The Choice

To meet our expenses over the last 4 years, we have borrowed 6 trillion dollars including 2 billion dollars a day from China. The total debt 4 years ago was 10 trillion. It's now 16 trillion. This isn't good, we can't continue this without going bankrupt. Unemployment remains at over 8% and over the last 4 years the number of people receiving social services has increased over 50%. If we go bankrupt, no one will receive social services.

Option 1)  President Obama says if we maintain the policies established over the last 4 years, the economy will eventually recover. People are hurting, so more social services are needed and this will cost more. We have to increase taxes to cover 1 trillion a year and the cost of additional social services. To increase tax revenues taxes should be increased on the "rich". Since what is meant by "rich" is not defined, we will have to wait and see how low on the income level we will have to go to raise the required revenues. Furthermore, he has not delivered a budget or signed one the entire time he has been in office. There are no set policies defined, so this is tantamount to saying if we continue to drift aimlessly and borrow lots of money, things will get better.

Option 2)  We have to decrease taxes on the middle class to increase jobs which will decrease the need for social services. Giving money to the unemployed is like giving a man a fish. Using the money to create jobs is like teaching a man how to fish. Like any business or family, we have to cut back. If we can't afford something, we can't have it no matter how much we may want it. Borrowing it from China is deceptive, cannot continue and dangerous to our national security.

In some ways, money is very similar to energy. Energy cannot be created or destroyed. When energy is used to lift a heavy object, the energy is transformed to another form of energy known as kinetic energy. The kinetic energy in water that has been lifted to a higher elevation can be used to generate electricity as it passes through turbines built into dams.

Most exchanges of money cause something to be produced. We work (produce things, which can be a service) in hopes of getting money for our work, and others produce hoping we will give the money we received for our efforts to them to get what they have produced. Taxes and social services inhibit this process and result in less production, less jobs and less prosperity.

Government is like the overhead expenses we all deal with. It is necessary, but we should try to minimize it. The exchange of money going to the government as taxes does not always result in a consumable item being produced or a desired service being rendered. Often, it finds it's way into the pockets of the power hungry in an exchange that does not produce anything of value. When the government gives that money to the unemployed, individuals receive money without producing. This is an inefficient use of money. Though it may be necessary for a short term, it needs to be addressed correctly to reduce the inefficiency.

As a people, we can't consume more than what we produce. There is no such thing as a right to have things except in misconception. We can redistribute what is available and ensure all are equally deprived, but it is better to take advantage of unused resources (the unemployed), reduce the inefficiency in overhead (government) and make more available, so all who work can receive more abundantly.

The choice is, do we encourage inefficient productivity and divide the meager amount produced equally, or do we encourage efficiency to produce more so there is more available to be shared. It's true that this will result in some having more than others, but this process has created the most affluent nation on earth with the largest middle class in history. Even the poor in our country are considered wealthy by the truly poor in other countries, and the poor in other countries do not have realistic opportunities for self advancement. We take this for granted.

The promise to divide things equally is empty. No nation in history has eliminated the poor or the wealthy. Redistribution has always taken from one group and made another group rich. The cost of the empty dream has always been freedom.

Unions require company employees to belong to the unions. Employees/union members, are required to pay dues in order to work. Theoretically, the unions are supposed to benefit the workers, but studies show their benefits are no greater than non-union work places. It can be argued that the non-union companies have to pay higher wages to get employees who would otherwise work at unionized companies. This may be true. While the debate is focused on this issue, it is overlooked that the union leaders are made wealthy. They are making many times more than the union members and they are using the union members money to fund candidates the member may not support. They use the members dues to gain power and enrich themselves, while the member has additional requirements to live by.., less freedom.

When the government sets out to ensure equal distribution, it does so by taking from those who have worked to improve their circumstance; equal distribution is a policy that guarantees that no one can excel.., except those managing the distribution.

This November there will be an election and we will make the choice. The choice is the empty promise of something for nothing.., but freedom, or the opportunity to work for prosperity.

Fantasy Football Will Save Us

The first half of the last century was a time when a nation could go about minding it's own business and other countries could get into a fight, start a world war and suck that nation in, like it or not.

Times changed. In the second half of the last century, a nation could go about minding it's own business and other major nations could get into a fight and blow up the world, including that nation. Fortunately, the major nations were rational and mutually assured destruction was enough to insure no destruction.

Times continue to change. It is generally assumed that Israel has nuclear weapons. There is also no controversy that Iran is getting closer in it's efforts to build nuclear weapons, so Iran's position towards Israel is alarming. In an address at the United Nations today, September 24, 2012, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad referred to Israel as a fake regime that will be eliminated. Nothing new here, he and fellow leaders in his regime routinely state their objective to wipe Israel off the map.

