Rights and privileges are different

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is a right, to me.

Flush toilets and forced air heat is a privilege, to me, and I appreciate it. So is national defense. Some countries don't have a national defense.

I will fight for both rights and privileges, if that is what it takes. Hopefully the vote is the best way to fight for me.

Now many politicians and voters can claim privileges are rights, but that doesn't change things even in the new world USA. The two are different, and many of us recognize this, and will probably vote that way as a consideration.

Many fellow Americans work hard to make sure we have clean tap water, waste water treatments, and public electricity. Other fellow Americans work real hard to make sure we make it through the winter time like with ice free roads and reliable heating and cooking infrastructure that works. Even I like turning a light switch on during the dark times of the day, and expect it to come on instantly. These are examples of privileges, to me. This includes even times after a storm that damages our infrastructure.

I don't want to live like Abraham Lincoln, but I can if I need to.

And I am now perceiving many Americans think many of these privileges are automatic, and don't need to be supported, reinforced, nurtured, or whatever. I respectfully disagree. Many of those providing our privileges are much of the basic purpose of governments at all levels. And I thank them, and their Families. And I will support them and those that provide their services by my vote, my pocket book, and whatever else it takes.

I know the difference between rights and privileges, and appreciate it. And I also know the difference between idealism and practicality, and the need to balance it all for the benefit of us all.

I've seen and lived the difference, and sure like what we have in the new world USA.

Good on us!

Hit 'em in the pocket book

Why humans suffering is often what it takes for change to happen seems to be, well, human. What a shame. Even I will have to suffer, too.

Now I personally figure I can guess what will probably happen, but the timing I usually screw up.

For sure, I believe a third USA national party will arise, and there will be a civil war in China.

Now just when, I don't have a reliable way to guess that I trust. I usually guess things will happen before they actually do. I am usually off by two or three years. But I consider myself an informed citizen, which probably works against my timing guesses.

Well Plan B suggests most USA people don't have time to worry about more than their near future. They are usually hard workers, and often busy raising a family. Only when they are threatened, in their mind, will change probably occur.

If this guess, theory if you will, is correct, than what a shame.

Americans still want change

It sure likes like the present financial federally caused problems are not going to be solved by our present elected federal Congress and President.

After all, we all do enjoy wonderful federal benefits right now, generally speaking.

So what is change at the federal level going to take?

My guess is a third party will arise, and work on paying our federal bills, simply. I myself prefer any new name than whatever the opposition uses to describe it right now, like the Tea Party.

In this change, there will be pain, including to me.

And only in America can our vote still count, vice something else like a revolt or revolution. After all, we as a Country were conceived in a revolution, but my guess is we have evolved in the new world USA to voting since then.

But for sure, change is coming because we Americans want it. And I sure hope we use the vote, and the outgoing types go along with the results.

Now what would you do? And I still have to deal with State and County issues, too, like my kid's education.

Great change is underway

And it will affect most of us. And it is mostly human caused, which is normal, unfortunately .

The obvious things are our USA and world-wide financial problems, which will probably get worse. For those with money to invest, good luck in the next two years or so.

The less obvious thing is what is going on in the real human world. There are lots of smart people who know what is going on in their part of the world, but few can connect the dots in the whole world, so to speak. Hence a guess is that things will get worse because of poor decision making, and it will affect me and my family.

This idea is most probably exacerbated by the poor elected leadership in the USA, and the people they have hired. In the end, they will bring their era to an end, again a great change time, too. The time between 2011 and 2020 should be really exciting. The dinosaurs (so to speak) will fight back, like to preserve their status quo and way of life.

And there are alternatives to the present courses of action now taking place by elected and appointed leaders throughout the world. I think Obama, and his hired minions, are a good example of a poor leadership during this time of great change.

Along the way, expect great political change in the USA. The 100 year+ era of two national political parties is coming to an end, and a third national party will arise. All this will probably happen in the 2016 time frame, but who really knows in 2011.

After all, most just want to survive, have a family, and promote their kids' futures, where ever they live. Being fed and warm is a big deal. And most still want to be citizens, vice being a serf.

What I fear today is the consequences and how it will affect you and me, like down range nuclear weather patterns seldom reported in today's media.

Nobody, with exceptions, is reporting how bad things are in China, for example. I don't count on our USA media doing a good job reporting all this, or many other things that will affect my life, and my family's lives.

And all this during a time of great change.

We are going to be all in it

It seems obvious to me. We are unilaterally disarming.

The old days' questions like where are the carriers, or the Marines, or the airborne forces, are going to be gone. They (and their gear) simply will not exist.

Is that what you want?

Many may, for their own logic. And many won't, for their own logic, too. But for sure, we are going to be all out of enough troops, too.

Now even fundamental things like can we defend our own country and way of life come up.

And if we are not a policeman in the world, then others (mostly regional leaders) may fill the vacuum, like start local wars that might drag in future USA leaders in the future.

Like the title suggests, we are going to be all out of projection military power if things continue on. Is that what you want?

It is kinda like pay me now, or pay me later.

Bummer.

What's going to happen if Obama is not re-elected?

The quick answer is I don't know.

But I sure can guess, and so can you.

I use the connect the dots method, since the psycho babble method tends to be a waste of most people's time.

Now normally, the outgoing President is gracious and helpful to the new inbound President. And our Congress tends to be the same way.

