For years, I had this notion that I knew everything there was to know
about everything there was to know about. And then I graduated from
kindergarten.
What is it that causes us to stick to the idea that we can't learn a
thing or two? We are like containers that can't hold another ounce of
junk! If you consider yourself pro life, then you will fight tooth and
nail to elect a candidate that is pro life. And when this candidate is
elected we will be off to war to kill people in some far off land. So
the pro lifer in us is also a warmonger! Someone explain this to me.
We want strong national security, so we send our troops half way around
the globe leaving the nation that is to be secured with its troops day
or weeks away form the nation they are supposed to be securing. This is
kinda like owning a gun, with the safety on, unloaded with the shells in
the other room in the gun vault! But we are pro 2nd amendment!
Democrats are supposed to be peaceful folks that consider themselves the
most tolerant people in the world. That is when it comes to racial and
gay stuff, but when it comes to faith they cannot stand the pro life
Christian! So this tolerance is conditional. I love getting into a
Theological discussion with a Liberal who chants "All we are saying is
give peace a chance." And they truly believe that Allah and Jehovah are
one in the same G-d. Yeah right! Any religion will do I guess, but don't
give me that faith where you get the freebie...Oh no! "I want the
religion where I get to take credit for being a good little boy. I wanna
earn my way into Heaven."
Good luck with that. Let me know when you have reached the 32 degree!
Naturally we all believe the official story of 9-11 because we all have
this old fashioned idea that our Government wouldn't lie. But let's say
that the official story is true and it was the hated Islam that brought
those towers down....and building 7...and put a hole in the Pentagon.
One President later we are saddled with a man that has a Muslim name and
yet claims to be a Christian. And our troops will be over there
forever. We start pulling them out of Afghanistan, and the country
starts talking about the relief of the war being over and yet, no one is
coming home. They are being re deployed.
Then we have the sudden killing of Ben Laden by a team of Navy Seals.
They bury him at sea as per Islamic law (I didn't know Muslims were sea
faring people) within 24 hours with no record, no
interrogation....nothing. Just toss the body in the sea. Later on,
members of the Seal Team that killed him die in a helicopter crash. So
the Seals die in a crash in the desert, and Ben Laden is buried at sea.
Have I entered the Twilight Zone?
Ron Paul is ignored in the 2008 election, and when the election is over
and Obama is sworn in, the media all come rushing up to Ron Paul and
want to know what the "Elder Statesman" expects to see happen. Funny, a
few months earlier he was an old man that was out of touch with the
country. Now we are heading up to the 2012 election and the once "Elder
Statesman" has once again become the befuddled old man that must be
ignored by the media until the election is over and won by a new version
of the same theory that America must have a young President who has
retained all of his hair. I don't think John Adams retained much of his
hair and Ben Franklin looks like the guy on the Quaker Oats package. I
guess these two would never have cut it in today's political environment
where hair is more important than substance!
Sara Palin was with a basketball star! OMG! The man in the Whitehouse
thinks he is a basketball star! HE SHOOTS HOOPS! I guess I am more of a
baseball guy myself. And I didn't realize that Palin was running. Maybe
as Perry's VP but we shall see.
So the political season is upon us and we are seeing the same tactics as
last time. When the election is over, Ron Paul will become this
generations Barry Goldwater in the history books and life will or will
not go on. We will continue down the same path we are on now but the
political talk shows will be quiet for a little while because they will
have Perry/Romney/(Obama not)/Palin/Newt/Santa Clause in the White House
giving gifts to all the usual suspects, empowering those that will be
the death of this country even more. And the Federal Reserve will get a
reprieve.
It is a little like the old Communist pattern. "Fight, fight fight. Talk, talk, talk."
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
The Legend of Stagger Lee
In an old abandoned truckstop, north of Rhome Texas lives Stagger Lee.
