Interesting Observation

Maybe it's just me, but the last time I heard the following I got a very strong Ron Paul vibe:  

And so it goes.............  

Silly Season: The Dream Situation

Yeah, I know - Super Tuesday's coming up, and all things political will ramp way up for basically the next 10 months, barring a tsunami, 9/11-style attack, worldwide bank implosions, or whatever else Barry Hussein might be able to pull out of the hat.  Myself, I'm already thoroughly sick and tired of the whole bloody mess; the bickering, the distortion of facts, the odd cheap shot, the demagogic haranguing - and that's just within the GOP.


Oh, the Lefties get half the blame too - lousy media across the spectrum, distortion of facts, constant cheap shots, demagogic haranguing; but this goes on with them 24/7, 365 anyway, so no great shakes there.  The claptrap is spewing from all sides, out every orifice, no matter where you look or try to hide from it.  As such, I'm going to talk here about what WON'T be happening from now until November {and beyond}.  My own political punditry, if you will - based on logic and common sense; two items as foreign to our Government as honesty and integrity.  But I digress.......

Here's the recipe for my ideal candidate for any office, not just the Presidency.

• Foreign Policy:  Impose a 5 year moratorium over any political, social, or military involvement on foreign soil.  Remove all troops from overseas AND expel the UN from our own soil for the duration.  Aside from humanitarian aid {tsunami, earthquake, hurricane, etc.}, we simply retreat home, and stay quiet.  Forget "nation building," "being cop for the world," or all the other political crap we're involved with currently; it's doing more harm than good, so at least take a break to re-think the priorities.  Oh, and put a unilateral 100% tariff on every last one of our imported goods or services for the duration as well; it's a key component that ties in with my ideal Domestic Policy described next.
• Domestic Policy 1:  We look to ourselves first for our wants and needs.  Energy, durable goods, foodstuffs, leisure / convenience items, vehicles, TECH SUPPORT - if we can't provide it here for ourselves, we do without - or pay a hefty  premium for anything imported {see above}.  Once upon a time, not so very long ago we as a nation were 100% self-sufficient, and we led the world in items exported.  Today we are markedly less self-sufficient, and we have become the world's second-largest importer; with everything from apples to yo-yo's being brought in from overseas, all with varying quality, safety, usefulness, etc.  Our own production industry is in shambles, with everything from forestry products to steel and plastics either greatly down-sized, outsourced, or both.  Same for a LOT of services, like tech support already mentioned, finances, communications, etc.  If we were suddenly faced with the demands of World War III, we wouldn't be nearly able to respond as we did in WWII - the industry simply isn't here any more.  And we're just sitting on a mess of natural resources too, whilst we squander our money and our military's lives on all the imports because we're too damn lazy to get off our fat asses and get back to work {the CDC predicts that 40% of our population will be morbidly obese by 2020}!!
• Domestic Policy 2: field-strip and dress {or perhaps totally GUT} our ridiculously bloated Federal bureaucracy.  Bring DC back into line with regards to what it's supposed to do - keep our borders and national interests secure; protect our economy and free {domestic} trade; print money when ABSOLUTELY necessary; and otherwise sit down and shut the fu*k up.  The states can handle the bulk of the cheese themselves if they so choose - and most of them do already, save for odd things like the Post Office, the Interstate Highways, and Amtrak.  Regulatory entities like the EPA, the STB, the NEA and quite a few others could {and should} be eliminated entirely, since most states have laws and rules of governing in place already to deal with the issues in question {and consequent duplication of bureaucracy}.  And since we're putting the Fed infrastructure on Adkins, why stop there?  Amend the Constitution with mandatory term limits for EVERY elected official.  Two terms {or three, for representatives}, and that's it - the era of the career politician needed to end about 40 years ago, so the time is ripe to say the least. 
• Domestic Policy 3: The economy, in four simple steps -  Balanced Budget Amendment; flat tax {in 3 tiers}; national and international financial self-sufficiency {a return to the gold standard, or some other tangible worth}.  And 100%  investment in domestic industry.  The GM and AT&T of 1950 were nothing like the shriveled husks of today, and they provided a hell of a lot more of what we now call "value-added" stuff then than most all of today's goods and service industry combined and times 500!  How can GE claim with a straight face that they "bring good things to life,'' when the bulk of their own manufacturing capability is outsourced and downsized?

