This is My World

Well, here’s another fish story.  This one is about the fish with a bite on its tail.

One summer my dad and I were running a trop line to catch fish.  What’s a trop line?  Well, a trop line is a line that has hooks every couple of feet on it.  To use it, you first tie a lead (rope with no hooks) long enough to get a good ways into your body of water (in this case the Ohio River) to a tree on the bank. Then, you tie your trop line to your lead and, using a boat, you put bait on every hook as you’re run your line out straight as far as it will go.  If your body of water has a swift current, you’ll probably have to use a combination of anchors and jugs to keep it in place.

The next day you check it.  You start at the shallow end of the line, pulling it out of the water. Then, you keep following it, pulling off the fish you caught and replacing the bait as you go.

Well, one day my dad and I were about in the middle of the Ohio River in a tiny green john boat doing just that, checking our line.  I was pulling and he was driving.  About the middle of the Ohio River we got to a place where I couldn’t pull up anymore.  I’d pull and pull, it wouldn’t get very far and all the sudden it would jerk back.  Well, Dad saw a couple of these swift jerks and he wanted to try.  He pulled real hard, and it jerked him back. 

Since we were in the deepest part of the river (the channel) and right close to a bend that’s difficult to see around, we had to look for traffic bigger than us.  Well, I looked up and there was a barge rounding the bend.  Dad saw it too.  He had a few extra jugs in the boat just for such an occasion.  He tied three or four of them to the line, and he headed closer to shore to wait on the barge to pass.  This also served as a good opportunity to think about how to get that fish up.  We thought it might be stuck under a rock.

The barge passed directly, and we resumed our attempt to get this fish up.  I’ve mentioned in a previous post that this little john boat also had the option to be a row boat.  There was little things protruding from the side of the boat to accept the proper attachment of your oars, aka eyes.  Well, Dad wrapped the trop line around that eye.  Then, he ran the boat up and down river a little ways until we were certain that fish decided to move.  We got back to where we were, and proceeded to pull on that trop line.  After a few pulls, up rolled this catfish about as big as the boat.  We got it in, and finished checking the line. Then, headed back to dad’s house start cleaning.

We started on that troublesome fish first.  We weighed it as 22lbs and got a couple pictures.  Then, before cleaning it, Dad noticed the end of its tail.  In the picture it looks like it got scratched up by the rock it was under.  In person, however, it looked like another fish had a hold of it by the tail, trying to keep us from getting it.

Did I ever tell you about the first squirrel I ever killed?  Of course not, or it would be on my blog. 

My brother had just come home from Iraq.  This was the first Desert Storm.  It was squirrel season, and my dad and brother suggested going squirrel hunting.  Of course, I wanted to go as well.  So, my brother took off up in the woods one way, and my dad and I went the other way. 

Dad was trying to teach me how to track a deer in the meantime.  He explained to me that the main purpose for squirrel season is so you can find out where the deer are before deer season starts.  He said that if you see a squirrel, by all means shoot it, but the deer you get later in deer season will have more meat on it and last longer. 

After a while we came up on a tree full of squirrels.  Dad had a .12 gauge shotgun and knocked two of them out of the tree.  One was dead, but the other was still trying to crawl away.  I had a little bitty single shot rifle.  Dad told me that since we were so close to the squirrel, I needed to be the one to shoot it because my bullets were smaller.  So I shot it.  Later, Dad shot two more squirrels.  We put sticks through their feet to carry them easier and continued on our way. 

We found a couple deer beds and a few places where turkeys were scratching.  However, we didn’t find anymore squirrels that day.  So, we headed back to Granny’s to have our picture taken.  Then, we cleaned them.

For every PETA member that reads this blog, those squirrels were real tasty fried up in the skillet.  They were also full of protein, which is an essential part of the human diet.

Let’s talk about meth labs today.  No, i don’t know how to manufacture meth.  However, I do know that meth labs are dangerous.  Why is a small town girl talking about meth? Well, I’ll tell you.  I live in Perry County, Indiana.  Nice peaceful area, as long as you can look over the meth labs and addicts.  Quite frankly, I’m tired of it. 

I’ve seen a lot of women around here lose their children because they’re addicted to meth.  Then, to top it all off, they blame child services or some other program for what is obviously their fault.  That’s the lucky children.  I’ve heard of so many cases where a parent is coming down off meth and gets angry at their innocent child for whatever reason and beats the child. 

