who's to say what's right?

There is a growing number of issues involving minors engaged in adult behavior. Five high school hockey players received a particular sexual act from one female during a birthday party. A female teacher had sexual relations with a student. Priests have been molesting children at the church. Girls clothing is becoming more revealing at an earlier age. We continue to blame the individuals involved in these issues, while complaining about the decline of morals in this country. Instead we should be wondering how this all came about.

Nature is nature and when left untouched it will take it’s course. We learn from history the mistakes we made and the successes we had. We teach these lessons to our children as they grow up. Besides actively teaching children what we have learned ourselves, their surroundings also teach them lessons as well. So as much as we try to teach our children morals, we are not their only teacher.

We live in a country where sexual attraction can gain you the most popularity, the most money, and the most power. Why is that the case? Because we adore our movie stars and our musicians. We love the sexy actresses and pop queens, we follow them around and admire their sexy bodies blatantly while rationalizing it by saying we love their talent. As soon as they lose their looks, it is only the truly talented that survive. The children don’t see that part. They are focused on the part that we continually feed them. The corporate music industry is always looking to promote the Christina Aguileras and the Jessica Simpsons of the world. They dress them up, write them a few songs, and shuffle them through music videos, advertisements and sometimes movies. All the while promoting their sexiness knowing full well that the children are the ones that listen to that type of music. Hollywood uses sexiness in all aspects of their decision making, and the media helps them promote this with award shows, gossip magazines, and countless other ways that prove to the children that the best way to be, is sexy.

So if we want to force feed all this hype and sexiness to all corners of our life, then why not expect our children to learn from it? Why not expect our children to starve themselves to stay skinny? Why not expect them to show off more of their body when it gets them all the attention they desire from the opposite sex? Why blame this on the lack of morals in this country when we could be embracing the future of the sexiness that we worship. After all, didn’t we cover up our sexy bodies after we invented shame? Maybe it is time it came full circle. Nature runs in cycles, why would this be any different?

Parents can make a difference

     Ok, this entry is going to be about something a little more personal.  But I promise that I'm not gonna get soft and suddenly turn this journal into a gossip journal, or a relationship journal, or...ummm...or any other kind of boring journal...OK, boring is relative...seen in the eye of the beholder...so let me just get on with my point.

     Trying to get my own business running, I've been successful most of the time, and non-successful some of the time.  I'm an electrician.  I have a license and I have the skills to perform the work.  Over the last two years, I've been able to have my own business and survive.  I used a taxi driving job to get me through last winter, but this winter I hoped that I wouldn't need it.  I probably should have done it, but oh well.  So times are tough, and I have to do some other things to stay alive and keep my bills current.  My payment of bills have been lacking, and now I'm just trying to stay alive until all this snow stops and I can get back to doing some work.

     My father is getting divorced from his wife, and she is making it very hard for him by lying to the government, family and friends.  But he presses on, trying to secure his own life.  He had some health problems that slowed him down a few years ago, but when he was able to get a job he started to take over the finances of his household.  He discovered that his soon to be ex-wife was blowing money left and right.  He started to get everything in order because he is very good at developing systems to solve problems.  So now that they are split up, he has survived very well without her. 

     So this led me to allow him to start devising plans so my business could thrive.  I trust his actions, and I trust that he can devise a system so my business could be better then it ever has been.  He and I have been doing everything to find a way to make my own business be a productive business.  I have faith that this will lead us to success.

     So today when he was helping me drive around to take care of some things, and get things going I expressed my appreciation for his help.  I expressed it in a joke.  I told him that I was going to buy him a retirement home, instead of putting him in a retirement home.

     He said, "Prick."  But he was joking.  Then he told me that he couldn't believe how long it had taken to say that to me without being considered a bad father.  We all like to make fun of each other, and make jokes.  But the man knew that a good father would never call his son a prick when his son was a child.  He and I laughed about the fact that he probably could have called me a prick plenty of times when I was young.  But he knew that he could damage me in my younger years with a statement like that. 

     Now that we have been talking so much, he knows that I know that he was treating me the same way as my friends would treat me.  I am a man, and men like to make fun of each other.  I don't think it was the first time he treated me as an adult, but it was a good feeling for my father and I to share a joke that most friends would joke about plenty.  It solidified the fact that I would actually rather buy him a retirement home than put him in one. 

    If  your mother and/or father doesn't represent this kind of relationship, you have two choices that will do anybody any good.  Reach out and try to share our natural humanity with each other.  If that doesn't work, then you only have one choice.  Break the chain.  Treat your children, or even other children with some respect.  Give them everything you can to get them to feel better about life.  It's always the parents fault.  When it isn't the parents fault, it is because the parents parents were at fault...but let's not let this continue.  Break the chain...be the first to change the direction of the children..  Don't be selfish, just fix the problem.  I don't know what else to say.

Hopefully this is a little shorter than the last few

     I got to thinking about Budweiser and Busch beers.  Both are made from the same company.  Bud is more expensive than Busch, but from recent taste tests, I can't taste the difference.  So I wonder what the point of having the two different brands are.

     What if Busch became more popular?  Would the price of Busch beer and Budweiser flip flop?  Instead of paying $10 for a 12 pack of Bud, what if they made Busch the $10 a 12 pack beer? Would everybody start buying Busch because they didn't want to be known as someone who bought the cheaper beer? 

     Don't you think Busch is there just to make money from people who can't afford to buy Budweiser? Really, what's the difference? 

Let's get it together

     As a society, we are divided into classes. Although most members of any particular class remain within their class, sometimes individuals would seek to bridge those gaps.   In some ways, both attitudes serve society in various ways.  We are a social creature, depending on each other to enjoy everything that we enjoy today.  It is about time that we all realize that working together will only improve society, while opposing each other will only destroy it.

