I finally had to log out of Facebook for a while today. The amount of political BS on there finally pushed me over the edge. Its unfortunate, I use FB to talk to a lot of people very close to me, but I just can't handle the amount of hatred that is showing itself.What I don't understand is why? Typically, historically campaigns have been all about fans of either candidate spouting how great their chosen person is, arguing against the policies and stances of 'the other guy' and continuing this ad nausea until the election is over. This election is different though. I see insults being hurled back and forth, but very little to say why people think 'their' guy would be a great leader. There are jokes, slams, insults- Nothing seems to be out of line anymore. I have seen multiple posts (Sorry any liberals reading this, but you guys are by FAR the worst) calling for Romney to kill himself, calling for Romney to die, referring to Romney with frequent expletives beginning with 'F'..  These are the people who claim to be the 'educated' ones, who pride themselves on being 'free thinkers'. They proudly put their hand over their heart and pledge allegiance to a man instead of a nation while they fly vile parodies of the American flag proudly and don't see a thing wrong with altering the symbol of our nation with someone's face. At this point my greatest hope is that Alaska will make the decision to secede from the union. I don't want to play anymore. Both sides are cheating, the game is rigged and the only winners are going to be the ones who did the rigging. I've come to the conclusion I was born a couple of hundred years to late. I would much rather have lived in a period where there was honor and a certain code of behavior as opposed to increased technology and a general vileness and lack of honor which is considered normal.

        I'm sitting here drinking a cup of Chai, listening to the wind rage outside and thinking. It can be an interesting pastime, thinking. Something people don't do nearly enough of anymore. People seem to talk a lot, voice a lot of opinions, make a lot of posts on Facebook (Which I am also REALLY guilty of, by the way) but they don't seem to think. When I do this my thoughts run all over the place, usually ending up taking me off on some crazy adventure or telling me a story. Well, I AM a writer, after all, so I suppose that's natural. On this particular day, while drinking this particular cup of chai, my thoughts were running along the lines of politics and the world at large. Mostly how we've come to be where we are as a world. Now, I know I talk a lot about US politics, well, at least about how I think they SHOULD be, but lets look at the world for a minute. What would happen if we took all the BS away and looked at things logically? I saw a post on Facebook earlier with a picture of a knight Templar wielding a huge mace and a caption which stated 'We're back" That honestly made me sad to see. That simple picture told me that humanity hasn't managed to progress in the last oh, 1000 years or so? (No, its not an exact date, but its a LONG damn time ago) Humanity is still fighting the same war of faith. The funny thing is, we're fighting over two religions that both ESSENTIALLY say the same thing. In a thousand years we, as humans, are still fighting over which one of us is more right about which way is the better way to live in peace and harmony. Does anyone else see the irony in that? If anyone can fill me in on exactly what is going on I would love to hear it. Not the usual "well, they did THIS so we did THAT" kinda stuff, but what is actually going on? Is it the fact that we honestly, when all the rules, policies and beliefs are stripped away, just LOVE to fight with each other? That we will use any excuse possible to do the most atrocious things to each other in the name of.. whatever we decide to use to justify our cause? Is it about money? Maybe you can believe the tinfoil hats and its about power. Someone wanting to 'control the world'? Wow- what a CRAPPY job that would be! WHO in their right mind would want to rule the world? We can't even seem to get little bits of it right. That was always my problem with super-villians in comic books. Imagine taking over- ruling the world with an iron fist. Mua ha ha! Victory is yours! So.. what then? You still have to KEEP that power once you have it. You would have to deal with endless paperwork, subjugated peasants coming in at all hours of the day and night, begging for food, asking you to settle their petty squabbles.. Ech. So what's the plan, super villain? Do you make all of your subjects exactly the same? Do you give everyone technology or take it away from them? Are some areas of the world your favorites? I can't even imagine the stress being King of the world entail. See, these are the strange thoughts chai and high winds and rain bring on. I realize exactly how much I don't understand and, not understanding I can't say if its wrong or right. It seems like everyone loves to have their political opinions, but then they just gloss over the bad stuff that results from the good stuff they want.
