Swine Flu Shime Flu

Check out Jon Stewart's rant on this "pandemic"- I agree completely!


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/28/snoutbreak-09-the-daily-s_n_192151.html

Popular Author Found Meandering After Long Unexplained Absence

Well, you may have been wondering where I have been, and I will tell you. Working. Gasp! OH MY GOD! She works!

Yes, and thanks to our current challenging economy, she now works two jobs to make half as much as she used to make in her one job. But hey, I think most of us are challenged one way or another at this time, and I don't want to be moaning and groaning about my misfortune. I just don't have the time. Nor do I have the time to write as much as I would like. I'm also going to admit that although I like to think of myself as a good writer, I have been challenged to come up with story ideas that are funny, enlightening and entertaining, which, if you remember, is the goal behind this blog.

Nuff said. Any-who, I am starting to get used to my new schedule and hope to be reporting in more often in the near future.

Now, in the thick of all this, I keep reminding myself to be thankful for what I have and to appreciate the little things. Like the fact that I took a walk yesterday in sandals. Yes, my feet are finally free from woolly socks and big boots. I'm soooooo thankful!

I also have reminded myself that when the going gets tough, the tough play. Play is the ultimate stress reducer, so I have been hitting the golf ball (it doesn't cost much to go to the driving range) I signed up for horse riding lessons (I'm bartering with the barn owner), and I have added a few games of pool to my crowded schedule each week, just because I truly love the sport.

I hope if you are under stress you will take a few moments to be thankful, to play, and, because laughter is the best medicine, continue reading.

I spent the day yesterday on a bird watching expidetion. It was my first, and I was amazed to find that bird watching is such a social sport! We were out in the middle of no where, miles from a main road, in a field on top of a bluff,near a great lake, and there was a major party going on. Dozens of people with lawn chairs, coolers and big binoculars were sitting around chatting. We settled in among the crowd and waited. Every now and then someone would point up and start yelling and "the bird guide guy" would take a peek through his binoculars and announce the birds name, rank and serial number. He would then give coordinates for spotting the bird, just in case you were bird viewing challenged and could not spot the literally tiny spot in the sky.

This went on for hours, and we did see a few big birds, however I swear the largest flying thing I saw was the big bumble bee that flew in the car window when we were leaving the bird viewing area. Of course, when it flew in the window I did not really see it, I just saw something big coming at me out of the corner of my eye. I screamed. I think that must be a defense mechanism, because honestly, I did not mean too, it just came out. I must have thought, way back in my unconscious reptilian brain, that a cobra or a scorpion or some other deadly thing was coming at me. I just saw movement and screamed. The driver of the car was so startled that she screamed, and swerved, which caused me to scream again.

Then, the driver looked to see what I was screaming about and she let out a world class shriek when she saw the giant mutant bumble bee flying around my arm, and by then I figured out what had flown in the window so I screamed again, again by accident, really, I know a scream is not going to chase off a giant mutant bumble bee. Meanwhile I had tried to hop over the gear shift. Which caused the driver to swerve even more which caused us both to start screaming and shrieking again.

In the back seat, things were lively too as the passengers back there started yelling at us for screaming and shrieking. They were oblivious to the fact that we were under attach by a winged 14 pound aberration of nature. About that time the humongous flying devil flew back out the window and I started yelling "roll up the windows" and "did it fly in back there?", meanwhile the driver was trying to get us back on the road and the two people in the back seat were still trying to figure out what had happened. It was exciting- really- we could not stop laughing so the driver had to pull over while we regained our composure, meanwhile the back seat drivers were still wondering what the heck happened.

I'm thankful for laughter. Hope you have a good week, Meandering

He Said That?!

That was stupid and thoughtless and I'm sure none of us would ever say anything like that.
I have a sister with developmental disabilities and I'm sure she can kick Obama's ass in a bowling match. I'm not upset though, I mean, when is that last time the Special Olympics had any amount of media coverage? I'll take it, thank you.

I Dig The Huffington Post

Do You read Huffington Post? You know I had my cable cut the year I wrote my first book. Not being a great TV fan anyway, ( OK, except for Extreme Homes on HGTV, old movies on TNT, and The Weather Channel), I didn't miss it. So I never bothered to have it hooked back up when I was finished with the book.

