Postal shootings

[jfitz]

Some sad and disturbing news today; Two Postal employees were killed in a bothched robbery at a Post Office in Tennessee. As a fellow Postal worker, I find this troubling because, hey, it's just mail dude. Not worth losing a life. As an aside; it's concerning that in this modern era of GPS, hidden cameras, instant communication, and such, people would actually dare to rob a bank and think they could get away with it. There has been a rash of bank robberies in my area of the world (Southern New England) Surely this epidemic is not exclusive to my homefront. It's a measure of the bleakness of the economy and the desperation of society. What with dye bags that explode when outside a bank's doors and tracking numbers on dollar bills, it's insanity to presume success when plotting a robbery. In all seriousness, a legal defense of temporary insanity is not without merit. I don't profess to have all the answers, but maybe if people could find some respectable employment these things wouldn't be happening...just spitballing here...

[jfitz]

Dateline: Saturday January 8, 2011. Tuscon, Arizona. Or Anywhere, USA. Today, I'm embarrassed to be an American. This senseless act of violence deeply disturbs me. That in this modern era, in our civilized society, someone would resort to assassination to further a distorted agenda is troubling. Don't misunderstand; I'm no bleeding heart liberal, nor am I an ultra-conservative. Am I Republican or Democrat? Neither. That is the responsible answer. The days of partisan politics should be in the past for any civilized society. It's archaic. Ways of working, governing, administering medicine, applying the law, anything and everything, should change for the betterment of all. It's called evolution, folks. And all this "That guy's a moron, 'cuz he's one of them!" is counterproductive. All this rhetoric about unseating the other candidate just to unseat the other guy is such wasted time and effort. If a politican isn't getting the job done, he goes home. Next. Oh, he's just a taker, too? Next. It's called the election process, folks. The verbal assaults on politicians from other politicians and special interest people has gotten out of control. How often recently do we see on the news a story about some forgein parliment members actually fistfighting in their chambers? And do we say to ourselves, "Well, at least we aren't governed by those clowns!" Well, let's look in the mirror, folks. Just recently, it was the anniversary of the murder of John Lennon. Though he was not an elected official, or American, he still had a presence in the American political arena because of his passion for peace and human rights. Just a few months ago, it was the anniversary of the murder of President Kennedy. Let's not forget Robert Kennedy or Malcom X. In a couple of weeks, our nation will be pausing to remember the birth of Martin Luther King, jr. But instead, let's remember the untimely death of Dr. King. Let's reflect on the tumultuos times in our nation's recent history. Recent history. Not a couple of hundred years ago. Those assassinations are still fresh in our social psyche. They still have repercussions today. So, why are we repeating our own history so soon after making it? Have we as a people not evolved? We march around the world telling other countries that we're better than them, but we sure as hell aren't acting like it! Are the political issues de jour so divisive that we need to resort to murder to get a point across? It's called healthy debate, folks. You don't like the law? Make a new one. It's called legislating, folks. To those that are for gun control, I say this; we have drug control in this country but we still have drug problems. To those that are against big government and also gay marriage, I say this; when the government says gays can't marry...that's the government butting in...so which is it gonna be? To those that think a national health plan is bad for this country and "Socialist," I say this, how can free health care be a bad thing? Ask England or Canada what they think of our "better" system of caring for the sick or injured. Again, more embarrassment as an American. As for gays in the military, why not? what's the harm? Would they and their "strange proclivities" be a distraction? No more so than a female serving in a combat unit full of hormone-jacked 19-year-old males! Let's live and let live, folks. Literally. Please.

[jfitz]

My fellow Spitballers; The trends in legislation throughout the country this past week are very disturbing to say the least. Is this still America? Is this still a democracy? Bit by bit, workers' rights are being stripped away. The new laws that are being passed are the types of things that go on in other countries, not ours. Make no mistake about it; this isn't about Democrats vs. Republicans. Or gay rights. Or conservative vs. liberal. And it's certainly not about balancing a budget. This is class warfare. This is about the rich getting richer. Period. The rich have taken from the poor all along and will continue to do so. But that's short-sighted. The poor can only give to a point. Now, the middle class...that's where the rest of the money is. If you make the middle class poor too, then it's just the rich...and everyone else. Bam!!! The rich just got richer! How else can you explain the alienation of union workers? Union workers don't vote exclusively Democrat. How else can you explain the new laws in Florida and Texas that make it difficult for certain types of voters to get voting documentation? The targets of these restrictive laws don't vote exclusively Democrat. How else can you explain the stripping of state money in Michigan from the poor and elderly? I'm sure there are plenty of poor and elderly citizens in Michigan that vote Republican. But too fucking bad. The powers that be don't care. The budget deficits in these and other states still remain as gaping as ever. Even after calculating projected savings from concessions. Why? Because, the money is simply being redirected to corporations in the form of tax cuts. And there you have it. The rich getting richer. Class warfare. And it's all perfectly legal. Our legal system has made it so. Nazi Germany didn't just turn into a totalitarian society over night with some asshole named Adolf Hitler saying who he's gonna put in jail and who's money he's going to take. No. The Nazis being very calculating and "law-abidding" simply made new laws that allowed their government to do whatever it's leader wanted. All nice and tidy. And nobody could say peep about it. "Wait! You can't do that! That's illegal!" "Uh, yes we can. Yesterday that was illegal. Today it's legal. We just made a new law." That's what's happening, here, in America, in 2011. Florida. Ohio. Pennsylvania. Texas. Wisconsin. Maine. New Hampshire. Idaho. Washington. Rhode Island. Coming to a state near you, if it hasn't already. To stop this, civil and legal action must be taken. Now. Not at the next election, that's too late. Rallies must be held and participants must be many. Remember, this isn't about weakening only union workers. It's about weakening anyone who isn't rich. This is about irradicating the middle class by under-paying and under-educating. These are scary times, Spitballers! Cooler heads must prevail. Systematically, these secret Facists can be made powerless. Voter recalls, constant calls, e-mails and letters to other elected officialls, and participation in loud but peacefull demonstrations will get the job done. And certainly, next election, don't vote Republican.

