Do you feel that?

Super Bowl Sunday

Murl and I were at the dog beach Sunday for the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that shook most of Southern California and parts of Mexico. No, CA did not disconnect from North America and drift off into the ocean as I often wished it would before I moved here.

We were enjoying a beautiful Easter Sunday on the beach with Slough Belle, our dog, when I felt that funny sensation of the Earth rumbling below my feet. Being on the beach, with no rattling dishes or china, I thought that I was having a dizzy spell and was about to pass out. I looked at my feet and then up at Murl to see that by the look on her face, she was experiencing the same thing. I looked around the beach to see many people with a look of confusion. Beyond the beach, the trees on the nearby golf course were shaking unusually. This all transpired over the course of about 3 seconds, and the quake went on for what seemed to be minutes. Shortly after the quake, we concluded a beach is a real safe place to be for an earthquake, but not for a tsunami, so we left.

Other than finding a tipped over picture on a shelf in our house, a few interior doors shut that we always keep open and an open cabinet that was shut when we left, the earthquake that killed several people in Mexico had little impact on me…until Monday that is.

When I got to work on Monday and people were busy recounting the “Where I was and what I was doing during the quake…blah, blah, blah,” I realized the importance of a small detail of my version of the story.

So, let’s go back to the dog beach. This is a 400m x 200m stretch of beach that welcomes unleashed dogs to do what unleashed dogs do. There are literally hundreds of dogs and owners running around with a variety of toys and such. Dogs splashing in the surf and owners throwing things, blowing whistles, and chasing the throws in the surf that their dogs won’t retrieve…got it? Murl and I tend to stay right on the perimeter so as not to become part of the wet sandy chaos. It is interesting to see dogs interact with one another. It is funny to see your dog respond to someone else’s whistle and then get there and realize that is not where they are supposed to be and then look around and see 50 possible owners that all look like the right owner from a few hundred feet away. Once Slough Belle did this and then ran right past us at a full sprint and caught up with a couple on the beach a 100m away and had that realization all over again and finally came back. It was funny.

Then the Earth starts shaking. About the time I was sure it was the Earth and not just me, this yahoo comes running up to me chasing his dog (who has a stolen ball in its mouth) who is chasing my dog (who has his ball in her mouth)…[keep in mind, at this time Murl is holding on to me so she “won’t fall down.”] As the guy runs up to me, he starts yapping about how funny it is that “the dogs just want what the other dogs have and aren’t interested in what they already have.” I tried to interrupt him by asking, “Do you feel that?…It is an earthquake…it is happening right now!” This idiot didn’t hear a word I said. He just got his ball that Slough had now dropped and went back to his friends. Now that you have a good visual, let’s go back to my cubicle.

So, as I often do, I got to thinking. There are a few points of interest in this story.

A) Why didn’t this guy feel the Earth violently shaking beneath his feet when almost everyone else on the beach did?

A) Answer: For the same reason that there are many people “sleeping” right now, for the same reason our government is made up of crooks and liars, and for the same sad reason that self-serving politicians are slowly choking the life out of America. And that reason is far too many Americans are too consumed with themselves and think that their little bubble is the most important thing on Earth. Whether it is someone who thinks that the world starts and stops at the boundary of their parish, county or city, or someone who thinks that as an individual they are allowed to do whatever they want without consequence, too many people go through life everyday without concern for the world around them or the people in it…it is apathy, it is people being so consumed with themselves they don’t even see the world around them, it is people being indifferent to everything. It transcends generations, socioeconomic classes, and state lines. It is the force that keeps countries like Afghanistan operating centuries behind the rest of the world, and the same force that is dragging America to her knees.

B) What makes an animal take what is not his?

B) God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. Moses passed those on the Israelites. He eventually wrote them down in the book of Exodus. We were taught them growing up. They used to be commonplace in public buildings such as courthouses. THOU SHALT NOT STEAL is clearly one of the big 10. What does that have to do with dogs? NOTHING. Animals don’t have logical thoughts. They cannot be taught religion or rules like this, so what happens…they act like animals. So, what happens when we take God and Christian principles out of schools and public places?…We get animals. People that loot, rape, and murder during times of natural disaster. High school kids that violently rape a student at a homecoming dance. Pre-teens that light another kid on fire. Chicago teens that beat and kill an honor student and film the incident. People going to work or school and shooting up the place killing innocent people. Flying a fuel laden aircraft into a government building. A neighbor mounts a full assault on a family eating Easter dinner, killing the mother and father. Sex offenders that steal the soul of their defenseless victims. Do you think for a minute that we would have a fraction of the violent/senseless crime or corruption we see today if more people knew God and his simple rules of “Love me and love your neighbors?”

