Come up and see me sometime...

So, as result of having a lazy day basking in the success of yesterday's post, as well as an extended nap it's now two and a half hours before this one is supposed to publish.  All I've done today is ponder my navel.  As far as bellybuttons go, it's a fine innie and a perfect spot to store my lint collection.  I'm sorry to announce I've found the remains of the missing spelunkers though.  (Names are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.)

So, you guys like, um...stuff?


The potential for an earth shattering epiphany (not really, I can dream big though, right?) is plastered over the desk top with about 15 digital sticky notes.  I just don't want to mess with them at all tonight.  So, I'll just Ramble a bit more, or less, bat my pretty dark green/brown/hazel eyes, shake my lard ass, ample booty and show a little leg.  Once I start in with the silky smooth baritone/bass country accent, y'all  will soon forget why you're here and forgive me the nonsense.  (Probably not, I can still dream though, right?)

Is anyone surprised by Donald J. Trump saying,  'I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier.' or that political reporters at The New York Times "don't know how to write good." or maybe how his campaign is blaming the current administration and a change in the rules of engagement for the death of US Army Captain, Humayun Khan on June 8th, 2004.  Hmmm, howzat work again?  Doesn't the twenty-second Amendment to the Constitution, ratified more than 65 years ago nix that idea? 

Aiiiit.  I gotta quit. Politicin' ain't good for my blood pressure or what little mental stability I have remaining.

Thanks for coming along.  Wink, wink, bat, bat...

See you tomorrow...

Mooooove a little closer baby.

From the Wastelands news desk at KORN radio.
(reference)

Not really me. 

A Missouri man was charged with attempting to have sex with a cow... for a second time.
(story here)

The article states; "Unlawful sex with an animal is a Class A Misdemeanor punishable by up to one year behind bars." 

Does that statement imply that sex with animals can sometimes be of the lawful variety?  Inquisitive and inquiring minds want to know.  I'm asking for a friend.  

Will the local bovine brothel supply the stepladders or would one be required to bring his own?   I'm asking for a friend...

It does seem it would be a long walk for a goodnight, post-coitus kiss though. 

Izzat Redman yer chawin'?  Nope, nebbermind, it's alfalfa...

Now, to be a little more understanding and fair in my rush to judgement, this happened way down south in south-western Wasteland, dang near tabakky juice spittin' distance to Arkansas.

There are places in Greene county where one should not be surprised if one should hear the strains of banjo and guitar wafting in from the mountains, little, old mountains, but mountains nonetheless.  Just step on the go pedal and GO very fast when you start hearing "Squeal like a pig..."

Given the social, political, and religious ideals prevalent in that part of the Wasteland bible belt  I might put money on our bovineophile being a registered TRUMP supporter.  Should be right at home amidst the bullshit...

I wonder if he will be required to register with the American Beef Council as a sex-offender?

How would you like your steak?  Raw and horny you say?  At least I didn't make the steak, it's what's for dinner joke.  "Don't have a cow, man!"

Hey, I made it another day without whining, whingin', kvetching, bitching, pissing and moaning about how hard this job is.

As always, Thanks for coming.

See you tomorrow.

I just washed my...

Big white dog, (why, yes.  His name is Elvis.  How did you know?), and I can't do a thing with him.

Thirteen down, one hundred and twenty-five to go.

Wasteland Monday, feeling much like a piñata on seis de Mayo.  Seven p.m. wasteland time zone or four balls Zulu.  Wait, I've already done that story.   Monday evening and I'm without a buffer to fall back on at midnight.  Yep, par for the course.   Whoda thunk it?

I suppose I could tune into the Republican National Convention Sideshow and start following the live Tweets from the Twitterverse.  On second thought, I would just as soon have a sharp pointy stick jammed into my as...eye.  Eye, yeah that's it.  I would rather be stabbed in the eye than sit through that circus.  Nothing said by the clown brigade could convince me to follow the pachyderms. 

 

The RNC in an obvious attempt to stir patriotism with convention delegates labeled the elevators inside the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland after the Colors of the National Ensign. 