     You cannot deny that there is a class of rich people.  Some of these people inherited their money, or were blessed with a family that could give them the best, put them through the best colleges, and land them the best business opportunities.  Some of these rich people worked themselves to the bone, giving up a large portion of their free time to get ahead.  Both of these people enjoy the most luxurious lives, but obviously they still have problems of their own.  The ones that were lucky enough to be born into a rich family often take it for granted.  Their problems usually consist of being the victim of theft, deceit, or problems with public relations.  They might be exposed to the public for being one that never lifts a finger to serve society, or for being one that uses their money and power to control an injust situation.  Usually they have been taught from birth that what they are doing is right, and all that oppose are wrong, jealous, lazy, or just plain theives.  This is especially true for the person that worked hard to get to where they are, and rightly so.  This type of person will feel they are superior to those who did not give it their best to succeed in life.  This type of person will then succumb to the belief that everybody should have been as good as them, without realizing how special he/she is.  Instead of using this superiority to benefit man, they often use it to keep the typical people down.

     Whether they have money through bloodlines, or have money through blood sweat and tears, the tendency is to forget how important all other creatures on this planet contribute to their success.  We have names for this including:  arrogance, haughtiness, and even simply pride.  Maybe too much pride to recognize the people they stepped on to get to where they are.  Meanwhile, they can still help society along as long as we remain in the system we employ today.  Examples of this can be noted as such:  The desire to work harder to elevate ourselves to their status.  The money to patronize various businesses and keep the proprietors of this business alive.  To provide jobs for the working man and woman to feed families.  Having the freedom to explore new and creative ways to make humanity better without the worry of the daily grind of paying bills.  So if you follow me, while they uphold a system that enslaves the masses, they also contribute by allowing people to make a living for themselves and their family.

    My question is, "Do they serve society any more than your average Joe?"  If everyone was able to do the things that the upperclass can do, who would build our cars?  Who would build our houses?  Who would build our televisions, computers and phones?  The lower classes contribute to society just as much as the upper classes, yet we are forced to work for far less money, and are usually more concerned about securing the basic needs of life while hoping to also be rewarded with a few luxuries.  Add to that the fact that we are not as respected as much as the upper classes.  Are we blind to the fact that humans as a collection are a strong force on this world?  Show me a man who despises associating with his servants, and I'll show you a man who could not live without them.

     Is this to say that we shouldn't be able to express our individuality with different cars, houses, and different colors of those cars and houses?  Of course not.  We are a people of many different ideas and interests, most of which have given us all the new ideas we need to enjoy life today.  We need to give the less fortunate people the same opportunity to pursue their dreams so they can create, invent, educate, or develop an idea that will make life better.  Instead we keep those less fortunate down in order to profit from the inadequacies that nature (and society) bestowed upon them.  Isn't it said that an autistic person is extremely adept with numbers and patterns?  Their only fault is that they can't grasp the concept of considering others (being polite) and accomplishing the tasks that we, as a society, have accepted as "the way of life." 

     Nature has done some wonderous things on this planet.  It has created many a plant and animal.  It has sparked various systems that keep living beings alive.  Plants need water, sunshine, and the occasional nutrient to survive.  They have a system of producing seeds that will allow future plants to live.  Animals have an instinct bred in them to control population with their eating habits, and reproduce when it is time to reproduce.  Yet we humans believe that we are the most intelligent species on the planet, rightly so.  Meanwhile we have a system that keeps the majority of humans living in a society where "the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer."  Put all of the average Joe's in jail, and see how hard life becomes.  Put all of the upper class people in jail, and see how life doesn't change. 

     I know that life isn't that bad for most people.  Follow the rules, and you can have the best life ever.  But we applaud many people in history that didn't follow the rules, and made us more free than human beings ever were.  In fact, every great thing that we applaud was performed by a person who broke the rules.  Breaking the rules have always been our path to freedom.  Join me, and continue that pattern.

That concludes this entry, but please...re-read the last paragraph and comment on any person in history that you knew that broke the rules.  Whether they broke the rules for good or bad.  Some rule-breakers helped society by showing us what was right...and some rule breakers helped society by showing us what was wrong.  Either way, we can see the light.

    

Thinking of mailing this to multiple police stations

Dear Police Officers and Fellow Humans,

I believe that most of you are decent men trying to make an honest dollar. I believe that most of you want to secure peace and freedom for your fellow citizens. The few police officers that don’t fall into either of these categories are not my enemies either. They are just humans who have been led to believe that people are bad and need to be punished. Look inside yourself, and try to understand how humans could be bad. Were they born this way? Aren’t we all born the same? Don’t we appreciate the innocence of children? So what happens to a human being from childhood towards adulthood that makes him/her bad? Do you suppose it is the surroundings that turns a pure heart into a cold heart? If so, what made the surrounding hearts cold? Weren’t those hearts affected by the hearts before them? Maybe it is the pure robbery that is invoked upon the majority of men and women today. Maybe it is the injustice and false freedom that has deadened the true spirit of humanity.

There was a day when slavery was perfectly normal. The slaves believed that it must be so, and the owners liked it that way. If a slave was to show his true spirit and speak out against his condition, he was beaten into subjection. Americans do not support that today. We see news reports of sweat shops forcing children to work across the world, and we get disgusted. The United States continually tries to free the world from the dictators that still survive today. Throughout history man has fought to be free. There is one last thing that stands in our way. That thing is money.

Look into the tasks that you perform everyday. How much of your job consists of protecting the money of the few men that rule this land? What about the government’s money? You and I both know that you will never stop everybody from speeding and breaking other traffic laws. So you pull over who you can, and cite them for violations that will cost them money. You pull over people who haven’t paid enough money to the government through licensing, registration, inspection stickers and insurance. You respond to calls to protect owners and insurance companies when a citizen might endanger his own life, but you will admittedly say that you are there to protect the money of the insurance company. I personally have been told that it wasn’t my life that mattered, what mattered was: If I hurt myself I would cost the owner or insurance company money in a lawsuit.

Money has caused one man to be respected when he wasn’t deserving of such respect. Another man who chose the wrong parents is spit on in the street. We are divided into classes even though this country is supposedly based on equality. You and I both know that we are not equal. The Declaration of Independence specifically claims that we all have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. So let’s talk about each of those three rights.

