Valley Ain't Dead

Perhaps you've noticed that valley speak is not just for California valley girls.   In the SoCal environment, it took me a few years before I could understand what women under 35 were saying, but I have it almost mastered now.

The downside is that understanding the words doesn't go a long way toward making sense of the content.

Knowing that it is futile to attempt much in the way of understanding, I've settled for mentally cataloging certain characteristics in valley pronunciation and sentence flow.  It is mandatory that a proper valley girl end sentences in a low sort of girl growl.

News women have picked up on this, so it is a bit of a national epidemic.  May as well include flight attendants who aren't satisfied with emphasizing unlikely prepositions and such.  We've got a crisis ON our hands.

And the word "you" no longer rhymes well with the word "who".  You is pronounced "yeow", and is best said at the end of sentences in a fading girl growl.

There are many words like that, but yeow is the best example.  Lots of times the vowel E is pronounced as if it were a A, but that gets tricky.  Example: OK, say whan (when).  The last words of sentences must include both the growl and the vowel butchering.

Conspiracy?   Perhaps.  I suspect the young women are being brainwashed at the tattoo parlor, and the waxing/bleaching salons.  I'm not suggesting any legislation at this point, but beware.

I'm wondering if people practice this accent, then go try it out on their friends at the local night club.   Probably so.

I wonder if this ties in with the whole weapons ban controversy.   Admittedly, at this point the connection is not clear, but few connections are when it comes to legislative feeding frenzies.

Think yeowww.   (thank is another word which must be altered for proper valley speak)
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Adios, Hugo, Guess You had to Go

What concerns me most about the tragic death of a dictator is the impact it will have on his pal and protege, Sean Penn.   Venezuelans must possess more patience than I when it comes to certain things.

yes, the campaigning is fun and we can feel important and better than all the little people we protect

I can't imagine some actor or celebrity from another country riding around with a candidate for president and that not having backlash.  I have a hard enough time when the president of Mexico advises us about how to treat people running from his country.  Not to mention his immigration laws are far more draconian than ours.

I don't know.  Even if I were rich and famous I'd find it more than a bit arrogant to insert myself into another country's political life.  But then, I doubt I'd be a real fan autocrats in any case.

...and then Fidel says, "If that's not a Revolution-sanctioned golf ball, then you get a hole in one; En su cabeza!! boom".  hahahahahaha

This must be the worst day for Sean since they shot Che.


The moral of the story is: even otherwise intelligent people can be complete idiots.   Celebrities, by nature, want to be liked, so many of them come off like parrots playing the role that wins peer approval.   There's a snowball effect.   Sean, though, really seems to believe ruthless theft or murder, for an, allegedly, ultimately benevolent cause is OK.

He always manages to hang with the more equal people when he visits these wonderful egalitarian dictators.

Iditarod Justice

...because sled dogs need a good lawyer




...
.Probably not affiliated with earth justice; because the earth needs a good lawyer.  I see a day when we will face off in court

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Why Stay; or Go? California dreaming

If I were even slightly in the mainstream of authorized life, I'd probably leave this state.  If you are rather wealthy, or not even on the scale, it works out OK.  The in-betweeners are screwed.   They try to screw the nebulous entity know as "the rich", but have only met with mild success.  If one has no tax specialist on retainer, I guess times are tough.  I don't know.

In my case, I lucked into the right place at the right time, and for now I see no better option.  So, I stay put.

The latest in California political buffoonery, if you don't count Maxine Waters claiming that "the sequester" will cost more jobs than exist in this country, is the plan to raise the tax on gasoline.   Why? Because people aren't buying a much as they expected them to when they set the last gasoline tax.

This is a state in which you often find specific parking places, up front by the handicapped spots, set aside for hybrid vehicles.   Yes, we reward you in you can afford a hybrid car.  

The hybrid perks are supposed to encourage being green and using less fuel.  Whether that all pans out when one considers various aspects of carbon footprint is not commonly explored.   I don't think it is anyone's business, but I'm in another universe, obviously.

So, go green, ride your bike, don't drive, great white sharks are people, too, welcome to California.

By the way, since you people are not using enough gasoline, we are going to raise the tax on it.  I guess they first used changing behavior as the rationale for upping the tax, and now they openly complain that they want more money because people changed their behavior.

In the long run, many of us will drive less, buy even fewer gallons of gas, experience even higher prices, and finally give up and move to Utah or somewhere.

