Boy Scouts

The Boy Scouts are becoming largely irrelevant. Blacks and Hispanics are extremely rare in the BSA. It is mostly an organization for white boys. Muslims are allowed in theory, but atheists are not.

The Boy Scouts of America is a organization. And just like in many other mature organizations, survival, growth, and increasing membership has become the top goal. I have seen the same thing happen with other groups like the Sierra Club and Greenpeace.

I don't particularly have anything against the Scouts, but since they are mostly for white kids and since they won't allow membership by boys who are atheists, I view the BSA as just another form of organized religion. It has not changed with the times and has grown increasingly irrelevant.

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Criminal Anarchy in Mexico

More people have been killed in the last few years in the border city of Juarez, Mexico than the total of American troops who have died in the entire country of Afghanistan since the war began.

To fight the war on drugs President George Bush Jr. promised Mexico substantial numbers of helicopters and other instruments of war, but America has actually come through on less than 10% of what Bush II pledged. Even if we had lived up to our word, it unlikely to have made much difference in the outcome.

The major problem that Mexico faces is corruption. Especially in the military, the police, the government(s), and worst of all in the Mexican judicial system. Very few law breakers ever get arrested. Of them very few ever go to trial, and of those that do very few are convicted and punished. Mexico is a country where you can commit serious crimes like murder and kidnapping with a high level of confidence that you will never be held accountable for your actions.

The Republican presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and the Bush dynasty have all enthusiasticly supported the militarization of the war on drugs. Apparently these right wing American Presidents and their advisers didn't see any solution to the endemic corruption throughout Mexican society, so they just ignored the problem.

Almost a carbon copy of this is taking place in Afghanistan. The government and the society as a whole are rife with corruption. The idea of a country-of-laws where the rich and the poor have to obey the exact same laws has never taken hold in either Mexico or Afghanistan. If you have money you are exempt from most laws in both countries.

Everyone knows that military leaders always want more troops and more weapons. This is just the mentality of military people worldwide. Why the American civilian leadership is so easily led around by the nose by these uniformed lifers is a bit harder to figure out.

It is time to totally pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan. All troops, all mercenaries, trainers, and all contractors. We may want to give one side or the other some financial support, but in retrospect looking back over the last 50 years, we need to recognize that America has supported the wrong side more often than not.

The war on drugs will never succeed. It has no chance, any more than the prohibition of alcohol consumption was successful.

The American government needs to get organized and tightly regulate both the growing/manufacturing and sales of all the various recreational drugs. And they need to tax these various horrible substances, just like they do with tobacco and alcohol.

Prescription drug addiction has now become common. The various heroin like prescription pain killers have been dispensed and sold as if by drug dealers in the wild west. Doctors have not shown any inclination to properly regulate or control these drugs. So big changes need to be made here too.

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Obama Exceeds Bush in Immigration Enforcement

I know someone who refuses to hear anything negative about President Barack Obama. I have been an Obama supporter since before the primary, and I worked in his campaign. But I have now come to the conclusion that he is far from progressive or liberal on a great many issues. Often his backbone or strength of character is sadly lacking too.

If I dare mention anything of the sort around her she gets highly disagreeable. The attack dog turns on full force, and she gets so mean and hateful that her behavior is in danger of destroying our friendship.

The Rachel Maddow show had a piece about how the Obama team has been more effective in rounding up and deporting Mexican illegal aliens than even the Bush Jr. administration was. LINK: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#38459197

Obama's words are good, but his behavior has been more of a warmonger than Bush/Cheney. He has greatly increased spending on warfare, and the troop levels for the various futile and unwinnable wars we are involved in has gone way up. By his actions Barack has proven that he is more pro-nuclear than his Republican predecessor. Before the BP disaster in the Gulf President Obama approved off shore oil drilling in environmentally sensitive areas that even Bush II didn't dare. His reform of the unregulated crooks on Wall Street ended up being so weak that it is barely better than nothing at all.

Obama openly lied about his support for “single payer” health care, then he didn't even put his support behind the much weaker “vigorous government option.” On a great many issues he kowtows and panders to the racists and the right wing Republicans, but he gets zero credit or votes from them. He keeps getting sand kicked in his face, but doesn't seem capable of learning from his past mistakes. At the same time he allows his chief of staff to call the liberals and progressives of the Democratic party “retards.” These liberals-progressives form the brain trust and the focal point of energy for the Democrats. And Obama doesn't just take the progressives for granted...he continues to slap them in the face. Immigration reform, conservation, gay rights, ending the wars. Its all just talk from another sleazy Chicago politician. This man is not a statesman.