On one hand, a certain side of the political map wants to protect human life after it is conceived. That side is against abortion, saying that God has sent this life to earth and the life deserves to live. Yet when this life does something deemed despicable, they have no problem executing him/her. If a group of human beings don’t agree with their teachings, they have no problem slaughtering them all in something we call war. So they only support life if it agrees with them. If they truly believed that God sent all lives to this earth, why don’t they realize that God might be sending a message by sending lives that oppose them? On the other side of the political map, they give everybody the freedom of choice, and generally do not support executions and war. But they choose to pass more regulations and laws that eventually cost the whole country money. More laws, more welfare, more government support. More money going through the government while they give themselves raises in salary. But it is not money that helps your fellows, it is hands. As long as it costs you money to help your fellows, helpfulness will decrease. Because spending money means spending time on the job to work for something that does not benefit yourself…which leads me to liberty.

There are a few people that drag themselves out of the ghettos, out of the projects, and out of poverty in general. But how much harder do they have to work to do so? Again, if they had chosen wealthier parents they would not have to work so hard to get ahead. But what if everyone got ahead? What if every single human being worked hard enough to stop working and started investing in stocks or property? What if everybody stopped committing crimes? Who would build the things that you see when you look around you right now? Who would pay the policemen if crime was effectively stopped? Do you see how it is not in your best interest to actually stop crime? So we do not have any liberty because if we did, this whole system would fall apart. There are plenty of humans in this country to do all of the work that needs to be done. But if a particular fellows skills aren’t marketable, he must do something he is probably not as effective at doing. These are the men that turn to crime. Drug dealing, robbery, and burglary not to speak of organized crime pay a lot of money if one doesn’t get caught. There are two types of crime: A crime of passion, and pre-meditated crime. In a crime of passion, the criminal isn’t thinking about the police or the consequences of their actions. In a pre-meditated crime, the criminal tries to make plans to get away with his crime. In fact if he is caught, he usually can point to the mistake that hurt his chances of getting away with his crime. Instead of trying to punish criminals, we need to find out why they needed to commit a crime in the first place. And that, my friends, leads us to our pursuit of happiness.

The pursuit of happiness is a complete joke in this country. We are only allowed to pursue happiness that doesn’t go against the wishes of the majority party. We are only allowed to pursue happiness if we have the money to do so. For the sake of human safety, the pursuit of happiness doesn’t include murder, rape and assault. But what is wrong with a man wandering through forests at whatever time he chooses? Trespassing laws, and state/federal parks closing times prevent this. What is wrong with broadcasting material over the airwaves when a majority of people want to see and hear it? The FCC prevents this, despite the money people spend on pornography in this country. What is wrong with ingesting drugs, when certain drugs are legal, and lots of prescription drugs are advertised hourly? We should be allowed to risk our own lives if we wish, and most drug crimes are committed because the drug is illegal. Black market soldiers fighting over territory, or users not having enough money to pay for the drugs cause most drug crimes. Some of these might not suit your own pursuit of happiness, but in a country of three hundred million and a world of six billion, how can you expect everybody to feel like you?

So how much of your job consists of keeping people safe? And how much of your job is to protect money? And when you’re protecting that money, does it make your heart glad with pride? Wouldn’t you rather have true respect from others, instead of a false forced respect? I know we can’t change this over night, but we are starting to change our values already. At this point, it doesn’t matter who we vote into office, it is not We the People that decide on the laws in this country…most of us can’t even be bothered to find out what new laws have been passed. It is not tax money that helps keep the streets safe…it is you. It is not tax money that repairs the roads…it is working men. It is not money that helps people be healthy, it is the caretakers at the hospital. It is not money that built your house, it was carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and so on… Yet these people will never have the money or respect that our congressmen have. Nor will they ever be looked up to like we look up to Donald Trump or the Heinz family. But without these workers, without you and I, this world would be nothing. Yet those few fortunate ones that seem to rule this land have convinced you to protect them for a fraction of the money they are asking you to protect. They laugh at you for your stupidity. They laugh at our military when they send them off to war. Yet you continue to protect them. The only time they will show you an ounce of respect, is in front of television cameras, a large crowd of people, and to your face. Join us, not them…we are the ones that will truly respect you.

 

It needs some work, I need to simplify some things, but I'll come up with a final copy.

An eye for an eye

"An eye for an eye, makes the whole world blind."  --Mohatma Ghandi

     Following September 11, 2001 there was much bitterness.  A feeling of fear, a feeling that there were many bad and evil people in the world that were jealous of the way Americans live today.  Also invoked was a feeling of the need for revenge.  Without getting into the politics of the war the U.S. waged on Iraq, a majority of the people supported the notion that we should go to the Middle East and obliterate anything and everything.  Myself included.

     Thankfully it taught me a lot about politics and war, and it brought to light the fact that whoever commited the acts on Sept. 11, that so desperately changed the way people think, caused such great destruction because they themselves felt the need for revenge.  Chances are, they felt that we had taken over the land, and caused it's despoil.  That in our capitalistic system we made conditions as such that there was no hope of any country in the Middle East ever catching up to the rest of the world.  When you suppress any animal from its natural instincts, it will fight to the bitter end.  So instead of going into the Middle East for us to get our revenge, maybe theMuslims felt they were getting their revenge.

     Add to that Americans belief that it is the Muslim religion that is our enemy.  "The muslims are crazy, and they want to rule the world," you say.  So forget freedom of religion, because this particular religion wants to kill us.  Have you ever stopped to realize the hypocrisy that exists in the dominant religions in this country?  Which is the most popular and richest religion in this country?  Maybe there are two such religions.  In fact you know so.  Before I get off my topic, let's expose a religion that insists on pro-life.  Except, it's only pro-life when it comes to new life.  If this life that they so nobly saved from abortion enters the world then progresses to breed hatred and terror in the world, religion is not opposed to ending the life.  In their eyes this life was sent from God and deserves to be alive.  Yet when this life opposes everything that they stand for, it deserves to be executed.  When a group of suchlives offend the religion, they deserve to be slaughtered in what is known as war. If God sent this life to live on this earth, why can't they realize that God may have been sending a message to them?  Do the Catholics wish for more Jewish children and Muslim children to enter this world?  If they do, is it not in hopes that they can convince them that everything their parents have taught them is wrong?

