Another two for the price of one

Two topics are racing around inside my head these last couple of days so I thought I would try to be succinct on both of them and combine them into one post. The second portion of this post will be about the Press and Donald Trump and the Press.

The first post is about the open carry law here in Texas that starts January 1, 2016. I have to admit in my past I have gone skeet shooting, duck hunting, and some other general back forty shooting so I understand wanting to have the ability to own guns. What I do not understand is the need to display guns in public.

And maybe I should have spoken up sooner or actually written a letter to a legislator or something because I fear this is going to be a real problem. And my fear is somewhat rational for most people I think.

First of all recent headlines show how dangerous this could be such as from the terrorist shootings in California to the police accidentally killing a third person while trying to apprehend and then shooting two suspects in Chicago. Imagine people with guns at hand being involved in these situations.

There is so much talk if people had guns then the shooters in California could have been stopped, uh a big maybe at best and how fast could others shoot them. And obviously now you have multiple people potentially shooting at each other and the probability of more innocent victims getting hit goes up. Or people who see police shooting deciding they need to “defend” themselves and a full fledge gun battle breaks out. How many innocent victims will there be now?

And then there is the usual road rage scenarios, people getting into an argument, public fights, etc and the easier a gun is to access the shorter amount of time you have to think about what you are about to do. Or just seeing someone else with a gun may make you think you have to have yours.

I hate to think or even mention, but sooner or later some real serious disasters are going to happen. It doesn’t take much for some idiot who really cannot shoot a gun to go crazy in public trying to stop a robbery or something and a whole bunch of people get shot

.

And like I mentioned I should have spoken up sooner and I will throw others under the bus, such as anyone else who perceives how dangerous this could be, and didn’t speak to our elected officials to stop this law from happening. This is one problem of people not voting. State Legislatures are not well attended elections hence a small group of people can have an undue influence on the outcome of legislation so this looks like the legislatures made all their hunting buddies and a few crazy groups happy with this dangerous law. If we had larger turnouts of people voting then maybe more common sense could have ruled when this came up for a vote.

I hope I am very wrong about my predictions, but if something does happen I hope every legislative person and the Governor have to answer for allowing this to come into play. There has to be some accountability for not governing for the betterment of the whole of society instead of the advantage or liking of a few.

So what is my beef with the press and my beef with the press and Donald Trump.  I have previously posted about the failure of the fourth estate so this isn’t new.

I am going to be a tad more blunt this time.

First the rise of Donald Trump is because the press is showing how and lazy and profit driven they have become. It is easy to write stories about him. And he gets readers.

Forget trying to write and compare how all the candidates compare on the issues. This takes work and it seems no one read these stories in mass compared to the name calling Mr. Trump does to excite the masses. Yes I know there are a few articles attempting to try to get an audience for a better discussion etc of the election and candidates, but the vast majority of what you read and see is what Trump said and what people are saying about Trump. Not too many stories on what does Mr. Trump mean and how he actually proposes to accomplish his rhetoric.

And it is partly the Press’ fault for this madness. They have been headed in this direction for a very long time. Yes you can say it is because the Press is owned by billionaires only looking out for their profits and this is one aspect of the problem. In some ways our friend Rupert is receiving some comeuppance now. There is no need to write anything people do not want to read because it does not make money. So we read about the Kardashians, or stories of corruption or sexual scandals in politics or sports figures gone bad as lead stories because this is what “we” want. Reading about others’ misfortune is fun.

Another fault is what our politicians did to education; or did not do for education. No one wants more because we are taught not to expect more. Or that we are unable to understand that the shallowness of modern news is unhealthy and reflects and unhealthy society overall. Our politicians want this because other than them getting caught with their pants down most people do not pay too much attention to them. Or at least until election time, then we vote in the people we know because we do not spend the time getting to know them better. ( I think someone else said something similar before).

And then the Press does not want to push any buttons on these people or help us understand our problems because they benefit from the status quo. It is easier to fact check a debate than dive in and look at what they are saying in depth. Keeping the Democrat’s and Republican’s institutions means they have the news hand to them from people they know. They aren’t forced to actually gather information. They can sit in their office and write opinions based on their own bias instead of examining whether what elected officials are doing is what is best overall.

Historically the Press has always been influenced by their opinions, but there is a difference between what some of the Founding Fathers wrote in the Federalist Papers and other publications trying to sway opinion vs. what modern writers do with trying to tell us who we should vote for and why we should hate so and so.

And the Press has been a profit driven business over the course of our history; so how different is it nowadays? To me, quite a bit. Yes, in the past there would be sensationalist stories, coverage of scandals, even gossip, but the press would go out and work to get their stories, they would dig, and even opinion pieces were based on long standing work. There was much more original work.  Today you still get some of that, but overall people write quick hit articles for the internet, many stories are reprints of something from the associated press. Sometimes you get the same article four or five times just with a different headline. Looks like there is four different stories, but nope. Everyone is trying to capitalize on what someone else did and this leads to shallow coverage. The less depth we have, the less we expect and over time we, the readers, become accustomed to this drivel.

