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30 JUL 05

OK, check out this photo!

This is me and SGT MAC with SENATOR JOHN McCAIN.

Several points of interest there, first, my brother is now Staff Sergeant MAC. Second, Senator McCain looks happier to meet us than we are to meet him (and we were quite excited). Third, THIS IS JUST COOL!!

12 FEB 05

I am finally back on a ship, which is good because that is what I joined to do; but it is bad because I have no time to tell you all the wonderful thoughts I have.

REDUNDANT ABBREVIATIONS - Just read the examples and think about this in daily life:

MFP Flouride - Maximum Flouride Protection Flouride.

ATM Machine - Automatic Teller Machine Machine.

NIC Cards - Network Interface Card Card.

PIN Numbers.

RAM Memory!

HIV Virus!!

DC Comics (DC Current?)

VIN Numbers.

SAT Test.

11 OCT 04

I have been trying to do this for a long time now. I am going to try to write on several different topics of interest, but only a few lines each. That is difficult, because I like people to know that there is thought behind my views. There is always a 'but' or exemption to the logic, so to say a blanket statement is difficult.

For example: I HATE TAXES! This is true, BUT I need to clarify. I hate paying for the inner city welfare programs, but I do not mind paying for the roads and bridges I use. I HATE GOVERNMENT EMERGENCY AID FOR STORM VICTIMS! Well, true, for individuals too stupid to buy insurance in Florida, but I do think it is OK for the government to help rebuild sewers and roadways and port facilities. Get it?

So, this page will be dedicated to that. Now, how will I organize it? I may not. If you really care, you can sort it out.

GUN OWNERSHIP - FACT: Cars are more dangerous than guns. They are used in more crimes, when they are used in a crime they are not taken by the state. Guns are tools. Enforce the restrictions on illegal use (i.e., JAIL CRIMINALS!!) and let me own a damned gun. I agree with certain restrictions such as waiting periods and the ban on any guns that fire multiple rounds with a single pull of the trigger (automatics). The first helps curb crimes of passion and accidental sales to criminals. The second helps prevent accidents, or, at a minimum it helps lessen the extent of accidents.

People ask, "Why do you need a .50 caliber handgun?" My answer, "Why do you need a Porsche Boxter that can top out at over 200 mph?" Anything can be used to break a law. Kitchen knives are a VERY common tool in crimes of passion, there are no restrictions on them! A woman drowned her own five children in a bathtub, there are no restrictions on tubs!

GUN CONTROL - Give me a gun. Let everyone know I have it. No one will rob me. Even the criminal that also has a gun will find an easier target. Take it away from me. The bad guy still has his. Bad scenario. Solution? Either take the gun away from the criminal (the screwed up government can't seem to do this), or let me keep my gun.

ABORTION - There is one big test I use to judge laws, and that is how it affects LIFE, LIBERTY, and the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. Pro-life argument is that it affects the LIFE of an unborn child. Pro-choice argument is that it affects the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS of the mother. You could say the act affects all three aspects for both the mother and the child. Since I do not know when life begins I have to leave it up to the experts.

What, there are no experts? OK, so this is a pissing contest between the two philosophies. Why are politicians any better qualified to figure it out? I say we include it on the ballot every four years and let the majority vote. That is certainly constitutional, right? The real bonus is not that you and I get input, it is that the politicians get to quit dodging a bullet at election time and run on a platform of something that government should be involved in!

My personal views:

- Any child that is that unwanted will be unloved, and may be better off not existing.

- A child born to welfare is screwed, because welfare is run by the state, and the government is screwed up. Until the Department of Social Whatevers can unscrew itself, it remains more of a danger to the child, and therefore society, than abortion.

- Although I am not planning for a child, and actually specifically planning against one, I would not want an abortion if the scenario came about. (Well, obviously I can't have one, you know what I mean.)

- I guess this makes me a pro-choice guy, but it a fine line. Why can't we keep teenagers out of bed and eliminate the majority of abortions anyway?

TAXES - Hate 'em. I see their necessity, but there is so much mismanagement in government that it kills me. In order to get elected you have to pander to a nation of people that feed on 10 second sound bytes.*

For example, it feels good to keep the farm subsidies to keep the little farmers in business. However, they really should just sell out to the conglomerate and then either go work for the company or move to the city and find a different job.

I live in Pascagoula, Mississippi right now. There is a burger joint on Market Street that is renowned for its burgers and chili dogs. Ed's Burgers. But, there are not many of those places left. For the most part we have chains of fast food like McDonald's or chains of 'family' restaurants like TGIFridays. The little burger joint does not get subsidies and no one gives a rat's ass!

People like good stuff, and they like it cheap. A chain is cheaper, but they can be as good. A big farmer's wheat makes my cereal taste the exact same, and they have the advantage of volume, so it is cheaper. Except that we pay extra in taxes to keep the little guy alive. Maybe only a few pennies each every year, but that is a few pennies to the farmers, a few more to the steel tariffs, a few more for tobacco farmers, a few more for someone else. Do you get my point? No one wants to be the politician that says, "Screw the 1000 farmers, I am going to save you each a nickel instead!" It is political suicide, so the fraud, waste, and abuse keeps on truckin'!

Thus, due to this mismanagement (and other examples) I hate taxes.

