A news article on Yahoo News, entitled “The American Legion Strongly Opposed to President’s Plan to Charge Wounded Heroes for Treatment” (http://ow.ly/10Eb), read:

“The leader of the nation’s largest veterans organization says he is “deeply disappointed and concerned” after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases.”

Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion is quoted as saying:

“It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan. He (the president) says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it.”

The commander went on to say:

“This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ‘ to care for him who shall have borne the battle’ given that the United States government sent members of the armed forces into harm’s way, and not private insurance companies. I say again that The American Legion does not and will not support any plan that seeks to bill a veteran for treatment of a service connected disability at the very agency that was created to treat the unique need of America’s veterans!”

You can go to the actual article to read more, however this ‘alleged move’ by President Obama does not surprise me in the least. I am compelled to stress this idea that this is not an anti-Obama thing, but rather it is a thing against the mindset of many who think that the Veteran and/or Military are a group of people not worthy of being properly compensated.

What is a Disabled Vet?

A Disabled Vet is “a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.” In other words, a Disabled Veteran is a person who entered the Military and sacrificed something of them while performing his or her duties as ordered by the U.S. Military or U.S. Government.

What makes the Disabled Vet anymore special than anyone else?

This is often a simple matter of opinion, but the Disabled Vet is a person who once served our country and it’s citizenry faithfully and honorably by protecting our rights and way of life against people wishing us harm from with out or with-in it’s borders. The Veteran gave something of him, or her, self for this country and it’s citizens… therefore it’s a debt of honor that we owe those disabled in the service of our country the medical care and compensation that he or she requires and ‘free of charge’. It was often not their fault that they received the disabilities that they suffer with on a daily basis, therefore due to the fact they received them while in the service of our country… we owe them just compensation.

Are only Veterans who are disabled in relationship to a war to be considered?

No, thousands of Vets have disabilities that are not directly, or indirectly, attributed to war; however they still received their disability ‘in the line of duty’ while acting under orders. Those non-wartime disabled vets are no less important than the wartime vets. We still owe them the same respect and debt of honor for their service connected disabilities.

Why is President Obama’s Plan unfair to the Disabled Vet?

The U.S. Government saw it fit to give the U.S. Military missions, whether those missions were Peacetime or Wartime Missions, and during the course of those missions the military member became disabled. The Disabled Veteran would most likely never suffer the disability they have acquired if it was not for this fact; therefore it’s the responsibility of the U.S. Government to properly take care of these people. It is not the Disabled Vet’s healthcare plan’s responsibility, it’s not the responsibility of the Disabled Vet to assume the cost of the care of their disability, nor is it up to the families of those who were Disabled in the line of duty to assume these costs…. It’s the responsibility of the Federal Government. Laws are in place which demands the citizen to live up to his or her responsibilities, therefore the U.S. Government ought to be held to a set of standards that are equal to (or higher) than what is expected of it’s citizenry.
According to the media the Obama plan will push off the government’s responsibility upon the Disabled Vet through the act of making Civilian Healthcare Insurance Companies assume the costs that are rightfully the responsibility of the government to pay. In turn many insurance companies will raise the rates the Disabled Vets pay for healthcare to make up the shortfall, also these companies will raise to a slighter degree the cost of healthcare to non-disabled vets because the health care companies ‘are losing too much money”.

When I lived in Las Vegas the health insurance company of the place I worked found out about my heart condition and wanted to raise the rates paid by the business and the employees 2 to 3 times the rate that we were currently being charged. This became a problem and I told the company that my heart condition was the responsibility of the VA and the health care insurance company was not responsible for such charges. I had to sign a waiver saying that the health care company would not be responsible for my heart condition and they still raised the rates by 50%.