Aside from meth being a factor in many child abuse and neglect cases, the meth lab itself is also dangerous.  Should your neighbor have a meth lab that explodes, your house is getting damaged too.  Not to mention your children will be exposed to the fumes while they’re cooking it.  And yes, meth can get in your system just from the fumes. 

So, how about those rolling meth labs?  You know, where they drive around cooking it in their car.  I live in the country.  There are a lot of people driving by my house at all hours of the night cooking meth in their car.  That’s the sole reason why I keep my doors locked and a baseball bat by my bed.  How do I know they’re cooking meth?  Here’s my story. 

When I first came home in 2005, I was living here by myself.  My cousin was staying the night and we were planning on staying by the campfire in the front yard most of the night.  Well, through the late hours of the evening, the same car had been driving up and down our road.  We saw it about five or six times.  And having lived in Arkansas once, I recognized the smell coming from it.  My cousin and I both agreed the front yard probably wasn’t the best place to be.  So, we went inside.  Directly, we heard that same car coming.  Only this time it stopped in front of the house.  I heard a couple of car doors and the trunk slam.  About the time I stepped out on the front porch with a shotgun, they took off and didn’t come back that night.

Anyone desperate enough to have a meth lab in their car, would probably be desperate enough to try to rob my house.  Therefore, it’s locked! 

Meth labs are dangerous.  Anyone around them can get contaminated by the fumes.  They can also explode.  I don’t like that they run up and down my road.  A lot of meth labs were busted last year in Perry County.  That’s good.  The problem is that most of them were in residential areas and no one has bothered to clean them up yet.

For all the people that swear I’ve never done a lick of work my entire life…

“Show your city friends how we cut wood.”

I couldn’t have been more than nine or ten years old then.  Deer season was in and no one was having any luck finding one.  Of course, everyone was blaming it on someone else.  The fact was that small piece of woods just wasn’t big enough as many hunters that were hunting that season. 

My dad and I were at my great-grandma’s house.  Aunt Rosa had the wood stove going in the house.  So it had to been around a hundred degrees in that trailer.  If you notice, I had long sleeves on that day.  Therefore, I was outside.

After a while I had ventured up to the wood lot and noticed that someone had already tried to cut that old log.  So, I went inside and asked Dad about it.  He said that it was too big for any chainsaw that happened to be around. 

Then an idea popped in his head.  In my great-grandpa’s tool shed there was a double handled saw specifically made for that size of tree.  Well, we went down and got it and commenced to cutting that log.  It took a little bit, but we cut off a good slab of it. 

Just goes to show you that you don’t need fancy new tools to get a job done.  We used probably one of the oldest tools on the place to get the job done.  There was a lot of fire wood in that log.

Oh gosh! I think I was maybe 12 in that picture.  Well, I stumbled across it today and I thought I would tell you a little about it.  Keep in mind I was 5′1″ then and I’m still the same height.

See that green boat behind me? Yes it really was that small.  That was my dad’s little green john boat.  We hand-painted the registration number on the side there.  It also had the option to be a row boat, but we used the “big” motor on the back.  My mom used to go NUTS knowing that me and my dad were fishing in that little green boat just as close to the dam in Cannelton, Indiana as you were allowed to get.  The water was usually a little choppy and the boat would rock.  It was enough to almost get you to sleep.

One day we were sitting in the river down at the dam in Cannelton, Indiana.  Of course we were in the little green boat.  There were signs on the walls of the dam that said stay back so many feet.  Well, we were back exactly that many feet from both dam walls. We had minnows that we caught out of Millstone Creek on hooks and had our lines weighted down.  So, we dropped the lines all the way down until they hit bottom, then brought them up a little bit.  And we sat there rocking with the waves about half asleep on a hot summer afternoon.

After a while I stretched a little bit and said, “Dad, I think I oughta check my line to make sure that minnow’s still there.”

He nodded.  So, I went to reeling.  Or trying to reel anyway.  I pulled and it pulled back.  So I said, “Dad, I think I got something.”

He pulled up on the line a little bit and there it pulled back again.  He said, “Just keep pulling and reeling.”

So, I did.  After about a half an hour of pulling and reeling down by the dam in Cannelton, Indiana, it rolled on the surface of the water.  It looked to me like it was about as big as I was.  I held on to the pole real tight and Dad grabbed the net.  He kept trying to get its head in that net but just wouldn’t go.  He finally got its tail and half its body in the net and convinced it that it needed to come in the boat with us.