This causes me to conclude that all the talk of wanting the leetle peeple to use less gasoline, drive less, etc., had nothing to do with environmental concern, but rather control and "revenue".   The revenue part is ever enough, so now they will punish the frugal for budgeting their automobile use.

If I were just a little bit closer to the border, it would make sense to buy gas in Arizona.   I don't trust the Mexican options over that border.  Besides crossing the border is too much trouble.  Search this and search that, and can't bring guns in case the Mexican police or gangsters (which is which?) decide to kidnap or kill me.

Already the highest prices in the US.  I thought I'd hit a real bargain yesterday when it was only 429.9 for a gallon of regularo.

What I do like about where I live is that I do not experience the harassment of gimme dollah guys like in Memphis.  There was almost nowhere you could go that you weren't bothered there.  Especially if you looked a little like me.  Four, five, six times a day if many errands were to be run.

Unlike some more urban areas, out here we don't have great herds of people clamoring for money or power under some mass ethnic hypnotic spell.   That is the advantage of more sparsely populated areas.  People do what they do and mostly shut up.

You still have riffraff, but they don't run things.  In town, the tweekers and criminals pretty much run the show, wear the badges, and cut the ribbons on crooked crony projects.

I'm not sure I could ever live in a more urban area again.  Especially the way the culture is trending.   It must be hard to continue the big pretense in those places.

We in CA are leaders.  Maybe if gas is so expensive in your state that you find ways reduce consumption, you too will be rewarded with additional per-gallon taxes.  It's for the children, I think.  Or maybe it is for Moonbeam's high speed rail to and from places which draw no riders.

We Are The 2%; this is what demagoguery looks like

Numbers are not that complicated, provided you are not associated with government and don't do business with them or a variety of credit card companies.

It puzzled me that all the sequester talk in DC involved discussions of cutting back Coast Guard activities by 25%, leaving ships in need of refueling, and the public without police protection (somewhat of an oxymoron in most cases), fire department services, and a host of items for the children. So, I put pen to paper to see how much of a chunk was really involved.

There is probably no way to be accurate, but close enough for government work.  After all, didn't they lose dozens of billions of dollars in Iraq?   I mean literally lose it.  They don't know where it went.   No one can account for it.

What I hear is that this latest crisis involves 85 billion in cuts to overall expenditures of 4 trillion.  If that is right, we are talking roughly 2.1 %.  Two percent.

Couldn't that be accomplished better by cutting all non-urgent studies funded by the feds, all salaries of Pres. VP and Congress---or at least their healthcare and other perks?  Maybe just cut foreign aid for awhile?

Cut off the ATF and DEA altogether.

It is a joke.  One of the dumbest, biggest scams ever.  Welcome to BigBrother/BigSister Land.

A self made crisis designed to force through a budget no one likes and "raise revenue"(higher taxes = higher prices no matter who you gouge).  A hoax which further sends us into utopian beehive.  To me, the Dystopian beehive.

                            Don't worry, be happy. Celebrate


I've thought about it and concluded that under the philosophies espoused by both Republicans and Democrats, the end result is inevitably totalitarianism.  Neither understands the difference between being a subject of the state, and a free citizen of a place.

Also neither grasps the fact that plain old democracy does not promote freedom.  I hear the word "democracy" thrown around as something holy, but it is not so benevolent if you are in the minority.  At best, it involves imposing the will of the majority on all.   It comes back to haunt you. Mob rule. Neck tie party..

It is also a widely spread misconception that our only rights are those listed in the Bill of Rights when, in fact, all natural human rights not expressly forfeited to government and prohibited by law are guaranteed.  But, then one needs to understand the difference between a right and an entitlement to grasp that notion.

Natural rights don't need enumeration.  Restrictions on those rights do.  The Bill of Rights was designed to ensure that means of countering power happy types could in no way be abridged.

A right does not require involuntary action on the part of others, and doesn't interfere with their right to conduct life as they see fit.  You have a Right to a house if you can build or pay for it.  You cannot require it provided and call that a right.  Sorry FDR, Jimmy Carter and your philosophical progeny.

At worst democracy involves a forced equality, as in a communist state.  Of course, some are always a little more equal--like elected officials who travel with armed guards while proposing rules which make it tough for a citizen to protect him/her self.   Mayor Bloomberg, and Sen. Feinstein are two examples.