What is the alternative? OK, I am at a loss there, too. With the exception of the next block, I see only one solution, and it is hard. TOLLS. I pay for the Tapanzee Bridge exactly in proportion to the amount I use it. $3.00 every time I cross. The hard part is that that is wasteful (paying workers and managers, the cost of toll booths, the cost of my time spent in traffic jams, etc.). Besides, it is not practical to do for every road, or every city function, the very act of managing tolls would create an administrative burden that could rival today's inefficient tax and spend system.

*Sound bites or sound bytes? I am definitely a child of the technology age.

TERM LIMITS - Presidents can have eight years. Give the Senators twelve (two terms) and the Representatives ten (five terms). This still gives them time to establish seniority and establish key relationships, but it does not give them too much power or ties to the system. Why are ship's built in Mississippi Senator Lott? Why are military aircraft usually parceled out to about 40 states for design and production when one facility could do it cheaper? Maybe to get the votes of all members?

Eliminate really powerful leaders and then the members will start voting on the merit of the law proposed rather than on whether it will get them reelected, because reelection will be a much smaller issue. Lets face it, who would cancel a military fighter plane that had 1500 jobs in his state? Not many people, unless it was the right thing to do to save money and he was dead wood. Better yet, a new plane is proposed. The congress will vote no because it is a waste of money, rather than trading a yes vote for a few hundred jobs in their state.

WELFARE - Put a two month limit on it. After that people can find a job and get back to work. Like everything else, it is corrupt because the government runs it. When I was young my mother was abandoned an we went for aid, but because she worked part time in some dead end job that summer trying to make ends meet, they told her no. She had to quit her job making minimum wage in order to be eligible for benefits that would give her more than minimum wage. ???!!! So the handout is worth more than the work? Wow, thank God that she had the wisdom, ethics, and pride to avoid that trap. When I think of stupidity and people complaining because they can't get a job as a manager somewhere so they will collect instead, I think of her. A child raised in that environment gains pride and ethics, a child raised to a welfare mother gets more of my tax dollars spoon fed to their lazy ass.

Maybe we could put them to work for their wages. See the section on JAIL for an idea.

THIS PAGE - I am not doing a real good job keeping it short, am I?

DEATH PENALTY - I like it, in concept, not in reality.

PRO's - They will never commit another crime. Deterrence (arguable). Justice (biblical, eye-for-an-eye-type, Jurasic justice). Makes people feel good.

CONS (no pun intended) - DNA evidence overturning convictions? It costs more to kill them than it does to keep them in jail for 50 years (cheap food vs. expensive lawyers). And the biggie: BEING IN JAIL SUCKS!! I would rather be dead than go to jail and belong to Bubba the Jailhouse Rapist for the next 50 years! That is punishment.

JAILS - They are run by the government, therefore they are screwed up. Why can't we just save money and stop BSing ourselves. We do not put people in prison to be rehabilitated, it is punishment. If it were rehabilitation then there would be fewer habitual offenders. And the idea of letting them work for money? NO! That is MY tax money, only pay them for the work they do to help me.

HELLO-O-O-O? Chain gangs! If they work on the road crew or painting bridges then sure, pay them. But do not forget to take out meals and lodging. They would get a dime an hour or something, but they are being punished, not rehabilitated, so they should be VERY happy with a dime. Besides, working your butt of on the road crew is better than having Bubba work it off in the cell.

Perhaps we could take 10% of the welfare folks and have them run a day care for the other 90%. Then about 30% could work in a brick factory making bricks. The remaining 60% could take those bricks and build more prisons to house people. That way we would not be releasing prisoners due to overcrowding.

Then we could enforce the laws and keep drunk drivers and gang-bangers off the streets. Then we would not need more gun laws, we would have a better deterrence from committing crimes, and our bridges would be well maintained by the prisoners.

Oh, and prison farms, great idea. There is a place in Massachusetts where a group home of adult retarded men farms and sells the surplus and is essentially self sufficient, even though it is state run (a rarity, indeed!). If a group of retarded men can do it, so can a prison. If they slack off, they eat less. Punishment, not rehab.

SATELLITE RADIO - I wish I was in on the ground floor of that idea. Like cable for the car. Why do people want it? Most people do not move all the time like me, they want it because they are guaranteed there are no restrictions. Howard Stern can give his honest opinion, any music can be played without regard to lyrics, and there is no requirement for equal air time on political news stations. In other words, they are escaping from government regulation! Is that the first amendment I hear? I can't tell, it has been too long since I have heard it...

There is a push to regulate parts of the internet.... HUH? It is a private venture! Much like satellite radio. Keep the government out.

VIOLINS - If there is a man that can hear a well written and performed piece on a violin and not be stirred, then he is mot a man, but rather a foul beast. If there is a man that can hear a well performed tune on a fiddle and not be inclined to dance or play, then he is not a man, but rather a soulless wretch.

DRUGS - Legalize them. It would need to be a slow transition back, but it could be done. The initial frenzy would be painful, but it would settle out. There is legal use of tobacco and alcohol! I have known people that have used all sorts of drugs and been perfectly fine, because they were responsible. But there are those that will ruin their lives or bring danger to others with drugs, that is what is bad, not the use of the drug. Hell, I can drink a million beers a day legally, but I can't drive after two. If I assault someone when I am drunk I will go to jail just as if I were sober. With drugs it should be no different.

Now, think about how much money we could save the nation by not wasting money fighting a war on drugs, and instead we could attack criminals!

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