When the poo poo hits the fan

Then new world America, like the USA, is probably a good place to be. Of course some places will be better than others, but compared to other World places, there is hope here. No wonder so many still want to emigrate here. There are poorer choices for family and children's futures. Said another way, we have our own problems, too. But so do others.

So when times get hard, like harder than today wherever you live, come here (legally) and make things happen. That, in my mind, is pretty much the best part of the USA New World idea. And we humans have so many problems wherever we live, to include our own Family problems, and even things more simpler like enough food to eat, or just being warm in the winter, will come up, I suspect.

Part of whatever transition occurs will probably be a change in the "status quo". After all what has gone on in the last 100 years, including old ideas like the Durand Line, are simply for their time, but not our time. Just imagine the friction that will occur, which is simply human to me.

In the meantime, are we willing to fight for our USA New World ideas, like some people will die, and we have to pay taxes to finance all this?

Right now I do not know the answer, in my mind.

Make up your own mind when the poo poo hits the fan.

When east meets west

Which is better for we humans, today, I just don't know.

Now as a westerner, I sure like the idea of the vote. I just want to influence my future, hoping the vote helps. But having lived around the world, there are other eastern human type ways to do the same thing, I also hope, and recognize them.

So my idea, today, is just to recognize the vote ( a western idea), and then let people sort it out where they live. Others may disagree. Propaganda comes to mind. These days in the West I think it is called marketing.

Change is always tough for we humans, where ever we live.

And some times change is well deserved, I think. And it is also often painful. Even some devious people will take advantage, which often lasts as long as 100 years before a human correction occurs.

What seems simple to me is that nobody wants to be cold or hungry, whatever our government happens to be at the time while we are alive. And most want to be happy, to include their immediate families. The rest of the problems are lower in priority, I also think

Stand by for heavy rolls

While it is an old time maritime term, it still applies to the ships of states these days. And many of these "ships of states" are going through status quo changes. Much is exhibited or reported by the news media, but most, in the end, is just human type stuff. By that I mean many will roll against the changes that are affecting them, and this whole status quo change is going to take a long time, like more than a decade. After all, dinosaurs didn't die easily. Neither would I.

And then many just want to be warm and fed by themselves. Now that is pretty simple, but is not automatic, it seems, depending on where you live.

And even in the USA many people still wear extra clothes in the winter just to keep warm. That is normal to so many people throughout our human world, I think. A smaller portion of humans may discover this, again.

Another heavy roll, the big one I think, is what happens when other humans just won't loan the borrowers money anymore, for their own selfish reasons. This will be an example of a heavy roll, and probable change in the status quo.

The good news is where is a good place to be if this kind of scenario even happens. The answer to me is the "New World". In the new world, I suspect, all the best human ideas will bubble to the top, even while the old time dinosaurs slow the process down. It will all sort out in the end, and whatever emerges will be different from today. And don't forget the "loaners with money" are still around; and our population is still growing.

The last heavy roll I imagine is the happiness factor. To me it is just good health and self respect. And I imagine, like even today, that is what is going on and will happen as much in the future, in its own human way, and depends on where one lives as to how it sorts out. It will sort out differently, I think, like some tribes or cultures are better than others.

OK, get sick if you want too

So many in the USA are used to being able to go to a doctor, and getting a prescription from them, to heal our bacterial diseases.

Yet there are so many other diseases we can get, including viral and fungal. There are even prions from 'mad cow disease', for which there is no cure these days.

I myself think about all this, and make my own decisions. My bottom line is to be conservative. So for me I won't eat any meat that includes anywhere where prions might lurk, like pig brains, squirrel brains, or any kind of cow that includes brains or even spines, like even T-Bone stuff. And one cannot cookout prions with heat, like works for bacteria, viruses, and even fungal stuff.

So much my mother's mother making scrambled pig brains and eggs for breakfast. I and my brother would lie to her back then "as to why we not hungry", which I am sure she saw right through.

Now in fairness, our USA beef industry has done a lot, as well as our USA Federal government, dating back to the 1990's. So probably most food things are safe to my health, to include our export of our beef. Yet I choose to go another way. And there are many other good choices I trust more. All are good choices, so this is a good problem.

So today, make your own choices about what you eat; the medicines you take; the vaccines you may take and even introduce to your kids; and what even you are willing to vote for, like draining malaria wet lands.

Vengeance versus "heart and minds" as policies

Well, I have a heart and mind, too; and I live in rural America today, though I consider my upbringing more urban and cosmopolitan.

The hearts and minds theory is now decades old, and still popular. It is more new world in my mind.

