Keeping Up Appearances

Warning: the following post may contain numbers and facts that may cause nausea and headaches.  Parental discretion is advised.

Why does the United States spend money that it really doesn't have?  Why does our federal government and state governments (I'm particularly concerned with Illinois) seem to be driving our economy's into ruin?  Is there any way to stop it?  I have the answers to these and so much more. So, before we proceed, go to your liquor cabinet and pour yourself a long, tall one. You'll need it.

For several years, I've followed tale after tale of conspiracy theories about our present economic picture.  I've heard stories that would drive a sane man into hopeless despair over his future security.  I've researched different theories on the US dollar and it's future place as the world reserve currency.  I have seen data on analysis of future predictions for United States and Chinese gold holdings that paint a desperate picture for the future of this country (United States).  It is not a pretty one.  Recently, while clicking on articles on websites that lead to other links to other websites that lead to paid infomercials that lead to "limited time only" deals on newsletters, I found a little truth that leads to a bigger truth. And that truth is this, the United States really doesn't have much gold left in the bunker at Fort Knox.

Here's a brief summary - every month the US commerce department produces a report on the imports and exports of the United States detailed in a document labeled FT900.  According to a man named Jeff Opdyke, this report clearly states that the United States has been exporting much more gold than it has been importing. So much more that an audit of the holdings of the Federal Reserve is in dire need but all attempts to audit the gold in Fort Knox have resulted in failure.  There has not been a audit conducted establishing the actual physical gold quantities in Fort Knox for decades.  In the meantime, without any established confirmation of current reserve holdings, the gold holdings of the United States has seen a significant decline from the 1950's from a wealthy 20,500 tons of gold (yes - that's tons) to a level in 1972 reported at 8500 tons.  According to Mr. Opdyke, editor of the Soverign Investor publication, the reported level of gold held in reserve in the United States is close to the same levels reported in 1972.  With a loss reported each month in gold exports, how could the United States maintain levels reported back to the 70's.

The answer is simple - we really don't have much gold in reserve in the United States.  So the question that you must ask yourself and your elected officials is this - what backs the currency now used in a fiat currency we all currently use?  Without any real wealth backing the promise seen on every dollar the US mint mints, what gives the US dollar its value? As Mr. Opdyke tells us, and with which I totally agree, the US dollar only holds value as long as the world trusts the government of the United States.  If you take a moment, right now, and pull out a treasury bill you currently (hopefully) hold in your purse or wallet right now, the only thing that gives that dollar bill any value is a promise, from the government, that it's actually worth something.  If the United States suddenly revealed that coffers are empty, what trust is there?  Why not conduct an audit of the gold holdings held in Federal Reserves? The reason is simple - realization by the people represented by thugs and liars would be calamitous.  All h-e-double hockysticks would break out.  According to Mr. Opdyke, the Chinese do not make such reports of the their gold reserves except for every three years.  At the current rate of their reporting, a new report for the Chinese wealth of gold should be produced this month (April 2014).  The estimated net holdings of the Chinese government in gold has been estimated at five times that of the United States.  There is currently a push by other influential world economies and governments to move away from the US dollar as the world reserve currency.  With this possibility, a very real possibility based upon the upcoming gold report by the Chinese, the US economy would be driven into chaos filled with double digit unemployment and ultra-high inflation.  The de-valuation of the US dollar would quickly erupt into the printing of currency by the treasury to try to stop inflation. Toilet paper would hold more worth.  Even the crap on used toilet paper would be worth more.