I'm not sure they thought this through completely.  The "White" elevators for Republican conventioneers might just be a little, um, I don't know, FUCKING WRONG.  

Either no one caught it, or no one cared enough to change it.  Says a lot about the whole mentality of the repubs doesn't it? 

This message brought to you by the Chump Trump and Bohica (Bend Over, Here It Comes Again) Pence, who either didn't catch it or didn't care about the New Campaign logo.

It ain't much, it's all I've got for today.  
Blink...blink...blink.
Thanks.   Fourteen down, one hundred and twenty-four to go.  

See you tomorrow, probably.

Go Home Tweetyboid, you're drunk.

Ten down, one hundred and twenty-eight to go.

Wow!  What a concept.  The dashboard for the Ramble shows something I haven't seen in a while.  A number in the Scheduled row.  Albeit, it's only one, but a number nonetheless.  I'm not scrambling to get something ready for midnight.   By the looks of it that number will be two with about eight hours to spare.  Whoda thunk it?  I wonder how long it will be before the slacker dood returns.

So, you guys um, like stuff?

Twitter tells me I might like stuff too.  Based on my following Hillary Clinton the little bird says that I might like to follow Donald J. Trump and Marco Rubio?

DAFUQ?  I think the little bird has been in the fermented bird seed again, or eating those "special" seeds it finds on the ground, clean your shit better, no one wants a seed to pop in your face.  I'm not entirely certain the algorithms worked the way the should on this one.   I get entirely too much narcissistic, bombastic, misogynistic, racist, hate filled demagoguery as it is.   I don't think there is enough vodka or acid in the Kool-Aid to make me take that step.  Damages my calm.

Sanity is relative.  At least I'm not blowing bubbles with my spit or "Some gibbering old fool sitting all alone drooling on his shirt.  Some senile old fart playing in the dirt." Lou Reed, Beginning of a Great Adventure.  (Thanks Lou). 

One way or another it should be over by November.  With a bit of luck, (touch wood, not that I'm superstitious or anything), my stress, anxiety and depressions triggers will lessen.  Should it go the other way?  Does anyone out of the country have a spare bed I can bum while I play expatriate.  I have all of my shots, I'm kinda handy for a laugh or two, and am mostly house-broken; mostly that is.

Thanks for sitting in.  Eleven down, one hundred and twenty-seven to go.

See you tomorrow.

The bubble of stupidity.

Nine down, one hundred and twenty-nine to go.

A few days ago I ran across this little gem.
"Love means educating yourself enough to know that the government has a eugenics agenda to reduce world population to 500 million people. And that the term "conspiracy theory" was invented in 1967 by the CIA, to discredit people who were revealing their plans."

Really?  I think someone should probably lay off the Kool-Aid,

especially if it's laced with LSD or spiked with lots of vodka.  Now, don't get me wrong, I've drank the Kool-Aid, sometimes spiked with vodka too.  If it weren't for coffee I might even enjoy a tall, cold glass today.

Conspiracy theories though?  Puh-leeze.  Flat-Earthers, seriously?  Anti-Vaxxers, you're idiots for endangering the rest of society.  Anti-science, anti GMO freaks?  Guess what ladies and gentlemen,  it's all been genetically modified by bazillions of years of evolution.  Fake moon landings, Paul is dead, Jim Morrison isn't.  The New World Order and the Illuminati,  FEMA death relocation and re-education camps.  False and Black flag operations, Black helicopters flying over the wastelands.  Man-made diseases and the suppression of "The Cure" for "Cancer".  RFID chips, perpetual motion power generators, dihydrogen monoxide chemtrails being sprayed on us from commercial airliners?  Well, okay.  I'll concede the truth to that one.

Yada, yada, blah, blah, blah.

Is it gullibility, ignorance or just the same part of the brain that fuels religious fanaticism?  A desire to believe in something intangible?  Science is your friend.

The Science behind the conspiracies.

This one makes two that are now loaded and ready.  I've clawed back a tiny bit of lead time.  I wouldn't count on it lasting through the week though. 

Ten down, one hundred and twenty-eight to go.
Thanks for your time.

See you tomorrow.

It's a party.

Four down, one hundred and thirty-four to go.  Yay us.

