4/26/2013

Cloudy Moods Day

On sunny days, I often have a lot more plans than I can get done.  On cloudy days I seem to want to sit inside and ruminate about the things I cannot change.  Here are just a few of the things that bother me.

I thought as a kid there was a reward for hard work and a good education.  I thought that there was room in our economy for everyone to get up off their butt and be something they would be proud of.  I darn sure thought I could be more than my parents, at least in material possessions.  I am not as sure that I am as convinced as I once was.  I see a lot of people being hired a minimum wage and without any benefits.  Just who the hell is going to pay them what they need to retire when the time come?

Last year, I bought a "Toro" faucet splitter for two outside faucets.   At years end, I found they were frozen to the hoses and even with the Big Blue Water Pump pliers I could not get them apart.  I could not even break them apart so I could use the hoses for a different application.  I trusted our Government to make the manufacturers to make things work properly.  This is a failure that goes way beyond their product not working, it had ruined a pair of hoses that cost a lot more than the splitter.  This wasn't done over years, it was probably only a couple of months in the summer.  At least I have the ability to replace the hose end so I can cut the bad splitter off.  Some people can't.

Today there is a lot of talk that the FBI, the CIA and the State Department all had fair warning that the two Terrorists that planted the bombs in Boston were in fact radicalized.   It now seems that in spite of all the extra dollars we have been spending to make the US safer, they haven't done a much better job of talking than they did when we didn't have a Homeland Defense apparatus.  I sure as hell don't see that they have cut down on the drug flow or the influx of Mexican's across the border. 

Speaking of that, did you know there is a need for almost a half a million immigrant workers to harvest our crops?  The majority of them get workers visas to come here and feed out nation.  There is a hole in that program that allows them to come and not go when it is all done.  I listened to talk radio the other day and the new term OTM in the amnesty bill discussion.  It is those that are Other Than Mexican.  I guess there is some validity to the thought that those people in Mexico that are waiting for Citizenship should not be shoved to the back of the line by those here illegally.  I would give them some form of a green card, a red card or some color card that allows them to stay but not be given full citizenship immediately. 

Is there really a good way to control the gun violence without just taking all the guns away from everyone?   Does registration and background checks stop violence?  Not even a little bit?  There is a drug law in Kansas that tells drug users and people in possession of illegal drugs that if they don't have a Tax Stamp they can be prosecuted more strongly than just simple possession.  Is there any grain of truth in there that can be applied to guns?  Does stronger penalties for the use of a firearm in a crime work?  Do we need some form of penal colonies for people that use guns illegally?  Is there a little Sheriff Arpio in all of us that feels people in jail and prisons should do more to earn their keep and guess what, it is not a fun or nice place to be?

I'd better cut this off before I start turning  to the Dark Side and the inner Dart Vader starts coming out.

MUD

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