Pain free, for a while at least

I am on a second course of prednisone and I can't tell you how great it is to be able to walk down stairs without my knees cracking and popping from the pressure. Prednisone is dangerous and shouldn't be taken often but having a week or so without pain after so many years of constant pain is wonderful. I hope the new medication works as well. Pain isn't fun even once you have learned to live with it.

Economic self reliance

A lot of American jobs have been sent over seas where the labor rate is cheaper. As a result almost nothing is actually built in America anymore. This an obvious problem, one that the government doesn't seem to care much about. I find that very odd.

While it is impossible to be a totally self sufficient island in the world economy I am worried about America's absolute reliance on the world economy as a whole. If we become solely dependent on one country or continent for something and that part of the world decides they don't like us anymore what will happen? During World War II the U.S. auto factories made our tanks, bombs, and planes. Will the next war be called off because we can't buy the necessary electronics to run our war military? I would think that the government would force certain manufacturing capabilities to remain within the U.S. control to ensure we can defend ourselves.

Yes, labor is cheaper in other countries, but shouldn't we have tariffs and taxes in place to ensure that we retain certain basic abilities within our own country? Shouldn't we have the ability to rely on ourselves in times of crisis or war?

I know none of this is new or even very exciting, but I have never heard a good answer to these basic questions. I can't believe the government hasn't considered the possibility of another war or some natural or political disaster wiping out one of the suppliers of basic goods. But where are the answers?

America is a funny place

America is a funny place. If you take pictures of your children fresh out of the bath tub you might get arrested for producing child porn. If you get caught peeing behind a bush you might get arrested for public exposure, even if nobody actually saw anything. On the other hand if you want to fly you have to either let the government take a nude picture of you (via x-ray) or get your genitals felt by a government employee. It is a very odd contrast.

Alcohol is a recreational drug that has few medical benefits yet is legal. Marijuana is a recreational drug that has few medical benefits yet is very illegal.

I know things are slowly changing, attitudes and laws are slowly changing. But while they are changing we have these in-between times when things just don't make a lot of sense. I hope one day they will, but I rather doubt it will happen in my lifetime.

The death penalty

I just finished reading another news report of a mother killing her child. We really need the death penalty for cases like this. Not because it will deter others but because we don't need these people in the population. Ever.

There are many fine people in the world. There are a vast number of not so fine but adequate people in the world. But there is a small number of people we can live without. Rapists, child molesters, and people otherwise convicted of multiple violent crimes we can live without. If there is absolute rock solid proof they are guilty we should put them to death. They are insane and there is no way they will ever become sane. For our safety and the safety of our children we should remove them from the world.

That's my opinion.

People are confusing

I don't have a lot of friends but the friends I do have are wonderful. About half of my friends are women and many of my casual acquaintances are women. When talking to them I try very hard to remember to look them in the eye. This is difficult for me because I am not visually oriented and tend to look over a person's shoulder or at anything that is moving. Unfortunately the moving bits are usually breasts and it makes women uncomfortable, so I try very hard and even ask my close friends once in a while how I am doing. Yes, that is as awkward as it sounds.

I have always treated women as people and don't understand the attitudes of some men that only see them as sex objects or something even worse. Given the obvious evidence that women are at least as smart as men and do in fact have personalities I don't understand how anybody can maintain this attitude. But it is clear that people have an amazing ability to not see what they don't want to see.

One of the many things that mystifies me is the fact that women actually marry these men. Why would a woman marry somebody who doesn't treat them as an equal? Why would you stay with somebody who abuses you? What attracts women to these men in the first place? I have no clue. It amazes me that women put up with this, but again they may be using that amazing ability to not see what they don't want to see.

There are many things I don't understand in the world. But the areas I do understand I try to do something about. My attempts to keep from annoying my women friends is one small area I can do something about. Of course some days are am better at that than others. On days when the over endowed woman a work wears a plunging neckline I have to avoid talk to her. I said I try, I didn't say I was a saint.

More discussion about my dreams

Most of my dreams fall into the category of adventure dreams. They are very long and usually have me exploring a old buildings of a society long gone. Usually I am with a group of people, and the dreams leave me with a sense of belonging and adventure.

The next most common dream I have usually has me looking for a bathroom. In this sort of dream I am always alone and lost in a very active building full of people I don't know. The bathrooms are always very public (like toilets sitting in the hallway sort of public) and I won't use them so I am trying to find a hidden bathroom somewhere. These dreams leave me with a sense of being not part of society.

On rare occasions when I am physically cold I have bad dreams. These are vague and scary. They usually leave me with a desire to hide under the bed.

The rarest of dreams for me are the fragmented, confused dreams that people are supposed to have. I get these if I am too hot or sick. They never make any sense and I rarely remember anything specific about them. Fortunately they don't happen often.

So why did I write this? I don't know. I have always been interested in dreams. I don't think they mean much. If anything I think my dreams show I have a need to be part of a group and feel accepted. They also show I like adventure and wandering around ruins of old civilizations. But hey, who doesn't?

Does anybody have any dream stories they want to share?

My opinion on tattoos

They're stupid and ugly. I have no idea why people would want them. Same with piercings, brandings, and things implanted under the skin. Obviously lots of people don't share my opinion, but that doesn't sway me. They are dumb.