We need you.

A friend of mine directed me to this quote yesterday. Sadly, this is the state of our country right now. What a vision Alexander Tyler had.

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over lousy fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average of the world’s great civilizations before they decline has been 200 years. These nations have progressed in this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; from faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back again to bondage."

I see both major political parties in this country are going to be spending record amounts of money (due to the new legislation that removes limits on donations) in the next couple months to persuade you to vote for their candidates. It should be just another exercise in wasted money.



I would say that both major political parties in this country are so focused on pointing the finger at the other that they have lost sight of why their job is important in the first place. They work for us, remember? The federal government is spending our children's future earnings right now. We need to do something about it. They need to be stopped.

There is NOTHING that is free in this world, but still many Americans think that there is. Being a responsible adult and living in this world is expensive. We need to remember that fact and get used to paying our own way (just like our parents and their parents did) for what we need.

This isn't about political party. It isn't about class, race, creed or status. This is about our future success as a country. We need to protect our own future. It is our job to pick officials to run the government that are sensible and competent.

WAKE UP, AMERICA! Get your eyes on the big picture. Protect your future with candidates that advocate good long term financial decisions, not with short term government funded patches on previous poor decisions. Protect your children's future by voting in government officials that have a deficit reducing budget and stick to it.



We need to get our votes out this fall. We need real change in the way our government does business. We need less government spending and more personal financial responsibility. We need some people with common sense to get voted into office before a professor somewhere is writing about us and how great our way of life was. Yes, that's right: WAS.

This is our country. Let's make sure some greedy politicians don't ruin it for us.

Sort much?

I sort food. I don't really mean all food. But, I sort some food. I do.

I thought for the longest time it was just part of my OCD behavior that I spent some time sorting. I spoke with a friend of mine about my sorting tactics and he admits that he sorts food, too. Maybe it isn't just me? Or, is he OCD, too? Hmm. Can you tell who is nuts in this world if you only ask people that are also nuts? I wonder...

I sort jellybeans. I takes me all sorts of time to eat jellybeans since I cannot stand the mixed up taste they have if you just dump a fistful into your mouth. I watch many people do it, but I cannot seem to. I watch others devour the jellybeans in a "NOM, NOM, NOM" fashion, but it just isn't me. It's icky. It is especially icky with gourmet jellybeans that have more flavor than the usual generic cheapies. So, I sort them all out by color. I pick out any deformed ones. I pick, group, and organize them all. I group them into twos or threes. Then, I finally eat them. It is a long process.




I suppose sorting jellybeans isn't really that strange. But for me, it doesn't stop there. I sort M&M's by color. I know they are supposed to all taste the same, but I still sort them. I cannot help it. I give myself reasons for doing it as justification. I tell myself that the artificial colors taste different. I tell myself that you are supposed to sort them by color. I tell myself they just look better when you are eating them when they match. Right.

I sort Mentos. I don't know why. I have mostly given up on them since I can't effectively sort them without removing them from their sleeve and after I remove them from their sleeve and sort them, there is no easy way to carry them around.

I sort my Altoids many times by their shape. Then, I close the lid and put them in my pocket and they get all mixed up again. [sighs] I sort.



I don't like mixing foods. It just seems wrong in most cases. Individual foods deserve some solitude. They deserve their own time to shine. They aren't spices or seasoning existing only to compliment other foods even though they may have spices or seasoning in them. They have a larger existence than that. They are their own planet in the universe of the plate. They deserve better then to be ramrodded into your mouth streamlined with some of their flavor competitors. They need their chance in the limelight. Focused. Uninhibited. Pure.

But then again, maybe it depends on the food.

If I am eating ham with mashed potatoes and peas, the peas immediately get mixed in with the potatoes. It is a rule. I am sorry to inform the potatoes, but they just aren't that exciting alone. They need something to give them a little pep. They need a little color. They need excitement! That's where the peas come in. They are good enough to eat alone, but frustrating and time consuming because they are slippery little suckers. Also, peas come in such a tiny little package that unless you have 5-7 in a bite, it seems like some sort of queer food rationing situation. So, they would be way easier to eat if they were stuffed in some sort of starchy, glue-like substance. This is where the potatoes come in. Using the potatoes as glue, you can group peas together to get maximum pea flavor without embarrassing pea spills or food droppings. See?!? They were made for each other. Sort of.