     I've had people ask me what I would do if I had my way- How I would fix the problems of the world. The simple fact is that I have no idea. I mean, I have a COUPLE of ideas that might get the ball rolling, but as far as fixing everything? That would be tough. Not really all that hard in an objective, logical, make the problem go away sort of way, but tough because everyone clings SO tightly to their opinions of things. Lets look for a moment at what's going on around the world. Muslims are reacting violently to (theoretically) some silly movie made by some silly people who had an opinion and decided to share it and release it to the world. Now, our logic would dictate that it would be a normal thing to be angered if someone else 'dissed' your religion of choice. In most of the world there would be strongly worded letters sent, perhaps a boycott, even a protest at the opening with charismatic people standing up and shouting and some chanting and maybe a sit in and bumper stickers sold.. Radical Muslims are convinced its okay to kill over it. My personal opinion of that behavior is that the rest of the world should get together and deal with them harshly for that. Not out of a sense of vengeance or retaliation, merely because it is not acceptable behavior when we are all pretty much stuck on the same rock and are forced to co-exist. To me its no different than dealing with a school bully on the world's playground. Instead we apologize and make excuses and do our best to appease them, which only serves to make things worse. Find a school bully sometime and apologize to him because you MADE him take the skinny kid's lunch money, then make 4 other kids give him THEIR lunch money and watch how he behaves the next day. They need to be slapped and punished and told that their behavior is entirely unacceptable and won't be tolerated. If they don't like it they are as welcome to build a spaceship and leave this communal rock as anyone else is.
          It seems to me that the most dangerous person in the world is someone who is convinced that they are right. As soon as they make that decision, that their way is 100% correct and everyone else is wrong you end up with huge mounds of problems. That's what happened with Hitler. I'm sure he didn't wake up every morning and look into the mirror while he trimmed his sporty little mustache and cackle with glee saying to himself "Mua ha ha.. I am THE most evil man in modern history!" No- he was convinced he was right in his beliefs. I'm sure he thought he was the good guy and was willing to kill as many people as it took to prove it. Thinking that you are right, completely, totally, 100% right about ANYTHING will always lead to a fight. It removes any and all options. Once you are right either everyone HAS to agree with you or you are willing to die (or kill) for your beliefs. When you are right no other opinion can coexist with yours because it is automatically then wrong. Actually, I suspect that is what the whole 'turn the other cheek' thing in Christianity is about. You can be a devout member of a religion and still acknowledge other religions.(Or at least other people's rights to believe differently than you do.)  Its okay. I will guarantee whoever your higher power of choice is doesn't care. If He, She, It or They did they would likely have rained hellfire and 3 week old rotten shrimp on their enemies by now. Anyway, I've rambled enough for today. Have a great day, hug the people you love, twice if you REALLY love them, and keep an open mind. Use your hands to cling tightly to the things you believe, instead of using them to strike out at someone who believes differently and maybe we can start a trend. Who knows- Maybe if we keep trying we'll eventually get it right.  Peace.

There was once a mighty eagle who flew high and proud in the sky. The entire world watched as that eagle soared above them, higher and higher. The eagle saw fighting in the world below and it swooped down and stopped the mighty battles from happening. After the battles were ended the eagle saw the damage it had inflicted with its great claws and was sorry, so it plucked out some of its own wing  feathers to help the other creatures rebuild their world. When it flew again it struggled a bit, but it gained the air and soon began soaring again. After a while the eagle began feeling strange pains, stabbing, sharp pains through his body. He looked at himself and saw feathers falling off of him, one by one. He realized he was losing altitude. When he got low enough he felt another sharp blow. Some of the creatures had started throwing sharp sticks at him as he came closer to the ground. The eagle let out a screech and landed, hard, but he stood up, not so easily defeated. He snapped at the creatures and raked them with his claws until they ran and hid in their holes once more. Staggering, he went to a stream to get a drink. He saw his reflection in the water and was shocked. Once the mightiest creature in the world he was now frail and weak, ripped open from the sharp sticks and the illness he was feeling. Parasites and worms moved just under his skin and he clawed at them with his talons, and bit at them with his beak, making himself bleed more. As he sat morosely by the water he heard a faint calling in the distance. He listened for a moment, hearing the calls beckoning to him. It was the voice of the obumbum bird calling him. He staggered over to where the bird was sitting on a branch, looking down at him. The bird smiled down reassuringly. "Don't