We've got the drug thing all backwards.

Meth addicts -
Those guys can steal wiring from outdoor lighting - while it is still on!
They rip plumbing out of houses, that stuff is pretty hard to put in and must be even harder to get out

What are we thinking?
GIVE those guys the meth, hell, they're pretty hard workers
But you can't give meth to just anyone, so there has to be a qualifying test -
 you show up with 20 feet of plumbing or 50 feet of wire and you're in
give em the meth and tell em to put it back! - you guys are now plumbers or electricians
 they'll work long hours, too

Let's do something similar for other drugs
 you show up with a law degree and you get all the coke you can snort!

editor's note: thought I had posted this a while ago but I don't see it in the archives.

Time to eliminate gun background checks

Clearly the background checks are not being effective.  Ghastly crimes and mass shootings are almost so common that they aren't really news anymore - unless you know the victims.

Besides, there are so many loopholes that congress just can't seem to close.  Anyone who would not pass a background check can simply attend a gun show or check out craigslist.  I'm amazed anyone fails a check.

So let's think about this.  The government isn't capable of fixing this problem.  Upstanding gun dealers clearly want to do their part to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and people with mental issues.  Let them do it.

Here's how - one simple, easy to understand, law:
"If you sell a gun, that is used in a crime, you face the same charges as the perpetrator."

I bet gun sellers would be very careful who they sold to.  I don't think making them an 'accessory' to the crime would have the same effect.  You sell a gun used in a murder, you are a murderer.  Clean, simple, done.

What if Mitt Romney had endorsed Obamacare?

Imagine Mitt Romney running for president in 2012 and supporting Obamacare.  He could claim that HE had the original idea.  There are many, many Republican ideas that resulted in Massachusetts' successful 'Romneycare' plan that are also in Obamacare.

It is too bad he had to repudiate it to survive the Republican primaries.  And with the rollout troubles we have seen, he could have run again in 2016 claiming to be able to fix the 'mess'. Stay tuned, 2016 isn't that far away.

The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun

is to keep the effing gun out of his hands in the first place!

The trick is to respect citizen's rights to keep and bear arms while keeping them away from people who would commit criminal acts with them.  All in an insanely divided political atmosphere. 

Time to Throw Out the Baby with the Bathwater

With a full half hour before October 1, there is little hope to avert a government shutdown.  And if it does get solved the debt ceiling will be the next self inflicted crisis.

THIS MUST STOP!

The House of Representatives is completely broken.  The extreme right wing seems willing to cause huge financial upheaval to get its way.  The last time the debt ceiling was an issue, there was speculation that the US might default on some of its obligations.  Our credit rating took a hit that cost taxpayers millions. This had NEVER happened before and here it comes again.

The house is blocking almost every bill that might make the President look good.  This is obstructing legitimate government efforts - and just for the sake of right wing politics.

I could go on and on but you get the idea.  But how can it be fixed?

Senators have 6 year terms so onlly 1/3 of them is up for re-election at one time.  The House, however, has 2 year terms and faces re-election  every two years.  So the solution seems simple to me:

Reject every member of the House and elect someone new.  It doesn't matter f they are Democrats or Republicans or Independents, throw the bums OUT! Vote for the non-House candidate.

We need a nice fresh House of Representatives.  It will take commitment and constant effort but we could do this in 2014.  Even if only a majority of the seats are lost it will send a powerful message that our Representatives should represent us and not special interests.

Counter Example

In logic, one counter-example completely disproves an assertion of fact.  For example, the National Rifle Association has made the statement:

"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun."

As the tragic shootings at the Washington Navy Yard show, this is false.  In this case the killer shot an armed security guard - kind of the definition of  'a good guy with a gun'.  Not only that, he took the guard's own gun.

So  to recap, the good guy with the gun did *not* stop the bad guy with a gun. Even worse, the good guy's gun was used by the bad guy for bad things.  The good guy did not stop the bad guy and, in fact, his presence with that gun contributed to the violence.

Is this a bribe?

Thinking about the movie Gasland. It documents several settlements where the gas companies paid people to be silent when their water was so bad you can set it on fire.  There are several scenes of folks turning their faucets into bunsen burners.

 I thought, why do those settlements always gag the recipients?  OK I know that answer.  The settlement keeps the victims from saying how much they were paid so the company could keep it quiet and not admit they had done anything to the water.

Here's my real question: why can a publicly traded company conceal it's finances like that?  You have a company paying people off and hiding the amount - it is a pretty sleazy practice but is it bribery?

EDIT:  I realize thoughts about Gasland were from The Colbert Report, the August 15, 2013 episode.  Check out the 'The Word' segment.