So there's the possibility.  Which leads me to the why.  I'm a big fan of the "why".  I just love knowing.  And this is my best intelligent guess to the "why" on United States federal and state level spending.  Keeping up appearances.  Why would so much money be poured into losing campaigns for such winning programs as "Cash for Clunkers" and green energy initiatives?  Why would our government conduct such heavy spending into promoting a losing proposition such as "healthcare for all" with the advent of Obamacare?  Why even push for Obamacare?  Why bail out using close to a trillion dollars of easily printed money back in 2008?  Why are we spending money that everyone knows has no real value?  It's a big heaping pile of illusion.  Keeping up appearances -For some of you, you'll recognize the the reference Keeping Up Appearances as a title to a popular British television show.  If you have never seen this BBC produced comedy sitcom from the early 90's I highly recommend it.  If ever there was a mirror image of the madness of the federal government, this is it.  The star of the show,  Hyacinth Bucket, is a woman on a mission.  To consistently produce an image of wealth and austerity and class. A woman who believed in refined selections and pretensions vastly surpassing any reality life threw her.  Her roots were humble but the life she chose to portray to her audience (anyone who came through her door or lived beyond that door) was a life of decadence and eloquence.  When she answered the phone (if she must) her formal and ladylike presence could be heard through the receiver with her classic "The Bucket' residence - the lady of the house speaking" always informing the caller of far too much.  Arrogance and self-disillusionment.  A higher standard of life than her poor husband Richard could really afford.  Her friends and neighbors easily saw through the charade but never thoroughly confronted her. The biggest difference is Hyacinth did not own her own money printing press.  That's a shame.  The show could have shown us a beautiful take on education and healthcare.  Perhaps even a socialist tint of charity to all of those with far less elitism.  Yes, keeping up appearances is all some of us really have that's of worth.  All you really need is a pen and a phone.  And a title of royalty.  My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.  For charitable donation to keep up my appearances please email me at  rueuhy@gmail.com.

Impulses And True Values

Twenty years ago, life was a lot different for us.  There was no internet bill.  Or cell phone bill (for a majority of us).  Life seemed a lot slower.  For me, money was extremely tight.  I never really carried more than $20 on me because that was all I really had and that was before all the bills got paid.  Answering machines still had micro cassette tapes but a few were digital.  I was still buying cd's at the store if, and a lot of the times it was a big if, they happened to have the copy I wanted.  There was no "online" store to browse.  You really had to want it and you really had to look for it.  The Amazon was a tropical location that someone would have to travel to see or you might come across some documentary on PBS.  There was no bidding wars on Ebay because that little jewel hadn't been created yet.  No one except Craig's friends knew who he was or had even seen Craigs' List.  If you wanted to work on a car or build an addition to your house, you had to buy a manual printed on paper or know someone who knew how to if you personally didn't have those skills.  There was no helpful tips you could get from YouTube.  And remember how mad you would get when someone wasn't kind and didn't rewind that VHS tape you were ready to watch?  There were no DVD's or Blue-Rays.  Today, if you happen to remember an old movie, a quick search online can produce the movie for you in a downloadable format.  Twenty years ago iPod's were still a vision in Steve Jobs head. And all your phone did was make calls.  Forty years ago, if I made a phone call, I would have to ask my parent's permission first.  Then I would have to remember the phone number or look it up in a local phone book.  Back then, the white pages took up a lot more of the book then the yellow pages.  Instead of speaking a name for voice dial to dial, I had to place a single finger in a rotary dial and turn it clockwise for each separate digit.  Rumor has it, even many more years ago, all you had to do was pick up the receiver and some gal named Thelma would "patch" you through to your neighbor if she knew she was home.  Times have changed and I've become impatient.  We've all become impatient.  Because "here's the thing", back then we really didn't have a lot of options.  The amount of options we have today are so extreme that we complain if our cell phone doesn't come in the color we want.  Anyone remember being able to actually read a menu up on the board above the counter at a fast food restaurant in less than a minute?  In some places, there's five or more options for your salad.  YOUR SALAD!!  And fries use to be just fries.  Ordering was pretty simple back in 90's too.  You didn't have a more expensive option of the "extra value" meal either.  We have so many options to choose from that half our life is just choosing things now.  Have you been in a Super Walmart lately?  I actually feel worn out after ten minutes in Walmart because my mind is calculating all those low prices and I have this internal debate on how I could pass up on that neat little item that some factory in China produced for a few pennies but they only want to charge me $1.99 for it.  And I know in advance it's a waste of money.  And it will be put in a corner somewhere and probably thrown away in a year or two.  So I don't buy it.  Not anymore.  If 2008 and beyond taught us anything, it's to reign in our impulse buying.  I guess that's why I hate trips to Walmart or any store for that matter.  It's an internal argument I go through staving off that impulse to satisfy some urge or desire for some material thing I didn't even have before I walked through the store doors.  And I think my eyes have a problem with all the information overload. The next time you walk into such a store take a moment to stand inside by the entrance and just look out over the hundred's of thousands of products waiting for you.  And then remember all you need is bread.  Or milk.  Just walk in and go directly to the bread.  Don't hesitate at the clothing department.  Don't suddenly remember there's a new model out for the Roku.  Just head back to the bread department and then spend ten minutes looking over the twenty selections available.  You see what I'm saying.  Sometimes, as I pull into the 100 acre parking lot and take a look at the building it seems similar to some ancient behemoth lying in wait for it's victims.  And then I feel like I'm some little sacrificial fool purposely heading to my own demise. I just never dreamed that old beast would be a huge yellow smiley face offering low prices everyday.  But we have come a long way since cassette tapes and 8-tracks. How wonderful life is...  My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.  For discount coupons and informercials please contact me at rueuhy@gmail.com