I'm unplugged and proud of it. You might try it sometime. Just turn the TV off for a month. Then, if you really want to turn it back on, go ahead. After a month without it you might realize how much you don't miss it.

Even someone who doesn't fall for prime time needs a little news now and then and I get mine from Huffington Post. They have interesting opinions from people who would not get published by main stream papers- like Deepak Chopra on the health care crisis.

They have the news you get anywhere, plus the news that gets censored everywhere. You might find a different twist on current events in the pages of Huffington Post.

Speaking of censored, have you heard about the contaminated flu shots? I thought not. How about one peep on the situation in China and her captive Tibet on the 50th anniversary of the Chinese Invasion and the Dalai Lama's flight for his life to India? Nothing? Not a word about the thousands of troops stationed around the remaining monasteries? Hum, that's strange. News like that should make the papers...

They also have really cool stuff like this link to Neil Youngs new video:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/neil-young/huffpost-video-premiere-n_b_173714.html

Did you know Neil has a car that gets 100 miles a gallon? Did you know it's a 50's caddy that probably weighs as much as a steam engine? (Why doesn't everyone have cars that get 100 mpg? Well, let's see, why would not benefit from cars that got 100 mpg?)

While you are there, check out the link to the late night roundup, the best jokes from the late shows presented for all of us unplugged people, and the link to Comedy Central, home of the best political commentators in recent years. And we thought the name meant it was a comedy channel. Thank goodness for that link, which gave me the Colbert Report, one of those TV gems that I had been missing with out even knowing it.

I have an Idea...

I saw an article recently that was describing a recent poll that found only about 40% of Americans live in the area that they really want to live in. ONLY 40% of people live where they want to! This I find appalling. And considering I'm one of the 60% who do not live where they want to, it's even worse.

I won't go through the whole long story , suffice to say I moved to a place that does not suite me so well, thinking it would be a short stay. I'm still thinking it will be a short stay, but in the meantime, it's a challenge. It turns out, I'm not alone. 60% of people, either by choice or unfortunate incident- or sheer luck of the birth, are sweltering in the Florida heat when they would be happier in the cool rocky mountains, are shoveling snow when they would rather be sweeping sand, are crowded by trees when they would rather be in the wide open desert, or maybe they are choked by the activity in a large city, when they would be happier in a small town, or they are dying of boredom in a small town when they would flourish in the big city.

No wonder then, that we have so much crime, so much violence, so much escapist activity going on here. No wonder there are so many people finding relief through drugs, alcohol, tobacco and TV.

I have an idea, I think it might help. Right now the government wants to throw some money at all our problems. Right now a lot of people are out of work. I think they should give relocation relief money to anyone who applies.

Let each person decide where they want to live based on their own criteria for what makes them happy, rather then where they can get a job, or where their family settled 3 generations ago, or where they went to college and never had the means to move away from. Let each person decide where they want to live, and help them move there before we start throwing money at work programs. Once everyone shuffles around to their ideal location, the face of the country is going to look much different. Some places may gain a lot of population, some may loose. Once we see the results of this stirring of the melting pot, we can decide where to use the relief money to create more jobs, based on the new demographics.

I suggest this because if we just start creating jobs with out asking people where they want to live, we are going to end up with a lot of people moving to get employment, and possibly a lot of people moving to places they would not be happy. Ultimately, that is going to add to our demise as a nation. I just think we should do it the other way around, let people decide where they want to live, then make work for them. The happiness this creates could reverberate through generations.

I wonder, if we all lived in the area we think we would be most comfortable in, what would our culture look like. Would some of our problems go away? Would we be less inclined to indulge in unhappy behavior like addictions? I think so. Now, don't get me wrong, some people will just take their problems along with them, and some people will never be happy, no matter where they are. I do think though, that waking up, looking out the window and seeing landscape you love, or a town that fits you goes a long way in making a person feel good about themselves, and their life. And I do think, as a nation, and for the mental health and happiness of individuals, that is just what we need right now. A lot of people waking up feeling good about themselves, going about their new jobs in a environment that makes them feel buoyant every time they look out the window or step out the door.