Happy Birthday "Murica."  Let's go blow shit up.

I don't get it.  People are talking about spending $300-$400 bucks on fireworks for the 'Holiday'.  Is it really that much fun? 

No, I'm not a complete stick in the mud fuddy duddy.  I have spent money on smoke, fire and noise.  But never more than a couple of sawbucks.  Like many things with me, a little goes a long way.  A gross of bottle rockets usually sated me with a few dozen to spare.  "Here kid, you want these?  I'm done with 'em."

Several years ago a large group of us had a yearly blowout birthday bash for America.  Everyone pitched in to buy an assortment of explosives, a pot luck barbecue and beer, sometimes lots of beer, food and explosives.  Some of our shows bordered on legendary.  Well, okay.  Truthfully, maybe not so legendary.  But close enough that people we didn't know came to watch.  Usually from the safety of their cars parked at the end of the road.   Evidently, they weren't completely insane.  They left that to us.

Bottle rocket and Roman candle wars for some of us.  Not this one, I don't enjoy getting shot at and usually hit, I do present a large, slow-moving target.  I chose to spend my afternoon in the shade and armed with a cold beer or two, (okay, maybe more than two, the cooler was always within reach.) selecting, arranging and preparing music playlists. Classic rock for the big party, and usually appropriate patriotic and classical for the big show.  The crossover segue was usually Mr. Jimi's version of the Star Spangled Banner.  Our shows usually lasted the best part of an hour or more. 

With the last bomb's bursting we switched back to rock, more beer, and more food.  The die hard resumed their war, the temporary cease fire to bury the dead, or make a resupply run to the nearest firework stand over.

The next morning the farm always looked a war zone.  Along with the detritus of the spent ordnance the field was littered with dead and dying soldiers.  Geez, people, if you're gonna drink, pick up your bottles. 

Okay, maybe I get it just a little.  Happy Birthday America. 

Five down, one hundred and thirty-three to go.  Yay me.

Thanks for coming, don't drive drunk...

With luck, see you tomorrow.

There's an app for that.

I've been busy on other projects today, just now finding a little time to put a cheating, half-assed entry together before midnight, 15 minutes before, but it's still BEFORE.  Six days to make it a full six months.  WOOT!!!

Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan turned off the House cameras that C-Span gets the feed from.  Because, you know, House Republicans, a lack of transparency and of course Americans don't have a right to know.  House Dems decided to stage a "Publicity Stunt" (Ryan's words, not mine), sit-in demanding a vote on No Fly, No Buy.   Ah, thankfully we live in the 21st century and technology such as Periscope and Twitter have allowed us in.  Take that, you NRA meat puppets.

The Grand Old Tea Party, the proponents of the Constitution.  Well, except for that First one thing. 

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

As a publicity stunt, it's working. ‪#‎NoBillNoBreak‬ is getting a lot of positive publicity tonight.  For the NRA meat puppets of the GOP, ummm, not so much...

‪#‎StayTheFloor‬ ‪#‎MakeAmericaSafeAgain‬

Thanks for coming.

See you tomorrow.

The Show Must Go On.

Such as it is, another entry.  Twelve to go to make six months, and twenty-one additional posts to get me through July.  No hockey to dwell on until October.  Two and a half months of lead time squandered, pissed away by apathy, laziness, lack of interest or motivation.  Now, instead of the safety of a buffer zone I'm writing this one about 8 hours before it goes to print.  Don't stop the presses.

The events of Sunday have affected me profoundly.  The depression and anxiety issues that have surfaced later in my life boiled over yesterday.  I was both angry and saddened.  I suppose I should consider myself lucky, those issues weren't issues on Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001.  I'm certain it would have been an even more extreme day.

Things are better today, mostly.  The angry, orange troll keeps trolling, becoming angrier, trying to stir up even more fear, anger, hatred and divisiveness.

"Do you want four MORE years of Obama?  Do you want a 7-2 Liberal Majority in the Supreme Court?"

Why yes Donny, I'll take eight more as opposed to one FUCKING DAY with you.  Might even be convinced to sign on for twelve.

