My feet were extremely dry, cracked and started to bleed. The next thing that occurred made me feel like an avatar. My socks were bloodied with blue blood. This is caused seemingly by a toxic amount of medicine that doesn’t allow iron to be absorbed. The other thing is your liver and or spleen is having some major issues. The odd part about it was I wasn’t taking any medications at the time.

When I was in the military, I used to work as an SP (Security Police), that’s what the Air Force calls Military Police. While at work, I heard of a story about a pizza hut delivery person that delivered pizza to one of our dorm buildings, wasn’t quite military housing but it was better than a college campus. That delivery person would be arrested several hours later for ejaculating onto a pizza while he was HIV positive. The call came into our unit which was quickly referred to the local police and prosecutor’s office. How did the ladies find out? They called to say what a great job and how hospitable the delivery person was. He felt so guilty that he told them what he did. Names won’t be used, mainly because I don’t remember them and to save anyone any embarrassment. That individual, I’m gathering, was tried and found guilty of his crime. All I could say at the time was WTF! Oddly enough, not the worst story I heard while in the military. Big thanks for the reminder.

So, I’m going over this situation in my head. At first I thought it wasn’t too bad and why are they making such a big deal about it. Then the outrage poured in and I felt like I was on the wrong side of this situation and I jumped on the band wagon on how horrible it is but quietly, not posting anything just yet. When they started saying that they took spots from people that deserved to be there, taking athletic scholarships away from athletes of poor or modest means that wouldn’t otherwise be there, then the outrage seemed fitting. But did they? Did they do that or did they pay for an extra scholarship? The report was very thorough by the media outlets but none said that a student was turned away due to this booster type admittance. I know that the parents, all rich, gave money to different outlets, some to the athletic division to where their child was faking their athletic prowess. What did they do with that money? Did they pocket it, buy equipment or did they use it for another scholarship? It makes a crap load of difference because if they used that money to hand out another scholarship to a person in need, then their should be no outrage. Maybe the thought of rich parents using their influence and wealth to get their kids into a school deserves some kind of finger wagging but that has been going on since John Adams put junior into Harvard. That’s nothing new and I would only feel outrage if someone was hurt in the process but if their contribution to put their “not as smart as needed to get into that school” kid actually helped another deserving student get into that school, then the only people that should be punished is the schemers, the people that created this devious plan to line their pockets with money, not the people that would ultimately contribute to the bettering of the school. Scholarships are not based on a certain number, they’re based on amount of money available to hand out for scholarships, I’m supposing? Did they even get scholarships or did they pay full tuition? Did they actually take away a slot? I don’t think they did. I mean, that athletic division is still going to fill the required amount of people needed, aren’t they? And let’s be honest, those kids aren’t going to do a damn thing with that education anyway. If they didn’t have the smarts to get in then I’m pretty sure none are becoming class president or are reaching cum laude status. The parents did, though, donate money to actually help poorer students if the pay offs went into the program. For right now, I’m going to reserve judgement. I’m off that shaming bandwagon. I’ll wait and see what happened to those contributions and see if those coaches are driving Bentley’s or did they buy new equipment or give out an extra scholarship? There is no harm, if no one was harmed, right? I could be wrong. I know it’s sexy to prosecute big names but is it deserving? If no one was hurt and, to boot, that athletic department got money to better their equipment for the kids that are there on scholarship, then I don’t think that the outrage is deserved. Not to say the parent’s weren’t wrong but the bad guy here is the schemers who got rich off of the love the parents had for their kids, of course I’m assuming they loved their kids and weren’t putting them in those schools so they could get out of the house.

And in breaking news, a shit load of people were shot in Chicago, no one cares, except the people from and in Chicago. We should be helping law enforcement efforts there.

The right to choose is a very important aspect in our life. The right to choose what to do with your body, whom to love, where to go, what to buy, with whom to associate, how to vote and so on is why this country was birthed. Fighting oppression by anyone is essential to having a democracy. Any person that tries to chip away at any right to choose, be it guns or abortions, as long as that choice does not harm any other living human being, should be voted out of office, impeached from their position and/or relegated to being by themselves in their elitist room. You should fight, by any legal means necessary, any action that limits any right to choose that does not bring harm to any other person. Democracies are built on holding strong to your right to choose and fighting any erosion of that right. Just ask Venezuela.