There is sat, the biggest catfish I had ever seen.   It was about as long as the boat was wide.  We both got excited and had to leave the dam at Cannelton, Indiana right then.  We got it back to dad’s and got some pictures of it.  I called Mom and told her she had to come see it. 

That flat-head catfish weighed about 19 lbs.  Later that summer we cause a 22 lb blue catfish.  Both of them made some really good catfish steak. 

So there you have it, the story of my first big catfish.  I caught it just below the dam in Cannelton, Indiana on the Ohio River.  Of course, it would be pretty pointless to fish there right now.  They’re doing some work trying to make it into a hydro power plant.

I’ll post the recipe for catfish steak at a later date.

For those of you that don’t know, my middle name is Rose.  Mom said that when I was born I was her and Dad’s rose.  She also said they both particularly liked the song by Conway Twitty called “The Rose.”  It is a very beautiful song.  I also like Conway Twitty’s version better than Bette Midler’s.  Conway seems like he’s more telling a story than trying to show off vocals.  It’s a personal preference.

Anyway, most of my life I have heard how difficult it is to grow roses.  No one has ever been able to explain what’s so difficult about it.  They always say that you just have to have a “feel” for it. 

Well, earlier this spring, Wal-mart had rose bushes that were trimmed all the way down for $6.  So, I picked one and was determined to find out what was so difficult about growing rose bushes. 

First, I dug a hole slightly larger than the size of the soil that was in the bag.  Then, I placed the bush in the hole.  Since our soil around here is orange clay, I filled the remainder of the hole with a leftover bag of potting soil from last year.  After about a week I sprayed it and everything else around the house with “Ortho Ecosense Brand outdoor insect killer.”  Of course, I followed the directions on the bottle.  

Recently, I’ve had two roses bloom out bright and beautiful.  They were supposed to be red and white striped, but I’m fine with just red.  I couldn’t help but take pictures of them.  Obviously, getting them to bloom once is only half the work.  So, I’ll keep you updated on how my rose project grows.

 Of course if you have any tips or instructions on growing, maintaining, or caring for roses, please let me know.

This is my 100th post on Today.com.  It’s probably not going to be as passionate as some of the other things I have written.  You can blame that on the boyfriend that decided to come home puking drunk today and thought saying, “I’m sorry I’m too drunk to eat dinner with you” would fix everything.

Nevertheless, I still have an article to write.  Between emptying puke buckets today, I have managed to view some of the news online.  So I figured I would sum it all up for you.  So, here’s a list of headlines and a brief summary.

“Michael Jackson Dies”

This headline has over 18,000 digs on Digg.com and still rising.  Needless to say I didn’t read it.  The local news on Fox 7 said he died in Los Angeles of a heart attack at age 50.  I’m waiting for a scientist to relate that to plastic surgery. 

“Farrah Fawcet DEAD at age 62″

This one isn’t quite as popular.  I’m sure there are many people that remember Farra Fawcet.  However, when she was popular, I was still watching cartoons like Scooby Doo.  My brother, however, called me today to make sure I knew this happened.  Apparently, he was deeply saddened by it.

“Adultery is a crime in South Carolina!”

It caught my attention.  Remember Governor Sanford? He admitted publicly that he cheated on his wife.  The punishment for adultery in South Carolina can range from a $100 fine to one year in prison.  Honestly, I think that’s something that should be kept among the parties involved, but he is the governor of South Carolina and should have followed the law.

Finally, since it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t mention something that Obama is messing up, here you go.

“As Obama Pushes National Health Care,
Most Americans Already Happy With Coverage” 

This was on FoxNews.com today.  Their opening line in it was,  

“As the Obama administration pushes for a national health care plan, studies show that most Americans are overwhelmingly happy with their own health care — including most of the 46 million Americans without insurance.”  

So, I wonder why he’s really pushing for it?  

–

Well, I have to go check and make sure the boyfriend is still breathing.  So enjoy your day and try not to think about drunk people puking in a bucket.

I enjoy my blog being in the “Odds and Ends” category of Today.com for many reasons.  One of those reasons is that when I think I have exhausted one subject, I can write about something else.  Later, I can also revisit it. 

Lately, I’ve been thinking about a previous article that I wrote called, “Teaching a Preteen Responsibility.” Even though I wrote it almost a month ago, I still get a lot of hits on it.  So, I thought I would update it.