I cannot vote with my vagina, d'uh, wrong plumbing.  But Girls, Gurls, Grrls, Women, Womyn, Ladies, those of feminine genders and those of feminine persuasion, I will vote for yours and to keep the noses of rich white men out of them, unless of course, it's a mutual thing.

It wasn't much, but it ain't over yet.  Maybe tomorrow though.  Who knows?

As always, thanks for coming.  The show must go on...

See you in the future, maybe, probably???

Heavy heart.

After the near disasters of close calls last week and only 14 to go before I hit that magic six-month mark, I thought I could get a couple of entries ready and get a jump start on next week.  Then I slacked off completely on Friday.  Yesterday, I mostly slacked off, only writing one short paragraph, which on Sunday I promptly deleted.

Today, Sunday, June 11th, 2016.  Outraged and saddened I published a short entry.  I have nothing left to post at Midnight.  Nothing, save this.  I don't feel like trying to be funny, or thoughtful, or poignant.  I don't feel like posting an angry, railing diatribe.  I feel nothing but a great sadness today. 

This may very well be the end of the Ramble.  

 ...Peace...

Today...

...marks the traditional start of the summer in this part of the world.  Parades and parties, baseball and barbecues.  Air shows, swimming, out of doors activities. Sunshine and funtime.

"Some Gave All."

For those who didn't come Home.  

I Remember.

Peace.

You! Outta the Pool!

We can't fix stupid, legally...

A man in Georgia, (southeast USA, not the other one) packed three pounds of an explosive powder that is normally used in target shooting to make things go BOOM, into an old lawn mower.

For target shooting, three pounds tightly packed into a casing of fatigued, stressed, and probably corroded metal.  What could possibly go wrong?

"What's the worst that can happen.  Here, hold my beer."  

Sharp as a bowling ball.

"Dude, the warning label says don't use it on metal targets and you should be 100 yards away for every pound of the stuff you use.  You're only about 25 yards away." 

"No sweat bro, it'll work.  I got this.  It'll be effen cool."

It worked, he successfully detonated the explosives,  BOOM!!!
And the shrapnel severed his leg. 

 

Washington Post story here 

I've said it before, I'm all for RESPONSIBLE firearm ownership.  This isn't responsible.  Just because one can, doesn't necessarily mean one should.

Calling all Gene Pool Rangers.

We aren't particularly allowed to 'fix' stupid.  Mother Nature, the Three Fates, Karma and the Law of averages can't keep up.  We still need more apex predators, lions, tigers, bears... velociraptors to eat the stupid out of our gene pool.  

I'm not certain I would call this an accident; he planned to make an old lawn mower go BOOM.  It worked.  Big Badda BOOM.  Granted, he may have gotten a little more than he had bargained for, but it still worked.  As my dad says when he's trying to be sarcastic;

"I didn't think, I didn't listen, I didn't pay attention...Oh, I forgot."

A little higher and a bit more towards his center line we wouldn't need to worry about how much more stupid DNA he'd pass along.  Assuming of course he hasn't yet bred.

Whatta Maroon!  Don't be stupid kids.

As always, thanks for your time.  

See you tomorrow. 

Just another day.

Late December here in the wasteland time zone.  Three days before the Holiday that I don't celebrate, Bah humbug.  And just a few more before my parent's 57th wedding anniversary.   EGADS!!!

I know marriage is a fine institution, but who wants to be institutionalized.   Fifty-seven years?  I can't imagine being with the same person for that long.  Not that it's likely to happen, A) I'm not certain the woman exists who would put up with my dumb-ass for that long; B) if I entered a long term relationship today, I would be less than six-months shy of my 113th birthday when I celebrated my 57th anniversary.  I'm not certain I have that much time left.

"You've been married 75 years, why in the world are you seeking a divorce now?"

"We're waiting for the children to...."

"What, grow up?"

"No, we're waiting for the children to die."

In other news, Trump is still not playing well with others, and trying to implode, Cruz is 4 points behind in the polls.  Carson is falling, people beginning to see him as a flash in the pan.  Jeb and the fat man round out the top five goopers.   According to a new poll by Quinnipiac University Bernie Sanders destroys Republican candidate Donald Trump in a general election by 13 percentage points.

