And the juggernaut rolls on....

1. juggernaut

noun: a massive inexorable force that seems to crush everything in its way

Yeah, the juggernaut is rolling and, I fear, there will be no stopping it.
A little story in the news this morning:
Rising tide of Homeless in suburban and rural areas, more women and children seek shelter.

Jobs are disappearing and are not coming back---don't believe what the current powers-that-be are saying about *green shoots* and *the stimulus headed off a Depression*.
Lies, all lies.
There's an army of unemployed people out there and their ranks are growing bigger every day. The construction industry is in the toilet. No new construction means unemployed builders, electricians, plumbers, brick-layers, etc Those people don't work, they can't make their house payments, go to restaurants, buy new appliances, get their dogs groomed, buy groceries and so on and so forth. So now you have unemployed real estate agents, chefs & waiters, cashiers, dog groomers, etc. In turn, now THESE unemployed folk can't pay their bills or buy new things!
Hope and Change has FAILED and failed horribly.
Our national debt is at a point where we can never, that is N-E-V-E-R repay it. Not us, not our children, not our grandchildren, not seven friggin' generations hence!
I see blogs and stories every day and people on the tv telling the citizens to *vote the bastards out*.
It is, sadly, too late for that, as I have come to realize.
I used to have faith in the *system*.
I used to think that our government OF and BY and FOR the people could *right* itself  and get back on track.
I can see now that it can not and will not, barring   a TOTAL revamping of our government.
I think the only way that could come about is if all the states decided to invoke sovereignty and refuse to cooperate with the federal government until drastic changes are soon made.
Federal offices and departments  need to be cut by a minimum of HALF (hopefully more than half) of what they are today.
Federal employees need to be cut by HALF (at least) in the offices and departments that would remain.
We need to stop paying out foreign aid and supplying country after country with weapons.
We need to bring our troops home to protect our borders.
Congress needs to take a huge pay cut AND have their benefits cut. NO PENSIONS! Make those bastards actually WORK for a living!
I saw a great suggestion the other day...cut Congresses pay to what a E-6 makes in the Army. That's right, cut them down to a Staff Sergeants pay. Same benefits. To the dime. Hosuing allowance, clothing allowance, etc. Wouldn't that be great?
While we are at it, cut the Presidents pay to what a 4 star General makes. (5 stars are very rare and they only get there for meritorious service...really can't say that about any President since...well...it has been a LONG while)
Cut out immigration UNLESS the individual can show:
1: They have at least 100k in the bank
or
2: They have a FIRM job offer here in the states AND the employer signs an agreement to employ them for at least 3 years
3:  They speak English fluently or can learn to within 3 years
4: They have a talent or a skill that is needed or desired here (such as scientist, machinist, doctor, etc)

What I am proposing is generally called isolationism.
So what?
We need to do this, we HAVE to do this.
Other countries do. The immigration policies I listed are followed, more or less, by New Zealand.
Some countries have even stiffer policies.

Other fiscally responsible actions we could take would include instituting a *welfare* program as it is done in South Korea.
If you don't have a job there and sign up for money and food, they make you work for it.
Every morning, bright and early, buses and trucks pick up welfare recipients (at around 5:30am). They are given jumpsuits to work--I believe blue ones--and taken to various public work projects. Picking trash up along the roads, digging ditches to put in a new sewer system, etc. You don't work, you don't get a check.
Bonus points for Korea by putting welfare recipients in those jumpsuits....everyone can see who is collecting taxpayers monies. People there do not brag of *putting on over* or *playing* the system. THEY WORK. And they work hard to get off welfare, too!

We need to stop rewarding bad behavior. Whether it is a Congressman or a welfare recipient, EVERYONE needs to realize we live in a *civil* society.
It is not civil to take taxpayers money and waste it on frivolities (hello...Nancy Pelosi and her private taxpayer funded jet?) We need to stop handing out money hand over fist to countries that do nothing to improve their own situations and become money pits (Haiti...that message is for you)

The juggernaut is rolling and change is coming...prepare yourselves and your loved ones...