Today, I read a story about a woman in Evansville, Indiana who was arrested for handcuffing her 13-year-old daughter.  I’m sure she was at the end of her mental rope and didn’t know what else to do.  While I don’t think handcuffing your child would be a good idea, I understand how that lady must have felt.

Remember the 12-year-old boy that stays with us regularly?  Well, he’s out of school for the summer and visiting his dad.  That makes me nervous.  Previously, when he would be at his dad’s house for just a weekend then come back here, his attitude and aggression would get worse.  I’m not there, so I can’t pretend I know why.  All I know is every time he goes there, it’s two steps backwards with his attitude. 

Lately, he’s also been “permanently borrowing” things without permission.  I know most people call that stealing.  I’ve tried to explain the consequences if he were to get caught, but it doesn’t seem to sink in.  I fear he’s headed down a very bad path.  I’ve looked online for “expert” opinions.  ”Experts” just say you should give them every thing they want so they don’t think they have to steal to get it.  Things he has stolen include knives and a can of chew.  I don’t think I should give him those things.

I wish I had all the answers.  So far, if he has something that isn’t his and he didn’t have permission to get it, we’ve taken it away and explained that he can go to a juvenile detention center if the action were to be reported. The stealing activity has decreased some.  Recently, the majority of his video games disappeared after two of his friends stayed the night.  While I don’t appreciate that, he now knows how it feels to have something stolen from him.  Hopefully, that’ll have a positive impact in an odd sort of way.

Recently, I’ve heard of two groups wanting their individual states, Texas and Vermont, to secede.  I’ve also heard of more groups in other states.  This puts a little bit of a lump in my stomach because the last time states attempted to secede it turned into the Civil War, the War of Northern Aggression, or the War Between the States (depending on where you are from).  That’s the only war, except the French and Indian War, and the Revolutionary War, that the interior part of the United States, where I live, was actually in any danger. 

So, my thoughts are that maybe a sudden secession isn’t that great of an idea.  It may be a last resort, just not yet.  I’ve noticed a lot of people that are angry with the government at this time.  Most of those people have good reason to be.  What can be done about it?

Well, whatever your grievances are, write them down in the form of a letter.  Then, address it to your senator, your congressman, and Obama.  After that, mail it.  If you don’t get a response, write it again.  Keep sending letters until you get a response. 

To write the “President”

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

To write your Congressman:

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

To write your senator:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

I’ve been hearing a lot about the nominee, Ms. Sotomayor.  Obama appointed her to the Supreme Court, I believe.   According to an article on TheRightPerspective.org, she once made a ruling that denying all convicted felons the right to vote is racial discrimination.  Since there are felons in every race, that of course didn’t stand up very long.  After discussing the topic with my dad, he informed me that most of her rulings have actually been reversed.  Nevertheless, I was curious to see how her confirmation process was going.  The latest headline was that she quit an all women’s group because they did not allow male members.  Supreme court justices are not allowed to be a member of any group that discriminates based on race, sex, etc. 

Well, a different article caught my eye: Charges Against ‘New Black Panthers’ Dropped by Obama Justice Dept.

Apparently, on Election Day 2008 (the election where Barak Obama was elected), three members of the racially violent Black Panther Party stood outside election polls and threatened voters and attempted to block the polls.  One of them held a nightstick, or baton, and and tried to intimidate people with it.  The affidavit of one witness said,

“I watched the two uniformed men confront voters and attempt to intimidate voters. They were positioned in a location that forced every voter to pass in close proximity to them. The weapon was openly displayed and brandished in plain sight of voters.”

Other witnesses claimed that one of the Black Panthers turned toward a white poll worker and said, “you are about to be ruled by the black man, cracker.”

That last statement is particularly offensive to many white people.  However, Obama’s justice department dropped the charges against the three men.  A spokesperson for the Justice Department explained to Fox News that the man with the nightstick is no longer allowed to have it near a polling place. 

Imagine if the role was reversed.  What would have happened?

With that, I’ll leave my readers to comment.  Don’t be afraid.

One of the many things that makes America great is the Americans’ strong sense of independence.  The attitude of “We can do it ourselves” resonates in every American from toddler to elderly.  To remain independent is the pride of every American.  Recently, in many of my articles I have been quoting Thomas Jefferson, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  Well, today I thought I would tell you the rest of the quote.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

In case you haven’t noticed it is the second, third, and fourth sentences of the Declaration of Independence of the United States.  This declaration of course isn’t actually law.  However, it basically listed the reasons why the colonies didn’t want to be a part of Britain any longer. 

