Online Survey From U.S.Census Bureau

I received a notice by mail yesterday.  On the front of the envelope is a opening to see my address which is common for business/government mailings.  On the top left is the return address for U.S. Dept. of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration US Census Bureau.  There address is 1201 E. 10th St. Jeffersonville, IN 47132-0001.  And underneath that is an official stamp saying Official Business.  Under that is a polite Penalty for Private Use $300.  Under that is a code which I will not print because I'm not really sure it's legal to print such codes.  And finally (still in the top left hand corner) is a large bold square box stating "The American Community Survey".  And in the box under that is a very bold lettered warning in larger, bolder letters - "YOUR RESPONSE IS REQUIRED BY LAW"  When I received this friendly envelope and the contents within, I noticed in the open window that my name was "To the resident of" and then my address followed.  My question is this - can I be arrested for a crime in which I'm named To The Resident Of:?  If I don't go online and take a 40 minute survey I am breaking the law.  I am being threatened with a fine or jail time (I haven't researched the consequences but IT'S THE LAW) if I don't take a survey.  Now I understand our forefathers understood the importance of a census and how the results reflect in proper governing by representation. I have no problem whatsoever in answering the question "Do you exist and are you a citizen?.  I have no problems whatsoever with answering that question.  But how did we go from that simple question every 10 years to this?  I am being threatened if I don't complete a survey and they don't even know my name?  Just the fact that I live in a household holds me accountable to the US Dept. of Commerce?  The department of commerce?  Perhaps the NSA should get together and let the Commerce department know who I am and who I've been texting.  I don't often cuss in my everyday language but I gotta tell you, they are a bunch of s.o.b.'s.  Now I have to take an hour out of my busy blogging to complete a bureaucratic butt wipe so that the Commerce Department has a better handle on which toilet paper I wipe my butt with and what color that butt happens to be?  I'm torqued about this.  I mean, how far can the government sink?  I'm supposed to be threatened by mail using the US postal service and just simply go online and answer their fact quest?  But Rueuhy, this is for your benefit some will say.  "This allows for better funding for schools, and fire departments, and hospitals and whatever else the government has their tentacles and testicles intertwined in" says the bleeding heart liberals who just want a better, brighter future for everyone.   This is not what our founding fathers envisioned.  In fact, I believe they felt a deep resentment to those who threatened the well-being and freedom they felt was a God-given right that no other man or group of men should ever infringe upon.  They were willing to die or face charges for treasonous acts against the crown.  I do believe, if they saw what our government was doing to it's own people they would be ready to fight the bonds of servitude in which the United States federal and state governments were imposing upon its citizenry.  So what will Rueuhy do?  Well, first I will research the law and the penalties I might suffer if I don't complete this online survey.  Then I will complain non-stop to my family and friends.  I will not sit quietly.  But in the end I will probably put the envelope in a larger envelope and mark it "return to sender" and add a friendly note about revolution and the consequences for those who infringe upon the rights of naturally born citizens.  Then I'll pack for a long stint in Guantanamo Bay luxury resorts.  Seriously, people, what's happened to us?  And why do we continue to let it happen?  My name is "To The Resident Of:"  and I approve this blog.

How To Beatbox And The Tale Of Izzy Landon

First, let me tell you a little story.  Timmy found a hole in the ground.  He fell in.  No one cared except the dog.  Dog went for help.  Nobody could translate the barking so no one helped.  Timmy was never found.  It's a really sad story if you think about it.  Dogs really are loyal but they get distracted easily.  Anyway, now that you know the story of Timmy and his loyal dog, I would like to give you a written tutorial on the art of beat boxing.  I'm not really a big fan of this form of music but I do believe that there are some benefits involved in acquiring any knowledge so let us begin:

Step one - Select a time and place that allows for un-distracted practice.  It is important to allow for unrestrained and continuous practice which allows for the freedom of creativity.  I am not an expert in any way of performing beat box but I do know that practice usually increases the chances of full potential in any endeavor.