Majority rule within very narrow limits on its power over the individual is about the best tool, provided it doesn't step on the individual's rights.  But it mostly is used to elect representatives who then vote on behalf of their people.  We're a republic.  Sort of.  Supposedly limited by a charter called a constitution. Only way known to slow the inevitable power grab.  Pretty much down the tubes, but not totally.

People aren't ready for it.  I hear of those who want to regulate more and more in the realm of private choice.  What can you do when coyotes are people, too, and the earth has a fever?

We'll figure ways around them.  People always do.  That is what made some of the old movies so fun--rebels sneaking by the Nazis or pulling one over on them, like in Casablanca.  

Gives us something to look forward to.  There is always a sense of purpose and satisfaction when one decides to overcome oppression and nasty odds, knowing it is the right thing.   Self-respect comes from choosing not to be a part of a jackboot monster, or cruel gang.

It is quite remarkable that such high stakes chicanery exists, let alone receives respect as if it were at all legitimate.

There must be something I'm too stupid or lazy to understand about this.  It is difficult to filter through the histrionics to find the facts and bottom line numbers.  Underlying view of societal organization is still the real culprit.

Maybe authoritarian rule repulses me so much for perverse reasons; it gives me something against which to contrast my own beliefs.  By doing so, maybe that reinforces my own sense of self.

I do believe that humans exerting power over others by force, when some form of self defense can't be cited, is against reason and decency.   I also believe that, even today, many would gladly enslave others if it were possible and acceptable.   And I believe minorities are at least as likely to accept such an offer, maybe moreso, as whomever is considered the majority.

Just the way it is.  In the mean time, I hope to get rich before becoming an insurance outlaw, forced to go live on the lam, finding medical care in back alley veterinary clinics.
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How To Make Best Potatoes Ever

Remember, I'm cooking on a glorified 2 burner hotplate.  If you have a normal stove, medium heat is probably OK.

First take two potats, slice long ways down the middle, Rotate 90 deg. and do it again, then cut cut cut into small pieces--not too thick.   I hate those places that offer french fries which are like half a potato each.  Lots of people have no clue what to do with spuds.

I don't bother peeling because I'm lazy.  I wash them and hope it gets most of the pesticide off.  Hell, in this state anything that keeps pests away from plants and humans is illegal anyway.

OK, pile the cut up potatoes on a plate, nuke it in the microwave for 2 minutes while the big frying pan is heating up.   But first, sprinkle some La Chinata--that hot paprika---on them.

Put some oil in the pan, just to cover the bottom.  Throw some regular paprika in there, along with a sparing amount of the Good Hawaiian salt--the red clay stuff.  Just a pinch or two.  And a cafeteria size pad of butter.  Not the size of a cafeteria, the size used in cafeterias.

The pan is hot--I always have a lid on it.  Remove the lid so you can now dump in the potatoes.   Failure to do so will result in junk all over the lid, and bad karma.

Now, pour in some half and half.  Put the lid on and thinly slice cheese of choice. I like cheddar.  Lay the very thin slices on the potatoes.   Do I have to remind you to remove and replace the lid every time?  Good, didn't think so.

Go boot up the computer and pull up your email.  Go back and put in some more half and half after scooping the mess up with a spatula and turning it over.  It will have a brown skin on the bottom  Got to get under that.  It is not to stay there.

You may be cooking other things at the same time--peas, salmon, who knows.  I never cook salmon so whatever.

Throw in a bit more paprika and chinata, if the stuff doesn't already look plenty reddish.    Don't overdo the chinata.  Be sparing. The regular paprika can be added very generously.  Maybe a little more half and half if needed.  Normally one dose at the beginning,  and one when you flip/stir the stuff is sufficient.

At the end of the process, there is little or no evidence of the half and half.  It becomes one with the potatoes.

Delete all the email that you don't feel like reading--ever.  These things take a few minutes.  Unless you have the burner way too hot, it is unlikely you will overcook.

Again, use spatula to lift that brown skin-on-the-bottom part and dump the potato extravaganza on your plate, leaving nothing in the pan.

It is better than any comparable potato dish you'll find at Chef Ramsay's or anywhere else.

You will thank me later if you do this right.   Don't know what kind of spuds I used.  I think it said russet.  Whatever ones are the best bargain, I say.

You say potato and I say whoknowswhat.

Another public service because I care.

It is for the children, our future, to support the troops, to give back to the community...etc.

Please help me pat myself on the back for my selfless generosity--it's all the rage, and has been forever.

