Weird Dream

I often remember snippets of my dreams, but occasionally I remember big chunks of them and baby i have a NewImagereally strange dream world.

The dream in question this time is I’m in a nifty little house and all is right with the world. The house is small and efficient and there’s not a lot of space.

My stuff is where it should be and I’m whistling a tune as I’m cleaning this little place. (That’s how I know I was dreaming I can’t whistle to save my life!)

So I’m dusting or wiping down something and I open a door to wipe down the doorjamb (another sure clue I’m dreaming, nobody does that… Well I can think of one person who might. I’ll ask the next time I talk to him.

Anyhoo,

The door opens and I glance into the space beyond. I really don’t pay it any mind but as I’m cleaning I see a beam of sunlight coming through a skylight illuminating a beautiful space with a large stone fireplace.

I think “oh crap I’m going to be cleaning all day”

Then I pass through the door of my little efficient space into this grand space. The place is decorated exactly in the style I prefer. As I move from room to room I realize how truly big the place is. Each room is appointed exactly  in my taste.

The place is strangely familiar but a little uncomfortable, it’s that feeling that you get when you’re in someone NewImageelse’s home when you’re house-sitting.

This place though seems much more familiar. It’s like finding something half forgotten from your childhood in a random box. You’re connected to the object and holding it unlocks tons of memories. 

As I move from room to room I suddenly realize that this grand house is mine, but that for some reason not only am I living in a fraction of the available space, but I’m choosing to live in the smaller place.

All I need is a lizard with a tattoo wandering through the place and my dream scape would be complete.

I miss the good old days when I had nothing to worry about except dreams of space battles and alien species NewImageannoying me. 

At least those dreams made some kind of sense!

N.Y. mayor ‘shocked’ by soda law ruling

I saw the following headline this morning. This link should take you to the whole article.

N.Y. mayor ‘shocked’ by soda law ruling, takes shot at Mississippi law

I couldn’t help myself…

 


 

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Dear Mayor Bloomberg.

First… REALLY???

You really don’t understand why Mississippi has passed an anti Bloomberg law?

You really were shocked that  the Judge ruled against your soda law? Obviously you must have forgotten about a little thing called freedom.

You can’t be that clueless, therefore you have to be working at being purposefully obtuse.

Let me explain this to you in a way that perhaps your sycophant aides won’t.

Mississippi, isn’t legislating in favor of obesity they’re legislating against government interference in their lives, a phenomenon all too present these days.

I wouldn’t expect someone like you to understand this concept, you’re so sure that you know whats best for everyone.

In your arrogant conceit you assume that no-one is capable of thinking for themselves or making their own choices. Further, you seek to remove any choice that could have deleterious effect.

Where Mr. Mayor would you stop?

Would Steak and all red meat be outlawed in the city of New York? Would you further legislate that only a vegan diet is acceptable? A healthier lifestyle requires less in medical costs doesn’t it?

Would you ban all alcoholic beverages from your city? That should put a stop to drunk driving. It would also reduce employee absenteeism thereby making your city more industrious and productive.

To protect society and New Yorkers Would you criminalize sex out of wedlock? Or Would you simply pass legislation to enforce reversible sterilization? This would prevent the poor from overly burdening themselves with children that could require assistance from the state, or who might become criminals.

How about requiring registration and licensing for use all cooking knives over 5” long?Those too can be used as deadly weapons.

Would you decide that fashion envy is a threat to the stability of your city and require uniforms to be worn by everyone?

Would you try to engage in eugenics, assigning men and women to each other for the purposes of reproduction. After all, in just a few generations you could erase or significantly blur the color lines in your city. Homogenous is good isn’t it?

Would you outlaw religion? Or will you simply define a State religion, thereby removing any potential conflict over beliefs?

When your ideas were rejected and the people engaged in protests and other forms of civil disobedience would you give the police a shoot to kill order? Would you bring in the national guard to enforce your will? I suppose you wouldn’t need the national guard, NYPD does seem to shoot and kill innocent people with frightening efficiency. 

Mr Mayor…

As insane as these ideas sound. To some extent throughout history been tried in various times and places, thankfully for the most part they’ve failed or at least been mercifully short lived.

Despots, and Dictators seem to start out by enacting laws “For the safety and Security of their people”. Historically, it doesn’t end well.

Thankfully you’re not in a position of national power. You pose little threat to the rest of us. 

The people of Mississippi and indeed other states are using you as a means to voice their opinion by saying no to the Nannyism which leads to a dark path, a path that is anathema to the core beliefs of America and her citizens.

That Mr Mayor is why you’ve become a laughing stock in so many places.

That’s why a Judge has ruled against your silly law. That is why other states are etching your name in the annals of their books of law as someone who is on the wrong side of common sense and freedom.

That’s why you’re becoming largely irrelevant.