This was during a time when the Veterans Administration did not require for me to give my health care insurance information to the VA so that they could try to charge the health care company for costs relating to my service-connected disability. Now stop and think how that situation would be if the law stated that the health care company I used had to pay for my ‘in the line of duty” disability. They easily could charge everyone 2 to 3 times the current rates simply because I chose to enter the U.S. Military and was ‘lucky enough’ to win the disability lottery. Instead of affordable health care being a possibility in the future, healthcare would worsen for everyone (especially the Disabled Vet).

So this plan, as reported by the media, is unfair to the Disabled Vet and a slap in the face to every Veteran out there, living or dead, it’s a danger to every U.S. citizen. On the other hand you will see the spin masters trying to do damage control by talking this idea down.

Don’t get me wrong, I am sure even someone with Bill Gates’ wealth would claim that Mr. Gates was an extremely wealthy man, however that is the extreme and very much like saying a person with no property and no income is poor. Such extremes don’t answer the the question of “How much does one have to earn or have to be considered as wealthy?”.

Prior to beginning this topic, I would like to tell a story. The reason for my telling it is to exemplify the idea of how different people view the status of Wealthy and Poor.

One night while I was in Honduras, I was bored and couldn’t sleep. I didn’t want to disturb the other person in the hotel room, so I decided to take my briefcase down to the restaurant in the lobby and putter around with a few designs I was working on. After I had taken a seat in the eating area, I saw a ‘waiter’ walking my way. I asked him if I could just get some coffee and use his table to do some work. Since it was around midnight he said that it wouldn’t be a problem and I could use the table as long as I liked. So I got out my sketches and calculations to do some work.

It was about half an hour later that I became bored, ordered another coffee and pushed my things aside. I sat there watching the few people in the lobby area move around going about their business. It was then when the ‘waiter’ came over to me and said that he saw I quit working and he wondered if he could speak with me. I told him to grab a coke or a coffee and have a seat. I thought he was bored too for I noticed him mostly standing in the doorway to the kitchen looking like he was wishing to be somewhere else.

He began by asking me about America and where I lived. I told him I was from Las Vegas and I answered his other questions. He seemed highly interested. I then asked about Honduras and he looked so relieved. My inner voice said “Uh-oh, just what did you step into”. I wasn’t a novice at traveling to foreign places.

He told me about Honduras being a poor country, which is a fact I already knew. He told me the unemployment rate and what the average worker earned ($300 to $600 a year at that time). He then began saying how expensive things were and the living conditions of most Hondurans. At this time I began to see that he was gearing up to ask me something and I had no doubt that the military or the Honduran Government would classify it as ‘black marketing’. I could not help but to notice that he particularly made it a point to tell me the cost of Televisions in Honduras (about $1,300 for a 13 inch black and white). I admit that I really never bothered to check out the accuracy of his figures, but I was told by other sources that the average Honduran only earned about $300 a year, if they worked at all. Those employed at American Companies, like Coke or Dole, tended to earn better wages than the average Honduran.

He then turned the conversation again to me and “America”, asking what the average wages were and he even asked if it was alright to ask how much I earned a year. I told him that I didn’t mind and answered his questions. So I said I earned about $1,500 a month, more or less, and I didn’t know the average wages in America. I did know what some occupations earned, but that was about it and I gave him the data. I also told him what minimum wage was and explained that to him. He was astonished, he thought minimum wage workers earned a lot of money and he thought I was rich. It was then that I told him “Yeah, but the money doesn’t go far”. I had to explain what I meant and I broke down my expenses for the month. He saw that I only ended up with 100 to 200 dollars a month for my own entertainment. I didn’t confuse him with the gambling aspect and how I would often win enough money to play the quarter slots for a couple hours a night about twice a week.

