Surely you can't be serious....

My inner sociologist is scrambling madly to make sense of current events.

Let's see...

1. Close the borders!  Make the rest of the world fear the USA! Everyone is scared of Russia!
So you'd rather be like Russia?  Throw everyone in prison who has said anything semi-bad about the president (published via social media, email, newspaper, etc.)  Divide all privately owned property among every citizen, because it's communal property now.  Throw out every multi-national company within our borders...Goodbye Nissan, Toyota, VW, BWM, Novo, Shell, Unilever.....Hello massive layoffs from manufacturing to trucking/shipping to white collar jobs.  Furthermore, let's see some of you white boys go pick tobacco, vegetables and fruits, mow lawns, clean horse stables, or work in housekeeping.  Too good for that?  But, you want to close the borders! Who is going to do the jobs you don't want to do?  Do you understand the ramifications of what you're saying? We are part of a global economy.  In order to make money, in order to trade with other nations, we have to get along with them. Respect is not fear and fear is not respect. Multi-national cooperation is not a pissing contest.

2.  Gay marriage is wrong.
OK, that's a belief.  Legal protection under the law is guaranteed by the Constitution via the 14th Amendment, so says the Supreme Court in its interpretation.  Therefore, gay couples are afforded the same LEGAL rights as hetero couples.  No one asked if you thought it was right or wrong on religious grounds.  No one is forcing a preacher to perform the ceremony.  I can't imagine a gay couple asking a non-gay-friendly ordained person to marry them.  It wasn't too long ago that a mixed-race couple didn't dare get married outside a very small circle. Think about that. Furthermore, if you are going to quote chapter and vers of the Bible on one hand, then excuse a litany of behaviors on the other, it seems to me that your own faith needs some introspection.  You want to see a life that's black and white?  You either live by it to the letter, or you don't; you don't get to pick and choose which parts appeal to you and throw out the parts that don't.

3. Health Care
The majority of the "civilized" world provides some level of health care to its residents.  Canada, Germany, France.  Oh, even Russia (maybe you SHOULD move)....See map for reference.  If you quote the Bible chapter and verse, you also have read the parts about providing for those less than you.  That should include medicine for pregnant women and infants, should it not?  That should include helping make sure someone who is dianosed with cancer doesn't lose everything they have in the midst of fighting for their life, don't you think?  If we thump our chests and call ourselves the best country in the world, don't you think we should catch up with these other countries in how they care for their citizens?!?

4. The Land of Opportunity
This has never meant 'for people who look just like you'....while at the same time, it has.  Black people never asked to come here, and racism is an ugly undertone to many decisions that are made - black or white.  Japanese were held in camps, here in the US, in World War II due to our fear after Pearl Harbor - didn't know that?  Look it up, review your high school US history.  Our latest target is anyone who we 'think' might be Muslim.  Even though there is only a small segment who comprise ISIS, those are the voices who speak loudest.  Not the Kurds who have fled Iraq, not anyone who heard the stories of America, saw our TV shows, learned our language and risked everything to come here.  Not only that, but we look sideways at Hindus and Budists because they are also, by and large, 'brown skinned'.......It wouldn't hurt anyone in this country to learn a little bit about other religions so that they could make educated decisions instead of just repeating hate-laced backlash.  


I truly believe it comes back to education.  If you attend school and learn how our government is designed to work, how complex our economy is and how our financial health is tied to other countries - and other countries to us (as it has been since we were colonies), how we are a very young country compared to the rest of the world.....If you are taught science and biology and sexual education (not 'abstinence', but actual conception, STD's, how our bodies function, etc)....If you are raised to formulate cause-and-affect, if you are taught to reason answers to questions, to question and research and read, not just "Hate this person because they are different" and "We are awesome because, 'Merica" -- Then you understand how actions taken today can have a far-reaching ripple into the future. You question, you seek, you can see how the 21st Century is not the 18th Century, nor can we continue blindly on some of the paths started in the previous 20 years if we hope to have prosperity, health, contentment or - let alone - peace, in the next generation.  It's kind of the same mentality used to justify keeping a dog or horse intact.  You want him to have his nuts.  No good reason why, no care if he 'accidentally' sires some unwanted animals, you just want him to be a man and you don't want to 'take that from him.'  Same mentality, applied to situations across the board.

I probably read three times the news that the average person does, because it is part of my job. When I read something that seems outlandish, I do additional research.  Especially before sharing it on social media.  I don't blindly believe every posting I see (especially on social media).  I believe in learning from our history.  What we did, what motivated the decision-makers, what were the outcomes, what could've been done differently, and why.  Let those moments be guides to similar situations.  Otherwise, we as a nation don't learn, and we don't grow.

That time I gave up Facebook....

I never let my "friends list" get out of hand on Facebook.  I didn't 'friend' people I didn't know in real life, I tried not to friend people at the office, and after awhile, I stayed away from accepting friend requests from other people's kids.

