the Miley lesson

Posting a link to a beautifully done blog
http://roadkillgoldfish.com/2013/08/26/dear-daughter-let-miley-cyrus-be-a-lesson-to-you/

Beautifully done because you can see the love for the writer's daughter shining through...and the determination to not have her turn out like so many spoiled brats do these days....

Now I will be the first to admit my lovely 11 yr old daughter is probably just a touch spoiled. She has things and gets privileges I never dreamed of at her age--even if they had been invented yet!!!! But she is firmly grounded in love and support and security from me and her father...and brothers and sisters and extended family members. For the most part, she has a good group of friends as well....even with the middle school drama that goes on....

Shellie was the biggest Hannah Montana fan I had ever seen. And we played into it, b/c the show was a wholesome breath of fresh air, a silly break from the rest of the crapola Disney thinks is entertainment. and we loved the way daddy kept Hannah/Miley's feet firmly on the ground...Well Miley grew up, shed the Hannah persona and act, and went to hell in a handbasket faster than you can say Britney Spears....

You know, her first Miley album wasn;t bad.....but when the one came out with her pic on the cover where she looked like she just crawled out of some guy's bed after a weekend orgy....that did it for me. Shellie wanted the album, liked the music.....I put my foot down right there in the middle of Walmart, told the child precisely why she was not getting it..and it all had to do with image...the image on that CD cover was not one I wanted my child to get a message from.  She threw a mini-tantrum, which I quickly put down...and we';ve had similar tiffs over other pop artists she likes.....but my word is the be all and end all....I can;t control every single thing she is exposed to, but I can control what I allow her to bring into my home. I ban MTV happily. With shows from Jackass to 16 and pregnant to teen mom, not the station my child, or most people with a brain, should be watching.

I firmly believe a big part of my job as a parent is to guide her away from the decisions that will ruin her life. I can;t stop what she may do at 18, but you know, I was told my sons would cut and run as far as they could get from me and my rules and high standards and expectations once they turned 18 also....well they left for college, 3-4 hrs away from home...and I am sure they are trying out their new roles as legal adults responsible for themselves...but they still come home....they still have respect for the way they were raised...and I have no fears that my daughter will be the same....

GOP cavers

And no I don;t mean those who like to explore caves....

I'm talking about those supposedly conservative politicians/flag wavers who think that in order to gain followers and get votes, they have to move the message to the center, or heaven forbid, even further left. Really? How's that work out for you in 2008 and 2010? Not to mention handing the House to the left in 2006.....

So moving to the center gains no followers, no votes, no credibility...in fact, it loses you what dubious credibility you may still have.

I've been called a right wing nut job...or in twitter speak, RWNJ...by more liberals than I care to count. I am a "bitter clinger" to my God, my values, my guns, my Constitution. I have folks in my own family and circle of friends that most likely wish, and some have said, I should shut up. Nothing is going to change, no matter how hard I bitch, so why waste the energy?

I don't consider it a waste of time or energy. I may only count on one hand the number of folks who I have "led to the light", so to speak.....in other words, opened their eyes to the fact that they really are conservatives, so why vote lib? But even that is a victory in this culture of do whatever you want, don;t impose your morals etc on the rest of us.

But something has got to give nationally.....the pass and spend this country into oblivion while masking it behind social issue debates has got to stop.....and the GOP as it stands is doing those of us who are conservatives no favors. I'm not real sure the Tea Party is either, b/c just like in every group of folks, there are a few loons on the loose there too....but  folks, John McCain is not a conservative, Pat Toomey is not a conservative....and on the other side..hey folks in WV--Joe Manchin is not a conservative either....all liberals trying to cloak themselves as sheep while they are really wolves.

The GOP needs to get back to its base....and the base is not liberal. The base wants spending cut, wants border security, wants the govt to quit trying to screw with the Bill of Rights. The base wants you folks in DC to grow up and quit living high on our dime while we can;t afford to take a day trip with the kids, much less an actual vacation somewhere. Quit spending the money we haven;t even earned yet while bemoaning the fact that foreclosures or up and students are defaulting on student loans and so on. Be adults and realize you in both parties have created these problems, with the cooperation of a widely apathetic population of voters/nonvoters.

