The problem with young people

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The young lady who offered up the opinion below has not given me permission to tell the world her name or any other details which could be of interest. So, I merely share the comment:

I think that taxation is kind of like a loaded gun. If it is used wisely and carefully it can help a lot of people and the world. But if it is used all of the time and aggressively, it can do much more harm than good. I don't really pay taxes yet, so maybe my idea is not a good one.

Simply to make this record correct, this young lady does pay taxes, a lot of 'em but as she still lives with her moms and is in school, she doesn't pay a lot of attention to the taxes that inhabit her world and the taxes she really does pay. Such taxes are quite common and the vast majority of us also ignore them.

Sales tax. VAT - value added tax. Surcharges. Fuel tax. Etc. See chart above.

Most of us, when we set about the world's most monumental engineering project (raising hell) about taxes, we focus on income and property taxes. Looking at the pie chart above (just for Rebel!) that does make a lot of sense. Those two areas appear to account for the majority of the money we shell out to keep government (dys)functional.

Yep. I want one.

So set aside her comment about not paying taxes. Look at the rest of the comment.

Taxes = loaded gun

Left alone, it is totally harmless.

Lemme also interject here - There is no such thing as an unloaded gun. It does not exist. if you think an unloaded gun does exist, then you do not understand firearms.

The same rule applies to taxes. A tax must always be treated as if it dangerous.

Back to my young friend's observations:

Wise use = benefits
Irresponsible use = immense damage.

Danger and harm come in the use. As she points out, used wisely and with discretion, taxes are a good thing. It supports the military and provides veteran benefits. It pays the politicians (which I do believe is necessary). At the local level, taxes provide support for law enforcement, the court system, fire and EMS and so forth.

A gun can protect and feed a family. It does mine. My gun has put food on the table of many many many people I know.

Used improperly or without discretion and used by idiots we have things like foreign aid to countries that hate the United States. We have a Mexican drug war on our border, which combines the misuse of taxes and and guns. We have school shootings and an educational system that continues to slide backward.

Put taxes or a gun into the hands of an idiot and pandemonium ensues.

This is not the first wise observation my young friend has made. I do hope it won't be the last. In our political discussions, she brings a fresh and honest approach to a group of old curmudgeons (old enough to be her parents) who are generally so set in our ways we've become nearly immoveable objects. She is the irresistible force who trumps us more often than not.

I hope she never gets as cynical as the rest of us. Jen, dear, please keep your fresh attitude and never let the rest of us corrupt your thinking.

Now, if you'd like to join the debates and politics with us on Facebook, and get some insights from a young lady who's busy teaching her elders a few things or a google, look me up and add me. We have 2 rules: You may not insult anyone in the thread and you may not use excessive profanity.

Hail! Hail!

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There are, as I noted previously, people who come into your life and make an impact. They become closer to you than your blood kin. Then, sometimes you part.

Promises to keep in touch are heartfelt at the time, but over time, well , it doesn't happen.

At least that is the way it used to be. Thanks to the Internet finding those people is now easier.

I've found James, Rebel, Hugh, Mary, Tom, Phil. And one more. Scooter is out there somewhere on the periphery. A few others are MIA. Still can't find Taka or 'Cilla, Beverly & Jeff, f'dangit.

Today (when I should have been working, but I could NOT think of an editorial), I gave it one more go to find one of the people I knew in college who was closer to me than some of my family.

I was not the first to look for him, nor was this is the first time I tried to find it.

Today, I found him. And not on Facebook. Turned out he created a LinkedIn profile some time back and left it up. I used that to track down the rest of the information I needed.

Egad.

It was like we'd never been apart for more than 20 years. We picked up right where we left off, excepting that we had plenty of memories to recall and had to update each other on our present lives.

Wow.

We now know how to find each other and have laid plans to get together as soon as joint schedules permit.

I am SO looking forward to that.

There are some people who are there for you, no matter. If you can't stand, they stand in your place. If you need support, you lean on them. If you need someone to stand by you, they've got your back. If you must stand and just don't want to, they make you stand.

Years do not break this bond. Departing this realm of existence may, but if there is an afterlife, I believe the bond will be as strong or stronger there.

Reconnecting with these folks is, well, I can't put it into words. If you've been there and done that, then you understand. If you've never gone through it, you can't understand.

So, welcome back to the fold Dennis. It's been to long. Lemme hear from you now & then and hurry up and get some spare time. The hogs need shootin', the guns need cleaning and the beer needs drinkin'.

Man, I missed you.

Well. I agree.

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Page 1 of this week's newspaper has a callout quote which part of the staff here would prefer I had not included, or at least not plastered on Page 1.

The quote is: “... if she don’t get to be chief, we’re going to do like the black folks and have a riot. The blacks told me they will help.”        Trudy Craft

I have yet to hear from Ms. Craft.

I have, however, received 1 phone call from a lady. She said she objected to this because she and her daughter read the paper (WOOHOO!) and her daughter did not understand the comment. She said she had her daughter look up the word (WOOHOO!) "riot" to get a definition. She said she does not believe her daughter should have to read comments like that.