And I could go on. The Press has never been perfect and you may remember terms like yellow journalism and muckraking, but what is going on nowadays is different, but just as bad. The Press is shirking their responsibility to a healthy democracy. They were given great freedoms by our Founding Fathers and are now completely abandoning why they were given the freedoms and powers that fall upon the press of a free democracy and republic.

One result is Donald Trump dominating the headlines because he gets readers and only because he gets readers. Look at the amount of coverage he receives versus Bernie Sanders. Mr. Sanders is taping into another group of dissatisfied voters as Mr. Trump, but receives nowhere near the same amount of coverage. Why? Mr. Sanders tries to do what he is suppose to do and tell the people his goals and how he would like to achieve them. Mr. Trump just tries to stay in the headlines with bombast and ridicule. And yet the weaker message is the dominant message.

Remember the phrase: you get what you pay for? Nowadays we are going to pay for what we are not getting.

Oops forgot something important

Well, it is important for my political bent and the people in Spain.  

Anyway how could I be so remiss as to forget to talk about the elections last weekend in Spain. I talk so much about wanting new parties here and Spain just had two new parties make a significant showing. I do not know how much I would agree with the actual party philosophy and platform, but from the little I read I might have some affinity to one, yet I want to say congratulations to both parties.

Spain was primarily a two party system till last weekend so this is great news for independents like me to hear. Again congratulations to all the people in Spain who worked hard to make that happen. And to all the people who voted in Spain to make this a reality.

We are so stuck with our two parties and no one seems to have an interest to actually move forward from them. This is exciting news and gives one hope.  So if you read my blog regularly I hope you see it can be done and we can work to make positive changes here.

Traveling quips, tips, and musings

Just got back from a fast trip to El Paso. Saw some friends close as family and some other people I met for the first time.

Interstate 20, probably as with all interstates, is heavy with Police. Some 10 mile stretches had four or more cars giving out tickets. And yes in Texas there are areas with 80 MPH speed limits and people were still getting tickets. Be careful out there if you are going to be traveling over the next two weeks.

I hate to say it, but I was very unimpressed with Motel 6. We left late so went ahead and spent the night on the road instead of going straight through. We stayed at a Motel 6 and was seriously under impressed by the customer service, attitude, room itself (the bedspread was covered in grease so we slept with our clothes on), beds were weak, and cannot say much more. We didn’t even stay in the morning. We just got up and left. And in today’s world amenities are important and they had none. No ironing board, no breakfast or continental breakfast, no shampoos etc… Maybe Motel 6 was significantly cheaper in the past than other chains or maybe times have caught up with them, but they were almost as expensive as the hotel we stayed at in El Paso and we felt we got a good deal there and paid about $10 more for the night. And it included breakfast which since there was four of us is well worth the extra ten by itself. It was an older La Quinta and you could tell, but it was clean, customer service was great, people were nice. Strange how big of a difference.  Anyway I am frugal, (kids say cheap) so I watch out for things like this and usually we plan ahead, but the Motel 6 experience should not have been as bad as it was.

I will be posting a very few set of pictures on my facebook page from one El Paso Christmas scenario as soon as I find the cord I can run from my phone to the computer.

And boy there is a difference in where you are located on planet Earth nowadays. We went to a full restaurant for dinner Saturday night with friends and the prices were impressive to me especially since full meal. It was mainly Mexican (Tex-Mex), and tasted fairly well, but the prices compared to Dallas were about ten to twenty percent less. Spent with tip $18 for two meals and one beer. Place called Ventanas Bar and Grill at the Racetrack Casino in Sunland Park. I won’t say great food, but definitely worth going for the price. The chips weren’t that great, but the chili had a fair kick to it.  I hadn’t been out there since they built the Casino and added all the restaurants and Night club. I did go to the Race track many many years ago so was pleasantly surprised, not overwhelmed.  We left for other endeavors right after eating.

El Paso always seems to be in need of renovation. I lived there for 6 or 7 years once upon a time and it still seems the same. Well larger, but it looks the same. I mean certain areas of town haven’t changed a bit. And when I say renovation I mean it looks like someone needs to come along and fix up something. And this is the way it always looks. I like El Paso and have many friends there, but somehow or another that city just grows within a time bubble. New businesses or developments come, but they quickly fit right into this scenario of someone needs to come along and fix something that seems to be falling down. There are some real nice places and there is definitely great food if you know where to look, but it just has this “if someone would come along and do that and that” then it would be great feel to it.