Forgot to commemorate this young man. A genius dead at 26.

I weigh in on silly situations because that’s what bloggers do. They make their opinion known to their 36, maybe 37 followers. Within the last week Liam Neeson made it known that a friend of his was raped and that he acted irrationally to someone being raped. He stated that he sought the person that did it or anyone that looked like that person. He was obviously traumatized by the event and acted outside normal behavior. The back lash to his comments about actions that happened some 40 odd years ago is, hmmm, how can I put it…. insane. He did something wrong, well, almost very wrong, and he admitted to it. People seem to take the fact that someone he obviously loved very dearly got RAPED and skim past that point like yeah, we all do it, well, we all don’t do that. His behavior is actually what occurs when a loved one is sexually molested or raped. You go outside your normal self and you want to lash out. Some people handle it in different ways. Some people file civil suits because the appropriate authorities are magooing it (as in Mr. Magoo), some people look for immediate action and some people just sit on their thumbs because they’re too damn scared of their own shadows. While Liam should have focused his frustrations on finding the guilty party, when a traumatizing event like that occurs it can discombobulate you. I’m glad the Mr. Neeson didn’t hurt anyone and that he came to his senses prior to doing anything dumb. But if I had a question for Mr. Neeson, it would be, “How’s your friend, is she alright?” because in this incident, she was the only one hurt and no one else.

It amazes me what people seem to take to heart. The forest for the trees people. And if rapists and sexual predators or people that support rape don’t want to see his movies… fuck them. I don’t support his action, I condemn the reactions or over reactions when they don’t take everything into perspective.

When I was 17 (or 18)…. sounds like a song. The one thing I recollect at that age was that I was making out with a woman who was drunk while I was sober. I asked her if she was drunk, and she said yeah, and I told her that we couldn’t do anything more than kiss because she was drunk.  She got a little upset and we headed back to the living room. She fed me drinks, which I took gladly, and had some herself. The thing about having two people in the same state of mind is that it becomes consentual but when you have a person under the influence, of anything; alcohol, marijuana, any surreptitious device that they are not aware of that has mood enhancing capabilities; and you are completely sober, than you have to be the adult in the room because you have all the control. If you get off on controlling people, then your problems are much deeper than you know. That night we were both in the same frame of mind, which is important to me before I do anything. There was no force, just mutual attraction. She grabbed my hand and I followed. I wanted to when I was sober but I couldn’t. It didn’t feel right because she was drunk.

This situation would happen to me several times in my life, each ended with a no, not while your drunk.

The actions of a few impact the lives of many but do they care? As they point the finger at each other and trade barbs at who is to be held responsible, people will go hungry, people will miss mortgage payments, children will be left in the cold. Compromise, while it can be difficult, is what we expect from our leaders. The people that we admire, as we voted them in to public office, to handle these problems in an adult and comprehensible manner, are letting us down. The bad part, and what doesn’t look so good for them, is that they will not miss a paycheck, except for a certain few that have stated that they will not take a paycheck until they clear this matter up. If they’re not as hungry as the people then their motivation isn’t as great. I won’t miss a paycheck but a lot of good people will be wondering if they can make their rent, if they can put food on the table for their children, if they are going to have money for gas to get to work that they are doing for free? I know that there is a compromise there somewhere. It’s just how motivated they are to get to that point. You know, the side that gives in for the sake of the people would most likely benefit the rewards of caring for the people. Just a thought.

If you can’t find a compromise, then let me offer one, agree to fix any barrier that is need right now. Identify the places where the barrier is degraded and agree to fix those right now and then meet in a couple of months to agree on how to proceed. No one will think that either side caved and will only be glad that the shut down is over. Also, being an ex -border patrol agent, lighting and sensors were always more important then the wall. If you were to put telephone poles with solar panels that charged batteries that powered sensors that would make lights go off and send a signal to the agents, this would make the job a lot safer for them and easier. The problem is when they get over the wall, tracking them can be a bitch. We use flashlights and night scopes that sometimes don’t have the depth perception that we need. But if we can follow lights that pop up on movement of a sensor, then we can place their whereabouts immediately.