By this time the woman in the kitchen came out and sat down. He told her what I was saying and she was amazed at how rich “Americans” were. $200 a month for entertainment was something most Hondurans could not afford. It was then that the woman said something and the man translated it to mean: “She asked me if you could get her a 13 inch black and white TV. She would pay you $700 for it”. I first asked, “You mean Lempira, don’t you?” He told me “No, I mean $700 in American money.”. I jokingly made the comment of them being paid well in this job and he told me “No. She has 7 brothers, 2 Sisters and her parents that would all help pay”

I was not shocked at the offer to do such things for people in foreign countries, but I was a little rattled over the fact that these people were willing to spend so much money on a garbage TV like that. I told him that I couldn’t do it because I just bought a 19″ color TV for about $350 and I made the comment that I couldn’t charge them anymore than $50 for carrying fees. I knew that I could bring 1 TV into the country legally and no one worried whether I took it back home again. I told him that $700 would get her a 25″ color TV. He insisted that she would prefer a black and white set because they knew people that could fix those, and if I could get a bigger black and white set then she would be happy. I told him to let me think on it and talk to people, maybe something could be worked out because I thought this was my last trip to their country. They were willing to give me the money the next night, if I wanted it. Well I ended up seeing a good friend of mine and telling him about it. I knew he didn’t mind a little black marketing and as a favor to me he would give them a price not much more than it cost him. I knew that if he would do it, he wouldn’t rake them over the coals. That got me out of the loop pretty quick, which made me happy enough.

I like telling that story because it serves to show people’s perspectives and how they can vary widely. This Honduran man and woman thought I was wealthy until they found out how much money I needed to for living expenses. They still thought I was doing well, after the discussion, but I no longer was some “Rich American”. I learned just how poor some people in other countries actually were through something other than 3rd party reports and books. I saw first hand how some people would scrimp and save or do other things just to have some meager simple luxury item. I thought I knew poor in America, I actually saw it in places like Honduras.

Even in America, or other wealthy countries, there are contrasts from person to person with the idea of what makes one rich or poor. It mainly a thing called ‘Perspective’.

I did a little research for this blog article and found that on February 29, 2008, the IRS announced that the U.S. median gross income was $61,500. According to “ESTIMATED STATE MEDIAN INCOME, BY FAMILY SIZE AND BY STATE FOR FY 2009″, the median income for the US for a family of 4 was about $70,354. Other sources claim that if you had $5 Million, then you were rich. On the other hand other sources claim $25 Million is the magic number. Some notable people, such as President Obama and Sen. McCain, disagree with some of these figures. Meanwhile the ‘issue’ of what “Rich” is carries on with no hard core set of figures figures that everyone can agree on in sight. We can most often agree on the extremes, but we can’t really point to a dollar value and all agree that this was the line between Rich and Poor.

In my view, I believe anyone earning over the average income is classified as ‘doing well’ and anyone below that figure falls in varying degrees of being poor. Income alone most often does not determine whether someone is rich or poor because a person can earn huge amounts of money per year and be in debt up to their little pink ears. I tend to go on the idea that Rich or Poor incorporates many things. Things like Salaries, savings and investments, property owned, and other things all come into play. Debts also can detract from their apparent wealth. However if a person’s personal wealth is in the millions, I consider them rich.

So I put the question to youi all… “What is Rich?”

On, or about, the 21st of January 2009, Urgo and the people at SocialBlade set up a message board to cover numerous social media sites around the net. Over the past month the site has accumulated 78 members and seems to be off to a good start. The message board has sections for Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Twitter and Other Social Sites.

Why a message board about social media sites? In a welcome message on the SocialBlade site, Jason says:

“For over a year now, members of the Digg community have requested Digg to create a forum whereby members can interact with each other outside of shouts. Digg has been promising and promising this but has never delivered. This forum is meant to fill the void until they do release something officially, but also be much more.“

Urgo is correct, in the past 6 months (more or less) I have seen several comments about Diggers wanting a forum or place to interact with those at Digg and with each other. It’s long overdue, in my estimation.

I went to Ashmadai, of Ashmadai’s Blog, to ask for a comment. Ashmadai has been involved in many message boards and forums since 1993 and knows a thing or two. as well as being very vocal about Digg in recent months. I asked him to critique the site for me.