I strongly believe that the founders of our country were on to something.  They realized that when the government interfered into the affairs of the people, the society itself would slide downhill.  Their sense of independence was passed one to every generation of American.

In recent history, however, the American people have become more and more dependent on the government, and the trend is getting worse.  We should not depend on the government to decide which banks and businesses fail.  Nor should the government be able to decide anything about the individual health care of a person. 

As an American you have the liberty to decide what you purchase and what you do not purchase.  Businesses know if their product is selling and if it is not.  So, if a business does not make a product that sells, it is their fault when it fails.  At no point does taxpayer money need to go into a failing business.

One of the things I always remember hearing as a teenager is my mother saying, “Read the fine print.”  That applies to anything you sign.  When you get a credit card, before you sign the application you have the ability to read it or have someone read it to you.  All of them list the late fees, over limit fees, variable rates, etc.  Most of them even have a statement on them that says the company can change the interest rate for whatever reason it wants to.  If you signed that application without reading it, it’s your fault that you are in so much debt.  The government doesn’t need to bail you out of it.

On to health care.  If you cannot afford to pay one doctor, don’t assume you won’t be able to pay any of them.  Search for a doctor you can afford.  Most major cites have free clinics and some doctors actually charge based on income.  Most states already have a state option for health care that is just like what Obama is proposing at the federal level.  If it’s not broke don’t fix it.

Don’t blame the federal government for every concern that you have.  If you borrowed money for anything, including a house or a car, knowing that you couldn’t afford it, don’t blame the government.  That’s your fault.  If you lost your job because your company went bankrupt, while certainly devastating to your family, that’s not the government’s fault.  It’s the company’s fault.  At that point you may have to relocate to find another job depending on how big your company was.

All this being said, I firmly believe that the government is currently claiming they are taking care of it’s people, when actually they are trying to make it’s people more dependent on the government.  This should not be allowed at all. 

American’s, keep your independent spirit!

Yesterday, I know I read an article that claimed that North Korea was going to test a missile on the 4th of July.  I remember it saying that it was going to be tested over the Pacific Ocean and pointed toward Hawaii.  As a matter of fact I read it on Yahoo News and forgot what source they listed.  However, when I went back to find it again, it wasn’t there.  So, either the details were wrong, or someone released too much information and had to remove it. 

Nevertheless, today I was tired of hearing about the scuffle in Iran that really has nothing to do with the United States.  So I searched again for articles about North Korea.  I had to use the news sites’ search boxes because news from Iran is over shadowing everything right now.

May 29, 2009- The website CNN.com/asia reported that a U.S. satellite had spotted “vehicle activity” as a ballistic missile sight in North Korea.  There were already missiles in the area, just no “missile parts.”  This is usually a forewarning of a possible missile testing.

After that tensions continued to rise between the U.S. and North Korea.  Many reports came in that North Korea actually tested a atomic bomb.  According to “officials” North Korea currently does not have the technology to attach a nuclear device on one of their missiles.

Now, back to North Korea wanting to launch a missile at the United States.  A Japanese source released the information that North Korea is planning a missile “test” over the Pacific Ocean in the direction of Hawaii.  Gathering information from Yahoo News and Fox News, the missile North Korea plans to “test” is theoretically capable of hitting Alaska.

According to a source on Yahoo News, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that Hawaii and Alaska are both prepared to defend against such an attack, if it were to actually happen.  And of course, Obama is just using stronger words to deal with the situation.

This is all I know for now.  Yes, I think North Korea has become a serious threat to the United States of America. If I learn more, I will most certainly share what I have.  I seriously wish the media would concentrate more on the threat from North Korea than what’s happening in Iran.  Iran doesn’t have missiles pointed at us, North Korea does.  Seems to me like the media should jump on that and wear it into the ground until North Korea backs down.

I was listening to The Right Perspective tonight and through all the debating of the world’s most important issues, I heard one of them say that “Sometimes you just have to take a break from the news.” 

I think I’ll talk that to heart for a minute.  If you want to read my opinions on Obama and other politics, which has started to become well known (judging by the increase in traffic), please click on the link on the left under categories called, “Obama: My Opinion.”

