A while back Uncle Ken expressed a little frustration about Mr. Beagles' point of view in that it was too reasonable, and there was little to argue about. And I agree, but I'll attribute it to the hard earned wisdom of a life well lived. Appears to me that modern news media likes a binary model; good/bad, black/white, Republican/Democrat, conservative/liberal, with no appreciation of the many shades of gray or nuance.
Consider socialism. As a form of government, it stinks. But if we, in our society of plenty, can't take care of those in need or show compassion to the less fortunate then we stink, on ice.
Americans as a rule are very generous people; we like to help folks out and we don't need socialism to do it. A problem is that a lot of dough is given to charities of all kinds, but it seems that too much money fails to reach the folks that need it. Skimming? Administrative overhead? Government programs are, well, government programs, often poorly managed. Look at the VA. There's a good solution somewhere, but I don't know what it is.
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The background checks for firearm ownership don't seem to be very effective. Too many loons have properly registered weapons. How about a process where you need to have references from *known* responsible gun owners? You would need to have someone vouch for you, to attest to your general character. A criminal record in itself should not prevent you from gun ownership; a lot of people turn their lives around and live good and decent lives. Alas, many don't. But if a guy (and it's usually men but that is changing) has no criminal record or history of mental illness but is quick to anger, especially after a few beers, he should not have a weapon. Same thing with any extreme animosity to any group of people. You could be a nice guy, but if you *really* hate Cubs fans (understandable, I know), folks from Indiana, short people, hipsters, whatever, again...no gun for you. I know a lot of people that I would trust with any type of weapon, and some I wouldn't trust with a plastic fork.
And speaking of loons with weapons, the guy in Dallas used a seventy year-old Soviet SKS. There's a license for those old weapons; I think they're called Curios & Relics, and they can be shipped to your home. Sleep tight.
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Although I have Google Earth on my iPad, I never had it on the laptop. Something about Uncle Ken's statement of a four block walk from the Merchandise Mart didn't sound right, so I installed the latest Google Earth, and Jeez Louise! The 3D buildings are amazing, as is street view. Quite a rabbit hole...it's like zooming around on a magic carpet, looking at all the cool stuff. Or maybe the Eye of God. Oh, it's four short city blocks from the Mart to Marina City, but only 1/4 mile. Still a long way if the bladder is full.
And as long as I had the Eye of God in focus, I decided to take a peek at the Greater Cheboygan Metropolitan Area and I found something curious. There's an odd development in the Mackinaw State Forest, east of Cheboygan off of highway 23. It's right next to Lake Sixteen (odd name, like Area 51) and about a mile long. There's a few small buildings, and only one road in and out. I can't tell what it is, except maybe a fish hatchery. Perhaps Mr. Beagles can enlighten me, unless he has to kill me afterwards.
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