It is terrible when you have over seven hundred channels on cable and you get hooked into a panel discussion. State politicians going on about hospital care. The one politician stood up to declare that “the costs are outrageous and this is where government has to step in and help those in need.” On face value it sounded right and moral, until I thought long and hard about the words,” government must step in.” Aren’t we the government? Did anyone ask me, when I had to have the bone shards in my elbow removed from an armed mugging that shattered it, if I wanted to have my insurance company pay the surcharge for someone else who does not have insurance? It would seem to me that between the surcharge and state grants for hospitals we have created a state that Nikita Krushev would be proud to call his own. He did not need to bury us we dug our own hole. We lost the revolution our founding fathers fought and died for. We no longer have the the kings but we have our own dynasties of Rockefellers, Kennedy’s, Bush’s and now the Clinton’s. We have gained one thing at least. We now have taxation with representation. The cheap politician of the Tammany Hall days, with their nickel cigars and a drink to get a vote has been replaced by cheap politicians that use our money to get reelected repeatedly while they drink single malt scotch and smoke Cuban Cohibas. I did not get a shot of whisky or a puff on a cheap cigar. I just got the bill.

I reviewed the New Jersey state constitution. No where in there talks about the ludicrous amount of property taxes we pay to educate the children. We have educators without certification making over $80,000 a year. No where in the constitution states that my insurance premium is there for someone that is not a relative to tap into and I cannot even claim a deduction. There is not a mention that someone that does not save a nickel is given a house without a downpayment because housing is too costly in this state. The governor must get a lot of laughs in his million dollar condo overlooking the Hudson river while having happy hour for the residents. The constitution clearly states the role of government. Our state laws do not resemble the original intent of the constitution. Volumes of laws have been tacked on as responses instead of well considered judgements. No wonder the politicians got rid of Judge Bork whose only sin was to state that he believed in the literal words of the constitution not the reinterpreted words that gave us the mess we have today. Imagine allowing the rabble to vote on constitutional amendments to define our country instead of back room meetings and long lunches of our elected officials. I think the Ten Commandments are the real inconvenient truth and need total reinterpretation to fit our lifestyles today. We can probably get rid of nine of them, maybe just keep thou shall not kill unless it is a war.

People what are we doing to ourselves? Is our collective guilt destroying our country? In a country that supposedly accomplishes its agenda on the basis that majority rules we certainly twisted that up to suit some politicians election ambitions. When does the majority become the minority? What happens when the majority decides to join the minority? Do we get Canada to pay for everything?

This so reminds me when I took a tour of Admiral Nelson’s flag ship, the winner of the battle between England and the Spanish armada. On the tour below decks our tour guide pointed out the punishment area. Someone that had broken a rule would be have his legs strapped between two cannons. It was there that the prisoner would be forced to weave his own cat o’ nine tails and present it to the bosun’s mate. If the bosun accepted the whip then the prisoner would be beat with it, if not he had to go and reweave it again. Somehow I am beginning to feel like that prisoner with the bosun refusing my efforts. “Give us more, mate.”  How did we become trapped in a country that is partially communist and partially capitalist with the politicians as the biased referees? Too many questions and not enough answers, but here is a thought. Everyone should have the necessary amount of shelter, clothing, education, medical treatment but if you would like more go to school for your education, get a skill or a trade, work and pay for the extras yourself. One day they will unshackle my legs and I’ll take the whip and flog the bosun.

Does a lazy nudist wear clothes? Do fish ever get thirsty? Did I pique your interest? If you never find out the answers will it haunt your every waking moment? Probably not. Then why do we care whether Barrack Obamma, Hilary Clinton, Mitt Romney or John McCain win the primary election? Do you know how many people were injured or killed in Afghanistan today? Has anyone come close to finding a cure for cancer? How about the unsung heroes in our hospitals that have brought someone back to life by their skills. Do you know any of the teachers in your local school system? What are their credentials?  Where are your children right now? Will the bridge you drive over collapse? Is the person across the street in need of a smile and a wave? Aren’t these questions more important than the petty bickering of politicians? The real question is why aren’t we considered for political office? Why are we always stuck with all these insiders? Originally the founding fathers saw property owners serving a fixed amount of time in office because they had a vested interest in doing the right thing to keep the nation prosperous and safe. A real news story would be that someone not anointed by the party got elected by a massive write in vote.

Frustration has set in. The “experts” are now voicing their opinions on the failures of President Bush. I have to announce up front that I am a registered Republican but I would not vote for Bush again. Lets face it though would anyone else have done better? The Democratic candidates all voted to fund the war and repeated it over and over. I do not want to see anyone on our side die in a war no matter how just the war. The problem today is that we do not enter into conflict to win, we enter them to stalemate the countries. The power this country has could obliterate the whole of the near east but we would be castigated for the rest of our existence. So win the war but do it within reason and do it quickly the American public gets bored watching the same old war on television when Paris Hilton may or may not be wearing panties that day. Yuck!

