Insanity....Arizona in the Cross Hairs

I was going to write about other things today, but this morning's news supersedes any self-serving words I might have to say.

Arizona Shooting 1/9/2011

We are living in crazy, dangerous times and I don't know what to do about it.  We can't simply outlaw guns and think that will change anything. It won't.  Our inhumanity toward one another goes back much further than modern weapons.  Hell!  We've been clubbing one another to death, beating each other with rocks and even just doing the dirty deed with our bare hands since just about the time we first walked as humans!  Even before that, if you travel the Darwinian trail.

Why? There are many theories.  Some think there are just so many of us humans populating the world, that it's a reaction to this overcrowding.  Others blame inbreeding, or Hollywood or video games or rap music....some cite PTSD as a possible contributor to the cause.  Hard to say.

What I do know is that it must take a real special version of tunnel vision to allow a person to consider themselves the only entity of relevance in the world.....megalomania, with a twist of God complex that makes a person feel they have the right to take another person's life.

My heart is aching for those who fell victim to this latest tragedy.  

Today, Fifty Five is a very confusing thing.  I know that what doesn't kill us makes us strong, but days like this make me wonder just how strong?

So, Fifty Five Is The New Insanity....Arizona in the Cross Hairs....pray God we humans get past our blood lust some day.

Mercury in retro....

Ever have one of those days when everything you say seems to be taken backwards, and no matter what you try to do nothing goes right?  It's like Murphy's Law decided to squat down on your life and take a huge one...!

String Dance  by rcw

Astrologers say that this sort of thing happens when Mercury is in retrograde. I wonder if that's what's wrong with the world.

I mean, look around.  Things are going bass-ackwards. The bad guys are good, the good guys are bad, night is day and there is no such thing a global warming even though the polar ice caps are melting.

Huh? What's going on?
Must be that Mercury thing!

Our country is in desperate need of its own oil supply while developing alternate energy sources, but even though the ban on drilling in the Gulf is lifted, our country is not drilling.  Is that you, Mercury?

Our money would benefit greatly by having some national product production going on to give it some value and us something on the international market but no! We can't. We've given all our jobs away, outsourced to less expensive countries because our nation is too expensive for businesses to operate.  I'll bet Mercury was in on that one, too!

The government wants to pass laws before anybody reads them, but insists that it is operating under strict transparency....smells like Mercury to me!

Crazy, crazy crazy!

Well I for one am on the alert. Mercury may be able to play havoc on the world, but I'm keeping my eye out for too many crossed signals in my own life.  I'll get a pair of hip boots just in case it gets too deep!

For now, Fifty Five is the new Mercury in retro...spinning things inside out to the tune of a cosmic rumba! Care to dance?

Constitution

The new congress convened today...the 112th.
With claims of honesty, integrity and returning the government to the people, this august group decided that one of its first priorities was to read "the entire" constitution.

Mountain Remnants in New Mexico  by rcw

Unfortunately, they did not.

What they did read was an "alternate" version, cutting out early amendments that were changed by later ones and knocking out certain words that might be deemed offensive.  Why?

Reading the document like that makes no sense.  It makes it sound like suddenly we citizens have the right to drink and so on....totally erasing the history that got us there.  Some folks might think this is no big thing, after all we are where we are now.  Some even consider the entire document as "old hat," nothing more than a pretty piece of paper full of antiquated sentiment.

They are sadly mistaken.

The Constitution is a living, breathing, vibrant thing....relevant today as ever for not only its current additions, but for those earlier amendments as well because they show us where we were, the mistakes we overcame. Those things are important too.  We need to know our nation for its battle scars and imperfections, because these are a part of who we are and lend ideas for directions of where we want to go next.  Retaining them is an effort to protect us from our own natural ability to ignore experience and repeat mistakes.  After all, we are only human.

Another problem with this most recent reading was the very noticeable exclusion of a certain phrase which has been spoken since the passage was first written....I speak of the Presidential Oath of Office.