Mashed potatoes aren't always on the receiving end of things for me. They aren't always the glue that holds my plate together. Come to think of it, the ham/peas/potatoes scenario is the only situation that I will routinely ever mix anything into my potatoes. I don't put corn into my potatoes. I don't put green beans into my potatoes. Heck, I don't usually even put gravy on my potatoes unless the rest the meal promises to be dry turkey or chicken. I hate to pollute my potatoes with much of anything other than butter or sour cream. Or peas. Hmm.

Now, that really doesn't make any sense at all.

So, I don't mean to go off on a rant or anything...

Let us not let our hostility get the best of us. And, when I say us, I mean me.

I think the whole United States would be greatly improved if California just broke off and fell into the ocean. Or, better yet, California could leave the United States and just become their own sovereign nation.

I wouldn't feel this way if it wasn't for all the negatives the whole of the United States has to suffer through to include California in our list of states.



California is broke. They have proven that their ultra liberal lifestyle doesn't cash flow. I am not one to judge them and I couldn't care less about what they do out there, but I DO NOT want my tax money paying for their choices. The Schwarzenegger administration has done a few things to try to get California in the black again financially, but the people don't want it. They don't want to change their lifestyle because their state is broke. They don't want good deficit reduction ideas. They don't want anything other than federal money to pay for their choices. They want to spend my money and yours.

If I were a Californian and my state was broke, this ridiculous shit would drive me nuts:



http://www.twiceright.com/2010/7/6/california-moves-to-ban-plastic-bags/in/us-news/by/alex



Brilliant! Let's make the plastic bags for groceries and prescriptions a source of income for our state's government! That will solve our garbage problem! If the bags are illegal, the problem is solved! Genius! [facepalms] [facepalms again]

How about this:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/15/MN3T1EE9KS.DTL




Let me think...oh yeah, I remember now. YOU'RE STATE IS FUCKING BROKE! IT'S A FUCKING ROCK! A ROCK! A FUCKING ROCK! It is a rock. Why don't you spend some money lobbying and suing and pissing away state funds over a rock. Seriously, if you don't like the state rock, leave it on the ground. Leave it alone. Don't lick it. Don't eat it. Don't grind it up and breathe in its dust. Just shut up and leave it alone. It's about like raccoon poop. I don't like it. I just leave it alone. I don't know if it is harmful to me or not, but I don't lick it or eat it. I just leave it lay on the ground. Think about it.

How about this dandy:

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/18/2897615/schwarzeneggers-minimum-wage-fight.html





Okay. I see. You, as governor want to try to reduce your overhead. You know all the rest of America has taken a pay cut in the last couple years. Hmm. Maybe state workers could take a pay cut? That would save the state a LOT of money! Wait, nevermind. Those liberal bastards will just fight it in court and piss away more state money trying to defend their salaries. What a joke this is. YOUR STATE IS BROKE! I think California should just lay off their state employees. Seriously. A job for government in this liberal climate is the most secure job in the United States since even though the source of their paychecks can't afford them, they can still keep their job and their pay. Reality check here, Cali state employees: Everyone in America has lost money, taken pay cuts, or lost their job in this recession. Piss on you if you think your job is so important that you are immune. Piss on you all.

And...this is great:

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/19/2898758/sacramento-may-not-know-it-but.html#storylink=omni_popular

So..you have bedbugs. You might get a red bite, but in California, you can also get fined and sued. What the fuck?!? I quote:

"Advocates with Legal Aid of Northern California said bedbug addendums have grown in popularity, but they maintain that the pests are an owner's responsibility. "Even with an addendum, you have to prove that it's the tenant's fault," said Martha Valles, a housing paralegal, and the parasite's elusive behavior can make that difficult.



The annoying insect that can leave itchy red welts, cause psychological damage, and trigger a slew of economic and legal complications has the potential to become lethal, some experts warn."

I think the real danger of bedbugs in California is the lawsuits, not the itchy red skin and loss of sleep. Only in California. [shakes head in disgust]

I hate Jimmie Johnson. He's from California. Maybe. Well, if he isn't, he should be. I hate him anyway.




I suppose the only good thing that comes out of California is almonds. They are great. I love almonds. But, in light of the benefits to the rest of the United States, I would give up eating almonds if California would just fuck off. I suppose there are enough guys with salty nuts in their mouths out there, anyway.