Just thinkin

Pompey and the Optimates would be a great name for a band.

A Context-Free Open Letter

Dear Snerd Murphy (or whatever the hell your name is),
Your public behavior is a beauty to behold. You are a
testament to the wonders of nature and to the notion of natural selection. You
have truly made me question the veracity of Darwin’s theory.
I applaud you.
I mean that in the most sincerely ironic sense.
Now, please stop. No, really. Stop it. Right now.
Yours truly,
An individual concerned for humanity’s future.

Just a Suggestion

Given all the rhetoric surrounding climate change, genetically modified food and over-population...

Appropriate vs. Inappropriate

And the Heat Goes On

Well, to be perfectly frank, the Foreign Registration Office (FRO) have made it much easier
than it had been in previous times. It was a multiple-day colonoscopy with gardening tools. Now
it is just a lot of waiting in a multitude of different lines and dumping a
shitload of documentation in front of people who wonder what the fuck you’re
doing in their country. It has been 9 different lines, plus getting a bank
draft (out in the mid-day sun to get there).
I'm neither a mad dog, nor English.
Don’t let me forget the documents you need that are not on
the document checklist THEY provide you with. They look at you like “What is
wrong with you,” when you do not miraculously have them at your disposal. Then
returning at 5 p.m. if you’ve accomplished “the needful.”
This is a lot of bitching and griping, but the truth of the
matter is, they have every right and I begrudge them nothing. I’m their guest.
Their house. Their rules. Well, the arbitrary part pisses me off royally, but
the rules, per se, do not.
I lead an interesting life over here, so what the fuck.
There are plusses. Don’t make any mistakes about it. For
instance 1. Gorgeous girl from Uganda in stilettos and a grey pencil skirt -
thumbs up! 2. Korean girls. Full stop. 3. NRI shenanigans. Love that word – shenanigans. 4. Girl who looked Italian and smelled like jasmine. 5. Nice lunch. Always a plus. 6. Last but not least is
that I did not have to think a whole lot today. That, in and of itself, is rare
and joyous. Now I just need to go back, pick up the paperwork, take a richshaw
home (after arguing about the fare, of course) and take a cool shower and
relax.

Nothing Upstairs

Sweating With the Stars

It is now close to the heat index tipping point for me – 37
Celsius is about as hot as I can stand without melting. I remember being in
Delhi when it was 47 C. You read that right – 47. I thought it was hell on Earth.
And that was without factoring in the auto-rickshaw vermin.
Well, that is why Dog invented air conditioning.
Well, isn’t it?
Having to do business outside is something to dread like
going to a dentist with an undiagnosed issue to resolve. Having to stand in the
sun for one hour while waiting to go into the Foreign Registration Office is
like having a root canal. Except, I might prefer the root canal.
You saw that one coming, am I right?

As Stated

Moot or Moat?

Only time will tell if this process takes.

The world will deliver a sigh of relief if a non-violent change actually comes to fruition in this lady's lifetime.

Grace matters.

How can you tell if a politician is lying?

The're speaking.

Lies. They're everywhere. We are inundated by them. We read them. We hear them. We even speak them. Like death and taxes, lies are some of life's few constants.
So why are we surprised when politicos are taking graft and selling a truckload of shit to us?
I used to believe that there were plenty of people who "cared" about what my quality of life could be.
Now I know better.
Outside of our little circles, few could give a rat's ass about our well-being. Even fewer are affected by it.
But that is just fine. It just is. Work with it. Embrace it. Take ownership of it. Then do something about it.

Valentine's Day

Capturing ardor from a distance is quite the trick.
Gotta be in the right Frema mind.

2012

Maybe If the Photos Were From Abu Ghraib

Well, no photos. The Transparent Presidency continues its opaqueness.

Cannot piss 'n moan about the operation, for sure, but it was the military doing what they were trained to do. Kill the combatants.

Still hard to digest though.

10 years. A lifetime. Thousands of lives, in fact.

I continue to marvel at the partisan zero-sum game being played out. "Osama gets bin Laden and Bush couldn't" bullshit. Obama and Bush both deserve credit. This is especially the case when you consider Obama has just continued so many of his predecessor's policies. He even ramped up a few of them. And he did make the smart and tough call. I give him a lot of credit for that. I hope it becomes a trend.

Tap once for "Yes." Tap twice to be sure.

Getting It Out Front

Crossing the Rubicon

The die has been cast. I am past 50. In fact, I am 52.

More scars. Fewer affairs of the heart.

More than anything, I have a clarity I never knew possible when I was a young man. I also know change is a constant companion. It waits for no one.

"The man who views the world at 50, the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life." - Muhammad Ali

That, I would not trade.

"Now, this is shit..."

How many times have we heard this one?

War is bad. Except this one. The intention is pure.

These are good people. I just know that they are. Doesn't matter thatI haven't a clue as to who they really are.