Today, fifty percent of Americans would be embarrassed if the Trumper were elected as President.  Really?  What about those of us who be will incensed, outraged and sickened?  What about those numbers?

It's dinner time, the hockey game starts in a few minutes, #LetsGoBlues. How about trying to play a full 60 minutes tonight?  Kay, thanks.  Luv ya buh bye. 

As always, thanks for sticking around...

See you tomorrow.

 

Good night Chet.

-.. .- - . .-.. .. -. . ---... / -.. . -.-. . -- -... . .-. / ..--- .---- --..-- / ..--- ----- .---- ..... / .-- .- ... - . .-.. .- -. -.. / - .. -- . / -.-. --- -.. .


Oh, right. you probably don't read Morse.  That's okay, neither can I anymore.
(Dateline: December 21, 2015 Wasteland time code)

It's the winter solstice here in the wastelands.  Yay for the shortest day of the year, now we can start inching our way back to bot longer days with more sunlight, and warmer weather.   Not that we've had much to complain about winter weather here.  Cortana tells me it is 43° and mostly cloudy, on the solstice, in this part of the country, really?  Someone has been mucking about with the thermostat again haven't they?  Of course, mild temperatures and no snow are not likely to stop me from whinging, whining and griping about it.  

Warmer weather and more sunlight should do wonders in making me less grumpy.  Yes, I know, how is it possible that such a fount of bubbly cheer could become even more cheerful, bright and bubbly?   

The the GOP clown parade has thinned out a little more.  The wheels on Lindsey Graham's mini-bike have fallen off and the South Carolina senator is a sad, sad clown as he watches the clown car head down the road without him.   He's still angry with angry hair dude, angry with the GOP, and angry with the kiddie table debate format, angry with the current administration, angry with the next administration.  Angry with the world and all who inhabit it.

Twitter tells me that a suicide bomber attacked a group of Afghan, Nato and U.S. troops near Bagram Airfield north of Kabul.  Six Americans were killed marking the deadliest day for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since an October helicopter crash, and the worst attack on Americans since six died in a July 2012 roadside bombing.  I'm tired of this.  I was too young to pay attention to the news from Vietnam, I can't imagine how the 'adults' of that time felt in listening to Walter, Frank, Chet and David, as they reported on their respective evening network news programs.


Will we as a society ever tire completely of war?  Doubtful. Dare to dream, my friends, dare to dream...

Thanks for coming.

See you on Monday, peace.

  

I WIN!!!

Hah! My day is complete.  One of my troll targets has just resurfaced.  I just got called an intolerant leftist liberal.   Really.  Moi?  I won't deny the intolerant part, but lil' ole me, liberal?  The man who for most of his adult life identified as a radical, militant, slightly conservative, middle of the road independent.  A leftist liberal?  A man who has voted for Reagan, Bush Sr, Bush the shrubbery once, yes I regret it, I'm sorry.  I've also voted for Obama once and Yoda a couple of times.  A man who now claims to be a radical, militant, mostly moderate, middle of the road independent.  A liberal leftist? 

"Gosh, Chip, you do such an excellent job of demonstrating the "tolerance" of the left! You even managed to include insults to my character. Congratulations."

When one uses right wing propaganda (USACarry and RedStateWatcher) to support one's ignorance and Islamophobia one should not be surprised if someone calls you on it. 

For the sake of transparency, I didn't really insult her character, much.  I may have implied it a little though.  I did however, and do fully admit, insult her intelligence. 

"              still no facts, still propaganda and still absolute bullshit. Period.  NRA, Tea-party fear tactics, and you're buying into the rhetoric of ignorance.  If you can't do better than this, don't bother playing along. Wait, never mind.  You should probably quit before you fall even further behind, the only thing you are accomplishing is showing your closed-minded and obvious reliance on fear, stupidity, ignorance and hatred.  But I'm done. No amount of truth will sway your ignorance."  

Oh, I did thank her later for doing more to prove my point than I did...

"I am free of all prejudice. I hate everyone equally."

W.C. Fields.

 Thanks for giving me a little of your time...