US 287 was put on the main cattle drive route into Fort Worth Texas, and Stagger Lee, the cattle hauler was in the truckstop taking a shower when the place went out of business. The lights went off, the water stopped leaving Stagger Lee to pick up his belongings and try to escape the nameless building. It took weeks for him to dig his way out and when he did escape, his truck and load were repossessed. So instead of making a fuss about losing his 1984 Marmon Cabover, Stagger decided to make the old truckstop his home.
As Stagger grew into an old man, he gained wisdom and insight into the affairs of humanity that many would give their lives for. When the liquor store that was close by shut down in this abandoned strip of buildings, Stagger was no longer within walking distance of booze and cigarettes. The absence of these cleared his mind so as to be able to see into the minds of men. His contact with the political world stopped with Reagan and he is better for it. As he has told me many times..."What difference does the name on the door make when they all lead to Hell'? He has a point. His logic is simple yet definitive! He has a mind that is not cluttered with media swill as he still thinks televisions have tubes! He is a man who's mind is uncluttered by the hoards telling him what is right and wrong.
At times, a lonely trucker will park his 18 wheeler in the asphalt parking lot that has been forgotten by most but the old time truckers, they remember this fuel stop from another time. This is how the wisdom of Stagger Lee gets spread throughout the world. This man who lives on trucker generosity and kindness gives his wisdom in exchange for a can of spam or a cup of soup. He is the source of wisdom for the weary trucker in search of something that they can attach themselves to for guidance. He is of the opinion that the American Indian had it right in the first place and that foreigners from across the ocean ruined it for them. This idea of allowing the earth to supply the simple needs instead of one person owning it all and the rest of us work for them has become foreign to him.
If there was ever a "Truckstop Prophet" it is Stagger Lee.
The last time I saw him, he was still wearing his confederate flag jacket and trying to get his Conway Twitty 8 track to play in the powerless, abandoned building.
US 287 was put on the main cattle drive route into Fort Worth Texas, and Stagger Lee, the cattle hauler was in the truckstop taking a shower when the place went out of business. The lights went off, the water stopped leaving Stagger Lee to pick up his belongings and try to escape the nameless building. It took weeks for him to dig his way out and when he did escape, his truck and load were repossessed. So instead of making a fuss about losing his 1984 Marmon Cabover, Stagger decided to make the old truckstop his home.
As Stagger grew into an old man, he gained wisdom and insight into the affairs of humanity that many would give their lives for. When the liquor store that was close by shut down in this abandoned strip of buildings, Stagger was no longer within walking distance of booze and cigarettes. The absence of these cleared his mind so as to be able to see into the minds of men. His contact with the political world stopped with Reagan and he is better for it. As he has told me many times..."What difference does the name on the door make when they all lead to Hell'? He has a point. His logic is simple yet definitive! He has a mind that is not cluttered with media swill as he still thinks televisions have tubes! He is a man who's mind is uncluttered by the hoards telling him what is right and wrong.
At times, a lonely trucker will park his 18 wheeler in the asphalt parking lot that has been forgotten by most but the old time truckers, they remember this fuel stop from another time. This is how the wisdom of Stagger Lee gets spread throughout the world. This man who lives on trucker generosity and kindness gives his wisdom in exchange for a can of spam or a cup of soup. He is the source of wisdom for the weary trucker in search of something that they can attach themselves to for guidance. He is of the opinion that the American Indian had it right in the first place and that foreigners from across the ocean ruined it for them. This idea of allowing the earth to supply the simple needs instead of one person owning it all and the rest of us work for them has become foreign to him.
If there was ever a "Truckstop Prophet" it is Stagger Lee.
The last time I saw him, he was still wearing his confederate flag jacket and trying to get his Conway Twitty 8 track to play in the powerless, abandoned building.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Embracing your inner Okie
I plan to retire in Oklahoma...my home state. I wasn't born there but it was where I went from being a boy to a man. It is where I became a husband and father. So as a product of the Ozarks, I have learned to embrace my inner Okie!
