A few things....

The past few weeks my brain has been in overdrive.  Many hot topics on the table...and so I give you this missive in early December....to ponder...and enjoy.

While football season has me plagued with anxiety, and Nascar and baseball over, I find myself focusing on things that bring me stress, and or concern.  Not that I don't always care about many things, it's just now, my distractions are limited.

If you are not aware of my stance, or the person that I am...let me introduce myself.

I DO NOT belong to any political pudding.  I have  2-3 pounds of matter in my skull that I choose to lean on.  Ye 'Ole brain is there for the taking...and I choose to use it. I use it independently, of my own free will.

 Here is what I believe:

I believe in God, and I believe in Science.  I support capital punishment and same sex marriage/relationships.  I believe in a person's right to choose, man or woman.  I believe in the justice system, and I believe in equality.  I believe in a person's culture, and their right to participate in such. I practice common sense, and inexplicably follow my heart on occasion. I believe in intuition, and I believe humans,  no matter the circumstance, deserve the gift of NOT being judged by others.  Try to lump me into a category, I dare you.  (Not quite the Crash Davis speech)  lol

So that being said.....

Let's chat about Ferguson. ('merica)

Two things.  Unless you were there, shut up!  AND, unless you have served the public with a weapon on your hip, you do not get to have an opinion.  Done.  Not everything that happens in this world is about race.  You would know this if you turned off the damned television.  You are being led to slaughter by the media.

Personal accountability.

I am choosing NOT to throw statistical truths at you.  I mostly don't rely on or believe in statistical data, but when numbers are the marker, statistics become truth. Math is a constant, period. Besides, it's all public information, and if you choose to look it up, take a gander at the crime numbers, and pay close attention to the race.  You wanna make shit about race.  Let's talk about prisons and violent crime.  Now shut up.

Young black males aren't the only people in this world that are being stereotyped.  What pops into your mind when a Native American has a drink in his or her hand.  What might you be thinking when you see a fat girl eating at a buffet.  Probably just shrug and smile politely when you see an Hispanic woman with 7 kids in tow.  Maybe you don't bat an eye when you see an elderly person driving 40mph on the freeway.  Hows about a young male from just outside of town with a confederate flag in the back window of his 4 wheel drive.  It's all relative, and it's none of your fucking business.

The 2nd Amendment

I own guns...I carry weapons, and I believe in an Americans right to do so.  Limiting access to them tramples on the constitution of this country.  Most people are responsible gun owners.  Criminals will always be criminals, and they will find a weapon no matter what law you put into effect.  Where exactly are you going to draw the line on this issue?  Maybe spend all that time and money on protecting citizens while strengthening law enforcement, and quit treating gun owners like criminals. Perhaps we are headed for a revolution, or perhaps we should bring back vigilantes. I don't know, but what I do know is this:  Shitting on the constitution is wrong, and opening doors for political powerhouses to whittle  the amendments away is democratic suicide.

Next time you are out in public, and see a representative of the armed forces in your presence. -- Kick them in the nuts.  It's the same as voting these ridiculous laws into being.  I can only imagine what someone that has been shot at oversees thinks of your disregard for our freedoms.

My next topic is passion.  

I get the outpouring for young lives lost.  I get the outcry for what some perceive as senseless murders.  It's emotion.  Passion for a cause.  I got a great taste of this when I was a student at The Evergreen State College.  And what I said then, I believe in still.  You can piss and moan all you want.  Shout obscenities at the government.  Flip off the cops.  Burn a flag.   Meanwhile, the world keeps moving.

Emotion will never change laws.  In fact, it's more for your release of angst than any sort of step in the right direction.  This notion of one person making a difference starts with personal accountability and logic.  Emotion and Logic don't dance in the same building.

I am a beacon of passion.  It has plagued me for years.  I am wildly misunderstood because of it.  A few  people in my life get it, but most think I'm a ticking time bomb.  I admit, that I can be, Anyone can be.  The difference is, once my fuse burns, I'm ready to sit down and logically and intelligently discuss solutions, rather than continue to tread water.

Which brings me to my last topic.  Compromise

Nothing is ever going to change in this county, state, or country until people realize that they can't have it all their way.  You hear a lot of people bullshitting about reaching across the aisle.  Why should we expect elected officials to do it if we can't even do it ourselves?  Conversations have to change.  Instead of demanding change for what WE need, listen to what others need too, and find a compromise that both can live with.

I believe that things could change if we adopted this new way of thinking.  But, as Americans, we are raised with a feeling of superiority and entitled assholes are breeding entitled assholes to make baby entitled assholes.

There is no one person in this world that deserves more than the next.  Make personal accountability your mantra.  It is ALL that you can do.