I have been all along the US Mexico border my whole life off and on and El Paso-Juarez is definitely its own world. And I want to quit mentioning a certain person running for President’s name, but you can tell this person has no idea the wonder of the Southwest. For people who have lived in this area for generations there was no border for the longest time. Yeah there were signs and bridges, etc, but border, no. As kids we use to follow the migrant farm workers out into the fields to gather what was left and no one thought twice about it. Now all the modern retirees that moved out here have no idea the history nor la familia (even with all the wars and skirmishes over three centuries) of how people, the real people that is, have gotten along. I wish people would concentrate on the real problems and unfortunately there are some serious ones instead of demonizing what was once a very calm and peaceful place to live. Honestly it wasn’t perfect, but what this one person is saying about one issue is discounting what is a wonderful, vast, beautiful place to live and play. If you get the chance you need to visit the American Southwest. I have crossed the deserts many times and enjoy it every time.  (just make sure you are prepared before you go out)

Anyway enjoy your holidays, be safe, if you travel take the extra moment to make sure you are ready, and I hope you have great times with family and friends these next two plus weeks. Remember Christmas doesn’t end till Epiphany, not three o’clock in the afternoon on the 25^th.  Take the time to make the most out of all your days throughout the year, but it never hurts to spend some extra time enjoying the Joy of the season.  It helps if you don’t spend the whole time in the stores, but with people you love and I hope you get/make the opportunity.

And no matter what you do, do not go the bathroom and start remembering old Ghostbuster lines. Embarrassing as hell to start smirking at that time.   “Don’t cross the streams”   oh &^%$ my brain is losing it. Yeah some ole fart unable to spend two minutes in a restroom. sheesh

Some more of that “just saying”

If the Republican establishment really wants to get rid of Mr. Trump they need to convince people he is one of them. Part of his popularity is because he is an outsider. Well, maybe they should convince all his followers that this was the plan along and he has always been an establishment guy. I mean he is a billionaire and all, it might just work.  Couldn’t be any worse than anything else they are doing.

Was watching CNN with the sound down because I had no control over the situation. One of the headlines was that there was a school doing the Charlie Brown Christmas special as a play and were taking out the biblical verses and the one song. I am presuming they mean the ending rendition of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”. So the only commercial Christmas show that even mentions God/Jesus is going to be edited in a play version because why????? I guess it will be called the Charlie Brown Winter Holiday special. Whether you believe or not, you must agree if you are going to be talking about Christmas you have to have Christ or it is absolutely nothing. Bad enough we are subject to two months of commercialism for the birth of someone that represents Joy and Love.

And the flip side of it all: Walmart represents everything gone wrong with the crass commercialization of  Christmas and maybe retail completely. I was shopping with my wife. Her work had given her money to buy toys for some children that were struggling in life. The store we were at didn’t have the toy one of the children had put on his list. (Actually we only found two of the toys on the lists at two separate Walmarts even though they had looked at either the website or something else from Walmart to make the lists.) I went to the customer service desk and asked if they could call another Walmart to see if they had what we needed at another store. The clerk just looked at me. She didn’t give me any other direction or suggestions. Finally she took my paper and walked off and was gone for about ten minutes while I stood there. No idea what she did, but came back and said no.  I do not know if the no was for cannot call or was not at another store. I didn’t ask.   So here we were trying to do a small part to make some children happy and the company who makes the most money for this season was completely apathetic.                         I will say every now and then I do find a very helpful person at Walmart, but the attitude of the corporation is very indifferent to their customers.     Boggles my mind how they can stay in business. They really aren’t that much cheaper and even though it seems like they have a large selection in general, they don’t have many choices within a category.

What if Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders both ran for President as independents? I have been waiting decades for something like this and I couldn’t vote for either. One of them scares me and one because I have virtually no agreement with policy. Some goals maybe, but the policy and politics of getting there are just completely wrong to me. Go figure the luck.

Which leads me to this thought, finally the rest of the country is ready to make a change, but I never thought it would be to drive off a cliff.

So lets be positive. …………………………………………oh well I tried.  And actually I had some more thoughts, but by the time I sat down, they had crawled out the side of my head through my ears and ran down the street.

Have a great weekend everyone.

The real problem with Donald Trump and Islam

Yes the hoopla continues as we head into the next debate. Donald Trump still proves he can find the most outlandish thing to say and walk away successful.

Is Mr. Trump wrong to say that we should bar Muslims from entering the country? Of course he is, that has been discussed in length by the press, various bloggers, political pundits, entertainers, and a host of other people.

What I do not hear anyone discuss and maybe I have missed it was the second half of his sentence. “Maybe we should bar Muslims from coming into the country until we figure this out.”  ..until we figure this out?????  Dr. Kissinger couldn’t. And for now even if we did ban Muslims from our country it doesn’t guarantee we won’t have problems.

Mr. Trump we have not figured out Islam and from the way things are going we may never figure out Islam. And I do say that in partial jest. I think there are many scholars in the West who have studied the history etc… but what makes it more difficult is how much Western influence drives the feelings of everyday Muslims. And I am talking about going back over the last hundred years or so. And yes there is actually a 1500 year period that people and groups from the West have interacted with Muslims. And usually it has not gone well.

