Reasons. . .

. . . to own a gun. . .

. . . from a proud gun owner's blog. . . [with my reactions]

Because It's Cool
This is a fairly weak reason in comparison to others. . . Someone goes shooting with a friend, loves it (and/or thinks the gun is just groovy). . .

[GROOVY???]


Family Legacy (Because my Parents Owned Guns)
A family legacy of gun ownership is often a factor in determining whether one will become a gun owner. . . If you have had a bad experience with a gun in the past, that may be a valid reason for you not to own a gun - but probably not. It's more likely that you have an irrational attitude towards guns, and unreasoned bias is never good.

[What IS a valid reason for me to NOT own a gun, in your opinion?]


Just For Hunting
Hunting is a fine reason to own a gun . . . 


[OK]


Target Shooting Only
. . . Shooting accurately is challenging, and many of us feel a sense of achievement from being able to put our shots exactly where we want them to go. . .




[also for sport]


For Social Reasons
Some gun owners may own guns simply so they can take part in social shooting activities, such as sporting clays, cowboy action shooting, and the like. . .

[Is this how Dick Cheney shot his own friend?]


For Self Defense
This one is by far the most powerful, and universal, reason for anyone to own a gun. . . To deny a human the right to defend him- or herself from any threat is the most grievous crime against humanity that I can think of. . .


[read:  Paranoia.   I can think of worse crimes against humanity without much effort.]

 
Because the Founding Fathers Wanted me to
This is another excellent reason to own a gun. . . It's the fear of retaliation that keeps the corruptive (sic) nature of political power from sweeping our land . . .


[Considering the current crop of politicians, this theory has already been proven untrue.]


As an Investment
Guns rarely decline in value. . . 

[Buy real estate]


Historical Reasons
Some gun owners like guns merely for their historical value. . .

[OK. They're not automatic or semi-automatic though.]


Interest in The Mechanics of Firearms
Most firearms are mechanical marvels. . . 

[So are refrigerators.]


My Own Reasons
. . . we Americans are still free to do as we choose, to some extent. Don't let politicians, TV news anchors, me, or anyone else do your thinking for you.

[I won't.  Thanks.]

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Put your money . . .

. . . where your mouth is . . .

(from Wikipedia.com)
". . . The Social Gospel movement is a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the early 20th century United States and Canada. The movement applied Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as excessive wealth, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, bad hygiene, child labor, inadequate labor unions, poor schools, and the danger of war. Theologically, the Social Gospellers sought to operationalize the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:10): "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." They typically were post-millennialist; that is, they believed the Second Coming could not happen until humankind rid itself of social evils by human effort. Social Gospel leaders were predominantly associated with the liberal wing of the Progressive Movement and most were theologically liberal, although they were typically conservative when it came to their views on social issues. Important leaders include Richard T. Ely,Josiah Strong, Washington Gladden, and Walter Rauschenbusch.

Although most scholars agree that the Social Gospel movement peaked in the early 20th century, there is disagreement over when the movement began to decline, with some asserting that the destruction and trauma caused by World War I left many disillusioned with the Social Gospel's ideals while others argue that World War I actually stimulated the Social Gospelers' reform efforts. Theories regarding the decline of the Social Gospel after World War I often cite the rise of neo-orthodoxy as a contributing factor in the movement's decline. Many of the Social Gospel's ideas reappeared in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. "Social Gospel" principles continue to inspire newer movements such as Christians Against Poverty. . . "

It's time for some of these ideas to reappear. . . again!

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GENERALizing. . .

. . . about the rich or the poor gets us nowhere . . .

Mitt Romney says that since our current President practices the "politics of division" (he obviously lives in a cocoon),  many intelligent (maybe that's the missing element) Americans are quite conscious of the existing rift between rich and poor in this country.  Pew Social & Demographic Trends found 66% of Americans see strong conflicts between the two groups, and a full 19% more than did in 2009.

Almost half of the people interviewed said they thought rich people are rich because they were born into rich families or know the right people and a comparable percentage thought the rich earned their riches through hard work, ambition or education. 

Well, both groups are correct.  And like any other group of two or more human beings, within each of those rich populations there are good, honest, principled people and there are lying, cheating, dishonest charlatans as well.

Much like the perception that rich (sometimes not-so-rich-yet conservative, white-collar-middle-to-upper-middle-class) people hold that poor people are poor because they are lazy and therefore do not work hard, have no ambition and are as a result (or as a cause) have no education.  And they are right also. . . that is about SOME poor people.  But if they are speaking of a group of two or more poor people, they are not considering the good, honest, principled people who have tried but have suffered setbacks, disadvantages, discrimination, bad luck, bad circumstances or bad timing who have not been able to attain the success that some may THINK these poor people could have attained.

