Snippitts of Illusions

Crazy Asshats!

So it's come this?

We've become a nation of crazy assholes who can't see the forest from the trees, and the little political game that plays out every 4 years has turned us from lunatics to raving lunatics.
Now, I'm not talking about one side. I'm not pointing just to the Democrats, nor the Republicans. It's everybody.

I honestly don't think anybody has a fucking clue any more.

Let's start with the Democrats: Not all Republicans are backwoods retards. In fact, most aren't. I'd wager to bet many don't agree wholly with Romney and Ryan's platform, but they are being told the things that they like to hear to one degree or another. Whether Romney and Ryan can deliver is moot. Many people are scared to death about the economy. I am, though that's another issue entirely. Those people don't see any change in their way of life, or the way of life in their community, other than the negative and have decided that Obama needs to go. Romney and Ryan is their option. Maybe not the perfect option, but it's the one that they see.

Now, I'm not supporting Romney and Ryan by any means. A majority of the population is relatively uninformed, and they get most of their "news" from pundits, whether they are right or left. Not only that but we as people tend to migrate to those who already share our views. So yeah, an old farmer, or rig-hand, or trucker is probably going to listen to Rush Limbaugh, for good or ill, because Limbaugh has painted an image (in their mind) as somebody who shares their values. I get that. I don't agree with it, but I get it. A lot of people want to blame somebody for the failure in their lives that they have no control over. I get that too. It isn't logical. The President has as much control over the price of gas as I do over where a bird decides to nest. He can get on t.v. make speeches. Make threats. But honestly it doesn't really matter. The markets will determine that price. But you know what, that's complicated shit, and some guy schlupping a 12 hour job five days a week isn't going to have the interest to put the time in to learn about that. Hell, I just barely have the interest in I DON"T work my ass off each day.

So yeah Democrats, I get your anger at the Republicans, but let's not paint them all in the same light. Their politicians stink, but so do yours, and yet you're fairly loyal to them. Why wouldn't they be otherwise? The vast majority of Republicans/Conservatives just want to continue with a way of life they see vanishing. They're afraid of change, and change makes people do crazy stuff. You know I don't think things would be vastly different on that front if there was a Republican in charge, but I'll get to that too. So why I don't agree with most of their stances on gay marriage, or what it will take to turn this economy around, I do understand where they are coming from.

And another thing Democrats, your politicians are guilty of a lot of the same shit the Republicans are. Pointedly Bill Clinton. He's a great speaker and spin-doctor, and I fully expect his wife to run again in 2016, but he revoked the Glass-Steagall act, which is probably the biggest nail in the coffin as far as our economy goes. Obama has made some pretty unwise choices as well. My biggest beef with the guy is him promoting Geithner and Bernake. But that's an entire blog on it's own. So don't pat yourselves on the back and say everything is honky-dory and expect everybody to buy it. It isn't. Maybe Obama is out of sorts on what to do. I don''t envy the man, but I do understand some of the anger that's there from the Right.

Now for you Republicans: FIRST! OBAMA IS NOT A SOCIALIST!!! Anybody who makes the claim is either selling something (a politician) or is woefully ignorant of what an actual socialist is. A socialist wouldn't have handed over billions of dollars to the banks with nary a slap on the wrist, nor the automobile industry. A socialist would have had the government take control of that shit. All those too big to fail banks would be one massive bank and fully under the control of the government at this point. The auto industry would not be 3 industrial giants still mismanaging funds it would be one large "company" under the government. The way socialism works is the government controls the public goods, typically economic goods as well, but it depends on the sort of socialism it is. There are certainly some socialist things in this country: Education system. Library system, hell even our roads and waterways to an extent. But Obama is not one. He's never been one and probably never be one. He's got to much to lose financially to become a socialist.

While we're on this topic: Obamacare isn't socialism either. Sorry to burst your bubble, but it actually gives large insurance companies more costumers. Yeah, there's a little more risk to them, but the government is not going to run the hospitals, and not going to enforce death panels on old people. If you still believe that it will, then you have no business speaking to me about the bill until you've actually informed yourself with information and not propaganda. I don't fully support Obamacare, there're a lot of things I don't like about it, but I'm not going to get into that. If you're going to make claims, then be able to back them up.

Another thing, the Democrats aren't looking for a free hand out, nor are they jealous of the rich. In fact, think about this: We live in a country where the housing market collapsed in on itself, it wasn't simply people who got in over their heads with houses they couldn't afford, but folks who spent 10 or 15 years in houses who suddenly lost jobs and could no longer afford to pay for them. Along with that we have people on the verge of retirement being told "Nope all the money you invested for your retirement is gone. Sorry!" while the CEO's of the investment firms and the banks were getting 20 million dollar bonuses. Almost none of them have been punished, some quit, and those that were fired were given huge compensation packages. But because Democrats call bullshit on that they are jealous? They aren't jealous. They are pissed. It's the same kind of pissed that the Tea Party started out with before they were consumed by the Republican party and Fox News. Wanting people responsible for one of the biggest fininacial crisises in our lifetime to be held accountable and not be rewarded with more money, which they laughably do not need, isn't wanting a free handout. It's fucking justice.

