Saturday

Fiscal cliff and debt ceiling made simple

Someone sent me this so I cannot take credit for it. But the pure simplicity and common sense of it appealed to me.

Lesson # 1:

* U.S. Tax revenue: $ 2,170,000,000,000
* Fed budget: $ 3,820,000,000,000
* New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
* National debt: $ 14,271,000,000,000
* Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000

Let's now remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget:

* Annual family income: $ 21,700
* Money the family spent: $ 38,200
* New debt on the credit card: $ 16,500
* Outstanding balance on the credit card: $ 142,710
* Total budget cuts so far: $ 38.50

Got It ?????

OK now, Lesson # 2:

Here's another way to look at the Debt Ceiling: Let's say, You come home from work and find there has been a sewer backup in your neighbourhood....and your home has sewage all the way up to your ceilings.

What do you think you should do ...... Raise the ceilings, or remove the sh*t?

Sunday

So many ways to hurt and kill BESIDES using assault weapons


If only we could ban guns and stop all this violence!  But of course guns are the cause right?  Just get rid of the guns and we would all live in a unicorn populated, fairy-fart flavored world of rainbows and butterflies.

Yet there are OTHER ways of killing and hurting people don’t ya know!

Violence using a ukulele


Hammers seem particularly popular for violent crimes these days!




Screwdrivers aren’t just for turning screws


Knives are an old favorite


Ten men with knives attack college dorm.  I bet those kids wished that had an assault rifle with a high capacity magazine


Machetes are very popular murder weapons in Jamaica (which has banned guns since 1974 on pain of an automatic life sentence in prison)





Let’s not forget swords as a weapon


And you thought chainsaws for just for cutting wood!

And spatulas have more uses than flipping eggs


Corkscrews can do more than just open wine bottles


Here’s a good one: death by pickle jar!


Guns are a strict no no in Japan right?  But bowling balls are still legal there!



Well it looks like we’ve got a lot of banning to do if we’re going to stop all this killing.  

Saturday

Who are you to tell me what I can keep Governor?

Some remarks made recently by NY Governor Cuomo:

“There’s a big difference of opinion on these issues,”

Really?  Yet it would seem that MY opinion as a law-abiding gun owner isn't worth dog squat!


“I don’t think legitimate sportsmen are going to say, ‘I need an assault weapon to go hunting,’ ”


Just who made YOU an authority on the topic of 'legitimate sportsmen'?  There're excellent reasons besides hunting for owning any thing I damn well please!

- At the same time, he noted that he owns a shotgun that he has used for hunting -



Maybe his supposed ownership of a shotgun is what he thinks gives him to the right to dictate what Americans are allowed to own and not own.  Meanwhile I have no doubt he's followed around by well armed bodyguards so that HIS safety is never at issue!



Is this a bodyguard tagging along behind?  You reckon he's armed with something high-capacity?

“There is a balance here — I understand the rights of gun owners; I understand the rights of hunters.”


If you truly understood, you'd go do something more useful like balance your state's budget and leave guns alone.  By the way Guv.... you can stuff your 'balance' up your ass SIDEWAYS.


“Confiscation could be an option."


You think so huh?  And condemn some other mother's son to death to enforce your fascist will.


"Mandatory sale to the state could be an option."


Ya know ... the way I see it, I am all caught up on my quota for 'mandatory' stuff. You can put 'mandatory' in the same place that you put 'balance'!


"Permitting could be an option — keep your gun but permit it.”


Me and millions of other Americans are done with the notion of asking gubmint permission for things we see as God-given.  I invite the governor to visit dictionary.com and look up the word UNALIENABLE.



These ass-hats are playing with fire!!!

Friday

Why is it okay to kill some children - but not others?

The killing of these children was an atrocity (not a tragedy!)

But killing these children is just business as usual for the American Empire.






Monday

On dogs


I read another blogger’s post recently where he was reminiscing about his best dog ever.  That got me to thinking about my best dog and I realized that I’ve never written about her, nor do I have any pictures of her.