Oklahoma is a state that seems to always be available and willing. It has a great beauty if you can learn to appreciate it. Its graveyards are full of veterans, farmers and ranchers...people of the earth. Those who have learned to love a handful of dirt that they can call their own. People there are friendly and willing to assist you in your humble pilgrimage of becoming an "Okie".
I love Oklahoma. Every time I pass through Roosevelt, I stop by the cemetery and visit old friends and family that have passed away. Many who had given me good advice in my youth that naturally I dismissed due to my immature ambitions, but still they cared enough to give it. And today I know they were right. I see names that I know and many that I don't, but they are all a part of my past, part of my history that is linked to them in some distant but real way. On my last visit, I was instantly hit by the wind. As soon as I opened the car door it was like an old friend welcoming me home. There are times when I wonder why I left.
I know my home state will never match the majesty of Colorado or the ruggedness of Utah. I know I may not see colors there as vibrant as those in New England in the Fall, with its red, purple and golden sugar maples, but the Autumn colors of Eastern Oklahoma sure come close. The Sooner State has a quiet, unassuming selfless beauty with its winter wheat and people who still wave at you as you drive down the road. To me, Oklahoma is OK. The clock seems to tick slower there.
I plan to retire in Oklahoma, mostly because I just feel more welcomed there.
Oklahoma is a state that seems to always be available and willing. It has a great beauty if you can learn to appreciate it. Its graveyards are full of veterans, farmers and ranchers...people of the earth. Those who have learned to love a handful of dirt that they can call their own. People there are friendly and willing to assist you in your humble pilgrimage of becoming an "Okie".
I love Oklahoma. Every time I pass through Roosevelt, I stop by the cemetery and visit old friends and family that have passed away. Many who had given me good advice in my youth that naturally I dismissed due to my immature ambitions, but still they cared enough to give it. And today I know they were right. I see names that I know and many that I don't, but they are all a part of my past, part of my history that is linked to them in some distant but real way. On my last visit, I was instantly hit by the wind. As soon as I opened the car door it was like an old friend welcoming me home. There are times when I wonder why I left.
I know my home state will never match the majesty of Colorado or the ruggedness of Utah. I know I may not see colors there as vibrant as those in New England in the Fall, with its red, purple and golden sugar maples, but the Autumn colors of Eastern Oklahoma sure come close. The Sooner State has a quiet, unassuming selfless beauty with its winter wheat and people who still wave at you as you drive down the road. To me, Oklahoma is OK. The clock seems to tick slower there.
I plan to retire in Oklahoma, mostly because I just feel more welcomed there.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Dodge Polara
I'm not depressed about life, but I do know where I am headed. My wife and I can pack up all our stuff into a small storage space and go hit the road in an 18 wheeler if we have to. At least that is one way to keep a roof over our heads and that might help us be content with not being able to make a living driving a truck.
I've spent a pretty good part of my life as a starving singer and musician, the trucking thing is because I grew up in an entire family of truckers. I remember living out of a 1963 Dodge Polara car in Tujunga California and being told by the police that they could arrest me and impound my car and all my music equipment. So I told the cop that I was willing to do that because I hadn't eaten in a week and I knew they would feed me in the L.A. county lock up. But instead he told me to move my car around the old baseball field where no one could see it. Couldn't even get locked up for a free meal or two.
I have feed street people. But today, the street people are different. They used to be loners, outcasts of society that were taking whatever they could get for free. Now it is entire families that are going to these rescue missions because they have no where else to go. One is within the shadow of Ranch Style Beans right here in Fort Worth Texas and many who visit the Salvation Army mission can see where they used to go to work every day.
It used to be that we Conservatives could pass it off as just a bunch of lazy people that were unwilling to work. We can't do that anymore. At my job, we have dozens of people coming in every day, filling out applications, and when they are done we toss them. We have trucks sitting empty with nothing to do and not enough work to allow us to hire anyone. Yet they come. They beg for work, some are willing to work for $4 less an hour than we are paying our drivers now. If we actually put an add in the paper, no doubt we would have hundreds of people trying to go to work for us.