“The site’s a really much needed site”, said Ashmadai, “and a pretty cool idea. I hope Urgo doesn’t give up on the site because it’s slow starting or the other social media sites decide to follow his lead.” When asked why, he stated, “Jason seems to have the knack of how to run forums, at least he started out with this board on a good footing. He set the board up in a similar manner that I would have done. Each of the main Social Media sites have their own little category with sub-categories, yet he also had the foresight to see the need for more general categories. His rules are simple and he makes it known that his message board goes by the rules… but he doesn’t get obnoxious or overbearing with them. He keeps things on a pretty friendly level. There is room for expansion on his board, he doesn’t overdo it at the start as many message boards have a tendency to do. It seems to me that Jason, or someone at SocialBlade, has some experience in the art of creating a message board.”

I asked Ashmadai if he had any suggestions for the new SocialBlade site. “No,” said Ashmadai, “It would be sort of nice to have a place where those who are members of the various social media sites can place an entry concerning their own blogs… but that could turn into a monster and it may be best to set up such a thing in another way, such as maybe setting up a Topsites board for that purpose. Many boards have a forum or category for it’s members to advertise their own ‘forums’, but those often can get unwieldy and be abused.”

Ashmadai made a final comment about ‘Advertsing the SocialBlade board’. He commented that there ought to be a way to spread the news about the new site that would not result in the ads for the site being ‘banned’ on the social media sites that it covers. “More people need to be made aware of the site and they need to come to the site and participate,” stated Ashmadai, “the site is a great idea because it gives the Digger, Stumbler, Mixxer, et al another place to go to that allows for a better way to talk to each other and get information about their favorite social media sites. I wish Jason well with the board, especially since he made the effort to do something that places like Digg should have done years and months ago.”

It would be nice if Digg (and the other social media sites) would interact with the people of SocialBlade on this project, perhaps they could put a small banner on their pages that takes their members to the SocialBlade site as a form of compensation for the work being done by Jason and the people at SocialBlade. People who are members of these sites that have Blogs might be able to also add a small banner to their sites in the effort to ‘spread the word’. It very well may be that Jason doesn’t want all of that responsibility and burden, but if he doesn’t mind operating his board then the social media sites may just embrace the effort and allow him to continue with what he started.

In 1978 Al released his first recording, named “Take Me Down”, which was released as a benefit for the Economic Opportunity Commission of San Louis Obispo. The song mocked famous nearby landmarks.

In 1979 Weird Al released his parody of the song “My Sharona”, entitled “My Bologna”.

It is said that Doug Fieger, of The Knack, liked the parody and convinced Capitol Records to release the song as a single. Capitol Records gave Al a 6 month recording contract.

On September 14, 1980, Al was invited to the Dr. Demento Radio Show to record Al’s second hit live called “Another One Rides the Bus”. On April 21, 1981 Al performed this tune on Tom Snyder’s “Tomorrow” show on NBC.

The remainder is history, Al compiled one hit after another. Here are some of Al’s hits.

“Fat”, a parody of Michael Jackson’s “Bad”.

“Eat it”, a parody of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”.

“Smells Like Nirvana”, a parody of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

“Gump”, a parody of The Presidents of the United States’ “Lump”.

“Yoda”, a parody of the Kinks’ “Lola”.

“Amish Paradise”, a parody of “Gangsta Paradise”.

The hits keep on going, for more search for Weird Al on Youtube.

In this post I would like to touch upon the different types of music that ELP has given us to enjoy. So “Welcome to the Show”, my friends.

ELP put out many songs that made it into the charts and stood the test of time. “From the Beginning” is a song that many out there may remember.

Lucky Man was a huge hit for ELP. The song told the story with a lesson we all can learn from. The story is about a man who had it all, yet in the end he found out none of his earthly acquisitions could forestall the eventual.

