How did we get to this point?

We all read the newspapers and watch the news on tv, so we're all aware of the sad state of our country. Young men killing each other in horrifying numbers, more and more young folks are experimenting with deadly and highly addictive drugs, and sadly changing the course of their lives, forever. Entering into a life that is totally consumed with feeding their ever growing need for drugs, they will turn to absolutely anything to procure them. A good friend lost his daughter last year to drug addiction, while another friend battles to keep his daughter on methadone and out of the drug underworld. This is a huge problem, people. The neighborhood that I lived in for 28 years is unrecognizable 5 years after I moved. It has been completely taken over by the drug users and their suppliers. At any time of the day or night you can walk the main avenue and be accosted by dozens of prostitutes and drug dealers. It's like walking onto a hollywood movie studio. I can't believe how bad it is. There is no police presence visible, and very little pedestrian traffic. It's like the entire neighborhood is in it's death throes. And the city has to bear most of the blame for it. And the state the rest of it. And I guess the blame shouldn't stop there. Isn't it the federal governments' job to protect us? Why won't our politicians take guns off the street? Why don't they make owning a handgun illegal? It works in England. Even the police do not carry guns. But then again drug abuse is government sanctioned. Which when you think about it, kinda makes sense. If you can get your daily fix for free,there isn't any need for drug dealers , or drug turf wars, or guns and violence, or prostitution,or robbery. In this country the laws favor the criminals because they don't have rules they have to follow as to whom they can shoot.If they are in a situation where using a gun is necessary they are already doing something illegal, so what does it matter if they add a gun charge to their crime? But good Joe Citizen has a whole set of rules that he must follow if he is placed in a situation where deadly force is called for. If you are home and someone enters your home without your permission, even if he is armed and robbing you, you must warn him that you have a gun and tell him to leave and wait until your life is lethally threatened before you can use your weapon to defend your life and your belongings. Because if you don't ,you become the criminal. And heaven forbid, you shoot him outside of the rules that you must abide by,you will go to jail, and the criminal will own your home after he sues you in civil court. How about this one; you are walking down the street and you are accosted by a gang of thugs that are armed with knives that are intent on robbing you.You are carrying a gun and you have a permit to do so. You can pull out your gun and shoot them, right? Wrong! First, you must try and flee. Only when you are absolutely sure that your life is on the line, can you use your handgun. And this action is open to interpretation by the police and the district attorney. And if their opinion differs from yours, bingo, you are now a criminal. Sweet,huh? I could go on with scenerios all day. But the point that I am trying to make still remains; if no one has a gun all of this is moot. But our politicos aren't about to buck the powerful gun lobbyists in Washington. It would be political suicide. So the slaughter continues.Young men will continue to murder each other over drugs and drug turf. Young men that aren't old enough to know how precious life is. And young women will continue to become drug addicts, and turn to prostitution to support their addiction. And they too are too young to realize that they have changed their lives forever. God help us.....

More grumbles............

Friday was a sad day in my house. My Mr. Coffee maker died after 16 years of service. It was kinda like losing a good friend or a treasured pet. I'm sure that if there's an appliance heaven, it went straight there. Goodbye, old friend! Read in the paper the other day that "W" is going to try and tax the health benefits of those lucky folks that are fortunate enough to have good policies. Unfortunately I fall under this category. When I retired my health care was guaranteed until I turned 65, when medicare kicked in. Now "W" wants to tax anything over $12000 per year that your employer pays for your coverage. What I get out of this is that the poor with coverage will pay for the poor without coverage. Is it just me, or does it seem that the only ones losing are the poor? I went to work for the city, despite the poor pay, because of the benefits, and now it seems that I will be penalized once again. Thank God that the wealthy are still under "W's" protection and keep getting their tax breaks so they can keep creating minimum wage jobs to take the place of the decent manufacturing jobs that have been outsourced to some third world country. But I digress... it's not like this trend started 6 months ago. In the last 27 years we have had 8 years of a democratic president that didn't sell his soul to big money. The other 19 years of GOP presidents have set the labor movement back 40 years. Sad, sad, sad.

comments on our country

hello to anyone that reads this,if anyone ever does.i am retired, have , obviously too much free time on my hands, and i am also a total computer idiot with no typing skills whatsoever. but i am trying to learn. every time i turn the computer on it is an adventure on top of a comedy of errors. my grandchildren are more comfortable at this than i probably ever will be. its kinda like trying to program my dvd player. I never did program the vcr, and i probably will never figure out the dvd. at least i can play videos and cds , thank God for kids. I decided to create this blog to fill in the void of willing listeners when i retired from the fire dept. my wife and kids have no interest in my rantings as they live in the real world, with jobs and responsibilities. I hope that there are other people that share my sense of outrage and fear of the changes our nation and the world as a whole are going through. i was in the navy from 1968 thru 1972, and the pa. air national guard from 1981 thru 1985. I was a pittsburgh firefighter from 1974 thru 2005. i am married for 36 yrs to the most patient and loving woman a man could hope to find, and i have a daughter and 3 sons. i have 2 grandsons and 1 granddaughter that i am in charge of teaching all the annoying things that parents hope their kids never learn. where my domain once was burning buildings, i am now a domestic god.