For now though, the recent history is enough to cause confusion for us and the Muslims. And I do want to stay away from a blame game for either the West’s recent manipulation along with a certain royal family of an oil rich country of Middle Eastern politics or the current head in the sand or denial of everyday Muslims of the extremism coming from their side of the table.  And there is a wide array of extremism being played out by various factions also.

And now we have this interesting multi proxy war in Syria that is shaping up to be one of the wildest situations in Western-Middle Eastern-Near East affairs. There are so many players with so many competing interests it cannot end well or worse just not end. This could be another Vietnam for us, the Russians, the Saudis, Iran, Turkey, Iraq, the Kurds, Hezbollah, a host of other potential players, and of course Syria. And you might have noticed I didn’t include one not so popular barbaric group of people trying to call themselves a country.   So Mr. Trump…  just how do we figure this out?

And you are probably saying to yourself, we aren’t are we? Well we might, but not anytime in the near future. The quagmire going on right now is going to lead to decades of problems even if we get rid of Daesh. Generally people in the West just do not understand the Sunni v. Shi’ite or Shi’a problem. The history of this conflict goes back over a millennium so trying to understand everything involved in Syria is dangerous. And then you throw in people wanting power, despots, historic regional differences, historical power struggles, the created country called Iraq, ignorance, poverty, wealth disparity, and Mr. Trump you want to wait until we figure this out.

This leads me to believe you are a genius because you know we will never figure this out and can keep Muslims out of this country perpetually or your lack of understanding is insanely dangerous for someone who wants to be President. I fear the latter. And it is too late for you or your followers to claim the former. 

Mr. Trump there are solutions to the problem, but just getting started on a positive path will take decades. And that is to get us to a point where we actually can get started. None of the players currently in the power struggle for all of the Middle East being played out in Syria do not want to give in to anything. All the groups mentioned above are trying to have a dynasty or have influence on one.

I always try to find an optimistic answer so I have thought of a few, but even my humble opinion needs work so I am going to spare the readers for now a litany of thoughts. It is going to be interesting to see what can be done just to bring an end to the fighting in Syria. Once that stops do we begin to bring in all the regional players and put the onus on them to work out a framework to begin a peace process.  It isn’t something that has happened before. 

So does the United States need to stay involved in Syria, in the war against Daesh, In Iraq, supporting Turkey in NATO? And the list goes on. Right now I do not think even we have a good handle on what we want out of the Middle East or how we are going to define our relationship with all of the Middle East going forward.

So I will try and stomach the disaster called the next Republican or even Democrat debate to see if anyone has a new rational idea.  I am not expecting one, but not because there may be some players on either stage who have or do not have the capability to try and work out something. I think this because we, as a country, have no idea what we want from the rest of world or what we want to give the rest of the world anymore. 

I think we need to sit down and reinstill within ourselves our values and what our founding Fathers gave us. Once we come back to our roots of understanding the idea of what life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness means; what it means to have representative government; what we have learned from our mistakes everything from slavery to Vietnam to economic crisis; defining what are equal rights; understanding the bill of rights; and a host of other values that are hijacked by elitists will we be able to project ourselves upon the rest of the world and receive the respect we just automatically expect everyone to give us.

Mr. Trump we are a great country, but we cannot make rash decisions no matter how popular it may be that doesn’t preserve and protect the values our forefathers gave us that made us great in the first place. So Mr. Trump when you have this figured out, please let me and everyone else know. The world is waiting. 

So far so ???? and THANK YOU

“An author is a fool who, not content with boring those he lives with, insists on boring future generations.” Charles de Montesquieu

Well 12/10/2015 is a special moment in this here blog ya’ll.

I started writing this blog five years ago today and wow “what a long strange trip it has been.”  Grateful Dead

I wanted to thank everyone who has managed to stumble upon my little bit of craziness in this world and taken a moment to read.

I am pretty sure some of you were looking for information on Dallas, or maybe planning a trip and didn’t know what you were getting. Some may have heard about if from friends. Others may have been forced here by computer virus. I really do not know what brought you here, but many of you keep coming back and I appreciate your consideration of my opinion on what happens here on planet Earth.

There has been thousands and thousands of page views and clicks and as best I can tell people from 30-40 countries have also stopped by. And what is amazing or scary, take your pick, many come back.

It has been strange to see who creates links or points to my posts or even when someone in another language makes comments in their language, but leaves my post in English.  I have no idea what they said, but hey it feeds the ego a bit that they said something.

About a year and a half ago I started posting the same posts to Wordpress.com and then Tumblr.com under the same name and garnered a few more people checking out my ramblings. I created a fake face book page under the name Matthew John with the birthdate 10/24/1929 and basically get nothing. This is different information and I try to include my comments to stories from a couple of online sites, but basically forget to click on the button that says post to Facebook. So this is a bit of a fail.

 One thing different for my Facebook page is I add a few pictures of Dallas every now and then. The camera on my on my phone is not too hot so these are just glimpses into events around here. If you have tried to friend me on Facebook and I didn’t respond I am sorry. At first I had no intention of having friends, but lately I may be rethinking this especially if you come because of interest from my blog. I should open all this up more. And especially since I keep writing about we need a new major party to replace the current ones.

