Category: Right Conduct

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Madder Than a Baptist Finding His Favorite Liquor Store Closed

GUNI really surprised myself as how quickly I went from wandering around REI Christmas shopping to madder than a Baptist finding his favorite liquor store closed.

The REI here is St. Louis is in one of the richest parts of town. The parking lot is full of Beamers, Mercedes and Teslas in addition to the expected Subabrus, Toyotas and Hondas. We were walking towards the front of the store to check out. Robin never noticed him, but there was a young man, perhaps in his late twenties, walking around with a 45 strapped to his waist. He was obviously not store security. He did not look like a plains clothes police office in his Australian outback hat. I had to turn around and walk towards the back of the store as my impulse was to walk up to him and say, “Unless you are carrying a badge, you are one stupid mother f***er.

I do not want to live in a society where people can walk around with lethal weapons strapped to their bodies. I consider concealed carry laws an atrocity beyond words. I have lived 63 years and I can think of only one situation where I might have wanted a gun. Instead I turned around and confronted the man verbally which was enough. It is insane to have to worry about accidentally triggering some mental case with a gun tucked away somewhere on their body. If I verbally abuse you, flip you off, or cut you off in traffic it is more insanity to have to worry about a weapon.

My personal opinion is that anyone that is willing to carry a weapon, openly or otherwise, in a situation where the need for it approaches an infinitesimal small percentage is not sane enough to carry a weapon.

 

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Opinion Bombs

I have friends of color. I have a couple black friends with ties to Ferguson. I have white friends. I have friends, who are conservatives and others that are liberals. When I say friends I mean real and/or Facebook. Tobomb-477229_640 all of the above I could substitute the word friend with relatives. I mention this because in my Facebook feeds I get multiple opinions on the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases. What has struck me most strongly is that there seems to be a strong dichotomy that is tending to break down along lines of color and position on the political spectrum.  People are not so much discussing the situation as throwing opinion bombs at each other.

There was one posting on the Michael Brown case with a lot of reinforcing comments to the posters opinion of Michael Brown being a criminal. What struck me so vividly was the way the posters and commenters saw blacks. They were definitely “others”. They were a group separate from them, and something to be feared. Last time I looked we were all humans and we all bleed red.

I’m not the first to notice this phenomenon, that we do not discuss issues anymore. Continue reading “Opinion Bombs”

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ObamaCare for Dummies

This is a very NON-PARTISAN explanation of the Affordable Care Act aka ObamaCare.  It strikes me that a large number of folks are opposed to ObamaCare and actually have little or no understanding of what it really is.

One issue I hear a lot is that folks are afraid that they will be taxed to subsidize freeloaders.  IMHO this is happening already in two ways.  The first would be excessive corporate profits.  There is a reason insurance executives can be paid those huge salaries and bonuses.  Secondly, when poor folks have no other health care option but to show up at an emergency room we are taxed for by the cost be shifted into other arenas of the hospital and passed on to paying patients.

Health resources are limited which means they need to be triaged.  The question becomes do you want the government triaging your health care or a for profit corporation.  Seniors seem to love the governments Medicare program.  Native Americans seem to find Indian Health Care more than acceptable.  My personal issue with ObamaCare is that is leaves too much in the private sector, but I realize it was probably the best that could be done at the time.

At least invest the 15 minutes or so in a very well done video before you absolutely decide one way or the other about ObamaCare.  Far too many of us many political decisions along partisan lines without all the information.  Far too many of our politicians do not speak to the issue, but work on our fears.  Educating yourself is at least a start in the right direction.

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A Company That Does Things Right

When I first purchased my 2006 Mazda MX-5 Miata, I purchased a set of WeatherTech® All-Weather floor mats. They worked fine for many years. Eventually the mat on the driver’s side wore through. So I jumped on the Internet to find a 2857_1_lgreplacement set. I did so at AutoAccessoriesGarage.com. I plugged in the year and make of vehicle, and up popped a set that appeared to be the same as the set I was replacing. I ordered them.

They arrived in a timely fashion. Upon opening the box in preparation of replacing the old I discovered the mats were minus the retainer holes that the retainer pegs go into for the driver’s side mat. I thought about returning them, but returning something is a hassle. I thought at worse it would be a minor inconvenience, so in they went.

I rock along for a few weeks, occasionally having to reposition the mat, but for the most part not thinking about them. One day as I was accelerating hard to get onto the freeway, the car’s engine would not stop racing or accelerating. I bumped the gearshift into the neutral position to give myself some time, Continue reading “A Company That Does Things Right”

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Jog On, Young Father, Jog On

To the young father jogging pushing a jogging stroller with his small child therein:xxx

You looked at me sheepishly when I glanced your way as rode toward you on my bicycle. No need to do that, puff your chest out. How much more comfortable you must be in your skin than I was at the same age. You probably could not have gotten me to do that for love nor money as I erroneously thought it was not a manly activity.   It was my lost.

I am glad this generation of fathers does not have that hang up. What could be a more manly activity that participating in the care of your children.

Jog on, young father, jog on.

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Lawsuit Claims Obama Discriminated Against American Workers.

The CF continues.  Apparently the Obama administration is in bed with InfoSys.  To quote from the article from Computerworld in this link Court case offers a peek at how H-1B-fueled discrimination works :37.1784

“The passage of the Affordable Care Act brought with it a burst of IT spending and hiring. The District of Columbia, for instance, hired offshore outsourcing firm Infosys for $49.5 million to build its Healthcare Exchange.

The India-based Infosys brought in H-1B visa holders to work on the government project. And of the approximately 100 Infosys employees working on the healthcare project, only three were American, according to a civil lawsuit filed in federal court.”

Just to be clear the discrimination they are referring is against citizens of the United States in the IT field.

To quote from another article Lawsuit: Tech Company Hired to Build D.C. Obamacare Website Discriminated Against Americans Continue reading “Lawsuit Claims Obama Discriminated Against American Workers.”

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Theodore Roosevelt — Socialist

socialism1Theodore Roosevelt was frequently called a Socialist. The primary reason being that he had an extraordinary sense of fair play. He sided with labor when he thought that the just thing to do, and against capital when he thought they had overstepped their bounds.

I have on occasionally been called a Socialist, generally by folks totally ignorant, at least of the true meaning of socialism. But that criticism includes a vast majority of the right leaning media.

I love Teddy’s response to being called a Socialist:

“Because of things I have done on behalf of justice to the workingman, I have often been called a Socialist. Usually I have not taken the trouble even to notice the epithet. I am not afraid of names, and I am not one of those who fear to do what is right because someone else will confound me with partisans with whose principles I am not in accord. Moreover, I know that many American Socialists are high-minded and honorable citizens, who in reality are merely radical social reformers. They are oppressed by the brutalities and industrial injustices which we see everywhere about us. When I recall how often I have seen Socialists and ardent non-Socialists working side by side for some specific measure of social or industrial reform, and how I have found opposed to them on the side of privilege many shrill reactionaries who insist on calling all reformers Socialists, I refuse to be panic-stricken by having this title mistakenly applied to me.”

If socialism is really defined as not letting the privileged run over the less fortunate, then I am Continue reading “Theodore Roosevelt — Socialist”