I suppose this has become a place for me to vent my frustrations more than anything. Honestly, I don't care who, if anyone reads the shit anymore. I've also come to the realization that there are some people that you try to teach them to fish, to feed them for a lifetime.. and they are still to lazy or stupid to want to do it themselves. I also realize that many people are intent on blaming someone else for their misfortunes and will judge someone based on situations they know nothing about. Most people aren't truly educated about the issue and fail to see the root of the problem, which of course would make more sense to start there for a lasting solution....and don't bother trying to explain it that way because all they see is what they want.. no matter what you say.. so, on with today's rant.
I know that the Affordable Care Act as well as government assistance of any kind are hot button topics with most people for one reason or another. Understandably so. On one hand you have a medical care system that really helps no one, costs way more than people could imagine( or afford) and it seems that the burden has fallen to middle class people to pay for... Well, where I could see that might be true... look deeper than that. While Affordable care for Americans sounds like a great idea... someone really fucked this all up and created what seems like an attempt to herd us all into one giant clusterfuck for medical care that is funded by the government.... So in thinking about this.. if insurance companies, are rich people worried? Probably not..aside from the penny pinching self made millionaires who are to fucking cheap to by a screw for $.20. The rich can afford these costs..so they aren't worried. What about us mediocre folks who make enough money to scrape by check to check. Well, while some can afford care through the ACA that couldn't afford it before, which is good... where does it leave us people in the middle? If we have coverage through our jobs and the premiums increase to where we can't afford them, that leaves but one place to turn.... The Good ole government funded ACA. ( because most of us would rather eat the cost to have the coverage than be fined.. which by the way was more than 4 times the "small amount" that the government told us it would be). I have heard stories that the ACA policies don't cover some medical procedures, medicines, simple dental check ups or even eye exams...so please tell me, why would I need it? Further more you want to make me choose between paying a fine for not having health coverage or paying for something that doesn't meet my need? Well, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Then again, this is the government we are talking about. There is no limit to the amount of premiums an insurance company can charge for the cost of coverage and as far as I know, there is no guideline for standards that must be met for specific levels of care. I mean, wouldn't it make more sense to have different levels of coverage people can actually use according to their needs? All of this seems like people would look at issue #1- Insurance Premiums and the fact that there is no limit on the amount of premiums...so lets think about this.. chances are there are Insurance lobbyists in Washington.. which brings us to problem #2- Our government is getting richer over making poor people suffer and pay for this shit. The way its presented though is that the added premiums go to pay for someone else who wouldn't be able to afford coverage other wise. Just some food for thought.. What if your grandmother, with her fixed income couldn't afford her care or her medicine and medicare wouldn't pay enough to help. Would you really want someone to make the argument that they are paying for her coverage or that she doesn't deserve it? I would be willing to guess not..because I know I wouldn't want someone to tell me that one of my parents didn't deserve coverage because they worked for the state 25 years and gave 20 years military service respectively. I know and understand that there are people who take advantage of the system...there always have been. The best part to me is that there have been government programs in place for a number of years.. medicaid being one of them. A woman can go get on medicaid once she learns she is pregnant..if she doesn't have insurance or a job then she can have her prenatal needs met for no out of pocket expense. Even the birth and care of her child becomes free and then the child can get medical coverage until they are 18-21 depending if they are a student. This being the case.. we have funded the pregnancy and birth, as well as the medical coverage for thousands of children in this country. How many other kids may have suffered without that.. how many more kids would have been found in dumpsters because their parents couldn't care for them. This is just one example I could think of regarding medical care and the current ACA. I see it all the time.. " the Governement aint your baby daddy.. well, LOL if you want to look at is as "paying for someone else" then there are thousands and thousands of kids that we ALL pay to be treated and cared for every year. Some would say, no thats different... HOW? Its still a government funded medical program that our tax dollars supposedly pay for. I'd love to see a person tell someone that they don't deserve their kids because they couldn't afford their birth and medical coverage. Well, then most of us wouldn't have kids. The logic is flawed in this way of thinking and people only want someone to blame and don't look deeper than the surface for the major cause of the problem. Its a vicious cycle honestly.. its a way for the government to own and control you by making its citizen dependent upon what it provides.
If people really knew just how small the percentage was of the text book idea of the "welfare queen" they wouldn't believe it. Which brings me to the next part of my rant... foodstamps and or public assistance.
