A Couple of Things of Interest

First up is this dust-up over Planned Parenthood and the selling of fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood (PP) denies it has done anything illegal and claims the videos were edited and the makers were trying to make PP look bad. Perhaps, since the video makers were part of a pro-life group, there might be some merit to the claims. However, the cavalier attitude on the part of the doctors from PP seemingly belies the claims.

My question is will the media now badger Democrats over the issue as they have Republicans over Trump's comments?

Speaking of Democrats, Hillary is denying she ever sent out classified information as Secretary of State. Let's see... She was Secretary of State until after the 2012 elections and she used, the entire time, a private server instead of a government one. Yet she wants the public to believe she never sent any emails with classified information in them. Simple way to prove that: turn over the sever.

I won't hold my breath.

I Must Apologize

I have been thinking about this for almost a week. Last Friday I wrote some things that were unwarranted in I'm Not Happy. I was angry (and, therefore, not happy) and wanted to lash out... so I did. I am not apologizing for feeling that anger or for something I expressed about how I would like Muslims to feel about their religion. I wrote: "No change will happen to that religion until they fear the backlash." I believe that.

Religions are sometimes a bit smug. A bit too self-righteous.

They must feel shame and anger at themselves in order to make changes that will lead to a better expression of that faith. I think that is part of what happened with The Inquisitions and maybe the Crusades. Christians began to question their faith, to change it for the better. Christians still question, I think; most of them anyway. Some don't, some still justify their bigotry and prejudice with scripture.

I cannot say for sure since I am not a Christian. But I like to think that most are good people who reject many of the things taught in favor of a more moral way of life.

And, so, I apologize to any who I might have offended

I'm Not Happy

By now, you know many of the details of this mass murder, allegedly by one Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, possibly born in Kuwait... At the time I write this we have no details about Abdulazeez or why he attacked the two places  in Chattanooga, TN.

My first reaction is that we should immediately shut down all mosques in this country and encourage all foreign born Muslims to return to their homelands. That is likely impossible for two reasons: We have freedom of religion and we have an administration which will not do even close to what the FDR administration did in WWII. In fact, if this administration had been in the White House during WWII, there's a good chance we'd be speaking either German or Japanese, in my opinion.

In my opinion, we should take the gloves off and start blaming all Muslims for the acts of what is clearly a tiny minority of that religion and we should initially concentrate on the Sunni sect. No change will happen to that religion until they fear the backlash. There is no reason for them to clean out the terrorists in their midst unless, and until, they feel threatened.

Meanwhile our politicians go bananas over a relic of the Civil War. And also meanwhile, Faye says "Nuke Mecca!"

What's New?

 
                             What's new
                    How is the world treating you
                    You haven't changed a bit
                     Lovely as ever, I must admit
[the above lyrics are from a song sung by Frank "old blue eyes" Sinatra]

I am using them as a lead in to my post today about events in the world which might (or should) disturb you. I am speaking of the deal just reached with Iran over their nuclear capabilities. As usual, it is this administration's attempt to not deal with Iran's nuclear bomb aspirations. Essentially, it gives Iran 15 years before they can return to the process. In that 15 year period, I am sure there will be many other countries in that region who will try to create their own nuclear weapon. Additionally, the deal removes the sanctions placed on Iran by us and many European countries, sanctions that were having an effect... sanctions that were limiting their ability to foster terrorism just a little. It also allows countries like Russia and China (and others) to resume arms sales to Iran.

I hope, for our and the world's sake, that Congress sends a clear message to this president by voting to reject this deal. A vote that comprises a solid 2/3's majority. Because the president has promised to veto Congress' rejection... which means they must override that.

It's a freaking disaster in the making. If you don't know about this deal... you will... way too soon. Maybe the ides of July will become someday as famous as the ides of March.

Just Turn It Off!

I do not normally post on Saturdays but I watched a segment about texting on cellphones during movies and concerts (Patti Lupone has said she is fed up with people who come to her shows... apparently this was a play... and then pay more attention to their phones than to her). This must stop.

After I quit smoking, I would often hear smokers complain about non-smokers being rude to them. They meant it. They thought they were being picked on. One of the complaints and comments was "I always ask if it is okay if I smoke." To which I, as a non-smoker, often said, "Bull!"

