Random Thoughts for March, 2014

Random Thoughts for March, 2014

Robert A. Hall

Now come the Iranian "moderates," with peace in their mouths, murder in their eyes and hate in their hearts. But Obama, the media and the left as so wrapped up in the Hope and change bubble of unreality, they can't see it. Americans will die of it. We might lose a city, not only killing millions, but collapsing the economy and making all your investments and retirement funds worth 10% of current value.

I read recently that 23% of Americans say they had not read even one book in the last year, not even a romance or adventure novel, never mind something educational or mentally stimulating. And I bet they all wonder why the country is going to hell.

Change is good, right? After all, Barack Obama ran on Hope and Change and no one in the media questioned what kind of change, so it must be good. So why is he upset about "climate change" when the climate has been constantly changing for thousands of years? Besides, global warming has some winners in terms of increased food production. Cooling--now feared by some scientists--has almost none. Ask the Norse who were able to establish thriving colonies in Greenland during the medieval warn period, when it was warmer than now. But then the climate turned cold again. They died.

I tried to get the TV folks to make my life into a reality show, but thy said reality shows have to be believable.

You can't give your kids self esteem by telling them they are special and wonderful. That sets them up for disaster, because such "self esteem" vanishes like soap bubbles when they run into trouble or challenges. And they will. Self esteem has to be earned to be real. I earned mine at the MCRD Parris Island "Charm School" in 1964--few have earned as much self esteem as Marines. Learning to kill a man at 500 yards with a rifle, or a sentry from behind with your bare hands, does wonders for an 18-year-old's self confidence.

Knowing what is right is the easy part. Doing what is right is the hard part. So a great many folks skip the knowing part, to avoid the doing part.

Before the progressive "War on Poverty," poverty was declining. Ever since the "war" started, it has increased greatly. Thus all liberal programs.

I read that the New York Times profit has fallen 12% from a year ago. Apparently, serving up Progressive Pabulum isn't profitable. Who knew?

As long as the rich get poorer--except of course the liberal elites--progressives could not care less abut the incomes of the poor. In fact, the poorer they are, the more dependent on government, thus likely to vote Democrat, so maintaining poverty is in the Democrats' self interest.

Since Obama has asserted the right to suspend or delay the Affordable Care Act as he wishes by executive order, I assume the next Republican president will be able to suspend or delay parts of laws he doesn't like, no matter what Congress passed.

The worst lie is the one you tell yourself to justify doing something you know is wrong.

Slavery was a great sin and a stain on America (and every other country in the world at some point, as people of every race and creed were enslaved, most often by folks who looked just like them--and it still exists). So would America be a better place if not one slave had been brought here? And the left thinks big business is evil. So would America be a better place if they all closed their doors, stopped serving customer and laid off their workforces? If they really are evil, we should want rid of them, right?

I notice the water for hand washing in public restrooms only comes at two temperatures--too cold and too hot.

Corporations do not pay taxes. When you put a tax on a company it is paid by people, by the owners--including elderly folks living on their retirement investments [like us]--by the customers, or by the employees who must accept lower wages or be laid off because the company paid that money to the government. So when a politician tells you he is going after the corporations, it's coming out of you, one way or another.

I'd be happier if I had my wife's ability to ignore clutter. Of course, then the clutter would be twice as bad.

My wife and I agree that, thanks to our bargain shopping at yard sales, Goodwill, etc., we have way too much stuff. But we don't agree on what to get rid of. When one of us dies, the survivor should have a great garage sale!

Just because something is a great buy, doesn't mean is a great buy for you. I'm trying to learn that...

The current fad is for stainless steel appliances in homes, and they are a big selling point. But knowing how fashions go, in 10 years they may be the new avocado green of appliances, and you will have to replace them to sell your house. So get what you like. If that's stainless steel, fine.

Since it became even more unpopular, Democrats don't want us to use "Obamacare" as shorthand for the Affordable Care Act. Okay, how about "Detroit-Style Healthcare"?

I wish I had an extra 10 or 12 hours every day to watch all the "must watch" political, military and funny video clips folks send me.

When you chose to do what is right in this world, you must be prepared to stand alone in the arena, without allies, probably already beaten, certainly mocked and vilified. But you will be calm in your mind and free in your heart.

Everyone who lives in Chicago pays the "Cook County Corruption Tithe." The corrupt, Chicago-Way, crony, Democrat-machine costs every citizen on every transaction, from paying taxes to buying eggs. It is the same in all the political machine cities, and was the same when the GOP ran a few cities the same way, such as the Big Bill Thompson in Chicago, the last GOP Mayor, who was last in office in 1931. The voters elect them because they got a ticket fixed or a summer job for the kid, never realizing the full cost.

