FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION 

A phrase that has come to be almost ubiquitous is:

 "As more and more of us move into cities."

And I believe that is accurate, but you should confirm it for yourself.

If true, as I believe it is, then aren't we building our own prisons and voluntarily incarcerating ourselves?

I'm anxious to read in the comment section another point of view on the migration from rural to city.

No one has been able to explain to me why young men and women serve in the U.S. Military for 20 years, risking their lives protecting freedom, and only get 50% of their pay on retirement. While Politicians hold their political positions, in the safe confines of the capital, protected by these same men and women, and receive full-pay retirement after serving one term. It just does not make any sense. Andrews AFB golf course (where the political elite play), Congressional barber shops, and Congressional fitness centers remain open during the “shutdown”, while death benefits to soldiers are delayed and the WW2 memorial and national parks are not only closed, extra expenses are incurred to barricade and enforce the closures … not to mention health care to critically ill children temporarily suspended.

THOUGHTS ABOUT WHY WE (THE COUNTRY) ARE IN THE SHAPE WE'RE IN

OR

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH MY GOVERNMENT?

(ed.  If your at all like me, you sometimes ask yourself why does he post this stuff and who is it for?  Well, obviously, not you, because you most likely got here by seeing this link on a FB post of mine and anyone on my list of friends, only about 100 tops, already knows this stuff.  So why?  Because it is my hope that you, like me, have younger friends who WILL benefit from this sort of fact and opinion.)

in a previous blog I said that if you wanted to effect change you needed Money, Power and/or Influence.

I've also stated that the Presidential election was probably the least critical election in which to participate.

WHY?

Apparently 90% of us do NOT have enough of the MPI to make a difference.  So what CAN we do.  Let me suggest that the reason local elections are so important is because we DO have enough MPI to influence at that level.  This is meaningful because this is the incubator for higher level elected officials.  So if, as I have said, Local elections are important it is because THAT is where we can have real influence for a little (relatively speaking) bit of money and power.  And since this is the incubator for shakers and movers it is the best and easiest place for us to develop relationships that will allow us to later influence the shakers and movers.  Clearly this is a long term game.

And it is pretty much a young persons game.  Get in early, develop relationships, cultivate influence, persuade and support financially.  Money talks, not just currency but all kinds of goods and services. Creating change effectively is really a long term process.  The birth of this country is an example and for a good insight you may want to take a look at a book; The Quartet. It's history you may not have read.

As always, of course, please feel free to disagree and add your own comments if you wish.

For your amusement:

• http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1d2YYC/:gS5nerAR:DWTU0Gf6/magazine.good.is/videos/the-government-does-not-care

• https://represent.us/action/thesolution-2/

ARE THESE FIGURES CORRECT?

QUOTE FROM A MONOLOGUE FROM THE TV SHOW "NEWSROOM" STARRING JEFF DANIELS

Just a reminder:
"And yeah, you… sorority girl. Just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there’s some things you should know. One of them is: there’s absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, number 4 in labor force and number 4 in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real and defense spending, where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined, 25 of whom are allies. Now, none of this is the fault of a 20-year-old college student, but you, nonetheless, are, without a doubt, a member of the worst period generation period ever period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about! Yosemite?!
[Silence]
It sure used to be… We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reason. We passed laws, struck down laws, for moral reason. We waged wars on poverty, not on poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were and we never beat our chest. We built great, big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases and we cultivated the world’s greatest artists AND the world’s greatest economy. We reached for the stars, acted like men. We aspired to intelligence, we didn’t belittle it. It didn’t make us feel inferior. We didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election and we didn’t scare so easy. We were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed… by great men, men who were revered. First step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.”

CHANGE

WE WANT CHANGE

If you really want change, get out your wallet and buy a different congress !!  That's what the billionaires do.

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Simple Question: Would Islamic Countries Welcome Millions Of Christians?

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Now that is AN interesting question !! Think I'll repost this. But I gotta add this too

as self-righteously angry as I get sometimes, the near and middle east is not a place I imagine escaping to.

What Affects Change?

Three Things

1. Money
   
2. Power
   
3. Influence
   

There are corollaries and nuances to each of these but without one or more of these your ability to affect change is almost nil.  Locally, county wide, state wide, or nationally.

THIS WHOLE "MUSLIM" THING

THINKING IT THROUGH

My Daily Prayer "God protect me from any and every kind of strident radical"!

First your history lesson to help you understand the "context" of this country.

• http://www.history.com/topics/pilgrims
  

Now for the philosophic background you need,ya gotta understand the difference between "liberty, freedom, and rights":

• http://eyler.freeservers.com/JeffPers/jefpco26.htm      (canaille: the common people; the masses.)
  

What is a protest ant (protestant)? a member or follower of any of the Western Christian churches that are separate from the Roman Catholic Church and follow the principles of the Reformation, including the Baptist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran churches

And Finally:

Your freedom, liberty and rights only extend to the outer

 

boundary of MY freedom, liberty, and rights.

And when you start banning Muslims, christians, buddhists,

you are limiting the the freedoms, rights and liberties of

EVERYONE. You are allowing some group to make laws to

the lowest common denominator.  When you do that everyone loses because of the acts of a FEW.

I know this cuts against the grain of the "risk free" society so

ardently desired by the "Nanny Society" culture we seem to

pandering to but that's just the where history leads us.

Sooooo................. remove the risk (ban all muslims), and at

the same time give away the core of your Freedom, Liberty,

Rights.  I'll take the Muslims and accept the risk.

Fundamental Islam for Dummies

What you need to know:

Who are these ISIS people?

• They are believers of the Wahabi movement in Islam
• The major supporter of Wahhabi schools is Saudi Arabia
• Saudi Arabia is a major funder of ISIS (NOT the nation state of Saudi Arabia but enormously wealthy individuals in that nation state including the king.

What the hell is Wahhabism?

go here and find out. Old?  No!! New?  Hell Yes!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahhabism

WHY?

Because they've got the oil and the money.  It's really just that simple and that's EXACTLY why we don't do anything about it.

A few dozen or a few hundred or a few thousand deaths just don't matter when your larger objective is power.  For God's sake reader, 6,000,000 dead jews didn't raise an eyebrow for a hell of a long time.

Thanks, reader. Remember this just my thinking.  

WHAT'S A GOOD ANSWER?

YES, NO, I DON'T KNOW, AND MAYBE

NO is a perfectly valid answer.  What is wrong with NO?

When is no appropriate? "May I shoot that person who has just taken a parking space I wanted?"  NO!

May I shout at that person?  YES, but you have to be also willing to accept any consequences of yelling at them.

Is it appropriate for a subgroup of citizens to insist on utilizing a religious based set of laws to govern members of their "community" (in the United States of America)?  NO, HELL NO!

See it's not too difficult to understand.  Wanna argue?  Fine, but the answer is still gonna be and always will be .... NO, HELL NO

GUN CONTROL

Making Laws/Rules to the Lowest Common Denominator

Why was I a very popular substitute teacher?

One reason is this .... if the"room" was unruly I would find the instigator and the agitator.  THEY are the ones who would be disciplined,  NOT the entire class.

Making laws and rules that affect everyone, when only a few are the cause is a LAZY, STUPID, WAY TO GOVERN ANYTHING.

One of the most stupid signs I know of is "NO PARKING ANYTIME".  That's hardly ever the real case.  One of the BEST signs I ever see is in a school zone :  "SPEED LIMIT 25MPH WHEN LIGHT IS FLASHING"