Emerson, Lake and Palmer put out a song called “C’est La Vie”. This hauntingly beautiful song was inspired by the more classical French sound that we have heard for years in movies and it delighted the fans immensely.

C’est La Vie

ELP also did a remake of the theme song to Peter Gunn in, or around, 1977. They up-dated the theme from the old TV show, but yet managed to retain the integrity of the original musical score… and it delighted ELP fans around the world.

ELP released “Father Christmas” on their Works Vol. 1 album. It, like all of ELP’s songs, did not let down the fans.

ELP tried to incorporate classical music with rock, some say it was an effort to try to make the single minded rocker more aware of how “Cool” classical Music could be… other say differently. One of the ways they attempted this is through the release of the Album “Pictures at an Exhibition”, which was their version of the classical artist Mussgorsky. Promanade and The Gnome are just the beginning of ELP’s journey into the Classical Genre.

The Great Gates of Kiev and The End finish the album.

ELP took the classic “Nutcracker”, a song which many of us hear snatches of year after year around Christmas time, and turned it into “Nutrocker”.

Bob once stated that Little Richard and Elvis Presley were the men responsible for getting him started on the road to rock stardom, but Bob had other influences as well. The late, great James Brown had a huge impact on Bob, as well as Van Morrison. It is stated that the first record Bob bought was the old classic “Come and Go with me” by the Del Vikings.

In 1965 Bob released his first single, but it was not until 1968 that he had his brush with stardom. The release of “Ramblin, Gamblin Man” was his first national hit and led to the release of an album in 1969. Success eluded Bob for several years after this #17 hit in 69, people were beginning to think of Bob as a “One-Hit Wonder”.

In 1974 Bob risked it all by starting up “The Silver Bullet Band” and never looked back. He began putting one hit out after another, showing America and the World that he could rock. Here are a few selections

Old Time Rock n Roll

Katmandu

Her Strut

Against the Wind

We Got Tonight

Turn The Page

Hollywood Nights

Y&T was a high energy, hard rocking band that was sure to turn any audience into a frenzy at home or abroad. They were well received in Japan, Europe and the UK – as well as cities across the US and Canada. It is now almost 35 years after the band was created and still their fans call out for more.

Their long career includes such things as performing on American Bandstand, receiving two Bammie Awards, having five top 100 albums, songs that tipped into the 40s on Billboard charts, multiple national and international television appearances, and a worldwide fan base, Y&T has sold over four million albums and recorded 16 LPs and three greatest hits collections since their 1974 inception.

Let’s set the stage for the Y&T experience. You’re somewhere between 15 and 35 years of age. You walk into the arena, take your seat and watch the the people walk into the place. The air is filled with excitement and you are all set for a night of hard rockin’. Suddenly the lights go down, the crowd quiets and the only thing that can be heard is the sound of people breathing. Suddenly you hear the intro… a blaring guitar playing something sort of sad and slowish. Just as quick the drum beat is heard an as the guitar begins to play… the lighting begins to flash and spotlights blaze on the band.

You are hooked, the sheer energy from the song and band has you and won’t let go. The band knows it and you know it, but that’s ok you are getting what you’re money’s worth and you know it. The next song begins:

They immediately go into their next song:

The pace is now slowed down:

(Now what guy can’t relate to this song… and what woman wouldn’t get a secret smile at it? Be honest now!)

Next Y&T breaks into one of the more famous songs they had, it may not be the best — but many remember it fondly.

They next bring you back to the real world of rock and heavy metal with this hit:

I’d like to go on, but this mini-concert is already getting too big. Y&T just has too many songs for such a small tribute… so we end the concert with perhaps one of the best ballads put out by a rock band — Winds of Change.

