Random Ramblings of a Closeted Libertarian

I have family who live in Joplin, MO. My husbands highschool was there. I have a first relative who was a nurse at St. Johns Hospital that was destroyed. I’ve seen the flattened scenery near St. Johns and have known people who have lived through it, and have lost loved ones in it. I’ve heard the calloused responses from those saying “Why would they live their anyway? It’s called tornado alley for a reason”. 

That is the price that the people of Joplin pay to live free. 

The same could be said of Moore, OK who had 2 elementary schools decimated today in the second deadly tornado in little over a decade to go through their area. As much as they are in mourning, I am sure that many of them would agree that they have chosen to live there, even after the destruction that had occurred their previously. 

Sandy Hook was not a natural disaster. It occurred in a building where children were SUPPOSED to be safe from other human beings at least. A crazed individual with a firearm slipped past security and shot up a school. Sad, and I am sure that all of the parents were NOT for firearm restrictions (Not like the parents of the kids lost in a tornado ) But are  random spurts of gun violence the price that we must pay to live free? Or can we control guns better than we can tornadoes and with little to no lost freedoms? I am not convinced. I am sure if my child was lost in Moore, OK, I would have to admit with heavy heart that I chose to live there. If my child was lost in Sandy Hook, it is much easier to react out of grief, even rashly sometimes, to try and change things. If things can be changed for TRULY the better… I wish them well and all the best in their efforts. At this point, I am not convinced that gun control will be truly the best for us as a nation. Meanwhile, the grieving families of Moore, OK are in my prayers today as are those from Joplin, MO and Sandy Hook… I can’t imagine the sting of losing a child would ever go away. 

I drafted this BEFORE I was aware of Arlington TX, 250 character limit. Thought I’d post this regardless. This was a depressing and horrible point in my personal life, and Red light cameras in Arlington, TX on Cooper St. has much to do with it. Sad that the slaves don’t have any legal recourse.

Hello. I am a victim of your unfair red-light camera system.

When my husband exited from the Navy in 2009, we had carefully chosen Texas because of the economy. We thought that it would be the best place to “start over” since, that is technically what we were doing after a military exit. He had no college degree, and we had moved far too many times for me to finish mine. The best job that he could find (Even though he was trained to repair aircraft and had worked security detail and was an excellent sniper) was for a  moving company. That paid $13 an hour. On his days off, I worked retail at Target in Arlington, TX. I found out the day that his military contract ended (And our Tricare benefits) that I was pregnant. When we moved to Texas, I found out that our vehicle was illegal due to emissions laws. It took far more than we could afford to fix this problem. As a result, we rode his motorcycle. Pregnant or not.

Our red-light “crime” was caught on camera. It showed him, and a pregnant me following a box truck through an intersection. There was no way that we could have even saw the yellow light if we even wanted to. If we had telepathic powers to know that the light had turned yellow, II guess we could have stopped, but we could have been run over since we couldn’t see the light until mid-intersection. What would you suggest?

As it was, we paid the red light ticket after depositing one of our meager paychecks. We were hungry that month. I remember having morning sickness and throwing up an apple which was the last bit of food in the house and crying because there was nothing else to eat aside from sugar free pudding (containing aspartame) in the house.

We are in a better place now. He is still working for the moving company,  but will be moving on to a better job in the coming year when I will be getting my nursing degree. I am only writing to attempt to encourage your police and red-light enforcement agencies to not pursue those who cannot afford this ridiculous, unfair, and most of all impersonal,  method of “law enforcement” on Cooper.

Lol! I was just reading the Huffington posts comments on the gun control debate in regards to the latest gun restrictions in Connecticut. It made me remember a dream. 

(As a preface, I do not own a  gun at all… but maybe I should)

I was sitting in my car in my work parking lot before I went in with my windows down on a  nice day playing on my beautiful Samsung Android phone when a guy with a big knife comes and demands that I hand over my phone and all belongings… Then I… Like some crazed person in a dream ;-) start singing “Pistol grip PUMP on my lap at all times.. they may be messing with other people’s shit but they won’t be messing with mine” as I pulled my gun out on him without firing a single shot and he ran away. 

