STOCKING UP ON AMMO

I am happy that this time around a mass shooting has gotten some people in this country up and in protesting mode.  The VP gets to try again to get some sane gun control legislation going and maybe we can make it a little harder for people to get guns.

Of course, the other part of our society is running around like chickens getting gun permits and stocking up on ammo at gun shows and generally saying and doing all the stuff they have been forever.  "It's not the gun...Only criminals will have them...Out of my cold, dead hands..."

In San Francisco there was a record turn out at the gun show last week.  No one could walk away with a new gun because we have a 10 day waiting period here in CA. That is one of the proposals being taken to Congress.  Ten days - to check the records (hopefully they will get better at the record keeping) and to cool down from any incident which has sparked the desire for a gun.

NRA President David Keene said:  "The two people who are selling so-called assault rifles are Sen. Feinstein and President Obama - not us.  They're the ones that are scaring American gun owners. It isn't the NRA."


Harry Reid might find himself in the NRA cross hairs - he seems to be changing his stance on guns following Newtown:   "We need to accept the reality that we are not doing enough to protect our citizens,” Reid said on the Senate floor.

I commented on a few blogs after the last school shooting that it is too late to do anything about guns in this country.  There are too many of them, too much money behind them and too many ways to skirt the existing laws. But maybe things will change bit by bit,  child by child gunned down.

FRIDAY FAST ONES

1.)  I am very disappointed to hear that our military is not actually leaving Iraq.  President Obama has left 50,000 soldiers behind to continue to "train and support Iraq's forces."  This means they will still be not only in harms way, but embarking on combat missions as part of that support.  Which means more deaths and woundings of Americans.  Seven and a half years and counting - How much more money?  How stupid are we to think this is ever going to end well?

2.)  I have been watching Top Chef and Project Runway this summer - not much else is on.  I am really getting tired of the strange decisions of the judges on these shows.  They get rid of people who are good and leave people on for unknowable reasons - well, sometime it is because they are real "characters" and so make "good TV."  I should not look to these shows as reality talent shows, but I was really mad when Top Chef sent Tiffany home on Wednesday.  And making Michael the winner over Mondo on Project Runway was just ridiculous.


3.)  All the hoopla over the allegedly spontaneous and leaderless populist uprising doesn't mention one important thing: the sugar daddies who are bankrolling it, and have been doing so since well before last summer. Rupert Murdoch of Fox News, where both Beck and Palin are on the payroll is one of them. The other two, the brothers David and Charles Koch, are even richer, with a combined wealth exceeded only by that of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett among Americans.

The Koch brothers must be laughing all the way to the bank knowing that working Americans are aiding and abetting their selfish interests.  While Koch foundations donate to cancer hospitals, Koch Industries has been lobbying to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from classifying another product important to its bottom line, formaldehyde, as a “known carcinogen” in humans (which it is).  They were the biggest opponents of Health Care Reform and yet signed up for the first round of  the Government funded  Early Retiree Reinsurance Program under that plan.

Also, Tea Partiers may share the Kochs’ detestation of taxes, big government and Obama. But there’s a difference between mainstream conservatism and a big business centric agenda while dismantling fundamental government safety nets designed to protect the unemployed, public health, workplace safety and care for the elderly.

4.)  I have finally managed to become employed.  I start training on Saturday.  I will be working varied schedules on Saturdays and Sundays and  on Monday nights.  This makes me full time so I will be able to participate in the company benefit package - my husband is happy about that.  I am happy that I will still be able to work with my sister in our new business venture.

Thanks to everyone for putting up with my complaining  and wishing me well all these months!

OUR GOVERNMENT IN ACTION

We got the letter on Monday June 1 from the IRS asking for some documentation to be submitted by May 27. Okay.

So I am filling out the forms and trying to navigate to the web address listed in the letter as there is certain specific information I am required to follow. The web address will not come up. So after numerous tries I finally find the correct web page and complete the packet of information.

Tom suggests we should call to notify the IRS that the packet is coming, but we didn't receive it in time to send it by May 27. So I call the number listed in the letter.

After 5 prompts I am told via electronic voice that the wait time is 30-45 minutes.

I try again an hour later. Wait time is 20- 30 minutes.

I try again around noon. The wait time is 10-15 minutes. So I wait. They play selections from the Nutcracker Suite. I wonder if someone at the IRS selected this as an ironic little joke.

After 11 minutes the call is answered, the agent rattles off an ID number. I share the information. The agent tells me I need to talk to another department, the one which sent the letter. Funny. You would think they would use their number in the letter.

I wait another 13 minutes. I tell this agent, number 4758/#( or something, the story. He says he will note the file and I should talk to another department so they will not start some sort of procedure against us. Yikes.

I wait another 19 minutes because this sounds quite dire. Agent 49%3+& isn't sure why they have put me through to her, but is happy to hear the information is going out today and make sure all the supporting documents are included. I dig up some additional information and add it to the packet just in case.

I double check everything and go to the Post Office. I hope that is the end of this little story.