I'll Have A...

I got this cute, charming and relevant work of art in an e-mail recently. Normally I resist passing on cute junk mail, but this one I just had to send to a few choice friends, and I like it so much I have to share it with you as well. I would say this ladies order would be especially appropriate, and a good idea, if you were having your coffee while you read the news paper.

It's times like these we can take comfort from the fact that the only constant is change. I hope you have a week full of joy!

It's Only Rock and Roll

I managed to catch a bit of the inauguration speech on TV yesterday, and then I came home and got on line to read the rest. There was one thing in particular that President Obama ( doesn't that sound good?) said that really struck me, and got me to meandering. He said that 60 years ago his relative (did he say dad or granddad?) would not have been served in some restaurants in this country.

How much the face of America has changed in just one generation. It's amazing really. I had not thought about it, I mean, as far as I can tell we are all one big family. President Obama's remark made me think of all the un-sung heroes of the civil rights movement and I pictured all the missing ( ie: disappeared while working for the civil rights movement, presumably buried somewhere in the deep south) and forgotten civil rights workers, lined up in heaven watching Obama take his oath.

It also occurred to me that the baby boomers always said they were going to change the world- "peace and brotherhood, man" and this moment in history clearly confirms that they were right. I mean, 60 years!It seems like a long time, but honestly, in the history of the world, it's a really, really, short time. From "you can't eat here" to "please be our president". And they made it happen, those baby boomers, while literally stoned out of their minds a large percentage of the time. Amazing.

I was thinking about the beginning of peaceful race relations in this country and I'm no historian, but it came to mind that rock and roll had a hand in all this change. Back in the early days of rock and roll (not really early, that would be the late 20's and early 30's when rock and roll was a infant) like about the time rock and roll became a young adult, the 50's.

This country was still really segregated, but artists like Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins and Elvis were playing some really hot tunes and no one seemed to care if the band was white boys or black men, as long as they rocked. Anglo kids were going to the other side of town to hear these legends and in the process, finding out the other side of town was not that different. Meanwhile the African American teens were having to put up with this invasion, made some reconnaissance missions of their own and came up with the same conclusion.

I'm sure there was a lot more to it than that, but you get it. It was the music that gave them a bridge to cross. And they did. And look what happened.

Then in the 60's it continued with more music, less inhibitions and a philosophy that loved everyone. I recently saw an interview with Deepak Chopra and Robert Therman and Deepak was saying - everyone wonders where the 60's went, well it's right here in front of you, we are the 60's, we haven't gone anywhere, we just look different now. Now we are expanding our minds in a different way, with similar results. Rock on Deepak.

By the 70's the freaks were fully indoctrinated to the idea that it didn't matter what you looked like or where you came from. If you wanted to party, then party it was, turn up the music and the peace and brotherhood vibe resonated even stronger. Well, like I said, I'm no historian, but it looks like the boomers did change the world, in their own unique way.

Right now it's easy to look around and see lots of things about this country that need changing. There are plenty of things wrong. But you know, Obama's remark made me realize that there are a lot of things right as well, and maybe we are all just so used to living in the land of the free that sometimes we take it for granted. I'm thankful I caught a bit of that speech, it really gave me something to think about.

Peace Man.

I'm Hopeful, Are You?

Well, Obama is not much to look at, but I think he's the best chance to see something positive happen in government that we have had in a really long time. After all, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp and U2 are all singing at the inauguration concert, political references don't get much better than that, I'm taking it as a really good sign.

Public Service Announcement

I heard about a program recently that helps reduce the cost of groceries. I actually read about this program in a major women's magazine, in an article about a family trying to get out of debt. I thought, hey, almost anyone would like to reduce their grocery bill, and especially now, with the economy so shaky.

So I looked up angel food ministries on line and found that it is much like the Share program that is run by Catholic charities, only angel food is Baptist sponsored. These programs are basically food buying co-ops. Anyone can join, regardless of income. In fact, they encourage people to join even if they are not having trouble making the grocery bill, because the more buyers they have, the more affordable it becomes for those who need it the most.

