Here's A Rainbow Fish Who....

figured out how to make his own scales. His name is Willard Wigan, and he does micro-miniature sculpture. Pretty amazing.

Watch the YouTube video.

George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin

I've avoided until now mentioning anything about about the George Zimmerman trial now going on, but I just can't hold my tongue any longer. What happened was, any way you look at it, a tragedy. It would be nice to see that a tragedy doesn't turn to a travesty every once in a while. The travesty is this: George Zimmerman has already been tried and convicted, in the court of public opinion, before he ever set foot in the courtroom. What I would like to know, simply, is this....what new evidence, before the media chummed the water, was presented to make prosecutors reverse course on their "Stand Your Ground" decision? Who in the public actually took the time to research the facts of the case before they started wagging their chins and calling for blood? Does anyone now remember how facts of the case were misrepresented by the media just long enough to stir up a frenzy before they were "corrected"? Trayvon Martin is gone, and a jury will now decide the fate of George Zimmerman. That is all people tend to focus on, yet how many lives have been wrecked by the thousands of Tweets from ill-educated....Tweeters. There's an old Chinese form of torture called "Death by a Thousand Cuts". It is what its name implies. Such ignorant and misdirected statements are much like that and too often lead to innocent peoples lives being irreparably damaged, yet no one feels guilty because they're just words, spoken in anonymity and supposedly safe in numbers. Spike Lee even forced one family out of their home because he posted their address by mistake, rather than the Zimmerman's. Not that he had any right to post the Zimmerman's address...it was not the rest of his family who was involved. I think he apologized...that should about cover their cost of moving, right?
The Wikipedia article on the Trayvon Martin shooting is here. I suggest people read it, paying special attention to the sections 'Public Response' and 'Media Coverage'. I personally feel the the 'Media Coverage' section should have come before 'Public Response', as one led directly to the other...but they still did a very good job laying out just the facts of the case, which unfortunately nobody seemed to pay heed to before they opened their gobs.
An afterthought: Ask yourself a question and try to answer it as honestly and objectively as you can...would there have this much to-do had their races been reversed? 

It's Fairly Common Practice For Banks...

anymore to charge a fee to non-account holders for check cashing services, on top of all the other fees they collect...overdraft, loan interest, minimum balance, debit transaction, etc. So it's pretty rare to find a bank that doesn't charge one, and I thought I'd found it at my local branch of M+S Bank. I'd taken in several checks, drawn from them, to be cashed and was pleasantly surprised not to be charged a fee. So surprised, in fact, I considered opening an account there. That was until yesterday, when I went in to cash a check from someone whom I'd gotten a check from before, and was informed it would be $10 to cash it. I inquired why I was being charged now for something I had had not been charged for before, and was told that it was bank policy to charge to cash paychecks. It wasn't a paycheck, actually...it was a personal loan drawn on a business account....but that's neither here nor there. I asked what the difference was between a paycheck and any other kind of check and the answer I received was "It's a paycheck.". I know....pretty good reasoning, right? When I asked for the banks written policy on check cashing or schedule of fees, they could not provide me with one...I was given some kind of runaround by the bank manager about looking for the email. I was then informed that if I left my name and address, they would mail me a copy....if I was allowed to have it. Yep, that's right...if a customer is ALLOWED to see a schedule of fees, they'll show it to ya. Wait, what?
I was pretty proud of myself through the whole thing with the manager...kept a pleasant demeanor, even laughed and made light of the situation a little in front of two rather cowed looking tellers. I kinda felt bad for them...I know what it's like being stuck in the middle of a very uncomfortable situation. I couldn't resist however, given my somewhat snarky nature when pressed, leaving without commending them for honorably adhering to the rules they were making up on the spot.

Update: I received their brochure on personal banking services today in the mail...and there is indeed a $10 fee for cashing checks...and everything else up to but not quite including allowing you the privilege of walking into the lobby. I'm not sure why they could not have simply handed me the brochure while I was there...needless to say I'll not be taking any of my business there and wouldn't suggest them to anyone else. Shame...my parents banked there for years and had no problems. Too bad they've gone so far downhill.