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Out and About

Had to cruise around to reset my mojo.

This is about 30 min NE of home.  Mt Laguna area.  I went in from the Lake Cuyamaca side.  I think that is correct spelling.

For some reason, I remembered the time when I came to believe that evil exists.  I mean exists almost like a independent force.  It was there like the wind is there.

Lately I've become less and less inclined to buy into the sort of biblical talk I see here and there.  Some of those people get quite wound up.

Most Catholics I know are fine people, but the scariest, most evil feeling presence I've ever experienced  emanated from a S. Florida holy man at the immigration hearings the senate was conducting around the country around 1990, give or take.  He was higher than a priest, a bishop I think.  I'm not up on the chain of command.

Just remembering it gives me chills and a queazy stomach.  We did not exchange words.  I was part of the furniture, setting up tape recorders in the room.

I did get to hear what people had to say at that time. He wanted all the money that went into dealing with all the Haitians and others that land on Florida beaches to go through his outfit.  He had reasons, but it was very transparent--his play for power and control.  There were several powerful people there--if being a senator ad the like makes one powerful.

Governmental power and privilege I guess.  I could see how it can be addictive and seductive.

That wave of pure evil that followed him around struck me long before I heard a word from him.  It seriously took me by surprised.

I felt it before I turned to see where it was coming from.  I doubt I'll ever forget it.  I've known people who've done horrible things, but I never felt anything from them to compare to this guy's presence.

I know it sounds kooky, ad I suppose it is, but I assure you, it was real.  Not that it matters what you or I think of the issue.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, so they say.  They are right, although the big picture is complex in that regard.  So, no simple pronouncement on churches and holy men would be just or true. It just doesn't quite work that way.

It has left me convinced that there is more to being than meets the eye.  Not sure what brought it to mind.

Life goes on.

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More Than a Haircut

I gave up on the idea of finding a good, inexpensive haircut in SD county.  My first cut here was free.   A good friend of my long time friend, Kathleen---met her when I was 16---runs a shop in Pt. Loma.  It was a grand experience, but it isn't close, and it is not a budget shop.

Every now and then I've gone back and it is always good.  The other hair professionals I've tried just fall short; never feels right after a day.  So, I gave up and decided to let it grow until I couldn't deal with it any more, then go spend the money at Jen's place.

She has become a stand up comic.  I managed to make one of her gigs.  To my surprise, she totally kicked ass.  Smart woman; owns a hotshot hair place and has an increasing schedule of comedy gigs.  It took me by surprise how good she is.  That can't be easy.

Anyway, by coincidence K was there yesterday when I showed up.  It is an appointment kind of place so I was set.  The other workers there are off on Thurs., apparently.  That meant the conversation was not censored.

What an education.  I have no idea how various topics were introduced, however they were mostly of a sexual nature.  Usually I am cognizant of the topics one might hear in discussions of this nature.  Not always.

I had no idea.  How to say it???  Did you know that some people get things bleached, kind of like Michael Jackson skin bleach I guess.  Yes, it is true.  They decide the back door mail slot needs to be less ... darkly pigmented and so they go somewhere to have their button bleached.

The discussion was bizarre.  I was informed that someone I know, who does not live in this state, had it done, and says it really improved her marriage.  Don't ask me.  My guess is that this couple is not what one might call missionary oriented.

For crying out loud, is nature just too cruel?  The under 35 or so crowd seems to think the 7 year old girl look is the bees knees.  And then they wonder about pedophiles.  Some of us view it differently.  However, at my point in life I'll ignore my preferences in these matters just because I'm glad to be there.  I do appreciate some obvious differences between girls and women.  Geez.  I'd be suspicious of guys who demand that look, ladies.  Just a word to the wise.

I can only hope the bugger bleaching doesn't catch on like the defoliating, piercing, and drawing permanent pictures on the skin have.  I like a little bit of nature, even though I guess I prefer some defoliation here and there.  And I shave my face, so I guess I sort of empathize.

It is a matter of taste and personal preference.  Still, that bit about lightening the pigment where the sun don't shine kind of shocked me.  I left feeling like I'd lost a degree of innocence.  I can't wait to get to know someone new and ask about that.

It is a sure fire ice breaker.  "Hey, Baby, have you undergone the paleface treatment on the other side of Baby's belly?"