Noah And The Whale

"When a director with religious views makes a movie for a political view, the audience is the one who suffers."  - Rueuhy (just now said that)

*************   Spoiler Alerts   **************

1.  Lot's of water.
2.  Noah is a killer
3.  Emma Watson is British.  Sort of....

Slow down, take a deep breath, and let that one sink in a bit.  I'm talking about the all new, blockbusting, epic, world event/movie called Noah.  Feel the excitement as you remember the first time you heard the story and then scratch your head as Mr. Darren Aronofsky, a proclaimed atheist, takes a well-known biblical story and virtually rapes it.  Within minutes I was confused as this director takes his artistic driver's license and commits cinematic homicide.

Now, what does one expect watching a biblical story from the Hollywood point of view?  I can honestly say I went into the movie with that knowledge.  I understood that there would be some embellishment on a story that takes less than a page or two from the bible.  I understood that.  What I saw was a tribute to Mother Nature and rock like creatures who just happened to be called "watchers" and looked like poor imitations of transformers. Please note ** spoiler alert - there are scenes stolen from Roland Emmerich's blockbuster 2012 - World gets flooded and most of mankind gets wiped out except for the fortunate few who survived on a ark.  I will tell you this - if you're in the mood for an apocalyptic tale, rent the movie 2012.  It's actually more enjoyable and closer to the source material.  On the previous matter of an atheist instructing us on the ills of man destroying creation and mistreating it and then making an anti-believer's film using one of their best known stories taught in most bible schools for infants and toddlers, than this movie is for you.  If you like the climate change/earth cooling/global warming/greenhouse gas/cattle flatulence is killing us/get rid of coal, oil, and gas and plug your car in type of stories than this is still a sad piece of cinematic story telling.  I'll be honest - towards the end I understood how the inhabitants of the world came to have different accents. Between Emma Watson's character, who happens to give birth to twin girls fathered by her brother, having that unique British accent but was actually born in Paris, France to Russell Crowe portraying a loving father/loving botanist/and homicidal maniac having that unique Irish/welch accent, it was all evidently clear.   I could have sworn I heard a flower child sitting in the back of the theater laughing hysterically to herself. This was a blatant attempt to promote a pagan view of the story of Noah and cast it in a light of humanity's evil towards the planet "creation" and not the actual basis of the story of man turning from God.  Throughout the movie, references are made of God leaving the world and letting man play out his role alone.  It is not one of God's love but rather of God's indifference to his creation from the angels to the lowest of shrubs. In other words God is a God of indifference to a creation he took time to make but just left it like an abandoned after school science project.  That is, until the end when the rainbow (sort of) shows up and we get a collective "awwwwweeeeee" from the audience.  The movie is hypocritical to itself on many levels.  Which is the beauty of using a biblical tale in re-enforcing a non-believer's political agenda.  Mother Earth would be better off without that old religious creation of God's creation of man. Mankind should hate itself for hurting what obviously holds higher esteem in God's eyes.  Which is hypocritical from the point of "What's the point, God?"  If the director would have continued reading after the story of Noah he might have been enlightened on God's actual point of creation.  My personal opinion is Man came last as a culmination of God's love.  Creation, light, angels, water, plants, birds, mammals, and then His image.  Creation was created in anticipation of God's greatest creation - man.  In the movie, without actually saying it, man becomes little less than a glorified farmhand in the creation.  And then man, because he is senseless and directionless without God's presence, (he's been silent to man and rock-like angelic beings as well", so poor creation becomes a barren wasteland because man is inherently inherent.  It's God's fault for not paying closer attention.  Creation, once this beautiful, wondrous, paradise is laid waste to a directionless, evil mankind.  And, from the director's point of view, we are at that point again.  Man killing man and beast.  Man destroying the creation (again) with his pollution and greenhouse gases.  My question is - should we take out the cattle first?  Flatulence is far more evil in the greentology ethics of this dear director's political anthology.  If another cow never farted, or another car ever driven, would this suffice?