We are in trouble folks. I imagine before this is all over and done with, many of us may be living in tents and we will still be listening to the news tell us that stocks are going up. That trading is brisk on Wall Street. And we will believe it just like when Chamberlain said "Peace in our time" and Hoover said "Prosperity is just around the corner". There was no peace nor was there prosperity. There was depression and WWII.
I used to write songs about what is coming. No one listened to them back in the '80's, '90's or early 2000's. They wanted songs like "Smoke on the Water" or "Walk this Way". Frivolous songs that have nothing to do with reality because after all, isn't music about trying to escape from reality? Well, tell that to Francis Scott Key, the writer of "The Star Spangled Banner".
I've spent a pretty good part of my life as a starving singer and musician, the trucking thing is because I grew up in an entire family of truckers. I remember living out of a 1963 Dodge Polara car in Tujunga California and being told by the police that they could arrest me and impound my car and all my music equipment. So I told the cop that I was willing to do that because I hadn't eaten in a week and I knew they would feed me in the L.A. county lock up. But instead he told me to move my car around the old baseball field where no one could see it. Couldn't even get locked up for a free meal or two.
I have feed street people. But today, the street people are different. They used to be loners, outcasts of society that were taking whatever they could get for free. Now it is entire families that are going to these rescue missions because they have no where else to go. One is within the shadow of Ranch Style Beans right here in Fort Worth Texas and many who visit the Salvation Army mission can see where they used to go to work every day.
It used to be that we Conservatives could pass it off as just a bunch of lazy people that were unwilling to work. We can't do that anymore. At my job, we have dozens of people coming in every day, filling out applications, and when they are done we toss them. We have trucks sitting empty with nothing to do and not enough work to allow us to hire anyone. Yet they come. They beg for work, some are willing to work for $4 less an hour than we are paying our drivers now. If we actually put an add in the paper, no doubt we would have hundreds of people trying to go to work for us.
We are in trouble folks. I imagine before this is all over and done with, many of us may be living in tents and we will still be listening to the news tell us that stocks are going up. That trading is brisk on Wall Street. And we will believe it just like when Chamberlain said "Peace in our time" and Hoover said "Prosperity is just around the corner". There was no peace nor was there prosperity. There was depression and WWII.
I used to write songs about what is coming. No one listened to them back in the '80's, '90's or early 2000's. They wanted songs like "Smoke on the Water" or "Walk this Way". Frivolous songs that have nothing to do with reality because after all, isn't music about trying to escape from reality? Well, tell that to Francis Scott Key, the writer of "The Star Spangled Banner".
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Faith in Politics
(This is from a political conversation I recently had with a Mormon who wants to speak out about political prejudice against people of differing faiths.)
Let's face it. The public is led around by political buzz words and most of the time it is the MEDIA that invents these anti faith terms in the first place. If I were a Baptist, I might not agree with the Mormon founder Joseph Smith! But do I agree that the Mormons have a right to exist? Of course I do! But just because I will defend the followers of Joseph Smith and their right to worship, I don't have to be a Mormon to do that! Any thing less would be trampling on the Constitutional rights of others. I might argue the fact that Mormonism is or isn't a Christian faith, but it is the religious right that has to be protected.
On the other hand, a Religion that allows for human sacrifices? (an extreme example I know) I can't support that because it is murder sanctioned by a misguided Religious "Faith". And there might be some "Constitutional Issues" with the human to be sacrificed on the altar of ignorance. A little like making a public ceremony out of hanging black folks! I am sure if we looked hard enough we could find Americans that would have no problem hanging Blacks or Jews. But they are small remnant of the population, and yet these groups would look huge if you gave them the big media treatment. Much like the Programming America got after 9-11, we became convinced there was a Muslim under every city waiting to get us with their WMD's and were willing to allow a Republican President to set up the same Homeland Security that has now turned the enforcement gun toward we Americans!