I have a twitter account under dallasareaopin, but rarely us it. This evening In an experiment I tweeted to @ realdonald trump “do you prefer sunni or shi’ite?” And yes this is a trick question, but I doubt he will answer it. If he does, this could be some real interesting fun.  Whether he answers it or not, if I get my act together, the next blog is going to be titled “The real problem of Donald Trump and Islam”  And it will be one of my attempts where I try to be a bit serious and discuss some deep rooted issues. I thought about it today, but remembered I wanted to post about this fifth anniversary. By tomorrow I may have forgotten all my “wonderful” ideas and oops.

Wait you say, maybe you should write it tonight and then post it later,  oh    oh  stop, my gut is hurting from laughing so hard. Me, actually be productive or efficient,,,,, oh the tears from the laughter won’t stop.

One thing I am somewhat proud is I have managed to partially follow through on what I said I would do in my inaugural post. I did post a header that I changed. Too bad I didn’t keep the original for posterity.

And every now and then I will try and do something different. Well I will try. I liked my story idea, but I think I dragged it out a bit too much. I wanted to paint a full picture, but hard to maintain consistency when you write it sporadically. Somehow though I think there is something there where you write for the moment on the same idea. Who knows?

There is one story still on Smashwords and I am about to add another one. I just need to find someone tech artistic to teach me so I can create covers that meet their requirements for size etc so I can get on the major ereader retail platforms. I was told to try Gimp I think.

So again thank you very much and I hope I can be entertaining enough or thought provoking enough or just plain crazy enough for you to continue to come back regularly or just every now and then. You are always welcome to email me at dallasareaopinion@gmail.com.

It is way too beautiful outside here in North Texas these last few days and will continue for a bit more. Yes it is Texas so we get Spring in December occasionally. I hope there is a bit of some beautiful weather where you are, even if it is a snow covered landscape and not too freezing (or just plain icy).

And please remember no matter how you believe we came about, think about the wonder of who we are and what we can do if we put our minds to it. And whether you believe or not remember wherever you see an unselfish act of love you are seeing our Creator.   Santa Claus does exist and he does for 365 days a year not just one.                             Peace Love and Joy to all.

Also something I know nothing about is cookies, but apparently the Google people say I have to tell people in the EU there are or might be cookies. Heck I do not even know what I am suppose to say, but I can say I haven't added anything beyond whatever crazy amount of cookies Google has on their sights and this is technically on one of their sites. 

arrrivederci, adios, auf weidersehen, au revoir, adeus, do widzenia, прощание, הֱיה שלום okay I am going a bit crazy

A Loss for Words conclusion (finally)

She ate well, did minor exercises, walked, and generally kept in shape. This kept her healthy so she started to age gracefully. And this helped her from having to visit a Doctor. Medical care had diminished so much that people had to fend for themselves for most healthcare. And yet everyone still was required to pay some type of insurance premium for their healthcare. It really wasn’t nationalized for now. It had been in the past, but the conservative party won the last set of elections so certain things changed and she was smart enough to know this was in name only. Nowadays it was private care, but she knew the premiums all ended up with the same company anyway no matter which party was in office.  She flew under the radar so much that she hadn’t paid in years so all this didn’t matter too much to her. Unfortunately though there came a time every now and then when she did need to seek medical care. Since she could pay cash the doctors she did know never really reported she had been treated. This worked for her. What she didn’t know was that her medical history was still reported and the person who needed to know everything even knew her.

So she went to the doctor and learned the general aches and pains she was experiencing was arthritis.  She was glad it wasn’t rheumatoid arthritis. This made her happy, well at least as happy as she could be. She still enjoyed gardening and her backyard while still not viewable by the rest of the world was a great joy for her to see each day.

The children that did stop were able to see it. And they were always astounded. No one in their world took the time to create and maintain anything like it. Occasionally someone might try to grow a flower because they ran across something in the wild or one grew up in the weeds that filled most empty lots in the neighborhoods. Overall though, most children never saw the best nature can offer. They grew up in depilated neighborhoods and the only color they may see is the ads on bulletin boards and graffiti covering the older buildings and shops.  They had TV, but even TV was bland. It didn’t take much to entertain people so there was no need to create vibrant programming. Films were not much more with horror movies and fight films dominating the box offices. And this was not what it use to be. Many people did not have much money for entertainment. And any concept of the arts was long since forgotten except for a very privileged few. Most people had to be entertained with the nightly fights on TV and the shows that revolved around the families that everyone wished they were like. Even the idea of shows depicting any type of hero was definitely long gone, the powers that be did not want to give anyone any ideas. The goal of taking away creativity and introspective thought was extremely successful.

So only a very few children saw that there was much more than anything that was in their day to day lives. She always tried to have more children come, but as the time went on, there were just fewer and fewer who could either convince their parents not to be afraid of the lady or flat out just hide from their parents they were stopping by. The neighborhood grew rougher and rougher each year.