If we just throw more money at it, we can fix it. What's a few trillion amongst friends? How can I be out of money? I still have checks.

Politicians are all bad... except mine because he got me free cable.

***

Really?

A Gora Phobia

Yeah, well...
It is almost time. Hell, it has been for a long time now. It seems like every moment is fraught with obstacles and delay. Sounding familiar?

I am a bit phobic of a few things. I have a medical thingy coming up this week. I am facing economic plunder. The mad sell-off. There is the boxing up to do. There is the donate most of my excess to whichever charitable organization I deem worthy/find first. Last minute visits (long overdue).
Visa. Ticket.
Yeah. Phobia. Ummm. Plenty.
All the while - Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock...

But, as the economic theory goes, what are the "opportunity costs" to this plan of action?

Well, for starters, I am getting rid of a ton of stuff. Good stuff. expensive stuff. Stuff I would like to acquire whenever I settle. But, for now, it just sits in boxes anyway. So what real value does it have? On the other hand, it is like an anchor around my neck. I'm drowning in it all. It has prevented me from moving on.
It isn't like I'm moving a few towns over.
I also have to admit, I kinda dig the quasi-Jesuit lifestyle. It is ridiculously liberating.
Removing that anchor will also make it all very, very real. THAT alone makes me a little nervous.
Tick-Tock...
Well, I'm not joining the Foreign Legion, and it's not a big, freaking tattoo on my face I fear. It is just a newly added frayed nerve. A PTSD on top of my AO-OCD. Am I SOL? WTF?!?!
Tea. I'll make tea. Sikkim will be today's provider.
Everything is better after a cup of tea.

WTF Just Happened?

A year just flew by. An entire year.

Been a helluva year, too. The peaks and valleys have been extreme. Pick a category and there were X-Game chart-busters.

Gonna try and ease my way back into this. I know I said that last few times out as well. Like I said, a helluva year.

Don't mind me, I'm off to look for my snark.

Dystopia

Well I'll have to own up right now. I didn't see it coming. Not in my lifetime.

We have what one may call a socialist in the White House. That, in my estimation, would be understatement. When Republicans act like Democrats and the Democrats act like Bolsheviks, calling the prez a socialist is just being respectful of the man.

We now have a group of people with no political party as such, but who scare the hell out of leftists everywhere. The Tea Party people. It isn't a political party, if you remember your history, it is an homage to an event. It was the moment when a young colony decided that enough was enough and moved to kick the British off American soil. It was just the beginning but, oh it scared the Sherlock Holmes outta the crown.

The movement has not titular head. It is about an agenda of limited government and free market capitalism. It is about the actual Bill of Rights - actual free speech and right to worshp (or not). It is about bearing arms and states rights. Oh yeah, the tax thing. Hmmm. Tea Party. Get it?

I also never thought I'd see the day when there were no Kennedys in elected office. Hell, I thought Teddy would be enbalmed and propped up in his chair. Now there is a Republican representing Mass. in the Senate. There is now a fiscal reformer in the governor's mansion in New Jersey. Democrats across the country are declining to run again after their current term ends.

There was snow on the ground in all 50 states in January. Go ahead. Check for yourselves.

Then there is the Canadian government apologizing for all of those years of Celine Dion. I, for one, shall be putting in for reparations.

Does This Taste Funny To You?

I took many months off as this year took a lot out of me.

First,my health wasn't so hot. Some chronic b.s. to deal with.

Secondly, I was left with premonitions manifesting themselves before my very eyes. The virtual death of the American auto industry, nationalization of capital and health care, and anyone standing in the way being labeled domestic terrorists, radical racists and, God forbid, "teabagging Republicans."

Well, I am a gun-toting, disabled vet, non-Republican, capitalistic, teabagging, well-educated, globe-trotting,socialism-loathing, pro-immigrant, anti-illegal immigrant, "24"-watching, Objectivist-oriented, Libertatian-leaning, quasi-Buddhist/Catholic, who loves his country.

Any objections?

I am a supporter of Club Gitmo. I am a supporter of Israel and its right to exist.

I think that today's France is more hawkish than the U.S. I also know that Sweeden has lower corporate taxes than we do.

I know that this president was chastised by the Vladimir Putin (Russia's leader and former head of the KGB) on our flirting with socialism. We were similarly put on notice by the leader of the People'sRepublic of China (and head of the Chinese Comminist Party).

Notice a pattern here?

I support the Bill of Rights. That means the 2nd and 10th Amendments as well as the oft-miscited 1st.

I note the irony that stems from my blossoming when I live outside of my own borders and that I never feel more American than when I do. At home, I find most people not interested in the world unless that subject has a snarky bumper sticker associated with it.
This has had the effect of causing my heart to be heavy.
We have been sipping from the Bolshevik goblet, pumped full of feel-good about yourself rhetoric and being led with a Stalinist vision.
Drink up Shriners.