GOP gets their message across

The GOP is at it again. Twisting the facts to get the ill-informed on their side. Using words like "common sense" to fool people is pretty damn despicable, if you ask me.

And what is their common sense? Like science and facts, right? Or is it opinion? Face it, folks, the GOP is so out of touch with the modern world that they want to give kings more ransom and kiss their feet, as if they will do good for one and all across the land.

If anyone believes that true small businesses profit what the GOP pretends they do, they are sadly mistaken. Only 2 percent of them would be affected by the lapsing of the cuts. Meanwhile, after nearly a decade, the supposed job creators somehow cut payrolls to bloat profits. Meanwhile they ax those that got them there.

I hate to think that voters could possibly believe that, by strengthening the wealthy class will mean that, if they get their someday, they will be welcomed into the club. Old money has no love for new, folks. Don't kid yourself.

Alone on a most day

I have figured something about the majority of my life: I have always seemed a loner. I don't necessarily like this feeling, since I am quite social everywhere I go, but I seem to like the soloist route, where ever it may take me.

And yet I am always looking for my tribe. Which one, though? I have tried, first, at the tribe of family. It seems like my tribe, since our similar blood runs through us, and the whole shared history thing. But I don't see a whole lot of who I am in their faces.

Then there is the friends tribe. I have spent many a day and night running about, looking for those that seem like me. I first searched the fields of sport but came up empty-handed. Then I searched the fields of play and noticed that no one looked at me with that knowing look. Then I looked into the theater and, for a moment, thought I saw my brothers and sisters. At long last, my search was over. But, as time went on, I realized that many of us are soloists. Sure, there is the similar stripe but it is oh so temporary.

I have stuck myself firmly to the cities for a decade, hoping that I would, one day, move on to find my people only to find that maybe it isn't so bad being a soloist. And, if I ever feel so alone, I can always wander about and meet people, even if for only a brief moment.

Our ancestors seemed destined to remain amongst each other until they weren't. That sounds simplistic but they could walk parallel for as long as they saw fit, or, as their rare few numbers did, venture beyond the safety of the knowing.

So, maybe someday, I shall pack what is important and head off into the world, riding it solo, keep searching for my tribe. But if I never find them, it is okay. I had fun while I was on the journey.

Infographic by College Scholarships.org

Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury

Drain brain

So, in the world of status updates and micro-blogging, we have decided, at least a good majority of us, that we need to drain our brain's contents onto the world.

I can only imagine how our ancestors would see this, even our distant relatives. Of course, we all are hooked on it, even if few would ever admit to it. We are seeking out some sort validation because, frankly, not many of us are so keen to journal our daily observations into clear prose that a mass audience would want to digest.

What I find funny about some of my friends, I will name then Girl and Boy for simplicity, who both use the social media as a way to drain their thoughts and, of course, my thoughts on the matter.

Girl is a friendly enough person with a fun personality, in real life that is. However, armed with Facebook and Twitter, or even texting, for that matter, she is vague and showy and seems to have an urge to just say whatever is on her mind, whether it is relevant, arbitrary or, in some cases, seems to urge the audience to have to prod the answer out of her (which, if you don't have a text plan, can cost a bit).

Also, quoting someone famous is not clever, at least in this decade.

As for Boy, he is a nice enough person in real life, intelligent, artistic, articulate. But when it comes to Twitter, I have no idea what he is saying or doing, but he does it a lot with hash tags so, I guess, maybe he just wants some attention.

Which brings me to my real point. Being relevant is only important if you mean it. After all, a shallow relationship is just that. If I stop caring about what you have to say, think about those that really only checked out what you were saying because, at one point, you said something clever.

I used to talk at length about nothing. I am so lucky Twitter wasn't around when I was medicated, otherwise I would have been at the million Tweet mark but with nothing new to say.

And so I beg, tell your friends that they need to say something, not just spew their thoughts because, often, it is the mystery that makes one want to come back.

Wikileaks attack video

When I worked in public affairs in the military, one of the things I truly strived for was honesty with the public.

This example, of a helicopter crew acting like they were in a video game, is appalling. However, the cover up is downright despicable.

What we should have learned from the Pat Tillman case was that the truth will eventually come out. It tells us that war is not pretty and mistakes are made but that we need to be culpable for our actions.

The recent wikileaks.org video of the attack on a group of people in Iraq shows that someone out there doesn't agree with covering up the truth of our actions in war. It also points to a bigger problem: The military often gets trigger-happy soldiers that seem to forget the overall mission of our military.

My understanding of how we engage in the practice of war is a mission, not a game. Yes, strategy is used to accomplish a mission but we can never forget that the winning of hearts and minds does not include personal gratification nor should we ever try to easily dismiss the wrong actions or give them any leeway to commit atrocities.

It sounds like these airmen acted in accordance to a jock mentality where they wanted to score points with their buddies rather than do what was right. Given that the video came out long after the cover up, it shows that leadership was okay with hoping that no one was owning up to the failure to give the truth rather than protecting someone undeserving of protection.

I feel for the families that lost their loved ones. I also feel for the families that have to deal with these foolish man-children that took out their own shortcomings on the innocent.

I recently re-enlisted in the Army in a public affairs role in hopes that I can keep the truth coming. I hope not to run into opposition to being the truth-seeking arm of our military.

If we truly want to win the wars we started, we must act as if we are there for the people we hope to assist, not be the monsters we are constantly painted as because of our ignorance.

Small villages

With the economy backsliding and the idea that our jobs market is pretty stagnant right now, might it be time to consider more protectionism?

I am not talking about downright closing off our borders but stopping the small towns from disappearing under the weight of trying to be big towns.

Over time, we have had to become more and more creative creatures. Once we settled in an area, we had to not only feed ourselves but give ourselves something to occupy our time. Then someone else came along, and another and another and, soon, we had consolidated resources. Eventually we even came up with another way, other than feeding ourselves and staving off boredom, to up the ante, give our towns more luster.

Industries came in, we took jobs, good jobs by the standards of having to support a farm with the income and putting it back into the land. Here we started to rely on others to provide for us, all we had to do was punch a clock.

Pretty soon every town had a radius of homes and settlements where people worked for the factory and services came in, the other time-wasting things we needed to stave off boredom or to make us feel better. Florists, dentists, restaurants, grouping our education, having a trained group to put out fires, a place to hold our miscreants when they strayed from the law. Everything seemed like it was working toward a better world.

But then the factory found someplace else to do it's work, or couldn't compete with someone with more capital. Soon the factory cut staff until it couldn't keep it's doors opened. The town panicked, consolations were made, wages cut, stores closed. Suddenly the next generation saw the reality that life here wouldn't be permanent and decided to move on, not to be replaced.

And here we are, several generations beyond the beginning of the American tragedy of greed and profit margins. Many of us end up working for someone, educated to work for someone else and, some, unable to cope with the reality that our essential mission in life, to survive, is compromised but what we were taught, what we were told.

But there is hope. It is hope that we are not dead nor or on the edge of ending. We are a resourceful creature, capable of many good things and have a willingness to do better than previous generations.

Maybe it is time that we look inward, to those around us. Maybe it isn't about who has bigger or more but understanding that we are all in this world together. When crisis hits, we suddenly find funds to help out. When we have excess, we give to charity. What better charity is there but our own small tribes, our villages on the periphery? If we look around, if we see opportunity, not for the self but for the whole, then we can see that we can, with ingenuity and thought, that we are able to fill in the gaps. Without concern for making money, we can make our small worlds better without trying to compete.

But it takes a sense of caring for the greater good, something that has seemed to have been forgotten.