fear, Great Eagle. I can fix all of your problems for you! Put your trust in me and I will make everything better!" The poor, beaten eagle looked up into the smiling face of the bird and nodded. "I certainly hope you can change the way I'm feeling right now. I don't know what happened to me! Everything seemed like it was perfect and suddenly I just began falling apart!" The obumbum bird nodded wisely, jumping down from his branch. "Well, let me take a look at you, Eagle." He circled the eagle slowly, nodding in deep thought. "Hmm.. Well, I see part of your problem- Those talons of yours, they are MUCH to sharp! You have hurt yourself with them!" Eagle looked down at his talons anxiously. "But, I've had these all my life, I cannot just get rid of them now! They are part of who I am!" The wise obumbum bird smiled and shook his head, speaking to eagle patronizingly, comforting him like a small child. "Of course, I would NEVER try to take your talons, Eagle! I have just the thing right here." He produced a file and began working on Eagle's talons, taking them away bit by bit until they were dull. "There! Now you cannot hurt yourself with those awful black talons anymore!" Eagle looked at his dull talons doubtfully. "Well.. I suppose, I DO still have them after all, but it still hasn't fixed my problem! The reason I was scratching at myself is all of these horrible things under my skin, Mr. obumbum bird! You haven't fixed my problem at all, only what I was using to try to protect myself from it! All these things are still tearing me apart from the inside!" The obumbum bird nodded again, thoughtfully. "Well, I can see you still have a problem. That is obvious, but I think its starting to get better, don't you?" Eagle looked into the stream doubtfully. He craned his neck looking himself over. Suddenly the obumbum bird clapped his wings. "OH! I know what the problem is! You still see the things under your skin! Here, let me fix that and it will be all better then!" The obumbum bird grabbed a blindfold and wrapped it around Eagle's head, making it so he couldn't see anything at all anymore. Eagle shivered at the sudden darkness, but still trusting the wise bird, said nothing, instead deciding to go along with things once more. 'There!" the bird said happily. "Now you can't see whats wrong anymore and you can't scratch at yourself, so everything must be better, right?" Eagle stood for a moment, the pain of the things wiggling under his skin making him shiver. He shook his head negatively. "No, I don't think so, Mr. obumbum bird. I still feel the pain and I think I'm getting weaker!" The obumbum bird sighed and shook his head sadly. "Eagle," He said solemnly, "I have done my absolute best to fix you. I have told you that you are getting better, I have dulled your talons so you cannot hurt yourself, I have binded your sight so you can't look at yourself and see your problems anymore..I only know of one more thing left to do to help you." Poor Eagle stood, shivering and weak. He didn't FEEL any better, in fact he was feeling worse, but the obumbum bird was so wise that he couldn't be wrong.. Finally he nodded in agreement. "Very well, my friend. You say you have helped me and I believe you. Please.. go ahead and do the final thing. I just want to feel better, I don't care what it takes." The obumbum bird grinned widely and nodded, taking a green vine off of a nearby tree. He wrapped eagle's beak tightly, so the once mighty bird could no longer speak. He stood back and surveyed his work critically, finally nodding. "There you go, Eagle. I have fixed all of your problems now, don't you agree?" Eagle tried to open his beak to tell the obumbum bird that he was still not feeling well, but he could no longer talk. The obumbum bird took the silence as agreement and smiled wider. "I am SO glad I could help you, Eagle! Now, go back and soar proudly in the skies once again!" He patted Eagle on the back and sent him on his way. Poor Eagle staggered off through the forest, now blind and defenseless, no longer even able to fly or speak to anyone. Eventually he sat down under a tree and thought for a while. "Well, I guess it IS true, I cannot see my wounds, so maybe they aren't there, and I can't tell anyone I'm hurting, so maybe I'm not feeling the pain I thought I was. When I try to scratch the places that still itch no more wounds form, so I MUST be all better then!" Making up his mind finally, Eagle staggered to his feet, swaying proudly through the forest. Eventually he found a clearing and spread his tattered wings to try to fly once again. He flapped his wings, but they were just to tattered to work properly anymore, he could not get into the air as effortlessly now. He flapped harder, his feet still on the ground. Frustrated he flapped as hard as he could, finally lifting a foot into the air before feeling his dull talons touch the earth once again. He heard happy clapping coming from a branch above him. He looked around, but he still could not see. Finally he heard the voice of the obumbum bird once again. "Se how well you are doing, Eagle? You were soaring proudly again, all thanks to me! Why, if you let me continue to treat you you are only going to get stronger! Soon you will be miles high again and all the world will stand in awe of you!" The obumbum bird looked around at the other branches and saw all the buzzards sitting there, looking down at poor Eagle on the ground. He winked at them and smiled. "Yes, VERY soon, Eagle. My skills have never failed yet!"

