The NEW ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER
This one is a little different....
OLD VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the wint... View MoreThe NEW ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER
This one is a little different....
OLD VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.
The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE OLD STORY: Be responsible for yourself!
TODAYS VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving..
CBS, PBS, CNN, MSNBC and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
America is stunned by the sharp contrast.
How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Kermit the Frog appears on an afternoon talk show with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green ...'
"Occupy the Anthill", stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the main stream media films the "Black Lives Matter" group singing, We shall overcome.
Then Reverend (fill in the blank) has the group kneel down to pray for the grasshopper while he damns the ants. He later appears on MSNBC to complain that rich people do not care.
Former President Obama condemns the ant and blames Donald Trump, President Bush 43, President Bush 41, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope for the grasshopper's plight.
Nancy Pelosi & Chuck Schumer exclaim in an interview on The View that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.
Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.
The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and given to the grasshopper .
The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which, as you recall, just happened to be the ant's old house, crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't maintain it.
The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again.
The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident, and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the ram-shackled, once prosperous and peaceful, neighborhood.
The entire Nation collapses bringing the rest of the free world with it.
MORAL OF THE STORY:
BE CAREFUL HOW YOU VOTE IN 2024.
Copied and edited.
When asked why he cheated in the movie Cool Runnings, Irv Blitson responded " That's a fair question. It's quite simple, really. I had to win. You see, Derice, I'd made winning my whole life. And whe... View MoreWhen asked why he cheated in the movie Cool Runnings, Irv Blitson responded " That's a fair question. It's quite simple, really. I had to win. You see, Derice, I'd made winning my whole life. And when you make winning your whole life, you have to keep on winning, no matter what. You understand that?"
Derice: "No, I don't understand. You won two gold medals. You had it all."
Irv: "Derice, a gold medal is a wonderful thing. But if you're not enough without one, you'll never be enough with one."
"It's the event's in our lives that form us, its the choice's we make that shape us."
Growing up, I lived on boats. Traveled many places, saw incredible sights, met wonderful people from all walks of life. Some I'm still able to talk to to this day. I did most of this on what is know as the "Great loop". Inland waterways and the Atlantic ocean. Encircling the east coast from the Carolinas to the Missouri.
I still follow sites that keep me in the know. Sadly, what I'm seeing is people are doing it so they can say they are "loopers", they completed the great loop. They didn't enjoy the journey, the sights, or the people along the way. It was how fast can I get back to my job, house, etc. Its another "trophy" for their collection.
Between societal change and this pandemic, we have lost the bonds that bring us together. All humans are the same. We all bleed red, we all put our pants on one leg at a time. We are no better or worse than the next person. In the end, it's all about the choices we make in our lives. Sometimes winning is everything, enjoying the journey is...
I am a simple man. I work hard everyday between my business, my property and my family.
Some call me just a dumb knuckle buster because I work on OLD Detroit iron vehicles, equipment, and old boats.
... View MoreI am a simple man. I work hard everyday between my business, my property and my family.
Some call me just a dumb knuckle buster because I work on OLD Detroit iron vehicles, equipment, and old boats.
Call me what you will, you know what ? I wonder why you are not. As I write this, I'm standing outside, on dirt I own outright, leaning against a boat I'm very proud to say I built from scratch. Listening to goats, chickens, and dogs making their various sounds. Wondering why you think you have the right to judge me.
I pay no rent, just taxes, utilities, and insurance.
I own a house, shop, and storage buildings. I also have a car I own outright that gets 50 mpg, it's a 1985 !
Think I'll go turn the chicken I'm grilling for dinner. Add a bit more BBQ sauce and have a good laugh, because this dumb knuckle buster has more figured out than most of you, I'm sorry to inform you. Fact check that !
What do you see when you look in the mirror ?
We all see different things, deep and shallow.
Do you just see the superficial blemishes?
Or, do you see deeper ?
It's a funny thing, our minds have a ... View MoreWhat do you see when you look in the mirror ?
We all see different things, deep and shallow.
Do you just see the superficial blemishes?
Or, do you see deeper ?
It's a funny thing, our minds have a lot of power.
Thinking low of yourself, not only makes you weaker mentally, it also makes you weaker physically.
The movie Cool Runnings has a lot of wonderful parts in it. One of which is two teammate's talking.
"Yul Brenner: Look in the mirror and tell me what you see!"
Junior Bevill: I see Junior.
Yul Brenner: You see Junior? Well, let me tell you what I see. I see pride ! I see power ! I see a badass mother, who won't take no cr*p off anyone !”
That's something we have lost, independent individuals. We don't stand up for what WE believe. We listen to people we assign as smarter, better informed, or the HOT person on the TV said it, it has to me true.
Too many of we the people have fallen victim to negative thinking, because that's all we see now days. They want us to believe that there is nothing we can do about anything. We need to take up harness with them or the other side. No other option exists.
While they have a point, there is a lot of strength in numbers, there is an untapped infinite amount of strength if we start cutting the "bonds" they want us kept to and we take up the harnesses that pulled this nation to where it was. It's never going to be easy pulling uphill, it never has been ! However, it's better to keep pulling and reaching for the stars, than to keep coming up with handfulls of mud as we back slide because everyone is jumping on the wagon.
It's time we start having pride in ourselves and what we have. We have the power within ourselves. We are bad..... Well you get the point.
The other option is jump on the wagon and enjoy the crash. Then the only options will be rebuild or die.
Yesterday, I took a 1948 Chrysler Windsor on a test drive for work. I found that I had fixed the engine issues that it started with. I also found a secondary transmission issue.