She kept trying though. This small fight kept her invigorated in its own way. She had no inclination that she might be fighting something bigger. She was just trying to keep children in touch with a much more engaging world in her small corner of it.

It was an excuse, but it was one they finally decided to use. The car pulled up, two men got out and approached the door. She sensed the danger immediately, but these were not gang members or the local police. There was something different about them. Something much more menacing. She knew getting her gun was not going to be the answer. She had heard the door shut so she was watching them come up the walk. They knocked on the door. She toyed with the idea of not answering. Inside she knew this wasn’t going to work. She watched them for a moment. She could tell they were examining the house. And doing so with a very critical eye. They had figured out the house and what it would take to get her out very quickly. And very quietly.

She answered the door, but did not open the locked screen. They asked for her. She acknowledged herself. They mentioned they were from some agency, she really didn’t hear. She knew this was bad and was still trying to figure out an escape. She had never thought she would be up against people like this. The gangs, the police, and the occasional undesirable that might happen by, but no one like these men. She was freezing. The old adage of fight or flight was going through her head, but neither action took hold.

She heard herself talking to them. It was going nowhere and they wanted her to get in their car. She had broken some kind of law. Something about receiving illegal medical care. It didn’t make sense and for the two men it didn’t have to. They were sent to retrieve her. They had done this for a variety of reasons, none of them important to the two men, their role was to go when told. The excuses they gave to the victims were just words to keep them occupied till they got them in the car. After that it was all the same.

They drove her to the airport. She was surprised to see the airport. She hadn’t traveled in so long she wasn’t even sure airports still existed. There were a few planes coming and going. A few were for freight, a couple of passenger jets sat at the terminal, and there was a very nice looking private jet they seemed to head. The three got out of the car right next to the jet. She had some vague memory of long security lines. She wondered why they didn’t exist or why they were able to by pass them. Nothing was making sense. She was accused of breaking some law, but this was definitely not any jail. This jet was nice.

Once she got on the jet it didn’t disappoint. It was very nicely appointed. This jet belonged to someone. Someone very special. She was lead to the back and was offered a very nice seat. Much more comfortable than anything she had ever flown in or even maybe had sat in anywhere in her life. They told her to buckle up for takeoff. Well that was familiar. They walked to the front of a plane. A door she hadn’t noticed closed and she heard a click. She heard a slight hissing and then fell fast asleep.

She woke up with a slight headache driving fast in the backseat of a very nice car. Outside she could make out rolling hills and trees, but it was dark, or were the windows that tinted. She wasn’t sure in the fog engulfing her brain. She wasn’t completely awake, but couldn’t wake up completely no matter how hard she tried. She fell back asleep with the comfort of the seat and movement of the car.

It was light outside. How long had she been a sleep. Possibly most of yesterday, last night and this morning. Since the light coming from the window was strong she figured it was the afternoon of the day after she was abducted. She thought that word abducted and realized that was the case.  There was some food on the table. She got up from the couch like chair she was in and ate some. She was hungry, but still very apprehensive.  She correctly assessed the food would be okay since they could have pretty much done whatever they wanted with her by this point.

After a bit a door opened and a very old man walked in. He walked slowly. Was it deliberately slow or was it because he was old and this was the best he could do? He sat down across the table from her. She thought she saw him try to smile. Was he being reassuring? She couldn’t tell. She smiled. This seemed to please him. This time she could tell he smiled, but she didn’t like it one bit.

He asked her why? Why what she thought? Silence. He waited, she was unsure. Finally his patience won. She spoke. I do not understand. Yes you do he said. Why? She stared. I don’t know. I just want people to learn. He smiled again. You do? I thought so.  How do you thinks so she asks

I just know he said and he thought I always know. That is how I thrive. Well she admitted her guilt in his brain. She was an insurrectionist. She wanted people to learn. If people learned they may want to change the system and he could not have it.

You are guilty he told her. She stared again…..Guilty?!?!?!?!?!!?  of what?

There was not an answer. Men came into the room. She was led out.                                                                   

The house sat idle. Over the years it began to deteriorate like the rest of the neighborhood. It faded into the background. The front yard which was kept simple began to grow the weeds found in the empty lot. The house itself began to crumble around the edges. It remained locked, but non one entered. There was a vague memory of some people that someone lived there they never saw so no one approached the house. The beautiful background also faded and became overgrown with weeds. No one knew though. The insides of the house smelt for some time while the little bit of food that was in the refrigerator began to sour when the power finally was turned off. The power company just turned off the power because the bill was not paid. It happened all the time. There was no reason to go investigate.  Eventually the smell disappeared. The house became musty so had a new smell. Everything inside the house began to fade. It was a well-built house so it didn’t completely crumble so the elements had not yet taken any toll on what was inside

.

The women walked by the house everyday taking her children to school. She remembered school so she made sure her children went. Even though it didn’t offer much, wherever they lived she made them go. Many children didn’t anymore. It didn’t seem to matter.

