Summer Appears

Summer may not be officially here, but when it's above 70 degrees before the sun rises, and it's pushing 90 in the afternoon, it's summer enough; especially when you add high humidity from the weekly rains.

I don't know what the next few months will bring, but I have a feeling the uncomfortable threshold will be reached way before noon each day. I'll need plenty of water, supplements, and patience. The first two demands are easy. The last is yet to be seen.

Twenty Four Hour News Cycle

Finding news in the current news cycle is like picking through manure for kernels of corn. Thirty seconds of news is all that's found after hours of conjecture, speculation and editorial opinion. Facts are abbreviated to fit a narrative, and distortions are presented to sway opinions, or achieve ratings.

I really don't know how a journalism student would want to pursue such a career. The highest achievement is hot lights, too much makeup, and the ability to read a teleprompter without mispronouncing words. It's an ignoble quest without substance.

Bleh!

Presidential Qualifications

We've had few Presidents that were qualified. While the founders fought a brutal war to secure their liberty, those that didn't live during that struggle have increasingly been isolated from those that pay their way, and insure their safety.

With the above in mind, I think the following are one week of labor requirements before a candidate can run for President:

- Pulled concrete on a paving crew
- Cleared fence rows
- Dug fence posts.
- Carried shingles to a roof.
- Carried bricks for a bricklayer.
- Placed underground conduit.
- Worked as a welder helper.
- Stacked cement on pallets.
-  Hand dug pipe for a water line.
- Spent a week in a combat zone

These are only a few I can think of off the top of my head. I invite readers to add to these requirements.

A President should have empathy, and a goal to represent those all decisions affect. While an ivy league education has prestige, it doesn't address the daily chores of those that foot the bill. Liberty, without excessive taxes, or regulations, is something that demands those chosen for leadership can understand, and cherish.

I'm adding to this post, as suggestions arrive. 

- Work in a clinic, an ER, or a hospice. 

It's Getting Old

I'm tired of Presidential coverage, the media, and the crap. Where shall I start?

Let's face it: Politics suck; as do most politicians. When you add the wannabes, it's a constant media frenzy of wanting to be the first to report, analyze, or just throw in two cents worth of pundit manure to fill the spots the commercials pay to be in between. A healthy society would call it madness. Our society sucks it up like a shop vac in a sawmill. There is no explanations, or a reasonable discourse; it's just mind-numbing piles of crap.

I'm tired of the constant attack on decency. Regardless of religious beliefs, decent behavior demands you don't discuss the pedigree of someone's mother, while sitting in a public restaurant. If your grandmother would tan your hide for such language, don't brandish it where someone else's grandmother can hear your putrid, insulting diatribe and want to flay you with a hickory branch. Loud music at the red light is included. Your " Ho" song is disturbing, and the sweet voice talking about her sexual preferences would make a porn actress blush.

Driving is not a video game. I know the comfortable, quiet, mad rush - or text chat - makes you think you're only a spectator. You are hurling a ton of steel down the highway, which can turn someone into pieces of meat scattered for hundreds of feet.

I don't care what race, creed, religious sect, cultural identity, political views, or sex you are. When you demand I give you special preference for any reason, I get angry. Assimilate into this great nation, pledge to protect it from harm, and spend some time reading about how it was formed. It has a constitution, and it isn't in a language you don't understand. Stop expecting nine people in robes to determine what is not only simple, it gives directions, forbids government from many things, and never is allowed abridge your liberty.

I have one caveat: Liberty requires responsibility. Not only does it allow freedom, it allows me freedom from you. Don't expect me to understand your point of view, or think it's more important than sitting on the back porch watching the birds. Be quiet, walk softly, and never threaten my peace. The blue jays are eating the bread, and I'm waiting for the woodpeckers to make an appearance.

I Have No Title

I have much to write about, but time - and my sometimes inability to put it all into words - prevents me from writing. Still, I have some things to relate.

                                                                 ***

I think I need a squirrel trap. If there isn't what I envision, I have a good idea that involves bird seed, a good spring door, some heavy cord, and little patience. The only problem I have is what I should do with the squirrels after capture. I have some ideas:

 - Make gumbo.
 - Take them down the street, and release them in the neighbors yard.
 - Catch a few, and teach them how to ride little bicycles, and jump through tiny hoops.
 - Build an elaborate system, and let them run on wheels to generate electricity.

There are probably more things I could do with squirrels, but sending them to Washington, D.C. would only add to the problems with Congress. Enough squirrels have offices, and write laws.

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I'm having a hard time with the presidential election. Not that it's not interesting, but all problems are caused by a lack of basic fiscal responsibility. With the current state of our Capitol, such problems are way beyond their mental acuity, and elections are only a waste of money. Promising anything only costs more, and the credit card is maxed out.

                                                                ***

Johnny Manziel, with a promising future, decided he'd rather be a spoiled rich kid, and drink himself to obscurity. It's wasted talent.....literally.

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Hillary Clinton is a criminal. So is her husband, and anyone that supports the Clinton Foundation.

                                                               ***

We've had too much rain. While some may blame this on Global Warming,, or Climate Change, or whatever they're calling it today, I know it's the weather, which is what we have every year; regardless of the current effort to steal money with "feel good" legislation and general B.S.

                                                               ***

If someone came into my house without permission, I'd be upset. If they tried to take my job, demand I speak another language, and want free healthcare, my squirrel trap idea would become larger....except the gumbo.

I wonder how many people it would take to run in a hamster cage to keep my house cool?

That's all for now. More will come.