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Monkey see . . .

. . . and monkey do
The little monkey looks an awful lot like you

Everybody's seen
The little monkeys in the zoo
And we've all been
In situations where we
Do what we know isn't right
So we follow
And try to do it their way
Can't risk our reputation
And in our heads
We hear our Mothers say

Monkey see and monkey do
The little monkey looks an awful lot like you

Every monkey knows
that what the other monkeys think
Matters the most
If we're not thirsty
We'll still drink
If they would tell us to
Run in circles
And jump through hoops of fire
We couldn't jump much higher
And there's a voice that's ringing
In our ears

Monkey see and monkey do
The little monkey looks an awful lot like you

Monkey is a social animal
Not a predator or cannibal
Wondrous thing is sociability
Life is so much more
Than just one great big cocktail party

Monkeys know the game
Just one good double-dare
Can redirect the blame
For anything that they may do
I can't just turn away
Something pulls me
In closer to the fire
I can't explain about it
They'd think there's
Something wrong if I would say

Monkey see and monkey do
The little monkey looks an awful lot like you

MONKEY SEE
©1996 Raymond M. Jozwiak


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Entitled to WHAT? ? ?. . .

. . . from FactCheck.org

"Democratic Rep. Xavier Becerra of California said that he would "fight to take [Social Security] off the table" in budget negotiations, because it "hasn't contributed 1 cent to the deficit that we face today, nor 1 cent to any of the national debt, the $14.3 trillion." We take no position on whether Social Security should be cut, but it's wrong to say it's not contributing to the deficit.

Social Security benefits paid were more than payroll taxes in 2010, leading to a cash deficit of $49 billion. For 2011, the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees project a $46 billion deficit. And those figures don't include the billions more the government will have to borrow to cover that reduction in payroll taxes that was in last year's deal to extend the Bush tax cuts."

Did you see that LAST LINE, "And those figures don't include the billions more the government will have to borrow to cover that REDUCTION IN PAYROLL TAXES that was in last year's deal to EXTEND THE BUSH TAX CUTS."??

Meanwhile back at the ranch, "Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) will serve on the commission, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced. Reps. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) will represent House Republicans(in the Super Congress deficit commitee), said Speaker John Boehner. All six Republicans have signed a pledge to Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform that they will not vote to raise taxes." (reported by the Huffington Post)

So you tell me. . . exactly what, or should we ask WHO, IS THE PROBLEM HERE???!!!!



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Russell's stains. . .

Russell, like many of us (and a preponderance of people under 40 years of age) has a facebook page. Russell is one of my three sons and lives in Los Angeles.

I, who by the way am well over 40, also have a facebook page; and a myspace page, and jazz network worldwide, global jazz network, twitter, google and more than even I remember. My membership on these sites is strictly commercial (thanks Frank) but no less sincere. In other words, if you become my 'friend' (on myspace) or if you 'like' me on facebook, I am sincerely appreciative. But my true purpose for being there is to spread my music throughout cyberspace. I probably, now that I understand social media, would be on one or two social networking sites even if I didn't play music, but I doubt I would be a member of as many of them as I now am.

But anyway, back to Russell. Now all three of my boys were 'creeped out' as they called it, if I (and it has been rare)
communicated with one of their friends on a social networking site, most specifically facebook, since that seems to be the most widely used such site for their age group. But if a friend of theirs and I somehow 'ran into' each other on facebook, and they held some interest in my music, I had no problem with the interaction. I wasn't exercising some strange voyeurism or some such other perversion. I was merely trying to spread my music throughout cyberspace.

And likewise, I have stumbled upon the facebook page of each of them sporadically when utilizing facebook and will sometimes glance at a photo or read a post. After all, that's what it's for.

Now there's not some sordid punchline to this little diatribe about the revelation of some bizarre proclivity, heretofore unknown revelation or any such thing. . . but maybe there is.

On Russell's page, there was a photo of Russell and two of his friends (and co-workers) all dressed in similar garb (sweatshirt and khakis, if you must know), and Russell is unknowingly sporting three, very visible stains on his sweatshirt. Which promptly led to some amusing verbal interplay among he and his facebook friends. And no, I couldn't resist adding my two cents, saying simply, "nice stains, Russ."

Well, talk about your anticlimactic rambling. . . not Russ and his friends on facebook. ME. HERE. I still found the situation quite humorous, in a dry sort of way. And I even think, and some folks have done sillier things, that since these stains developed such a personality in their own, small, facebook way, that these stains should have their very own page on facebook. Don't you???

(hear my music at http://www.rayjozwiak.com/)