Did you know that there are more military families that receive foodstamps than any other group of people? or that most households that receive foodstamps have 2 parents that work full time jobs? Yea, probably not. My question is... why in the fuck do people think they don't have the right to eat? Do they not have the right to support their families? To feed their kids? Since when did the basic necessities of life come with an entitlement statement? Jesus H Christ... what happened to "christian values and love others... or do unto others as you would have done unto you. It amazes me to see how many :christian folk will be the first to stand up and say that someone doesn't deserve something. We all have moments where life happens and we need extra help. Did you know that there are contingencies to receive any government assistance? I'm going to go with no... since you think people get this shit for a life time. You have a set time limit to receive public assistance then you have to be off for a period of time.. then it has a time where it is done for good. I can think of one instance and a person I know personally who was stunned when they couldn't get help and they really needed it based on the lifestyle she had led. She was used to the finer things.. drove a BMW and had designer clothes and the like. She had a serious knee injury for which she needed surgery and the cost of the medical bills were killing them. She couldn't work because of this injury and went in search of assistance for food, not money. DSS told her to sell her car and looked down her nose at her because she wasn't the type of person to come around looking for help. Did that mean she wasn't deserving of the help? Not to me it doesn't. To ask her to sell her car... the only means of transportation...they wanted her to sell it to eat. Now, while to most this seems like a practical solution.. Have you ever tried to take a step down from the current lifestyle you enjoy? While most of us work our asses off to get to a better place.. Have you ever stopped to think about what would happen if you fell flat on your ass? If you didn't have friends or family willing to help you live until you could get on your feet? Probably not, because most of us have this " that won't happen to me" kind of thinking. It can happen.. I just hope you pray hard enough that it doesn't.
I guess I just can't understand when helping people who genuinely need it became such a bad thing. When being a good person and doing the right thing became less important than how much money you make or how many pairs of air Jordans you own.
The solutions seem simple. Pay more at jobs so people can support themselves properly. I'm not saying get crazy, but most of us simply want to be able to get the the things for our families. I know many who sacrifice their own medical care to feed their kids. How is THAT fair? Find a solution to the ACA starting with a cap on the premiums that insurance companies can charge as well as what the cost of medical procedures cost. Programs in place for things like daycare, and things working parents need. If we would work together and stop fighting among ourselves, then we would be stronger people. We argue over dumb shit like flags and symbols.. Our government is quick to act on that front but will ignore issues that will help ALL of us NOW. We have rights that are being taken away and more and more people are falling below the poverty line. If we don't HELP each other now and stick together.. Then we will all fall into misery and we will all pay for it.. further more our children and grandchildren will pay for it. Is this really the legacy we want to leave for them? We have to stop being sheep and start making our voices heard. When is enough enough? When will we collectively wake up and stop all this shit?
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Jesus fucking Christ I am so sick of the shit about the Confederate Flag and all the bullshit that goes with it. I live in the South, and I will tell you right now that I have never owned a slave or would I. So how in the fuck are you going to blame me for some shit that happened WAY before I was alive and call me a racist. Well, let me fill you in on a few things for those that don't already know. EVERY issue for South Carolina succeeding from the Union WAS about Slavery in some form or fashion... its the way it is, its history, get over it. Once all the fucked up shit was done like... Jim Crow Laws, and Carpetbaggers and all that bullshit, it seems to me that Blacks were given the opportunity to do things that they had never done before.. vote, get an education and be treated like people. There have been many steps forward in the Civil Rights movements.... even for women. Here is my big issue with ALL of this though... We don't live in these times anymore.. Now don't get me wrong.. RACISM is alive and well, and DEEPLY rooted in our Government, Justice System and many other areas of our society. We try and cover them up like a dog kicks dirt over shit... We know its there, we can smell it... at times we just can't see it. Wake the fuck up people??!?!
