Monday Musings...
You know, there are some days when you just KNOW that if it were not for the idiots of the world, the rest of us would truly having nothing at all to find amusement in, and that IS a fact.
** Now, I don't know about YOU, but if *I* were a student, and I wanted to see the world, or even took a course that deemed that I do some study in a foreign land, the LAST PLACE I would choose would be one that has been "less than peaceful", shall we say.
In other words...STAY AWAY FROM NATIONS INVOLVED IN SOME TYPE OF WAR, DUMMY!
Well, three students couldn't heed that advice, wandered across the Iraqi border, and are now "guests" of the IRANIAN government, being charged as SPIES. And, unlike OUR judicial system, these people aren't getting the old wrist slap and "don't do that again" routine.
Yep, that just made MY "summer student exchange program" a LOT less stressful.
The Swiss are trying to find out (on behalf of the USA) to ascertain the specifics to this development.
(pssst...bring CHOCOLATE...I think they're gonna need some - it's COMFORT food)
** The "Cash for Clunkers" (read smoke and mirrors) program...ran out of money...in FOUR DAYS.
Must be a lot of folks out there willing to help the environment by purchasing smaller, more fuel-efficient cars that will probably kill them all if they get into a 40 mph crash on some highway anyway. Count ME out.
Now the president is "asking" the Senate to front ANOTHER TWO BILLION (with a "B") DOLLARS to keep this program going.
Doesn't this scenario seem just a little bit TOO familiar here?
I was never one for tossing good money after bad, so it stands to reason that I will NEVER wind up in ANY political office. Besides, I don't go around lying to everyone while reaching in their pockets and emptying their wallets.
Funny...that reminds me of another story I saw in the news locally...
** Indiana's "privatized" welfare system is falling on hard times, and that comes as NO surprise to me (or you).
It SHOULD have been obvious, that, as the welfare system GREW over the decades, turning from a "stop-gap" measure to aid those in financial straits into the governmentally-funded money-sucking behemoth of mythological proportions, it no longer resembles the "assistance" program designed to fill the void between employment situations, or assist those due to physical hardships like a sudden illness that takes them off the workforce role.
What the welfare system has become is nothing short of an "alternative lifestyle choice" for the lazy. Gee, and here I thought we were told that being GAY was an alternative lifestyle choice, too. Welfare has become a cash-cow for way too many with NO ambition and NO desire to be PART of the American experience called OUR SOCIETY. They'd much rather create their own sub-culture, fueled BY this flawed welfare system, that drains needed monies from those who ARE deserving.
Indiana thought it prudent to hand over the welfare system to a "private" entity, and now that entity is finding out HOW DAMN HARD it is to make work over a long period.
Think of welfare like unemployment...it's TEMPORARY (or it SHOULD BE), until some form of disability payment kicks in, or a person gets some form of SSI payout, however it becomes determined.
Many presidents have tried to wean people off of welfare, but like the addictive societal "drug" that it is, nothing seems to work (and that goes for those wonderfully defrauding the system). There is NO INCENTIVE to get the people back to work, and sadly, we have OURSELVES (meaning the job force sector) to blame.
We've outsourced SO many jobs, and have seen manufacturing dwindle from a tidal wave to a piss-stream over the decades, that it would take a generation or two to bounce back, should the business leaders of this nation even decide to do so.
And face it, we can only have SO many burger-flippers in town, right?
** Now, if I were going to take some detainees from Gitmo, and place them in America...where EXACTLY would be an "ideal" place. Too many people are already crying NIMBY, so that kinda limits my "possibilities", doesn't it?
Still, the Prez said he wanted to shut down Gitmo's detainee "prison", so I still have this dilemma.
Hold on a minute...I have the perfect solution...send them to....(wait for it)....DETROIT!
I mean, there's basically nothing hardly THERE any longer (except the police...and prisons...and gangs), and what few decent people remain aren't going to cause any kind of "stink" about having terrorists in their midst. Hell, they've had DOMESTIC TERRORISTS around there in the form of ethnic gangs for DECADES! What's a few MORE, right? I mean, it's NOT like these detainees won't feel "at home" after seeing the city...many parts of it ALREADY look like Kabul...or Baghdad (after a bombing). Yeah, they'll fit RIGHT in, won't they?
Damn shame...that USED to be a nice jewel in America's crown...didn't it?
Today, Detroit can't even claim they have a GROCERY STORE CHAIN (like a Krogers) within the city limits...(no one wants to open a store where there's that much crime, and who can blame them?)
Now, it will be a potential future home for Islamic terrorists.
Wow...who'da thunk?
** Lastly, I want to briefly revisit something I spoke about last week, and that was all this "crap" flying at every one of us from every direction every day.
We all know about those things in our "personal" lives that task us for no reason. Case in point:

Yesterday, for NO reason, our washer decided to upchuck some water on the floor...could not find ANY leak, and the pump wasn't clogged nor malfunctioning. The drain line was not damaged or blocked in any way...it just puked up water. It ran perfectly after that with NO leakage ANYWHERE. And I've worked on enough of these to know what's what.
Suffice it to say, it still has me stumped, but as long as it works...fine by me.
Another typical day in most households...always something weird coming down the pike, and most times, we don't see it coming, in spite of being "on alert" for possible problems...we like to "Be Prepared" as it were.
But if all the things in our house that smack us over the head aren't enough, we might to contend with our immediate surroundings. If you live in a nice area, this is usually never an issue, but in neighborhoods like mine (and there are all too many across America) that is another level of preparedness we have to face every day.
Then there is the TOP SHELF (Federal) stuff that hits us damn near every time we pick up a paper, log onto the Internet for news, or watch the TV. And Lord KNOWS we have to pay attention to THIS crap, because it usually affects us in ways we could NEVER imagine, and most times, not in the best way.
Man, it's liked being "taxed" THREE TIMES for just being alive...oh, wait, we're ALREADY having that done to us...
These are days when we HAVE to pay attention to damn near anything and everything coming at us.
We need to ask questions, because that's the ONLY way we have to find out if anyone knows the ANSWERS. And if they don't, we have to keep asking until we find someone that does. And that could as easy as looking in the mirror.
YOU might just have the right answer.
The thing is...finding the proper question to hang it onto.
Just something to ponder.
Stay safe out there, America.