Question: If you're Israel, what are you thinking as Iran get's close to having the weapons it needs to make good on it's threat to destroy you? Maybe, self preservation?

Continuing, we are very close to living in a time when a nation can go about minding it's own business and a religiously fanatical regime that isn't rational by other's standard (very rational by their own) can attack another smaller nation and start a war that blows up the world, including the nation that's minding it's own business.

Recently, Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu was in the U.S. and requested if possible, to meet with President Obama. Israel projects that Iran is only six months away from reaching it's nuclear objective. Not surprisingly, Israel's concern is whether or not it can count on the U.S. and if so, what united position the U.S. and Israel can present to Iran.

Question: If you were Israel, would you wait until Iran has the same weapons you have before you act for your self preservation?

Perhaps an understanding of the situation illustrates how completely inept and unqualified President Obama is for the job he currently has. His concern is that Israel is trying to influence him and he will not be influenced by "outside noise". Unfortunately, the President didn't have an open spot on his calendar, but the good news is he was able to make his scheduled photo-ops with Jay-Z and Beyonce.

That outside noise is the alarms going off that we are in greater danger off being plasmatized by a nuclear holocaust than we have been since the Cuban Missile Crisis. The very reason we are at the brink is because the President hasn't had a competent foreign policy.

If Israel decides they can't depend on the U.S. they won't make a public announcement and publish their decision to attack Iran. They will just do it! Again, as with so many other issues, Obama will be quick to point out it's not his fault, he didn't know anything about it. He's very believable when he says the second half of his standard excuse because he truly is ignorant. That's the problem!

Iran is a problem, but that's not new. Do you know where the president stands on the issue of Iran getting nukes? He's had plenty of time to decide and let Iran know with authority what we are willing to do for OUR SELF PRESERVATION! Do you know anything specific of what his intentions are? We all know what his dream is.

Does anyone know any specific details of how he intends to pay for his dream? The rich are going to pay for it? Okay, specifics please, has he defined who the rich are? People who make over $50,000/ yr., $100,000/yr., $1,000,000/yr., what??? He never says what! Can we stop chasing the dangling carrot long enough to ask for some specifics? He's been in office 4 yrs. and specifics are suppose to be his advantage over his challenger!

Of course, here in the U.S. we aren't very knowledgable about what's going on in the real world. There is only so much time in the day and so we have to make the tough decisions and decide what's most important. We have discerned the value of the NFL and the devastation to the game being wreaked by replacement refs. Can't they do something about that??? It's throwing the stats off and messing up our fantasy football leagues. You see, we know all the subtle nuances of fantasy football and that's going to save us from being plasmatized.

Bricks & Mortor

I am a law abiding citizen. I believe in obeying the law. To illustrate, the 2nd Ammendment specifies the right of citizens to own guns. The Constitution specifies a way to change this if the people so desire. If an ammendment was promposed to rescind the 2nd Ammendment, I would vote against it, but if it passed, I would obey it even thought it's not what I would want. (This post is not about gun ownership. This was given sloley as an example.) Laws are the bricks of our society. They encapsulate our values and organization. The commitment of the paople in our society to obey the law is the mortor that holds the bricks together. When that commitment is lost among the people, the mortor detiorates and crumbles. Though the building still stands, it's strength is an illusion. It is severely weakened and will tumble when it is faced with the quake of a challenge. When an individual, or group of individuals, decide to circumvent the legal processes specified and use whatever other means they have to get what they want.., no matter how sincere or right they may think they are, they become a threat to our society! Everyone believes they are right. For one to conclude that they know better what is good for our country than others and therefore they are justified to bypass the processes specified is an act of extreme arrogance and disrespect to their fellow citizens. They demonstrate their disbelief in and become an enemy of the democratic process. They expose their prejudice and closed mindedness. They attack the glue which binds our society together. Their vision of a glorious possibility is a myopic self deception. If the people as a whole thought such as they, anarchy would rule supreme until such time that an order could be established and adhered to!

Starting With Small Annoyances

Maybe five, maybe ten years ago, I decided to stop venting verbally around the house. It was easier than I thought it would be. I kept my mouth shut and didn't say anything. Of course, it didn't accomplish much and I didn't really fool anyone. I'm full of anger, I'm wound tight and they know it. I'm not a dangerous schizoid. I'm not a physically dangerous person at all. I don't shout and scream. No one feels unsafe around me, but don't let this fool you. I am a monster, systematically destroying one specific victim.., myself.