The thing is.. each race has symbols that mean something to them as a culture.. Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr....the LGBT have the Rainbow flags and pink and orange triangles...each culture boasts symbolism to be PROUD of who they are and the struggles they have faced. White people can't? If we have symbolism, we are racist, if we are proud of our traditions, we are racists. Instead of looking at the problems that we face as a Nation now... and issues that are current and relevant to our lives now... we are fighting over shit that happened over 800 years ago? You have GOT to be fucking kidding me. Our National test scores are some of the lowest in the world, we are self indulgent, selfish and have no regard for family or lives. For fuck sake, when did a persons right to live and be happy have a list of amendments attached to it. OH.. you can be happy.. but you can't be Black, or Mexican, or Gay and you have to be rich and powerful. Since WHEN did being wealthy grant YOU the right to think that you are better than ANYONE else? Truthfully, if you take all those fancy clothes off and jewelry, and you had no house or bank account... standing side by side we are all the fucking same. We ALL bleed if you cut us, our feelings hurt and yes, the most important... WE ALL DIE. Jesus, imagine that. We have given money and symbols the power to dictate the divisions in our culture and betrayed the simplest ideology... that we all need one another. No? How many of you have fallen on hard times and look to your family and friends to help you? When you were eating ramen noodles and mac and cheese in college because it was all you could afford....when you didn't have enough money to have gas to go to work... did you call your friends to ask who could lend you 5 bux? Most of us didn't have ( and never will have) the luxury of being wealthy. To a certain extent, our family leads by examples and teaches us how to hate, how to lie and cheat and steal.. and how to be heartless. Most of us don't have the innate ability to hate in our hearts, but we learn this from the environment we come from. Parents have a hard time instilling good values in kids because they are gone all the time... just to feed and support them. People want to argue about the dumbest shit and don't really even know what they are talking about. For instance.... did ya ever stop to think that raising the minimum wage would cause all the other wages to go up proportionately? Or that people could ACTUALLY contribute to society? We don't NEED a fucking hand out stimulus package that will be a one time payment to blow... we need a sustainable, ongoing economic stimulus. The rich fucks don't want that to happen because the poor people might think they have a say in things.... The poor person IS the new slave... We work for shit and should be thankful to live in the bug infested house and stay there...we should be happy to eat the sraps that others throw away because they have deemed us unworthy to sit at the table and enjoy an honest meal. We let designer brands be the standard for who we are friends with.. not the person's character. Material things and money place you in a category of haves and have nots... and if you are a have not, well you don't even deserve the air you breathe... SERIOUSLY??? Dammit people. Stop fighting about shit you CAN'T Change! Why not work together to fix what we can so people will stop starving, losing their homes... our kids will get a decent education so that the generations to come aren't a bunch of fucking idiots. TEACH your kids to think for themselves, feed their creativity. Give them a fighting chance to make a difference... If people were more concerned with issues in the NOW.....we would be so much better off.
~UMT
The thing is.. each race has symbols that mean something to them as a culture.. Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr....the LGBT have the Rainbow flags and pink and orange triangles...each culture boasts symbolism to be PROUD of who they are and the struggles they have faced. White people can't? If we have symbolism, we are racist, if we are proud of our traditions, we are racists. Instead of looking at the problems that we face as a Nation now... and issues that are current and relevant to our lives now... we are fighting over shit that happened over 800 years ago? You have GOT to be fucking kidding me. Our National test scores are some of the lowest in the world, we are self indulgent, selfish and have no regard for family or lives. For fuck sake, when did a persons right to live and be happy have a list of amendments attached to it. OH.. you can be happy.. but you can't be Black, or Mexican, or Gay and you have to be rich and powerful. Since WHEN did being wealthy grant YOU the right to think that you are better than ANYONE else? Truthfully, if you take all those fancy clothes off and jewelry, and you had no house or bank account... standing side by side we are all the fucking same. We ALL bleed if you cut us, our feelings hurt and yes, the most important... WE ALL DIE. Jesus, imagine that. We have given money and symbols the power to dictate the divisions in our culture and betrayed the simplest ideology... that we all need one another. No? How many of you have fallen on hard times and look to your family and friends to help you? When you were eating ramen noodles and mac and cheese in college because it was all you could afford....when you didn't have enough money to have gas to go to work... did you call your friends to ask who could lend you 5 bux? Most of us didn't have ( and never will have) the luxury of being wealthy. To a certain extent, our family leads by examples and teaches us how to hate, how to lie and cheat and steal.. and how to be heartless. Most of us don't have the innate ability to hate in our hearts, but we learn this from the environment we come from. Parents have a hard time instilling good values in kids because they are gone all the time... just to feed and support them. People want to argue about the dumbest shit and don't really even know what they are talking about. For instance.... did ya ever stop to think that raising the minimum wage would cause all the other wages to go up proportionately? Or that people could ACTUALLY contribute to society? We don't NEED a fucking hand out stimulus package that will be a one time payment to blow... we need a sustainable, ongoing economic stimulus. The rich fucks don't want that to happen because the poor people might think they have a say in things.... The poor person IS the new slave... We work for shit and should be thankful to live in the bug infested house and stay there...we should be happy to eat the sraps that others throw away because they have deemed us unworthy to sit at the table and enjoy an honest meal. We let designer brands be the standard for who we are friends with.. not the person's character. Material things and money place you in a category of haves and have nots... and if you are a have not, well you don't even deserve the air you breathe... SERIOUSLY??? Dammit people. Stop fighting about shit you CAN'T Change! Why not work together to fix what we can so people will stop starving, losing their homes... our kids will get a decent education so that the generations to come aren't a bunch of fucking idiots. TEACH your kids to think for themselves, feed their creativity. Give them a fighting chance to make a difference... If people were more concerned with issues in the NOW.....we would be so much better off.