Step two - Choose a rhythm and timing.  This step will eventually allow for multiple levels of enjoyment and increase the overall satisfaction of yourself and any listeners.  Don't be afraid to experiment with multiple levels of timing.  In fact, you will find yourself enjoying the challenge.

Step three - Use your face.  Any experienced beat box performer will tell you, the face is the instrument.  Any instrument worth its value is dependent on tuning and quality of maintenance. Just try to play a trumpet that's never had the spittle blown out.  Eventually the valves start plugging up and eventually the instrument becomes unbalanced and water logged.  This applies to your face as well.  Try spitting and stretching.  This will allow for greater range and endurance.  And the front of the crowd will remain dryer.  And stock up on chap stick or some other moisturizing agent.  The lips must remain moist and there is a great risk of drying and cracking so prevention is key.

Step four - Create a working parameter around your body for unhampered movement.  When the tempo and correct rhythm is found, you will desire to use all your body in defining your style.  A mannequin is only useful in displaying clothes.  Limber up and really get that body moving.  The visual effect can be just as important as the sound.  Once a freedom of movement occurs you will want the stage uninhibited.  The occasional child will want to get close so remain vigilant of your surrounding area.  One jabbed eye in a little toddler will bring the performance to a shocking end and ruin your reputation as a performer.

The basic beat box can be started with six key words and others will come to you in time.  Try the following  repetition of words for a basic pattern and then combine them in your own unique style:
"Boots and Cats" (4 times) and then "Boots and Ketchup" (4 times)    You will be amazed how quickly you can become proficient with the style that lays dormant within you.  Timing is very important but style can be the ultimate crowd pleaser.  Just ask Izzy Landon.  He was rated the top beat boxer in Thailand recently in the 2013 Thailand's Got Talent competition.  And that, my friends, is the tale of Izzy Landon.  My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.

Boots and cats
Boots and cats
Boots and cats
Boots and cats
Boots and ketchup
Boots and ketchup
Boots and ketchup
Boots and ketchup
Give me fries
Give me fries
Give me fries
Give me fries
Pass the dip
Pass the dip
Pass the dip
Pass the dip   

For Country and For Love

Veteran's Day holds a special place in my heart.  There are a few reasons for this but I would like to give you my take on a day of remembrance and salutations for those who served our armed forces and this includes myself.  As a young boy, I never understood we were poor.  Maybe not poor but we weren't rich by anyone's standards when it came to earthly goods.  We did have a nice vehicle and we always had groceries.  But I do remember material items such as clothes and toys were not always at the forefront of my mother's shopping list.  But dad always worked hard to ensure the power bill was paid and there was food on the table at the end of each day.  We were a working class family as defined by the culture of the day.  My father served in the Army and he would occasionally tells us of his memories from the service but he never dwelled long on the sacrifices this entailed on his own freedom and liberties he might have suffered for that service.  I never really understood in my youth what he sacrificed until years later when I would follow his footsteps into the military.  I chose a different branch and my sacrifices were different than his but I do believe we can agree we are both glad that we gave those years for the defense of our country.  I don't think many of us who served actually place "sacrifice for our country" as the primary reason for enlisting.  The reasons are probably as numerous as the numbers of men and women who have worn a uniform.  For myself, it was about the money.  As I mentioned, we were like so many other families of the working class.  Just keeping our heads above water in the sea of cost of living.  And, not to mention, there were four of us "little yuns" for our parents to worry about.  College just wasn't in the cards for us.  So, weighing my options as a senior in high school, I made the decision I would join.  What I didn't realize then, but I do now, was the severity of that decision and the role my service would play in the rest of my life.  The experience those years would give me probably will define me in my attitudes and focus until my last breath.  And with that experience my perspective on this country and what liberty means will be forever defined in my heart and mind.  I will, on occasion, with much regard for the future and moral ramifications, perhaps change my stand on issues as they arise in the politics at the current moment.  I understand that, with freedom, everyone has an opinion and many choose to be heard. And as much as it pains me at times, I understand that they do have the right to say whatever they choose to say even if I totally disagree with it.  But I also have the right to remain and listen or disregard their opinion without malice but with prejudice.  For freedom comes at a cost - sometimes even to the sanity of those who have sacrificed for it by having to listen to those who never will.  Today our country is hated as much as it ever has been buy it's own people.  The labeling and callousness of those who disagree with the policies of administrations in the past, as well as the current one, is at such a level of difference that our country is probably close to the same level of confrontation as was felt during the civil war.  On issues of immigration, religion, pensions, entitlements, same-sex marriage, welfare, and countless more, people feel strongly about their side.  This unfortunately creates an atmosphere of "us" against "them" and hurts our country far worse than any attack from beyond our borders.  The question I ask myself this morning is this - Can we survive ourselves?  No matter how strong a defense is, and no matter how many freedoms are lost, tyranny will never sleep.  There will always be someone who opposes another's core beliefs.  There will always be a new enemy and there will remain old ones who oppose the United States for whatever reasons.  But if we, as a nation, wish to remain a viable and sustainable idea, the differences we may feel towards others within our borders must be understood as such.  For if we destroy ourselves from within, what defense, military or otherwise, can undo that damage?  When I was 18 and entering into basic training I did not comprehend the immensity of the situation.  I didn't understand that I was only one of many who had given up a life that I knew to serve and defend.  I didn't realize how much that sacrifice would change me and what it really meant for the defense of an idea.  An idea of liberty and freedom held dear for over two centuries.  But I do now with the clarity of a life lived.  The thing is this - the enemy which clearly holds the biggest threat to this idea of liberty and freedom has always been there.  The biggest enemy is located within each and every one of us.  For if we lose sight of what we are and what we are privileged to live in, we have done a far better job of destroying ourselves than any enemy at the gate.  We should understand this but I fear we don't.  My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.