Over the course of her life my friend has not learned that it is entirely possible to be mature and be able to disagree on important issues and discuss controversial subjects without becoming disagreeable. I have valued her friendship for many years, but now she is doing everything she can to destroy whatever friendship was left. What a pity.

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Bear Attack

Several people were injured and one was killed in a recent attack by a bear(s) in a Wyoming campground. These were not backpackers, where the total weight of one's backpack is a very serious matter and you are happy when you can lower the weight of something by a few ounces (grams). These were car campers driving great big honker, poor fuel-economy SUVs and pickup trucks. A few pounds give or take is irrelevant in this kind of luxury camping.

To me it seems crystal clear that if several of these campers had been armed with loaded .44 magnum revolvers kept next to them in their sleeping bags, the dead man might still be alive.

I do not advocate killing wild animals. I think predators like wolves, bears, and even snakes are essential to the health of their ecosystems. And us humans are the ones who are intruding upon their space after all. When the Republican Texas Governor Perry was out getting some morning exercise and was stalked by one lone coyote, he sadisticly enjoyed killing the animal with his laser sighted .380 Ruger LCP semi-automatic pistol. He derived great pleasure from bragging about it later too.

When a pack of three coyotes stalked me and my dog one morning not long ago, I was able to intimidate them enough to allow us to safely return to our car. I was also armed with a loaded, laser sighted handgun. I do not deny that I was openly carrying it in my right hand, and I was fully prepared to shoot as we retreated. The key is, I did not. It was not necessary to kill these wonderful, amazing wild animals.

But beyond a certain somewhat fuzzy and gray tipping point, I eventually would have felt threatened enough to shoot to kill. Certainly if I was sleeping in a tent, a bear broke in, and I awoke to him (her??) biting me, I would not have delayed one heartbeat. I would have felt no qualms about killing this magnificent wild animal. In a kill or be killed situation, telling the campers that they may not legally be armed is more than a little unwise. This is one of those situations where the second amendment can save lives.

When the rangers go searching for the bear offender the next day, they will kill it if they can manage to find and identify it. But this doesn't bring back to life that poor camper who died.

Ban alcoholic beverages, not loaded firearms.

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Illegal Immigration

At the last minute a Federal Judge has blocked virtually all parts of the new Arizona immigration legislation which was controversial.

I find it a bit odd. For years Federal Law has required that temporary visitors to America, or legal resident aliens, must carry their papers authorizing them to be in the country. Citizens of other countries who are visiting America likewise by Federal law have been required for years to carry proper identification. For some reason the Federal Government has chosen not to enforce these laws which were enacted by our democratic representatives. Is it their intentional choice to not obey Federal Law, or are they under staffed, or are they just incompetent? Intentionally not enforcing the laws of the land undermines the idea of rule-of-law. This is a serious matter.

Now that Arizona has tried to help the Federal Government enforce these existing Federal laws by passing virtually identical State laws, the legislators in Arizona have been painted as racist nazis.

I can see that racial profiling might be a problem, but I lived abroad for almost 20 years. I got used to always carrying my American passport, my alien ID card (green card), my foreign driver's license, and foreign automobile insurance. Sure, I was often treated less well than the natives and citizens. At times the discrimination because I was from America, and even worse from Texas, was absolutely crystal clear. Its all just part of living abroad. If you don't like it, go home.

Of course if you choose to live as an outlaw, sneaking illegally into a country without following their rules and regulations, I can see why you might not want to have any encounters with law enforcement. There are some real problems living underground like this though. If you are young, attractive, and female your legal protections against rape and forced prostitution are greatly reduced. If you work in manual labor such as construction or agricultural harvesting, when you are living in the country illegally, you most certainly will be taken advantage of by racist, greedy employers. You will be underpaid, and you will be asked to perform hazardous or dangerous work that legal workers wouldn't even consider doing.

It is probably good that this entire movement has been slowed down a little. But it certainly is not over. There is overwhelming support among a large majority of Americans for similar legislation in their states. The chance that we will see another mass amnesty of illegal aliens any time in the near future is virtually zero.

The Chamber of Commerce and other business groups are equally determined not to end this equivalent of modern day slavery. It has been real good to them. If these illegal alien construction workers, Wal-Mart employees, and agricultural workers can be kept undocumented then they are afraid of having any contact with the authorities, including whistle blowing. So businesses can get away with paying these people far less, and avoiding silly little annoyances like overtime pay, non-discrimination rules, or OSHA workplace safety rules.