The program runs like this- you sign up for a package of food ahead of time, and pay ahead of time, once a month. When the pick up day arrives, you go to the central location with a few boxes or bags and get the food. You save a lot! There is a menu for the month that you can look at to decide if you want to purchase that month or not. The menu will have a variety of meat, vegetables and what ever else they have, this month "angel food" had dessert items and eggs as well as enough food to feed a family of four for at least half a month, all for 30.00

If you are a meat eater, this is such a good deal I don't see how you could not join in and shop through a co-op. I think it's a nice thing to do as well, because your buying power helps lower the cost for people who really can't afford groceries. It's a win/win! You get to help out the less fortunate and save some money yourself!

To find locations in your area search at
www.angelfoodministries.com
and
www.sharewi.org
which has a search other states function.

Please pass this information on to everyone you know, they might not need it, but I bet they know someone who does. You can pass it on easily by clicking on the envelope at the end of the post and entering an address.

Thanks, Meandering

PS I'm actually making money as a ghost writer now! Imagine that.

Go Green Fashionably

OK, I've got the answer girls, to how you can "go green" and still look good. I mean, have you gotten on the bring-your-own-bag band wagon yet? I'm just laughing because I think I was bringing my own bag back in what- the 1970's? Remember when you bought health food in a church basement from a born again co-op because that is the only place you could get it? Remember when you had to make your own yogurt because stores didn't sell it? Remember when you had to grow your own sprouts because stores didn't sell them?

Way back then folks, you didn't just bring the bag to carry your purchases out of the store, no, you had to bring bags to put you bulk items in, because nothing was packaged! Now days we have packaged, pressed, remilled, frozen microwaveable health food! Isn't it amazing! Remember when- oh, never mind, you get my drift.

Any hoo- now days it's become fashionable to be green and of course corporations immediately thought of a way to make money off the whole trend. Why not sell re-usable grocery bags with our nifty logo on them? Yes, let's make people pay to advertise for us. Let's make people pay so that we can save money on the cost of bags. Let's make people pay to be green! So every store you can imagine, from Walgreen Drugs to Pier One Imports- one of the least green stores on the planet and one that nobody buys groceries in- has a re-usable grocery bag with their logo on it.

Now I don't know about you, but I'm not walking around with a bag that advertises for a drug store. A health food store, yes, if the bag is nice looking but a drug store? Wal-mart? Pier One Imports? NO. Definitely not. Am I going to carry a bag from a big grocery chain that does not have a good selection of organic and whole foods? NO. Am I going to carry a bag from a health food store that is a supplement pill pusher and way over charges for the food they do carry? NO.

And, last but not least, am I going to carry a re-usable shopping bag that clashes with my outfit? NO.

So, what's a girl to do? Well girls, let me tell you, you all know I'm a purse hound. Well, if you didn't know before, you do now. I can do without the 300 pairs of shoes, but I have shelf after shelf of vintage purses. I am constantly scanning the thrift and consignment stores for nice vintage purses. Recently I came upon a winning idea- a really large beach bag style purse from the mid-eighties. It's black leather with a nice dark brown linen lining and has bronze metallic tassels. It's as large as a big shopping bag!

So you see where I'm going with this right? That bag takes the place of two of those unsightly Wal-mart bags and looks great with any outfit. So next chance you get, hop on down to the thrift store and I'm wishing you lots of luck finding a perfect humongous vintage purse so you can grocery shop, be green, and look great at the same time!

My Plot For a Horror Story

I drifted into the movie rental store yesterday. This is not something I do very often, as my local library carries a wide selection of slightly outdated but still excellent films. I ended up being a bit disappointed in the amount of horror and violence apparent in the selections available on the perimeter of the movie rental store. It has been a while since I rented and something seems to have changed. What happened to romantic comedy, family films, heroic adventure and film noir intrigue? Now we have guts, violence, guts, sex, and more guts.

There were way to many people on DVD covers screaming in anguish, cowering in fear and running for their lives. There were hideous monsters, horrible machines of torture and unidentified slimy things. There was way to much blood and random body parts being served up for our entertainment. I felt like I had to cross myself and next time I go in that store I’m wearing a garlic necklace. Who the heck is renting all this stuff and where are their parents while they are watching it? Who the heck is making all this stuff and how could they make a living like this and frankly, why would they want to? Haven’t they heard about that quantum theory that goes like this: You are what you eat- oh, wait , wrong one- this is it- Your life becomes like that which you focus your attention on.