There was a day when I called a construction firm about putting a deck in our backyard. This was during my first marriage. The salesman came out and told us how they could construct a deck that would be wonderful and spacious.

While we were standing in the living room, he lit a cigarette and smoked it. He never asked if he could smoke. It was only when the cigarette had burned down to the filter that he looked around for an ashtray. There were none. He then asked for one and was told, "We do not smoke."

I think he knew, at that point, that he would not make the sale.

Why do I bring this up? Because there is a new addiction rampant in the world. It is cellphone addiction. In restaurants, in movie theaters, pretty much everywhere; people are either texting or talking on cellphones. It has to stop. It is rude. It is annoying, it is ridiculous.

Unless you are a doctor and have a patient waiting for a transplant, that call to you can wait!

Once, not so long ago, we would be unreachable for many hours in a day. Why? Because we were not at home... where the phone was. Now, everyone (or most everyone) is reachable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And these calls are, on the whole, non-critical.

I would like restaurants and golf courses to confiscate any cellphone they find. I would like to see signs that read "CELLPHONE FREE AREA!" and I would like to see them enforced. What is ruder than a person at a table in a restaurant ignoring others at his table by having a conversation with someone who is not there? And how rude is it to inflict half a conversation on other diners?

What ever happened to common courtesy? Rudeness seems the order of the day now. Back when I was a smoker, I realized that the cigarette was my "master" and I was just a slave. Now cellphones are the masters we must obey.

Just shut it off! You will thank me later.

Life in America

What is going on with this country? We seem to be out of control and, maybe, in a cultural freefall. It seems that way to me anyway.

Maybe it's because I was born in the second half of the Forties and raised in a conservative home in the Fifties and 60's that I believe this. Or maybe I am becoming my father, it's hard to say. But I am beginning to see there is a rather bad future in store for this country and, if so, that means a bad future for the world.

You see, I think America is critical to the well-being of the world. If America loses its prominence, what country would take our place? What country would be the "beacon of hope" for the rest of the world?

I once thought there wasn't a big difference in political systems, that humans simply adapted to whatever system they were raised in. And, to some extent, that is true. Humans do adapt to the systems they live under. But they always had an ideal, a model, to give them hope.

What if that model, that ideal, became Russia or China... or Iran? Or worse? What if there was no America anymore? When Rome fell, there was chaos... the Dark Ages... a period covering hundreds of years that came after the Pax Romana was no more. That the peace that Rome ruled over wasn't all that peaceful doesn't matter, there was order, there was structure. That Rome ruled with an iron hand wasn't as important as its reputation.

It is unlikely that I will live to see what the world will become but my son will, as will his children. I hope they will prosper and thrive but I am not optimistic.

The Trump Card

There is a big fuss over Donald Trump's comments about illegal immigrants from Mexico. Essentially, he said Mexico is not sending their "best and brightest" across our border. Well, duh! Of course not. The Mexican government is not sending anyone, as far as I can tell. It is just not impeding them.  Perhaps they cannot do much about illegal emigration to the U.S. It's pretty clear we can't (or won't) either.

In 1980, Cuba did, intentionally it appears, send criminals to the United States. We did nothing except arrest the criminals once they committed crimes in our country. We sent them to our prisons (which certainly beat Cuba's for comfort and cleanliness and treatment) and then allegedly deported them back to Cuba after they served their sentences.

But that was Cuban policy, not Mexico's. I think Trump was wrong to lump them altogether but I don't think the vast majority of us believe he did. I think the vast majority of us knew he was talking about a large number of them but certainly not all.

And now, of course, the media is questioning all Republican candidates about Trump's comments as if Trump speaks for the party.

If I were ("were" sounds wrong to me, it should be the singular "was") a candidate for the Republican nomination and I was asked about Trump's comments, I would respond with this, "What is Hillary's response to the socialism Bernie Sanders wants to bring to the U.S.?"

And, "Does Hillary support putting the U.S. on the metric system... as Lincoln Chafee proposed?"

When you answer those questions, I will comment on Trump's statements.