~UMT
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Letting go.
At some point in our lives we have suffered at the actions of another. These actions have left us jaded and guarded and we feel that our only recourse is to lock ourselves in a little box and throw away the key. What we fail to realize is that by locking out the bad...we also shut out the good and sentence ourselves to a life of solitude. We remain intact and whole, but suffer deeply from the loss of human interaction and care. I learned this lesson the hard way and found I had literally starved myself of the affection and attention I was so terrified of. I realized that breathing life back into myself wasn't necessarily the job of someone else. So I decided to venture past the fear and pain in the hopes of finding new meaning to life....
I learned that holding onto the past holds you in the past. It was amazing to me that I had asked myself a million questions regarding my most recent divorce. All but the most pertinent one. A question so simple, I couldn't believe that I had over looked it. "What had he done for me?" Sure, there were good times and laughs, but in the end, what did he truly give me that made me a better person. Astounded, I couldn't think of anything. All of the pain and hope that I had seemed to melt away. As did the regret and wonder of what I could have done. He was gone, and it was time to close that door completely. Things began to change, when a day last week I was looking in my scrapbooking box, I came across a picture of us I had made to frame. I was able to smile, and keep sifting through the stickers and paper to find what I was looking for. In that moment, I realized that this one question had been the salvation I sought and what I needed to fully let go and move on. It was a tremendous feeling. By closing this door.. I felt so many others had opened, even though I might not have seen them yet. I finally felt like I had freed myself from the last remaining chain that held me bound to him.
I decided to try something new and finally gave in to my mother teaching me how to quilt. I had been intimidated for a very long time by the sewing machine. the complexity of the beautiful things she would make, and my own ability. We went on one of our Friday outings and I gave in to her and decided to try it. Graciously, my mom gave me one of her older sewing machines, bought me rulers and tools, gave me material, and has pretty much been there every step of the way. I have been in awe of the things I have made and enjoyed the additional time that this has opened with my mom. I think she was worried that all her books and material would disappear if something happened to her.... I think my interest has changed all that now. I find so much comfort in the creations I make, the time I send and lose track of frequently. The only way I can describe the feeling I get is.. peaceful.
At some point in our lives we have suffered at the actions of another. These actions have left us jaded and guarded and we feel that our only recourse is to lock ourselves in a little box and throw away the key. What we fail to realize is that by locking out the bad...we also shut out the good and sentence ourselves to a life of solitude. We remain intact and whole, but suffer deeply from the loss of human interaction and care. I learned this lesson the hard way and found I had literally starved myself of the affection and attention I was so terrified of. I realized that breathing life back into myself wasn't necessarily the job of someone else. So I decided to venture past the fear and pain in the hopes of finding new meaning to life....
I learned that holding onto the past holds you in the past. It was amazing to me that I had asked myself a million questions regarding my most recent divorce. All but the most pertinent one. A question so simple, I couldn't believe that I had over looked it. "What had he done for me?" Sure, there were good times and laughs, but in the end, what did he truly give me that made me a better person. Astounded, I couldn't think of anything. All of the pain and hope that I had seemed to melt away. As did the regret and wonder of what I could have done. He was gone, and it was time to close that door completely. Things began to change, when a day last week I was looking in my scrapbooking box, I came across a picture of us I had made to frame. I was able to smile, and keep sifting through the stickers and paper to find what I was looking for. In that moment, I realized that this one question had been the salvation I sought and what I needed to fully let go and move on. It was a tremendous feeling. By closing this door.. I felt so many others had opened, even though I might not have seen them yet. I finally felt like I had freed myself from the last remaining chain that held me bound to him.
