We breathe air.

Unlike abortion and gay marriage, there seems to be a lot of agreement on this. We all accept that breathing is not a luxury, not a hobby, not a pastime, not entertainment.

Breathe in, breathe out __ it’s something as constant as our heartbeat and only stops when our heart stops.

Isn’t breathing an absolute? Isn’t air __ or more accurately the oxygen in the air __ one of the fundamental building blocks of life for us human beings? Is there anything contentious or controversial about our need and our basic natural biological right to breathe air?

In National Values 101 I stated, however, we’re not talking any old air. We’re not talking about air that’s full of industrial smoke, automotive particulates, carbon monoxide, or invisible toxic gases. We’re not talking about air that burns the eyes, irritates our nasal passages, makes it painful to breathe, turns our lungs black, and consigns us to living on a respirator. We’re not talking about air that is carcinogenic and will lead to tumors and kill us before our time is due.

Can we all agree on this?

Yet too often we are given false choices:

If you want a job, then you’ll have to put up with “acceptable” levels of pollution.

Either you want the economy to grow or you want the government regulating everything. You can’t have it both ways.

This is not only nonsense. It is propaganda __  the polite term for boldface lies  __ and is irresponsibility at its worst. It is abandoning our public duty and a priori commitment to live in a country where concern for its citizens __ concern for one another __ is central and paramount. It is ignoring our constitutional mandate as citizens in a democracy to promote the general welfare.

I know there are libertarians and other minimalist ideologues out there who dispute this.

There’s a contact button on the right side of this page: If anyone out there has a coherent justification for saying . . .

“I have no problem having my children breathe air which makes them sick, will cause them cancer or emphysema, compromise the quality of their lives, and resulting in them dying younger than they should.”

. . . please send it to me. I’d love to see what your craven mind has conjured up.

Does this sound melodramatic?

It’s not.

Sometimes things are that simple.

To poison or not poison. That’s the question.

The issue is not where we draw the line __ what constitutes acceptable levels of poison in our atmosphere __ but how we hold the line that respects human life and good health.

The general welfare.

Of course, where it gets dicey and muddled by a lot of self-serving propaganda, ideological dogma and outright deception, is what role government has in protecting the quality of air.

Let’s cut to the chase.

Can each individual household afford to have its own fire brigade available in case of fire? Can each individual household hire someone to drive an envelope over to the bank to pay the mortgage payment? Can each individual household raise an army, equip an air force, deploy a flotilla of battle ships and nuclear submarines to protect itself from invasion by hostile foreign militaries? Can each individual household afford to pave the road between home and school, home and work, home and the grocery store?

Can each individual household muster the necessary legal team and cash to stop a factory down the road from spewing toxic gas into the air?

Government, especially one which consists of the citizens of the country, is by definition __ as delineated in our constitution __ the way we collectively do those things which we cannot individually do. And it is the strength of our system, certainly not a weakness, that government performs services on behalf of all of us for the betterment of all of our lives.

We’ve forgotten this.

I’m not pointing fingers. I’m just as much a victim of the tsunami of sheer nonsense that fills the media and the overwhelming cyclone of bullshit that passes for discussion of the “important issues of our times.” It’s all but impossible to keep a clear head and the needed focus to make sense out of our relationship to the institutional machinery in place to do our bidding, often to assure some of the most basic items to a healthful, productive life.

Like clean air!

This is the point of what some may perceive as very facile, simpleminded blog posts. But I sincerely believe that we need to get back to the fundamentals again. What are the basics? What are those things which we not only should treasure and hold dear but are areas of universal agreement?

We often get so caught up in the fighting, name calling, assigning blame, bickering, that we forget that our nation was predicated on some very solid fundamental values, drawn from the Bible, the teachings of great philosophers and legendary teachers, the wisdom of the ages, even borrowing from the ministry of Christ during his short time on Earth.

National values.

Somehow we’ve lost sight of them. We’ve lost sight of the obvious.

I’m reminded of a story __ and I have no idea whether it’s true or not but it’s a great story __ I heard when I was a teenager.