C) Why didn’t Slough know how to get back to Murl and me when she went off on her own?

C) Answer: This goes hand in hand with the previous response. Slough knows who we are. When we walk in the house, she knows that we are the people that are supposed to walk in the house. Add a few people to our house, and she still knows who we are. Put her out in the world, and it gets a bit more confusing. The same holds true for people if you don’t have a solid foundation on which to base your decisions of right and wrong. If we have to ask ourselves “Can I get away with this?” We should probably be asking ourselves “Why am I considering this?...Would I look at this website if my mom was looking over my shoulder?...How does this affect those I love?” The ability to do the right thing all the time when no one is watching is the value of integrity. The only way to be able to make decisions with honor and integrity is with a solid foundation. I think a suitable foundation is provided per discussion (B).

If you know someone that is “sleeping,” wake them up. If you know someone who is “asleep in Christ,” you owe it to them to wake them up. If you don’t know what I am talking about, WAKE UP!

BMP

2 April

Not much to say on this beautiful Good Friday. Last week, the main point in my post was that there are some people out there that vote that are really scary. Today, I dovetail that with a video from the US Congress in which a GA Congressman is questioning a Navy Admiral (the commander of the entire PACIFIC FLEET) on the addition of thousands of people (military families) to Guam. Watch this video and listen to what this idiot is saying. Listen to how completely ignorant this "Statesman" is. Ask yourself...How did this man get elected? Who thought that he would represent them well? How many like him are in our national and state governments? What important issues has this man helped push through that affects you and your family? We need patriots to stand up for what is right and take back this government from the politicians.
Have a great Easter weekend.
God Bless.
BMP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsFsn8ekyhw

26 March

Friends and Family,

I regret not being able to entertain you weekly with ridiculous stories of Afghan incompetence, but I kind of enjoy not being in Afghanistan. I, as you probably imagined, have been following closely the political environment in our country. I have devoted many hours to researching different movements in our country that would like to see our way of life fundamentally changed…these people are not foreign terrorists, they are the leaders of our country. It was said just before Election Day, “We are 5 days away from fundamentally changing America.” With the awakening of independents and the rise of the Tea Party, many conservative Americans see several east coast political victories as a sign that things are changing and that victory is imminent in November. I, too, have had these thoughts of hope, but am questioning this rationale as of late. What does it take to win in November and in 2012? Some would offer a political awakening; many say this is in progress. Some would simply say there needs to be more conservative minded people than leftist, palm up, share the wealth Marxists/Socialists.

Almost everyone I know has a job and depends on himself and his family alone to get things done. That is my perspective. That is my view of the world, so in “my world,” it is safe to say that unemployment is not a problem, and the few people I know that don’t have secure employment do everything in their power to find such employment to provide for themselves and their families. Many would argue that my world is not representative of the population of America. True. But, if my world did represent the population of the U.S., it is safe to say that a conservative, anti-big government, pro-tax cut, pro-capitalism, pro-life, God Fearing, and American loving candidate would win any election by a landslide. This, of course, is based on the assumption that more conservatives than liberals in my world actually vote. So, we have established that in my world, a conservative candidate will win any election as long as the views of the voting population are representative of the actual population in my world.

Because I do, in fact, live in my world I watch and read the news and say to myself, “How did these people get elected?” (I rarely answer myself, but when I do, I listen). I have trouble conceiving how we got to where we are because that would never happen in “my world.”

But, how much different is “my world” than the real world. Are there more people that want the government out of their personal lives or more people that want to depend on the government? Are there more people that are upset with the way things are going politically in our wonderful country or more people that wish the federal government would do more to solve their personal problems? Regardless of the actual numbers, as I illustrated above, the people with the most votes win the elections. It doesn’t matter how you feel, it matters how you vote.

Below is a disheartening and almost laughable excerpt from a CNNiReport on how OBAMACARE will affect individual Americans.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/23/health.care.scenarios/index.html?hpt=C2

The situation: Ira Bennett, 47 and self-employed without insurance, is HIV-positive, and had a heart attack in his early 40s. He estimates his income is about $500 a month from doing yard work and watching a friend's house. Since he couldn't pay for the $70,000 bill for his heart attack treatment, the costs fell to the state and federal government. Paying for his AIDS medications, costing around $2,000 a month, also falls to federal funding through the Ryan White Care Act.

Bennett says: He hasn't sought health insurance for more than five years because of how disheartened he felt after being denied, and reading about others in a similar situation. Ironically, "I can get insurance for my dog, but I cannot get it for me," he said, pointing to his iReport. Now, with the new bill, "I can sleep better knowing that I'll be able to be taken care of, that I'm not a burden of the state, that I can actually pull my weight a little bit," he said.