The haircut feels great.  One of the best in years.  Was it worth discovering this trend?  I still feel pangs for my loss of innocence.  Then again, maybe I'll find out where to take the course and open up a shop. It will, of course, have the obligatory "Parking in Rear" sign.

What to name the place.... whiter than white, Lighter Shade of Pale, Dark Side of the Moon, Light Side of the Moon, Back Door Boutique, Bummer, Bum Deal

It might not be that much fun.

OK.  Better find another plan B for my future.

****caution: a google or wiki search will yield photos.  I'm kind of sorry I did it.  Wanted to be sure they weren't making joke on me.   It is real.  I did not research the matter in depth
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I Should Become Less Radical With Age. Yikes

Holy smoke.   I realized that all the gun talk, the total BS, dog and pony show over the national non-budget, deficit, debt and spending beyond anything a human or machine can track, has caused me to become very close to anarchist.  Except that people tend to define that word in a way which doesn't reflect my view.

Without rulers is closest to my true belief, yet I understand the value of proper governmental function.  I leave charity, rules regarding personal choice and behavior which harms or impedes the life of no others, marriage, and even education off the list of governmental to-do's.

Seriously, all the gun talk convinced me that the law ought to be loosened, and yes,  Piers, I'm OK with a citizen owning a fighter jet, cannon, cannabis plant, still, motorcycle sans helmet, and a machine gun. Hell, the USA has armed people in other countries who are every bit as psycho as the Bloods and Crips.  Maybe moreso.   And recently our own government conducted a sting operation which armed Mexican cartels.  They forgot to include the sting portion of their plan.  Oops!

I've tried to be happy and ignore all this stuff.  No fighting anyone or anything.  Really.  I so want to be more normal and middle of the road.  I've always wanted that, but I've never been able to do it.  It requires too much pretending that what is not right and not true is fine and dandy.   Not that I never ignore reality or always do the right thing.  But then, I'm not forcing others to do my bidding, and don't care to.  Treating them how I'd like to be treated---which is, get out of my life, strangers with guns, badges and law degrees.

Some of my friends who pine for the 60's tell me there is no right or truth.   Everyone's truth is theirs and what is true to you may not be true to me.  My rebuttal that if I place you in the path of a speeding bus, you are doomed doesn't do the trick.  "Not if that is not my reality".   Screw those people.  They just want Woodstock forever.  Hey man, like watch out for the brown acid.  It's a bummer.

Anyway, I believe there is truth and right.  Not always sure what that is, but I do see the results of pretending that obvious realities are not real.

I've only recently become aware of how much republicans, or the ones who have media pulpits, tend to despise libertarians.  Never could figure that out.  You'd think they'd save it for the green party or something.  I think it is because they pretend they want smaller government and all that, but they really just want their logo on the seat of power.

They did as bad as dems at running us into bankruptcy.  Well, almost.  W's worst years financially were with a dem congress, but that is trivial.  Which drunken sailor is the drunkest and spending the most?  And doing the most bullying of innocent bystanders?

And they can't resist getting all righteous about subjects with which the national government has no legitimate business.  Like marriage and personal defense choices; guns.  Not to mention health and pensions.  Abortion.  Good God, you make me want abort my babies and yours.   Again I say, be grateful some of these alleged people are not multiplying any faster than they are.   And they are doing it themselves, as is their choice-right or wrong.

Too late to turn it around, but seriously, this Grand Clearing House of All Things philosophy of governance is disaster.  They've rotted the culture, and made things far worse.  Justified or not, most people feel less safe today than they did in the sixties.   Some of that is the demagogue panic factor---no crisis goes to waste, and everything is a damned crisis; obesity, weather, drugs, guns, un-neutered pets, non-issues to infinity.

Lots of things are problems to one degree or another.  But few of them are made better by throwing tax money and laws their way.  Those who love that stuff simply claim we haven't given enough authority to our lords and masters.  In the case of Jamie Foxx, that would be "Lord and savior."  He thinks Obama is the Second Coming, apparently.

I'm stunned to read comments these days.  It is interesting, if disappointing.  At least there are often three comments in a row on news stories with no name calling and no "lol" or "rofl".  That is so obnoxious in a discussion thread.  Brings out the want-to-punch-you redneck in me.

I don't comment on those sites because you have to sign up and I'd either trigger the ire of internet toughies who aren't sincere anyway, or I'd be preaching to the choir, or I'd end up with someone quoting biblical stuff.

