Shifting Gears

Hi Everybody! 

Lately I have been on a kick of national and international news events on my blog. As if anyone ever reads it.  In any event, there is a lot happening locally that needs my attention. Construction on I-5, layoffs at Boeing and Microsoft, poorly behaved dogs in my building, nocturnal fire drills in my building, poorly behaved dogs at the dog park, etc. All sorts of fun stuff. 

I think I am going to go after something near and dear to my heart. Public decency. I am not talking about public nudity, or saying bad words, I am talking about the rotten miscreant that pulled the fire alarm at 0208 on Monday morning.  Not only is this illegal, but it trains residents of said building not to trust the fire alarm. We have already had nocturnal alarm malfunctions, we do not need malicious mischief. 

As a person trained in fire safety, I always respond to an alarm. I evacuate or investigate, depending on my capacity at the time.  People in my building do not share the same paradigm on fire safety. Several people I spoke with said they are not going to leave next time an alarm goes off. I told them to evacuate whenever an alarm is heard, but 3 night time false alarms has enorced negative reactions to a serious subject.  Fires can and do happen. Responding to a false alarm can leave you an hour shy on sleep the next day, but not responding to an alarm can leave you dead. 

Now, back the subject of the rotten son of a bitch that pulled the alarm. I know you were probably drunk and thought it was a funny idea, but with the number of people you inconvenienced and terrified, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.  Eroding community trust is not a particularly noble claim to infamy. I hope you learned your lesson. Pissing off hundreds of people by being a childish jackass is not something you want to put on your resume. I hope you get caught.

Polygamy, Big Love

In the theocracy we know as the State of Utah, there is a group fighting for their rights. They are not fighting for gay marriage, or same sex unions, but plural marriage, a practice that was banned in the United States in order for Utah to attain statehood.

In any event, a group of fundamentalist Mormons wants to reinstate the legal practice of polygamy, which operates in a legal gray area.  As long as they do not engage in child marriage or sexual abuse of minors, the "authorities" will not prosecute. Ric Cantrell and Mark Shurtleff have decriminalized polygamy in Utah.  

Now, another twist in the scenario is the fact that certain groups in British Columbia have been pushing to legalize plural marriage. It is not just fundamentalist Mormons, but also fundamentalist Muslims pushing for this new protection.

The question we have to ask ourselves, is why, in Western Society, should we tolerate this. Not from a moral perspective, but from a fairness perspective. Especially where taxes and services are concerned. If a man is married to 3 women, and he has children with all of them, what are the odds that he will have an appropriate tax burden to pay for the services that his offspring consume? Even if they go to home school, they are using our roads, our parks, and our libraries. The odds of a religious fundamentalist like these individuals paying enough into the system to defray the cost of their procreation is slim at best. This really goes in the face of same sex couples who can't even get on each other's insurance in a lot of states. (most of them don't have kids to suck up public services) Or even unmarried men and women. 

This is a preposterous notion, just because a state does not have the resources to prosecute people who scoff their laws does not mean that we should allow this practice. 

Mexico

In recent news, Mexico is having an internal war. This is a war about drugs. It is a war about who gets to sell drugs into the United States. In order to have a good war, you need guns. Guns are not legal in Mexico, so only the bad guys and the "military" have them (bad guys are often and the military are not always mutually exclusive in the 3rd world). The firepower it takes to have a serious drug war though, is allegedly available in the United States, across the border in Arizona and Texas. One only needs an Alien Firearm Registration to purchase a gun in those states. 

The powers that be in Mexico are throwing a fit because the guns are finding their way across the border and into the hands of the Narcos. Sounds like Mexico needs to step up its border procedures. The answer is not to restrict fire arms sales to American Citizens. That is an abrogation of our rights. 

Mexico needs to get its shit together. I believe it is a sign of naivete or willful disregard on the part of the Mexican government when narcotics traffickers can field armies of 100,000 troops.

I understand that the US has an insatiable appetite for drugs, and if there was no demand, this would not be a problem, but 80% of the worlds commodities are traded every day without violence, so honestly folks, find a better way. 

In a nation where 800 people a day flee the country illegally, is it any wonder that sectors of the population are turning to the transportation and production of illegal substances? Especially when the economy in said nation is less than stellar? 