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Drain The Bottom of Your Water Heater

On the far east side of El Paso, Texas the tap water supplied by El Paso Water Utilities comes from fairly deep wells. They pump up the very top layer of an ice age aquifer with good drinkable water. This can be thought of as floating on top of over a thousand feet of salty water. Since the salty water is heavier it tends to sink over the aeons, and the good drinkable water slowly rises to the top of the aquifer.

This drinking water has a fairly high total dissolved solids (TDS), which normally would mean that it is high in dissolved calcium and magnesium. When this water is heated, as in your coffee maker or water heater, some of these dissolved solids tend to precipitate out. When dealing with elevated-TDS-tap-water like this, it is important that one drains out the bottom of your water heater twice per year. Doing so will reduce the amount of natural gas that it takes to heat your water; also if you don't ever drain this stuff out, the tank of the hot water heater will fail many years sooner than it would have if you had done the regular, required maintenance.

This is a picture I took today of some of the gunk which comes out when I drain the hot water heater out the hose bib at the bottom.

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Religious Freedom

One of the foundations of America is that congress shall make no law which infringes upon religious freedom. So the freedom to choose to believe, or not believe in any religious faith is one of our most sacred ideas. So is the concept of the separation of church and state. In many countries religious con-men still dominate and have ultimate authority over the secular government, even in the twenty first century.

If a group rapists, pedophiles, and child molesters tried to form a religion centered on their sacred ideas, society wouldn't accept that this qualified as a constitutionally protected religion for a minute. If some camouflage-wearing, assault rifle toting, racist, tattooed neo-nazis tried to form a religion based upon their sick ideals of lynching and racial purity, society just wouldn't buy it.

So it is clear that the idea of constitutionally protected freedom of religion has limitations. The question is where do we draw the line? I read in today's news that some red neck Republican who is running for the job of governor in a southern state has suggested that the world's second largest religion, Muslim, should not qualify as a religion. That idea would no doubt be attractive to some of the less well educated. Probably the inflammatory pundits on Fox News would like it too.

Not believing in any of these crack pot religions like Christianity, Hindu, Judaism, Buddhism, Shintoism, or Muslim gives me a slightly different perspective than the typical deluded, true believer who continues to have “faith” even when faced with “reason” showing that his particular religious cult is just a bunch of hog wash.

I cannot see any justification for excluding religions from the same taxation as other members of society. Why can a church earn money and not have to pay taxes on the income, yet I do have to pay taxes? I am in essence subsidizing religion.

True separation of church and state means that religions should be treated like anyone else. You have the right to maintain your weirdo ideas about talking snakes, burning bushes, coming back to life after death and then asking people to drink your blood, or flying off to heaven on your horse from a big rock launching pad. But just because you say you are religious, this does not give you the right to violate society's laws. So you cannot engage in female genital mutilation, and you do not have the right to kill one of your family's young women just because she really likes sex and wants to experience it with as many different partners as possible.

It is time we got over all the smoke and mirrors and mumbo jumbo when dealing with religions. They should be treated the same as any other person or group in society.

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Military Strike Against Iran Inexorable Says ex-CIA Chief

Yesterday Michael Hayden, the top CIA man under Bush Jr. told CNN's State of the Union that a military strike against Iran now “seems inexorable.”

I believe in nuclear non-proliferation much more than most of these red neck Bush Republicans do. But openly saying on national TV that it has now become inevitable that the United States will go to war with Iran is total and complete lunacy. This guy Hayden needs to be involuntarily committed to a mental health institution, or maybe in one of those many secret CIA torture-prisons that Obama promised to close.

It is a real shame that North Korea, Pakistan, India, Israel, Russia, England, the U.S., and France all have nuclear bombs. The more spread of these weapons that we see, the more likely it becomes that sooner or later some weirdo, suicidal, religious-terrorist group which has little to lose will get their hands on one. Or that they will finally manage to make and then detonate a dirty conventional bomb.

This continued spread of nuclear weapons is a major problem. Right up there with the byproducts from our modern, improved lifestyle (air and water pollution) simultaneously destroying the planet's atmosphere and ruining our modern, improved lifestyle. But anyone who advocates going to war with Iran as a solution for nuclear proliferation is seriously mentally ill.

Before even considering taking on another war, we need to get totally out of Iraq. Not just combat troops. All troops, personnel, contractors and mercenaries, as well as all financial support. The same goes for Pakistan-Afghanistan. We just need to go home. All troops, all personnel, all mercenaries and contractors, all foreign aid, military aid, and any other financial support.