That's the other thing; I've lost almost every shred of respect and tolerance for just about every religious institution known to man.  And I have none for those who want to run around telling me what god or alah have to say, and what they think.   Talk about Hell.  Imagine spending a month stuck in a room with Ayatollah whoever, and a hard core Evangelist, and maybe throw in a Cardinal.  It would sure seem like eternity.

OK.  Maybe if the Rastafarians  included fertility rites, I could hack that faith.  Of course I'd find it tough to accept Haile Selassie's divinity.  But the music is good, and if I have to be stuck with holy rollers, probably best to be totally and forever stoned.  I really do like the music.

Well, I've answered my own question; what to do when it all comes crumbling down and when "the earth's fever" gets worse.  Go be a rastaman on a ganja farm.

If only I could ignore all of it.   Truly they won't allow it.  Insurance.  Is my inherited gun now illegal or am I supposed to register it? Not yet, but people in this state want to require registration of any gun owned.  Something in me resists.  My gut reaction is F*** Off!!  I can't accept the reality that I'm not even close to as free as I think is my right.  I can't admit it by jumping through certain hoops.  Just cannot do it.

I Think Because I Can

The problem humanity has had in forming a society or nation in which citizens enjoy maximum freedom in all regards has not been a lack of democracy, per se.  Quite the opposite in many cases.

In the case of the USA, the erroneous notion that our purpose and lofty goal is to spread democracy has done us no favors.  Pure democracy is doomed for several reasons.  First, unchecked it allows the majority to vote themselves paychecks from the minority.

Other drawbacks to majority rule without limit is that popular whims and ideas change with the wind, and a system which allows swift enactment of the will of the people is bound to regularly restrict rights and punish actions which harm no one.  Not to mention legal theft of property and life itself.

A republic in which authority of government--its rights-is severely restricted, and individual rights are infinite, provided one doesn't impede the right of another is far from a democracy.   It is sick that everyone from Roosevelt to Bush to Obama has fed the democracy lie to the public.  It serves those who know how to work that concept.  That idea's ultimate destination is something akin to a absolutist communist state.   A place where I'm sure I'd forever be a outlaw.

                         parked at work. just a break from this boring bit of truth

What we are experiencing is a form of fool's gold.  Some think they can trust democrats to do the right thing with power, and some think republicans are the ones they can trust.  Any setup which requires the legislator to moderate his own power-lust is not going to yield good long term results.

That was why the US was set up the way it was, with a federal government of very limited powers, especially in the realm of local activities.   I think more limits should have been placed on all government entities, local, state and federal, but they definitely were miles ahead of the rest of the world in giving a glimpse of a civilized, free society.

In light of the fact that the balance of power within the federal government and in relation to the states went to hell long ago, the only way to stop the madness that rules us is to defund it, or let it fall of its own weight.  The unrealistic economic policies and financial management of most governmental entities on all levels may guarantee that.  These practices will certainly retard our development and quality of life to that of many third world countries.   Defunding is the most effective approach, and non-violent, should our lovely populace ever be of a mind to revolt for the right reasons.  Not going to happen, I know, but that is probably the last window of opportunity.  Electronic banking is closing that up rapidly.

Very dangerous construct, considering the lack of restraints on every level of intrusion, control and surveillance.

One perspective might tie up all the ills into one word--corruption.  The trouble is, most activists and people who seek tax money only focus on limited cases of wrong doing, choosing one team to back and one to demonize, even though their chosen team is just as eager to steal money and rights as the other. 

Either people cannot see this, or refuse to look, or value their short term, ill-gotten gains too much to do the right thing.

I'm pretty sure the human race and almost every subgroup therein has not evolved to the point where one can comfortably live and let live.  Who can resist that feeling of power over what your neighbor ingests, how he uses his genitalia,  how he defends himself against intruders and evil doers?   Apparently, a very small minority, at best.

So, I have little hope that the playing field will improve to the point that I see as right.  A day in which I won't be a criminal for not having the prescribed form of health insurance, won't have money taken from my paycheck, with the burden of proof on me to show that, even under their own convoluted rules, they took too much.

Even as I ponder this stuff, I realize that were I significant in any way, homeland security would view such rhetoric as possibly dangerous.  Speech and such are rights which are whittled down daily.   It has been done in the name of the war on drugs, war on terror, and even diversity and bullying.  No longer is it sufficient to prosecute real crimes, but now we consider hurt feelings the result of assault, even at times when all that was expressed was the truth.

