from strangers then it is easy to convince one's self that all is above board and OK.

Pure mob rule by majority could forbid religious choice or even taste in fashion. We don't like those fluorescent green golf pants, make possessing anything of that color punishable by a fine and jail time.

With the advent of various "studies" as support, people have not been able to resist forcing their will on others. Often as not the studies cited are flawed, or the conclusions unfounded. That doesn't matter in California. They still do public service ads and make laws even when the study which spawned the action has been discredited. The important thing is that the desire to influence the bahavior of others is fed. These days that is one appetite which knows no bounds in too many people.

This is way to rich to pass up: NY Times preaches ethics

Thanks to Mr Scribbler who put this on one of those confusing x rated dating sites, or maybe twitter or faceoff or was it something else Off? Face the Nation? Could be, Scrib is more of a celeb than he lets on:

For Freelancers, Whose Ethics Matter?
By Mike Janssen on Mar 16, 2010 10:38 AM

A memo sent yesterday by the New York Times suggests an opportunity for freelancers to review their practices for ethical soundness. The memo urged freelancers to revisit the Times’s ethics policy and to be wary of areas particularly ripe for potential conflicts:

Work for companies or organizations that The Times may cover.
Undisclosed ties between the writer and people or institutions mentioned in an article.
Lobbying, advocacy or political activities or contributions related to the area of coverage.
This raises the question: Whose ethical standards do freelancers follow? More often than not, the answer is probably “their own”—and a grasp of ethics can rely heavily on a writer’s professional path. They’re learned, not innate. And unless a freelancer establishes a long-running relationship with a particular publication, it may be rare that he or she ever sees an employer’s ethics policy—if the employer even has one in writing. (Smaller publications in particular may overlook this.)

This is unfortunate because, perhaps more so than journalists tethered to one employer, freelancers may be at greater risk of wading into ethically murky situations. They often cover a variety of subjects for a wide range of clients—somewhere along the way, wires may get crossed, and unexpected conflicts could surface just as a byproduct of all the sources, employers and interests being juggled.

Periodically thumbing through ethics codes such as the Times’s may not be a bad idea for a freelancer, just to get a sense of potential pitfalls. The Project for Ethics in Journalism offers this compendium of codes from various news organizations.

This smacks of job protection and resistance to the growing independent news sources. Sure, some may have an agenda, but it hardly seems possible that their slant is less steep than that of the NY Times, and the usual media suspects.

Seriously, how can anyone not see the slant when the partnership between them and governments have painted anyone opposed to the IRS as a "right wing wacko". Nutcases like neo nazis are painted the same. I guess that socialist equals right wing, because that is what the fascist thing was about. The professor who shot up the faculty meeting was not labeled. Reportedly she was an active campaigner for the current administration. A lunatic is a lunatic.

Back tp the point, it seems odd that the Times would pretend to be above the common unwashed; the lowly freelancer. Remember all the stories they got caught inventing a few years back? I am ever suspicious of news organizations which pretend to be above others who do not share their worldview, or even their concept of what is news.

Standards of integrity would be great to see in all publications and news media. Generally they are the government's marketing department, and the sales tool for the special interests which own those in office.

It has come to the point that huge blocks of the population don't really want truth or value it. They think in terms of the two teams we've been given as our choice. If you criticize democrats or Obama on lines of principle the knee jerk response is "what about Bush, etc.?". Geez. That is rarely the point. One over-stepping administration for another.

Integrity? Give me a break, New York Times. How aout publishing what is in major bills, verbatim, and be sure to cover unequal treatment of various states and groups, earmarks and all that. Of course when you are reporting on things that involve thousands of pages, that's tough.

Having been in marketing and under some circumstances I didn't like, I recognize the tactics; especially the one of telling you what something "means" or will do for you, while avoiding actually defining the "it". Responsible journalists would be digging into that relentlessly. Not t mention the cases in which people in the armed forces and others are being railroaded dishonestly for doing their jobs, or just being on the wrong side of the philosophical spectrum, or maybe just convenient vehicles for people to play political games.

So, you fear competition, Times? Too bad. Practice some objectivity yourselves and maybe life will get better.

Norton Buffalo, he left and I didn't even know

Oct 30, 2009, Norton Buffalo , I can't seem to say died, I suffer from magical thinking and mystology, and in his case, mistology, he ceased life on this plane. He was a great harp player and composer. Some of my favorite stuff is on the albums with him and guitar wizard Roy Rogers. Not the Dale Evans cowboy.

They did several albums together. Slideways is a great one. Norton did some of the scores for Garfield and Charlie Brown. Who knew? And guess what? He was not quite as old as I am. I envy lives well lived. I'm convinced I don't know how to do that. In the mean time I try not to lie cheat steal or otherwise cause trouble. That's why I don't drink. That was the sort of disaster which eludes you somewhat until you can clearly look back at it. Or get thrown out of places or lose friends cars and money, and maybe your soul. Sorry, just how it goes. I may not have ever lost anything, but think I did.


I'm sorry to see Norton go.