“Tolerance is the positive and cordial effort to understand another’s beliefs, practices, and habits without necessarily sharing or accepting them.”
~ Joshua Liebman

I was the product of a fine education, which happened to be due to the Catholic Church, but I am most thankful for gaining my education during (and after) Vatican II. Vatican II occurred in the mid-60s and it resulted in many changes in the church, the short version is that the Catholic Church was ‘modernized’ during this time. As time passed, from the mid-60s, the church became ‘more lenient’ in how it taught (as well as in other matters). By the time the mid-70s came about, I was impressed with the things the church-sponsored school were teaching. One of those things the school taught was a class on Atheism and Belief.

Now, as background, I first ran into problems with the “Church Think” at the ripe young age of about 7 or 8. The problems began when a dog belonging to a classmate died, the girl was saddened by the experience (as one would expect a child to be). One of her friends tried to console her by saying “That’s bad that you dog died, but be happy knowing that you will see your dog again in heaven”. The Nun overheard this and decided to tell us about dog’s not having soul’s, therefore they don’t go to heaven. As a young child I accepted this, as did the others, but I also remembered it (to my surprise). A few weeks passed and the same girl came into class telling her friends that her grandfather died. We all thought it was horrible that this poor girl had to suffer the loss of her dog and grandfather. We were talking about why people died when the same Nun walked in and overheard us. This time she told the girl, “Honey, your grandfather died because God called his soul to heaven.” A comment or two was made about this and the Nun blurted out, “Life cannot exist with out the soul, so when God calls us home — the body becomes lifeless because there is no soul left to keep it alive.” Being a bright child, and somewhat lacking in knowing there is a proper time and place to voice one’s views that oppose the accepted mindset, I raised my hand and blurted out… “Sister ——, you just told us a few weeks ago that (name of girl) will not see her dog in heaven because it has no soul, right?” The Nun answered in the affirmative, apparently with out seeing the train approaching. I then said, “Sister, you now just told us that there is no life without the soul, right?” Once again she said yes. I then asked, “How can that be, either there can be life without a soul or there can’t be!” She fumbled through the attempts to explain this phenomena, not really realizing that sometimes children can be quite literal and make good logical connections. I made my comments upon what she said, which earned me a trip to the Principal’s office — then off to see the Priest. I just couldn’t make the Nuns realize they were flawed in their logic, although I was not advanced enough in my thought to see how they easily could have remedied the situation. I was simply searching for answers that made sense.

Ever since that time I would find flaws in some of the things the church was teaching. Most things taught were simply a matter of belief and I could accept that, however some things were outright ‘logical fallacies’ that could not be passed off easily. This eventually brought about my choice to ‘leave the church’, so to speak, but not without the knowledge to leave the church for the proper reasons. I didn’t leave because I hated religion or it’s morality got in the way of what I wanted to do (like so many). I didn’t leave in ignorance or an unwillingness to accept the ability to believe in something I can’t prove to exist or not exist. I didn’t even leave because of what the church has done 100 or 1,000 years in the past. I left because of ‘irreconcilable differences’. I could not, in good faith, follow a religion that I had issues with their dogma and doctrines. In my mind it didn’t make Catholicism bad, it simply made it a belief that I could not believe in. I eventually turned “Agnostic”, as opposed to Atheist, due to the fact that I although I could actually find no proof in the idea that God existed — neither could I, in all honesty to myself and others, find any tangible fact that God doesn’t exist. Many have tried to prove, or disprove, the existence of God — but in my opinion not a single person succeeded. The bottom line is that the either way of thinking is still simply a matter of belief and I lack the facts and the amount of belief required to take up either side of the issue.

Continuing on…

One of the things, as I have said before, that I give kudos to the Catholic Church is concerning the ideas of tolerance that they taught me… and the fact that they were willing to actually teach their students about Atheism and Belief. The religious instruction and the more secular overviews of other religions, provided a good basis for the general morality that I have adopted over the years. In general I am tolerant of the beliefs of the atheists and agnostics, as well as other religions. I firmly believe that everyone has a right to believe and not believe, I also firmly believe that everyone has the right to express their beliefs or non-beliefs.