The vengeance idea is even older. It is more old world, again, in my mind.

As an American news junkie, I have kept up with it all. As a retired Marine, I still remember how I might be a part of applying either, or both, policies. I still read much the same is going on in the new world here in America.

What I wonder today is how it might sort out for our future. I have gotten to point where the rule of law is a big deal to me. Tamping down anarchy is a basic function of any government, of all stripes, and this often implies vengeance, or ruthlessness, or some other variation of all this.

There are plenty of bad people all around the world. They are just a percentage of our population. I don't want them in charge, or even running around, kind of like the lunatics are charge of the asylum. If this makes me a rule of law type person, so be it.

In the same vein, the "hearts and minds" argument also appeals to me, up to a point. When those that buy that argument are willing to let the bad guys assert themselves, then I have a problem.

Hence, why can't society have it both ways?

Listen to the grievances, maybe even agree with some, depending on your experience and exposure. After all living in, let's say the Midwest in the USA, is not the same as living in the Caucasus area in Russia.

But, also, don't let the inmates take over, too.

Now all I want to do is be safe, and for my family to be safe, which mostly means police protection. That is a traditional reason for a government, the taxes or tributes we pay, and the leaders we elect, one way or the other.

If they can't, or don't want to sort it out and balance things, then it is time to change them, that is, our leaders.

Let us hunker down

If times get "hard" I suspect most will do Family type things. Mostly we will do smart things like stay warm and fed, though the standards of both may change for so many. And the old line about we can pick our friends, but not our relatives also comes to mind. Now many in the world still have more than one family "under the roof", but to many others that will be a new experience, I would guess. And even when I lived in Okinawa, Japan, there were "love hotels" where couples could get some "private" time, so even they needed to get away from home now and then.

Now, for me, I kinda liked the love hotel idea, especially when my "bride" came over from the USA. I was willing to pay for an "all nighter", and even enjoyed the water fights in the bathroom area as big as you might imagine. Nothing like being wet and naked. All this was after I took her to a Japanese McDonalds, which had very good service most would imagine it should always be like, and where I even presented her with a fake Rolex watch bought in Bangkok. It had a Seiko internal watch, I was told. Later, back in the USA, I abandoned all this. Got to take care of the home country, by the way. And by the way, I blabbed the real truth while at the Japanese McDonalds.

So if times "get hard" I suspect we New World humans will do OK, though probably not happy right off. I still think this part of the World is a good place to hunker down, if times get hard.

What I wonder about, and think about, is the "happiness" factor. Along the way human dignity, and self respect comes into mind, too. Hence, many may be miserable by their previous standards, but perhaps many will be happy, too.

Just an "Uncle Harry" report

It could even be called an "Aunt Rachel" report.

The principle, or idea, is pretty much the same. We learn a lot from our ancestors still alive, and too often what we learn is not taught in school.

Hence most of us concerned "elders" do care about our descendents, and are willing to share it, if asked.

Today I just to want to share one story and maybe a lesson learned.

I have listened to a young man (age 24) about getting a bad cold (worst in his lifetime he reports). And he even went to the local doctor, who prescribed some antibiotic to help cure him. He also reported he was using a locally sold, and marketed product, called a neti pot.

Now that got my attention, since as an old guy, like a grandfather type, I actually know about this. The idea is like thousands of years old, and works. I myself divide all this treatment idea into two parts. First is the treatment, which is pretty much salt water conditioned for our human bodies; and the second part, which is pretty much flooding the sinuses to help them clean the body of the disease.

Anyway, who I am to argue with a marketing campaign that works these days. And this young man and his relatives will pay. As long as it works, that sounds OK to me. And as long as he introduces saline solution into his nasal stuff, that sounds OK to me, too.

The other alternatives work too, by the way. Like try Neo-Synephrine ( a 50 year old idea) or even more modern Oxymetazoline ( like in the last few decades).
They just work for shorter periods of time.

This is what happens when lightweights are in charge

Change that is coming is obvious, to me. Some of it is on our side, like lying as a ruling method is now "acceptable" will be changed, most likely by a change in the USA national parties. Lying to run for office is one thing, but lying to rule is another. This idea is way above lightweights, I also think, and will take years, maybe decades, to come to fruition. After all, it took many decades to get to this point in 2011.

The other obvious change to me, is the present day version of "the enemy at the gates". This time around it will be more financially oriented, like our present lightweight leaders and parties can't borrow any more (as in nobody will loan them money anymore for financial reasons), and imagine the downstream political impacts of it all, at least in the short run, like the next 10 years.

