Climate Change and Mankind

We've had climate change a long, long time.  Its called weather.  It changes daily.  In fact, its almost impossible to forecast what it may do in two days much less two years, or two centuries.

Planet earth has been here a long, long, long time.  Much longer than mankind.  If the lifetime of earth was represented by the height of the empire State Building in New York City, then mankind's lifetime would be represented by the thickness of a thin dime atop the building.  There's little mankind can do to alter the pulse of Mother Earth.  She has a way of absorbing and cleansing herself from volcanic eruptions that spew mega tons of ash into the sky, earthquakes that rip gigantic holes in the seams of earth, and from man made oil wells that spew millions of barrels of oil into the oceans.  She is much more adaptive than man.

Climate change is not the greatest danger to mankind.  It is mankind itself.  Mankind will obliterate itself from the face of earth when some mad evil person finds a way to destroy it all in the name of some imagined passion, and Mother Earth will just belch and move on.  

End of War

Obama  announced the end of war in Iraq by withdrawing all the troops.  And, he is declaring the end of war in Afghanistan this year by the withdrawal of American troops by year end.  He stated we are not loosing the war against ISIS.

How naive can a person be!  By "not loosing" does that mean winning?  I hardly think so.  Withdrawal is not the ending of war.  That's retreat.  War ends only when the enemy is defeated.  Its the enemy that determines the end of war by giving up and surrendering on the terms of the victor.  Think WW II with the Nazis and Japanese.  Ending is not paring down our military to less than bare bones like Obama is doing.  That's insanity.  The single most important function of the federal government is the protection and security of the citizens of the United States of America.

An old Roman saying "If you want peace, then prepare for war" is never more true than it is today.

Welfare Recipients that Riot and Loot

I took this from the Internet.  It is so pertinent and to the point not to share.  Wish I'd have thought of it.  But it has about the chance of a snowball in hell.

We need to establish a new law:
Anyone caught rioting and looting, who is also on welfare, will forfeit their benefits for life.  Instead, we'll redirect that money to the businesses that suffered a loss.

Civil Service?

What ever happened to the concept of civil service by federal employees?

It used to be, many years ago, that federal workers were called "civil servants."  Only the elite of society had the intelligence and acumen to become a civil servant.  They had to take and pass a rigorous test.  They were highly respected not only for their intelligence, but their willingness to be servants that served the better good.

I recall that in the small town near where my family lived a young lady who recently graduated from high school went to the state capitol and took the "Civil Service Exam" and passed making her eligible for employment by the federal government.  Everyone was surprised and proud one of their own had achieved such excellence.  The local weekly newspaper even ran a full length story on her and her achievement.  It was not only a proud moment, but one of honor for the entire community.

Today we have federal workers and federal workers' unions.  Once hired by the federal government it is almost impossible to terminate a person for any reason.  Once on the federal payroll a person is 99.9% assured of not only permanent life-time employment, but also automatic pay raises, promotions based on tenure, and benefits such as vacations, sick leave, medical,  retirement, etc. including mandatory attendance at numerous lavish conferences, seminars, etc. that are more like parties, all on the government dole paid for by the taxpayers.  Federal government jobs today have become political and not based on performance.  The path to the top is paved with political instinct and the appropriate political alignment and is fraught with "brown noses."

Its time for a reformation.  Will it happen?  Not likely.  Federal workers are the single largest segment in our society, and they vote. . . . their pocket books.

Shame

If I was president of the United States of America and was being out smarted, out maneuvered, and made to look inept daily by an upstart group of JV ragtag terrorists then I'd be ashamed.  But, then one must have shame to be ashamed.

Obama has no shame.

Dumb Question

I'm no apologist for Jeb Bush.  I'd just as soon he went back to Florida and stayed there.  And, as much as I like Megyn Kelly on FoxNews I think it was a dumb question to ask, "If you knew ten years ago what you know today would you . . . .?"  Shucks, if I knew ten years ago what I know today I'd do a whole lot of thing different.  For one, I'd invest as many dollar$ as I could muster in Hospira (HSP)  at $8 per share.  I bought only 200 shares.  It closed last week at $88.10.   I wouldn't climb up on that ladder I fell off of and broke two ribs.  I'd work less and play more.   I'd be nicer to my wife and more sensitive to her wants and needs and not so much to mine.  Ad infinitum.  You get the idea.

Hindsight is always 20/20.