So any political movement can easily be derailed using all these terms that Americans have been programmed & inundated with all these years. It is a basic Physiological trigger to dismiss anything in an auto dump mechanism. It is why we come to conclusions after reading two sentences of a two page post and dismiss the writer as being a "conspiracy theorist" and reply, blasting them into a public forum Hell!
So, we die alone on a politically exclusive island where only those of the "enlightenment" are allowed! And that includes me and my pets who have no political voice at all.
We may as well face it. We humans are a mess! We keep our opinions right there in the open where people can see them, just like the Pharisees wore their huge Phylacteries so everyone could see how religious they were. We wear the modern political equivalent on the rear bumpers of our car in the form of the Gadsden Flag or Secede stickers. It is what defines us, it is what makes us different. And we strive to be this "Political Maverick" because some media figure told us we should be a "Political Maverick"! It is what makes us superior to everyone else, we may as well proudly wear a sign around our neck that reads "Ask me about my humility"!
Can America be a county that is exclusively Christian? No way! But it needs the influence of the Christian faith because to be a Christian, you must first admit that you are a sinner. And to be a sinner means you must admit you are flawed. And to be flawed you must admit you may not know everything and are prone to make mistakes....like trampling on the rights of others. Like following men in women in nice clothing who tell us we must give up our rights in exchange for safety. Who tell us nothing can be done to put America back on the path of Constitutional Government.
Let's face it. The public is led around by political buzz words and most of the time it is the MEDIA that invents these anti faith terms in the first place. If I were a Baptist, I might not agree with the Mormon founder Joseph Smith! But do I agree that the Mormons have a right to exist? Of course I do! But just because I will defend the followers of Joseph Smith and their right to worship, I don't have to be a Mormon to do that! Any thing less would be trampling on the Constitutional rights of others. I might argue the fact that Mormonism is or isn't a Christian faith, but it is the religious right that has to be protected.
On the other hand, a Religion that allows for human sacrifices? (an extreme example I know) I can't support that because it is murder sanctioned by a misguided Religious "Faith". And there might be some "Constitutional Issues" with the human to be sacrificed on the altar of ignorance. A little like making a public ceremony out of hanging black folks! I am sure if we looked hard enough we could find Americans that would have no problem hanging Blacks or Jews. But they are small remnant of the population, and yet these groups would look huge if you gave them the big media treatment. Much like the Programming America got after 9-11, we became convinced there was a Muslim under every city waiting to get us with their WMD's and were willing to allow a Republican President to set up the same Homeland Security that has now turned the enforcement gun toward we Americans!
So any political movement can easily be derailed using all these terms that Americans have been programmed & inundated with all these years. It is a basic Physiological trigger to dismiss anything in an auto dump mechanism. It is why we come to conclusions after reading two sentences of a two page post and dismiss the writer as being a "conspiracy theorist" and reply, blasting them into a public forum Hell!
So, we die alone on a politically exclusive island where only those of the "enlightenment" are allowed! And that includes me and my pets who have no political voice at all.
We may as well face it. We humans are a mess! We keep our opinions right there in the open where people can see them, just like the Pharisees wore their huge Phylacteries so everyone could see how religious they were. We wear the modern political equivalent on the rear bumpers of our car in the form of the Gadsden Flag or Secede stickers. It is what defines us, it is what makes us different. And we strive to be this "Political Maverick" because some media figure told us we should be a "Political Maverick"! It is what makes us superior to everyone else, we may as well proudly wear a sign around our neck that reads "Ask me about my humility"!
