I haven't written in a while simply because I hate writing negative things and there's been enough going on lately that makes me absolutely furious that I decided to give it a couple of days to chill out a little. We're firmly in breakup now, snow is melting, it's been close to 50 outside- Absolutely AWESOME! For anyone who is wondering, Eddie the goat is doing fine. He and Jack (My cattle dog mix)had a few rough days while they shook out who was in charge, but after that all has been well. Okay- You're wondering whats got me so mad, right? Well, ok- Here goes. first is the proposed dam that they want to build up the Matanuska river. It is an absolutely beautiful area that some morons decided it would be a great idea to spend 4.3 billion (on the low side) to flood so we can get more electricity. It seems like there are people in this world that look at pristine natural beauty and start giggling like school girls when they think about all the money they can make by bulldozing it and covering it with concrete. I REALLY wish, no offense, that all of those people would leave this state and go back down to the lower 48. Leave Alaska like it is, People! If you don't like the fact that its sort of rugged and maybe not a technological mecca then MOVE! There is a bunch of 'urban development' everywhere else. Go there if you want to look over miles of concrete. 

 The other thing that has me pretty ticked off lately (Well, BESIDES politics, that's normal) is the incident down in Florida. A shooting in a gated community. A 17 year old kid that lost his life and a 24 year old kid that has to live with taking one. It was a horrible thing. one of the kind of things that never should have happened. Was it spawned by some deep racial hatred? I highly doubt it. More likely bad judgement in a stressful situation. Should the nation be using it as a key point to further tear itself apart? Absolutely not. I'm not going to use this as a forum to debate whether it was a justified shooting or not. All I have to say is that people shouldn't be using this sort of a tragedy to springboard their own political views. I mean, come on, people! Senators wearing hoodies to support..what, exactly? Justice? The Judicial system that they took an oath to support? Peace and equality in our country?  Does anyone really think they ACTUALLY give a rat's butt about this kid? It's a chance to draw attention to themselves and get voters. As the 'leaders' of this country shouldn't they be working to pull us all together as a nation instead of making cheap, grandstand stunts to drive bigger and bigger wedges? A 'million hoodie' march? To protest what? That the kid wore a jacket? That there was stereotyping based on the way he looked? Wow, really? You think? That's something that goes on every single day in every aspect of life. Don't believe me? How about you try an experiment. Any women out there brave enough to go out dressed as cheap and trashy as you possibly can to see if people treat you differently than normal? Guys- On casual Friday at the office throw on a ratty pair of cutoffs and a wife beater to see if people talk to you differently. Hmm..wife beater- a sleeveless white undershirt that has become synonymous with trailer park living, beer swilling trash that hits women. But we don't stereotype based on the clothes we wear, right? I have to wonder- If this kid had been white or latino, would it have even made the news any further than a local article? Would it have if the shooter had been the same race as the boy? What about part? At what percentage of the same race IS it not noteworthy to cover something like this? It's a pretty sad statement when you can picture the anti-gun coalition nearly giggling with glee because this gives them another excuse to attack gun rights as opposed to being saddened by an unfortunate tragedy. 

Well- There you have it. I got my rant on after all. Maybe if I completely stop watching the news I'll be able to write more enjoyable things. Hopefully all this snow melts soon so I can get outside a bit more and enjoy living in Alaska- Well, until they put up a strip mall in my back yard anyway-