After a close to complete circuit around the store I had zeroed in on two possible films for my evenings entertainment. There were a few others I thought might be good, and I made a mental note to check the library for them. Then I got to the A’s (I started with the Z’s) and my choice was clear. I ditched the romantic comedy starring nobody we know and the adventure starring nobody we know either.

I rented American Gangster, purely for aesthetic reasons, I mean Russell Crowe of course. Not that Denzel Washington is anyone to sneeze at, he was looking very fine too.

The story is a true one, about the corruption that comes with drugs and big money. The US military was flying heroin in from Asia during the Vietnam War. Yes, the US military! They stashed it in coffins along with our fallen soldiers, and you can’t tell me the brass didn’t know. The cops were protecting the drug kings, and in doing so earning their big money payola. People were dying right and left from these drugs but that didn’t seem to matter. Oh, except of course to the one good cop and his newly formed DEA buddies.

It just illustrates how large organizations can become involved in corruption, how the people who are suppose to be protecting you are not always doing that, what some people will do to protect their ass- ets, and how expendable people can be when there is a product like drugs that can make big money for some unsavory types.

I recommend the film, a little violent but very well done and full of aesthetic value.

Meanwhile, I’ve been working on my own plot for a horror story. A what if, if you will. It’s been rolling around in my meandering mind for a few weeks now, growing and changing. Now, anyone who knows Stephen King is welcome to pass this on to him, I don’t care if he steals my idea and makes it a best seller because it sure would be nice to see the story in print.

The story goes like this:
What if there was, say, a country full of abundance, a population full of bliss who could afford many luxuries? What if they all seemed happily occupied by their jobs, homes, electronic gadgets. What if all looked normal on the surface but something was terribly wrong? Part of the horror is in the realization that what looks normal may not be. Like Invasion of The Body Snatchers- nobody was really sure who was real and who was a monster! The setting for the story is rather normal feeling. Just homes in a town in a state in a country where the “everyday normal” stuff is happening. It all looks so serene.

What if at a very young age, all the people were injected with something that they were told would keep them healthy, but in reality, made them start to get sick? What if their bodies were having bad reactions to the injections, but the reactions didn’t show up right away in most people, so there was no way to know? What if parents were told this was the way to protect their kids, and the “Evil Empire” made the stuff by the bazillions of doses so there was plenty to go around and people had money so they didn’t mind paying to protect their kids, in fact, they were happy to do it. The parents had no idea what was in the injections.

What if when the people got sick, they were convinced that another injection or pill or potion would make them well, so that’s what they did. There were all kinds of drugs available, always a new remedy to give the ever increasing sick population. People were eating multiple pills, multiple times a day, and were all happy because they thought it would keep them young, alive, well. Meanwhile the “Evil Empire” was making huge fortunes off the drugs sold to the happy population.

What if the people were being exploited and didn’t even know it? What if they were fooled into thinking everything was normal? Like in Soylent Green! Remember that movie? Soylent Green, which was set in 1999 by the way, depicted a society where nothing was as it seemed and people were a commodity. What they were eating was in fact, each other – Oh the horror!

What if, in my horror story, the whole happy-go-lucky population was being farmed? The Evil Empire has turned the whole society into a farm full of people they could make sick. The people who were being farmed and made ill, would pay to get something that was supposed to make them well. The people spent their whole lives toiling away in their abundant society just so they could pay to be well. They spent alarming amounts of time in the horror of illness, disease and symptoms created in their bodies intentionally by the “Evil Empire”- Oh the horror!

What if the body farm includes a prison with out a cell? A prison of trip after trip to small cubicle offices where “smart guys” poke and prod with instruments and then give the people pills to take, pills that get rid of one symptom but cause another, which necessitates another trip to the cubicle?


What if some other unsavory types, like food producers, wanted a piece of the action, and teamed up with the “Evil Empire”? What if they introduced the prosperous population to all kind of designer foods that were really sweet, bright colored, full of chemicals, foods that looked and tasted good? BUT- what if all that food did was increase the chance that the population was going to get sick and need more drugs from the big drug kingpin- I mean- “Evil Empire”?

