$700 million to Pluto while children go hungry

Pluto, planet or dwarf planet, really doesn't matter to me at all. What does matter to me is the cost of the project. $700 millions dollars last I saw and I question; why? Basically we have sent a camera there. Knowledge is a wonderful thing but what practical knowledge are we actually expecting to gain. To me as it is to most, it seems no more than a curiosity trip. Again I wonder why spend that kind of money on something that to the vast majority of the taxpayers is a frivolous waste of tax dollars.

Fly me to the moon

let's look at Mars

Jupiter and Pluto

then on to distant stars

$23 billion has been spent since 1961 just on our trips to the moon. Sure we have made some great steps forward technologically, communications is just one. Where would we be without our cell phones? We also created some great plastics. (paper or plastic my friend, paper or plastic) Then we spent $2.5 billion on a project that would explore Mars that we called Curiosity. We're presently looking at another $2 billion to search for alien life on Jupiters moon Europa but thankfully the fly by of Jupiter was accomplished in conjunction with the $700 million camera we have sent to Pluto and then on to distant stars.

There is another much larger problem though, as the budget allocates $598.5 billion to defense for 2015 alone so that we can act as the police force of the earth. Yes, this makes the projects to the stars seem to be minuscule, doesn't it.

Anyway, at the onset of these projects as is the case today, there are children in this nation that go hungry. To top that we have a new budget that will decrease the amount of needed assistance to people who have no other way to feed their children. Apparently the thought is that as a nation the abuse of SNAP program will disappear because of the cuts but in actuality, its the innocent children who will feel the full effect of the cuts.

To me, spending more money on curiosity trips to the stars than taking care of the children in our nation is just plain wrong.  

Confederate flag rally in Amarillo, Texas

I read a real interesting article today out of Amarillo, Texas. Here's a link to it really is a piece of work.

http://amarillo.com/news/local-news/2015-07-09/group-plans-confederate-flag-rally

The article makes it quite clear, “Other flags are welcome as long as they support our United States and the 13 colonies,” they don't seem to understand that the battle flag of the confederacy was the standard the south fought under in their revolt against the United States as they chose not to support the United States and the 13 colonies. (of course the 13 colonies were not in question during the civil war) That flag was founded in opposition to the United States.

Later on in the article they add “Attendees who choose to fly other flags will be asked to leave the event.” and “If it’s the rainbow flag or whatever, yes, you’ll be asked to leave just out of respect. It’s a Confederate flag run,” Roberts said. “It would be disrespectful toward the United States.”

The people getting this thing together seem to have been taught a revisionist history concerning the flag and the civil war. This has become a huge problem in Texas. Revising history that is.

They are saying that this rally is about freedom of speech, theirs but evidently, nobody else's from their request. they also state in the article that that is to avoid conflict. makes me wonder how they don't see that this is exactly what they are doing with the rally. Their “in your face” rally is nothing more than them being confrontational and we all know, well apparently except them that confrontation causes conflict.

Now, contrary to popular belief, ignorance is not bliss. Sharing the truth may not change the opinions of the hard core but might cause the fence rider to think for a change. For the mean time though let's just call it what it is, good 'ole boys holdin' on to their heritage, a heritage based on inequality, bigotry and hate for the black man.

The Pledge, The Bellamy Salute and A Couple of Moments of Cowardice

 The pledge of allegiance, written in 1892 by a Christian Socialist minister Francis Bellamy originally read;

“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Bellamy's hopes were that this pledge could be used by the people of any and all countries. That It might fit anyone anywhere in vowing the allegiance to their nation. Shortly after, in 1923 there came a revision to the pledge in order to make it more personal to our own country. At this time it now read;

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America ant to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”

The year 1954 came along with a fear that communism was about to take over the world. Those godless people from the then USSR would have their evil ways with the US of A if we didn't make damn sure that God was on our side of right and wrong and we added the words “under God” to Bellamy's pledge. That brought the wording of our pledge of allegiance to where it is today.

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America ant to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”

For so many years, as children we started each school day with our right hand over our hearts, reciting the pledge. Not the original as Francis Bellamy had written it, but the second revision of it. That is not all that was changed though. The right hand over the heart was not the original salute either. Mr. Bellamy had also developed a salute that went with his pledge. It began with the right hand over the heart and then the hand would be extended toward the flag with palm up offering ourselves allied with the nation and then the pledge would be recited. This custom concerning the pledge was changed as well.

During the 1920's and 30's the Italian Fascists and Nazis adopted the Bellamy salute and in 1942 when WWII was declared, out of fear of appearing so similar our nation decided to change the method in how we saluted our flag. We no longer would extend our hand offering up ourselves in allegiance to our national standard, The Stars and Stripes.

Here at home in our own nation there was another group who had adopted the salute. There was a slight difference though, as this group used their left hands and with three fingers of their tight hands formed the letter K over their hearts. It seems that the difference was enough to not, in today's vernacular, make heads explode when the KKK used it. Kind of like terrorism is today, if it comes from outside the country it's terrorism while within our own borders the same evil is viewed in a whole different light. These incidents always seem to be lone wolves committing isolated activities that have been incited by mental illness.

Well, anyway! We have changed the pledge twice. The first time seems to be a good move as it personalized it to the nation but the second time was out of fear. The salute was changed out of fear as well. These were “knee jerk” reactions. Reactions seen in those who will run to the nearest safe haven to avoid confrontation rather than stand up for what they believe in. most look at this as the very picture of cowardice. They may say and you may believe that discretion is the better part of valor, but once you start running away from your beliefs, all that's left is a fall.

I'm not advocating changing anything back. What I do want is for people to realize that things as we know them today were not always as they were. Our pledge was written by someone who believed in the people of the United States of America. Francis Bellamy, a democratic socialist. This word socialist was not and today is not something that the people should fear. Socialism is about and for the people. A system that, like all can be abused but has the first priority of protecting and serving the people of a nation from the greed of the very rich in their need not only for money, but for power. Yes, capitalism can be a system abused as well. It seems as if we have experienced this already.

Vietnam

Vietnam

A terrible time for our country

The fear of what was called

the domino effect

Communism would be at our doorstep

if we did not stop the North Vietnamese

It was our own freedom

we were told that hung in the balance

We sent our young men

they fought

many died

others crippled and those who were fortunate enough

to simply make home

became the victims of a nation

that showed no support for the soldier

But the war was not about our freedom

It was about fear

Fear that traveled throughout our government

that we could be next

Of course history now shows

that was not the intent of the North

all they wanted was their country reunified

Our boys came home

the nation turned its back on them

many today still live in the streets

as do present day returnees from the middle east wars

It was the Vietnam veteran

who vowed

never to let another vet go unappreciated

The people have learned

but sadly

the government hasn't

The fear they have now

is the loss of profits

they continue to send

other peoples children

off to war that for these youg men

and now women

holds death and dismemberment

without giving those fortunate enough to return home

proper care and support

Today is so different from yesterday

Yesterday

the people spat upon the returning soldier

Today

it is the spittle of the government that they wear