After they had lived in this neighborhood for about a year she began to realize she remembered something about the house she passed. There were memories, very pleasant memories. Was this the house of the real nice lady who had tried to teach her more than what the school did? She passed this morning on the way back from dropping off her children at school. She walked up to the door.

She knocked. No answer. She knocked again. She wanted the lady to answer. She was hoping. She knew she would be much older, but since the house was still there she had to be. She remembered the backyard. Maybe she was back there working. She knew the secret way to go around the fence and unlock the back gate. It still worked, but it did take some effort to actually open the gate. Something blocked the entrance.

She entered the backyard. It was no where near as beautiful as it use to be. She knew something was wrong. She became very sad. It was the first time she had any intense emotion that she could remember. Maybe she had great joy being with the lady when she was young. That was the last time she enjoyed life or experienced any strong feelings. Her sadness now was much more intense. She wept. She wept for a long time. A life devoid of promise, of joy, of hope was not a life. This dismal life was displayed through her tears.

After she gathered herself. She looked around. She was able to enter the house. The books were still there. All of them. Something inside her lit back up. She thumbed through them trying to remember how to read the words the lady taught her. She looked at the pictures in the books. There were beautiful paintings, faraway places, pictures of history, and much more. She tried hard to read. Time got away from her.

She rushed to school for her children. She walked with them past the house. She led them in. She let them look around. The curiosity of children took over. They explored. They asked questions. It was the beginning of a long journey for her and her children. Her name was Maria and she began the long slow process of repairing the house and working the garden. She took the children to school each day and each afternoon they all worked and learned while at the house. She went home at night to fix dinner. Her husband was her husband. He was entertained in the current world. She and the children were living in a completely different world. Maria became happy. Maria grew as a person

It had been so long that the powers that be were slipping. The world went as they thought it went. The new He wasn’t as observant as the past one. Things slipped by. They knew nothing of Maria and her children.

So this was one humble story. More of a painting of one scenario our world could become if we do not make ourselves fight for a better world. It isn’t a nuclear disaster or germ warfare death to our planet. It is just the possibility of us as humans letting our humanity decay if we are not careful. 

I hope it gives you pause to think for a moment. Or better yet gives you a reason to be motivated to find better leaders than the leader of the decay of humanity manifesting itself in one front running political candidate of the moment and also found in a different way in the hatred of ignorance and deceit in another part of the world.  We cannot let our humanity lose or we will be forced to ask ourselves; why were we ever here in the first place.

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And as I finish this story late night TV is making light of one certain candidate and one certain terror group all in the same show. Is it too late??????

Donald Trump is proving us all idiots

Well, it is Sunday and I should be writing about the best of humanity. Instead I am feeling a bit …shoot I do not know if there is a word for it or not. At least I cannot think of it, I thought it might be smarmy, but even that doesn’t sound like the mood I am in or even a real word. It is not exactly tongue in cheek either, but the topic is not tongue in cheek so it can’t be that. I really believe many things that are wrong with this country is being exposed because of Donald Trump’s rise in the political world.

And I know many people will say it is all the ignorant people who listen to everything he says and believes what is coming out of his mouth without any vetting or fact checking and they are the ignorant ones or idiots. No, this is one symptom of the problem. And besides if I say everyone is being proved an idiot then identifying this one group doesn’t work. Not everyone is believing everything he says.

So how is everyone proved an idiot if the majority of us do not support him or support what he is saying?

And it isn’t because he is now a Republican and wasn’t really politically active in the party before now.

Or because he was a reality star and now he is running for President.

And it isn’t the press’ fault that he is popular by constantly running stories about him.

It would be very presumptive of me to say all this without some acknowledgment that this is all just blogging, and yet can I say that is he proving us idiots without question without my entire tongue in my cheek?   yes he is…

The problem is our society has come to the point where we need or think we need Donald Trump.  And not just Donald Trump, but his whole attitude and persona. Do you remember Ross Perot? He ran for President and is a very successful businessman, much more than Donald Trump yet he did not become as much of a lightning rod as Donald Trump. Yes he was popular and even a bit controversial, but he was no where near the divisive person Donald Trump is in this election.  So why Donald Trump now?

Donald Trump is the poster boy for everything that has gone wrong with American Politics for the last fifty years and especially the last ten. If our political system had responded to the people and supported the people of this country everything Donald Trump would not exist. Even the people who don’t support him, don’t care about him, or hate him need him right now. Why?

He makes it feel right for the people that support him and gives everyone who doesn’t support him an out on who to blame for our current political system. It is easier to attack him than address what has become of us.

We have many problems in our political environment. Some of the people who support him are examples of a failed education system. There are other reasons too. They are disenchanted (and rightfully so as we all should be, but for completely different reasons) and they are using Donald Trump as a recourse for all their anger. I think most of you see that. Yet we all fall into the trap of addressing everything around him based on what he says. To use the sports comparison he is all offense and doesn’t worry about the defense. He is just outscoring everyone else right now. And this is working.