Mr. Mayor, you do serve one purpose, You’re an example to our politicians about what can happen when you go too far.

I hope they get the message.

I look forward to the phrase “He’s a / Thats a Bloomberg” entering the national conversation as a euphemism for someone or something which is largely irrelevant.

Well I was going to blog today…

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But it’s all the same… 

Guns Bad, Budget, Pope, Horrific Shooting, Iraq Bombing, Afghanistan Friendly Fire, Guns Good, Crazy People doing Crazy Things, President & Congress Fighting, Guns Bad, Budget, Pope, Horrific Shooting, Iraq Bombing, Afghanistan Friendly Fire, Guns Good, Crazy People doing Crazy Things, President & Congress Fighting, Guns Bad, Budget, Pope, Horrific Shooting, Iraq Bombing, Afghanistan Friendly Fire, Guns Good, Crazy People doing Crazy Things, President & Congress Fighting, Guns Bad, Budget, Pope, Horrific Shooting, Iraq Bombing, Afghanistan Friendly Fire, Guns Good, Crazy People doing Crazy Things, President & Congress Fighting, Guns Bad, Budget, Pope, Horrific Shooting, Iraq Bombing, Afghanistan Friendly Fire, Guns Good, Crazy People doing Crazy Things, President & Congress Fighting, Guns Bad, Budget, Pope, Horrific Shooting, Iraq Bombing, Afghanistan Friendly Fire, Guns Good, Crazy People doing Crazy Things, President & Congress Fighting, Guns Bad, Budget, Pope, Horrific Shooting, Iraq Bombing, Afghanistan Friendly Fire, Guns Good, Crazy People doing Crazy Things, President & Congress Fighting, Guns Bad, Budget, Pope, Horrific Shooting, Iraq Bombing, Afghanistan Friendly Fire, Guns Good, Crazy People doing Crazy Things, President & Congress Fighting…

Oh I forgot, Carnival Cruise Ship broken. Travelers get lesson in raw sewage…

In short I’m BORED with the world.

I wish I was a conspiracy theorist. At least then I’d have something exciting going on. LOL

When did the “News” degenerate into nothing but the same re-hashed formulaic stories again and again?

Today, the only interesting things have been Dianne Feinstein and Ted Cruz being testy with each other.

Oh and story about some Congresswoman from Texas named Sheila Jackson Lee who back in Jan suggested that everybody just turn in their guns. What she said wasn’t all that interesting but the comments from her own constituents were priceless. Including that she’d apparently shown up on a list of Communist party members.

There was also an article for which I can only find one source that describes US plans to share American Citizens financial data with all of the various intelligence agencies. The article reports that the Government claims this sweeping monitoring is to prevent terrorism, money laundering, and all kinds of illegal activities.

I’ll believe that when the government stops itself and big corporations from money laundering and corruption.

In the mean time I find myself thinking that a bag ‘o cash stashed under my mattress might not be a bad option, not that i’m involved in money laundering or criminal behavior but I’m uncomfortable with the possibility of an IRS official asking me to account for $600 in cash that I blew on lap dances.

Can we now safely say its gone too far?

I caught this headline yesterday, the NRA picked it up this morning on Twitter.

7-year-old Maryland boy suspended for shaping pastry into gun – (via @WashTimes)

This boggles my mind. It’s almost as bad as the boy being suspended from making a gun with his index finger.

Or the Canadian boy last year whose parents home was raided because the boy drew a picture of a gun in school on a piece of paper. Uh… hello? It was a picture! (There’s more to the story and I’m oversimplifying the Canadian case a little. If you’re interested, you can find the original article in the archive section of this blog.)

20130303-094656.jpg Folks lets get a fucking clue!

Guns are in our culture, they are in every cop show, they’re romanticized, demonized, and endlessly discussed in the media.


As an aside, I happened to catch an episode of Hawaii Five-O a few weeks back.

There was a very interesting exchange between the two main characters, I don’t remember the whole thing exactly but it was something like “you’re a cop how can you not like guns?”, The other characters said “I use a gun as part of my job but that doesn’t mean I have to like guns.”

I remember that caught my attention because it was unusual for a cop show to address the gun issue and I wondered if the actor(s) or writers were taking a bit of a stand. I wondered if the actor who played the character not liking guns was making a personal statement for himself in the show with the help of the writers.

Either way, I liked the delivery. I thought it was reasonable, not preachy and pretty adult in it’s message. It also happened that it mirrors my own opinions about guns. They’re tools. Shooting at a target range is fun, a gun is a tool that facilitates shooting at the target range. I might like a particular gun, or a certain gun might have sentimental value to me. But that’s about as far as it goes. I am by no means and don’t anticipate becoming a collector / ammo hoarder with a walk in gun safe


There are pictures of guns almost daily in the newspapers in this country.