Intolerance

Most people, if not everyone, can be accused of being ‘intolerant’ about something… whether the accusations are actually true or not is a whole different issue. One thing is for sure, intolerance is all around us and some of the most intolerant are those claiming to be the tolerant type. An example of this are some of the liberal minded people who support people like Barack Obama, yet their intolerance ends when their opinon about Bush or the Republican party is stated.

The same is true of religion, some of the non-religious types often preach against intolerance over many issues, they will even stand up for the Muslim or some cult group that is considered whacko by citing the Bill of Rights and the rights of people to believe as they wish… yet when it comes to Christians or the Religious right they will say some of the most horrible things (including the ideology that amounts to those of these groups they are speaking against have no right to their own beliefs and opinions). They don’t realize that either people have the right to believe (or not believe) or they don’t. Even worse, they don’t see the hypocrisy in their thinking and actions when doing this stuff.

The bottom line is that the Religious has the same rights to express their beliefs and thoughts as the Non-Religious has to not having to see or hear those thoughts or expressions. So how to we reconcile these two opposing rights?

Rights

Rights are a funny thing, everyone has them and it seems everyone pushes the idea of rights violations as if no one else’s rights are violated by a particular course of action. In the end we have courts to judge where a violation of rights occurs, but sometimes the courts are as unfair about protecting everyone’s rights as anyone else. So how do we reconcile this?

The operative word here is “cooperation” and an equally important word is “toleration”. One of the things America was founded on was ‘the freedom of religion”, which is not the same as “freedom from religion”. We also have a system where the majority should rule, not the minority, yet we have to be conscious of trying to protect the rights of the minority. The end result here should be that if someone is offended by the word “God” or “Morals” or “Religion”, then they should deal with it by practicing tolerance and looking the other way. At the same time the Religious shouldn’t go out of their way to throw religion into the face of the non-religious at every opportunity. The Religious should respect the rights of the Non-Religious or Atheist as much as the Atheist or Non-religious should respect the rights of the Religious.

It’s as simple as that, but sadly people (in general) are not willing to turn the other cheek or look the other way. They are too set in their opinions that “God” and “Religion” is such a bad thing that it should be wiped from the face of the earth — despite the fact that the vast majority are religious to some degree. At this point it should be made clear that the government is not going to waste time and money upon extinguishing all references to God or Religion from our public buildings, money and other things which have become a part of the American Society since before this nation began. Life’s tough, people, there are many things which people do not care for in life that we are forced to simply ignore or put up with — this is just another one of those things. If anyone wishes not to believe, or doubt, that is fine. If they want to express their opinions, that is fine too. If they want the majority to succumb to their will then that is not fine for that is not a part of being a democracy.

Summary

It would do this nation good if we put morality back in schools, we can call it “ethics” if we prefer. It is unfair to our young to not teach them what is proper in the public arena. Our young will rebel anyways, why not — I did! It is, however, not fair or right to not give them the basic building blocks to build upon.

The argument of “Who’s Morals?” or “Who’s Morality?” is to be taught is an argument for the ignorant. In every culture and in every religion there are basic morals, or ethics, which are the same as in every other culture or society. Those are the basics which should be taught and learned. Now some societies or religions take those basics and expands upon them… I don’t preach that those expanded morals be taught, just the basics.

In the 90s I read an article where the U.S. Marine Corps had to teach their new recruits about “Morality” because those new recruits did not have a high enough moral background to join the Marines. I laughed at this, at first, but quickly it hit home as to how the Society we lived in decline to a point so badly that it forced an organization like the Marines to have to put Morality Classes in place. That is a sad state of affairs, people, and no laughing matter. No wonder we hear about drive-by shootings, murders and rapes more frequently than ever… our youth are lacking in the basic societal skills to where they think such things are proper. Interesting, eh?