Rainfall - Trivia

There are 27,152 gallons of water per inch of rainfall on every acre of land surface.  Brenham, the town closest to where I live, has received 23.93 inches of rain from May 1 to May 16, 2015.  That calculates to 649,747 gallons of water per acre.  That's a lot of water, and it is raining today.  The northern part of the county received 5 inches one day earlier this month.  This is more rainfall than we've seen in a number of years.  Not soon enough to save a lot of the big trees from the drought of prior years.  I've lost 12 big (16 inches in diameter or larger) trees from my yard which includes 2.5 acres.  I'm still sawing up fallen and dead trees.

Anyone need firewood?

The Biggest Lottery Winner of All

Obama is well known for saying, "You didn't build that" about successful business people.  The other day he had the audacity to compare successful people as "lucky lottery winners" in life.  He pontificated about them sending their children to private schools and belonging to private clubs while the poor struggled to just get by in life.

Horse pucky! Most poor people in this country live like royalty compared to 90% of the people in the rest of the world.  See my previous post about Cottage Industry.  What audacity to say someone "didn't build that" when he has never built anything.  I would bet my last dollar he can't pick up a 16 oz. claw hammer and drive a straight nail.

And, talk about living like you are a lucky lottery winner.  Nobody is a bigger lucky lottery winner than the Obamas.  They send their kids to private schools.  They fly around every where on the world's most private of all jets.  Barack plays golf on private club courses every where.  They dine and smooze with the elite of Hollywood.  What hypocrites!

They're the biggest lottery winners of all.

Cottage Industries

I have no facts to substantiate this, only my intuitive gut feel, but I think there is an entire cottage industry that has grown up in the community of the unemployed.

There are some 93 million unemployed people.  That number has been fairly constant the past six years.  The question that must be asked is, "How is it these people are able to survive, not for a few months, but for several years?"  Granted many have rightfully received unemployment payments from the government and  in most instances extended unemployment payments.  But, after that, what?  And, what about those people perpetually in some way on several welfare programs?  Though many of these folks need a leg up,  I'm inclined to believe  many have learned how to scam and "work" the system to their advantage.  Thus, they have developed cottage industries whereby their "full-time employment" is actually learning how to fraud the various welfare benefits while not being gainfully employed.  I suspect many of them live well beyond the means of many hard working employed folks.  It is a well know fact that almost all government programs are fraught with fraud, thus the growth of cottage industries to get their "fair" piece of the pie.

Its a serious problem for a democracy when the majority of the people vote not what is best for the country, but what's best for them.

Something or Nothing?

A recent Pew Research poll revealed that fewer Americans have faith and more are either atheists or agnostics.

Something is terribly wrong with our culture.  Its a simple question.  Why is there something instead of nothing?  Look around.  Its obvious there is an eternal force that causes it all to happen.  I don't pretend to know what its all about.  All any of us can do is ask nagging questions that beg for answers.  How can we look at the magnificent design, the complexity, the coordination of  functions of the human body, and even the body of a lowly sea urchin, and not be totally amazed?  How can we look to the sky at the sun, the moon, the earth, the stars, the galaxies and not marvel at the perfection of placement and orbit?  How can we look at a butterfly flitting among blooming flowers and a mockingbird perched on a tree limb singing his heart out and not marvel at the creation of it all?  How can we extol the virtues of evolution and not ask where does the force come from to cause evolution?  How can we trek the face of earth and not have faith in something greater than ourselves?

We don't know what It is, or what It's purpose is, but we do know It is there because there is something and not nothing.

Are We Just a Paper Tiger?

I'm in a real quandary.  I just can't get my head wrapped around this.

Now, here is the United States of America.  Supposedly the most powerful and most influencial nation in the world, and some upstart terrorist organization called ISIS is expanding exponentially running circles around us making us look like fools.  They laugh at us.  They call our bluff at every turn of the hat.  They're way ahead of us by using social media to recruit and expand.  And, what do we do?  Pontificate.  Rules?  They have no rules.  What do we have?  Political correctness and feckless and irrelevant policies.

How does something like this happen?  Where is our leadership?  Isn't there anyone out there, besides Pamela Geller, with the intestinal fortitude to aggressively oppose these ISIS terrorists and put them out of business?  Or, are we just a paper tiger?

Rules of Engagement

Its ridiculous the way armchair pundits on television and Pentagon lawyers that have never  faced an opponent intent on doing them bodily harm espouse politically correct rules of engagement for those that do.  The enemy our soldiers face in a combat situation have no rules of engagement.  The crooks our police engage daily have no rules for engagement.  Its like a football game where one team plays by the rules and the other doesn't.  I can tell you from personal experience it is a hazardous game when one side goes by the rules and the other side has no rules except to do bodily harm.