What if the population became suspicious and insisted on someone to oversee the safety of the drugs and food? They design a regulatory body to ease their minds and protect them from harm. What if the population doesn’t know that the regulatory body is on the take! Gasp – oh the horror! The regulatory body is protecting the Evil Empire and in doing so, they get their payola! They make huge amounts of money! They become rich and powerful!

I know, it all sounds far fetched, but doesn’t it make a good horror story?

Think of the horror as parents watch their children become introverted and silent after an injection, the horror of having a child born with no arms-just hands stuck to shoulders, waving in the breeze like five fingered wings, after the parent took a drug to stop the nausea of pregnancy. Think of the children being drugged as young as a few years old, and the horror of the parents when they find the number one side effect of this drug they have given their child is, in fact, suicide. Think of the horror of the parents when they find that a drug they gave their child so he could breathe better had turned his bones into spongy soft sticks that break all the time.

Think of the horror of masses of people with hearts that don’t work right, extreme body fat, blood sugar problems, breathing problems, sleep problems, attention problems, arthritis, pain, pain and more pain! They are trapped into being dependent on the “Evil Empire” and they don’t even know it! Think of the horror of a population of people getting old, but they can not die because the “Evil Empire” keeps feeding them stuff to keep them alive- but not well. As long as they are alive and sick, they are cash cows for the “Evil Empire”.

Most horror stories have an underdog- so in my story that would be the few people who figured the whole scheme out and refused to take part. They didn’t get the injections, they didn’t go to the cubicles, they didn’t take the pills, and they didn’t eat the foods that were enhanced. They, of course, were shunned and lived as outcasts on the edge of society. The “Evil Empire” said they were crazy, and most of the population believed it. They would pass their truth on to those who might listen, but few listened. They had to be careful what they did and said so the regulatory body would not hunt them down and stone them to death or shoot them in the head, which is what happened to the people in that other movie based on a true story, “The Constant Gardener”.

My God! I have an imagination don’t I? Scary isn’t it?

Did You Know...

If I were in Tibet, I would go to jail for a long time just for posting this photo or having this bumper sticker.







God Bless America!

I'm getting all political on ya, but don't worry, it's just a reaction to tax time.

The following post contains political commentary some (conservative and liberal) might find offensive. Continue at your own risk.

When I woke this morning my mind went directly to meandering into the events on my calendar for today. Or should I say the event. Yes, in case you hadn’t noticed, it’s that time of the year again. Tax time.

For those of you who draw a paycheck, get a w2 in the mail, scribble a few numbers on a e-z file sheet and pop it in the mail, tax time is no biggie. In fact, I know ya’ll hit the post office by the end of January and eagerly await your money back. I always wonder why this elicits so much joy, I mean, it’s not like the government is giving you a gift, it’s your money. Your money that the government borrowed with out interest I might add. Wouldn’t it be better to just put that money in an interest bearing account and then pay the government at the end? I don’t know, that’s just me.

Anyway, for those of us who are self employed, tax time is a whole ‘nother story. I have boxes of files, reams of paper, ledgers and receipts and notebooks. I have 327 categories for deductions and 857 receipts to match each one. I have 7 different forms and schedules to fill out and honestly, the whole thing is so complicated I have to hire an accountant to fill out the papers. The problem, of course, is that I have to have the numbers all carefully tucked away in their proper places so the accountant knows what goes where.

Personally, I think we should have a tax system based on what you spend, not what you make. You know, that theory was bouncing around a few years ago, I think it was called a luxury tax. If this were the current tax system, I wouldn’t be spending the whole day sorting through receipts. I would just turn in the stack of receipts from the liquor store and call it a day.

Now, I don’t mind paying taxes, I understand we have to have some money laying around to help those who really need help. I have no problem with making sure the elderly and the disabled have enough to eat and a place to live. I do however mind paying to care for people who could work but don’t.

