Good morning gang! As usual I got sidetracked while writing on my High Desert Hideaway blog and it ended up being mostly political rather than an update of how things in general are going. I suppose to set everything straight I can cross the line and post a family update here to make up for it. Hell... of course I can.... it's my blog.... I can do whatever I want!
First off my sweetie and I agreed to bring my mom up here from a nursing home in the Dallas area. Of course we made that decision based upon the last time we saw her. Then we had a mom who was basically independent but just needed a bit of help with things like cooking or other tasks which might be a bit too physically demanding. The mom we got was basically 100% dependent on us for everything with the exception of being able to feed herself. We made a go of it for three months before it became apparent that she was more than we were equipped to deal with 24/7. To make a long story short we got her placed in a local nursing home where they are able to take proper care of her around the clock. That home has a brand new facility under construction right now which should open in another month or so...... and all their current residents are grandfathered into the system so no increase in cost...... which now is taken care of my medicare and medicaid.
On the home front I treated my sweetheart to a new living room set..... and a new king-sized bed with motorized base. (which is *really* cool) :-) We got a new love seat for her and I..... new sofa.... new end tables..... coffee table..... and electric fireplace/entertainment center plus a nice rug to complement it all. We topped off the entertainment center with a 60" Sharp HDTV..... which is awesome..... especially when the surround sound is turned on. She's happy..... that's all that matters.
Okay..... politics..... and other stuff that's ticking me off in general. Let's start off with the VA scandal since there are SO many Obama scandals to choose from. I have been dealing with the VA system since 1983. To be honest my experience to date has been about 80% favorable of the system as a whole. On that 20% down side, however, they can do a great deal of harm. You either have to be a lawyer of have an advocate to force them to do anything which might benefit you. In Dallas it was not your veteran status or degree of disability which indicated how well you were treated and served nearly as much as it was your ethnicity. Ditto with trying to get hired there. Your previous experience, education and IQ didn't mean squat if you didn't have the correct pigmentation.
When I moved up here to "The Falls" to start a new life for myself after loosing my wife to cancer I had to cancel an appointment down there because I got the notification too late and the appointment needed me to be in the lab at 0630 and see the Dr at 1030. Well.... from where I "used" to live that was no big deal..... it's a ten minute drive. From up here, however, it's a two hour drive with the last 60 or so miles in that wonderful metroplex rush hour traffic. NOPE! I managed to get one more prescription refill from them before my account was frozen. I was also told that since I now lived in Wichita Falls I would have to go to the VA Hospital in Oklahoma City because it was closer to me. I checked...... sure enough.... it's 6 whole miles closer! (finger twirling in the air) WHOOPIE!
I have been calling the VA up there for a while now...... and just based on the telephone... you could not convince me that any real people work there. All I ever get is that wonderfully frustrating automated phone system which eventually prompts you to leave a message with your name and phone number and someone will call you right back. Here's a hint.... if you ever hear that message from the VA...... DO NOT hold your breath waiting for that return call. It's never coming.
Back in about 1986 I was in the dermatology clinic for another of what was then weekly appointment when I just asked the Dr. (who had not even taken his nose out of my records folder long enough to look at me) what I could do to try to help get rid of the skin problem which had been plaguing me for several years. "DIE!" he said without ever looking up. I simply replied that I'd get a second opinion. And it's not so much that anyone there really *wants* you to die...... it's just that they simply don't give a rats ass one way or the other if you live or not.
THAT, boys and girls, is what we in the military call a leadership problem. That attitude starts..... and is stopped.... by the person at the top. If they demonstrate that they don't honestly care..... it spreads like a virus throughout the organization. Can it be fixed? Oh hell yeah! Can every last one of the bureaucrats who infest the VA now and replace them with genuine Veterans who have a stake in the care being given....... and things will turn around quickly. If not.... fire them too., Sooner or later the right people will end up in charge.
Okay! Gun grabbers are in my sights next....... so to speak. (could not help the play on words there) Like most idiots this bunch hasn't got a coke or a clue about how this nation was founded or how it is supposed to work. The process of establishing our Constitution from the original Articles of Confederation was a lengthy and arduous process. Nothing contained in either the Constitution of the Bill of Rights is in there by accident. Every word and every period and comma had to be reviewed and ratified by the several states.
We were departing from a top down system of total government control and moving into the previously unknown territory of bottom up rule...... of the people by the people and for the people. In order to do this it was necessary to first gain our freedom from what was then.... the most powerful military on earth. Britain ruled the world! The old saying that the sun never sets on the British Empire was due to the fact that they had colonies around the entire planet. Yet... here this little bunch of upstarts was going to challenge their undisputed might? FOLLY!
We were to be crushed and made an example of. All except the the pesky little fact that this was still a wild place and everyone was armed for both survival and protection. If a town was attacked then the whole town rallied for the common defense. Our access to firearms and our willingness to use them to ensure our freedom made a difference. Of course the tactical folly of the British and their inability to adequately field and support armies on foreign soil played a role too...... their supply lines grew too thin for sustained operations while we were on our home turf. Ultimately the will of a people to be free of an all powerful government prevailed.