     How would you feel if somebody tried to convince you everything that your parents taught you was wrong?  Wouldn't you be stripped of all of the knowledge you possess today?  Everything that was taught to you by people other than your parents is predicated on what your parents taught you.  Even if your parents taught you the wrong thing, would you be able to understand it was wrong if they didn't teach it to you?

     What it comes down to is that plenty of Muslims believe they are following the way of God, just as many Catholics, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists do.  If God put us all on earth, why would he turn us against each other?  You may feel as if your father turned you against your siblings, but did he not learn this from the teachings of his religion?  Or maybe he learned this from the teachings of our public schools.  Maybe he was fooled as badly as his father was fooled. 

     So when you seek revenge, you are actually seeking revenge against your own family.  Not the individual members of your family, but the fact that you learned everything you know from people who at some time in the past set forth the same hatred as the people you seek revenge against.  It goes back and forth, like the McCoys and the Hatfields...but where does it get us?  Doesn't it perpetuate the continuation of violence? 

     Human beings can conquer any land.  From the richest soil to the barren deserts and the coldest tundras, we know how to defeat the fear of nature in those lands.  Instead we crowd around a resource, around an oasis of importation and exportation.  We fight each other for the right to be there.  Blindly we accept the rat race and the need to push our fellow humans down in order to stay there.  Would there be wars if we shipped materials to desert lands that had no resources, and built houses upon them?  We ship spring water all over our country, why not ship water to the desert?  Why not share oilwith each other, while inventing new ways to survive when the oil runs out?  Are we so blind to believe that this country will be nothing without oil?  What did we do before we got it?  After we reduced oil consumption, giving way to the compact cars, we have returned to the gas guzzling SUV's.  SUV's as a means of fun, or SUV's as a means of convenience for a large family is OK...But how many SUV's do we see with one man or woman driving into the city to work a job that doesn't help human beings survive?  A job that involves pushing papers around and securing profits doesn't feed anybody, it doesn't shelter anybody, and it doesn't build all of the technology that we so enjoy today.

     Think twice about where the revenge started before you involve yourself in it.  Realize that working together will give us a much better life than stepping on each other, and stabbing each other in the backs ever did.  Two men can jump and jump and jump and never reach the treasure that is 13 feet above their head.  But if one man lifts the other up with his strength, and the other uses his balance, they can get the treasure and share it.

     Life is a treasure to be shared, not fought over.  We have achieved nothing in this world without joint effort, but for some reason the ones that put in the effort are amongst the lowest class of individuals.  Even if we can strip away the power and respect that the profiteer commands, when all is said and done, he is a man as well.  Lost in the system because he knows no other way.  Power is respected by some, but not all...imagine the power of having the respect of everybody you know.  The feeling would be enough to destroy the once powerful man's need to be admired greatly by a few.  You can't please everybody, but mutual respect will allow you to be who you are, without fear of insecurity.

Please Join Me.

just trying to take action

I posted this on a site called Freedom Underground.  It has lots of interesting info, sometimes they only wish to debate about the subjects, and when they agree, they stop talking about the subject.  But they are trying, and I am trying.  Here is the link to the site if you wish to check it out... http://freedomunderground.org 

Every time I visit this site, I find a lot of interesting news, posts, and ideas.  Every time I visit this site I see people pointing out the problems of this country.  I know this country is a leader in freedoms, but as this site points out:  Our freedoms keep diminishing.  So are the people involved in this site content in sharing articles of tyranny, despotism and out-right fraudualent activities? 
     Besides sharing these hypocritical views, freedom-limiting acts, and the general disrespect for our government's and corporation's show of disregard for the majority of the nation...are we doing anything to change it? 
     We have networked across the land with this website, right?  But are you guys changing the ideas and values of the people around you?  The government is imposing more and more laws to hold us down.  History has shown that when a dictatorship, a monarchy, or a government has gone too far, the people have done something about it.  They finally said, "ENOUGH!"  We are very close to doing it again.  Whether it be this year, or this presidency term, or this decade...we will stand up...but if you want to proclaim to stand for freedom, you must be some of the first ones to instill this natural need for freedom amongst the people around you.  If I help make people in my region stand up, and if you all make people in your region stand up...that's a lot of regions to stand up for reason.
     The government is paid by the people...last time I checked, when you pay somebody, they work for you.  Yet year after year, we work for the government.  We work our 8 hour shifts, pay our taxes...some of us give our 10% to a church, and when a natural disaster hits, we donate our money (time is money) to the people who have been devastated. 
     Do something...tell somebody...get your own little army together, because we all know that we all want the same basic things...to be protected from nature, to be fed or feed ourselves, to feel happiness and joy.  Doesn't it feel good to help your fellows and doesn't it feel good to be helped by your fellows?  WE (you and me) not only make this world run, but we enjoy each other until we are divided between: upperclass middleclass, red state blue state, this religion or that religion, left or right, and every other issue that this world is divided between. 

UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL...

     The proverbial "they" have divided us, and if they haven't already, they will conquer us.  It's time that WE divide and conquer.  Turn the government against itself.  Put the politicians on social security, drug test them...demand to vote for every law that they introduce.  More effectively, ignore them...stop paying them...stop bowing down to them.
     Until we do that...you might as well get used to this slavery that we are afraid to protest.  Speak up...WE have the power...WE have the numbers...it's just the fear that keeps everyone silent.

All hail the mighty owners

When you know the truth, you are much better off. I’ve been told recently that I have a good way of pointing out the truth. I don’t want to promote myself in this way. People hear the truth, believe in the truth, and then dismiss it, and go back to the lies. From then on, the truth burns from within, but fear of the consequences from following the truth tends to limit the freedoms of those people. One will say it is absolutely wrong to cut employee hours to help increase the profits for the owner of the company, but then they only talk about this with their fellow employees for fear of getting their own hours reduced, or worse yet being fired for speaking the truth to the bosses. One will say there is no reason to prohibit marijuana use, but then will not speak of their own marijuana use for fear of conviction or judgment by their peers, bosses, or the law. One will say that many cops are power hungry, but won’t speak of it when they appear before a judge. Once you know the truth, tell the truth to others. You will be surprised by the majority of people that share your views, but once again, the fear creeps in. They use this fear against you. They use this fear to destroy you. But it is you that is strong, it is you that have the numbers to support your view. It is you that has helped create everything that makes life go ‘round today. Without you, and all your fellows…this world would come to a stand still. But yet, most believe that without some wealthy owner paying your wage, you wouldn’t be able to survive.