Brunie (short for Brunehilda) was a brown female dachshund that we got from a family member when I was maybe 7 or 8 years old.  She was smart, loving, and full of energy; all the things you might want in a small boy’s pet.  Brunie was an outside dog since my mother was adamantly opposed to any animal ever coming in the house.  When a cousin came to visit one time and brought along her own dog (an inside dog), I thought my mother was going to have a cow!  But that’s another story.

As I have mentioned elsewhere, our yard contained pecan trees, plum trees, grape vines, and fig trees.  These food crop trees were in constant peril from marauding squirrels, and I was aided in my on-going defense mission by the ever vigilant Brunie.  She positively HATED squirrels, and no squirrel ever got into our yard that Brunie was unaware of.  I recall her sitting on her haunches with her eyes locked upwards for long periods of time waiting for some furry interloper to grow weary of hiding and make a run for it. Her patience was unwavering, and her enthusiasm for the hunt was unflagging. 

Brunie never had the benefit of formal training, but she would always come when called since she was such a loving little dog.  But there was one situation where you could expect Brunie to ignore you: when there was another dog around.  She would positively go nuts if another dog came into our yard.  If she saw another dog, you could forget trying to control her – all she could think about was getting to that other dog so she could make friends.

There came the day when we were in the front yard decorating the house for Christmas. The front gate was open (as it usually was) and we lived on a busy highway.  Bruine was of course hanging out in the front yard with me and my parents as we worked.  That is until she saw some other dog running alongside the road on the opposite side.  No amount of yelling or screaming could stop her as she headed out the gate at high speed; directly under the wheels of a passing car.

I saw the whole thing unfold very clearly from my perch on a ladder as I was handing lights up to my dad on the roof.  The car never even slowed down. Brunie was horribly injured but somehow was still alive.  Daddy suggested that the thing to do was to put Brunie out of her misery, but eleven year-old GunRights4US begged for her to be taken to the vet. 

To this day I do not know where my family came up with the money for what must have been a tremendous bill.  Brunie spent many days in the animal hospital, and this was a time when our family was struggling to make ends meet financially.  But somehow they managed it - my folks strongly believed in paying their bills!

Brunie was paralyzed from the waist down, and she had to drag herself along the ground.  But she was alive, and she was the same sweet and loving dog that meant the world to me.  For many months we worked with her trying to exercise her legs in an attempt to keep the muscles from atrophying.  But it was not until we got another dachshund puppy named Yippy that Brunie was motivated to try walking again. 

I no longer remember how long that whole process was, from the time of the accident until the time when Brunie recovered the ability to walk.  My parents are both dead now so there’s no one to ask about it.  I’m sure it was over a year – certainly a very long time.  But she did finally regain the use of her legs.  Her tail never wagged again, but you didn’t need that indicator of how happy Brunie was anyway.  You could see the love and the joy in her face!

I recall my mother being particularly glad at Brunie’s recovery because of how often Brunie would drag herself into the woods behind Yippi, and then get stuck somewhere.  Yippy would come to the back door and bark until it got Mama’s attention, and then Mama would go looking for Brunie and have to carry her back to the yard. 

One day I came home from school and there was no Brunie to greet me.  I looked everywhere but I couldn’t find her.  I asked Mama and Daddy, but they claimed ignorance.  This process went on for a few days; I would come home and search for my dog, and then question my parents.  Something about the way they were acting gave me cause to suspect that they weren’t being wholly truthful.  Finally my father admitted that he had found Brunie beside the road, and this time there was no vet that could help.  She had obviously been hit by a car and apparently killed instantly.  I cried for a long time, and the memory of that loss still brings an ache to my heart even forty years later. 

The thought occurs to me that God was indeed wise to provide man with a pet that could give so much unconditional love.  Thinking of my little furry friend from long ago, I reach down and pet my current little furry friend, a black miniature dachshund named Chopstick – and I am thankful.