[jfitz]

"Socialism In America" Socialism. As you say this word, what images does your mind conjure up? A way of life lacking personal freedom? An ever-observing government bent on total domination? A red flag with a sickle? If the answer is yes, don't be alarmed. We, as Communist-fearing, God loving people have been conditioned to fear this political idealism. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. But the Soviets of that by-gone era weren't socialists, rather, they were totalitarianists. The Soviet way of life was one in which no one person or corporation profited more than the group as a whole. The government doled out money, cars, apartments, education, everything, based on perceived loyalty to Mother Russia. That's not socialism. The socialist tag in USSR was mere propaganda. The Russians were no more socialist than the People's Democratic Republic of China is democratic. Socialism is an ideal way to govern a civilized people. Isn't that what we Americans tell the rest of the world we are; civilized? How come we don't act like it? There is still racism, sexism, all forms of discrimination in our blessed society. In fact the word socialism is dirived from society. George Costanza said it best, "We're living in a society!" Perhaps we are only fooling ourselves about that. We pretend to care about eachother and the rest of the world, but really, it only goes so far. Perhaps that's human nature. After all, the human is a survivalist. Which is to say not at all altruistic. Yet interestingly enough, humans are the only creatures on the planet that demonstrate enough affection to another to willingly rise to the defense of another, risking personal safety in the process. Not even our cousins, the apes, do that. What can explain this? Evolution? More like; the human condition. We can't help it. We've been genetically coded to care. So then why don't we go all the way with it? Greed. Those that have "it" want more. Greed is insatiable. More addictive than any drug. History is full of examples of this. The human being is such a tragic figure. But we can overcome this flaw. Certainly we are intelligent enough. I offer the "smart phone" as but one example. The current political climate in America is one that would have you believing that anything socialist is bad. The Republicans want you the voter to ask yourself, "Why should the government pay for that?" My answer is, "Why not?" Public education. Socialist. Bad. Public healthcare. Socialist. Bad. Public libraries. Socialist. Bad. Public municipal defense (police, fire). Socialist. Bad. The list goes on. Yes, the taxpayer (read; government) paying for anything is by definition socialism. But the Republican spin on this makes one think this leads to the moral destruction of our beloved American society. Oooops! I said it again; society. My bad. Why shouldn't the government (read; taxpayer) pay for such things? Wouldn't government funding, with all its might and reach, make such things better for all in our society? Of course. So, what's at issue here? "Big government?" Only if you believe the negative hype. It is the governments responsibility to look after the wellbeing of its people. Otherwise, you will indeed see the moral destruction of a society. After all, as long as I've got mine, to hell with you. The Republicans are trying to broaden the gap bewteen the Haves and the Have Nots. This is about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer and the middle class...well, no longer existing. Don't be fooled by these Dollar Whores. How about this; lower my taxes, significantly, and the things that I want to pay for, I will. No? That's a bit like allowing me to pay for only the cable TV channels I want to watch. So then, what do these Republicans want to do with our tax dollars? Well first of all, pay themselves. Duh. Next, pay the military. Can't have another 9/11. Then finally, give their rich friends and corporations and all the other special interest groups a big fat tax cut. Then by doing that, there is no money left for social programs like education and healthcare and the like. Fine. You want it, you pay for it. People already do this; private schools, for-profit nursing homes, even buying bus and subway tokens! There is plenty of money going around. But unfortunatley, and typically, it's being spent on the wrong things. Like special interests. That's where the problem is. Mr. Big Fat Cheese wants his day with Mr. Politician so he buys his way in with "campaign contributions." Then Mr. Politician returns the favor with tax cuts for Mr. Big Fat Cheese. And around goes the money. All perfectly legal. Unless of course you try this method among your fellow business associates leaving out Mr. Politician, then it's called "money laundering." So the moral of this story is, come election season, please vote for the little guy. Not the guy with the money behind him because he has an evil agenda that doesn't include a happy ending for you. If there are no little guys on your local ballot, at least vote Democrat. If you vote Republican, you are condoning all that has been happening these last few months to everyone that has to work for a living. I'm just spitballing here.

[jfitz]

BTW, if the government paying for education or healthcare or whatever is socialist and therefore bad, how is it OK for the government to subsidise the oil industry? Isn't that also a "socialist" approach to providing wellbeing to a private business? Just spitballing here.

[Nathan Soares]

you might want to get out a time or 2 Jfitz