In sports, it is the fans that spend the money to pay the players, not the owner. It is the fans that pay the concession workers, not the owner. It is the fans that patronize the sponsors of the game, not the owners. In shelter, it is the purchaser of the building that pays the builders, not the owner. It is the purchasers of the concrete, lumber, pipes and wire that pay the people that create these supplies, not the owner of the mill, or mining company. In clothing, it is the naked people that purchase the clothing that pay the cotton pickers, the seamstresses, delivery trucks, and retail workers, not the owners of that land. It is the hungry people that pay the farmers, ranchers, delivery trucks, and grocery store workers, not the owners.

Ever hear the saying, “cut out the middle man?” These so-called owners are the middle man. They do nothing but skim off the top, and collect checks that cause the rise in prices for all. When their profits do not fit their liking, who do they get rid of? Some of the workers.

Take my last example for instance. Farmers and ranchers do very hard work to produce our food. Then employees at the cannery use some of this food to make soup, Chef Boyardee, and what not. Butchers cut the meat in order to avoid a family having to buy a whole cow and carve it up themselves. Truck drivers carry all of this food all over the country to feed the masses. The manager of each individual store makes sure that all of the products the consumers need are on the shelves, by organizing the people in the receiving department, the shelf stockers, and the cashiers in order to serve the consumers. The district managers make sure the right people are managing each individual store and managing it properly. All of these people are important to feeding our country as well as other workers by hand or brain. But should the managers make more money than the people that use their bodies to stock the shelves, and man the checkout aisles? They definitely serve their purpose, but their job is no harder than each of the other employees. But the owners pay them well, to convince them to help the owners‘ bottom line. Meanwhile, the owners only job is to check their bank accounts. Do you see how prices could be reduced by cutting out this middle man? Wouldn’t this world be a better place if the poor people didn’t have to resort to thievery? Wouldn’t we have more respect for each other, and more of a feeling of being in control of what is rightfully ours? Wouldn’t life be easier if these lazy owners on welfare actually lent a hand to help us live an enjoyable life? Americans flock to fast food restaurants and spend a lot of their money, yet the burger flippers make the least amount of money in this country. Seems to me, they have a pretty important job. We support the lazy owners as much as we support a poor woman who continually gives birth to another child to gain a larger welfare check. But we look up to these owners as great and powerful men. Meanwhile we look down on the poor woman. But we support them both the same.

Finally!!!!

A man in Marshfield, Massachusetts has been wearing a mask and helping to remove the snow that is piled up around the Northeast.  He refuses to reveal who he is.  He turned down some hot chocolate.  He took some rolls that somebody baked for him, but returned the tin that they were presented in.  He turned down an appearance on the David Letterman Show.  My new hero.  See folks?  There are still helpful people out there like myself.  He doesn't even allow himself to get the recognition I get from my neighbors.  Take 30 minutes out of your day to help somebody do something.  So you miss you're favorite sit-com...use your VCR or TiVo.  So dinner is 30 minutes late, so what?  You're lunch hour?  Most can eat at their desks during working hours anyway.  That's all it takes.  Please join me, and the masked snow remover. 

The blizzard of '05

     OK, so New England was hit with about two feet of snow a few weeks ago.  Immediately following the storm, Fox broadcast news had named it "The blizzard of '05"  In 1978, New England was hit with a famous blizzard.  A blizzard that legends are made of.  The weatherman predicted "Partly Cloudy" for the following day.  They were hit with about three feet of partly cloudy.  The storm tried to move into the ocean, but strong northeastern winds kept blowing it back onto the land.  This is what we call a Nor'easter.  It came to be known as "The Blizzard of '78"  You can probably search the web for stories about it.  It came to be known as this because at first, people would say, "the blizzard this winter" then "the blizzard last winter"  then "the blizzard a few years ago."  Eventually they had to start referring to the year, because nobody is going to remember if it was 4 years ago, or 5 years ago...and so on.  That is when it became known as the "Blizzard of '78"

     They have already named this blizzard and it just happened a few weeks ago.  Do we really need a name to remind us yet?  The media is infested with hook lines, eye grabbers and catchy titles to prop up it's stories.  Have we really become so consumed with the daily grind that we need hook lines to remember the important events in our life?  Even the death of JFK doesn't have a real name to it.  It's referred to as "the assassination of President JFK," or "the day JFK was assassinated(or murdered)"  Pearl Harbor's attack is simply spoken about by saying, "Pearl Harbor."  Not, "Whirl on the Pearl," or, "Hawaii, they die-e"  I mentioned the word consume earlier.  We are living in a consumer society.  The rich and powerful consume, and everybody strives to be more of a consumer than a producer.  I realized that there isn't a whole lot that people do in this world that doesn't require shopping, or consuming food, alcohol or other drugs.  It is becoming increasingly harder to play basketball at a park when they tear down the basketball hoops, since they don't charge money to play the game.  We have plenty of space on this world to drive mini-cars, play golf, go to the beach, dance to some music, etc... But if you don't pay a proprietor of these spaces, if you don't pay your golf dues, or go to an indoor track, or pay your parking, or pay a cover charge, and do these activities in other places, you might be arrested, hit with a noise complaint fine, or be completely shut out of the areas you may be able to enjoy these activities.

     Oh well, at least we can stay glued to our TV's, movie theatres, video games, and of course the very internet you are on right now.  How pathetic.

My fault vs. Their fault

     Some of this story may have been covered in earlier entries. But I want to tell this story in the most factual way that I can. Everything in this story is going to be a fact. I’d like to add my own assumptions, but I’m going to try to refrain from that. I also realize that in order to believe the whole story you may have to assume that what I say is true. Using your logic, you will have to discover whether I could be telling the truth. I am not a liar, I promise that I will not say anything that did not actually happen. But again, I guess it is up for you to decide. I will point out the parts of this story that was my mistake.