To summarize - I didn't like this movie from the political, religious, or entertainment quality angle of this movie.  There were moments in the movie I was just looking around at the light fixtures in the theater.  There were also moments when I thought "Should I get some Milk Dud's or would that ruin the popcorn taste?"  There were other moments when I was yawning a lot.  Then there were moments I wanted to yell "Hey, what's Hannibal Lector doing performing miracles?" but I didn't.  Because I'm not like the director.  I have a little common decency and I actually like good movies.  Note to director - Just because you hate doesn't mean you have to disrespect the 88% of people in Cyprus who believe in God.  Or what about the 92% in Romania?  My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.  For your pagan or atheistic viewpoints, please email me at rueuhy@gmail.com

Crimea River

"The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come."   Revelation 17 verse 8 (NIV translation)

Before I get into the heart and soul of this post, let me begin by saying I am not a prophet.  I do not want to make a current event comparison to an end times revelation.  I have studied the bible and I do believe the bible.  But I do not consider myself an authority on the bible.  But, every once in awhile, I see a connection.  I'm not quite ready to start my own cult but I do see a possibility of a connection.  And if the bible teaches us anything in the book of Revelation, it is this - keep watch for no one knows when it ends.  For we really do not know, or should we know, when that last day or week or month will come for all of us.  And I say "or should we know" because that would take out all the fun of living, right?  To actually know you have 426 hours left.  Or 50 years.  It would surely change the way you live and interact with others, right?  Some would sit quietly in their rooms in a state of despair.  Others would party like it's 1999 (which I didn't even do when it was December 31st, 1999).  We all would handle it differently and probably chaotically.  So, it's probably all for the best that we don't know that magical calender date. 

But a weird thing happened last night.  I woke up around 3:30 very thirsty.  Which is not uncommon.  I love a drink of water in the middle of the night.  It's cool and refreshing.  But shortly afterwards I checked my phone and twitter.  (Yes, I tweet now but I will never twerk.)  And I saw on my feed a story from a Mr. Hilliker about Argentina.  And Russia.  After reading the article about Russia establishing bases within South America and following the expansion of Russia into Crimea/Ukraine, Here's a link to that article. http://guardianlv.com/2014/03/argentina-to-host-russian-military-bases-while-america-sleeps/    I started thinking about the USSR and the power they had.  The collapse and division of the old bear into individual territories.  The once powerful USSR had literally died.  And any remnant of the communist super power could still be seen in Russia.  Or at least that's the way it appeared to me.  