There is no glory in an easy fight - and no honor in fighting for personal gain.

The old (like me) live in the past because there is more of it than the future. And you can pick the good parts.

We went to the local Social Security office, because Bonnie had future retirement questions. Big crowd waiting, half under 35. I assume they were there for SS Disability. Thanks to the healthcare system we are destroying, there are fewer real disabled people unable to work than in the past, but the rules have been relaxed in the last four years, and the disability rolls have exploded, adding to the crushing debt. But the more people dependent on the government, the more votes for the party of big government and endless spending.

As we sat around the SS office for about 90 minutes waiting to ask two questions, in crowds of people being called up to the two open windows (out of four), by numbers (now serving N-28). I thought, "This is what the doctor's office will look like in 5-10 years." However, I must say the woman was very helpful--she agreed with what I had already told Bonnie.

I saw an interesting graphic. It said, "Minimum wage hikes trigger many automatic union pay increases, which produces more dues for unions, thus more campaign contributions for Democrats." And the young people, especially among minorities, who won't get jobs, and thus learn entry level job skills so they can start to climb out of poverty? Who cares--how much do they contribute to the Democrat party?

One of the many reasons I watch almost no TV is the increasing number of ads for lawyers trolling for business. (My wife watches, so I can't help but see them when I look up from my book.) If that's not bad enough we are now getting recorded robo calls in Wisconsin from law firms in Florida asking if we'd been injured because we might be entitled to a cash award. this despite our signing up for the "Do Not Call" list. Meanwhile, lawyers can't figure out why their profession is increasingly held in low regard.

I suppose that since left-wing, anti-American English zealot Piers Morgan's show has been cancelled, he now gets a "path to citizenship"?

Life is a chancy thing. I find that, for both work and daily activities, the better I plan, the more organized I am, the more attention I pay to detail and the more thorough I am, the less chancy it is. But it's still very chancy.

I've never bought a thing from an Internet pop up ad or a Spam E-mail. Have you? Must work though--they keep doing them.

I have a step-daughter, 38, who has opinions about almost everything and solid knowledge about almost nothing. She doesn't read newspapers, watch TV news or read news on the web. Two months after we invaded Iraq, she came into the house and asked, "Are we at war?" We sent her to college three times and she doesn't have an AA degree. I don't think she's read a book all the way through since The Little Engine That Could, certainly not an educational one. She voted for Obama because he was going to "help little people like (her)." But we notice she doesn't go to him with her hand out when she has a crisis, real or imagined. Unfortunately, there are tens of millions like her, who vote for politicians who promise the most benefits, with no thought or concern about where the money is going to come from, or who will pay it. Hence, I think the likelihood of a fiscal collapse, followed by political and social collapse, grows more likely every day. I pray I'm wrong.

The good thing about stupidity is it usually carries its own punishment. The bad thing is that it often punishes innocent people around it.

I was hungry and spotted some yogurt in the back of the fridge. I had two over a week, but noticed on the third that the "best by" date was about a year ago. Didn't seem to hurt me, but I chucked the rest. You think maybe we need to clean out the fridge more often?

Unfortunately, the progressives' answer to the disasters and misery created by their big government policies is always, "More Government!"

Get the collection! My “Random Thoughts” from 2008 through July, 2013 are now collected in this book: The Old Jarhead's Journal: Random Thoughts on Life, Liberty, and Leadership by Robert A. Hall

http://www.amazon.com/Old-Jarheads-Journal-Thoughts-Leadership/dp/1490500162/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373907206&sr=1-1&keywords=Old+Jarhead%27s+Journal

The Old Jarhead’s Journal is a collection of Random Thoughts on politics and life and Conservative Political Essays, mostly published on the author’s blog, including the essay “I’m Tired” which went viral on the Internet in 2009, “The Hall Platform,” “This I Believe,” and “Why I’m a Republican.” While they will be of interest to conservative thinkers, they are collected here in book form as a service to readers who wish to give a copy to favorite liberals and watch their heads explode. All royalties are donated to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.

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Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam Veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate. He is the author of The Coming Collapse of the American Republic.

http://tiny.cc/g02s4 For a free PDF of Collapse, e-mail him at tartanmarine(at)gmail.com. Hall’s eleven books are listed here: http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-book-published.html