     It all started with a rock. This rock was thrown at my windshield by a truck on the highway. It was not attempt to break my windshield, it was merely a circumstance where a truck kicked up a rock that cracked my windshield. This happened shortly before I was to take a cross country trip with my friends. So when the windshield cracked, I decided it would be more beneficial to go on the trip before I put a claim into my insurance company to fix the windshield. That way, the damage that thousands of miles do to a windshield would only hurt the soon to be replaced windshield.

    I went on this trip, and all went well. Unfortunately for me, I had just started a new business. Unlike working for a job that pays weekly, or bi-weekly, I had to depend on customers to make my money. In the past, when I went on vacation, I was able to spend all of my money because I knew I would return to a job that would pay me money. But in this situation, I needed money to buy the supplies necessary to complete my work. So after the vacation, after I had stupidly spent all my money, it was very hard to make more money. Meanwhile, I did not use my insurance to fix my window before my insurance was cancelled because I didn’t pay the bill.

     I did manage to survive, I applied for a hackney license which allowed me to drive a taxi. That helped me make enough money to start making money with my electrical business. That helped, but while I was driving a taxi to supplement my income, I stumbled upon another problem.

     One night I was driving a taxi, and I was behind two cars. The car in front was driving 15 miles an hour in a 30 MPH zone. It was about midnight, and I wondered if the driverof that car was drunk. The second car was swerving wildly behind the first car. I could not tell if the two drivers knew each other, or if the second car was angry at being behind the slow first car. As we approached a stop light, I pulled into the right turn only lane. My intentions were to get in front of, and away from these dangerous cars. In the state of Massachusetts, this is a common practice. It is illegal, but people do it very often. The light turned green, and I used the power of the V8 engine in the taxi to slip in front of the two cars. As soon as I did, I saw police flashing lights in my rearview mirror. The peculiar thing was, the law says to pull to the right and stop when an emergency vehicle is behind you with its emergency lights on. Yet, the officer driving the police vehicle tried to get by the two cars by pulling into the right turn only lane. The cop was about to commit the same violation he was going to pull me over for. But the two cars followed the law and began to pull towards the right side of the street. At this point, the police officer was forced to swerve to the left to get around these cars. Looking in my rearview, I thought he was going to roll his police van over. Keep in mind, I was driving a bright yellow taxi (the only yellow taxi in town) with a phone number written in many places on the car. It would have been easy for the police to find me, but they created a dangerous situation to try to pull me over. When he caught up to me, I had already pulled to the side of the road because I knew he was trying to pull me over. Who was more alert about the situation? He screamed and yelled, and eventually wrote me a ticket for a “marked lane violation.” I went to court to appeal the ticket, obviously having committed the violation in question, but questioning whether I or the police officer created a more dangerous situation. The police officer didn’t even tell the story as it happened. He claimed to have seen me in his rearview mirror (impossible, since he was never in front of me.) I asked him what the procedure was for a driver who sees emergency lights in his rearview…he said, “Go back to traffic school if you don’t know…” and eventually I told the judge what I thought, and received a notice in the mail a few weeks later claiming I was responsible for the ticket.

     Getting back to the insurance, in Massachusetts failing to keep up with your insurance causes insurance companies todeny you an installment plan. But there are a few companies that will “finance” your entire insurance bill and then let you pay them back. So I did that. It was all I could do. Of course they would not replace my windshield because the damage had occurred before they were responsible for my car. My inspection sticker expired because nobody would give me a sticker with a broken windshield…obviously. I’ll come back to the insurance again, but I’m trying to keep this in somewhat of a chronological order.

     Before my driver's license expired on my birthday in 2004, I got a letter from the Registry of Motor Vehicles notifying me of the issues that I needed to take care of in order to renew my license. They listed two items. One was the “marked lane violation” ticket that I didn’t pay. So I went to the Registry and paid that ticket, plus the late fee. The other item was an unpaid parking ticket in the Town of Waltham. I had never been to Waltham. I certainly wasn’t there at 2:00AM in the neighborhood the town considers, “the projects.” But this was the time and place on the parking ticket. So I drove to Waltham. I had to look at a map to find it, but I made it and found the Town Hall. I talked to a man there who said that he could look into the situation and find out whether the ticket was accurate. Meanwhile, my license was going to expire before he would have any answers for me. At the time, I tried everything I could to conform to this system…so I asked him, “If I pay this ticket, plus the late fees, and you find out the ticket was inaccurate, will I get my money back?” He almost laughed. He said, “No.” I paid the ticket anyway. At the time $45 wasn’t really a lot of money to me.

      So I solved the two issues, and went to the Registry to renew my license. When I got there, I was told that they couldn’t renew my license. They said I owed the Town of Holbrook excise tax for the year 2002. Mind you, this is all happening in the year 2004. I got a letter telling me the problems that would need to be solved in order to renew my license. It didn’t mention this excise tax. Furthermore, earlier in the year when I went to pay my 2004 excise tax, the Town Hall told me that I owed them money from 2002. So I asked them how much money I owed the town to take care of everything, and get me paid up. They told me, I wrote the check…done deal, right?

      The Registry had 2 years to make sure they told me that I owed the Town of Holbrook. They sent me a letter telling me the obstacles in my way to renew my license. Yet this excise tax situation was not included.

     Before I could settle this problem, my license expired. Does that mean I forgot how to drive? Apparently so, because I was in a good mood one day and ended up speeding, and being pulled over. I wasn’t driving unsafely, I was watching the road, but I was driving faster than the speed limit. My fault. The officer impounded my car, and gave me a ticket for speeding, driving with an expired inspection sticker, and driving with a cracked windshield. He didn’t even give me a ticket for driving with an expired license. Cops do tend to go easier on you if you accept responsibility for your mistakes. The curious thing is that when he added up the fines on the ticket, he accidentally added an extra $50. So I mailed that in to appeal it in court.