There was a large tractor-and-trailer rig which got stuck under an overpass. This was right in town, on a single lane road, so it was creating havoc and causing a bad traffic jam. They had hooked up giant powerful tow trucks and diesel-powered winches. But the truck was wedged in and just wouldn’t budge. They were now going to resort to huge metal cutting wheels and blow torches to carve off the top of the trailer.

A 10-year-old boy who was walking home from school happened on the unfolding drama. As he passed a burly man wearing a safety helmet, at that very moment in the middle of directing his team to start cutting the truck up, the boy tapped him on the shoulder.

“Excuse me, sir. But I was wondering. Why don’t you just let the air out of the tires?”

Sometimes the answer is staring you right in the face.

You just have to look.

We need to decide.

And to decide we need to have a talk.

What’s the latest fashionable euphemism? Aaaaah! . . .

We need to have an adult conversation.

The question is: What are the basic conditions, perks, priorities, entitlements, services __ it doesn’t really matter what you call them __ that the set of institutions and organizations collectively known as government, is responsible for providing the citizens of this country?

What’s the bottom line? As an American, what can I expect?

How we answer this question pretty much defines where each of us falls on the political spectrum that stretches from “conservative” to “liberal”.

Which is irrelevant!

So forget about it. Forget conservative, liberal, progressive, libertarian, anarchist, and most certainly forget Republican, Democrat, Green, Socialist, Communist, and all of the rest of the political parties.

Let’s just answer the question.

And while you’re thinking about it, here’s what I have to say:

Air. I don’t mean just air. I mean clean air that doesn’t choke us, make our eyes water or create the conditions for cancer. Seems fundamental. Amazing how it’s brushed aside.

Water. Again we are talking about clean water. Not Evian or Poland Springs. But water that we can drink, bathe in, cook with, irrigate our gardens with. The human body is over 75% water. Without a constant supply of healthful water, we become dust.

Food. Sustaining life is pretty basic. Famished or dead people don’t do well. And I don’t think this should be frivolously interpreted. Yes, we can eat dog chow. But I am proposing good nutritious food that supports healthy development and healthful sustenance. This is not too much to ask.

Education. Maybe first and foremost, we need to know, understand, think, and learn how to go about knowing, understanding and thinking. Lacking education a person cannot properly function as a social, economic or political being __ an ignoramus cannot begin to participate in society or fully contribute as a citizen.

Health and Basic Health Care. Why is this so contentious? Being sick is a drag. It’s personally a drag, it’s a drag on those closest to us, it’s a drag on the economy. There are no winners when people are sick. To have a fruitful, functioning society, we must be at our best __ physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, socially, politically, intellectually. When we are physically sick, everything else is compromised.

Safety and Security. This is a big one. Excluding items under other categories, like non-toxic air to breathe and food that doesn’t poison us, there are many areas which through our government we safeguard ourselves as citizens. A person should be able to walk down the street, or sit in a park or their back yard, without fear of being attacked, molested, robbed, raped, murdered. We should be able to be in our homes or work places knowing that a poorly maintained commercial airliner or a missile launched from North Korea won’t crash into our roof and incinerate us. We should be able to use a microwave oven without it exploding in our faces. We should be able to drive across a bridge without it collapsing underneath us. Related to that, we should be confident that everyone on the road knows how to operate their motor vehicles. If our house catches on fire, we should be able to count on firemen coming to put it out. The list goes on and on. You get the idea.

Equality Before The Law. The law is the law. It shouldn’t play favorites. No one is more or less important before the law. Violate the law, there will be penalties. Violate another human being, that person will have remedies in a court of law. It doesn’t matter if you’re Angelina Jolie or Donald Trump or Barack Obama. “Justice” is portrayed as holding a scale and blindfolded. And so it should be.

Opportunity. Opportunity comes in many flavors and is not unlimited. Everyone cannot be President of the United States. Not at the same time for sure. And impediments always are being erected to our realizing our individual potential. All too often they’re internal __  defeatism, low self-esteem. So the last thing we need are more barriers from without. When a society erects barriers based on class status, wealth, ethnic identity, religious belief, sexual orientation, and so on, it becomes fragmented and loses its vitality. It can become hostile and end up at war with itself. We have on the books right now legislation and constitutional amendments to discourage this. It’s time we lived up to the language and spirit of these laws.

