apathy is to acquiesce

I hope I phrased the title correctly.

And they say you catch more flies with honey rather than vinegar, but I don't know how to sugar coat this plea.

Elections are next week and if you are planning not to vote because you are angry at Congress, don't care, don't know who to vote for, like me and don't want to vote major party, or for whatever reason you are not going to vote; you NEED to go vote independent or third party and as much across the board as possible. Do not be swayed by people saying you are wasting your vote. In fact it is now quite the opposite.

We cannot sit back and let the dems and reps have carte blanche on our government any more. No one in our government or in the major parties is truly supporting the middle class. They will tell you they do, but if they did things would be much different. You have to look past their words and truly look at their actions.

You may say there isn't a party to vote for that does represent the middle class or are unprepared to govern. Yes, you are right. Right now there isn't one party ready to actually work for the middle class, but if you do vote you are telling everyone you are ready for change. If no one feels there jobs are secure they might actually think and do what it takes to keep their job. Or others may step in to fill the void. Now we have to pay attention to make sure we put the right people, yet this effort is needed.

So please vote. If you don't know who to vote for, then if liberal vote Green Party or if conservative vote libertarian. Neither party is perfect, but at least you can vote your political leanings with one of the parties.

So again, if you are not planning on voting, this country really needs you to vote to show those in charge, they aren't in charge. And all this money be damned, vote independent.

Have a great evening

Voter ID quick comment

It appears some members of the Supreme Court think they are running in a Republican primary. How else do you explain the recent decision upholding voter ID laws? I know we do not want fraudulent elections, (some of the so called reasoning behind the laws) but it seems they are in the guilty until proven innocent camp with this law. And I know that this can come back to the Supreme Court since this was a ruling affecting the last minute change in voter laws, however, I want to comment on the some of the bigger issues when this comes back (hopefully)

There are many people who feel that voting is a right so this decision affects their rights. I do feel it is a right, but I also belong to the voting is a responsibility camp. It is bad enough we do not exercise our right to vote enough in this country, but to have the one body whose sole job is to protect the constitution support inhibiting people from following through on one of the few responsibilities we have as citizens of a democracy is beyond me.

There is a reason the Supreme Court Justices are appointed to serve and not have to run for office. It is so they can be protected in their role to make the difficult or unpopular decision that protects our constitution. This is to help them not be swayed by popular opinion which at times may not have the best interests of the constitution at hand. Too many of their recent decisions seem to be more impacted by certain political or popular ideas than truly protecting our constitution. I haven’t read Justice Ginsburg’s dissent which I hear is pretty hard on the decision so if I am being redundant to her position then just count this as someone who cares also.

It is bad enough that many times voter turn-out is low, but to allow the government to control who can or cannot vote is an abomination to our constitution. Even if it is just the slightest impediment, it is a door that should not be opened. It goes back to so much misreading of the constitution by the right wing of this country. The actual amendment says innocent till proven guilty in case modern politics has you confused.

A democracy is healthy when all participate. And participate we must.

VOTE PEOPLE, and as the joke says vote often (just once each election)

And in case you haven’t read earlier posts of mine, there is a difference between right wing and conservative. Sometimes a very drastic difference.


And on a completely different note, I think Talking Heads Remain in Light is an under rated/appreciated album.

More Random Comments

Cowboys 30 Seahawks 23—-Wonderous disbelief



I have mentioned this before, but it has come back to haunt us at home. Congress needs to quit screwing around and truly work on elder care reform in this country. Their ineptitude is going to cost this country so much in the long run it is unreal. It is more than social security, Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare etc, there is so much that needs to be addressed and all they do is bicker with each other. The amount of time wasted on trying to repeal Obamacare is crazy. Yes, it is not a good program, MAKE IT BETTER, instead of wasting my tax dollars grandstanding.

Sunday 3:45PM my Mother in law passed. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. She lived through at least five years of dementia/Alzheimer, botched surgery, stroke, and paralysis. Strong woman who had a terrible end of life. The individuals who cared for her in many cases were outstanding, the system and what we are left with, is insane.

