Thinking out loud!

A space to place those things my mind responds to; sometimes whether I like it or not. Harm is never intended so please don't go that way. This is just a canvas...a work in process...evolving, mutating, morphing, dynamic. Like life.

[johnieblueshoes]

The liberal left crucified Paula Dean for her past indiscretions. Do you think they'll hold Hillary to the same standard. I doubt it. My guess is they'll run to her defense. What do you bet?

[johnieblueshoes]

Congressional call centers??? Are you kidding me???

It's no wonder our country is struggling. Our elected representatives are a bunch of gutless, low-life chumps. Did you see 60 minutes tonight? How sick did that make you feel? How angry that these maggots have stolen and corrupted one of our most valuable treasures...the US Congress...the people's house! They should all be more than ashamed...they should be mortified and they should be ousted...every single one of them that has directed or participated in this disgrace. I have no words to state my feelings about this. No words, no matter how disgusting, would be adequate.

[johnieblueshoes]

The politicians / government think we're idiots!!!!

And apparently too many of us seem to be. Check this really basic bit of math.

Our government spends more than it brings in and borrows money in our name. That is called the national debt. Some 17 or 18 trillion dollars and growing by a trillion or so each year.

We, the citizens of the US, spend more money on imported goods of other countries stuff than we get from exporting our stuff to them. That’s called the trade deficit. That number for 2015 was something like 800 billion dollars.

Soooo….. we (actually our government) borrow about 1 trillion dollars a year so we can send 800 billion (80%) back. “We the people” get the debt and our trading “partners” get the the money. Just in case that reality escapes your understanding, that is a BAD DEAL!! A really bad deal!

The real threat to the existence of America as we know it is stopping this glutinous governmental behavior. So far, none of the politicians running for president even seem to want to talk about this. But if someone doesn’t fix it, we’re as good as dead. Think about how long you could run your family in a state of ever-increasing debt. The reality is ultimately the same for our country as it would be for your family. Not hard to see the problem.

[johnieblueshoes]

Americas leadership vacuum.

This whole thing Trump has whipped up only persists because real leadership in this country is AWOL. The issues Trump raises are real and on the hearts and minds of the nation. His solutions are inappropriate, unAmerican and nonsensical there is no doubt. But the rest of our supposed leadership is offering nothing....zero! We have huge problems with terrorists all over the world...and more and more in our country. Sadly they are almost always from the centers of Islam and wrapped in the robes of that religion. It is horrible for the peaceful majority....but never the less it true. No one on any side of this issue seems to know what to do, or even speak coherently on the topic. Obama has no plan...no answers. None of either a party's presidential candidates are offering any real solutions. None are saying Trump is wrong, but he is talking about real problems and here's how I think it should be handled. It is a well known fact that Nature abhors a vacuum. That applies in social behavior as well. The leadership vacuum that Trump is fulfilling for surprisingly many only exists because of the traditional leaderships decades-long inability to offer solutions to the challenges that confront us or any real progress toward their resolution. Thus...someone has to lead. Someone has to speak loudly the voices of the people. Trumps is doing it because others are not. They are as much the problem therefore as Trump himself. Offer solutions...make some progress...or get the hell out!!!!!

[mlder]

I know some people are going to think that I’m probably exaggerating and that even worse happens on a daily basis in other countries, but it doesn’t feel real until it hits you, until it hits home. Back in January when Charlie Hebdo was attacked, it was the first attack that had really shocked France in a long time. But what happened tonight was just on another level. I feel sick. I feel like it isn’t real, that it’s just a nightmare and those tragedies didn’t just happen. I mean, they targeted everyone regardless of gender, religion, skin tone and so forth. I can’t even begin to process the fact that they killed almost everyone in the hundred people that were being held hostage at the Bataclan. Even the President almost couldn’t help crying and shaking on national TV in front of millions of people. I mean, he fucking declared state of emergency. This never happens. They’re closing borders, which have been completely open to everyone within the European Union for decades now. It’s just unbelievable. It’s in those moments that I realize how much I love and care about my country. But I also worry that the FN (a French extremist party) is going to take advantage of those atrocities to reinforce their presidential campaign and win the elections, because people are going to assume that that’s Islam’s fault. That every Muslim out there wants you dead. It worries me because it’s not the reality of things, it’s not what Islam is about but ignorant, scared and angry people will end up thinking that if it’s not already the case. And it’s sad. So fucking sad. I just hope if I have some fellow French followers who have friends or family in Paris tonight, that they’re safe and if they’re not, that I’m thinking of them. Please don’t go outside until further notice. Use the hashtag #porteouverte to find shelter in Paris and please stay safe. We need to be strong and not give in to hate.

