Rasta Rants

I have spent the last 3 days in the US capitol - Washington DC. This is by no means my first visit and probably won't be my last. Coincidentally I am here as the Republicans finally pass ACA reform in the House. Will this be a historic day? Only time will tell. Why my onerous title? Well being at the seat of Federal power and interfacing with several very powerful policy makers and their staff has scared the crap out of me. This place is not normal and we should all be very worried. Look DC has always been nuts. Inside the beltway has no connection to reality and how they operate is ridiculous and illogical, I have known this for more than 20 years so seeing it again close up was not shocking just very disappointing. What created fear in me was the changes I did see First I have never seen such a partisan divide. The camps are literally angry and mean to each other publicly. The 22 years old staffers who sadly really run the government have even changed. They used to chase each...

Well we have had another peaceful (relatively) change in power in the US today. We inaugurated our 45th president - Donald Trump. There are many Americans who are very unhappy today and I would like to address you in the hope that you will adjust your thinking with a bit of perspective. Today is not about Donald Trump. Today is about our country and the Democratic system we have in place to transfer power from one administration to another without violence and anarchy . It is about showing the world what a smart and balanced country we are. How well our freedoms work and why we are the greatest country on earth. As for Donald Trump, there a few truths you need to ponder. He would NOT be our 45th President if it were not for you. Yes you the left wing liberals who swung the pendulum to far left and enraged the moderates and conservatives. You and your progressive agenda created this backlash that we now all have to live with. You were warned and did not take heed. You violated the...

The older I get the more I see change that I don't understand. As a society we must change and grow or be doomed. But change needs to be governed by some guiding principles or it has no meaning. Morals Where have our morals gone? Start with the world. The things we are doing to each other is unbelievable. I don't mean just the big obvious things like war and terrorism. While these are terrible we have seen these before for centuries. It does not make them right and I do not condone any of it but I can't help wonder if it does not stem from the smaller more mundane moral failures. When I was growing up my mother told me there was no such thing as hate. She said you can dislike someone or disagree with someone but you cannot hate them. If you are a real Christian or Muslim this should be a cornerstone of your beliefs. perhaps it all starts here. If we grow up accepting and portraying hate then is it any surprise that we see the kind of horrible human tragedies we do? ...

Well we are less than 11 days away from electing a new President in the USA. Normally this is an exciting time in America - a time of hope, energy and renewal. Not this time! I have voted in 11 Presidential Elections starting in 1976. I consider it an honor, privledge and responsibility to vote as a citizen of the US. I have been a registered Democrat and Republican at various times. I have crossed party lines many times as I vote my conscience every time. I have been an independent voter for sometime now. In that 40 year period America has been through a lot and made many changes. I have predicted the President everytime correctly although many times they have not been my choice. This is the first time I have seen an election like this. People are so divided and there is so much hatred and anger. Folks are voting not for the person they think is the best choice for the country but for a person who can best the candidate they hate. I travel for a living and I am all over this g...

Since President Obama took office in the US we have seen decreasing race relations. More specifically we are seeing more racial divide. When he was elected the first black President I was hopeful that we would see further improvement in race relations through mature leadership and unification. My disappointment is only outweighed by the current rash of racial discord in America. Today we are seeing hatred in America at an all time high (based upon the number of protests; violent racial/sexual crime and racial/sex attacks). Our crime is now heavily focused around race and sex divisions within the US. This is sad because we should all be Americans first and then sub cultures second. We are going in the wrong direction . I know at this point all my liberal readers are already angry at me. But before you go attacking me hear me out completely. My assessment of America today is we have too much hate; we are too divided; and there is too much violence and death. We must break this cycl...

There has been so much swirl about the transgender bathroom issue. Both sides feel very strongly and both have good points of view. As I have weighed the issue and wrote about it in my prior blog, I realized I missed the clear and simple solution. The solution is this: If we just use Port-o-Potties the problem will be solved. The transgender proponents will be happy as their members can get access to any bathroom they wish - no discrimination at all. And the folks against opening bathrooms to any sex get what they want as these single stalls will protect them and their kids from being exposed to the opposite sex in a bathroom. Why didn't I think of this earlier! Also note if simple Port-o-Potties won't do we can just build single space toilets and accomplish the same goal. See we can all co-exist and be happy :)

In car racing we have a time in each season affectionately called the "Silly Season". For it is a time when all the trading and movement for the following season takes place. Driver switch teams or get fired, teams change suppliers or engines, teams switch leaders or engineers and race schedules and venues get selected or dumped. For racers it is time we expect to see massive change and sometimes surprises. Well it appears we are in the Silly Season in American politics. Yes we expect every 4 years that we will elect a President and it gets even sillier when we have a lame duck in the White house. (sorry no disrespect the President Obama although the title seems to fit). This time around it is the worst Silly Season I have ever seen. Actually we might want to rename it the Ridiculous Stupid Season. Have you been paying attention to the political circus in since late last year? Of course you have you can't avoid it no matter what you do. That right there is part of the...