But in these times, things seem to be different. Said another way, is our present federal President wanting to go another way, like even be a dictator, or king, or something similar?

Can executive orders be similar to a king's edict, for example? Does our election process to elect our Congress people still give us citizens a way to help decide our future and fate? Are we subjects, or citizens? Do we as Americans want to take the present situation as a way to change our Constitution? And last, do we want a new form of government led by a not so smart person attended to by minions (he hired) seeking their own influence and power in influencing our American future?

So all this turmoil in my mind is also influenced by the idea of embarrassment.

Are we citizens, including our military and law enforcement types, going to do some or both; like respond to his orders; or even do the dirty deeds necessary to remove him from office, like "dig him out" in the old vernacular.

Last, given the advantage of hindsight, we can say and think anything we want to about our own parents. But for sure, I am glad I did not have him and his wife as my parents.

Vigilance must be constant

During WWII 200 federal Congressman voted themselves an exception to the war rationing all of us had to participate in. Once discovered, this federal law was rescinded. Come one, come all, so to speak.

Now I hear my military retirement benefits may be retroactively changed to reflect the terrible economic situation in the USA today. I can even live with that these days, as long as I think the decision makers are applying these rules to themselves, too. Hence the vigilance.

Two more thoughts. My military retirement benefits were an incentive to stay in when I though seriously about getting out. I won't bore you with the details. Now I can imagine some years in the future when we can't retain enough Americans for the military to defend us. A line I borrow is that while we may recruit an American, we retain his family. Sounds like a future problem for future politicians to vote on in a conventional way of thinking. But how about a Plan B, like think ahead, consider our priorities, our ability to pay, and vote for people who will represent this?

Last, here is a Plan C that appealed to me, warts and all.

Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling:

"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.

The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months and 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971 — before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc.Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven took one year or less to become the law of the land, all because of public pressure.

This is one idea that really should be passed around.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011
1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives noPay when they're out of office.
2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into The Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
5. Congress loses its current health-care system and Participates in the same health-care system as the American people.
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void

Effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract. Congress made these contracts for itself.
Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers Envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their Term(s), then go home and back to work.

Vigilance must be constant, and come one, come all.

How much bathing is the right amount?

The quick answer, I think, is that most Americans think once a day is good. Now whether it is a shower or a bath, I will leave that question for other thoughts.

Now is that healthy; and the quick answer is that I don't know. After all I suspect most of our ancestors settled on less than once a day (mostly because they had to), and they did OK I think. We're here, after all.

For the record, my own personal record is 39 days without a bath, and then I had to sneak into a Palestinian work camp (occupied by Marines but off limits to me) to gain a warm shower. Yep, even I like warm water when I can get it. Also, there are ways to survive, in a healthy manner I think, without a daily bath. Baby wipes are one way. I suspect our ancestors had their ways, too.

So what is the standard, like best for our health? I don't know, but suspect it is less than a shower or bath a day. The thought of bathing in publicly provided clean water with chlorine (a poison at a reasonable level) in it bothers me. And I used to do some pool maintenance (using typical chlorine which also burns our eyes), too, so that is what provides me my question about our health.

Last, I suspect most who want to sleep together (including sex) would like a clean smelling spouse or partner. But is that also healthy, again the frequency of bathing is the basic question, like smelling clean? And again, I don't know the answer, but suspect it depends on where you live, and what you do.

How do you find the news where you live?

The quick answer is I don't know, as even I get frustrated at my own level in east Tennessee, USA.

Now there's many things published in most media that, in my opinion, is just the person's personal opinion, published as news. This idea is new in the last three decades, I think. Heck, I can go to the local Hardees for breakfast to hear the same kind of opinions.

I even had a commie pinko liberal friend ask me the same question, by the way, like how does one find out what is really going on?

Now I have gone out of my way to even read foreign journals (daily), and even reading an intel weenie providing his interpretation of the foreign reporting. Right now, that is the best I can do. What a sad state of affairs, I think.

So good luck, if you want to know the news where you live these days.

It will never happen, but

It might happen these days.

Long standing assumptions about cultures, and trust and faith in them paying their bills, is now up for grabs in so many places.

So many of our political and financial leaders may not be right for the present situation. Now some are "right", too. And every culture and nation state has its own problems, too. For example, I would rather be in the new world USA than the old world China we think of.

Now our present political leaders are a voter decision in the USA, and we voters have contributed to the problem we face today. Yea, we can say many of our elected leaders are failing us, but in the end, we did put them in power. Hence the people's part of the present situation. Now for the poor investors, well, that is their problem as to picking their leaders.

And as to wondering, I am slowly coming to think the Democratic National Party has become a criminal conspiracy, in the traditional way of history thinking. And the present Republican National Party is not too far behind. But who is going to say this in a RICO type of way, or even spend the prosecutorial time given the sponsorship and rewards system presently in effect (at all levels, federal, state, and local). The key way of thinking to me, is that the Party is still more important than the Country to so many members of their Party. Why, I still don't know?

But now serious issues are a stake, like our lives and well being.

So quicker change in our status quo is due, and really is already underway. Just how it will happen in the next 10 or 20 years is up to us, we citizens. Nope, we are not subjects.

The good news is that the future world in the USA will be pretty good for our Families and our kids. But whatever "it will never happen" means where you live, you can make a difference. Go for it!