The good news is fourfold, I think.
1) We in the USA will have to balance good ideas and intentions with what we can pay for.
2) The new world (like north and south America) is still a good way to go.
3) Heavy weight leaders will do their "thing".
4) Western educational institutions will change to provide education over indoctrination, I think. After all, many young people from around our world do come to the USA for good reasons, I also think. Now funding will also influence things, too. But most will work and pay to better educate their kids, within limits. And the educators have to make a living, too.

There is an appalling, to me, amount of poor education of those humans we have elected to be our leaders, though I suspect most are hard working and well intentioned. Imagine the conequences? And we have elected them, all. What a sad state of affairs if it takes humans dieing because of what they (our elcected leaders) have done.

Many still hope during all this coming friction we, the common citizens, can still vote, and have it count. Historically, the odds are not there, like many regional powers and their citizens will go another way, and that will only drag out the process, like another war in their areas. The classic expression comes to mind: war is just politics worked out another way.

But what a bunch of lightweight leader losers to even have us go through this turmoil in which many humans will die, needlessly.

I trust regular humans more than our political and educational leaders, like normal to me in 2011.

I suspect most of regular humans are three things: 1) family oriented, 2) somewhat educated by the school of hard knocks where they live, and 3) have survived indoctrination or other such things like local popular opinion, kinda like what was in the old days called high school fads in the USA.

I sure hope our aspirations and votes can still count, like we can influence our future, to include paying taxes or tributes or whatever it is called where one lives.

Only time will tell.

Now I fear for how these lightweights will act in future problems, like the next few years.

Much human change is coming

Most is out in plain sight, though some is not. And the earth is changing, too.

Of course, anyone, like even this author, can predict the future...much is obvious. But there are many wildcards, too, like the earth's evolution and cycles of cold and warm, and our food, too.

But back to humans. We in the USA have done much since WWII to promote the rest of the world's humans, mostly their lifestyles, like improving standards of life. By standards of life things like food, clean water, being warm, and even septic stuff is a big deal. Along the way some might even expect police and fire protection and public electricity, and even public schools for their children, like it is automatic.

Most are willing to pay public taxes for all this when the light bulb goes on, I think, especially when alternatives like paying tributes to the king and queen, or the tribal leader, are also alternatives. Just look at a night satellite photo of our earth to give you a hint of what has been done. It is pretty good, from a human point of view. A similar photo from 100 years ago, which of course was not even possible then, is a good way to brag about what has been done to improve human quality of life in the interim period.

My question is how is change going to occur in the future, which I am pretty sure it will occur. Will it be local, which is my guess, or otherwise, like more generic world type change, which I think not. Whatever the change is, it will be selfish, like we humans will do about anything to survive, mostly making sure our families survive. It kinda sounds like "dog it dog" which may not be far off the mark.

Here's a good news possibility. We humans will respond in our own way and where we live. That's it. For example our birth rates will go down, world wide. And maybe even our energy demands will go down, too? And even if our food supplies from our present day grain belts go down, I also suspect many humans will also survive. It is going to be an ugly process, though!

The modicum of change

OK, I have used unusual words in this title, though they are not unusual to me. This post is right from the heart, and my education from the past in expressing it. I am age 62 and been to many schools, including the school of hard knocks.

Anyway, to me modicum means mostly rational thought, presented in a reasonable sort of way so as not to offend. And human thought, mostly about change, just tries to do reasonable ideas about change, since most humans don't like change, mostly human change. I think we will accept mother nature's change as it affects us, mostly because it will happen anyway. It is the human element that get's to so many of us.

So I think much change is going on. This is pretty normal and usual, I think. And I also think we New World USA citizens have a lot of influence about our human future.

What appears different today, is the western influence, mostly in people of their lands getting the vote, or some variation of it. In other words, the era of dictators and tribal leaders and warlords will probably decline in the next 50 years or more, and much friction will occur in the meantime. After all, it takes generations for change, and to me a generation is about 20 years. Some of these old timers simply just have to die off. In the interim, I suspect many may go with dictators, in the short term, like 20 years or so. Think like Nazi's is an example of this.

And the old time present status quo people (some who govern in their own way, like in Tunisia for 23 years) won't go down quietly; hence there will be much friction in the interim.

Now let's see how it all sorts out in the next 50 years? After all, we humans have a lot in common, too. And we all hope for our children's futures, and none of us want to be cold and hungry.

That is the great hope that modicum of civility may bring, I hope.