Be aware things are changing..little by little....we, your base, are going to take back our country and kick you to the curb if you do not listen to us. If you do not move back to the right, to true conservatism...and I am not talking the smokescreen of social issues you want to debate---to fiscal responsibility, to national and border security, an so on....you will be out of a job.It may not be 2014, or 2016, but it will happen.

And when it does, try not to wonder why....you know. Deep in the recesses of what is left of your heart and mind, you know.

Free speech?

So I wake up from my not-long-enough night and pop on Facebook to see what's up before attempting to go back to bed. Along with the usual game requests and other junk----love the pics from those who have escaped this crappy weather for spring break (slightly sarcastic, heavily jealous), I find a post or two linking to and commenting on different news stories.

Or what purports to be news.

Frankly, I don;t find reader reaction to a letter to the editor/opinion column to be news. I find it to be more opinion based on the prior opinion. How is that news? But apparently somebody thinks it is news to react to an opinion piece espousing anti-gay, anti-black, etc. thoughts. And the same someones apparently think all such talk should be at least hushed up, if not outright banned.

No, I did not read the link. I read enough of the reactions of some on FB to irritate me.

No I do not espouse the "kill 'em all" or whatever opinions against any group.

BUT.....

Last time I checked--and someone let me know if Obama has executive-ordered the 1st amendment to be unconstitutional yet---we have freedom of speech in this country. It's one of the things that sets us apart from places like Syria, Iran, etc.....even a lot of Europe these days.

So whether or not you agree with me, or agree with the in-my-honest-opinion nutjob carrying on about getting rid of whatever group he's ranting against, or agree with anything in general, we all have the right to state our opinion, and do so without calls for banning our speech.

Banning certain speech b/c it's not PC, or "nice" or whatever doesn;t make the thoughts go away. I can tell my daughter all I want that she is not allowed to say certain things...mainly based on her age.....but having once been a child, I know that I can;t stop her from thinking those things. All I do is change her venue for saying them. Now she knows she can;t say them around me, or Daddy, or grandparents, or teachers, or whatever....but around her friends? To her siblings? In her journal?

There are always better ways to say some things. Instead of cursing a vulgar, crude blue streak, try using some real vocabulary..be imaginative....instead of saying you hate a certain group, maybe try getting to know someone in that group....I don't condone a lot of lifestyle choices, to say the least, but they are not my choices to make. I try not to judge a whole group (although with Obama voters, it gets tough..lol), but rather deal with the individual. Just b/c one person in a group does something stupid doesn't make the whole group guilty of it. There are a lot of great gay, straight, white, black, purple, polka-dotted, whatever religion or lack thereof folks out there.

Deal with the fact not everyone is the same or thinks the same. Wouldn't this be a boring world if they did?

And yes, if you don;t agree with what someone says/does, you too have the right to say it...as long as you are respectful....if you are not, then you lower yourself to what you think the other person is guilty of being.

An open letter to the NRA:

QUIT BACKING DUMBASS CANDIDATES WHO ARE ONLY BENT ON TAKING AWAY OUR SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS!!!!

Here's a couple of examples:  Joe Manchin and Nick Joe Rahall.....

And you wonder why I let my membership drop.

That is all.

So over the last few months, I have become increasingly strident in supporting the Second amendment, as it seems our fearless leader is bound and determined to not only destroy it, but any other Constitutional right he deems necessary to get his agenda done. And now I find myself contemplating a letter writing campaign to my senators and representative demanding they do the right thing and not bow down to the dictator-wanna-be.

I used to be heavily in favor of gun control. The kind that takes all weapons away from any non-military, non-police citizen.

Then I grew up.

I understand that people have differing viewpoints on just what 2A means and how it should be interpreted. I have no problem with not owning an assault weapon---although the case could be made that even a rock is an assault weapon if used to attack someone-----but what the lefties keep dragging out are semi-auto weapons and in some cases, not auto in any way.....they have no clue what they are talking about. The media can;t even get right what the Sandy Hook shooter used.....here's a hint: the sick bastard did not use a fully auto weapon..get your facts straight.