The police deal with the scum bags of society on a daily basis.  It is almost impossible to handle someone with white kid gloves that exploits any opportunity to do harm to the cops.  They will pull a knife.  They will take the cop's firearm if possible.  They will resist.  They will spit, kick, bite, slug or whatever.  They will force the police to manhandle them just to get them cuffed and put in the patrol car or paddy wagon.  They will do almost anything to make it appear they were mishandled or seriously injured at the hands of the police so they can launch a lawsuit to collect big buck$.  I suspect that is what Freddie Gray was doing when he carried it a little too far.

I remember an instance years ago where a college professor of criminology taught that the police should be more compassionate toward those they had to deal with.  A seasoned police officer that took his course arranged for him to go through the rookie police academy and work part time as a cop.  The first call on his first night as a rookie was to a domestic disturbance.  The senior office told the rookie professor they made frequent calls to that particular address and he would handle the situation.  The senior cop knocked loudly on the door and shouted "police" then stepped aside.  The man of the house charged out the door like an enraged bull and the senior officer tripped him, jumped on him, cuffed him, dragged him to the patrol car, and threw him into the back seat.   The professor rookie cop was abhorred at the treatment of the guy.  He leaned in to the back door of the patrol car to show some consideration and to ask a few questions.  The guy soundly kicked him in the groin.  The professor rookie cop immediately changed his attitude.

Education and training . . . or Jobs?

Lets see now.  For over six years we've had a black president and a black attorney general.  We have lots of black people serving in various high government offices at all levels.  We have a number of large cities with black mayors.  There is a disproportionate number of black police officers in many police departments.  A number of black sheriffs and chiefs of police head these departments.

So, whats the problem?  Why is there so much strife in the black communities?

The constant lament of the "know-it-alls" on television is we need more education and more job training for the deprived young black men.  Fine.  First, its imperative that these individuals want to be educated.  The old saw that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink is never more true.  So, we educate them.  Then what?  Well, the pundits say we have to have job training for them.  Okay.  We spend mega buck$ on job training.  So, what is the end results?  No jobs.  All the education and all the job training in the world is for naught if there are no jobs to be had.

Maybe its time for a change in our approach to the problem.  Perhaps there should be more emphasis and allocation of taxpayers' money toward proven economic principles that spur the economy and thus create jobs.  Once there is a demand for jobs potential employers will train those willing to work.  The operative word here being "willing."  Since LBJ's Great Society of welfare from the cradle to the grave we've spent trillion$ and the level of poverty is the same today as it was in 1968.  If anything we have more strife in the black communities.

When Confronted by Police

Its simple.  First, do not do anything to give police cause to confront you.   Sometimes it can't be avoided.  If confronted by the police do not run.  Do not resist.  Follow their instructions.  Answer their questions.  If you have done nothing against the law they will release you as soon as that fact can be determined, and will apologize.  When a person runs or resists that raises suspicion and the police act accordingly, and usually someone gets hurt.

Twice in my life time I've been detained by the police and cuffed.  They had every reason to suspect me, but once it was determined I was not the suspect they apologized and released me.

The first time my sweetheart (later my wife) and I had been out on a date.  We returned to her home (she lived with her grandparents) about midnight.  She had a private entrance to her room near the back of the house.  We stood on the steps for quite a long time smooching and saying goodnight.  We saw a patrol car go down the alley flashing a spotlight around.  We didn't think much about it.  I later learned from the police someone had called in a prowler complaint.  When I finally left I ran down the driveway between the houses, across the street, jumped into my car, and drove away.  I'd gone about two blocks when the red lights hit me.  I didn't run.  Didn't resist.  They immediately cuffed me and then asked questions.  They were sure I was the suspect until I asked them to take me to my sweetheart's house and her grandfather would vouch for me.  They did.  Had to roust grandpa out of bed but he vouched for me. They apologized and released me.  Grandpa grumbled a little, but took it in good nature.

The second time I was in Cumberland, MD on a business trip staying at a motel.  A shopping mall was nearby.  After hours I walked the few blocks to the mall to do a little shopping.  When I left the mall it was dark, misty rain.  I was wearing a raincoat with collar turned up and a cap.  I was carrying a small brown sack with some gift items for my wife and little boy.  I was just outside the perimeter of the mall lights when three police officers confronted me.  I did not run.  I did not resist.  They immediately cuffed me then looked in the brown sack.  Just gift items.  After they looked at my ID and some questioning they released me with apologies.  They explained that I met the description of a man that had just robbed the bank in the mall and had the teller put the money in a small brown sack.