My thoughts on a few economic matters & other things

oil speculation? It has to go. It's driving up the oil prices & hurting us all. Let's get some legislation going to crack down on this A.S.A.P.
Just read this & see for yourself.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/13/2215863/speculation-explains-more-about.html
Perhaps we could march on Washington? What happened to the good old days when people weren't too lazy to Publicly & Peacefully Protest & make their voices heard?
if oil is what's driving up other prices then lowering it's price back to reasonable levels should be one of our top priorities

Spending cuts are necessary to dig ourselves out of the hole, but so are new taxes. Unless of course you're okay with rampant poverty because the programs in place to help the needy just lost pretty much all their funding.

on the same note, many programs desperately need restructuring. Medical & Social Security to name a few. Let's get realistic.

Another thing: drugs.
i'm of the opinion that marijuana should be legalized & taxed. That way more money will go back toward our government & towards getting us out of debt rather than going to the Mexican drug cartels.
suppose for a moment that the government were to legalize marijuana,grow it, & sell it. Government networks are established enough & has enough resources that it probably could effectively sell to the nation at large for prices that wouldn't be as attractively profitable on the local level; effectively discouraging street competition, & in turn helping to shut out Mexican drug cartels who make big money pushing the stuff across our borders.
local growers who don't want to buy can be issued a "grower's permit" for a reasonable fee. plants grown with a permit can be subject to fines. thus creating even more government income.
They could undercut the market.
Meth & cocaine however, should still be very much illegal for obvious reasons.

When & why did manufacturing become too expensive in the united states?
what happened to our being "leaders of industry"?
what happened to our steel mills, american TV's, electronics, etc.
WE IMPORT MORE GOODS THAN WE EXPORT. Does this notion not seem crazy to anyone else accept me? It means more money is leaving the country than entering it.

Also we need to legalize our illegal immigrants. Once they're in the system, they can be taxed to the full extent just like any other American citizen. With the exception of Native-Americans, we were all immigrants to this country once upon-a-time. For all you know, you may even have an illegal immigrant or two in your own ancestry you don't know about *shrug*.

We probably should have alerted the Pakistanis to Bin Laden & given them a chance to capture him themselves. Then after telling them,& still keeping a close eye on Bin Laden's compound, we could've overseen the situation & monitored what happened just to make sure Bin Laden didn't get away, & that Pakistan did their job.
I mean,just imagine if a high profile criminal wanted by Pakistan had been hiding out in the U.S. & Pakistani special forces had just flagrantly disregarded our sovereignty & popped up in one of our cities out of nowhere, surrounded a house, then proceeded to take their target down amid bursts of gunfire. WE WOULD BE WAY BEYOND PISSED OFF. & we wonder why other countries think we're so arrogant *rolls eyes*.

Kind of a pity that Bin Laden couldn't have been taken alive. Not sympathizing with him in any way, but now he's become a martyr for their cause. Living men make poor martyrs. At the very least, maybe we could have had Afghanistan honor his death sentence instead. Offer to let his own people execute him 'cause they'd be obligated & all that jazz. If Al-Qaeda came looking for blood, then our hands would be clean, & we just went through all the proper channels. It would have made for a better political move, i think.

& that's all i have to say for the moment...

Contest

To win the book, Harmonic Feedback by author, Tara Kelly

According to contest rules, i have to post this, to enter.

& i really hope i win, because the book looked pretty darn interesting :).

Prolly just 'cause i have AS and so does the main character, but whatevs.

Anyways, be sure to check it out if this sounds interesting to you.

A link to the contest page is included below.

http://literaticat.blogspot.com/2010/05/book-birthday-harmonic-feedback-by-tara.html#links

Check This Guy Out for Some Good Music :)

Green Acquiescence

We smoked in circles under leaves made of green and gold

These wooden pipes kept burning as we turned the time away

In wooded glades far from the order and distant goals

Our shadows withered and grew as we shuffled through,

The world moved so much faster than we knew

Tree trunks rose up beside us, reaching far into the skies

So many outstretched arms, so many voiceless sighs

So many fingers waving slowly in the lazy summer breeze

As we sat below pondering the world and our identities

what is real and what is only meant to be

Wings of Stone

Falling from your lips

Like so many stone birds

Attempting to take flight

As such are your empty words

Falling on deaf ears

They drop and shatter on the floor

Even as you begin to speak

I'm turning, walking towards the door

Inner Demons

Retreating back inside the mind

careful or lost in labyrinth find

at best while you are wandering

behind you trail a guiding string

lest no way from complex maze

and meet you inner monster's gaze

a beast of rage, of guilt, of loss

borne then soon after in there tossed

behind you leave no open door

or reckon with the minotaur

Wishing (You) Well

I dropped a wish down the old well

with eyes that followed as it fell

to dark and murky depths below

where doubtful dreams and hopes may grow

but keeping to the local lore

i tossed also a quarter more

it shimmered in the dying light

then into darkness made it's flight

maybe just simple superstition

wasted coin, a poor petition

or fleeting comfort for the few

who frankly know naught else to do

when all else fails, you may yet try

but wave your pocket change goodbye

Leap of Faith

A heart so walled away is blind
if i entered, think you would mind?
fortresses do crumble, Dear
Twas through a crack i entered here
throw up your walls to keep me out
i'll slip back in with your self-doubt
you're not infallible, you know
I'm simply trying to help you grow
with lessons learned that we all share
with aims to help, to strip you bare
from such illusions harbored in
each morning's hollow waking grin
each evening's frown before you sleep
dreams haunted by the lies you keep
and fears yets still of something more
not of life's love you could restore
but also that you could regain
the semblance of a heart's true pain
that you might trade it for the dark
protection for a lesser mark

Wishful Thinking

Bring me to the water's edge

ripples dance across the surface

i'll sit with you upon a ledge

counting ways that it was worth this

knowing it's all just a dream

hold my hand until the waking

our stones, we'll toss, into the stream

until woken by gentle shaking

sunrise comes when it is ready

entwined fingers, palms together

i do my best to keep it steady

♡ that skips like rocks on water

unfair facts that i can't alter