I hate me and often wish I didn't exist. I haven't thought about suicide, so there is no cause for concern there. I really do believe in a life after this one, so suicide would just make things worse. I would still have to face reality with the addition of my own premeditated murder. Now if I was given the choice to have God blink and, "poof", I'd be gone.., there are way too many times I'd vanish right there and then.

I've always been taught, and have believed, that God loves all equally, but as I've gotten older, it seems more and more clear to me that some are more equal than others. I recognize that I personally have it good. I should be happy, but the very foundation of what I believe has a crack and the structure of my beliefs is collapsing unless I can find an answer. The irony is, the rate of collapse is controlled by me and my obsessive thinking about the problem.

There was a reason my effort to just shut up didn't work and it's the same reason I haven't been able to decrease the rate of collapse. They both require me to let go. I have tried many times to identify the big things that are bugging me and let go of them and I have failed just as many times. Being the genius that I am, a couple of days ago (in my mid fifty's - okay I'm slow), it occurred to me that I'm starting on the big stuff. I should start on the small stuff and start developing the ability to let go and work my way up to the big stuff.

I was in my car at the time and decided that I was going to start letting things go when I drive. There are a lot of idiots on the road and if you let them, they'll cut you off, they'll take cuts ahead of you.., they'll take advantage of you.., and this kind of thinking is killing me. Besides, I'm usually one of the ones doing it because I'm in a rush because I'm wound up so tight.

When our first child, John, was just a baby, I was home alone with him one evening and he wouldn't stop crying. Then things hit critical mass. I lost it. I held him up and against the wall for a short moment and looked at him and realized what I felt like doing. Next I brought him into his room, set him into his crib, went into my room and started praying. Later, I told Sandy that I wanted to put him to bed every night. Every night I would hold him as he cried and I would practice relaxing as I sang songs to him. Eventually, his crying didn't bother me. With him and the three that came after I learned to accept the noise and messes and other behaviors of little kids. They really don't bother me, that's just what little kids do. When I hear them cry, I have an instinctive urge to start bouncing up and down and softly sing.

It's scary to realize I know why people shake infants. Right now, the other thing I've got to remember is that with practice I can change. ... But letting go of my road rage? And don’t get started on the big things like the Bozos in DC!!! Neither party has a monopoly on corrupt liars!

Valentines Day

A friend posted this ananymous quote on her facebook wall today: "Anyone can catch your eye, but it takes someone special to catch your heart." ~ Author Unknown. It prompted me to write the following book as a "comment" in response. Fortunately for me, she is a beautiful, patient and tolerant person. "True statement, but there are a lot of special people in the world. I don't know why, but Sandy fell head over heels for me and she let everyone know it. She is the type that didn't see how many she could get to like her. She picked out one and that was it. Being a typical guy (a walking talking hormone), I wasn't about to pass by someone as drop dead gorgeous. It was beauty and the beast. I didn't know why she liked me and she didn't match all the things on my list (the list of requirements singles have for the right person), but I wasn't about to blow this because she was HOT! (I confessed I was the typical guy jerk.) ... By no skill of my own, I got extremely lucky! ... About 6 yrs after we were married, I over heard two singles comparing their requirements list and I noticed I felt uncomfortable. Then I realized that I didn't love Sandy because she met the items on my list. For the most part she didn't, but those lists are born in naïveté. I loved her for her dreams, what she wanted to be and how she treated people. Since that realization, more and more I've realized how many beautiful women there are! (I hope this doesn't come out wrong. I've always been faithful to her.) As I look back, I can even see how beautiful some of the girls I dated were, but I didn't see it because I was an ignoramus with a list. Sorry, I'm writing a book to say it takes a special person, but there are lots of special persons." I replicated this here because I have often reflected upon that moment. To me, that was a significant realization, but there is an irony in it. Now I realize I dated some very beautiful women before I met Sandy. If I had realized this sooner, we probably would not have met. There are some blessings in ignorance. A further irony is that while I realize my luck and love tonight, I feel compassion for beautiful friends who are single, lonely and have a list of what they think would make them happy.

Intrduction

I've always known, or at least felt like I knew, that I was odd. As I've gotten older I've realized most people feel the same and that I usually don't care much for those who don't. I've also come to realize that I can't change and become "normal", whatever that is, but I have encountered others who have accepted this about themselves and progressed from there. They are calm, confident and positive. They are beautiful and attractive to me as people (I'm not suggesting anything that has to do with gender or sexuality). I greatly appreciate their friendship and I want make the same progress. This blog is the diary of your typical, run-of-the-mill lunatic and my journey to learn how to relax and change my focus from worrying about my insanity to genuinely caring about others.