After the lady got finished speaking, and she was very polite, very direct and very calm, I said "Thank you for your comment." My reply was as sincere as I could make it 'cause I truly do like hearing from readers. It rocks.

reader feedback = AC/DC's '74 Jailbreak

Yanno what? I totally agree.

Her daughter should not have to live in a world where such comments are made. Her daughter should not have to live in a world where such comments make the news. Her daughter should not have to live in a world where people are judged by their tan line.

For that matter, my children should not have to live in such a world. Your children should not have to live in such a world. The children (if he has any) of the guy  hiding behind the corner and staring at you should not have to live in such a world.

No one should have to live in such a world.

However, we all do live in such a world.

As a journalist, it's my job to report the news, whether people want to read it or not and especially whether those making the news or not want to have it reported.

A politician reacts to one of my news stories.

As a journalist, I shed light on things which people would rather keep hidden. This sunshine, as we call it in Georgia, is a lot like regular sunlight to a traditional vampire.

Sunlight is a curative. It sterilizes. It heals. It drives away the bad. It welcomes the good.

So as for the comment plastered on Page 1, yeah I did it. Part of me took joy in posting the comment. That part is what delights in exposing hypocrisy, double-standards and bringing the truth to everyone. One of my college professors Jim Joseph remarked that "Ben delights in deflating stuffed shirts."

Guilty.

Part of me did not want the comment to be on Page 1, much less in the story. That same part was a bit aghast that the person would make such a comment in a public meeting.

But I have a duty to present the truth, reality and the facts. I'm gonna do it too.

And I know the cost.

That you and I and anyone else does not like reality, truth or facts will not change them. I regret the caller's daughter had to experience this reality.

But if we plan to change something, we must first admit it exists. Putting on rose-colored glasses and stayed chained to the wall means we are the bigger fool.

Ah, but I have chanted this refrain in the past. Likely I will continue to do so. As long as the world has the deliberately stupid, intentional morons and active idiots who prefer darkness, I will shed light on them and listen to them scream until I am no longer able.

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell, my blessing season this in thee!

Say on Say on.

Of paint, brushes and perceptions

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This starts with, but is not about, politics.

Some political hay is being made over this story and the related stories within it. There are two major flaws with the argument as presented here.

1) True followers of Ayn Rand are not Reboobican nor Damnocrat. They are Libertarians. The Cantservative crowd may have co-opted part of Rand's message, but they also corrupted it along the way.

2) True followers of AR believe each state should keep its money and not be subsidizing other states. Voluntary contributions made by private folks are an entirely separate matter and one which true AR followers have no opinion on.

This has not stopped people from passing this story around like a blunt at a Grateful Dead concert.

But then, misinformation is always easier to handle than the truth.

The author of this story I link to has this to say about the late Ms. Rand: "Ayn Rand's novels divided the world into two groups" which she decries. She then proceeds to lump everyone else into one of two groups. Her's, of course, is the superior side.

You may paint anyone with a brush and color of your choosing. That does not change who they are. It merely colors your perspective of them.

If you like to paint people, as Ms. Robinson, Ms. Rand and so many others do, then I wonder what you are telling the world about yourself.

Why do you feel the need to put people into neatly defined categories regardless of whether they fit there or not?

I ask that admitting I do the same thing. So I have an obligation to answer. It makes things easier to handle. Try to handle 15 puppies at once and you can't do it. But the 15 pooches in a box and suddenly you can handle them. For that matter, any 15 animals can be shoved in a box and suddenly become far more manageable.

What those boxed animals do to each other is an entirely different matter. In case you wonder what will happen, look around because it happens every day. There's a reason violence is more common in urban environments.

I get off subject. Apologies.

Take a look at yourself. You have a belief structure that has a lot in common with a lot of other people. At the same time, it's different what a lot of people believe. It's probably diametrically opposite to what some others believe.

One of the great SF writers (I forget who) said if an alien race were to land here and look at the various religions across the world, that alien very likely would say 99 percent of us believe the same thing. If you can be objective enough to stand back and take a galactic view, I think you'd agree.

That's another reason we group people together. It's why our brush is broad enough to encompass an entire world and it lays on a uniform color.

But stepping down from that view and getting a little closer, differences become apparent. The tighter your view, the more differences become apparent and visible and important. If you're willing to focus on an individual and then compare that person to another individual, the differences are broad enough to be galactic in scale.

We're willing to admit to these differences in the small group of people we personally know. And this is why our brush is narrow enough to paint an individual in a color of that person's choosing. But that paint still has highlights of our choosing.

That person still has to fit a mold and we're going to make sure we jam them into it. The person may be close to being a perfect fit. Close only counts in horseshoes, grenades and nuclear war.

Then too, some people demand to be considered as part of group. They want to be painted with the same color that matches others. They find security in a crowd. So do anchovies and it's a strategy that works until the whales come around.