The above is admittedly just the proverbial - and literal - tip of the iceberg, but if we had somebody willing to enact some or all of it, we'd be off to a fine start on our American Renaissance.  It would take time and determination for the end result to bear fruit, but simple logic argues that it would be worth the struggle and privation.  And who knows - minding our own business on the world stage {and collecting all those trade tariffs!} for half a decade might be the kick in the ass some of these would-be "emerging nations" would need to get their own houses in order.

Now, before anyone gets to nit-picking, or calling me out for whatever, keep in mind that all of the above is only remotely possible any time soon - and surely WON'T be attempted by anybody in the limelight today, though there is minor talk now and then similar to what I've laid out here from some quarters.  It's simply my dream-scenario; an exercise to distract me from the rather painful realities of Silly Season as it really is.  When Ron Paul makes Nancy Pelosi look like Mother Theresa from a social and political point of view, you just know that something is SERIOUSLY broken in the system - and it's high time we start fixing things, dig?

More  {lots more} shortly........

Changes {Them Changes}

The late, great Buddy Miles' signature song has never seemed more appropriate to me than it does as 2012 kicks off.  You can literally feel it in the air; a sense of anticipation, the feeling that big changes are coming.


For me personally, there are several indicators.  First and foremost is the pattern of numerology that is a part of my life.  Some years ago on my MySpace blog, I documented how the number 7 has riddled itself throughout my existence, going all the way back to my very conception {in early 1967}.  The pattern developed that any year {or decade} connected to a 7 would create some kind of tumult in my life, and that the following year would see even more dramatic changes.  


So far, this pattern has held true for 43 years - and is in the process of repeating again as I type this.  You see, 2011 for me was a "7 year," due to my age - 43 {or 4+3=7}.  As I've partially documented on these pages since last summer, 2011 hammered the hell out of me like few other years in recent memory have.  I withstood the onslaught as best I could, and somehow managed to lay a tentative foundation to build on for the future.  A grim experience for the most part; the bright spots were few and far between.  However, I was blessed with a mostly understanding family, and several staunch friends; their combined support got me through the worst of the trials.


Now that we have at last cast off the husk of the old year {good bloody riddance, too!}, I've been taking stock of all that has gone down, and what might lie ahead as 2012 gathers momentum.  Like I mentioned earlier, I have quietly put in place a modest foundation on which to build.  My readings of the future indicators give me a measure of hope that something worthwhile can be built on that foundation, with a little care, patience, and luck.  This will be my primary focus for the next 12 months, but that doesn't mean I'll be ignoring all the other signs of great change to come.

Regular readers of my old MySpace blog during the bulk of 2008, and again on a smaller scale in 2010, will be familiar with my politically-themed "Silly Season" series; 2012 looks to be a crucial installment, and will be fitfully documented here.  Hints and clues my local environment has put in my lap will also continue to make sporadic appearances here, as they did during 2011 for me, mostly on Facebook {linked on the right side of this page}.   And finally, there's the "Mayan connection" of 12/21/12 - a wholly different exercise in numerology, with a heavy import of DOOM {yeah, right}.  


All this, and probably a lot more will play out on these pages; but everything will also be playing out against the currents of my 7-patterns.  Should make for an interesting and rather busy 2012, blog-wise, if nothing else.  I'm exhausted just thinking about where some or all of this could go!!  I'll do my best to make sense of it all, and report here as time allows.  As for you lot who read these ridiculous ramblings, I sincerely hope 2012 is a very, very good year for one and all.  I'm grateful to have you all in my life, modest ways notwithstanding.  My old advice is still apt - get comfy, fire up a colortini*, and be prepared for just about anything.  We'll ride this out together.

Okay 2012, bring it on - let's see what ya got...............








{* - from the late Tom Snyder}