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

Change of Heart

A heart of stone you ground to dust

and breathed life into with your trust

it changed me and brought such great joy

so shocked at first it seemed a ploy

from dust to clay a vessel shaped

but filled with holes and cracks that gaped

my earthen heart was fragile yet

still none inside it came to let

but in you seeped like molten gold

you drowned my doubts and took firm hold

securely settled deep inside

the brilliant warmth solidified

it's fractured shelled then fell away

a perfect whole where it had lay

Moonstruck

i look upon a distant star
my body's here, my thoughts are far
it's so nice to be understood
to know you're loved, to feel so good

i lay here in my bed tonight

the music's on, the feeling's right

just knowing someone out there cares

puts me at peace, nothing compares

The Masks We Wear

Wanted to be a loyal friend
Sometimes we fail to see the end
My heart, once bruised, now on the mend
The days flew by so very fast

Those dreams I entertained some nights
Of company and turned-off lights
Took mind and body to new heights
Now deeply buried in the past

The cruelest card that life has dealt
That gets me blue, makes my hopes melt
Is that despite how good they’ve felt
Of ties I make, none seem to last

I grow attached quite easily
My social sense abandons me
I’ve done some awkward things, you see
Such history is very vast

I patiently await the day
That I might hear the newsman say
“Hell’s frozen over, let us pray”
That from me, this curse I may cast

Lest it all come crumbling down

I'd rather have a brickhouse than a straw or stick house
tough as nails and never fails to hold
i found a warm and cheery glow inside
the night the door was opened wide
with drapes and carpets covered like pure gold
who lives within i cannot say
i suppose that i'll find out someday
but for now the bed is calling me
and before i drift off far from here
i want to make this brickhouse secure
from waiting wolves and offer some safety

Invitation to the Depths

Believe in what you cannot see
Can you conceive the air we breathe?
Each breath is slowly killing me
You know you will too eventually
It’s nothing to laugh at that time destroys all things
While wearing your heart on your sleeves
You’ll find out how much it bleeds
how many dark stains it leaves
How jaded are your memories
That you can’t see the forest for the trees
But I can see the sea, washing steadily over me
I know the tides, your change of sides
You shift on that beach quite nervously
Stepping on sand, your piece of dry land
The only certainty on which you stand
But let’s swim, these depths invite you in
Test your waters, fear isn’t the only common sense
It’s a natural defense, another border fence
Breathe, this air will help you float, but only if you let it
Can you take it? Life has no preserver, you got to make it
It’s all about your motion in this ocean; sink or swim;
Davey Jones waits and you could very well join him
I can see your back, but all you can see is the shore
Walking on water isn’t commonplace these days
It just doesn’t happen anymore
But damn, I swear you swam, half-ran right back over that crest
Your shirt, a useless sail fixed to a heaving chest
Where did your loyalties lie & when did they falter and die?

Craters & Catalysts

Fall back into the crater where the catalyst hit
Of the depth of inspiration you’ve found in it
Far from the world let’s try to free fall
Like leaves from a tree first one, two, then all
to float on the surface, where you lie there dying
technically but surely, though some go on trying
Immersed in a sea, what is it to be?
So uncharacteristically buoyant
Yet still sinking quite peacefully
When facts don’t make sense
And ignorance, your only pretense
‘cause they’re all so shallow
like spheres sorely lacking dimensions
useful as a trip to the gallows
Grab hold as you’re told to the rope in suspension
Be ready to jump when you wish to land
The choice always given, everything close at hand
Not often we land on a sole destination
But with one foot in uncertainty, and the other temptation
For all that we seek, the bright-colored lights
That so light up our dreams
And fill up our nights
would you tear at the seams
As you drift from the heights?
No, dive in and absorb it, these rare lucid streams

Sticks & Sand

writing in the sand
like so many times before
incoming of a wave
washing my words from the shore
gathering my thoughts
as rhythmic water sounds and breaks
even as i finish a new line
again, the ocean comes and from me takes

Oh Well , it Was Worth a Try

I’m no good with creative compliments, (10)

I’m sorry to say they’re not my forte (10)

These kind words and little presents (8)

But I hope you accept them anyway (10)

I know you’ve heard them all before (8)

From others that might have more sway (8)

But please leave me an open door (8)

And not be so quick to send me on my way (11)

Blank Pages

you're sort of like an open book
but completely full of blank pages
written in invisible ink
look at how hard you make this
too concerned with what people think
and i'd really just like to know
no, i wish that you'd just show me
to see just how far this could go
i'm tired of taking this slowly
so please toss that old paperback
and show me something with a spine
i'll pay with paper or plastic
but i'm sick of sitting in line
when you're ready up at check-out
i'll be waiting with my wallet
can't try to say you lost your phone
'cause it rang when i just called it
is it really alot to ask?
your cheeks are getting red and warm
you're making this no simple task
let's watch the words begin to form

Frankenstein Monster

A world given to normalcy
at my passing watches warily
my eyes as dry as desert sand
they think i do not understand
the emotions that they come to feel
a weight that causes me to kneel
an inner light that goes unknown
behind a mask of flesh and bone
science gone wrong, abomination
the darker side of man's creation
to wander forth and ever be
iconic of man's duplicity
a nomadic trek of haunted steps
a wait to see God's promise kept
that though unnatural the birth
he least in me might find some worth
my days to me fragmented dreams
a patchwork heart with nightmare seams
love from none to spare upon
this life-given automaton