Finding Nemo and 30 Other Varieties At The Sushi Bar

Can anyone really be considered insane?  That's the question I asked myself this morning upon finishing the paper.  Locally, and I would wager nationally, any published hard print paper boils down to what the owner and editor/publisher believe is the direction society should be trained for.  Sometimes, (usually in disbelief) as I read another article and consider the sources, my blood boils and I try to remain calm.  For the truth is, most of the news is hand picked by the powers that be in any newspaper, magazine, or other types of media profit or "non-profit".  Anytime we watch the news on cable, or even tuning into a local channel on public broadcast, the viewers can be assured that someone, somewhere, has our best interests at heart, and has decided what news is worthy to be broadcast.  Would a trial taking place two thousand miles away really become water cooler conversation without someone, sitting at an anchor's desk, informing us of each little inconsequential tidbit hour after hour?  Would the current slew of "important national crisis'" be fore front in our minds without the daily push from our newspaper?  For example, I did not know about the current rampage of male service members raping female service members that is running non-stop in our military.  Without the efforts of our local paper I would not know that this is the deciding factor in the current pick of President Obama's selection for undersecretary of the Navy.  I guess the most important problem facing today's military is not in the defense of our country, and who should be selected for leadership in implementing the decisions but rather the political carnage from choosing someone who cannot implement quality military judgement of those who serve under the commanders chosen through their record of service and achievements.  Rather, the military (who, by the way, uses a chain of command rather than a diplomatic democracy) should change the rules (once again) to satisfy the political correctness of the situation.  As a former member of our armed services I understand the chain of command form of leadership from living that life for several years.  Here's just my humble opinion and perspective of the military and why a chain of command far outweighs the political correctness of the current age:  the military is like no other group in our country.  It is not based upon a capitalistic or corporate mentality in achieving monetary dominance in our society.  It is not based upon a politically correct agenda.  In fact, at it's core, the military is a group of volunteers who get paid to defend this country by any means possible.  We have nuclear capability as a deterrent to offensive strikes against our country.  We have men and woman trained to kill.  We have standard weapons with the capability to sink ships and destroy villages.  At it's very core in nature, the military is not a pleasant idea by any means.  The military is a back bone of strength that everyone understands (or should understand) which allows our country to remain in power.  To weaken the very essence of vitality and rigidness that allows for a uniform chain of command utilizing its best in minds and strengths of it's leadership is as close to anarchy as we would eventually taste in this country.  The strength of the military comes from its chain of command type of structure.  To take that power away, whether at the lowest of command or at the highest shows the lack of respect for our military and the pompous mentality of those who live outside of it's structure.  When we disarm the military at it's core we begin the disarmament of our very own defense.  So, in summary, I do believe in the required judgement of those responsible for crimes against fellow service members.  I do believe that violators should be judged under the UCMJ - Uniform Code of Military Justice.  I do believe that the military has a system in place that continues a justice system within itself that has remained effective since its inception.  What I don't believe is some United States Senators should hold up a nomination for an office to better implement their understanding of a political correctness that should not EVER become a deciding factor within our military.  And I do not believe our current legal system, with the unbalanced form of justice on display on a daily basis, should ever replace the current system in place within our military.  I understand if you're feeling frustrated with the lack of mention of Nemo or sushi but that's just the title that popped in my head.  And I am free as a United States citizen with the help of the military present and past to do that in this blog.  I understand freedom.  I served.  My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.