I decided to try something new and finally gave in to my mother teaching me how to quilt. I had been intimidated for a very long time by the sewing machine. the complexity of the beautiful things she would make, and my own ability. We went on one of our Friday outings and I gave in to her and decided to try it. Graciously, my mom gave me one of her older sewing machines, bought me rulers and tools, gave me material, and has pretty much been there every step of the way. I have been in awe of the things I have made and enjoyed the additional time that this has opened with my mom. I think she was worried that all her books and material would disappear if something happened to her.... I think my interest has changed all that now. I find so much comfort in the creations I make, the time I send and lose track of frequently. The only way I can describe the feeling I get is.. peaceful.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
I hear it time and time again.. " I HATE LIARS!!" As true as this statement is, I find the more honest statement to be.. "the truth hurts". People don't want to hear the truth anymore than they want to be lied to, because in that moment of honesty we are shown, in living color, that we have fucked up or are in the process of fucking up.
Make no mistake, I'm not perfect, but I have learned the value of the truth through experience, heartache, and perseverance. I've lost friends for honestly telling them they are making mistakes in their lives. Friends have stopped talking to me because they ask my opinion and don't like the responses. Jesus. I feel like I should have a warning label or disclaimer on my forehead- WARNING HONEST PERSON- WATCH FOR UNBRIDLED HONESTY! There have even been times where I have questioned whether there is such a thing as being "too honest"...I think the jury is still out on that, yet I continue to tell it like it is.
A little about me...
I'm a single mom, I work a full time job, and I have an affinity for video games. I love red wine, laughing and educating myself on the behavior of others. I'm educated, I hold a BS in Criminal Justice/Criminology from Western Carolina University. I have friends from many different cultures and walks of life. I've been married twice- the first was a Narcissistic douchebag that would know the truth if it bit him in the ass and the second a manipulative sociopath who used the truth to exploit women in particular to sustain his own life. I've made choices in my life where I learned that the truth is always the best policy, and a gift I have passed along to my children...Dear GOD I hope they were listening.
I had to let go of a 13 year friendship because after many talks about her lifestyle, and tears on my shoulder about the caliber of men she allowed into her life.. she failed to see that she was the cause of her own misery. It hurt to watch her cry over these things, but it hurt more that she failed to see what I was pointing out. The relationship with her son was failing, she was more concerned with her broken heart to realize how much he needed her. Acting out became his way to get attention from her...even legal trouble. As much as it hurt, I cut her out of my life for many reasons.. but above all not having the testicular fortitude to have a conversation life an adult.
So, I offer you the chance to pose questions, offer scenarios, anything that you want an honest opinion in reference to. But BE WARNED.. these are MY opinions and I will be honest. Just be careful what you wish for.
~Truth
Make no mistake, I'm not perfect, but I have learned the value of the truth through experience, heartache, and perseverance. I've lost friends for honestly telling them they are making mistakes in their lives. Friends have stopped talking to me because they ask my opinion and don't like the responses. Jesus. I feel like I should have a warning label or disclaimer on my forehead- WARNING HONEST PERSON- WATCH FOR UNBRIDLED HONESTY! There have even been times where I have questioned whether there is such a thing as being "too honest"...I think the jury is still out on that, yet I continue to tell it like it is.
A little about me...
I'm a single mom, I work a full time job, and I have an affinity for video games. I love red wine, laughing and educating myself on the behavior of others. I'm educated, I hold a BS in Criminal Justice/Criminology from Western Carolina University. I have friends from many different cultures and walks of life. I've been married twice- the first was a Narcissistic douchebag that would know the truth if it bit him in the ass and the second a manipulative sociopath who used the truth to exploit women in particular to sustain his own life. I've made choices in my life where I learned that the truth is always the best policy, and a gift I have passed along to my children...Dear GOD I hope they were listening.
I had to let go of a 13 year friendship because after many talks about her lifestyle, and tears on my shoulder about the caliber of men she allowed into her life.. she failed to see that she was the cause of her own misery. It hurt to watch her cry over these things, but it hurt more that she failed to see what I was pointing out. The relationship with her son was failing, she was more concerned with her broken heart to realize how much he needed her. Acting out became his way to get attention from her...even legal trouble. As much as it hurt, I cut her out of my life for many reasons.. but above all not having the testicular fortitude to have a conversation life an adult.
So, I offer you the chance to pose questions, offer scenarios, anything that you want an honest opinion in reference to. But BE WARNED.. these are MY opinions and I will be honest. Just be careful what you wish for.
~Truth
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