And now, after all these years (the USSR formally dissolved December 26th, 1991), we see Russia re-establishing itself.  In fact, in their usual comical way, The Onion Newsletter explains it the best in a link I've listed below.  I must admit I laughed and cried at the same time.           http://www.theonion.com/articles/thanks-for-being-so-cool-about-everything,35584/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=Pic:1:Default

So, after pondering such thoughts, the verse I included at the beginning of the post lunged out at me.  And I'm not saying that prophecy is being fulfilled by the expansion of Russia.  And I'm not saying that Russia is the beast.  But I am saying that that the world is a crazy place and some beasts, when they rear their heads, shouldn't be ignored.  As an american, of the norther hemisphere variety, I feel that perhaps our President is a little out of his element when he speaks of specific sanctions against specific people in Russia.  Sometimes, on the world stage, someone has to go up to the toddler and tell him nap time is over.  It's time to put away the golf clubs and put off the next vacation to China or Hawaii.  There's a new kid in town who's played this game before. Actually he's no new kid.  Seems pretty adult to me.  And the old team seems a lot smarter and mature.  God help us.  My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.  To reach the customer service please email them at rueuhy@gmail.com

If You Like Your Soul You Can Keep Your Soul. Period.

Not recently, the President of the United States, Baroken Obama (I hope I spelled that right) told us a few times if we liked our healthcare plan we could do something with it.  I think he mentioned we could keep it. I'm not sure.  I'd have to go back and re-watch the 60+ times he said it to be sure. But that's old news (according to liberal sources) and that's not really fair using his own words to re-inforce my own ideology.  What is my ideology(?) you may ask?  Well, it's simple.  I like having a soul.  Now, before you get your tutu all wrinkled, let me explain.  I've noticed that some of you feel that my little rants through this post can be a little one sided. And that's true.  It's my side of things.  For decades, with little opposition, the liberal view of politics and the ideology of the three big networks - NBC, ABC, and CBS were able to spew their poison in any direction they choose.  Then a new beast reared its poisonous head to do battle with the existing powerhouse and we saw the creation of a "fair and balanced" network called Fox.  The audiences began to dwindle for the big three.  Others cropped up to spew their poisonous venom as well.  Cable news networks became abundant across the land and new heroes were born.  John Stewart. Bill Maher. Heck, now we have little Jimmy "the" Fallon hob nobbin with the greats like Michelle "eats them veggies" Obama.  The airwaves are full of regulated unregulated nonsense coming at us in all directions.  News networks and cable shows run 24/7 spewing out as much hate and rhetoric as you could possibly want.  And now, thanks to Al "the god" Gore, and his invention of the internet, even guys like me can ramble on.  And people like you, who still want to read even more, take the time to read these posts.  You are a hearty group of lads and lasses.  Recently, one comment came through my internet to inform me that I can be a little one-sided in my writing.  I am, I suppose.  I have a tough time giving one second of one minute of rationale to that which goes against my very being.  To see the other side seems to be useful only in crafting our individual argument against the opposing view.  To rationalize it, or give time to opposition, has been playing out for so long and we swim in it.  My opinion is un-apologetically, and irrevocably, mine.  It is what it is. And I do what I do.  And the time for apologizing for trying to make some common sense out of the refuse that gets thrown in every direction left on the train bound for political correctness has long departed.  Here's the thing - this is war.  For many of you the old cliche's and arguments have become so integrated into your movies, music, and television shows that you aren't seeing how much of a casualty you really are.  In your heart you know certain things are just wrong. But you listen to that intellectual, who just happens to portray some buffoon in the recent blockbuster, and you think - well, maybe they have a point.  But deep inside of you there is a wee' bit of common sense shouting from deep within yelling obscenities at you to prevent the total collapse of your soul.  You yearn for all the nonsense to end but you have this overwhelming desire to be "entertained".  Life is hard and we need our escapes.  We build and we laugh.  We paint and we sing.  We just want the human side of ourselves to be human.  But we listen as well.  We watch that tear jerker of a movie that tells us, even though their lifestyle is an aberration and abhorrent in the eyes of the One we proclaim to be God, it is pretty sad they can't just marry and love each other.  Or we listen to some hard beating, rhythmic, profanity labeled rap or punk or in simple terms - junk, and we excuse the lyrics because the garbled message is cool and hip.  And somewhere deep inside you feel a little slice of your soul eerily screaming as it lays their in its own pool of morality and righteousness.   The worst part, of which I've been guilty just as much as you, is the quiet we share in.  "Let them talk their trash on the news shows.  What can I say?  What difference can I make?"  Without saying a word you're making all the difference in the world.  For the world isn't working so well right now is it?  The young slaughter each other in the streets while the parents work to make payments on the newest car or lightest ipad.  The old sleep in their own piss while someone who makes a dollar or more over minimum wage takes a smoke break before they have to get back in and continue to nurse your grandma in that nursing home.   We allow the horrendous to occur (and I'm just as guilty or even more guilty of these sins) because we just can't fight what the world has made us.  The socially acceptable, anti-inflammatory, politically correct, weak, ego and pride-driven, clueless, well-informed by the propagandists, socially decayed empty husks of humanity we have become.  I guess I try to see everything and try to understand it and then try to put it into my own words because I'm sick of being sick of it.  My words and opinions try to make sense of the reality and I really can't accept the acceptance.  I inherently know, deep within, that my world isn't simple.  And I can see too much.  And I just have to punch those letters on the keyboard.  I can't be silent.  My fingers can't be still.  I like my soul and I want to keep it.  Period.  My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.  Email me at rueuhy@gmail.com to tell me how wrong I am.