Summertime is here.  Let me tell you a little about my garden.  I have 3 tomato plants full of tomatoes, some sweet banana peppers, three okra plants planted this year, and 3 okra plants popping up from last year’s seeds.

All of this in a simple “flower bed” that runs along the front of my trailer.  The garden is lined in the front by rocks that were dug out of the creek.  It looks rather professional when I have all the weeds out of it, but I did it last year when my back wasn’t that bad. 

With the economy like it is right now, it’s pretty well necessary to have your own garden if you have room for it.  Fresh fruits and vegetables are now ridiculously expensive. 

On my last post someone left a comment stating, “I conclude that you are a Republican.”  I can see where he came to that conclusion and he is very close.

I am actually a free thinking American and have my own views of the world around me.  Most of the time, I tend to agree with more Republican views.  Views like “The government does not create wealth” and it’s going to be the private sector of the country that actually bring us out of a recession.

That being said.  Once in a blue moon or so I do agree with a Democrat or disagree with a Republican. 

For example, Senator McCain was in a video on Fox News saying that Obama is not doing enough in Iran and should be backing the protesters.  I also read an article that Congress passed a resolution started by Republicans that backed the protesters in Iran and warned the Iranian government against violence toward it’s own people. 

My view is that we should really stay out of this. This debate is between the Iranian people and their government.  It has nothing to do with America, Americans, or American interests.  So, while I do understand that they got the short end of the stick and there have been rising tensions among the Iranian people for years, the United States of America does not have any grounds to step in on this one.

Obama made a statement to CBS News today that basically let the Iranian government know that the world is watching them.  How they handle this situation will affect how the world views Iran.  I completely agree.  Don’t get me wrong, I still think Obama should be impeached for various domestic issues.  However, on this Iranian issue I think he is handling the situation very well by not actually doing anything. 

So, now you have my opinion.  What’s your’s?

Former President George W. Bush was on Fox News yesterday talking in a press conference.  He was very straight forward about his opinion of current President Obama’s new policies.  Mr. Bush made it clear that he did not want to criticise Obama as a person.  However, Mr. Bush was very frank with his opinion of Obama’s policies. 

“Government does not create wealth,” Mr. Bush said, explaining that the role of the government is to create an environment in which American people have the liberty to create jobs and income on their own.

I only saw a couple clips of his speech in a Fox News video.  From what I saw Mr. Bush seems to be more relaxed now than when he was President.  This of course is understandable to me.  If I were to attempt to lead a nation that just wanted handouts, I would be very stressed, too.  In fact, I would probably stutter when I talked, and misuse and make up a lot of words out of sheer stress.

The government’s job is defense of the nation, and creating and enforcing laws that protect the people.  Unfortunately, right now the government is trying to make the American people so dependant on it that they lose their sense of independence and liberty.  The scary part is that it seems to be working. 

There are actually people on Social Security Disability for alcoholism and and obesity.  These are not disabilities, these are life choices that those people have made.  Yet, here I am with back pain so bad that I can only sit up for about an hour at a time, and just got turned down for disability.  Instead of whining about it, I’ve filed an appeal with the help of a lawyer.  In the meantime, I am scratching around everywhere trying to find a legitimate work from home job that will keep my utilities on.  Mainly because I know that without people holding jobs and paying taxes, there wouldn’t be Social Security for people to fall back on when they are disabled.

Now that I’ve touched on taxes, let’s talk about the economy.  I am so sick of hearing people say that Obama will bring the country out of the current economic crisis.  Where do you think that money is coming from that he’s unsuccessfully pouring into failing businesses?  Straight out of the working man’s pocket is where it comes.  Obama is full of hot air with no positive action.

Former President Bush said yesterday (June 17),

“I know it’s going to be the private sector that leads this country out of the current economic times we’re in.  You can spend your money better than the government can spend your money.”

You know what?  He’s right.  American’s know when to save and when to spend.  We know what we want and what we need.  It’s the companies that make those products that we want and need and can afford that will be the most profitable.  The government needs to stay out of it.  The economy was starting to fix itself before Obama’s “stimulus bill” was passed.

They need to stay out of our health care, too.  A good example of government run health care is in the Navy’s Recruit Training Command (boot camp).  When I was there in 2002, they started handing out cough drops and cough syrup for pink eye.  That was the standard of what you got when you went to medical no matter what it was.  I even got a “cold pack” for having an infected blister on my heal.