Which brings me to another point: background checks....

I'm all for them. Matter of fact, some pretty stringent laws concerning background checks are already on the books.

But background checks would not have stopped Newtown.....the shooter obtained his weapons by killing his own mother to gain the weapons......his own mother had gone through the lengthy process requred by this country, as well as any state/local regs, to legally own her guns. Her son did not. her son committed illegal acts to obtain her weapons to carry out his sicko plan.

Most mass shootings are not the work of legal gun owner. Yes it does happen. In any segment of society, you are going to find a few folks on the fringe, or a couple who just need the right tension to make the wire of sanity at least temporarily disappear. Gun owners, non-owners, black, white, yellow, purple, Christian, Jewish, Muslim...whatever the group, there is always someone who may flip their lid to a destructive extent.

The point is, you are not going to solve one problem by creating another. If you take guns away from the law abiding, then the criminals/sickos/etc who are bound and determined to create murder and mayhem will have free rein. No one will be able to stop them b/c no one will have the capability. i mean, it's not like one can just carry a crossbow with a multitude of arrows into a theater, right? If you don;t want to own a gun, that is your choice. No one is forcing you to. But leave my right to defend myself in the manner I choose alone.

So once again, we have lost a family member, my uncle on mom's side, her youngest brother. It was totally unexpected, even though he had been having some fairly serious medical issues; he had in fact just been released from another hospital stay only the evening before. He leaves behind 4 sons, 1 daughter, and 2 stepdaughters, many grandchildren, and lots of siblings, nieces, nephews and so on...He joins his wife of I think 20 yrs or so in Heaven.

My purpose is not to write his obituary. I give no names, as to keep the privacy as much as possible of the family as they mourn.

My purpose is to remember. And while so many of my memories are jumbled with each other, with everyday living, working, surviving, and existing ...I will never forget this big man with some rough edges who loved his family and did his best for them.

I remember being little and being scared--more likely overawed---by this giant of a man with the booming voice....at least he seemed that way to a little girl....He teased us all, just like we were his own.....as i got older, when I would be visiting my grandparents and he was around--and even well into the middle age I am now---"how ya doing, uglier-than-i-am?"  As I got older, I would respond in kind: " No such thing." and tease him back.....as, no longer scared or overawed, I was comfortable with him....

He had his faults; we all do. He had his rougher times of living when he was younger. He was a Vet, God bless him. He was married and divorced twice before settling down with his third and last wife, who sadly preceded him in death a couple years ago. He had a passel of kids with his first 2 wives, and helped his last wife raise her young daughters to adulthood.

I'm gonna miss you, uncle dear......say hi to my aunt for us all...we truly miss you both. Rest in peace.

tolerance and civil discourse

I've been playing around a lot on Twitter lately.....sometimes posting prolifically  and sometimes just watching the tweets roll by. I've also been rather politically vocal on my Facebook page. And one thing I have noticed is the extreme lack of anyone really listening to anyone. Especially without the comeback of "Well, F you and the horse you rode in on." if someone dares to even politely disagree.

Yes, I am vocal and very blunt, to the point that yes I could probably be called rude on occasion. I call it like I see it and some may choose to see that as intolerant. Plain and simple, if I disagree, one of two things will happen....I will either shake my head and roll my eyes, but scroll on past the item and go on my merry way....or I may decide to comment. Most generally, I try not to be rude but approach in a agree to disagree manner.

However......if I am attacked, called rude vicious names, or the like....then I will fight back.....most generally with a cutting sarcastic remark that will probably go over the head of the one it is intended for---as I have discovered that such so not tend to pick up on sarcasm.

I respect anyone's opinion, whether I agree or not....and i require the same of anyone who posts comments on here---which is generally not a problem---on my FB page or anywhere else. if you feel the overwhelming need to show your command of vocabulary by dropping the F-bomb constantly, then please go to another page and do so. it will be deleted off mine.