Expert says: In 2014, Medicaid will cover individuals up to 133 percent of the poverty level, Davis said. The current poverty level for an individual in the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia is $10,830, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Also in 2014, insurance companies will not be able to deny adults with a pre-existing condition coverage or charge them higher premiums. Someone like Bennett might be eligible for Medicaid, or could get insurance through an exchange, a state-based pool established by the reform measure.

Bryson says: The situation is pretty straight forward…the dude is sick and has a ton of bills that the government covers because he cannot. So, Bennet, in his infinite wisdom, rationalizes that once the government gives him free health care it will be a relief to him because he will no longer consider himself a burden on the government…he will then be pulling his weight. That’a boy Bennet, pick yourself up and dust off them shoulders. You’re a new man. Look in the mirror and breathe easy knowing that your no longer a burden on the state; nope, now you’re a burden on the American working man who now has to pay more taxes…Ira, my man, they made a law for you up in Washington, D.C. That’s awesome.

College student about to graduate

The situation: Sylvia Martinez of Torrance, California, was relieved that her 22-year-old daughter's health coverage will be extended. Her art-major daughter graduates in May and is looking into unpaid internships and jobs in the field; many of them don't provide health insurance.

Martinez says: "It's an amazing reprieve essentially," she said. "People like my daughter can become an artist and pursue her dreams" rather than taking a job for the sake of getting health insurance.

Expert says: "Young adults can stay on their parents' health plans up to their 26th birthday, and that starts [in six months], so this is a really important provision for this individual," she said.

Bryson says: You go Sylvia. Pursue those dreams girl…don’t take a job just because they will pay you and make you all independent and stuff and able to, like, care for yourself. That stuff is overrated. It is much more hip to continue to be a burden on your parents all the way through your twenties. Heck, I want to pursue my dreams! I took a break from writing this email, drafted my letter of resignation from active duty, and sent some of my stats to several professional baseball, football, soccer, and track programs. My real dream is to just be a dreamer, so I think I’ll start a union and just dream…wait, they don’t pay me to dream…I’ll write the government so I can get paid to pursue my dreaming dream and get heath care…dreaming makes me happy, and the declaration of independence says I have the right to pursue my happiness, so the government must pay me to dream…I think this is going to work!

Wherever you stand on this issue or many others, I know that most of the people in my world were given nothing except a chance and a choice. The Constitution of the United States declares that all people in the U.S. will have the opportunity to go to school…there’s your chance. The choice lies in the decision to attend, pay attention, and succeed. What you choose do in high school determines if you get the next opportunity. There are many programs out there, public and otherwise, for underprivileged qualified high school students to go to college on scholarships. Some people in my world took the opportunity to go to college, and some didn’t. A few of the more successful people I know didn’t bother with college and worked every day of their lives to get where they are today. Our government and the bottom feeders it provides hand-outs to want you to fund their welfare programs to keep a certain portion of the population dependent upon the government. A man that depends on the government for basic necessities like food and medical care is a slave. Moses and Aaron led the enslaved Israelites out of Egypt, the founders led the fight to free the unrepresented yet taxed in the early days of the American Revolution, a Republican president led the fight to free the enslaved in America in the 1800s and today we are faced with leaders who want nothing more than a population that relies upon them for the most basic of needs…they want slaves. I want freedom.

See the quote on Freedom from an unknown author:

I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon – if I can. I seek opportunity – not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me.

I want to take the calculated risk, to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed.

I refuse to barter incentive for a dole; I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence, the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of Utopia.

I will not trade my freedom for beneficence, nor my dignity for a handout. I will never cower before any master, not bend to any threat.

So, what next? What side of history are you going to stand on? Make sure you and yours are registered to vote. Make sure your kid's friends are registered to vote and make sure that people know that every time the folks in D.C. sign a bill that takes away one of your choices to do what you want with what is YOURS; we become a little LESS FREE. And as far as others’ right to pursue their happiness…they have all the room in the world as long as their pursuit doesn’t affect yours and mine…forcing me to pay for someone else’s happiness is an infringement on my inalienable right.

01 December

On 25 Nov at 4:27pm Eastern time, the wheels of my plane hit American soil; ending a chapter in my life. It has been a long and educational journey. Thank you all for your support and prayers. As I have said many times before, I learned a lot, a lot about myself, people, government, and the military. Some times when you learn things, it is disturbing or frustrating. These problems must be met with solutions, not a blind eye or complacency.

In conclusion: I wish I could sum up all of my thoughts from the past 8 months and provide a concise and clear answer for all of the world’s problems or even a fraction of the problems we face overseas…I cannot. However, there are a few items which I feel strongly about.