Then give the country at least 15 to 20 years without any wars to pay back some of the debt we incurred to fight these useless and unwinnable wars. By taking a wait-and-see attitude, maybe someone else will stand up and take some action. Or maybe internal opposition in Iran will solve the problem.

It is long past the time when America could afford to be the policeman for the entire world. Not to mention that over the last 40 years or so America has managed to support the wrong side of many (most?) conflicts. We really seem to be getting quite good at losing wars. This insanity has got to stop.

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UV Lighting In The Theater

Secret hidden writing, uranium glass, elegant and beautiful fluorescent minerals, color TV, scientific use in the laboratory. There are many ways that the concept of fluorescence and ultraviolet lights have been used to expand our horizons.
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Democrats, Please Stay Involved DESPITE President Obama

The Republicans really are much, much worse than the Democrats. And if we allow Obama's glaring defects to demoralize us so badly that we stay home and don't vote, we will get what we deserve.

Obama is afraid to even mention poverty or race. He is pro-nuclear, and before the BP oil spill disaster he authorized offshore drilling that even Bush Jr. didn't allow. He lied during the campaign about his support for single-payer health care, and then he wouldn't even support the far weaker vigorous-government-option. He kept too many of Bush's people on, including the Treasury Secretary (an ex-Wall Street crook) and the defense secretary. He greatly increased the number of troops stationed overseas who are dying in wars that we will most certainly lose. Not to mention that the cost of this bloated military continues to grow rapidly.

His reform of Wall Street ended up being very moderate and tepid at best. Health care reform for Mr. Obama was not anything like universal health care to help out uninsured or poor people; it was all about cost containment.

In actual action Mr. Obama has no backbone or balls. His words are better than Mr. Bush's, but his actions tell a different story. Most of Obama's actions are those of a Republican wannabe.

He had his chief of staff call the progressives and the liberals “retarded.” They have not rescinded this vile statement or apologized in any way. Yes, it turns out that in action Mr. Obama seems to be just another dishonest Chicago politician.

But having the Democrats in charge is still much better than having the ignorant, racist Republicans in charge. These right wingers with the GOP are about 1000 times worse than the Democrats and Mr. Obama.

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How Important Is A College Degree Nowadays?

Reading an article by the BBC on how many find college degrees irrelevant got me started thinking. I know young people who have four year university degrees who can't spell or punctuate properly. On paper they look like someone who dropped out after the sixth grade.

Most degrees do not lead to a vocation. The degree may just as well be in basket weaving or English literature. A few degrees do lead to a job. Accounting, Engineering, Law. These degrees which will get you a good job are normally much more demanding.

Most of the kids I know who are either about to get their degree or who have recently earned it are horribly in debt due to their student loans. I seriously doubt whether having a degree will get them the good job they want. Paying back these student loans is going to be a horrible burden. Some of these kids are almost 30 years old and still have not yet gotten that first job of their career. Some even still live at home with their Mommie.


Quotes from the BBC article:

“I think a lot of people do think having a degree is a guarantee for success and I don't think so.”

“You have to have some ambition, some drive to go forward and really do something with that degree. Just having a a degree doesn't guarantee a job.”

“Perhaps there has just been too much emphasis on going to university."

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The Dumbing Down of America

Last night on the PBS News Hour during the discussion with Mark Shields, the conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks stated that in America 40% of people were conservative, 20% were liberal, and the remaining 40% were swing voters. He said this twice, but he didn't cite sources where those numbers came from.

On the surface this seems to indicate a severe dumbing down is taking place in America. But when looked at a little closer, I am not so sure. Most people simply cannot be adequately described by one word. This approach is far too simplistic to have any validity in the real world.

For example I would describe myself as liberal-progressive on most issues, but conservative on a few, including economic issues. This means that I cannot possibly support most Republican positions on economics issues because they have a proven track record of almost bankrupting the American economy. The Republicans keep cutting taxes on rich people thinking that this will energize the economy. It doesn't, and yet they don't cut spending, in fact they radically increase spending on the military, so their demonstrated history of running up huge deficits is well documented.

On the issues of civil rights, basic human rights like universal health care, and continuous aggression, militarism, and warfare I fall out on the liberal side of the equation. I support equal pay for equal work for females which is a progressive-liberal position, and although I do not like the idea of abortions, I find back alley illegal abortions to be far worse. So on this issue too I side with other liberals. I adamantly believe in separation of church and state, and the rights of freedom to worship, and especially the right to not worship or believe in any of that God or religion malarkey.