We shouldn’t be surprised that our kids would be curious.

The problem I see with the irrational behavior exhibited in these instances is that we add to the mystique of guns.

What lesson are we teaching a 7 year old by suspending him? Are we saying that guns are mysterious, forbidden, frightening, and therefore ultimately desirable?

Will this child learn the lesson that he can get out of school anytime he wants by presenting any remotely pseudo gun like object in class? Where will that lead?

Will this child and his peers ultimately decide that a gun is the most sought after object they can acquire? If so, doesn’t that logically increase the probability of children accidentally shooting each other?

20130303-094712.jpg It’s time for us to dial it down a few notches.

Water pistols will soon be making their annual appearance.

How do we as a society justify water guns being sold at Toys r Us and Walgreens, as toys and at the same time suspend kids for making croissant or finger guns?

I personally think making gang hand signs is far more damaging and deserving of sanction but that’s my opinion.

How about the schools, instead of freaking out, do something like actually teach the kids why they’re concerned?

Why not teach children what guns are used for, (hunting, law enforcement, military actions,) etc?

How about teaching kids the dangers of guns and that they’re loud and smelly. (Gunpowder smoke isn’t all that pleasant, when I was a kid I didn’t like the smell, now… Well it’s not a problem.)

I’d say get law enforcement involved, have them speak to the kids about guns and why they carry them.

Have local gun clubs or ranges put on demonstrations so the kids have a very clear idea about what a gun is, how much damage a gun can cause and why the children should be very careful if they find themselves around guns.

Even if none of the above was possible, I think it would be far more responsible for schools to teach kids something useful, like what to do if they happen to find an unattended gun or even just bullets.

Useful information like;

Don’t touch
Leave the area
Go find an adult and tell them where the gun/bullets are.

It’s not necessary to dwell on the negative. Criminals will provide ample examples of misuse via the daily news.

Instead of increasing the mystique, lets dispel it.

Lets teach the kids that a gun is a tool. Most children are less than interested in operating a shovel, rake, or lawnmower.

If we could put guns in the same context it would be far more effective at curbing children’s curiosity than completely disproportionate and frankly silly responses from adults and educators.


I swear! I’d no sooner pressed “Publish” on this entry when I saw this in Twitter.

A sixteen year old student has been suspended for disarming another student on a school bus.

But wait it gets better! Our suspended student was one of three suspended for disarming a fellow student that was pointing a loaded .22 caliber at another students head and threatening to kill him.

The gun toting student was arrested.

The referral slip for the kid that disarmed the would-be shooter, stated that he’d been suspended for being involved in an incident with a gun.

Ok… WTF?

Again what are we trying to teach our children? We say you should be responsible, get involved, prevent bullying, and when kids actually do behave bravely and with honor doing what we tell them is the right thing…

We punish them!

Folks this really is not the way to instill higher values in our children or in our society.

This is such a major WTF I can’t believe it.

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I was reading about the Manhunt for Christopher Dorner.

This is the former LAPD officer that is supposedly is running around on some kind of vendetta. I personally think that there’s a lot more to the story than we will ever know.

What we do “know” right now is that in 2009 Dorner was fired from LAPD for making false statements.

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Say What? LAPD makes false statements all the time usually when answering brutality charges made against them!

Yes Dorner has clearly lost it, but you have to ask did he lose his mind because he was pushed beyond a breaking point and saw no future or hope?

Nothing justifies Droners current course of action and god knows killing those young people in Irvine was wrong. I’m reminded of the old biblical injunction about the sins of the fathers…

Whatever you think about Dorner the “CURE” is perhaps worse than the disease.

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Thus far we’ve had two women in Torrance shot by Police because the police saw them driving a pickup truck that looked like Dorners.

Later and again in Torrance we’ve had police open fire on a man who was driving a pickup truck that looked like Dorners. I’m avoiding Torrance for the time being and that would be doubly true if I was driving a pick-up truck of any kind.

There has been one LAPD officer wounded in Corona, and two Riverside officers shot, one of them died, the other is in critical condition.

Thus far the tally is 5-3 shootings 3-0 deaths. Dorner leads. It’s only a matter of time before the police shoot and kill an innocent civilian.

My tally doesn’t include the emotional trauma caused an elderly man in San Diego who was tied up when Dorner allegedly tried to steal his boat. The theft was aborted because Droner got the prop fouled with an errant rope. Remember that Dorner is an Ex-Navy reservist.

imagesReally? The guy couldn’t launch a small boat without screwing it up?

Now this guy is supposedly in the Southern California mountains. I have to ask how many more people are going to be shot or injured by mistake before this guy is caught?

Maybe we need some real police not the Keystone cops from LA looking for this man. Clearly, he’s well beyond the LAPDs skills.

It’s only a matter of time before gun control gets tied into this, I cringe at the prospect but know it’s going to happen.