     Back to the insurance. I don’t tend to pay too much attention to due dates. My fault. But I noticed that I had an unopened insurance bill. It said that they would be canceling my insurance if I didn’t pay the bill by a certain date. It was already a week or two past the date. I went to the company, played ignorance and asked what the status of my insurance was, and how much I needed to pay. I had the money to bring my account to current. They said I was canceled, and I would need to pay $1800 to reinstate my insurance. First of all, supposedly my insurance was paid up by the finance company. So if I didn’t pay the finance company that should go on my credit report as a delinquent account. Second of all, I was behind $130 (two months of installments at $65 a month), yet a week later I received a check in the mail from my insurance company for $180 for the difference in what I paid, and the amount of coverage I received. I would have told them to swallow the $50 and use the rest to bring my policy up to date.

      I went to the Deputy Collector of Taxes to settle my excise problem. I presented my cancelled checks, and asked if he could look up how much money total I was supposed to pay during my five years in Holbrook, and how much I had paid. He said he couldn’t. There was another lady in there with the same problem as me. Again, I tried to conform, I went to an ATM and returned to pay my bill, which was $68 with late fees and all. When I returned, yet another lady had the same problem as me. I mentioned this to the tax collector and he said, and I quote, “Just give me your $68 and hit the road pal.” How’s that for public service?

     Meanwhile I get a letter in the mail telling me I must go to driver re-training classes because I have 5 traffic violations. Two of them were inspection stickers and another was the speeding ticket I was waiting to appeal. Am I a bad driver because my inspection sticker was expired? Both tickets came when I was driving vehicles in good condition. The second one had a cracked windshield, but does that make me a driver in need of re-training? In the last 9 years, I’ve been in one accident. And I was admittedly not paying attention that night. I went to driving class anyway, to avoid my license being suspended. The class surprised me, the lessons the guy taught me have helped me in everyday life, not just driving. Not bad for the $90 I paid for the class.  Again, I tried to conform.

      And of course the registration on my vehicle has expired because I was not allowed to renew it without an insurance policy. Believe me, I tried. Based on this story, if you are to take my word, can you see how I did everything I could to conform, to pay for my mistakes. I even paid for mistakes I didn’t make. I have to take responsibility for my actions, but apparently the Town of Holbrook, the Town of Waltham, the Deputy Tax Collector, the police officer who didn't know the rules of the road, and the officer who didn’t know how to add didn't have to pay for their mistakes. In fact, I haven’t even received a court date for that ticket with the math problems. Why should I have to accept responsibility, when the government won’t accept responsibility? I made a lot of attempts to clear this up, even when I knew they were in the wrong, but I’m still forced to drive my truck illegally. If I didn't, I couldn't make the money to pay for the rest of my mistakes.  Is there anymore backwards system than this?

      My final point. I wish everybody had to drive under the conditions that I have recently. The care and caution that I have to put into every journey that I make helps the roads be safer. If everybody knew that they personally would have to pay for their mistakes maybe we could quell this road rage that is rising today. Am I a criminal? Am I the one who shouldbear the burden here? The government is supposed to be controlled by the people, so you let me know if they are doing their job for you. If so, maybe it is YOU that is my enemy. If you know me personally, you know that I don’t consider you my enemy.  I don't even consider my enemies, enemies.

minor police run in

Let me preface this article by saying that it was written by a teenager.  But you should not dismiss what this kid is saying.  Notice how he used the words, "I'm going over there out of curiosity.  As anyone would do"  Of course, as usual I will leave him nameless.  If you would like to share a story anonymously, email me...   jaylectricity@aol.com     Another way cops can be fucked up! Without listening to both sides.            I am skating at my old elementary school after hours, skating and listening to my speaker backpack. I smell thick smoke. I look around above my head to find a thin smoke in the air above a portable building. May I remind you that this is around 8:30 pm. I go over there out of curiousity. Like anyone would do. There is a huge blazing fire! And a cop standing on the other side of it. I get as close as I can to ask the cop about the fire. He tells me to go sit on the curb in the front and don't move. As I walk over there, his partner walks up to me. I say, "dude what did I do?" he replies "I am not a dude, I am an officer, get on your face with your hands spread out!"  They for no reason told me to do this... it wasn't a concern for their safety! He put me in the back of his car hand cuffs and all, as I am still waiting for him to listen to my side of the story. all i see is them speaking to the fire department. i didn't even have my rights read until i got to the booking place; it took 26 hours to get booked!!! And I still did not have my story heard. They let me go 5 hours after they got me in on a 26 hour booking!!! They assured me they found the real arsonist. As i walk out, I spit towards the police station with my middle finger up!

This entry was edited for puncuation, capitalization, and spelling.  No changes were made to the content.

Cats

OK, so I noticed one of my cats was getting rather stinky.  She's tiny, so I consider her a kitten, but she's 6 years old I think.  So this morning, in my hungover stupor I figured a bath was in order.  So I put her in the tub, ran the water to a good temperature for her, and began to wash her.  As cats are, she was terrified.  I survived the scratches, and her pathetic biting (which was a joke to me) I got her all cleaned up.  Of course she spent the next two hours licking herself.

Here's the weird part.  It's been six hours since the bath and I hear her meowing.  One of those pathetic meows that she gives when she gets stuck in the cupboard under the sink.  My other cat, a male who is much more vicious than her sits outside the bathroom with a strange look on his face.  So I go into the bathroom and find her sitting in the bath tub meowing.  What the hell is wrong with her?  So I pick her up and assure her everything is OK (pussy needs to feel secure.  Much like women...hmmm, correlation here?) and put her near the food dish.  A little bit later, I find her on the bath mat near the bathtub...again meowing.  She hated the bath, but she can't seem to avoid being drawn to the bathtub.

Is this gossip?  maybe...but fuck it.  Nobody's perfect.

Here's the link to your stardom

http://www.soundclick.com/pro/?BandID=284018   I got bad info from the AOL live help person.  She said the link would stay at the top of my journal...bitch.

Goodwill and humanity

This is a two part entry…mostly because I didn’t want to have to open two new blank documents. Lazy me…so I’ll start with the one that makes me look good. During “The blizzard of ‘05” (as it has been named…idiotic, but I’ll save that for a different entry…Damn, that makes 3 blank documents.) here in Massachusetts, when the plow-guys were doing what they could to make the streets better for us, they accidentally knocked over a light in the parking lot across the street. The light has been laying on the ground ever since. It’s about a 20 foot pole, and an industrial light. I noticed that the wires coming out of the ground were completely exposed. Since nobody else seemed to care about the safety of Holbrook’s children, I was the one that ended up taping the wires so the conductors would not be exposed. Not for money, but for humanity.