Democracy. Who gets to run the country? I was under the impression it was each and every one of us, participating on an equal footing. One person = one vote. It’s not that way anymore. Now it’s who’s got the cash. So are we going to have a democratic republic or an oligarchic tyranny? Democracy seems like a good idea to me.

Freedom. Freedom has its limits. But it should constantly expand until it reaches those limits. What kind of freedom? To dress, speak, sing, dance, live, love, worship, socialize, assemble, organize as we see fit, respecting the rights of others to do the same. It’s in the Constitution. This should not be rocket science. And it should be on everyone’s mind and part of every discussion about our nation. Freedom requires constant vigilance. It requires an ongoing adult conversation, no holds barred, no nonsense. The alternative is division, racism, conflict, disintegration, civil war, or totalitarianism.

Why am I bringing all of this up? These “American values” seem so obvious.

You would think so.

But all hear in the media is . . .

“So-and-so declares all government bad.”

“We need to cut spending, then cut it even more.”

“Get government out of the way so we can get something done.”

“We can’t afford it! America is going bankrupt!”

“Fiscal cliff! Debt ceiling! Apocalypse!”

Often these are the same blowhards who are saying America is the greatest thing since mastodon burgers and pterodactyl nuggets. So why do they find it so easy to denigrate it? Why do they want to destroy it if it’s so great?

The point is, I don’t see anyone talking about the essentials for making America, not just an okay place to live, minimally tolerable. But making America a place where we citizens can thrive, realize our individual potential, be the bad ass exceptionalists we claim we are.

Are any of the “values” I described above so controversial, so offensive, so ideologically obtuse or extreme, that they don’t deserve that adult conversation I mentioned at the beginning of this article?

I sure don’t see it in the media. I don’t hear any discussion of this being prompted by our so-called “leaders” __ please refer here to “Take me to your leader!“.

Yet, it is at the heart of everything about our country.

What we hold to be true and dear is the beating heart of America.

We can’t sit around waiting for Obama or Biden, Boehner or Reid, Pelosi or McConnell, Cantor or Chief Justice Roberts to get around to it.

They won’t.

We the people of the United States need to discuss and decide who we are and what we want America to be __ meaning what kind of nation and society we will pass down to our children. Then we need to keep those priorities first and foremost in mind when we the people of the United States decide what to do.

No excuses. No equivocation. No distractions.

No “we can’t afford it” or “that’s socialism” or “that’s Tea Party“.

Let’s stop the name-calling, end the soap opera and the games.

Let’s cut with the nonsense and get to work.

We can do this. We’re the greatest nation in history, right?

We’re the baddest, the best . . . we’re #1.

Let’s prove it.

I say, when politicians go into their usual patronizing him-haw blather, let’s keep a roll of duct tape handy to shut them up. We go back to our list of values and say . . .

“Either this makes America the country we want or it doesn’t. That’s the issue.”

What do you say?

Are you in?

I know the title is rude. It appears to be insensitive. Maybe even shocking.

But I honestly don’t think I’m the one being insensitive and shocking here.

I’ve been sitting here in Japan since the Sandy Hook tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14th, trying to imagine how a typical gun owner would complete that sentence.

“Dead kids sure are a bummer but you know what’s a real bummer? Not being able to go to a gun show and buy anything I want by slapping some cash on the counter.”

“Dead kids sure are a bummer but I’d really be bummed out if I couldn’t own 57 handguns, shotguns, assault weapons and use hollow-point bullets.”

“Dead kids sure are a bummer but can you imagine what a bummer it would be to have to put a new magazine in my AR-15 after getting off only 20 rounds?”

“Dead kids sure are a bummer but there’s no way I’m going to take classes in gun safety or have some punk bureaucrat come around every year to check up on me.”

What is a typical gun owner willing to give up so that any one of the the victims of the Newtown massacre whose photos appear in this article would be alive? And what is so important to a gun owner that the lives of these people, and the other thousands who are killed by gunfire every year, can be so easily dismissed?