And by the way, some of the individuals who are caring for our parents and grandparents are getting paid squat. You can add them to the list of the underpaid/underappreciated people in our society such as police, fire fighters, teachers, and nurses.

Mid term elections are coming up and nothing will change, no matter how much we hate our Congress. Another sad state of affairs. I had mentioned in an earlier post the challenge of voting independent and asking to confront your Congress person to see if you can get a real answer to an issue. Unfortunately due to my Mother in law passing I haven’t had a chance to follow through on my end of the challenge, but there is still two weeks. The part about voting independent will definitely be done. Proud to say it has been since 1980 that I voted for a Democrat or Republican in a major election and rarely in local elections. (and that is very local, I vote independent on the state level)

Random comments

If you can't drive a large vehicle, please don't buy one.

Dear media, a sports rivalry is built up over years usually because of the intensity of the players and fans and not because two executives on the teams get into a tic for tac media outburst. College football has great rivalries, the NFC East has some good rivalries, and there are other NFL rivalries, and there are great college basketball rivalries,but Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets aren't a rivalry just because the media is bored.

Shaving, haircuts, and cutting your finger and toenails are the most unnecessary necessities.

A rivalry is when your team is given a fourteen point spread and you still believe they have a chance. Go Longhorns!

You know fan is the shortened version of fanatic when you start to believe the hyperbole of an owner even though you know better. Go Cowboys

Why is it the meek will inherit the earth, but nice guys finish last?


And finally rain and cooler temperatures here in North Texas. I still want to go to the beach, but it is a very welcome change in the weather.

Two challanges and a bit more

These are for the mid term elections.

You are never quite sure what you hear. Sometimes you can hear a story or about an event and you have no confirmation or all you hear is empirical evidence so you do not know what to make of it. Recently I heard something where I have trust in the source so I thought we should check it out.

I would like you to try to discuss with your Congressman an opposing thought on an issue. And since they will all be in their districts for the election I ask you try to do this face to face with your Representative or at the least with their staff or campaign staff.

And try bringing up the opposite view your Representative is espousing even if you agree with their platform 100% and plan on voting for them.

I heard that people were not given opportunity to discuss or staff members would even berate the person for trying to bring up issues or an opposing view. You have to wonder if this is true since approval rating for Congress has been so low. A healthy dialogue is important for democracy.

And since the approval rating is so low I have a second challenge for you if you do not want to vote for the incumbent. I have posted this thought before, however, now I would like to make it a direct challenge. And this goes double for people who don’t want to vote for any Republican or Democrat and feel any other vote would be a waste.

If you aren’t happy with Congress you need to vote. Vote independent, vote third party but vote. We will never get change unless people let the powers that be know we need change. As best as possible find a candidate close to your beliefs. For example if you are conservative vote libertarian and if you are liberal vote green party or see who is on the ballet and make your best decision based on who is available.

And you will not be wasting your vote. If non major party numbers show up it will do one of two things. It might spur more people to get involved if they see others are as tired as they are with Congress and not being represented. And maybe get lazy _______ people like me to work a little harder and try to create a new party that does speak for the middle class. Or it might be a wake up call to the two major parties that people really do want better representation and they actually respond to what the people of this country need. It will take votes though. So the challenge is don’t be complacent and go vote.


Some Dallas stuff.

It has been great fall weather here in North Texas. And that means you should head over to the Great State Fair of Texas. Yep you can eat more fried food in one day than you should eat in a lifetime. Seriously though, the Fair is a great time, come enjoy.
The Ebola news is crazy. The diseases is horrible, but we are getting so burnt out by it. People are complaining about hearing about it all the time, yet I bet if it wasn’t on the news people would be pissed they weren’t hearing about it. Either way I can’t believe we are the first place to have it land in the United States.

Can the Cowboys show any consistency today? It would be nice to see back to back good games.


And finally a media comment. I don’t know if it is me, my ego, or what, but there is some much news out there and so many news sites that really aren’t saying anything. It drives me crazy, but it seems I read so much material from paid journalists and writers that seem more amateurish than my stuff. Too much flash is on the web and not enough content people, please produce something better. This just may be one of the many reasons we have a disconnect with our government.