Some people may not have given it a second thought, but to me (and hopefully others) it stuck out like a huge, blaring red flag.....the exclusion?  The final phrase of the Oath itself....the one that reminds each President that they are NOT the end all and be all of power, that their trust is derived from something greater than themselves.  A simple phrase, more like a prayer really....

"So Help Me God."

This four word sentence, spoken by our presidents down through the ages, has been made to fall by the way-side.  Why?

There's a claim of Political Correctness, of not wishing to offend anyone.....but this doesn't make sense.
Other nations are permitted to house their beliefs in their documents, unless of course they've gone through a social/governmental upheaval.  Then the founding language is scattered to the wind in favor of what is deemed "modern interpretation."

Who does this serve, really?  The citizens?  How?  Denying them their history?  Doesn't make sense to me.
We learn from our past.  If we erase our past, we are set on a collision course with the future rather than a smooth transition.  

As children, kids of my generation and older were  taught to learn from our mistakes.  We were taught to build on our past experiences...not repeating things that don't work.  The only way we knew not to repeat the same mistakes was to remember what they were.  This was done through quizzes, homework, review.
I don't know how children are being taught these days, but I have seen some of the more recent school books and am sorely baffled. History is no longer history...it's been shifted and spun, turned inside out on itself like cotton candy.  Bright, colorful, sweet with no substance.  Okay for a circus treat, but as far as learning tools go there's a great deal lacking, and what's left has been filtered to reflect only certain points of view.

In some states, children are segregated into their heritage groups and taught only that history!  Like we're training our kids to be segregationists!  Outrageously silly if wasn't so scary.

Our country is in a state of  that silliness...dangerous, scary silliness.  And this new congress seems to be going along with this silly tide rather than changing course.

No, I am not in favor of doing away with rights that have been long fought for and won.  But I am in favor of restoring our founding documents to their true nature, and I am in favor of our nation becoming our nation again...rather than what is going on right now.

It's a shame to have to say this, but this latest congress has yet to impress me with anything more than that old standard quote, brought to us by Pete Townsend of the Who:
"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss...."     What a shame!

So for today, Fifty Five Is the New Constitution...and a prayer that we restore it to its intended state, complete with all imperfections, band aids and old-timey sentiment....because that's who we really are, and it's also the only way we're really going to know where  we're going next.

Knowledge

It's almost Candlemas...also almost Kitty's birthday.  Kitty and I have been friends since around 1995; we worked on the Prop 215 ballot initiative together. We mainly gathered signatures, sometimes just out front of the 1444 Market club/Prop 215 campaign headquarters....but other times we went to local gatherings, grocery stores and so on.  Anywhere we could get enough signatures to help send that election over the top.

Randi and Cannabis  circa 2005

Many of the signees were surprisingly NOT hippies.  A lot of them were senior citizens, facing days of pain and nights of no sleep with little to no relief from conventional medications.  They asked really good questions...about cannabis and it's effects, about the laws as they existed at the time....we answered best we could and also had plenty of little pamphlets chock full of information.

It really did feel like the front lines though...sometimes when Jack and I were hanging signs people would hassle us and call us druggies and drug dealers.  One particular time this fellow got downright aggressive and threw things at us and our little, sign laden car.   We managed to get away without much damage to us or the car, but it sure put things into perspective for us.

Not everybody was in agreement with Prop 215....in fact some people were downright unpleasant about it.
But somehow we got our message across; compassionate use for sick and dying Californians.  And the night that law passed, Kitty and I hugged each other and cried with relief that at long last we were not going to be labeled criminals anymore.

These days, big city Californians live in a bubble. They've forgotten what it was like to be truly frightened of being arrested for a seed, let alone a bag of medicine.  Some are even too young to know that people's lives were ruined because of Cannabis Prohibition. They hear stories but, thankfully, haven't had to face the sheer terror of it all.

There are still raids, still helicopters blazing over peoples' gardens.  There's a big hassle with the "southern cartell gangs" coming up north and trying to make money off of "medico mota."   Until the laws totally change, we're going to have this problem.

