Fun, Humor, Tolerance – Extinct?

 What has happened to our country? To our world?

I’m the first to tell you that “nobody said life was easy” as my mother often warned me. And there is much to frown about, cry over, and exclaim in anger or frustration in life. But our emotions – and we are an emotional species – also include laughter, wonder, and tolerance, to make life bearable and at times, even enjoyable.

Our governments and others who CLAIM to have our best interests at heart, however, are eroding not only our desire to laugh and view this incredible world – and society – with wonder, but they are destroying our tolerance of each other … when it exists at all.

In what way, you ask? Make that wayS.

- By creating laws that punish the minority and leave the majority frustrated because they are penalized too

- By pitting race against race in immigration and “minority”laws

- By constructing such a convoluted and corrupt lawmaking system that even lawmakers become entangled in their webs of deceit

- By extorting taxes and spending the funds irresponsibly, causing higher taxes while under-funding the intended (and advertised) faction

- And so many more …

Add ALL of these government sanctions along with natural disasters, common personal ailments and life pains … it gives pause to consider exactly why should we smile? I wish I could offer a rosy alternative.

No-Fault Life -- It's Called Compromise

The word “fault” was bandied about in a recent family argument. “It isn’t my fault!” “It’s your fault!”

Part way through the heated discussion (OK, yelling match), I thought I made a good point about not assigning blame at all; to consider that fault is not the issue. Point is, the situation exists – what are we going to do about it?

But of course, since the shrieking outweighed any common sense remark, my observation fell on the proverbial deaf ears. You can’t hear anything while you’re shouting.

My weak compromise (I was willing at least to take equal “blame”) was, “Even California has a ‘No Fault’ law!” And we know that California’s government loves to blame everyone except itself for its blown-out financial state. I thought that was a credible comment.

Will there be an Earth in 2050?

We have raped our world. Mother Earth is suffering, crying out in anguish … and we should be ashamed. And by “we,” of course I mean all of us, because it takes collective awareness to maintain Earth-friendly consumable manufacturing measures and in-home recycle/reuse/refrain lifestyles.

However, it’s up to our governments—comprised of politicians—to generate and enforce the INTELLIGENT laws that will help us create and maintain an ecologically balanced environment.

Supposedly, to establish intelligent laws there must be intelligent people proposing them. Aha! Therein lies our problem. While I could point fingers at―“in my opinion”―those who have let us down through corrupt and completely insane leadership, that won’t solve problems.

Big Brother has “All Axis”

Why does "Axis" rhyme with “access”?

Yahoo/Axis – A new kind of browser or a new Big Brother form of accessing you and your browsing habits?

Yahoo seeks to shake up search, Web browsing

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE | Associated Press – 2 hrs 27 mins ago (05/24/12; 6:45am PT)

"Searching through links has outlived its utility," said Shashi Seth, a Yahoo Inc. senior vice president. "Users are demanding more now because we are all short on time."

How sad that we are all “short on time.” We have always led busy lives, but in the ‘70s when I had an hour commute each way to work, I still had time for after-work sports, my kids’ cub scouts, creative projects, family dinners … what happened to our world?

Motor City Madman vs. the Secret Service—who’s more believable?

Old people speak their minds because by over 60 there’s no point in lying and more to the point … nobody cares what you’re saying anyway (well, with the exception of Betty White) ...

But old Rockers speak their minds and the media (and Secret Service) are all over ’em. “Secret Service looking into Ted Nugent violent anti-Obama message,” by Olivier Knox.

One could argue that celebrities should know better. Stars of the ‘60s and ‘70s know all about how the media machine works—and the government. But they’re old—they don’t care. Big difference.

Dick Cheney’s Heart – ‘Logan’s Run’ 45 Years in the Making

William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson really were futurists. We didn’t want to believe their 1967 novel, Logan’s Run, about the annihilation of “old” people—anyone over 21—so by the time the 1976 movie came along, the studio had stretched the death-age to 30. Whoohoo. This week reality hit the fan …

“As Dick Cheney recovers from heart transplant surgery, questions are being raised about whether the former vice president is too old for a new heart.

            Cheney, 71, who received the new heart Saturday at a hospital in Falls Church, Va., has been on the cardiac transplant list for more than 20 months.

            Some medical centers will not perform a heart transplant on patient over 65, but other major centers will perform transplants on patients who are as old as 72. …”

The only difference between then and now is our death sentence reaches all the way to 65, and it isn’t a book or a movie—it’s reality. My sweet Grandma Connelly’s pink-cheeked face floated through my mind. She was 73 in 1976. Based on the movie, I wouldn’t have been born—wow—great population control.

Death Notice from the Motor Vehicle Department

Government stupidity is rampant, not only in your food …

@ 10:34a.m./PT - The first rant today was just an example regarding food. Want another stupid example? A friend has become nearly homeless (birds of a feather, ya know), and is still struggling just to pay bills—never mind maintaining any type of credit score—he long ago, gave that up.

He’s over 60, worked in an industry devastated by the recession (I maintain it’s a depression) until he lost his business and his home. This upstanding, law-abiding, hardworking man now has only Social Security to support him—applied for early not because he wanted to, but because he had to—certainly not enough, as we all know.

His vehicle registration is four months overdue—his poor ol’ gas-guzzler won’t pass emissions, it’ll cost a thousand dollars or so for repairs that might make it pass, and he’s being hounded by the motor vehicles department.

The shocker, however, is the threatening notice he received from the state-run facility. Do you know that “Law enforcement may seize and impound vehicles found on highways, public lands or offstreet [sic] parking facilities, with expiration dates in excess of six months”?*

Sweet Taxes and Government Stupidity

@ 10:11a.m./PT - Stupid people have ruined this country. “One way to do that (stop US obesity and bad health) is to put a tax on soda.”

Are you CR-A-ZY??! Yeah, that’s it, add a tax to people who are already taxed to death. Oh—that’s the plan! Tax them ‘til they don’t have enough money to eat at all?! THAT will solve the obesity problem!

The inane statement above was recently declared in a highly read Sunday news supplement by a very popular television morning show host—someone who many people watch and idolize—ready to act on her every utterance. These are the idiots we have for spokespeople. And it’s people like them who somehow create a convincing argument for their lunacy, all the way to Congress. No wonder …