It was because of this struggle with the Armies of Britain that the 2nd Amendment was given to us in the Bill of Rights. The Founders knew that the possibility of government again growing huge and powerful existed. They knew that if the wrong people gained power in our capital that they could easily be corrupted into believing that they knew what was best for everyone and they would start telling us how to live our lives...... what we had to do for the state and what the state forbid us from doing.
Isn't that exactly where we find ourselves today? So is it any wonder that those in positions of power and control would want the people disarmed and defenseless? How can you hope to totally dominate and command a population which has the ability to resist..... and resist by force if necessary? You cannot. So guns are now demonized as evil and bad....... people who own guns are somehow immoral and just want to kill people....... guns themselves actually cause people to kill others..... and every one of the other completely insane argument and device the left can manufacture and amplify daily.
What is the real truth? Guns, in the hands of law abiding citizens, are the ONLY thing standing between our freedom and way of life and those who would so quickly deprive us of both. The founders gave us direction when they said...... When government becomes too big and too powerful and when it is no longer serving the will of the people..... that the people have both the duty and the obligation to throw it off and establish another which better serves the needs of the people. It's not our founding documents which are flawed..... it's the people we entrust to positions of power.
What is the real truth? Guns, in the hands of law abiding citizens, are the ONLY thing standing between our freedom and way of life and those who would so quickly deprive us of both. The founders gave us direction when they said...... When government becomes too big and too powerful and when it is no longer serving the will of the people..... that the people have both the duty and the obligation to throw it off and establish another which better serves the needs of the people. It's not our founding documents which are flawed..... it's the people we entrust to positions of power.
On another front we can again go back to the days right after our founding. We had just established ourselves as a nation...... had a small navy and other military forces..... and a merchant fleet which was just starting to do trade with the world. At the northern end of the African continent our ships often came under vicious attack from pirates. These were known as the Barbary Coast Pirates. These were Muslim thieves and slave traders who captured ships.... stole cargo..... killed or sold into slavery members of the crew. America started out by paying $80,000 in "protection money" to the pirates each year to ensure the safety of our ships. This quickly failed and our then ambassador, Thomas Jefferson, refused to deal with the pirates after they captured two ships and held them for an additional $60,000 in ransom.
Jefferson bought a Qur'an and learned all he could about the pirates from their holy book. What he learned was there was would be no dealing with the pirates because they felt that it was their RIGHT to take from others.... to rob steal and murder.... to capture and hold or sell as slaves anyone who was not of their belief system. All these centuries later...... nothing has changed.
Islam and the muslim world in general is still at war with the "infidels" all around the world. They tell us that there can never be true peace on earth until everyone is of the muslim faith. I simply ask you to look at ANY country which claims to be of the muslim faith. Are the people at peace? Are they free to come and go as they please? Is there abuse in their system of "justice"? Are children treated with respect? Are women treated any better than common cattle? Do women even have rights at all other than the "right" to do whatever her owner orders her to do or fear being beaten or even killed for disobedience? Islam being a "religion of peace" is the first greatest hoax ever perpetrated upon the human race! The 2nd greatest hoax is man made global warming. Both have at their hearts the same goal though..... total and complete control of all the people on earth.
With THAT lovely thought I will bid you a good afternoon and also wish you a safe Memorial Day weekend. Check out my Highdeserthideaway.blogspot.com blog posting for this weekends patriotic themed message. And as a parting though I leave you with the words of the Alexander Tyler and his thoughts on democracy. The age of his insights will likely surprise you though because I'm going to guess you'll think they were current. Enjoy the wisdom of the past......
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage.”
Alexander Tyler on the fall of the Athenian Republic
Jefferson bought a Qur'an and learned all he could about the pirates from their holy book. What he learned was there was would be no dealing with the pirates because they felt that it was their RIGHT to take from others.... to rob steal and murder.... to capture and hold or sell as slaves anyone who was not of their belief system. All these centuries later...... nothing has changed.
Islam and the muslim world in general is still at war with the "infidels" all around the world. They tell us that there can never be true peace on earth until everyone is of the muslim faith. I simply ask you to look at ANY country which claims to be of the muslim faith. Are the people at peace? Are they free to come and go as they please? Is there abuse in their system of "justice"? Are children treated with respect? Are women treated any better than common cattle? Do women even have rights at all other than the "right" to do whatever her owner orders her to do or fear being beaten or even killed for disobedience? Islam being a "religion of peace" is the first greatest hoax ever perpetrated upon the human race! The 2nd greatest hoax is man made global warming. Both have at their hearts the same goal though..... total and complete control of all the people on earth.
With THAT lovely thought I will bid you a good afternoon and also wish you a safe Memorial Day weekend. Check out my Highdeserthideaway.blogspot.com blog posting for this weekends patriotic themed message. And as a parting though I leave you with the words of the Alexander Tyler and his thoughts on democracy. The age of his insights will likely surprise you though because I'm going to guess you'll think they were current. Enjoy the wisdom of the past......
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage.”
Alexander Tyler on the fall of the Athenian Republic
"For as long as American operated openly and honestly under the provisions of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and for as long as we payed the proper respect and gave the appropriate thanks to our Creator....... America was a truly blessed nation. Until we find the courage to abandon the path of folly we are on today and have the courage to again embrace the ideals which afforded us all those blessings...... we shall not have them again."
Joe E. Ruyle on the decline in greatness of the United States of America.
Joe E. Ruyle on the decline in greatness of the United States of America.