Can America be a county that is exclusively Christian? No way! But it needs the influence of the Christian faith because to be a Christian, you must first admit that you are a sinner. And to be a sinner means you must admit you are flawed. And to be flawed you must admit you may not know everything and are prone to make mistakes....like trampling on the rights of others. Like following men in women in nice clothing who tell us we must give up our rights in exchange for safety. Who tell us nothing can be done to put America back on the path of Constitutional Government.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
What Made America Great
I love reading the writings of the Founding Fathers. These where men that suffered under a monarchy who believed any possession was theirs for the taking. When Jefferson says, "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.", it was because he got to see it in action. These men saw the British Empire hire Hessian (German) soldiers because their own troops were too busy collecting taxes from the rest of the world. When you read the writings of the Founding Fathers, you see a disciplined system where the Government was kept on a short leash because they got to see what the world looks like when the chain is removed from the dog and the spoils are set before this hungry animal.
We have fought two wars and won them, not so much using our military might but by using our industrial muscle! Since the end of the second world war, we have been steadily outsourcing our industries. In his farewell speech, Eisenhower warned of the "Military Industrial Complex" and war becoming an industry of its own. Is this the reason for Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War and now Iraq, Afghanistan and soon Iran? Is American guilty of making a business of war? Is this why it seems the only secure employment in today's America is working for a government military contractor?
We no longer sew garments together. We sent those jobs to countries that allow what is slavery. We don't build electronics anymore, we have that done elsewhere. Christmas morning will see toys under the tree that were made in Pakistan, India, China and Taiwan. When the Forth of July comes we will be waving the glorious American flag's that were made in China, just like the fireworks. When WWIII comes we will have to fight it without the industries we could depend on to fight the last two World Wars. We will be fighting this war against countries that we jettisoned our industries to. We will do it without that huge tax base that these industries commanded to fund the last two World Wars. In essence, we will lose the next World War. Why? Because we decided to hire Hessian soldiers (laborers) because we are too busy, lazy and greedy to do it ourselves, just like the British we fought a Revolutionary War against.
What made America Great was that we were not going to follow anyone. We were going to lead! We were once the crowned jewel of industry, of freedom, of human rights and liberty.
But now, for some undeclared reason the USA has decided to follow Europe in industry, banking and liberty. Europe, the land of Empires, Kings and Tyrants. I thought we learned this lesson!? But I suppose we must repeat history in its futile attempts to rule humanity. So for the first time we have an American President who bows before Royalty. The United States of America should not be bowing to anyone!
So, where do we see today's America headed?
We have fought two wars and won them, not so much using our military might but by using our industrial muscle! Since the end of the second world war, we have been steadily outsourcing our industries. In his farewell speech, Eisenhower warned of the "Military Industrial Complex" and war becoming an industry of its own. Is this the reason for Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War and now Iraq, Afghanistan and soon Iran? Is American guilty of making a business of war? Is this why it seems the only secure employment in today's America is working for a government military contractor?
We no longer sew garments together. We sent those jobs to countries that allow what is slavery. We don't build electronics anymore, we have that done elsewhere. Christmas morning will see toys under the tree that were made in Pakistan, India, China and Taiwan. When the Forth of July comes we will be waving the glorious American flag's that were made in China, just like the fireworks. When WWIII comes we will have to fight it without the industries we could depend on to fight the last two World Wars. We will be fighting this war against countries that we jettisoned our industries to. We will do it without that huge tax base that these industries commanded to fund the last two World Wars. In essence, we will lose the next World War. Why? Because we decided to hire Hessian soldiers (laborers) because we are too busy, lazy and greedy to do it ourselves, just like the British we fought a Revolutionary War against.
What made America Great was that we were not going to follow anyone. We were going to lead! We were once the crowned jewel of industry, of freedom, of human rights and liberty.
But now, for some undeclared reason the USA has decided to follow Europe in industry, banking and liberty. Europe, the land of Empires, Kings and Tyrants. I thought we learned this lesson!? But I suppose we must repeat history in its futile attempts to rule humanity. So for the first time we have an American President who bows before Royalty. The United States of America should not be bowing to anyone!
So, where do we see today's America headed?
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