 

At Least We Had 238 Good Years

We live in exciting times.  I grew up in exciting times. You'd think I could be a little more calm about the improvements Obama recently made on his golf handicap but surprisingly I'm not.  Before I saw the image above, I used to have a favorite image of what peace felt like. The image was one I learned from a story I heard a decade or two ago.  A king wanted the artists of the land to paint the most perfect illustration of peace.  As word spread many artists picked up the brushes and began to paint images of fields of flowers or calm blue skies.  After many months the king strolled through the courtyard with the best and brightest examples of his loyal countrymen's paintings. The king noted the immense talent and range of beauty and calm on display.  But there was one painting in particular that the king could not look away from. The artist had portrayed a stormy picture of a cliff side with ocean waves crashing into the rock wall.  Peals of lightning were shown as the rain pummeled the landscape.  In the center, in the midst of this raging storm, was a young mother bird sitting in the middle of a small nest located within a large crevice.  The mother, ever dutifully, was positioned in front of her young brood as the storm raged on. "This is the one." the king pronounced. "If ever there was an example of peace, it can only be found when the storm rages on."  That story has stuck with me ever since I heard it so many years ago.  And so, if we look towards the horizon, on the grand politically toxic world stage, we can hear the waves crashing against the rocks.  The peals of lightning and thunder come as the world leaders embrace their moment of power and fame.  The world is not silent and the danger can be seen if one merely has the courage and discernment to acknowledge it.  The old fierce dragon is doing battle with the cunning panda.  The bear struggles with the boastful eagle as the bear's territory increases.  And in the midst of it all, a man continues his round of golf as the villagers ask "Where is thy king?" .  For the difference between my story of old and the man golfing in Florida is immense.  The mother bird, in the first story, clings to her hatchlings protecting them.  Ever alert to the danger that her surroundings inflict on her brood, the mother stands vigilante in the face of the storm.  The fledglings feel secure in the nest as they feel the assurance from their mother that their safety is the highest priority in their mother's agenda.  For us, under the care of our mother president, we can feel the storm surrounding us yet do not see our mother.  Her interests can be found within her own seclusion from the hatchlings on a million dollar getaway to promote another government program and catch a few rounds of golf.  Did I mention he was playing golf?  As a newly independent Crimean Peninsula detaches itself from freedom to go back into the folds of the new, yet somehow old, mother Russia, the world stands at bay watching as the President of the United States takes yet ANOTHER vacation.  Somewhere, in the distance, a retired KGB officer, snickers to himself.  "Let them dream of being American Idols or the Next Top Model.  Let these americans fight over LGBT rights.  Let them continue to kill off millions of babies and give away birth control.  The old ways are still the best."  So, if the Russian excursion into the Ukraine is not enough to hinder Obama's vacation schedule, what is?  I can imagine, if there was a crisis that would hold back Michelle and O' from tee and tea time, it would probably be closer to November.  Because, in the big scheme of things, November elections are the only crisis that hold them spellbound.  That's when he'll fight for you and me.  When it matters. When it's an election.  Forget Russia, Ukraine, Benghazi, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, Egypt, Syria, or the might of China, the only thing that seems to keep one mother bird close to the nest is her liberal agenda.  Thank goodness she's got her her mom's jeans all folded and packed aboard Air Force One.  You never know when some critical campaign stop will override the next conflict on the greens.  I can only hope his sand traps didn't involve another Arabian Peninsula or middle east province.  People - we're in trouble.  My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.  Email me at rueuhy@gmail.com to really let me know how you feel.

