Grow Up

The danger isn't so much in the economic structure of a society but in its intellectual structure.

Philip Kaufman
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Almost ten years ago I wrote my Congressman a letter and in it I asked "Will there ever be a time when the country is governed by adults?" The current Congress has given me the answer. A simple "No."

It seems to be a fact that the members of the House of Representatives cannot represent the people because they have no idea how the people, most of them. live. In this last squabble (one can't call it a debate) issues were put forth and solutions offered that bear no relationship to intelligent thinking or understanding of the facts of life.

The nation is in debt. So what? So are most Americans. And some of them are now going to go further in debt until they find a way to restructure their financial lives. No one can put a ceiling on debt because no one can predict his future and neither can the country.

A Balanced Budget Amendment has been proposed by people who have no idea what it is to balance a budget. Ask the man or woman who feeds, clothes and houses a family on an uncertain job with an unsatisfactory income which is then taxed too much because the wealthy don't pay enough. That person knows how to balance a budget.

I worked for a few years at a small business. The owner faced up to and successfully met a payroll every two weeks. The Obama administration is trying to meet the nation's payroll. No one is telling the small business owner that he needs to cut back on heat and air conditioning and free coffee. Why is a bunch of amateurs trying to tell the President how to spend the money?

A Special Congress has been proposed to make recommendations for the full Congress to vote on without discussion. Why does anyone think that the squirming, dithering and unacceptable compromising that goes on in the big Congress isn't going to happen with a smaller group?

We hear of students being passed even though with failing grades and others cheating or being allowed and urged to cheat to pass so that a school will continue to be eligible for "No Child Left Behind." The child who dreamt that one up ought to have been left behind.

One of the big problems we face, and maybe the biggest, is unemployment. The country needs more jobs. When I became an adult it was a well known fact that the most important thing for a young person was to find a job. A university education was designed for that, vocational schools were designed for that. A respectable person had a respectable job. The country wants and needs to go back to work. That is the answer to our economic problems. If the huge corporations want a tax break then they should spend the money on creating jobs, not bonuses.

The regressive conservative ideas of shrivels, cut backs and cut outs, policies they would never apply to themselves, preventing the lower classes from even a simple attempt at a better standard of living, are slowly pushing the country in a direction they simply don't want it to go: more socialism.

It is said a revolution is underway. I don't know. I don't agree. I don't disagree. But big questions are being asked. Not who has the money, who has the power, who will get elected, who will get reelected, who's running? No. The big question now being asked is "Where is the intelligence?" "Where are the brains?" "Where are the adults?"

DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never give up.
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SUMMER QUESTION

It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you. Don't let the recent New York State decision rob you of your thunder.

Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?

dbdacoba@aol.com

13 answers so far.

You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.

DB
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Tossing The Rope

Whoever rescues a single life earns as much merit as though he had rescued the entire world.

The Talmud
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Hello Bahrain. The Vagabond wishes you peace.
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There was another earthquake in Japan today. 2 people died. There are people from Japan and other nations over there trying to rescue the survivors. But we have forgotten about Japan.

There are still desperate, homeless people in Haiti. Some folks are in Haiti trying to rescue the people who need it. But we have forgotten about Haiti.

There are many places in the world where people need rescuing. But we have long ago forgotten about them.

All those stories were replaced by Libya. And now the desperate situation in Libya has all but been replaced by a bunch of ridiculous politicians in Washington who are proposing cutting back on programs that help Americans and some of which will put us in the position of needing to be rescued.

A pathetic attempt to decrease the national debt by taking money away from where it isn't and not looking for it where it is. As these shameful negotiations take the focus away from Japan, Haiti and wherever else in the world the human race is in danger and instead endanger the human American, turning off the lights on our way of life and stalling all forward motion into an improved nation, I am finished having any respect for or trust in the duly elected fools that sit in Congress. Where is the intelligence, where is the morality, where is the humanity, where is the courage, where is the idealism?

It's ironic that we have spent trillions of dollars to keep the world safe for democracy when our own democracy is in danger of becoming a flop. There's a large group in the House of Representatives that doesn't represent the American people. Take any one of these Republican representative and ask him how many poor people he has in his constituency. He probably doesn't' know. But if he does, ask him why he's not out rescuing those people instead of trying to deny them the social programs that help keep them alive.

I wish I were young enough or wealthy enough to be a real vigilante. Albert Schweitzer said "Search and see if there is not some place for you to invest your humanity."

The next person you rescue may be next door, or down the street, in a foreign country or in your own country.

DB - The Vagabond
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Here are my answers to the weekly puzzle

Several Saints - A few Good Men
Uprising Over The Thanksgiving Dinner - Mutiny On The Bounty
How One Murders An Imitator i To Kill a Mockingbird
Swept Away In A Breeze - Gone With The Wind
The Lion Is Burning It's Feet - Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
What The Flute Makes - The Sound Of Music
The Insects' Messiah - Lord Of The Flies
She Married The Monster - The Bride Of Frankenstein
Mr. Summerfall Winterspring - A Man For All Seasons
The Chimpanzees Live There - Planet Of The Apes
Confessing When Drenched - Singing In The Rain
He Paid Very Close Attention, Unfortunately - The Man Who Knew Too Much
Boiling When It's Dark - In the Heat Of The Night
Misplaced Religious Artifact Stolen - Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Trees Around The Little House - A Cabin In the Woods
Leo's Secret Message - The DaVinci Code
Ultimate Spanish Dance in France - Last Tango In Paris
Country In A Maternity Ward - Birth Of A Nation
Instructions In Stone - The Ten Commandments
Creepy Creatures Aloft - Snakes On A Plane
The Bitch Is Domesticated - The Taming Of The Shrew

There were 3 good sets of answers from Geo, Val and Jeff. Since everyone got at least 5 wrong or missing I'll call it a tie.

Although I did like the answer from Geo for "The Bitch Is Domesticated" - Lassie Come Home.

Thank you for playing. I may try this again, sometime when you're not watching.

DB
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SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest)

NASA has planned to send a two man mission on an 18 month trip to the planet Mars. It would take 6 months for the astronauts to get there and after 6 months of exploration another 6 months to return.

Should they do it and why, and if not, why not?

dbdacoba@aol.com

4 answers so far

I eagerly await your answer.

DB
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