And other factors have played into his success. And it isn’t that he is in the press all the time. It is the fact he can take advantage of what the press created over the last few decades, commonly known as sound bites. Once politics became a TV game and we as a populace accepted shorter and shorter bits from the candidates it was inevitable that someone like him would be the dominant player. He appears in short bursts on TV, keeps the rhetoric in his speeches simplistic and repetitive, and is using Twitter as an attack dog.

Obviously sound bites are working well for him. And the reality is he is saying a bit more than what is put on TV, the press just went with his first few offensive statements which garnered the attention in the first place. For example if no one in the press had made such a big deal or even mentioned the immigration comments, how big would he be right now?  It was a great sound bite.

The repetitiveness of his speeches prevent people from being able to break him down in a policy argument. He does have a few ideas he is presenting, but not much substance which allows him to continue to vilify other people without giving them a chance to critique him.

And somehow or another he became the Republican nightmare on Twitter. The platform for Twitter fits in well with how he operates. Whether by design or accident it doesn’t matter, he just attacks and attacks on it which the press picks up and disseminates even further. And with how Twitter works with being able to attract followers, he can send out targeted messages to his followers that by pass any constructive criticism that does manifest in the press or from other sources.

And the standard bearers of politics cannot stop him. The Republican Party is having to come up with machinations to find a way to get around him. And do not think the Democrats are any better, they just have a candidate they can rally around at the moment. If there were as much discourse on the liberal side they would be just as susceptible to the emergence of some type of Donald Trump as part of the Republicans have become. Lucky for the Democrats Bernie Sanders is not Donald Trump and they have a standard bearer for their discontent. This does not mean they are better than the Republicans, just in a better way right now.

So how does this prove, he proves, we are all idiots. It is simple. We let this happen. We have been setting this up for years. Not our government, not our press, but us. Yes the failures of Congress and the system the Press created help him, but because we have let our education system flounder, our decreasing ability to think critically, relinquishing power to fewer and fewer people, and letting everything under the sun, but what our government is doing become more important has led us to this moment.

We did not choose to be proven idiots and truly we are not.

We are potentially failing as a democracy. We have chosen to let this happen by default. And in doing so, Donald Trump is winning and we, the people, have been and are losing. How idiotic is that????????????????????????

Today December 2

This morning I decided I was going to write a post this evening and I was debating whether to finish the story or write about Donald Trump basically proving we are all idiots.

Now I am at a lost because of the shooting situation in San Bernardino today. And this situation is obviously much different than what happened in Colorado last week. And of course my simplistic reasoning as to one of the reasons that causes people like Mr. Dear to lose it probably doesn’t apply to the people today.

Of course with both situations there is much to learn. We will want to learn about the people, who they are, their motives, etc…  but will we ever learn what drove them to make these decisions or put them on the life path that pushed them to live out these horrendous acts.

I hope so since maybe we can use this information to help others avoid the pitfalls that cause people to get this disconnected from life and humanity. Even if what we learn is only usable in indirect encounters with people distancing themselves from society it could be useful. I will venture out and say people who are engaged with life, people, and living are not acting out this irrationally.  Something clicks off in their brain at some point in their life and they head down a destructive path and based on the shootings, isolation from others is one symptom.

A few months ago I struggled ( and I do mean struggled, I could never really say what I wanted to say,) through a series of posts about the importance of family. I am not saying this is a cure all for these people, but at some point having family around can help. I do know that sometimes some people are so afflicted that families struggle with how to help and even the medical community has few answers. These people do tend to get recognized and there is some attempts to help them.

It is the people that isolate themselves completely; that do not exhibit outwardly irrational acts until they end up creating these incidents. As always stereo typing people is dangerous. Some people can be very introverted and overall are healthy in mind body and soul. They prefer solace to excessive extraneous activity. So when working through what we need to do; we always need to work from the philosophy of innocent until proven guilty. We cannot assume we know people and we cannot assume we do not know people. We have to go on sound reasoning so we do not label people and cause a different set of problems. One of the more popular examples of this dichotomy is the book and movie A Clockwork Orange.   Where do we draw the line in addressing people who are not behaving in a “normal” fashion?  At this point in the evolutionary line of human development we do not seem to know yet.

So before we all jump to conclusions etc,,, lets take the time to study what is happening in our society to start the slow methodical process of finding the correct answers to avoid people even getting to the point where they even think this is the only answer in their lives. Or the only answer to whatever demon problem that has developed in their head.  This will not be easy and not popular. We demand answers now. I think for what is happening to us with all the mass shootings it is going to take much more work than we are ready to do.

I will get back to my Donald Trump bashing another day. And I always had the ending to my story in my head. I just need to bring it to the conclusion.

Today pray for the people in San Bernardino, the families of the murdered, the recovery of the wounded, the law enforcement personnel, and anyone else affected by this tragedy. And let us begin the hard work of finding out the whys so we can find out who we truly are so to avoid all this in the future.