Now, there is a way that us Americans can affect the situation, and it does not involve violence or curtailing our rights as citizens. It is fairly simple. Buy organic, fair trade, or locally produced drugs. As consumers, we have a choice. Speak with your wallet. 

All kidding aside, banning American guns will be a drop in the bucket. First of all, if you are running a major drug pipeline, I assume you could probably find a way to buy guns from arms dealers who deal in quantity. You might even be able to cut down your overhead if you bought directly from the underemployed military officials in former Soviet satellite nations. 

The simple fact of the matter is if Mexico wants to get a handle on this, the demand for drugs will have to be reduced and the Mexican Government will have to take responsibility for its interior affairs. 

If we simply banned our firearms on the whimsy of some questionably stable Latin American government, we would be spitting in the face of American tradition. Americans do not enact restrictive legislation because Mexico tells us to. In addition, if we quit selling guns to Mexican citizens, they would be in an uproar about their civil rights in the US. 

Mexico has a unique symbiotic relationship with the US. Without the US buying its oil and products, and without the capital sent into the country by its American diaspora, Mexico would have a hell of a hard time functioning. 

Mexico also has another factor to remember. They are Mexico. We are the United States. We call the shots in this hemisphere, and it is awfully presumptuous to think that they can just boss us around. Especially with their complete lack of leverage. If we actually shut our borders to illegal aliens, this would lead to a revolution in Mexico. Illegal immigration is a safety valve for Latin America. If your poor and unemployed go somewhere else, they are less likely to start a Marxist revolution and upset your crooked little apple cart.

What I am baffled by is the fact that they are trying to blame us for this whole mess, when a plurality of the Mexican government is on the payroll of the Narcos. Honestly, when you quit taking the suitcases of hundred dollar bills, from the back of a 1992 Ford Bronco in the middle of the desert at midnight, we might take you a little more seriously.

Now, I have an offer for Felipe Calderon, the "President" of Mexico. Pay attention. Quit sending illegal aliens into the US, and we will quit sending guns to Mexico. 

No knee jerk reaction is going to solve this problem.

Crazy Dick

The master of disaster is at it again. Instead of riding into the sunset with his ill-gotten gains, Dick Cheney is now granting interviews. To the media. This is the least popular vice president ever. He is also one of the chief architect in the disaster that we call the Iraq War. 

In his interview with CNN, Former VP Cheney said "No, Rush is a good friend. I love him. I think he does great work and has for years. He's now offered to debate President Obama on his radio show. Hell, I'd pay to see that! It would be interesting to have developed." 

This just goes to show us how little Cheney cares about the United States and the obligations of office.  For a sitting US president to acknowledge a drug-addled miscreant like Limbaugh would be a serious breach in decorum. Now, imagine if the tables were turned, and Rachel Maddow wanted to debate former President Bush when he was in office. Cheney would say some really unpleasant things.

On a certain level, I respect Dick Cheney. His dedication to greed and complete disregard for national welfare show a level of commitment to personal enrichment unparalleled in government.

Even Bernard Madoff, the most prolific thief and con man of the new millennium felt bad about what he did. Mr. Cheney has no regrets. He is the most powerful vice president in American History, and one of the most despicable men in American Politics. 

Now, with his host of failures behind him, he attempts to stand out as an elder statesman and someone that we should listen to, granting sage advice to the American people on prime time. He is a powerful obstructionist, and the American people might start lending him credence, the further we get from his regime. This kind of scenario clings to the old mantra of "Never Forget". The kicker of the situation, is that although the dangerous forces are at bay, and the republican party is in shambles, there are some really sick people working behind the scenes, and I seriously doubt we have seen the last of Dick Cheney.

On the mend?

Although the Dow Jones Industrial Average is not exactly a terrific indicator of the overall strength of the economy, it is a generally accepted good thing when it goes up. Today that fat bastard went up a whole 3.91 points. 100 miles an hour with our hair on fire. Anywho, it is better than nothing. I would rather hear about the DJIA than that silly woman with the litter of babies. 