[johnieblueshoes]

If Muslims want their "high jacked" religion back why do they choose to do nothing about it? If they want the world to think they are not complicit they need to act accordingly. Do you see that happening? I don't! You do the math.

[kyleehenke]

i know bad things happen all over the world every day, but it’s events like these that deeply shake my perception of humanity

i will never ever understand how humans could do this to other humans

[johnieblueshoes]

Why do you think these terrorists are human? By calling them that you credit them too highly. Take a close look. They're monkeys with weapons. A disease in the human genome that needs purging...like any cancer it should be poisoned, radiated and surgically excised!

[johnieblueshoes]

No law, no border, no country!

Whether you like Donald Trump or not reality is that some of what he says is not just true, but critically essential if the U.S. Is to survive. If we do not have and cherish law and order we are done; maybe not today, but sometime sooner than I like to think. The problems with border security, or rather lack thereof, is not an example of a lack of laws however, but rather a glaring example of the ineptitude of our elected representatives, from POTUS down the line, to do their jobs and enforce the law. Alarmingly, (not a strong enough word) that ineptitude is not limited to our borders. Can you think of one area of government that is doing a great job? Or even a good job? I'll give my vote to our military...who I think do a great job. Beyond that though I can't see any great jobs being done. Sadly, that true of many Americans. They don't see greatness from the leadership of our country...and we have the right to expect greatness. And that's why Trump's messages are getting attention. Like him or hate him he is speaking the minds of millions of Americans. Law and order are critical and demanded by the citizenry. We must all live within the law and government must enforce that law upon all those who don't. Our border situation is not about the good people caught up in the mess. It's about the lack of law and order it represents and our elected leaderships inability to fix it. Reality is, if you are not in this country legally you should not be here. That's the law and the law needs to be enforced! Plain and simple! If this law is not enforced, which other law is next? We need to excise the cancer that lawlessness represents and do it now. The prognosis otherwise is a long, slow, painful death. THAT, is what our law abiding citizens recognize and that is why Mr. Trump is getting such a following. He's speaking truths politicians simply can not.

[johnieblueshoes]

The "BIG OIL" gouge!

It pisses me off that we're paying gasoline prices that look like crude oil is $100 a barrel when it's only about $40. There is no doubt it's gouging the consumer, just because they can. I heard all the stories about refinery issues and repair needs, but that's mostly just spin. The underlying measures show both crude oil and gasoline inventories have been increasing. That means supply exceeds demand...and thus no reason for such high pump prices. So, plain and simple, we're getting our pockets picked by BIG OIL. There is no solid economic basis for the prices we're paying for fuel. We should all speak up and let them know we know. Hold them accountable in social media and challenge their corporate citizenship. They are not acting in anyone's best interest but their own!

[johnieblueshoes]

EPA disaster exposes their double standard!

Has it dawned on you as it has me that the EPA is speaking out of both sides of its mouth about the toxic spill they caused in Colorado? They've detected lead levels at some 3500 times the EPA's own legal limits. (12,000 times according to USC toxicologists) And 300+ times that for arsenic. Mercury and cadmium too.Five highly toxic and environmentally dangerous heavy metals. But some how that's OK. The problem is subsiding according to their TV talking heads. REALLY? Come on, give us a break. If this had all been caused by a corporation the EPA would be on the potentially catastrophic long term consequences like paint on a wall. They'd be telling us it will take years of follow up investigation and that they will need many millions of taxpayer dollars. They might even suggest some sort of criminal litigation of the perpetrators. But this time it's their people that caused the mess and they are downplaying the implications and assuring all is going to be OK. Reality is though it's not, at least not for a long time. These toxins will remain in the river, lake and surrounding ecosystem for years. Humans may be able to avoid it for the most part, but the animals that rely upon those waters and surrounding environs won't be so lucky. They will stumble blindly into a toxic soup and get it inside them. That's happening as I'm writing, and you're reading, this post. It's a big deal and the EPA should not be allowed to down play and spin it as otherwise. They screwed up big time and they need to embrace that fully...just as we expect out private and corporate citizens to do. NO DOUBLE STANDARD JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE PART OF FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY!!!!!

[johnieblueshoes]

Stop doing stupid sh*t!

I feel really sad for the family of Christian Taylor, the latest unarmed black man to be killed by police. I really do. I agonized over this blog ever since I heard what happened. In the end I decided to just speak up.

My message; Stop doing stupid shit! It is horrifically sad that Christian lost his life, but WTF was he thinking? You can’t do what the security camera footage shows he was doing and not expect ramifications. In this case, cops with guns doing their job. When you do stupid shit like Christian is seen doing in the video bad things happen. Come on man! We all know that. Misbehave and you pay the price. Rule one of civil law and order.