Global warming caused by human pollution is most certainly real, and I consider myself to be an environmentalist. I drive a Toyota Prius, I support wilderness, and I am opposed to both nuclear energy and off shore oil drilling. I support conservation, and renewable energy.

On at least 85% of the hot button issues I am solidly progressive-liberal. On comprehensive immigration reform (amnesty for illegals) I am more in the middle, but I'm not at all supportive of the hard core racist and ethnocentric right wingers who hate foreigners and dark skinned people.

Gays, lesbians, and cross dressers are not at all important to me. The idea of legalized same-sex marriage seems quite absurd to me. I believe in each individual person's right to have a loaded firearm(s) in your home for self protection, and also the right to carry a concealed weapon or even open carry a firearm for self protection when you are outside your home.

It is clear that David Brooks' point about Liberals and Conservatives was absurd and simplistic. This is a typical “dumbed-down” concept. Brooks is usually bright and fairly honest, so this surprises me a bit.

If one looks at what percentage of people consistently vote Democratic vs. those who vote Republican, you probably have a number that holds some weight. In general I find most Republican politicians to be corrupt, ignorant, and racist. In almost all cases, I will choose a Democrat above a Republican when I am standing there in the voting booth.

Does this mean that I really like or admire the Democrats? No, not at all. In general they are almost as power hungry and corrupt as the Republicans, and most of these Democratic politicians don't impress me much either. It is only when they are directly compared with the Republican candidate that the Democratic ideas and campaign rhetoric seem so vastly superior.

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Tropical Storm Bonnie

Bonnie isn't especially strong, but it is technically a tropical storm. It seems to be aiming directly for the lying BP bastards. Couldn't happen to nicer people.

Since it is spinning counter clockwise, it will tend to drive the waves, the oil, and the tide into the Louisiana coast raising water levels significantly. Especially to the east of the storm.

I don't have a lot of compassion for BP, but I do for the people of New Orleans. I hope they and the other coastal residents are spared.

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General Motors Is Lost In Space

Ford is continuing to report good profits, and it appears that the vehicles they are making are now almost approaching Japanese levels of quality.

Over at General Motors rather than focusing on manufacturing good vehicles which are high quality, get good fuel economy, and are priced right they are in the process of buying a finance company which specializes in sub prime loans. They want to be able sell more cars to people who can't really afford them by offering no down payment and 6 years of payments to folks with bad credit histories. Unhealthy and dishonest con-games like this are what got the American economy is so much trouble in the first place. And the really sad part is that us taxpayers currently own GM. Yet our government regulators are permitting this to take place.

Much of the problem is that Obama let a big part of the Bush team stay on. Our treasury secretary was a Bush man. He is an ex-Wall Street bozo who fit right in with the Bushes.

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Is Al Gore Innocent Until Proven Guilty?

In America we seem to often ignore that until someone is actually convicted by a court of law, they are supposed to be treated and thought of as innocent. This is difficult and is sometimes an ideal. But we should at least try. Next time it might be you or one of your family members who is falsely accused.

Is Al Gore some horrible perverted sex criminal? I think he has now been accused by three different massage parlor ladies of wanting to french kiss and receive a hand job. But he hasn't been indicted or charged of anything, much less been found guilty of some crime.

If your physician sends you to get genuine physical therapy, he sure doesn't send you to a seedy massage parlor in some strip mall. These are often thinly veiled disguises for a rather low class and sleazy form of prostitution.

Second, take a close look at Tipper Gore. I can imagine that someone married to a woman like her might wish to look elsewhere for sexual gratification.

Based upon the information I have at the moment, Al Gore is no more of a sex criminal than David Beckham or Tiger Woods. And Gore is sure more socially responsible than the other two rich, spoiled athletes.

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Race and Barack Obama

Shirley Sherrod is the black lady who was fired from the U.S.D.A. after they and the White House both failed to properly investigate or get the facts before jumping to a conclusion. I read in today's news that Mrs. Sherrod says that she would love to discuss race with Barack Obama.

As liberals have discovered, Mr. Obama certainly is not a liberal or progressive. His words are pretty good, but his actions are often those of a wanna-be Republican. Environmentalists have found that Obama is not at all an environmentalist. In some ways the wildly ignorant Bush II was a better environmentalist. Obama has openly supported nuclear energy and drill baby drill.