It appears there are plenty of people living off my taxes who do so just for the hell of it. I've met a lot of people living on disability who were definitely fit enough to be working. My solution to that? Well, why don’t we just say that if you are physically able to work,and you still apply for benefits, then your benefits are based on your previous taxes paid. If you have never worked, and could have, you don’t qualify. If you are "disabled" you have to prove it and the testing is not done by doctors ( who make money off disability office visits) but by marine drill sergeants.

Now I know that opens a whole can of worms, but hey, it’s just my opinion.

Worried about the jobless? Well, lets all quit buying cheap junk made in China and insist on American made everything. Lets bring manufacturing back to the US and put these people to work. They can report to the factory instead of the benefits office each morning. Now, it may not be great work, but it’s a paycheck that doesn’t come out of my hard earned taxes.

Worried about the high cost of American made goods? I think the prices would go down if we brought manufacturing back and honestly, how many two dollar plastic gadgets made in a country that poisons our pets and kills Buddhist Monks do you need? Would one twenty dollar gadget make do if you knew it would reduce your tax burden by a large margin? Would you rather pay twenty dollars in taxes so some guy could sit on his butt watching TV all day except for his quick run to the mail to get his monthly unemployment check or would you rather pay twenty dollars for an item made in America?

Now some say the luxury tax would not support our government. Well, it would if they were more accountable for spending. I do not like my taxes being spent on war. I especially don’t like it when billions of tax dollars are spent to kill and be killed, meanwhile, my disabled from birth sister gets a measly few hundred dollars a month in benefits to live on. Something is wrong here. I think war is one of the things that politicians should pay for out of their own pockets. If they vote yes they should put their entire salaries into the pot.

Here’s a novel idea, why not make it mandatory that if we go to war, we have to use nuclear force? Wait, hear me out before you think I’ve lost it. How many politicians would want to go on record as saying yes to nuking somebody? How many American military lives would be saved if we never put troops on the ground? How many countries would try to kick our ass if they know there was just one way we would retaliate? I think it could be the start of some real peaceful times, and we would save a lot of tax money by not going to war.

I also do not like my taxes spent to care for undocumented residents. Now, don’t get me wrong, the US was founded in compassion for the “huddled masses”, and some of my own relatives were “off the boat”. They did however, come in the front door not the window. They went to work and paid taxes too. I say invite anyone to come in, but they must come in the front door and become citizens, and pay their share of taxes. If and when they really need help they qualify. Again, benefits are based on your previous taxes paid. If you have never worked, and could have, you don’t qualify.

I also don’t like paying taxes to support a bunch of people in prisons. My answer to this problem? If they killed, they get the chair, no questions asked. If they were white collar crime, we put them to work for the government where all the other white collar criminals are only they don’t get paid, they get room and board. All those violent but didn’t kill criminals? They get the chain gang and start rebuilding the infrastructure that once made this country great. All those people who are in jail for minor infractions, put them to work in the fields growing food so we don’t have to import so much. There will be no more sitting on your ass in jail for anyone. That right there would save so much tax money our tax rate would drop by 50% immediately

You know, I think it says in the constitution that we can’t be taxed twice. Wasn’t that the whole idea behind the constitution? To set up a democracy where the people are taxed fairly and represented well? Hum, seems to me that I’m being taxed on my earnings, and then taxed again at a state level on my earnings, then taxed again when I buy something, I pay county government taxes, town government taxes, taxes for water and sewer services, fire department taxes, school taxes,and library taxes and hell, that feels like being taxed more than once. Something’s fishy about all that.

Oh, I also heard that there is something about no tax without representation in the constitution as well. So I came up with another novel idea to solve that problem. Why not tax only those people whose political candidate wins the presidential election? I mean, my candidate never wins, so I don’t feel represented, so why do I have to pay taxes? Picture this: Everyone, and I mean everyone, registered to vote. If your candidate wins you pay taxes during their term. If your candidate looses you don’t. Simple,yes?

Honestly, if we just implemented a few of my suggestions the government would not have to be handing out economic stimulus checks, your taxes would be lower than ever and everyone who could work would be working. Now if I can just get my tax documents tied up in a neat little bundle as fast as I just solved the problems with the US government, I would have all day to relax!

Oh, and in case you forgot how it goes,
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag, of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."