Well it finally happened to me today

Trying to twist open a new tube of Chap Stick was too hard to do by hand, like the slippage factor got me down. Then I just re-cleaned my hands, and even used a new piece of paper towel to try get a good grip on the twist off place, and still failed. Finally I just went to the tool box, and got some pliers, and that worked just fine. I then got to put Chap Stick on my lips, which made me happy.
So I got my feelings hurt.
Now I just hope the problem is due to higher "plastic cover" standards, which I think all of us have been living with for quite a while.
But maybe it is just me?
Clay
PS I really like using Chap Stick. I even remember when in Marine Corps boot camp it was taken away from me as an illegal drug. I about panicked then, but got used to going without it about a week later.
PPS All girl's lipstick is "red" to me.

The good news and the bad news

There is much change in the status quo of the last 100 years going on. Depending on where you live, you might change that 100 year figure. I suspect many may suggest the changes in the status quo are since World War II, for example. Others might suggest "in their lifetime" which is pretty normal, I think. I also suspect many others will see it in a different way where they live. Most will probably be correct, from their perspective and experience.

Now I also think that change is always going on, mostly because we humans change. But give our earth some credit, too. It changes, too.

What I sense is that the "rate of change" in the status quo is both happening, and increasing, vice decreasing. Now most humans don't like change in any way it affects them. That is normal, too, I think.

So the good news is that change is happening. The bad news is that change is happening.

Now all I can report is about where I live, and experience life. Here on the Upper Cumberland Plateau in eastern Tennessee I can report what I see, or at least perceive. And I see the fall or decline of both of the present national political parties, the Republicans and the Democrats. And I see the rise of some kind of third party, presently called the Tea Party.

Now in the coming times, like up until 2020, much friction will probably occur since to all human change is painful and not easy. What will accelerate the change is western people dying from being cold and hungry, which in theory our elected people who collect our taxes are supposed to make their priority. Hence I sense we may have to elect new representatives. And this assumes we can still vote here locally, and even federally.

And maybe we'll vote to go cold and hungry, though I doubt it.

What are we paying taxes for?

This post is about all our local taxes, like city and county.

Now from where I live, sanity still survives. In other words, things like public safety, clean water, fire protection, waste water treatment, and public schools still enjoy a priority in the budget process. Other lesser priorities may fall.

Recently, like the last few decades, we locally have become rich enough to have our local public governments, and those we elected, do so many nifty other things.

And I think, locally again, most of us like what happened. This even includes when local government got into the charity business, and that was well thought of, decades ago, of course. Even we voters tolerated deadbeat types abusing the system. After all, we all want to take care of their kids, even if they get abused or taken advantage of by mostly their moms, financially speaking. Just go to any local flea markets to observe all the obviously chubby tattooed and pierced people, driving vehicles nicer than what I can afford, and I start to think things are rear-end backwards. Even locally observe an obviously chubby gal (with two kids by two fathers) who doesn't even know her present boyfriend's name. Now that is pretty bad, but is presently happening (like with tax payer funding) where I live on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee.

In other words, there are alternatives as to how to we help our poor, and even our deadbeats, who continue to breed children, too. In my case I will just use tough love, and also vote! These days I suspect that approach is not popular.

My guess is the future vote will count, a lot! I sure hope so!

Those we have voted in locally during our recent decades "old time" past will probably pass by the way side if they don't change to represent today's voters. Only time will tell, of course.

And all I wanted to do was call for help if I need it.

The beginning of the end

Or is it the end of the beginning?

Either way, the status quo of the last 100 years is changing. And we humans are making the change happen. Good on us!

Now much human friction is coming. It has already begun. Mostly it will look like anarchy when so many humans lose faith in their present system. What a shame it is coming to this. After all most humans just want for their families to be warm, and not hungry. Along the way, independence and dignity is a big deal.

Now people are starting to die in increasing numbers, and the numbers will probably increase, I think. That our human political leader's actions cause this will be a catalyst for change, I think. Sometimes even revolutions will occur.

The good news is that more and more humans have the vote, but even that is still evolving. After all, even in this present world, there are still many who want to rule other ways, and will assert their ways. And I understand that, too. Sometime the "masses", us common folks like me, just vote in our own interests, and not our culture's interests. And again, then people will die unnecessarily. Going quickly is one thing, but dying slowly through being cold and hungry is another thing.

So what does our future look like? Bottom line is that nobody knows.

My thoughts are that some "head knocking" will go on for the next 100 years. And this "head knocking" will involve hard tribal like human decisions. Hopefully, the vote will count, too. Only time will tell.

Now one wild card to add to the thoughts. Our earth will change, too, kind of like normal, at least to me. So what happens when our vast warm season grain belts succumb to colder weathers, like has happened in our human past?