On health care normal middle class Americans have discovered that Obama is not at all what he pretended to be. His immediate disavowal of “single payer” and even the much weaker “vigorous government option” made sure that the results of health care reform would be a gold mine for the health insurance companies, physicians, hospitals, and drug companies. This was not universal health care, it was cost containment which allowed the industry to continue making obscene profits.

Black leaders have been reluctant to criticize Obama in public, but in private they sure do. His track record on civil rights so far has been far less than optimal. Certainly less than white presidents like Lyndon Johnson.

When Americans talk about a black person or an African American, they are generally referring to someone whose direct ancestors suffered through the horrible indignities of racism, the lynchings, the civil war, and U.S. Government sanctioned segregation. People who grew up hearing the stories from their parents and grandparents. Mr. Obama's family didn't go through any of this. His genetic father was from an upper class family in Africa, not the ignorant and intolerant American south. Obama was raised by a white family in Hawaii. He has a law degree. Racial prejudice is just not something that Mr. Obama has much experience or expertise in. So his level of empathy is really quite low.

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Warehouse 13

In the newest season of Warehouse 13 the actors are being made to behave like fools and buffoons. This sort of denigration is unappealing. In a way it is related to put down humor and getting punked.

It is sad when one sees someone or something one really likes going downhill; especially when one is powerless to help.

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Everybody Hit The Floor!

At an international (Panamerican) Boy Scout Jamboree in Tepoztlan, a group of Boy Scouts from Juarez and Chihuahua greeted the Mexican First Lady Margarita Zavala with a slogan, "What do we yell in Juarez? Everybody hit the floor! What do we yell in Chihuahua? Everybody hit the floor! What do we yell all over the north of Mexico? Everybody hit the floor!"
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More than 1000 scouts performed the chant as they were having their photographs taken with the first lady who minutes earlier had refused to speak about the violence and loss of nearly 25,000 lives in the war against narcotrafficking since 2006.

At least two Boy Scouts from Juarez have been killed in the violence this year in Juarez.
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http://www.diario.com.mx/nota.php?notaid=0ddadc7536cff5a59e26ba127cf27c13

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Military Adventurism

In Europe short work weeks, long paid vacations, generous health care for all, full retirement at very young ages, thirteenth and fourteenth months pay, generous severance benefits, and all the other humane social legislation has now begun to choke off the economies which pay for all these delightful social benefits.

America spends very little on social benefits or safety nets for its less fortunate citizens. People get laid off from their job but do not receive unemployment benefits. Growing millions do not have any health insurance and cannot afford to go see a medical professional even if seriously ill. The American tax laws continue to encourage companies to relocate their manufacturing operations overseas, and cities like Flint and Detroit are moving towards ghost town status. America is well known around the world as being the most parsimonious, stingy, and brutal of the affluent democracies. Financially successful Americans are being asked to pay a shrinking part of the cost, due to the continuation of the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy.

Military adventurism has continued to grow, even as the American economy remains weak. The cost of supporting this enormous American military and the continual state of warfare is now choking off the economy which pays for it.

In Europe one now sees considerable discussion about raising the retirement age and other painful reforms. There is even a bit of genuine action taking place.

America has not yet even begun discussing reigning in what President Eisenhower called the military-industrial-complex. Politicians do not have the strength of character to dare to suggest significant cuts to military spending. No one can seriously discuss reducing the federal budget deficit if they refuse to also include the bloated military budget in the conversation. If the cost of the military is kept out of the discussion, then it is just political talk. One political party gaining power over the other party. Or it is just an effort on the part of the right wing to kill social security, medicare, and medicaid. When greatly reducing military expenditures eventually begins to be openly discussed, and finally becomes a reality, then some progress can be made in getting the federal budget in order.

Until then it is just so much more blah blah blah by all these big mouth politicians.

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Ricoh 35 Flex

At the flea market this morning I bought a neat early model 35mm SLR camera for $5-.

This camera is a Ricoh 35 Flex. It was also sold as the Sears SL-9. No batteries are required; all needed power is made from the ambient light.

It has a non-changeable, fixed lens. If you wanted to shoot either telephoto or wide angle Ricoh sold screw on lens adapters which were attached to the front of the existing lens.

This is the only SLR camera lens I have ever seen which instead of listing the focal length in millimeters shows it in centimeters. So it says it has a 5cm lens (which is the same as saying that it has a 50mm lens).

This camera is really old, having been made in 1963. At the time I was a mere 14 year old boy. A 14 year old boy who had his driver's license, owned a red English Ford car (the same model as J.K. Rowlings' friend), and was regularly getting laid in El Paso and drunk in Juarez.

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