It will come back to bite.  When search restrictions were loosened due to idiotic drug laws,  many a NRA member was of the, "If you got nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about" school.  Now they find themselves under attack in the new "war on violence", even though they aren't generally the perpetrators of violence.  But, how many people going through the permanent check points out west are carrying bundles of illegal immigrants or shipping drugs?  They still search you any time they choose. 

Poor NRA. The charlatans who claim they can fix the climate and by proclamation end violent act by mass murderers, took the easy way out.  They know they can't fix anything, but they can reduce the power of individuals, which further empowers themselves, so they declared war on various types of guns and bullet holders.  Mostly the modern stuff which is easier to use.

NRA, wrong place at wrong time, I guess.  How they became the demons of the school massacre,  I do not know.  I thought they had poor spokespeople. But, they must be laughing because their membership shot up dramatically.  I'm not a member, but I don't do much joining. 

I hate to say I told you so, but I did, way back in the 70's.  Like then, people now still believe that selective infringement of rights for some noble purpose will work out.  It never does because the nature of human authority is to expand whenever and wherever possible.   You think a rattle snake will only bite the bad guys?

I've been criticized for not having the solution.  To a degree I do, but those same critics view such ideas as unrealistic.  So do I.   The most effective solutions involve defunding governments, repealing certain amendments, strengthening limits on governmental powers, disallowing the practice of gaming the system with ridiculous and costly lawsuits, ceasing the pretense when it comes to real crime in inner cities and elsewhere, holding parents liable for their nasty offspring, etc.

                                              dreamers

None of that is likely to happen.  For one thing without the politics of race and gender and sexual practices and religion most of the people now in power would be out of luck.   Big, dumbass voting blocks are coveted assets.  Got to keep them dumb and in despair.  Mofos can't keep a budget but they are expert at keeping various groups down, dumb, confused, angry and hopeless, and getting their votes.  Sad and sick.

And who is going to stand on principle risking the abuse of the irs, which, like prisons, everyone knows is abusive beyond anything any tax dollar should support?  Not too many, and those who do are considered nut jobs and not willing to pay their fair share.

Are you happy you paid your fair share to arm lunatics in the mideast?   Did you pay your fair share for the last four or five undeclared wars?  I'm sure you were fully aware of the details, goals, locations and purpose of each protracted military adventure.  Who couldn't support those efforts?  Someone else's life at stake. What the heck.  Charge!!!!

I hope you sleep better knowing you paid your fair share so that people in congress can have pensions and free health care and exempt themselves from various laws which apply to us.

What they are doing now with the sequester pretense is a blatant case of deception.  "If we have to cut any spending, we'll cut needed stuff ignoring the billions of dollars going to duplicate programs, irrelevant studies, and a host of other garbage.  That is to scare people into agreeing that they need to pay more, or at least "the wealthy" do.  Don't be fooled.  No one is exempt from this theft.  Just look at food and gas prices.  It may not be clear but the rise is basically a form of tax.  And who hurts the most from that?   The same fools who fall for the idea that all we need is to tax the wealthy more.

Aside from the fact that you can bleed them dry and still hardly make a dent in funding this behemoth monster, it is just a smokescreen so the same dumb, poor groups will continue to support those whose policies created the crime ridden, irresponsible, hopeless, violent subcultures and communities in the first place.  Fixing that would not be an overnight project under the best of systems.  But that does not justify nurturing the madness.

                                        long term solution to overpopulation

What the hell.  I'm hard pressed to find a democrat who'll admit that Che was a psycho murderer, or a republican who will quit worrying if someone else gets an abortion.  Some things you just have to leave be, even if you think it is wrong.  Yes, I know, rights of the unborn, etc.  It has toes, etc. So, I do not perform or have abortions.  And I'm cynical enough to be grateful that many people do.  Their offspring would be carbon copies of troublesome, sociopathic dimwits who make difficulties for others.  Not the friggin job of the state.  Or shouldn't be. 

I've found many republicans who favor decriminalizing just about all drugs. Since the vast majority is one or the other, even when they call themselves independents, may as well just resign myself to the fact that we are trudging steadily toward a totalitarian's wet dream.

So, I'll just pretend I'm free, try not to say anything that is forbidden, and go on my way.   That may or may not be legal.  Hard to know.  I do not own a helmet, a license to fish or hunt, or a license to seal teak.  Uh oh.  That could be trouble.

the end