Rainy Days and Philosophy

"It's a rainy day and I can't go out and play..."
Remember that old Sesame Street song?
I like rainy days...they are conducive to heavy thoughts and philosophy. With nothing much else to do, you can get wrapped up i your own head and solve all the world's problems.
At least I can!
Not to say there is nothing much to do around here.
I have the two upstairs bathrooms to clean, I need to put clean sheets on the bed in the empty room upstairs (If you ever run a rooming house, remember, rooms with neatly made up beds rent faster!) I am doing laundry, already swept down and cleaned our laundry room, still have the kitchen to clean. Already swept and mopped the living room and hallways and cleaned the downstairs bathroom.
So, like I said, nothing much to do .

Now onto philosophy..
I play a little music (todays selections include Beethoven's Sonata No 9, Sammy Davis, Jr singing Candyman, several selections from De Peche Mode and Show of Hands and Cage The Elephant), write a couple of letters to relatives (Hi Mom!), do my bank deposits and book-keeping and think about how to make things better.
I WANT to make things better. Not just for myself, but for others. But I have come to realize that some people do not want to make things better for themselves.
It would require effort--that they are not willing to expend.
It would require motivation--that they do not have.
It would require ambition--which they do have, either.

You can do things for others, hand them, yes, literally HAND them the tools and means to pull themselves out of whatever morass they are in, and they will still wallow in whatever misery they have grown accustomed to.
I am thinking about this because of the tragic earthquake in Hati.
And I reflected on Hurricane Katrina, and Rita and Ike.
There are people in my area that have STILL not *recovered*  from Katrina, or Rita. Loads of people are still weeping over Ike.
People were given thousands of dollars to buy new household goods, given trailers to live in, houses were rebuilt or repaired, yet they still need help.
Why?
What the hell did people do before the government took it upon themselves to rescue people, communities, even whole states from the results of natural disasters?
How did people survive? How did they continue on with their lives?

Answer:
They took a deep breath, buried their dead, wiped the tears from their eyes, got back up and *soldiered on*, as my dad used to say. They rebuilt their homes, helped their neighbors rebuild, planted their gardens and worked harder to regain what they had lost.
Notice that nowhere in that sentence is any arm of the government mentioned, nor anything about international  aid.

I am not heartless. I am not saying we should stop sending aid to Haiti. But lets remember that the US has been giving aid to Haiti for decades. We have had troops there for over a dozen years.
It is still a cess-pool of political corruption, a hunting ground for child predators and modern slavers, and a morass of the worst poverty in the western hemisphere. Education and literacy are not priorities for most of the population. They worry about getting something more substantial than cardboard over their heads and a meal on the table.
It should not have taken an earthquake to get the basic issues there addressed.
But the earthquake DID happen.
There is much tragedy there. Many people killed, families seperated, homes destroyed, etc.

Camps are being set up, which in Haiti have the very real possibility of becoming permanent fixtures in the landscape. That should not happen!
While people are in the camps and tent cities being set up for them, get some warm bodies and bull-dozers on the ground.
Let the people bury their dead, and then bulldoze the destroyed areas. Bull-doze them into a land fill area or the ocean or where-ever the rubble can be pushed. Just level it flat and bare!
Re-do the entire infra-structure...plumbing and sewer lines, water treatment, roads, electrical lines.
The whole shooting match, so to speak.
Before anyone whines about expense, trust me on this, it will cost less to do this than to attempt to "shore up" the sad remnants of Port-Au-Prince and fix up what is left.
Bring in lumber and concrete and cinderblock and rebar and the other things that will be needed to rebuild.
Put the people to work rebuilding it themselves.
Make them *do* for themselves.
Give advice, make sure there is clean water and food during the rebuilding process, but have the citizens of Haiti rebuild their country themselves.
Give them one year of help, advice and supplies.
Then walk the hell away.
Let Haiti know, hell, let the entire WORLD know that this is a "social experiment" and how the citizens of Haiti handle it will affect how the United States hands out help in the future. If Haiti insists on regressing to their previous corrupt behavior and status quo, then set definite limits for helping any other country in the future.
In the US, if a state is hit by some sort of disaster, provide help in the same manner. One year maximum. The local population must be involved in rebuilding. That's it.
And none of that bullshit of rebuilding in flood zones or where wildfires hit every year or mudslide areas. If three or four houses were already destroyed at a particular spot, why would anyone think it was sensible to rebuild on the same spot?

So...there's where my head is at this rainy day...solving the issue of foreign relief aid during disasters...
Now, I have to go scrub toilets.
Have a good rainy day...