The Other Side Of The Story

Montegni was better than most.  In fact, out of 65,000 children tested, he had the highest scores in all ten categories.  With permission from his guardians, he was raised by the elders in seclusion.  No other interactions with children was allowed for the young Montegni.  This was the only life he knew.  But somewhere, deep in the recesses of his young mind, something just didn't seem right with the life he lived. He was fed well.  He rested well.  In fact, of all the children tested that year, none would know a life as secure as that of Montegni.  But he always felt curious about his surroundings.  There was a "yearning" to reach out to those of his own age.  The wisdom and nurturing he received from the elders was far superior than had ever been known to anyone before.  He would never know hunger or pain.  Physical pain at least.  He would never feel the extremes in temperature fluctuations as the other children from his home would know.  He would never know the suffering others would take as normal in their lives.  He would be protected at all costs.  He was their last hope.  Montegni, of course, did not know how special his life had become.  Of all the wisdom passed down through countless generations, the greatest truth would never be told to the young Montegni.  The elders knew that a mind so complex, yet naive as Montegni's would never accept that truth.  His mind, as capable and quick as it was, would never sanely accept the actual parameters his life was required to be enveloped in.  As is true with any living creature, the mind can only accept a certain truth and if that truth is altered to such a vast degree, something will inevitably snap in the process of acquiring that new revelation.  And as was the case for Montegni, his truth had been in the making for centuries.  For his was an old race that understood that time, as great a friend can be, can also speak to another reality.  A reality based upon finite calculations. A reality which held only one possibility.  And that conclusion was ever near. So, many generations ago, a plan was created.  A plan so completely reliant upon one with the calculating abilities that Montegni possessed.  The ability to process information so rapidly that no machine could duplicate.  He would have to be able to calculate probabilities within a limited amount of time.  And he would never be allowed to understand how sinister and cold those calculations could be.  For that was the limiting factor involved in the secrecy of Montegni's life.  Each specimen would have to be a living being capable of producing the choices which could be monitored and studied within a space of limited time.  Even the specimens themselves could not be alerted to their own study for this would cloud the results of each study.  If his race were to be successful in obtaining a productive solution, Montegni and the test subjects would never be able to consciously know each other's place within the experiments.  Even Montegni himself was not aware of the experiments.  The experiments themselves were only observed through a remote location by the elders and Montegni would never be told what was happening.  And the test subjects would return to their own planet with only a feeling of partial memory recognition that would be labeled deja vu.  Even in their simplistic and underdeveloped evolution, humans gave promise to the key to their survival.  But they could never consciously know of their capture and experimentation.  They would never know of their departures or arrivals back to Earth.  They would only regard it with a brief curiosity and continue on with their simple lives.  If Montegni and his entire race were to survive an answer would have to be found.  And soon.  My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.