A Numbers Game

Population, population, population.  It really is about the numbers isn't it?  I, personally, live in a state that has one county (Cook County) that dominates the other 101 counties.  As per the previous census in 2010, Chicago/Cook County's population was 5,194,675.  The entire state was 12,830,632.  So, using a quick, non-scientific method of calculation - Cook County is our boss on election night.  Whether it's the governor's race or the Presidential race, Cook County has a pretty big say in how we are represented.  Now, for most of us, in the state of Illinois, we understand this discrepancy and try to live our lives downstate with the few scraps the state government throws to us.  But, for those of you who studied the state capitals in grade school, the confusion lies in the mobile location of the state capitol which seems to shift from Springfield to Chicago at the whim of those who govern our state.  Springfield is the permanent location of our capitol building.  Most of us in Illinois understand that most decisions really come out of the state capital which is primarily mobile based upon the current election cycle.  For example, we always know when it's an election year, or run up to an election year, when we get visits "down state" by our governor.  Sure, every once in a while he shows up in Springfield (our designated capitol location) if he feels that the upcoming election specifies his need to "fight for the people".  But, for someone who "fights for the people", he will not usually be found in the state capitol after 5 pm.  He will be en route to his "alternate" home in Chicago.  Which seems to be a waste of the taxpayer's money keeping up a residence as grand as the Governor's Mansion in Springfield.  Now, for those of you keeping tabs on capitol versus capital, capitol (with an "o") signifies the location of a building that seats the government.  And capital (with an "a") designates where the money is.  It's really that simple.  So, why do I bring all of this up?  Why waste your time and mine thinking upon such suffrage?  Well, it's simple. It has to do with California.  There is currently a petition circulating in the great state of California that would allow a bill to be put forward dividing California into six states.  There is no actual bill up for a vote but there is the potential for it if enough signatures are signed on the petition.  Six mini Californias.  The breakdown of California, by county, shows similarities between Illinois and California.  The biggest county, Los Angelos, has 9,818,605 people. The entire state has a population of 37,253,956 as per the 2010 census count.  The county of Los Angelos has the numbers over the rest of the state at a ratio of almost 1:4.  The county that comes in second on the numbers game is San Diego with 3,095,313.  Geographically, these two make up a small chunk in the actual land mass California amasses.  But politically, they have a pretty good say in the way California, and the rest of the United States, decided who will be President of the United States.  What is even scarier is the minority leader in the House of Representatives comes from a small dot geographically in the county map of California from the great county of San Francisco.  Ms. Pelosi, who infamously decided that a bill couldn't be understood unless a legislative body passed it, heralds from this small land mass.  The county itself, is home to 805,235 people.  But to be fair, a few of them already had health insurance.  Some did not.  So, in the grand scheme of things, 805,235 people need to leave my country.  Just kidding of course.  No, the point is, these two states, Illinois and California, are similar in the political dynamics of their people, and the geographical misrepresentation of the rural counties suffer.  Is it time for Illinois to depart from Cook county?  Is it time for California to divide into 6 smaller states?  I would have to agree.  It sure would change the dynamics of the next elections, wouldn't you say? My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.  Viva, revolucion!  If you have insults or accolades please email me at rueuhy@gmail.com