R They SERIOUS???????

They are at it again.... now they have enlisted the help of the US Government. The 'Digital Police'.. You can read about it here.

So, our government - which has more crises than it can handle has chosen to pour our tax dollars into supporting/enforcing American business's digital rights - the SAME American businesses that will NOT hire here in the US despite having the financial solidarity to do so (some courtesy of tax dollars).

These businesses are claiming that digital piracy is putting multitudinous Americans out of work.....  Somehow, I do not think that this piracy is putting quite as many Americans out of work as outsourcing, offshoring, and basic corporate greed.

This, in my opinion, is right up there with the lunacy of limiting sales of over-the-counter medications containing pseudoephedrine. This was done to stop the meth labs... The meth labs are doing just fine - they have found other methods and other chemicals that work just as well. Law abiding allergy sufferers, however, have not.

Any other opinions out there?

Smoke Signals

We have come a long way from them.......... quite amazing............  
Last night, at 5:30, there was a terrible accident. A drag race gone horribly wrong... at a time when people were outside enjoying the cool ocean breezes on the beach road... One car flipped several times - narrowly missing a homeowner and his children - and eventually landing on its side against the house. 
The cause? Well.... youth must try things - and often without thinking beyond the moment. Alcohol, sadly, played a large part too. 
The accident occurred at 5:30 pm - by 6:45 pm - the 'teen grapevine' via Facebook and text messaging had more details than local law enforcement.... 
By the time the press got the article and posted it, the teen grapevine knew who was involved, what they were doing, drinking, listening to, where they came from, where they were going to, why they were racing, who was to blame, who ran away, who was in the other car, who was in the hospital, which hospital and why....
Part of the 'grapevine' lives with me - hence I could see it function first-hand. By the time the article appeared with some details - we knew everything that was printed and quite a bit more.
And we thought telephones were amazing............. 


Same subject, other thread:
One of the boys in the flipped car was a friend of my children and well known to me also. Thankfully -he survived. Seriously injured - but, he has survived.

Judgement

Why is it that those who have little or no experience at things perceive themselves to be experts. Why do those so-called experts feel they not only have the right to judge you but to tell you what it is that you are doing wrong? And further - that they, who have talked to others and read treatises on the internet but not DONE this thing seem to feel that they are without a doubt, RIGHT?

These same people seem to feel that the world is black and white with specific lines when judging others - yet, gray with no lines when judging themselves.

When things do not go their way - well, then, that is simply not right.

And their own pasts - checkered as they may be - must NOT be held up to the same scrutiny as they hold others. For their past is in the past. But since issues bother them NOW, despite that these things occurred in the past, they are therefore, fair game for today.

Some of these same people then become 'martyrs' in fear for their lives? Seriously? And they persuade others that they are, of course, justified.

Others go on with the life they intended all along but you were not supposed to know about. And persuade others that they, too, are justified.

I am not saying that everyone else is wrong and I am right. No no no - I am so far from perfect that I amaze myself. In fact, the older I get, the more I realize that I do NOT know..... and never will.

What I am saying is that until you have taken a good hard look at yourself, accepting that you are human, that you have faults, and that you do NOT KNOW THAT WHICH YOU HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED, you have no right to pass judgement on me.

And when you have perfected yourself and experienced all - then sit judgement.

But you still have no right to cast that stone unless you are without sin.....

In the words of Joe South:
"Walk a mile in my shoes

 Walk a mile in my shoes

 And before you accuse, criticize and abuse, WALK A MILE IN MY SHOES"!

Destiny

For a few years now, I had thought that when my children were grown and I could choose where I would live, I should go north. I had pretty much decided on a small coastal town in Maine. 

Also for a few years now, I have been visiting a dear friend in New Jersey on a fairly regular basis. Odd that my ex-husband is the one that introduced her to me. We have much different and much in common. I relax and enjoy every time I am down there. 

I also have specific preferences in music. While I enjoy almost every type - it is that 'Jersey sound' that attracts me the most. 

One more digression - and I promise this will all make sense..... there IS a point to the rambling.  

I have experienced 'Deja Vu' only once in my life.  The experience of going somewhere you have never physically been but have seen and felt exactly in your mind - and somehow, it is comfortable. In 1983, Atlantic City was in the process of being reborn. The Playboy Club, The Golden Nugget, and Bally's all offered bus trips. I went on one of these day trips with my parents and aunt and uncle. At that point in my life, I had never been further south of Connecticut than New York City. Yet, as the bus passed through the marshland prior to coming into Atlantic City............ I knew with absolute certainty that I HAD been there before..... that I had been there and been comfortable there....deja vu.....

On my way down to Jersey this time, the closer I got, the more comfortable I got.... the lighter the invisible weight on my shoulders felt.  This time too, Ava did not feel well Sunday - so I went off on my own for a bit..... when I was done visiting the ruined ecosystem of Raritan bay (lead spill) - I just started to drive..... and drive... and drive. over Outerbridge Crossing, thru Old Bridge .... down Old Bridge turnpike..... for miles and miles and well - all the way to Rutgers.... and then back to Sayreville. The more I drive, the more comfortable I get.... 

I know that I never want to be far from the shore.

I know that I never want to be where it never snows.

I know that I never want to be where there are fewer seasons.

I know that I do NOT want to be in a 'city'.

I know that I do not ever want to miss autumn.

I know that I do not wish to be where tornados and/or hurricanes are the rule rather than the exception. 

An as John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band (yes, I know they are native 'Rhode Islanders -  but they embody that "Jersey" sound) played on my radio the other day, I knew where I had to settle and spend my 'golden years'.  I will never be far from the 'City that Never Sleeps'. I will never be far from my family or where I was born.... but, Connecticut, for all its beauty, is NOT where I need to be. 

Now comes the fun part - figuring out WHERE..... The when will happen when it does.... but the where - now I can plan.....  how the next stage of my life will go. 

Oh - yes, and I will go into the next stage of my life SOLO. Happily. Sans mate. Happily.

I have my friends. I have GOOD friends - the majority are female. Some that I have never met face to face..... yet - they ARE good friends! And I think I finally have it - I wanted to have it before - but I didn't quite have it..... Me. I am very good company. I like to do a lot of stuff. I like to do a lot of stuff with NO ONE. And I have my friends when I want to do stuff that we BOTH like to do and when we BOTH want to be with each other. 

I never understood why my maiden aunt was happy and ok with BEING a 'maiden' aunt.

I didn't quite get why my mother-in-law never wanted to remarry..... or live with anyone. Or even date..... 

I get it now.... It's cuz we are fun all by ourselves. And that's enough.