See you tomorrow.  

Numbers to Ponder.

It's Thursday at both ends of this entry, it will publish on the 11th of February and I'm writing it on December 3rd, 2015.  More on that later.

I've mostly taken the past two days off from trying to produce content, mostly.  There was a feeble, half-assed entry I wrote on Tuesday evening.  It may or may not be revised before today, (your today, not mine).  I did write and publish a little something  yesterday.  December 2nd, 2015.  The 336th day of the year 2015, the same day that the U.S.A. experienced it's 355th mass shooting of the year. 2015 mass killings.  A mass shooting is defined here as incidents excluding domestic and gang related violence, when at least four people are killed or wounded and may include the gunman.

Think about that a minute, in 336 days, there have been 355 incidents of gun related violence in which at least four persons were killed or injured.   As of today, that's 462 persons killed and another 1312 wounded.  That's more than five persons per day.   As of today; I don't have the news on.  As far as I know number 356 could be ongoing as I write.

As I write this there have been more than 12,000 firearm related fatalities in the USA in 2015.  This includes all sources; homicide, suicide, accidental, self-defense and officer involved law enforcement.  As of October 1st, 2015 more than 48,331 have been injured.  Source Gun Violence Archive.   

Let's put that in perspective, during the three peak years of the Vietnam War, 1967-1969 American casualties numbered more than 40,000.  Only 1968 produced more fatalities. 16,899.   In 2015 there have been more firearm fatalities in the U.S than were suffered by American forces in Southeast Asia in either 1967 (11,363) or 1969 (11,780).  Source National Archives.

Now, before you get your panties in a wad, I'm pro 2nd Amendment, always have been.  But. responsible firearm owners, you need to step up to the table, put aside the NRA, gun lobby rhetoric and sit down and start a conversation.  The tide of public opinion turns against us.  If we don't open a dialogue we will lose the war, and if it comes down to it, they will pry your guns from your cold dead fingers.

I'm not talking about taking your hunting rifles, shotguns and most handguns,  I'm talking about high-capacity magazines, better mental health screening, closing loop holes...sensible regulation.

I know it's wishful thinking, but maybe, just maybe we can get through the rest of  the year without hearing about

Another Goddamned Mass Shooting.

I'm going to close a little differently than normal... 

 


...Peace... 

Don't be a Dick.

The Blues aren't playing tonight, so I sit here jamming to music no one else can hear, doing this bloggy-blog thingy.  Today has been a busy bloggy-blog thingy day.  In addition to redesigning the look and layout of Midnight Ramblings, this one is the seventh post I've put together today.  Not that the previous six took much work, but hey, they still count right?  Remember last November when images alerting warning you of the impending  'REBOOT' started to appear?  Probably not, but you can just nod you head in agreement, it'll make me feel good. Those weekly images would have been the hard work I did this afternoon.  

I know, right?  bustin' my ass, working up a sweat and saving the world.  Whew, it's a rough gig, but someone has to do it.  If only saving the world were that easy.   

#SaveTheWorld.  

No muss, no fuss, and we're all happy.   All of us, happy and contented.  Sadly though, that Utopia can never happen. As a species, we're too different, too many fears and hatreds and ill-conceived ideologies. 

"If we were to wake up some morning and find that 

everyone was the same race, creed and color, 

we would find some other causes for prejudice by noon."

 ~George Aiken~

We could go a long way towards a better place if all 7.3 billion of us, every last person on the planet, would choose to follow four little words; "Don't Be A Dick"

Thanks for staying around.

See you tomorrow.

  

An open letter to the Sigh fy network.

Thanks folks.  In your infinite wisdom you've done it again.  First you canceled Stargate Universe, now you've tossed Eureka.  What's next? Another show about ghosts?  More wrestling?  Oh, how about a lame ass show about lame ass super heroes, you could give it a catchy science fictiony sounding name like, oh, I don't know, something like Alphas...We could really use programs about haunted artifacts, and maybe a hunt for mythological artifacts.  Oh, how about Sharktopuss II?  I hear that WWE rasslin needs more exposure.  Maybe late night infomercials.  You could give us a look at classic Sci Fi films like Blade Runner, The Fifth Element, Total Recall and Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (classic science fiction that one.) Over, and over, and over, and over again.

