JOHN BIRCH AND OTHER RAMBLINGS

Interesting notes of the day.  (A slow day I might add)


Today is the anniversary of the 1958 founding of the John Birch Society.  As most folks are aware the organization was originally founded to battle the threat of Communism.


China declared war on Japan in 1941.  I guess that means we were on the same side. 


It's hard to believe Kirk Douglas is 95.  Seems like yesterday he was 94.

Interesting story on Drudge today regarding how the 2012 Democratic National Convention has the potential to become a 2nd 1968.  Now this will be an interesting story to follow in the upcoming months.  The troubling conditions in our country could escalate and rapidly deteriorate.  We'll see.

LIVING IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE

Thank God This is My Reality

OK I've finally figured it out.  None of this is real.  Not Obama, not a lame, ineffective Congress, not a collapsing economy, not the Donald Trump debate, not the hag show called The View, or openly gay men in the military or even, an American Attorney General spearheading weapons sales to drug cartels.  Neither is a 14 trillion dollar debt, or Barbara Walters still on TV, or that Regis retired.  And to think I was buying it all.  I actually believed that there were 57 states, corpsemen in the army and people were actually involved in something called "tweeting."  I even thought somebody built an electric car that was always catching fire, that Alec Baldwin was a liberal hack, that we were sending billions of dollars to Pakistan.  Can you imagine how foolish I felt actually believing that some fruitcake named Barney caused an economic catastrophe, that a bunch of vagrants were taking over public parks around the country and that Americans were starting election cycles two years in advance.  Pretty amazing, huh?  I was never so happy to realize that I was actually living in an episode of The Twilight Zone.  I feel much better knowing that I'm living there.  Can you imagine if all that other stuff was real?

BRING OUR TROOPS HOME

Defend Yourself

Why do we still have 30,000 troops in South Korea, 66,000 in Germany, and 53,000 in Japan of all places?  I understand the idea may be to act as a deterrent to China or North Korea and Iran but, there has to be a better way to do this than to have all these soldiers overseas in countries that should be able to defend themselves or at the very least, help us out a lot more.  It's time to let the Japanese rearm and take some responsibility for defending that area of the world.  We simply can't continue to be the world's policeman.  We can't afford it.  The money isn't there to continue these foreign operations to the extent we have for all these decades.  We make a big deal out of trying to help the Afghans and the Iraqis defend themselves.  Why not the Japanese?  Certainly, the Germans can pick up some slack in Europe.  The South Koreans have a pretty good military force already.  It's time to wise up and pull our resources back home.

PAYING MORE FOR LESS

Reports indicate that the Post Office will be announcing tomorrow that they are going to close more post offices, postal distribution operations and increase the time they take to deliver a First Class Letter.  Now it seems to me,  we will be getting a lot less for our money even  as the postal service continues to operate in the red with a seemingly endless supply of tax dollars propping it up. 
Another example of our government "helping" us.  It's disgraceful how they have allowed the Postal Service to become a bloated, inefficient bureaucracy that has been losing billions of dollars for a number of years.  Why should we be surprised since this is how the government operates under normal circumstances?  The post office is the poster child for incompetence and shows us why the private sector will always trump the government when it comes to operating any kind of business.

HARD TO BELIEVE ITS BEEN THAT LONG BUT....

44 years...you got to be kidding

It was all the way back in 1967 that Christian Barnard performed the first human to human Heart Transplant.  As a teenager I can distinctly remember when I first heard this and how much in awe I was that something like that was even possible.  I can even recall the name of the patient as a Louis Washkansky.  It just makes me think of all those things we were going through back then and how these world-changing events affected us all, and myself in particular.  The awe of events like this, the moon landing, space flight in general, the 1968 Olympics or even the Democratic Convention still resonate with me.  Maybe that is something that is missing today.  I don't think folks, especially kids are awed by much at all.  Nothing seems big enough, important enough or interesting enough to have that kind of effect on people.  Even the tremendous technological advancements, the modern space program or a nuclear catastrophe in Japan seem to generate any long term interest or impact young people.  I think it' sad, mainly because I remember with fondness how much those awe inspiring events and people impacted and shaped my youth.  I guess it's just another example that proves you can't go back. 
I'm finding that one of the blessings of getting older is the reflection and recollections that one can make about the past.  Maybe I'm full of sh*t but, I'm seeing most of it with rose colored glasses.  Well, "Here's looking at you kid."

MESSAGE TO THE DISTRACTED

This is way too easy

According to Yahoo,  the top 10 Searches in 2011 are; the iPhone, Casey Anthony, Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry, Jennifer Lopez, Lindsay Lohan, American Idol, Jennifer Aniston, Japan's Earthquake and Osama bin Laden.  Therefore, as a result of learning this important info,  I must assume that this is what is on the minds of many many people.   If so, it's quite sad and embarrassing that folks dwell so much on these nonsensical and irrelevant things.  Granted, Japan's earthquake and the death of bin Laden are relevant but, as for the rest, it appears to be a monumental waste of time and energy.
I understand some people need to find distractions or diversions but, it has become ridiculous. 
It seems like there are so many folks out there who don 't want to deal with reality so they continually want to lose themselves in this nonsense.  They seem very content to have someone else worry about their real life problems so they can put their energy into following the Hollywood idiocy.  
I see it primarily as a maturity issue, an education (or lack of) issue and one of an attitude of entitlement.  
The idea that I can have ten kids and it's my neighbor's job to pay for them, or that I'm not accountable for my actions doesn't come out of nowhere.  It's an attitude that is gleaned over many years and becomes almost like a part of one's DNA.  In order to develop this kind of attitude you must be able to free your mind of worrying about relevant things like, getting a job, paying attention to one's kids, repaying loans or any of a thousand hum drum subjects from the real world.
When you watch these fools on TV and you see how they act, it's no surprise we as a nation are in the state we are in.   Then of course the other side of the coin is that you have so many liberal politicians  continually feeding this kind of behavior and attitude so as  to improve their own lot, it is disgusting.  
It's time to pull the nipple back and make these irresponsible people stand on their own two feet and bear the responsibility for their actions ( or in-actions). 
Quit wasting your time on the nonsense 24/7 and make an effort to contribute positively to society. 

ODDBALL COLLECTION OF ANNIVERSARIES

Today marked an interesting collection of anniversaries in American History.  For anyone keeping score it's been 14 years since the Kyoto Summit that gave a push to the Global Warming hype.  Today scientists are still arguing over the truth of this stuff, much like they are arguing about whether salt is good or bad, or whether cell phones cause brain tumors and pretty much everything else.  If you are like me, you just ignore everything that begins with the words, "Scientists say."  
It it also the anniversary of the arrest of Rosa Parks for refusing to ride in the back of bus in Montgomery Alabama in 1955.  When I was younger I used to believe she was just a lady who suddenly made this decision after she boarded, to refuse to move to the back.  It was not till much later that I learned she was drafted by members of the Civil Rights Movement and the whole thing was planned BEFORE she got near a bus.  Nonetheless, I have to give her credit for having the guts to do something that was so dangerous and at the same time, revolutionary.  

Finally, December 1st was also the 167th anniversary of the Election of 1824, which say the U.S. House of Representatives handed the election to John Q. Adams over Andrew Jackson, after Henry Clay (the third wheel in this Constitutional Dilemma) threw his support to Adams.  This was one of the first major Constitutional Crisis in U.S. History.  (Gee, I wonder if Obama's eligibility would have been another had it come to that?)  I bet so.  
Well, enjoy the month and I'll mix in a few of these reminders as time goes along.