??????

Is everyone losing his/her marbles? Perhaps it's just me.

I see an ad in today's newspaper for a hippy rock group called "5 Finger Death Punch." What kind of name is that? Pretty cool?

I hear Ron Paul say that Iran isn't a threat to anyone, that it's only responding to the threat from the US. Huh? He also said the Iranians aren't developing a nuclear weapon because they say they aren't. Hmmmm.... Perhaps we should just send the Iranians a nasty letter, sort of like we did with Hitler, Mussolini, and the Japanese war lords in the '30s. And we know how well that worked out. Oh, no we don't. I keep forgetting that history isn't important or, if we do learn history, it's not accurate, but some propaganda being foisted off as truth. (Example? How about that FDR's New Deal pulled us out of the Depression? Not so; not so.)

It's becoming more and more aggravating to me, listening to all these "do-gooders" complain about the "greed" of others. I was reminded of it passing a gas station today that charged 9 cents more for charges than for cash purchases. It's OK to charge more, but from what I understand, the cost of charges is 3 or 4 cents. So, why 9 cents? Isn't that "greedy?" But, more than that, it's those who complain about "greedy" others who irk me. Almost always, they have nice houses--nicer than mine--and big, expensive cars--bigger and more expensive than mine, and long and/or foreign vacations--ones I can't afford. I'm not at all envious. I have what I need and want. It's the hypocrisy of those decrying the "greed" of others, while spending their own money on, well, on themselves! Why don't they step down a few steps, buy a cheaper car and give the money they'd save on monthly car payments as a monthly charitable donation? Why don't they forgo those vacations or, perhaps, go more locally, and give the money to those they claim are needy? I'm not saying anyone should do that; it's their money and they can do with it as they like. More power to them. I just find the hypocrisy more and more galling. (OK, I actually called someone on that last week. I didn't get anywhere. No, hypocrites practice "situational ethics."

I know there are some really needy people out there, many through no fault of their own. But there an awful lot of people who milk the system, almost professional system players. I've heard of several in just the past few days. They should be punished, not only for milking the system and take undue advantage of it, but also for the stereotyped aspersions they cast on those who really need help. Who polices these situations and are there any repercussions/consequences for the fraud?

Out to read Harlan Coben, one of my favorite novelists.