The weekend of August 20th  and 21st looks especially intriguing;  Snakehead Terror, Supergator, Dinoshark, Mega Piranha, Malibu Shark Attack, Deep Blue Sea, Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus, Swamp Shark, Mega shark vs. Giant Octopus and DinoCroc.  I can hardly wait.  Maybe I can catch reruns of another lame ass excuse for science fiction.  Falling skies could rerun on TNT.

You changed your name to SYFY because it sounded less geeky, maybe now it's time for a new name, The Sell out channel...

An open Letter to the History Channel

Dear History Channel.

I understand that times are tight and that television programs about history are expensive to produce, but Top Gear USA, Really?   Top Gear USA belongs on local community access cable.

Yes, I realize that that off-hour, early morning infomercials such as Light Relief therapy and Bosley Hair Loss Answers bring in revenue.  Yet, you choose to spend that revenue on absolute crap such as Top Gear USA, Only in America with Larry the Cable guy, Ice Road Truckers, Top Shot and Stan Lee’s superheroes.

I’ll give you partial credit for Pawn Stars, American Pickers and American Restoration only because of the minor historical connections that some of the items featured may have.  I can almost forgive Swamp People for “cultural” reasons.  Notice, I said almost.

How bout taking one of your programs to heart…”Save our History”, either that, or change your name to the “Infomercial and bullshit programs channel.”

Organ donation.

There are some who believe the default position for organ donation should require all citizens be considered organ donors.  Unless opting out of the program and stating otherwise the donor automatically acquiesces and agrees to donate his or her organs for transplantation into needy recipients. 

The default position should remain as it currently is. Only a person of sound mind can make the decision to donate his or her organs. Organ donation is a choice. An individual's choice, to opt in should they choose, free of any government interferences.

How does this differ from a woman's right to choose to carry a pregnancy to term? A woman must make the conscious decision to abort a fetus. The default position is that the pregnancy will carry to term.  Government cannot make that decision. Even if it were to deemed to be in the best interests of society.

Organs from one donor may be used to save up to eight additional lives.  To allow a government that power over it’s citizenry becomes a disaster waiting to happen. At what point will the needs of the many justify the killing of a few?

If, unless stated otherwise, a deceased’s organs are automatically donated, there always exists the possibility of a government determining that the best interest of society would be served by the death of one person.   Opting out allows a government to determine that the death of one person could benefit up to eight others. A government cannot be allowed that determination. Sacrificing freedom of choice opens the doors to abuse and corruption of the system.  If the current system is reversed, opting not to donate as opposed to opting in, a population will give their government too much power to determine what would be in the best interest of society.

Morally, it may be the right choice to make. Religiously it may or may not be. Ethically, it is absolutely the wrong choice to be left to the hands of a government bureaucracy.

There is more to the issue than just morality, ethics, and religion.

When the organs from one donor can save up to eight additional lives and a hardened criminal is deemed a menace to society, isn't a logical step in that thought process, kill two birds with one stone? One man is executed to save the lives of others. For the benefit of society. Once the population starts down that road it will be very difficult to turn aside.  What could start with the death of a convicted felon could devolve into the deaths of the homeless, non-productive members of society, freethinkers, or those with viewpoints opposed to the government. All for the benefit of society.

The only option available to society is to remain as is, only the individual may make the choice to donate his or her organs.

Opposite sex civil unions and same sex marriages.

Same sex marriages, opposite sex civil unions.

What is the big sticking point here?  None of us, no matter our religious beliefs or personal convictions has any right to tell anyone else who they may love, marry or live with.

One may think it wrong for whatever reason's one chooses; the truth of the matter is that it is no one's business save the individuals involved.

Move into the 21st century, equal protection under the law means equal for all.

If religious organizations find the idea morally wrong they are certainly entitled not to perform the marriage ceremony.  There is always someone who will perform it.

Government, religion and people need to stay out of the personal lives of others and mind their own fucking business.

Signed,
An average, slightly conservative, straight, white guy in favor of gay and lesbian rights.