At One Time, I Saw The Internet As....

the single most important vehicle for ensuring peoples freedom to come along since, I don't know.....the Greeks invented democracy or the Romans a representative government. It allows a free exchange of ideas that even the most oppressive of governments have a hard time censuring. It is a tool for learning unlike anything the world has ever seen...vast amounts of knowledge available at the fingertips of anyone who cares to look for it.
Unfortunately, it also has a high potential for abuse....for spreading disinformation, as a vehicle for theft, as a slander rag. The internet has a long memory that is difficult, if not impossible, to erase. Many young people today place their entire lives on the internet for the world to see, never thinking what a future employer or spouse may think of what they find.
The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the internet's memory is malleable by those who may or may not have your best interests in mind or through simple error. Garbage in, garbage out-so its said.
I recently heard of a new money making trend on the internet...companies compile lists of public records such as arrests, marriages, divorces, and bankruptcies-place them in a searchable database, then charge you for their removal. They tout themselves as providers of a service in the public interest, allowing people to search for potential threats...yet their true aim is to extort money out of those who don't wish to have their mugshots spread across several sites. What these sites fail to mention is that this information is already available, for free, through state and local agencies with far more factual accuracy.
Case in point...in 2004 I was arrested for domestic abuse. My wife and I were going through a divorce at the time, and had gotten into an argument over possession of a book. I know...kinda silly, fighting over a book...but it was a rather nice old history book from the 1800's. Wasn't worth very much, but still...it looked nice in the collection. She wanted to take it with her, I wanted to keep it. I don't remember who grabbed it first, but lets just say for the sake of argument it was her. I didn't want her to take it, so I grabbed it also. We played tug of war with it for a bit, which I ended up winning. In the process, I pulled hard enough that she fell into me. I never laid a hand on her, mind you. My hands were on the book, and our only contact was when she was pulled into me. I don't think I even left my seat. Well....she started screaming bloody murder. Her new boyfriend, who was standing outside at the time helping move stuff out of our house, comes running in to see what was going on, and she starts claiming abuse. She then calls the cops and files a sworn complaint. I, being naïve to the ways of domestic abuse laws in Florida at the time, was perfectly open and honest with the officer who arrived, who tended to agree with me that the complaint was bullshit....and was then read my Miranda rights. Since I didn't see where any abuse had occurred, and having been forthright with the officer when he arrived, I didn't even begin to suspect that I'd be arrested. Little did I know at the time that in the state of Florida, any time a sworn complaint is filed for domestic abuse is filed, the party against whom the complaint is filed is spending the night in jail...no questions asked. All charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence, because, well, SURPRISE.....no abuse had actually occurred.
Fast forward to 2013, when I hear of this public record scam. I decide, since this arrest for nothing has come back to haunt me before, to search for myself and see what came up. To my great surprise, not only did I find myself (which I sort of expected), I found that they had most of the information wrong...at least the stuff you don't have to pay to see. All of my associates were correct...they had my mother and father, who are both dead, listed...as well as my ex-wife and a family friend. What they had wrong, however, was a little disturbing....aliases I've never used, places I've never lived....they even had my age wrong. All of that can only lead to a couple different conclusions - one, that they have my information grievously incorrect, or B, that all of my associates were somehow mistakenly connected to someone else. There are quite a few people in Florida with my name...it could happen. Unfortunately, I can't find out how they screwed up my life without paying $30 for a subscription to their site. I think they might just get an earful from me before too long.