They All Did

The next big issue are illegal immigrants. What happened? Naturally President Bush was holding the barbed wire fence up for them to crawl under. It had nothing to do with the Democrats, Republicans and Independents that wanted a cheap baby sitter, someone to clean the house, cut the grass and wash the dishes. We were constantly fed the same line by the press, “it doesn’t cost anything for them to be here” “They are doing the jobs that no one else will do” Both total lies. In New Jersey it costs the tax payers $15000 per child just for the education, and like the Wizard of Oz do not look behind the curtain of additional costs like medical, transportation, insurance costs and all this to parrot a script at McDonald’s to give us our fast food. The Princeton Packet is bewailing the tactics of the INS in rounding up identified illegal immigrants. The Princetonians are bewailing the INS arrests others they find in violation of the immigration laws. If this is distressing to them, why don’t they look at themselves for providing a safe haven in direct opposition to the law. I guess they never thought of changing the law that would make them pay a fair wage for the work that these immigrants do for them. They would have to contribute to the general fund by paying their share of taxes and fees. Ever wonder why there are so many landscaping trucks running around the streets performing work that was traditionally accomplished by eager high school kids trying to make a few dollars. So don’t cry for me Argentina cry for the Princeton mothers that have to actually take care of their children, grass will have to be cut, after school jobs may blossom. All these horrors but on the other hand taxes may not be reduced but reallocated to other quality of life issues, uninsured motorists fees may be reduced, new school construction could be halted for years. Oh the horror!

Cost of Illegal Immigrants

How do you like the cost of a gallon of gas? Not too happy? Check the taxes you pay the state for them to occasionally send someone out to measure that the meters on the gas tanks give you full measure for the money. How many tanks of gas does it take to pay for the inspectors? Don’t forget they are using gas driving their trucks around the state. In my experience every-time gas goes down the state raises taxes because they are losing money. As gas goes up when is the last time the state lowered their tax rates to keep it balanced. Does the state actually find the crude oil, buy the ships that transport it, refine it, distribute it, pump it in your car? No then why should they get anything? Fix the roads? How many potholes per mile is there in your state? What happens to the Federal money that the states receive to fix the roads? The Federal government has not raised their taxes and continues to give the money to the states.

Gas Prices

So what do we get? We get exactly what we deserve. The press, politicians, and advocates all play their fiddles and we dance and dance until we collapse. How close are we to collapsing? Reading the blogs and Twitters we still have a long way to go, we dance in circles instead of stopping and researching the issues and come up with our own sense of what is going on in our lives. We are not hamsters running on the wheel of earth. The earth won’t stop turning if we stop running in circles, we will not fly out into space.Good luck and Good night.

The US Post Office played Scrooge this year by denying a recovering wounded veteran a Christmas card. The image tells the story. Correctly addressed after notifying Post Office but returned anyway.

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You would think that facing a war would put a sour face on anyone, but after leaving McGuire Air Force base I felt energized. All these bright and happy faces surrounded me. When I looked at the civilian workers that I work with I saw nothing but misery. All we are facing are arrogant political hacks, not harm and death. I realize that we are so beat down that no one is happy anymore until you get out of work. What a sorry way to live, yet we elect these idiots and we fear these idiots. Everyday these young Army and Air Force heroes face an uncertain future. All we face are blank faces and supreme stupidity. How do thousands of unionized workers hide under rocks when a political appointee with a limited intelligence and a limited time span to exist stares at you? I think it is truly time to use Gandhi’s passive resistance and smile and do whatever you want. They die if we don’t help. We take away the souls they have been feeding on like oily succubi and they will shrivel up and blow away in the wind.

The old story about the frog in the pot seems to apply to current state of political affairs. As the flame increases and the water becomes warmer the frog continues swimming uncaring. The fire heats higher and higher and before the frog knows enough to jump out  of the pot, he’s frog legs dinner. New Jersey politics is a lot like that. Granted that the care of those that cannot care for themselves is a moral obligation for society. These obvious moral mandates keep growing in the legislature. The rights continue to grow and grow until society as a whole can no longer sustain itself. Then, in turn do we become those unfortunates that cannot care for themselves as medical costs skyrocket because the industry knows they have an ally in a seat in the government office that thinks nothing of spending every-ones money on these moral issues? My cynical nature starts to observe that those that seem the most in need do not get the help they need. Segments of the population are given handouts while others are relegated into some living purgatory of trying to sustain themselves and pay the price for the charity of others. Increasingly the state is losing revenues because earners are leaving the state for other areas less apt to reach into their pockets to sustain a personal whim of the politicians in this state. I have lived in a quasi socialist state of Great Britain. At that time 55% of my salary was taken to pay for social programs, but I was allowed to participate in these programs. My surplus money went to luxuries that I wanted. In this country they brag of the rich and poor tax breaks and the ever shrinking middle class worker having to pay for everyone else’s needs and from the forest of satellite dishes and SUV’s I see parked in urban areas, I would say some of the luxuries as well. How much does the average citizen pay in taxes in this country? With the fees, local taxes, Federal taxes, surcharges and other hidden charges inflicted on us, how much do we pay for taxes? How much did it cost for acting Governor Cody to check high school athletes for steroid use? Governor Corzine, this morning, announced he would make sure the state of New Jersey will pick up the tab for those children that will losing their medical coverage. He is already 2 billion in the hole and with the mandated funding of schools and pension systems how is he going to pay for these moral obligations? The typical strategy will be to demonize state workers. They have too many benefits, they have medical coverage, they have days off, they have pensions, what will he take away with the rabble screaming HANG THEM ALL.After all the blood letting, there will be a quiet rebuilding of government payroll budgets and business as usual in the capitol, although with a lot of wounded, demoralized victims of a war that was not of their choosing.