But anyway, for today Fifty Five Is The New Knowledge...the word that folks like Kitty and I tried to spread back then and still preach today... Cannabis is good medicine.

Insanity In Charge.

Who's the boss?  Who's in charge here in this country?
'
Are we a nation going somewhere good, or are we being killed by our own hands?
Where is the law? Where is justice?  And who really cares?
 
Any body who has been reading this blog for at least a little while knows that I am, am wrong other things, an advocate for medical cannabis patients and their supporters. If this is coming as a shock to anybody, well gee...that's why there' s an adult content warning at the beginning.  NOT because I think medical cannabis is one of those "blue" subjects, but because I understand that some people don't want their kids "exposed."

Although in truth, perhaps if we did "expose" our kids to more of the hypocrisy, they'd be more respectful of us...because we had the courage to stand up and say, "Yep. Our society really screwed up on that one." 

Unfortunately we're so busy trying to walk on water that we kick the stepping stones out from behind us, lest anybody discover the secret to our success.  We do this without thinking, then wonder why the same mistakes keep being made.

In the case of medical cannabis, the good, honest people who are trying to help patients are fined and jailed, while murderers, white collar criminals and international terrorists are left to run around scott free.  This is not justice. But what is one to expect from leaders who choose political correctness over true government.

We are being led by enpty-headed, lemming-types on both sides of the aisle. They are so busy prancing 'round issues that nothing gets done.  It's like setting a dinner table, inviting guests and not bothering to cook the meal.  No reason.  No substance.

But still our leaders claim they're looking out for our welfare. How? By stifling questions, disavowing our past and insisting on legislation without complete constitutional vetting. This is not the America of our founding fathers. Heck, it's not even the America of twenty years ago.

I'm not sure what to think of our nation....lately there's positive movements toward legalizing medical cannabis, while at the same time very negative motions toward denying states' rights in many other, normally considered no-brianer, situations....like state border rights.

The federal government will insist on many things from the states, but will not help keep our borders secure.

We live in a crazy place. 

For today, Fifty Five Is the New Insanity in Charge....meet the new boss, same as the old boss...one more time.

News

Maze Ball  by rcw

"It is a puzzlement!' to quote the King from the King and I; and indeed he is right.  We live in a place full of mazes, twists and turns...right when we start feeling comfortable with how things are going, something comes along and throws a banana peel on the ground and watches the fun.

Crazy.

The world is doing what it's dong today...Oh, I could check the news and get all caught up on current events-which usually amount to little more than body counts and political rhetoric.

But then again, why?  What earthly good could it possibly let me know about that I can't find out some other time, when I'm in the mood to be angry and scared. I know!  This way I'll know what kind of toothpaste to buy!  Or what kind of deoderant, or how to fix my hair, or where to send my poodle to be clipped!  There are a million reasons to watch the news that have absolutely nothing to do with watching the news. so you know what?  I'm not going to give any of them my time.

That's better already!

 So for today, Fifty Five Is The New News....the world is, and is ours.

Day Off

Sketch of Wylie by rcw

Lazy day.....after so many days of hard work leading up to the holidays, then the holidays themselves....it's been exhausting!  So today is my day of rest, and being Sunday it's even appropriate!  I got the dishes done, but little else....oh well.

Even our cat is being lazy.  He's curled up in his new favorite toy, a shoe box...looking like he's dreaming about playing or running...his little legs wiggling while he sleeps.  Sometimes I even hear his little snore...so cute.

What's really adorable is when he and Jack are both crashed out together on the bed.  A lot of the time they end up in similar positions; flat on their backs with arms and legs spread, leaving nothing to the imagination, or curled up in blankets like a couple of burritos!  What can be cuter than that?

I'll keep this entry short.  I could go into lengthy discussions on the day's events.....but I'm taking the day off...my soap box is taking the day off too. I'm not too worried about it though, there's bound to be more tomorrow!

But for today Fifty Five Is the New Day Off, because that's what it is...and I deserve it!