I am not going to go out and say the stim-pack is responsible for this, but the possibility of a brighter future might be a factor. Even though there is a huge gap between Wall Street and Main Street, America likes to see a healthy measure of trading volume, and this might be what it takes for some of the rich who actually have liquid assets to start moving them around, thereby generating wealth. That would be nice to see. 

What would be nicer to see is a slowdown or stop to the rising unemployment rate, and more Americans going back to work. That is a tough deal, because unemployment rates follow the back end of the stock market, people who are involved in that kind of stuff like to make their money before they put anyone back to work.

Or I could be totally full of it, and things will start their trek downward again tomorrow. 

Hot Damn

Kudos to Gov. Gregoire. She just allocated some money to fix some state roads. 341 Million Dollars. I know it is a drop in the bucket compared to what it would take to get Washington's roads up to snuff with actual American Highway standards, but it is better than nothing.  The detioration of the roads and highways in the Evergreen State is deplorable.

The good news is that this bill will improve some roads and streets, and create some jobs in the mean time.  It will mean inconvenient construction, but everytime I smell road tar, I think that it smells like money!

The infrastructure in the state is crumbling, and the plans to fix it are fairly short. No one has a viable solution to the viaduct problem, and the potholes grow every day.  This is only a small step in the right direction. 

KFC Shenanigans

This is the funniest thing I have ever heard on the radio. It is also an example of gullibility, failure to follow manufacturers instruction and blind faith.

In Manchester New Hampshire, a call was received at the local KFC. The caller identified themselves as a senior operations vice president and instructed the manager of the restaurant to discharge the dry chemical fixed fire fighting system as a drill. The manager of the store proceeded to follow the callers instructions. Next, the caller instructed the manager to evacuate the store and proceed to strip naked in the parking lot. The workers and patrons complied. (Early March in NH, got to be cold.) Next the caller instructed the manager to have the patrons and workers urinate on each other to detox after the dry-chemical dusting. This is where reports get fuzzy. Some reports say that the individuals peed on each other, and other reports say that this is where the jig was up. I choose to believe the former. 

Police and firefighters arrived on the scene and the workers were taken to the hospital for treatment. Needless to say, the victims of the prank were unavailable for comment. 

Now, exposing people to hazardous chemicals is a terrible thing to do, but honestly folks, there are warning labels on the fixed fire fighting apparatus that say to only discharge in an emergency. They are there for a reason. Also, when someone asks you to do something dangerous and possibly illegal, one ought to ask a few questions. This is a case of someone doing something clearly wrong (the caller) and a lack of moral courage to question a seriously stupid directive.  Did any bells ring when the caller asked to dump the fire extinguishers, did it come into any one's mind that those systems are inspected and tested periodically by licensed individuals? I feel bad for the people that were injured, and I think the prank caller is a dick, but this should teach us all a lesson. Verify identity before you do something you will regret.

The Face and Brain of the New GOP

Congratulations GOP. You have been hovering around the bottom for a couple of years, and now you have finally found it. Your heart and soul is embodied by a man so vile that Pat Robertson thought he should shut his noise hole. Rush Limbaugh was the obtuse herald of the Neocon Revolution that flew in the face of one of the greatest periods of prosperity America ever had. 

Now he is being an obstructionist to the rebuilding of America. 

Last time I checked, Rush Limbaugh was the guy that abused opiate based painkillers and went deaf, requiring cochlear implants that he wears to this day. 

He has been married 3 times, and was caught attempting to smuggle Viagra out of the Dominican Republic where he went for sex tourism. 

Although he is regarded as one of the greatest radio talk show hosts of all time, my question to the right wingers is this: Do you think you should trust a guy who flunked out of college after his freshman year and could not pass a ballroom dancing class? He did get a letter from former president Ronald Readan when Clinton vanquished incumbent Poppy Bush. Reagan congratulated him for all he had done for the conservative cause. Reagan was also hip deep in Alzheimers and HW lost. Great job Rush.  

The kicker is that there are a lot of people who take this tool very seriously. These allegedly "moral" conservatives take policy advice from tarnished soul criminals like Limbaugh and Karl Rove. I don't know, apparently, anger, petty greed, hatred and hypocrisy really strike a chord with folks.