When I deleted by profile, I had about 150 people on my friends list - people I went to high school or college with, people I knew socially, people I saw on a regular basis, my family and my 'boyfriend's' family.

Somehow, his mother was always getting offended by things I posted (I tried not to post much overtley political stuff, because I really hated reading political posts by other people).  If I posted a relationship article, he would roll right past it, but his mother would ask him what was wrong.  (You know, don't come to me and don't assume it has nothing to do with you....)  My cousin was always complaining about her marriage and her horrible life (she has a good job, a home, a car, a supportive extended family, and she married an asshole.)  One aunt is on one side of the political spectrum, an uncle is on the other.  So I am not friends with both of them (mostly because I don't want to read dear uncle's hate-rants any more than anyone else on the planet does).  I'm sure most families are the same way as mine.

It's been about two weeks.  Not one person has asked me where I have been - I was posting 3-5 times a day because I work online and had the habit of clicking 'share' on interesting articles or sharing cool things that clients are up to.  Not one person out of 156 has noticed that my posts have disappeared.

I told one person - because she was talking about tagging me in a video - that I had deleted my profile.  I told a friend who has a tendency to send me a Facebook message that she needed to text me instead.  

I haven't told anyone else.

I'm curious to see how long it takes to hear from someone who cared enough about what I was posting -- or cares enough to notice that I'm not posting.

I'm noticing that the entire internet is becoming a "sign in with your Facebook" account universe.

And, I'm going through Spotify withdrawls because of that.

Most significantly, I've noticed is that some people just assume that you are seeing everything happening in their lives on Facebook, so there is no need for them to tell you about it.  There's no need for any face to face, person to person conversation, because they are posting their lives on Facebook for the whole world to see, and that is so much easier than cultivating a relationship with an actual human being.  There's no need to pick up the telephone or have lunch with someone because - hey, if it's important, it's on my Facebook page.

It makes those science fiction movies we grew up on seem less strange when you consider that people would rather scroll through their Facebook feed than have a normal conversation.

Random thoughts on the state of things

One of our country's greatest problems is that we elected an intellectual with morals, but we've created a culture of self-entitled, under-educated morons.

Part of this goes back to the educational system - teach history, philosophy, science - and that includes biology, sex ed, and yes kiddos, there are far-reaching consequences, whether you are conquering nations or screwing your neighbor's daughter.

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I am struck, almost daily, by the selfishness of people.  The stupid stuff we publicly complain about.  Read the comments on your local TV or newspaper website -- an eye-opener, to be sure.  Not only that people can be so cruel, shortsighted, and selfish, but that the computer screen has brought to the surface this need to say whatever, however nasty it may be, just because we now "can" spew whatever is in our heads and hearts to an audience.

The fact that "we" (as a culture or society) are too lazy, complacent, or outright stupid to fact check a story, photo, or statement before we blindly hit the "share" button --- repeatedly.  Let's say it together - just because it's in a picture on Facebook, doesn't mean it is true.  If it seems a little questionable to you, it is probably false.  If it seems ridiculous, it definitely is.  Everyone has Google.  Everyone can visit snopes.com.

Oh, and Wikipedia is user-generated / anyone can edit it.  Which means, it is not a "go to" source for facts, folks.

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"Weather-related emergencies" - learn to live with the earth.  I love all the headlines on "how to survive a (fill in the weather or natural disaster here)."  Rule 1:  Don't be a dumbass.  Don't drive into water, don't try to drive in a blizzard, don't walk out onto the lake because it 'looks' frozen, slow the fuck down in a downpour, if it rains 6 inches in 2 hours and you live near a creek, go stay with a friend or your mama for the day or go kill some time in town.  Don't hop in your truck when you see a tornado to try to get closer or outrun it, don't sit in your truck if one is coming, don't stand outside and watch it, and if possible, follow your 3rd grade storm-drill training instead.  

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Been a long time

I haven't logged on in several months.


I have been busy with life. 


Riding last year's rescue, working with this year's rescue, contemplating that my pasture can't hold any more and wondering if I will ever be able to let any of them go.


If I'm honest, living life trying to get away from the computer screen when I'm not at work, being tired of sitting down for an hour with the "significant other" who is more interested in his phone screen and Facebook conversations with 'friends' than face-to-face conversation about real life.


I have debated deleting the blog, but there is a lot of good here.  For example, the Terri Vincent blogs, which are now backed up by her indictment.  Life is funny, but karma's a ------.  Well, you know.


I am going to change directions a bit.


I'm going to start commenting on life in general, rather than just life with horses and those bad apples.  Because let's face it; there are bad apples everywhere.  There are too many people with no voice, and too many people who live wrapped up in their selfish, shortsighted little bubbles without a thought for life passing on the outside.  Sure, everyone has problems.  Maybe by talking about some of them, one other person will relate and feel better.