My second point is about a dead cat. I was walking down the street today, and I came across a very dead cat that had obviously been placed on top of the snow bank. It didn’t look mangled, but it had dried blood in its ears, and the only thing I could think of, was that he was hit on his head by a car. Notice how the driver of the car, or a passer-by took the time to retrieve the cat, and place it on the side of the road to avoid it being mangled. A nice gesture, I think, so that the owners of the cat may realize the fate of their cat, and know that it will never come home. Also, if the owners have to find the cat dead, at least the cat is in respectable condition, instead of being smeared, splattered and plastered to the asphalt. We would never do that for a squirrel, or an otter, or the many other animals that become road kill. It is this example of humanity, and the instinct of caring that I wish to point out to you. The so-called killers didn’t have to stop and move the animal to the side of the road, but almost always, when a pet is killed by a car, the driver of the car, or another passer-by will bring the pet to the side of the road. Possibly, because they would hope the same dignity for their own pet. It reminds me what social creatures we are, and restores a little of my faith in humanity. I hope it does the same for you.

Don’t let the pure robbery of the government, the church, and the profiteers get in your way of picking your fellow up. If you have more money than you know what to do with, use some of it to help an able-bodied and willing man or woman change their life for the better. If you have nothing to offer but a respectful hello, and a little eye contact, then give that. It’s better than nothing.

again with the hits

So now we have reached the 650 mark...it took a long time to get to 500, but a short time to get to 650...I just want us to share ideas, and figure out why we fight each other... just think logically, and realize that they are nothing without us, but we are everything without them...who's us? who's them?  just think about it....and  you'll see.

divorces, and other red tape

So one day, a woman decided she didn’t want to be married to her husband anymore. Maybe she had been thinking about it for a while…in fact, I know that she had questioned her marriage for a good while. So she finally managed to get her husband to move out of her house. Now it’s time for the divorce proceedings

So the woman hired a lawyer, paid the retainer fee, and tried to move on in her life. But her husband was not the type of guy to be scared of the law, the judges and the courts in general. So first of all, the lawyer was trying to charge the husband for his wife’s lawyers fees. The husband’s attitude was, “I didn’t hire you…if you want me to pay, stop working on the case.”

Then the husband was expected to show up to court as a Defendant even though they are supposed to be Joint Petitioners. He said, If I’m a Joint Petitioner, then why am I a Defendant? When I’m accepted into the court as the Petitioner, I’ll be in court.

So the court date came this week, and he didn’t go. He got a call from the court clerk about where he was. His response was, “I’m home, obviously.” Then a couple days passed, and he got a call from the actual judge from the hearing that he missed. The judge asked why he missed the court date, and the husband said he wasn’t notified of the hearing. The judge said, “I have a copy of the letter (the woman’s) attorney sent you, and it says you were to be here on Wednesday.” The man said, “I only got a letter of intent to request a hearing.” The judge said, “well we rescheduled it, are you going to be there?” The man said, “When I get a letter from the court, with court letterhead summoning me to appear in court, I will be there. I could just as easily send a letter to the attorney saying, ’you are required to appear in Hell’ and it would have the same effect as the attorney’s first letter to me.”

The judge says, “You aren’t afraid of the court, are you?”

Here is where my ideas step in…

The power of the government, including the courts, lies in your belief that it is necessary. It lies in your fear of the consequences the government can impress upon you. If you have no fear, what power does the government hold? Would you look your fellow man in the eye if the government didn’t force you to? Or more importantly, has the government caused you to ignore your fellow man? Divide and conquer. Don’t help your brother, because that won’t help you gain the money you need to buy food, pay your rent, or buy a car. Don’t talk to strangers, because they could be a bad person. But if nobody talked to strangers, how would you know anybody other than your family? We are social creatures, we have realized that helping each other has helped us live easier. Just as the ants who work together to build an anthill. But we have been turned against each other. The last few elections have been split almost 50/50. What’s worse is that we feel bitter to the other humans that oppose our views. What the hell kind of system could serve mankind as a whole that turns our species against each other? Our founding fathers must be turning over in their grave by now.

At times I think about the way I write. I write to inform, to educate. When I look at past authors I see a grammatical stability. When I’m in chat rooms on the internet, I see a blatant disregard for grammar. So I feel that sometimes I must write in a language that is understood by all. I try to stay grammatically correct, but I don’t mind writing in a style that the younger generations can, not only understand, but can also relate to. There is no sense writing in Shakespeare’s style, when the majority of people can’t even understand what he is talking about. But I do caution myself to avoid gossipy, watered-down language. In today’s Attention Deficit Disorder society, I might as well jump from subject to subject.

microcosms

  Hands and feet hurt

Heart is strong

Brain can be misled

Focus

Let heart, head and hand

Work together

Indivisible strength

Lest you believe what you hear

sports and strikes

     Every time a sporting leagues players go on strike, they generally lose.  They might secure more money, but in the long run, the owners always win.  The extra money just gets squeezed out of the fans.  Higher ticket prices and higher concessions make the owner's money back for him(them).  Meanwhile the fans turn on the players for being so selfish, which makes it harder for the players to risk striking again.       Without the players, there is no league. Period.  Without the owners, the players can dole out a little money to pay managers to keep the league organized.  Until the athletes realize the incredible wealth sporting events create, and how much of it is because of the players actually playing the games, they will always lose their strike.  All four major sporting leagues would have to go on strike at once.  Then watch what the owners do.  Now you might ask yourself, "Then the players would be making even more ridiculous amounts of money, wouldn't they?"  Well, if the players owned the leagues themselves, with each getting particular shares of their teams profits, they would have to bow to fan pressure.  Which would in turn make the sporting events cost less.  Without having to give the money to the owners, they would be able to pass the savings on to the fans.  Imagine the fervor a fresh attitude towards the fans would create.  All sports would become more affordable,  more fans means more people to help cover the overhead.  Which means even less cost to the fans.  It has worked quite well for electronics companies, as well as their retailers