America's Drug Problem

The other day, someone at a store in our town read that a methamphetamine lab had been found in an old farmhouse in the adjoining county and he asked me a rhetorical question, ''Why didn't we have a drug problem when you and I were growing up?'' I replied: I had a drug problem when I was young: I was drug to church on Sunday morning. I was drug to church for weddings and funerals. I was drug to family reunions and community socials no matter the weather. I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults. I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke ill of the teacher or the preacher, or if I didn't put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me. I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap if I uttered a profane four-letter word. I was drug out to pull weeds in mom's garden and flower beds and cockleburrs out of dad's fields. I was drug to the homes of family, friends, and neighbors to help out some poor soul who had no one to mow the yard, repair the clothesline, or chop some firewood; and, if my mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have drug me back to the woodshed. Those drugs are still in my veins; and they affect my behavior in everything I do, say, and think. They are stronger than cocaine, crack, or heroin; and, if today's children had this kind of drug problem, America would be a better place.
From AmazingJokes.com

Have You Ever Read....

"The Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfister? It tells the story of a fish covered with beautiful scales who, when asked by a smaller fish to give him one, rudely refuses. His other friends hear of this and thereafter refuse to play with him. He then asks his only remaining friend, the Starfish, what he should do, and the Starfish directs him to the Wise Octopus. The Octopus advises that he should consider sharing some of his scales. So he does, with one little fish, and feels much better about himself. Soon, the others hear that he's giving his scales away, and come around for theirs. Soon, eveyone has one shiny scale and everybody's happy and friends again.
I have a couple issues with this story. The first is Rainbow Fish's rude refusal....there's no need to be rude about it. More heinous than that is his friends abandonment of him....has he got to buy his friends with pieces of himself? Sharing is a wonderful quality and should be encouraged...however...should anyone be forced to share until there's nothing left of themselves? Until everyone is exactly the same, with no shining stars left to stand out? What sort of friends were they that they had to be bought with shiny things? If they wanted to share the rainbow fishes beauty, they could have looked about on their own...made themselves into what they wanted to be, what they wanted to look like without guilt tripping Rainbow Fish into giving himself away. What he did at first, his rude refusal, was wrong. His friends behavior, though, was atrocious. I'm jus' sayin'.

Americas Worst Charities

You would think when you donate money to a charity it would actually go to help people who need it. Unfortunately, it seems many of these charities exist simply to pay administration and fund raising costs. Here is a list of the 50 worst...you may want to research the charities you give to beforehand.
America's Worst Charities

I Am A Firm Supporter Of The Fair Tax.....

and so is this guy, Neal Boortz. He's retired now, but I've listened to his show for years. He's one of the main public supporters of the FairTax, which is sadly misrepresented by nearly everyone who supports our current tax system. So, I thought I'd throw a link out that helps clarify the situation, just a little, and hopefully point some in an alternate direction.
 Neal Boortz on the FairTax

Trust and love....

have to go together. I've trusted people before, people I thought were my friends, only to find they were using me as a means to an end. I still try to fight my way through the past to find trust elsewhere...I know that not everyone is like that. But once your trust is broken so badly by the ones closest to you, its difficult to trust anyone again....to not think that they're somehow using you. That's not the person I was before I had something of an awakening....a clearer view of past events...a different perspective. I tended to trust almost everyone, implicitly, until they did something to break that trust. Now, it seems to be the other way around, and I don't like it too much.
People I considered close friends used me for what they could get from me then left when the going got tough...leaving me to stand or fall on my own. The crazy thing is...I still love them. I'll never stop...but because of them....I can't trust as I used to.

Nothing Happened Here.....

Why does it take one person standing in front of a row of tanks for people to wake up to an oppressive government? How can something like like that happen and be so easily forgotten? Now, the Chinese government is censoring such search terms as today, tomorrow, 6/4, May 35, etc...in an effort to curb any discussion of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. I suppose the Chinese government intends in this way to try to erase the national memory of the governments disgraceful actions. The responsibility of a free people is to ensure no one ever forgets......lest it happen again.

Do You Suppose....

that if the Montagues and Capulets hadn't been such assholes they might not have lost their kids? That perhaps had their children not felt chained by the people they love, both families may have benefitted greatly, rather than losing two beloved members? Is a family feud really worth that cost? Ask yourself....have you seen anything similar, in your own family or others, that would drive two people to such extremes? Will we ever learn?