What happened inside the showroom that resulted in the officer using his gun is unknown to all except those who were there. We may or may not know exactly what occurred. We do know one thing though. Doing stupid shit can get you in big trouble. For Christian it led to death. For his family it continues to drench them in the horror of his loss.

[johnieblueshoes]

Is Hillary Clinton a communist?

Wow! Hillary Clinton's call for greater compensation for whistleblowers is retro to the comrade-versus-comrade days of the old Soviet Union....and perhaps modern day China. A mindset that invokes citizen-on-citizen watchers to tattletale on their boss/company/neighbor for the purpose of personal financial gain taints the the real value of an act that has been and should continue to be one of social morality. This little glimpse of who the "real Hillary" might be should cause all to stop and think about the motivation behind her idea. It smacks of presumed guilt and promotes funding a witch hunt. Both of questionable constitutional rightness. We pay our legislative and regulatory bureaucracies huge amounts of money to do this job for us. Dangling the promise of reward, be it financial or political, in front of citizen bounty hunters is a well known party tactic of the most draconian regimes of human history. Should make you wonder just how far Hillary is willing to go...eh comrade! Think about it!!!

[johnieblueshoes]

San Francisco is responsible for a murder!!!

The murder of that young woman on the Embarcadero pier should be laid at the feet of the BofS and Sheriff. Letting that psycho illegal alien go was tantamount to pulling the trigger. Sick, ultra left wing, hyper socialists who refuse to obey the law are complicit in the outcomes of their ignorant, self-gratifying "rule" passing. I hope you all are as sick about this abhorrent behavior of SF leaders. THEY are the murders here.

[johnieblueshoes]

Looters....really? That's your answer?

All this stupid misbehavior is doing nothing except proving exactly why folks like this get into trouble like this. It does nothing for Mike Browns memory. It does nothing to fix the problem. It only makes people who might want to care dissociate themselves. It is this behavior that will make them dislike the cause....and the looters get the flat panels. If that feels like Justice to you you are part of the problem.

[say-no-to-superwholock]

As angry as I am about this I think about it and I realize that though he's walking free his life is completely over. Like he will never be able to live his life without people hating him and attacking him and I kind of get a little glad because that's still a punishment. But I'm still upset and hurt by this.

HE KILLED A KID

AN 18 YEAR OLD BLACK BOY WHO DID NOTHING WRONG GOT SHOT MULTIPLE TIMES

WHO THE FUCK CARES ABOUT WILLSON’S FEELINGS HE NEEDS TO BE IN JAIL

HE GOT LIKE 400K FROM DONATIONS

I HAVE NO SYMPATHY FOR THAT MONSTER

-Kierra

[johnieblueshoes]

Stealing is breaking the law. Had he just fessed up and took his medicine when he was caught he would have got a slap on the wrist. Messing with the cops, any cop, when you've been nailed for a crime...even one as dumb as this one....is just plain stupid....and as this event shows...dangerous.

None of this justifies looting innocent business owners! That is just through-back misbehavior. Hopefully we get good video of the looters, track them down and prosecute to the letter of the law.

The family is righteously correct to ask for non-violence.

[theeconomist]

Daily chart: Red tape tangle

Our interactive chart tells you which US states are best and worst for small businesses

[johnieblueshoes]

You might as well label this the Socialist / Capitalist chart. Notice that the strongest Democrat states are the least business friendly...and vice versa. It is unlikely that will change any time soon in a place like California because they have little appreciation for the wealth California companies have brought them. The state budget is larger than most countries in the world...yet the infrastructure continues to crumble under the excessive burden of obese social overhead. It's hard to see any meaningful long term solution to this escalating unaccrued debt.

[theeconomist]

Map: The failures of the Arab spring were a long time in the making

[johnieblueshoes]

The trouble here is one of balance. Too many dark-ages throw-backs and too few with modern cultural capacities. BC mentalities in AD realities.

[robertreich]

Dozens of big U.S. corporations are considering leaving the United States in order to reduce their tax bills.

But they’ll be leaving the country only on paper. They’ll still do as much business in the U.S. as they were doing before.

The only difference is they’ll no longer be “American,”...

[johnieblueshoes]

The problem here is that without corporate influence those left to "vote" will likely just raise the tax rates higher and push more companies to leave. Where do you think we will be with that in say 50 years?

Reality is that American companies fuel the American economy with investment, technology and jobs. We should be praising those that bring the most money into the US economy rather than always seeking to blame and punish.