Shades of Jim Florio and the toilet paper tax.

I only wrote when forced to in classes for the grade. Most of the time I looked forward to the challenge the assignment presented. These assignments were nice and structured, lots of organized facts that backed up your opinion whether right or wrong. A nice cohesive argument that could be ignored as the ramblings of a silly undergraduate.

I still have my Filofax with all the scribbles I jotted down in fits of anxious creativity. i have left short stories around the world which were probably thrown out by the maid service in some hotel. I have never seen or heard of any play, book, or movie that resembled any of my original writings so I am pretty secure in stating that no one read my scribbles.

Now with the ability to instantly publish something not limited to a select class in college, but the entire world without structure. Publishing an unstructured document without any reason other than to publish your opinions and thoughts. there is something very subversive in this ability. My writing has begun to take on the anger and frustration of the common man. I forgot who wrote the phrase, “we live our lives in quiet desperation ” but it takes on a new meaning talking inside my head while my fingers voice the thoughts for everyone to read. This started to become frightening the other night when I realized that behind me at any time there may someday be someone that types in a Google search and I will be revealed to everyone as I truly am, at least for that moment in time. This is frightening, because like all other humans my thoughts and opinions change based on circumstances and newly revealed facts. Questions arise, will this ruin my viability as a Presidential Candidate someday? Will my words be used in evidence against me? Not likely, I chose not to run and I try to follow all the known laws.

But the spectre of a Google search sits and waits. Lingering like a tiger ready to pounce. Did you see what Sibby wrote? that seems enormously presumptuous that anyone would actually care what Sibby wrote. Will the Google threat reduce me to writing anonymous graffiti? Will my freedom be impacted? Will I begin to cheat on a game of solitaire with words?

Tune in next time for the answers to these and other questions when Tide presents As the World Turns and goodnight world.

Just because you live in New Jersey does not mean that you can live anywhere in the world. There is one place that is impossible to live in and that is New Jersey. In boot camp during the beginning of my four years in the Navy, the company commander told me that New Jersey has such changeable weather that you will be able to tolerate any weather in the world. After years of travel I found out that I could tolerate and mostly enjoy the weather in other parts of the world, but not because of New Jersey’s changeable weather but because the State of New Jersey is so terrible that every place else seems great.

It is mid October and the weather is hot and humid. I hate to say it but Al Gore may be right about global warming. But think what would have happened if his pet scientist stuck with his story that the earth was moving rapidly into the next ice age. This hot and humid weather would have been considered a blessing instead of a world wide disaster. It is a matter of perspective. The other lesson is that if you constantly change your dire prediction there will be enough of the eco-nuts that will follow you everywhere including Stockholm. Remember terrorist king Yassar Arafat can get a Nobel Peace prize for not killing as many Isreali’s one year than he did all the rest. I think it is called positive reinforcement.

See you all later.

I love the old crafts. I became fascinated when I started collecting meerschaum pipes. There was something satisfying about using a unique tool to do something as mundane as smoke. Researching the method of manufacturing was not much different than the great Renaissance painters and their apprentices. Each step of the process built on the previous step, culminating on a finished pipe that was easily destroyed if you dropped it. Fragility and beauty because that is the way that things were made. Victorian gingerbread, blacksmith-ed tools, all forms of art and beauty that surrounded everyone and became part of the background of life, unappreciated until today when form follows function.

I know it is politically incorrect ,but I grew up learning to read the Little Train that Could and Little Black Sambo. I mean no disrespect but trying no matter how impossible it may seem and chasing a tiger or the tiger chasing you around the palm tree just made so much sense. I see philosophies that people embrace and for me it comes down to those two. I think I can I think I can I know I can and holy sh*t now what do I do. Regrettably most of my life seems to have been the later. Is the tiger chasing me or am I chasing the tiger? I think the best lesson from any of this is to not stop. Keep going because you will get swallowed up. The only problem with this is if you catch the tigers tail what will happen to you then? Will the tiger say you got me buddy, you win? Or will he say Yum a tender morsel. I think the only way to win is to zag instead of zig. As the tiger runs in circles you run for the beach, jump in the ocean and swim for it.
The one great thing is that life has been interesting. I bluffed my way into more jobs because the lesson I learned is that most managers have no clue on how to judge your capabilities otherwise they would not be looking for someone and that most things can be learned if necessary because they have to be understandable or you would be Einstein and since no one but Albert is Einstein we find ourselves ignorant but willing to learn.