The point is, every person is an individual. I'm not you and you are not me (for which you should give continuous thanks). Even when we come together, even when we ask to be the same color if we look close enough each of us has a slightly different hue or shade.

So why can't we just accept people as individuals? Let's abandon the mob mentality that makes us lump people into groups which we either accept or reject.

No, it's not gonna be easy. But lemme ask you this: Is anything really worth doing ever easy?

To get political on you in closing, paint me camouflage if you must paint me any color. 

Because this ain't a Red and Blue only issue.

Flash by LE Modesitt - a book review

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LE Modesitt Jr.has cranked out a number of books. I've read several, but Flash is better than the others I've read.

Modesitt puts his book well into the future. Except for clones running around, a self-aware computer  and a far better use of TiVo than people manage today, this might as well be today.  There's a lot in this novel which reminds of RAH's work and I could be persuaded that it provided a tiny bit of inspiration for Jim Butcher's work with The Dresden Files.

The hero of the story is Jonat deVrai, the world's leading expert on the effectiveness of product placement in entertainment. What we know as commercials are so close to dead as makes no difference. Product Placement is what drives sales and just like today, companies want to know how well their campaign is doing.

The United States is no longer, having possibly gone through a world war and the world definitely gone through global warming. The US emerges beaten, battered, etc etc. What's left of the North American continent is now consolidated as is most of the rest of the world.

Giant corporations are taking over government. The hero deVrai is used as a pawn by several corps aiming to get their own biz-friendly candidates into office. When he catches the idea, he's suddenly a too-hot commodity and must be eliminated.

 I quite enjoyed this book on a number of levels, but was also left disappointed. In the words of one reviewer on Amazon,  "The problem - unusual for Modesitt - is that the world he builds up doesn't quite support the characters."

I am again reminded of Harry Dresden and Peter Parker, the Amazing SpiderMan. These two fictional characters have something in common which deVrai is lacking. Dresden and Parker are thrust, against their will, in situations they would massively prefer to avoid. But being there, they are going to do their best. Along the way, they get stomped, mashed, clobbered, rejected, dejected, insulted, vilified, and are treated worse than a doormat. They also suffer tremendous a repeated crisis of conscience.

They are Underdog! and we love them for it.

deVrai ain't. He gets whopped with a neural whip once, but it doesn't flatten him. It barely slows him down. deVrai charges into battle and stomps prit near everything in his path. He doesn't show remorse over the people he whacks. When his sister and brother in law are killed and he's given custody of a niece and nephew, it comes across as more of an annoyance than anything else.

What I do like about this book is - SPOILER ALERT - is how it ended. deVrai has killed all the major enemies but one. She's left alive, very much in charge and still has the capability to take deVrai out. At the same time, he's got enough dirt on her that if she does, she's also the next candidate for a total brain wipe.

The book ends with a VERY uneasy and an incredibly unstable truce. There is no resolution. The monster in the closet (very real) is still in the closet and for all the beatings it took, it's almost completely healed and ready to come charging back out. deVrai, having met the monster and fought to a truce, is ready to go again if needed, but in Round II, there's no way of telling who'll come out on top.

No resolution and it's clear there's no resolution. I like that enough to recommend this book because that at least is different.

Your mileage may vary.

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Crost my news feed today came this blog:

http://itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2012/05/list-of-examples-of-christian-privileg/

Intrigued, I electronically hopped over and eyeballed. As expected, this writer got some things wrong, decidedly wrong, from my perspective. In case you wonder, I am a Christian and a minister. I am also a newspaper publisher.

So here ya go:

1. Nope. I’m always on call. Never know when I’m gonna be called to work. The only time I’m truly off duty is when I’m out of state.

2. Can’t speak to TV any more. Don’t watch it. Music, yes. But so is music representing every other religion which has music. It’s called The Internet.

3. Yep.

4. Yep.

5. Yep.

6. Nope. Violence is more that physical. I’ve been the recipient of violence because of my beliefs and the way I practice them.

7. Dunno. Don’t have such a bumper sticker. But I doubt it.

8. Nope. See 6 above.

9. <snort>. As if. So, no.

10. Nope.

11. In some places.

12. Faith is a tricky thing. I prefer to watch what people do than listen to what they say. That being the case, most emphatically No.

13. Not any more.

14. Beyond question, no. The average Christian is clueless about what the Bible actually says.

15. See 14 above.

16. Not sure how to answer this one.

17. Yup.

18. Nope.

19. Not totally.

20. Mmmm, in my case, sometimes.

21. Anyone who is polite, gentle and peaceful is an exception to their religion’s history.

22. Nope.

23. Nope. Can be stopped.

24. So far, yes.

25. See Nos. 12 and 14 above.

26. As 25.

27. As 26, 25, 14 and 12.

28. Not in the community in which I live.

29. Dunno. No experience in adoption.

30. See 29.

31. Not to my knowledge.

32. A bit unclear here, but I tend toward no. But I also see agnosticism and atheism as a faith.

33. Nope.