Our goals in Afghanistan: The corrupt Afghan government will continue to suck America dry as long as we let them. They will not step up and do things for themselves unless we make them. This holds true from the President on down. WE MUST HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE.

As for sending more troops; Pres Obama relies on advisors for every single decision he makes from his kids advising him in the pardoning of a turkey to his cabinet and czars advising him international politics and war. His top man in Afghanistan has requested/recommended a troop increase. This would not be popular among the people that voted the Pres into power. I believe this is the reason for his long delay in making this important decision. It looks as if he will partially grant this request with a half-hearted troop increase. I think he lets politics fog his ability to make correct military decisions. Sending more troops into harm’s way is undoubtedly a tough decision, but one that he signed up to make when he decided to run for the Presidency.

The rest of the War on Terror: Of course, sending more troops to Afghanistan is not the final answer for our War on Terror. We must hold other governments accountable for allowing terrorists to train and operate on their soil. Governments found to harbor and support terrorists should have the strictest of sanctions placed on them and receive ZERO foreign aid from the U.S., U.N., NATO, etc. Non-profits shall have their assets frozen and punished severely if they are found to provide relief to any country known to harbor or support terrorists or terror organization; knowingly or otherwise. If they are not responsible enough to investigate where there dollars are going, they won’t be trusted with that responsibility. Yes, innocent people will suffer, but if those people are suffering due to the actions of their governments, they will eventually fight back. America cannot afford to continue to give undeserving handouts to the world.

We must continue to develop programs to fight terror on our soil and abroad. When the war in Afghanistan “ends,” the War on Terror will go on. Pres Bush declared a war on terror after 9/11, but we had been half-heartedly battling terror for several decades. The problem was we never allocated enough of the right resources to truly combat one of the biggest problems we face today. What changed after 9/11 was the level of attention we all paid to the problem and our willingness to wage war on those that had long ago declared war on us. I see us now slipping back into a state of complacency in which we prefer to pretend like “everything is OK.” What many people don’t realize is that in the mid ‘90’s, Osama and his friends declared war on us and our way of life. They started their attacks shortly thereafter, but we didn’t “really” respond until 9/11. Our lives changed with the formation of these terror organizations decades ago, but we didn’t see the full measure of the effects until late 2001. I liken it to someone developing a life threatening disease or condition. Did your life change the day your cells were affected in your body, the day you were diagnosed, or the day you first felt the effects? It is all a matter of perspective. One thing is for sure; your life will never be the same. Whether you are fortunate enough to beat it or resume some life that resembles your pre-diagnosis way of life, you are changed. It may be a scar or something else physical, but you will undoubtedly have a new way of looking at life and each day you share with family and friends…bottom line; you are different. The same holds true for our lives in a world with Islamic Extremists. We cannot just stop fighting, we cannot neglect our responsibility to protect our way of life, and we cannot turn a blind eye. Survivors of life-threatening illness or injury all say one thing, “I never quit fighting, and I never gave up.”

America is infected with a rapidly spreading aggressive disease (really several of them in my opinion) that we cannot ignore or stop fighting.

Our government: As Americans, we cannot afford to be complacent. We cannot keep accepting the poor performance of our elected officials and re-electing them. We must hold them accountable and let them know how we feel about the issues. We cannot allow the federal government to continue to take power away from the states. Government intrusion in your life must be met with the fiercest resistance. They shouldn’t be able to tell you how you can discipline your children or what kind of firearms you can legally possess. There is no middle ground here; stand up, be counted and fight, or stay lying down and don’t act surprised when you and every right you thought you had are trampled under the feet of a growing, self-serving government and its politicians.

Our way of life:

· Keep God first in your life and our country.

· Spend responsibly. Save responsibly.

· Have kids and raise them right (Thank you to my parents and family.)

o Make them go outside

o Impress upon them the importance of education

o Teach them about their family and America

o Hold them accountable.

· When the government and your elected officials do something that aggravates you, get mad, let them know about it, and don’t take it lying down. Hold them accountable.

· Be proud to be an American…NEVER apologize for being one.

· I tackle everyday with the following thought: IF YOU AREN’T MAKING IT BETTER, YOU ARE MAKING IT WORSE!

So, is there an underlying theme that could be a big part of the answer?

ACCOUNTABILITY!

Hold yourself, your kids, your spouse, your neighbor, and your government accountable.

Our government must hold itself and others accountable.

The justice system must hold criminals accountable.

It is all about accountability.

Pray for our troops. Pray for our enemies. God bless.

BMP

***Muriel and I will continue to use this to keep everyone up to speed on our adventures. New pics/video from Afghanistan to come soon. California adventures and pics to follow.