Today is September 11th. It is a day that marks a change it the world we all knew. Many people died that day, some of them guilty of nothing more than getting up and not calling in sick to work or making their flight on time, others dying as true heroes, putting their lives and welfare out of their minds as they rushed into a massive burning building in an attempt to save their fellow humans. They will not be forgotten. Those people stand for something, whether they were innocent victims or threw themselves into the jaws of hell willingly to try to save others. They died because they were Americans. Some of them weren't citizens, they may have just been visiting our country, but at the time they died they were citizens as much as any other. The attacks of 9/11 were a blow against the freedom that this country stands for. Honestly, it doesn't matter who ultimately engineered the attack, it was a direct assault to living in a world where people are free to make their own choices. I've noticed that today everyone has either 'liked' or posted on Facebook about 9/11. "We won't forget" and "Always remembered" are the favorites it seems. Are we really telling the truth, though? DO we remember? Yes, we remember the attack, but have we really stopped to look at WHY they happened? Have we changed our way of thinking in any way? To me it seems that the best way to honor those who died that day would be to live well. To throw off the reigns of oppression, stand proudly waving our flag and scream to the world "Look at us! You attacked us and still we stand defiant! We are strong and we are free and we will never change that!" Unfortunately we HAVE changed that. We have given up freedoms almost daily since those attacks of that day. We cower in lines at airports because the government tells us we should be afraid to fly. We've allowed phone taps and security checks and all manner of foul things all in the name of 'safety' so we don't need to worry about things. We let fear rule our lives now, instead of freedom. We have failed to realize that an animal in the zoo is undoubtably safer from the dangers of life than an animal running free, but which one has a better quality of living? We honor those people that fell on the anniversary of the happening, but we don't really do anything in our day to day lives to make their deaths meaningful. We argue and bicker about politics instead of standing together as a country. We let more and more of those precious freedoms slip through our fingers as we are busy screaming about which one is right. I've watched what is happening during the election campaigns and honestly, for the first time in my life, I'm ashamed to call myself an American. I was completely disgusted by the elections 4 years ago, I thought it was a complete and total media circus, but this one far surpasses that one in pettiness and viscousness. The country that is supposed to stand together against all enemies foreign and domestic is turning on itself like a pack of rabid dogs. So, on this day, the anniversary of 9/11/2001- I ask you, as Americans, as people- to look around you, take stock of just one freedom that has been given up since those attacks and ask yourselves if the cage that is being built around you is for security and safety, or just another thing taking your freedom away. Honor those fallen men and women through free thinking and free living, as opposed to putting up another Facebook post.

Well, the house hunt continues. The pure joy and rapture of trying to find a place to live when you can't afford to live in one while you wait for the strange car to show up in your driveway any day telling you that you have to get out of your house. Ah well, such is life I suppose. The strange thing is I have a very positive feeling about all of it. I'm looking forward to moving on with life, re-inventing who I am and who we are as a family. I've decided I'm going to be a writer when I grow up. I figure its a noble goal and will completely justify some of my eccentricities if I'm successful at it because, after all, everyone expects a writer to be a bit off his nut, right? Eddie, the goat, found a new home and word is he's doing well. We were sorry to see him go, but he can get much better care where he went than what we could give him at the moment and besides, I didn't think he would likely ride well in the back seat of my X-terra. Right now I'm hoping to find a place where I can keep my dogs. I know to some people they are just dumb animals, but to us they are members of the family that were here with us throughout the really bad times last year. When Aoibheann was crying for her mother sometimes at night and only having a dad around wasn't enough one of the dogs would inevitably curl up next to her and lick her nose until things were better again. I can't bring myself to just abandon the creatures that offered so much comfort to the kids when they needed it the most. So, gentle readers, I grin widely and wave to you from the edge of the abyss of life while I circle slowly and look for a place to land for a time. Remember, good or bad, life is an adventure. You can either get out there and live it, or you can sit and read drivel like this! Well.. what are you waiting for? Go live!  Really- I'm done talking now, I have things to do. go have an adventure.. Shoo now.. we'll talk later!