And no… Despite my affinity for Rage Against the Machine… I don’t like cursing. In fact I am considering removing the last one… But I’ll leave it against my better judgement. ;-)

My husband and I have been loyal customers of T-Mobile for at least 5 years. My phone went kaput yesterday…Got the “Code Corrupt, Battery OK, OK to Program message”. Despair… since my computer also recently went down the swirly porcelain bowl. However, I knew that I had one thing on my side… UPGRADE!!! So… I go into the T-Mobile store with my broken phone and kindly ask for an  upgrade. After being given my status as a “gold upgrade” member, I was shown a phone that would qualify for said gold upgrade. I was instantly in love. Gorgeous phone. Anyways…

I need the NEW plan to get the phone though. No problems, just upgrade to the new plan. So, they are putting the  memory card into “my new phone”  while calling customer service, then BLAM. My gold upgrade is gone. Well, I could either pay $80 today to get the phone that I was told that I could get for free, or get a lesser model. To be fair… the T-Mobile reps at Berry St. in  Fort worth fought for me… but it takes 1-3 days to reset the gold status. Meanwhile, I am alone, with a toddler, and not even so much as a landline. While asking whether the gold had been reset yet, this is the dialogue: 

Chat Transcript

Huffington post mods delete comments that they can not come up with logical argument for… 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/25/michele-bachmann-investigation_n_2949746.html#comments

Regarding a grilling of Michelle Bachmann, her ethics charges and a user (Who I could not find) who said that they wondered about the intelligence of those who had voted her in in the first place.

“In response to the person who said that they question the intelligence of the people who voted for her in the first place;

They voted for her because we all yearn for change, so we are likely to vote in any person who looks differently. Just ask the voters who voted in Obama. We now have record high unemployment, STILL lots of wars,record high deficit and not much hope.. or change. 

But… he looked and sounded different…so many took the bate. Same with Bachmann. She has a head full of air and a pretty female face. I just wish that people started gauging politicians and future presidents on their past and what they’ve accomplished instead of how young and beautiful and different they are. If not, lemmings who vote these idiots in will be the ruin of our nation. “

Just my two sense. Just because the Huffington post thought that my post was inflammatory or abusive, thanks to Tumblr.. I can let this hot air out XD

Raising the minimum wage would only hurt the poor. Just think about it… When business owners are forced to pay their workers more, whether it be McDonalds workers, or the janitors at my hospital most of them will not simply eat the cost in order to balance the budget. They will raise their prices.. which means that the side salad that I normally buy on the way to work will cost more. That means that uninsured people will be hit with higher charges on their healthcare bills. People like me who are still paying off our education will be paying for this. Raising the minimum wage is NOT the answer. We have problems.. yes, but this is NOT the solution. Making education more accessible is. Encouraging that people get educations for jobs that are actually hiring IS! We have to ship people from Africa, the Phillipinnes and India in order to staff the hospital that I work at because white people (Americans in general) are too busy working at McDonald’s and complaining about the minimum wage to get OFF of their asses and get an education for a field that is actually hiring. And by the way… I am not disparaging fast food workers.. I’ve had to do that too in my life. I just didn’t STAY there and whine about why I am not being paid more.

K. Another rant. 

I was talking to someone at work who (happened to be an African American) was chiding another co-worker about his decision yo improve his own education and money making ability in order to improve their ability to “care for your children when they come back to your house with your grandkids”. 

I was shocked… I said that I would NEVER presume it to be appropriate to invite myself to move back into my parents house. It is my responsibility to make it on my own until I am truly desperate. 

His response: “Well, you’re clearly a Romney voter”. 

No joke. 

So… What does that say about the Obama voters? No personal responsibility? Seems like it to me. I didn’t even LIKE Romney :-P

I work at a hospital. Not gonna say where or what I do to protect my job. Most of the nurses techs and doctors are Indian, African and Asian immigrants with a few from Europe as well. 

I have on occasion had patients comment to me, since I am white, about how terrible it was that there were not more white employees at the hospital and that all of the doctors had accents. 

Here is what I REALLY want to say to them:

“How many doctors and nurses did you pop out of you vajayjay? Did you instill a sense of hard-work and value for education in your child that will encourage them to seek a well-paying job in a field that is actually hiring? Or are they an aspiring super-model, DJ or art major? “

White people as a whole are not as hard-working as these cultures (Especially Indians!) I personally plan to teach my child to value education. I will encourage “Straight A’s” and will start by attempting to get them myself. 

That is all.