Along that lines. Republicans aren't fiscally responsible. If they were then the Bush/Cheney years would have looked markedly different.  I'm not convinced that Romney and Ryan can pull us out of this mess. They haven't yet said anything to convince me otherwise. So yeah, the Democrats claiming that we can spend our way out of this Depression is nonsensical, but Romney/Ryan saying to cut taxes and reduce spending is akin to your dead beat friend promising to buy cheaper pizza while cutting back on the amount of hours he works each week in order to get out of debt.

For both of you: You don't like each other. I get that. But honestly, you're all fuck-wits and you all need to grow up. Stop watching Fox News and MSNBC and start researching shit. If you're going to make posts on news articles have something (a link maybe) to back up any outlandish claims you might add. That goes double for you assholes who publish on Facebook. All of you. Political memes can be made by anybody, so do yourself a favor RESEARCH before you hit share. Because otherwise you're going to look like an asshole perhaps because you are. Don't trust campaign ads, don't trust pundits. Don't trust your politician. The only thing they want from you is your vote and your money. If you think your guy is the answer and that anybody who disagrees with you is an idiot, well look in the mirror friend.

Labels: Personal, Politics.

posted by F.G. Shaw @ 11:14 PM 0 comments

Lakes

This isn't the blog I was going to write. That'll wait. Go into the rotation as it were. This is a different blog. And for most of you it will be way out of left field. I suspect any blog that is related to geek culture probably does, for one or two of you this may make sense.

I've become obsessed with lakes lately. I like lakes. Always have. Perhaps it's because I like the idea of large bodies of water that I can, theoretically see the other side of at certain points. Ok. Maybe not the all lakes, but most, dare I say 99%. That's a lot. Now this interest is recent.

I get bored at work at times, usually on the weekends. Now when I get bored one of my favorite activities is to "explore the globe" with the satellite imaging site I have to use for my job. It's alright there with a flick of the mouse wheel I zoom in and out and I can go where the cursor takes me. I've looked at the Eiffel Tower, The Temple Bar District, Mount Rushmore, Time Square, all from the comfort of my chair at work. But something that caught my eye fairly early on were two lakes in Canada: The Great Bear Lake, and The Great Slave Lake. Both of these lakes look massive, especially when looked at through the distorted perception of the map due to the fact it's a Mercator projection map, the appear larger than the Great Lakes, but they are not. Through the course of my explorations I've discovered a few things that I find fascinating: Lake Michigan-Huron is a single lake technically. There is a single lake bed that is separated by a narrow channel, that is all one evaluation. Lake Michigan-Huron is also the larges lake by surface area in the world. Lake Michigan by itself is the largest lake by surface area in a single country by surface area, and Lake Baikal, in Russia is the largest lake in the world by volume... and holy shit! While I think all of that is interesting, it's not. Not really, it's goddamned boring and I know it, but that's not why a bring it up.

I'm not an in-shape guy. I think mountains are awesome, and as cool as it would be to try and climb the largest mountain on each continent, that just isn't happening. Not for me. But, visiting the largest lake on each continent is a possibility. Hell all I have to do is drive to lake Michigan and I've got one to check off. Going to Lake Baikal would take some doing. As well as Lake Victoria, Vostok (which is under a mile of ice), Titicaca, and Lake Ladoga.

But there's more than just going to these lakes. I want to see all the Great Lakes, travel through Canada and see the both the Great Slave and Great Bear Lake. Go to Minnesota and see where the Mississippi River springs forth to wind it's way through the country, as well as the Missouri River in Montana. I want to hike around Wizards Island that sits in Crater lake and hang out on the shores of Lake Winnipeg for a week or two. That just covers a little bit of North America.

Someday.
Someday it'll happen. I'll explore the lakes of as many continents as possible. Until then I'll have to sate myself with the lakes around here. Pelican Lake to the south, Browns Reservoir which is a 5 minute drive from my house. Rock Creek, Moon Lake, or even the high lakes that take a hike or horse ride to get to.

Now the reason for this obsession is simple honestly.

Lakes are beautiful.

Labels: Personal

posted by F.G. Shaw @ 1:58 AM 2 comments

I got nothing.

It's near 1:30 and I should be in bed. I'm not. I'm watching Retroware T.V. and attempting to type out a blog.

Normally when I start writing these I have some idea of what I want to write about and a rough outline in my head about how the topic should take place. Often times I've spent a good day at work thinking about it. Some times two. I'm up to posting every other day now, though technically it will be day three with this post because it's going up after midnight. Sometimes I've actually pondered the topic of my blog for 1, 1 1/2 days. It probably doesn't seem like it. I should do revisions, but honestly these things are off the cuff. I do some editing  after the initial writing is done. I try to clean up some of the grammar (with my limited abilities) and of course check the spelling. I will also often add and delete, try to get the flow right. But essentially this is rough draft territory, and I think most of the posts show that.

You can probably tell, or not I don't know, that I had no idea what I was going to write about today. I guess that's why I've gone meta. I actually have a lot of drafts on here, some of the starts to poems or stories or even play outlines. Guessing from the time period most of the drafts were saved, I was working at the bookstore at the time. I probably threw them up because I needed to get the idea down asap. Sadly my current job doesn't warrant such ease of posting. We are busy enough most of the time that it simply isn't feasible. Even when we are not they tend to frown on it. Fair enough.

So instead I write late at night and think about what I'm going to write about through out the day. Today i got nothing

Well not true. It's just I'm not done digesting it, so instead you get this blog.

Enjoy.

posted by F.G. Shaw @ 1:38 AM 0 comments