That's what happens o... View MoreYesterday, I took a 1948 Chrysler Windsor on a test drive for work. I found that I had fixed the engine issues that it started with. I also found a secondary transmission issue.
That's what happens on test drives, that's why I do them. I want to find the issues before the customer finds them,
though it was an amazing ride,. Almost floated over the road. If it wasn't for the shifting issue I don't know if I would have stopped.
As a nation we are our own mechanics. The nation is always being repaired and test driven. It has always been this way, and will be that way for a while longer I hope. From what I see however, we are in a lot of trouble. If I were to test drive this nation, it is partly the driver not knowing how to drive, and a mechanic not knowing how to tune the engine. We are stumbling, missing, have a major lack of power, and cross firing cylinders. Along with a severe pull to the left when you apply the brakes, and very stiff steering do to a complete lack of grease. Generally, we are sucking wind bad !
If I was given this country to repair, I'd say we need 535 new spark plugs, because all of them that are in there are fouled, due to build up ( Congress people),
We also need a new coil, ( national drive ), all new wires, ( open, honest truthful communication) distributor cap, ( media ) and new points and condenser, ( what is supposed to break us from politics, allows our humanity to spark through ) as well as a complete carburetor/fuel system overhaul, ( election system,and term limits)
The nation has really good compression and good bearings/oil pressure. The founding fathers saw to that ! For an engine that is 246 years old with countless millions of miles on it, that's saying something. Yet, over the years, many "mechanics" have worked on this nation. For a while, their repairs worked, keeping us "running", however, those kinda repairs have a short lifespan quickly needing repair again. After enough of those kinda repairs, the vehicle grinds to a halt until you find someone who will buy the original manufacturer manual, start on page one, doing all the maintenance and repair it takes to get it back within factory specs.
We have the book, why are we not willing to make this country pure like a well tuned engine again ?
I do it for a living, it can take a LOT of work, be VERY frustrating at times, but when you get in, fire it up, listen to it purr, then drive it down the road, there is no better feeling. Even if it isn't perfect..... Yet !
Freedom is never free. However, when compared to the alternatives, it IS worth the price.
In an age filled with constantly changing word meanings, there are some words that will never change. For instance - FREEDOM. Let me tell you what that word means.
As a teenager, I had a world class... View MoreIn an age filled with constantly changing word meanings, there are some words that will never change. For instance - FREEDOM. Let me tell you what that word means.
As a teenager, I had a world class sailboat. At any point, I could have could have gotten underway for any point on the globe. Bermuda, Bahamas, Tortuga, Tahini, well you get the idea... The sound of nothing but the wind making the sail sing, and the hiss of the water coming back together behind you, THAT is FREEDOM. I had it, I enjoyed it, I miss it. I miss it because slowly, that freedom eroded away. Rules, regulations, and laws, got in the way. The Coast Guard becoming armed and empowered, military/law enforcement that can do mostly what they want without a search warrant, including using fire axes in your boat because they think you might be hiding something.
Then, you have the wonderful, illustrious, hypocritical EPA that says if you flush a single piece of excrement into the water you go to jail for 5 years and pay a $250,000 fine.
Yet, you can go in a 5 gallon bucket WITHOUT A SEAT and dump it in, in front of them, and it's okay. A city can dump 500,000 gallons of raw untreated excrement into a bay and it's an "unavoidable incident", again, okay.
Seen it all. Held at gunpoint for cruising on said sailboat, that's another story I have talked about before.
Then you get the states who don't want live aboard boaters, so they come up with ever stricter standards, including boaters catch rain water run off, (yet home owners who do catch it go to federal prison) bilge pump output, sink drains, etc, to prevent ecological contamination. Irrational on a good day, impossible on a bad one. I won't even bring up that most marinas don't allow you to work on your own boat, 2/3 absolutely no staying aboard for more than 3 days and no pets, because of lawsuits and insurance.
If you think leaving the United States is an answer, forget that as well. The federal government, through pressure on countries, have come to limit any stay to 90 days, then you must leave for 30 days before you can come back. Not bad you say, I left out that there is entry fee of $300-$1000 everytime, ¢25gal for fresh water, $4-6 a Liter for fuel on some islands... food and mooring/dockage out of site.
Those prices were 12+ years ago.
Do I remember those fun times, the dock parties, the people I met, the things that I did, and that happened ? Everyday. Every spring do I feel a pull to go back to sea like she is calling to me ? Absolutely !
Do I still have to remember that I can't go home again? Sadly, yes...
Pay attention people, don't let them take YOUR freedoms away !!!!!!!!
You see all of this bovine scatolagy regarding politics these days, and then you see a photo like this.
Each dot of light is a star not unlike our Sun, which means there are millions, if not billions... View MoreYou see all of this bovine scatolagy regarding politics these days, and then you see a photo like this.
Each dot of light is a star not unlike our Sun, which means there are millions, if not billions, of planets out there similar to our earth.
So, lets ponder for a minute. What if the Vulcans, E.T., ALF, Mork, etc etc etc; were to land today-what would they see?
A nation divided. Democrats and Republicans at war with each other. One side saying the other is evil and refusing to talk to them. The other side doing the same thing.
Is that what we really want to perpetuate?
We need to change that before it is too late for our sons and daughters. How do we do that? Simple-we start a dialogue with each other. We can fix most, if not all of our problems, just by talking civilly.
Whether it is banding together against a common enemy, or just settling a local quarrel......... If we just talked with civility we could get a lot accomplished !
I'll just leave this here...
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