I am not a hardliner, I don’t expect people to be perfect. I’ve done my share of things that could be consider as “Anti-social” and I don’t hold very many up to standards higher than I am willing to go by. The three exceptions are our civic leaders, teachers and clergy. People make mistakes, they do things they later regret, life isn’t perfect. I do believe that such courses in our schools for “Atheism and Belief” and “Ethics and Morality” would be more of a help than a hurt. I’ve expressed my opinions, I am sure you’ll express yours.

The Chimney Song by Bob Rivers

I Farted On Santa’s Lap by Little Stinkers

I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas

I am Santa Clause by Bob Rivers

Monsters’ Holiday by Bobby “Boris” Pickett

Zat you, Santa Clause? – Buster Poindexter

It always amazes me how some people think, especially those people whom you think should know better. I am convinced that some people simply go to school too long and it dulls their common sense and damages their normal ability of logic and reason. They get too set in the belief that book knowledge and street knowledge are the same thing and what works in the classroom works in the real world. They can’t be further from the truth, most often book knowledge is the start of one’s education — not the end of it. We learn from books, or school, and build from those basic building blocks to create the world we live it.

The Starting Point of Recovery

It seems to me that our ‘experts’ have forgotten the fact that in order to have a strong economy… you must have your people working and earning money to spend. When millions of people are not generating an income where they can buy the niceties, as well as the necessities, the economy takes a hit. This doesn’t mean that Joe the Burger Flipper has to earn big bucks for the low skill job he performs, but it does mean that the average person should be able to earn enough to pay for the necessities and some extras (such as a reasonably priced computer for example).

The road to recovery for America demands that Americans have to be put back to work, this means that American businesses have to bring the jobs back home. It would help the economy more if our efforts of “Getting America Back To Work” included putting many of those on welfare and many of the Disabled who can work back to work. If that involves these people to run their own businesses, then so be it… that is what we should do. There are many out there who are not working for one reason or another who would love the opportunity to set up their own business.

Another thing I see as being required for a true recovery is for the Government to quit giving American Businesses incentives to take their factories outside of the US. Instead of giving bonuses or tax credits for an American Business to make their products outside the US by foreigners and then ship these products back to the US… we ought to levy taxes on American Businesses who do this and place higher taxes on imported items from Foreign Businesses. If tax credits are given to business, then give them for putting Americans to work. We can worry about giving foreign enterprises incentives after we straighten things out at home.

The American Citizen also has to undergo a change and this change mainly falls under the category of “Greed”. The Businessmen have to realize what constitutes “A Fair Profit” and quit being so greedy, but the workers have to quit being so greedy too. In short the idea of “A Fair day’s wages for a Fair Day’s work” needs to be the idea for all. People have to realize that if they want more money, they need to do things to improve themselves — no one owes them a life, let alone a good life. We have to understand the concept of ‘Living within our income” (or “living slightly outside our income”, at least). The idea that a man earning $40,000 a year ought to have the same things as one earning $400,000 a year needs to be cast out of our collective mindset. This goes for the rich as well as the poor, people from all walks of life are guilty of not living within a reasonable budget and they have been this way for years — including me.

Bailouts And Other Matters

In some cases the government should help it’s people and the businesses of our country to help get them straightened out, however the government cannot afford to pay for everything. Remember the government has no money of it’s own, it only has the money that we give it. Any proposition brought before the government that involves some type of “Free Money” deal where the business or person doesn’t have to pay the government back in a timely manner should be refused – for the most part. There are some special cases where a person should receive help from the government, but usually this is reserved for the elderly and the handicapped or disabled. The idea that the government should have to give an individual or business a loan or other bail out has to have limits set upon it and provisions should be made that if a person fails in his or her responsibility to pay back the government then some penalty (like the business being taken away from the current owners) should apply.

Summary

This is only a brief set of views, the points made are not done in detail for the purpose of allowing others to see what was said and build upon those basic building blocks. These views are a compilation of views I’ve seen expressed by people of different political beliefs or alliances.