To re-address illegal immigration, I just heard Juan Williams justify the administration's emphasis on those illegal immigrants who are dangers to us. the problem with that argument is that they are here because the immigration laws are not being enforced. And the killing in San Francisco (a "sanctuary" city) exemplifies that fact. The killer is a known felon and illegal immigrant who was deported five times.

Life Is Cruel

First, let me wish you all a happy Fourth of July, even you Brits. We did nothing; no going to a fireworks display, for example... we are getting a bit old for that. And the mosquitos are something we can no longer tolerate.

By the way, the more astute of you may notice that "Aunty Acid" misspelled "exaggerating."

Things are still broken in Blogger-land... meaning I must write my posts "on the fly", without benefit of using copy and paste from some word processor.

I am not sure why I titled this post that way, it might be because Faye got some disturbing news at the doctor's office the other day. The doctor suggested she get an echo cardiogram because there was indication on her EKG that she might have had a heart incident recently.

He warned her that it may not have actually happened, that it could have been an error on the EKG, but she is concerned... as I am, and has tried to remember any incident that would point to it. It seems women do not generally get the same symptoms as men when these occur. Men get pressure on the chest, some arm or jaw pain, as well as a little nausea. Women often get dizziness and nausea and that is what Faye recalls a few weeks ago; that dizziness and nausea. She begged off our weekly night of dining with some friends that evening.

To be honest, I think she is worrying too much about it. At least I hope she is worrying over nothing.

Showers And Politics

I do some of my best thinking in the shower. I don't sing so that's all I can do is think. In fact, I don't understand that whole "singing in the shower" thing. In the Navy, it would be the easiest inducement to ridicule.

I won't go into the "it's my soap and my [bleep] and I'll wash it as fast and as long as I want."

But two ideas came to me while in the shower recently. One is the advice to go from hot to cold (or at least cool) water. I never understood that. The idea is that you open your pores with the hot water and then close them up again with the cool. Seems to me that you stand a good chance of trapping soap in those pores by closing them and that can't be good. On the other hand, you could make sure you are all rinsed off before switching to cold water but I wonder if it isn't better to just keep the pores open?

Speaking of water, it seems the sharks are not only circling around North Carolina beaches but also in the political arena. Hillary just picked up another challenger, Jim Webb of Virginia. That makes 6 in the Democratic race for the nomination. And too many to count in the Republican race.
But I guess having all these candidates means there's someone for everybody.

Marriage Of Like Kinds

I would like to open myself to attacks by the political left by posting about same-sex marriage. I realize this makes it possible to label me a homophobe but  don't care.

I have written about same-sex marriage before. I really do not have a problem with it nor do I have a problem with gay, or any other, lifestyle. Well, I do have a problem with socialists and progressives but that's not an issue... yet.

Let me refer you back to what I said in 2008. I wrote of the history, as I see it, of marriage... which I believe is the province of religion. Somewhere in history, it became a concern of government. Don't get me wrong, government has an interest in marriage. It has this mostly because a marriage is a financial partnership and it often produces new citizens.

But its primary interest is in the welfare of those new citizens and the financial partnership. It is brought in when a marriage is dissolved... just as it is when any financial partnership is dissolved. Unless there is a disagreement over assets,  the government deems it a private matter. As it should, I think. I consider children to be assets and, so, I put them in that category (some may disagree with that and view children as liabilities).

My proposal is that all current marriages be deemed "civil unions." I think that can be easily done in spite of the number of times the term "marriage" is mentioned in laws. A law stating that all marriages are now civil unions and all rights and responsibilities that fall under "marriage" now apply to "civil unions." So it doesn't dissolve marriages, just extends those rights and responsibilities associate with marriage to civil unions. As far as the law is concerned; a spouse (who would still be a "spouse") could still be the person who makes medical decisions, shares the assets and liabilities, and so on of the "marriage." Nothing would change.

What my proposal does is remove the government from marriage and force it to treat all partnerships, social or business, the same... which it should.

All a couple need do is apply for that "marriage" license and be approved (have it issued) and they become a partnership, or "civil union", in the eyes of the law. There would be no need of a ceremony at all. If a couple wanted a ceremony, they could have a civil ceremony or a church wedding, as they see fit, assuming they can find a church willing to perform it. But no church would ever be forced, under the law, to perform a ceremony.