Truth is, I have no idea why I’m even writing about this. Because trying to get significant changes in our attitudes about guns really isn’t about laws and regulations. It’s about becoming sane again. And I don’t see that happening.

Here’s how the gun-loving members of the American public responded to Sandy Hook: “Shock figures show buyers are racing for firearms in Sandy Hook school massacre state” and “Gun enthusiasts pack shows to buy assault weapons“.

I love this:  “Gun backers want to arm schoolteachers“

My wife came up with this one:  BulletBlocker, ‘Bullet Resistant Products’

Bulletproof backpacks for children?  Is it just me or does anyone else see something wrong with this picture?

I understand the powerful appeal of guns. Maybe not as intensely as the gun nuts out there but I do understand. I even understand the need for the latest and greatest of everything. We’ve been conditioned to want to own the biggest, the baddest, the best. We just can’t fall behind, you know. “Damn! My next door neighbor just got an AR-59 MICW. What if we get into an argument over how high to trim the hedge? I’ll be outgunned!”

Okay. I know I’m rambling. I’m not being coherent or rational.

But the truth is, none of the discussions about guns and gun control are remotely coherent or rational. We can nitpick over the details of gun regulation but frankly the whole discussion is so far out off the edge, it’s like a conversation in an insane asylum between Napoleon and Jesus about what they should do with Elvis over there in the corner to keep him from singing “All Shook Up” during arts and crafts.

Yes, it’s that bad.

It’s pure insanity.

It’s pure insanity because when people flock to gun shows to buy more guns after a tragedy like this, it’s akin to a lung cancer patient spending his life savings on cigarettes and giving them to all his friends and relatives.

It’s pure insanity because not even the simplest, most sensible, least intrusive limitations can get through Congress.

It’s pure insanity that we can’t even ban weapons which have no other purpose than killing and killing fast, ones like the semi-automatic rifles used in so many recent gun massacres.

I got a Tweet from Yoko Ono a few days ago. It said … “Over 1,057,000 people have been killed by guns in the USA since John Lennon was shot and killed on 8 Dec 1980.”

Which brings me to the way I would complete the sentence.

“Dead kids sure are a bummer but we’ve gone completely insane, so even if we shed a few tears, we really don’t care deep down inside where it counts.”

[ Insert prayers here for the America which is being lost, for the children who are being abandoned, for the death of the American Dream. ]

On September 18, 2001, the Authorization for Use of Military Force was signed into law  by President George W. Bush. It had passed 98-0 in the Senate and 420-1 in the House of Representatives. The one dissenting vote against the legislation that has sent this nation plunging into the abyss which we’ve been brainwashed into believing is a war on terror, was cast by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA).

This was the law that opened the floodgates for the attack on Afghanistan and the war in Iraq __ and torrents of blood spilled by tens of thousands of innocent people, torrents of death for over 6,000 of our own men and women in uniform, torrents of tears for more than 50,000 coalition troops who have been injured or who are fighting for their mental survival against PTSD or perhaps just struggling to walk without legs, a bankrupting torrential drain of $4.4 trillion of our tax money, which could have been put to good use creating jobs for millions of unemployed Americans, rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure, or addressing poverty, disease, and illiteracy throughout the world.

Think of the courage it took for Barbara Lee to stand there before those other angry and agitated congressman, all of them swept up by war fever, outraged by the attacks 9/11, full of the indignity and hubris which is the real stuff of American exceptionalism, mesmerized by the animal cries for revenge and cheered on by the chest-thumping neocon visions of Imperium Americæ . . .

Think of the bold, raw courage it took to stand there in the midst of that stampeding pack of lemmings who were resolved to launch America into the past 11 years of self-sabotaging, wasteful, inhumane, immoral, destructive, and humiliating war we’ve endured, and say . . .

“Maybe we should stop and think about what we’re doing before we jump off this cliff.”

Did Barbara Lee have a crystal ball? Was her one dissenting vote the result of clairvoyance or a personal message from God or the ghost of Nostradamus?

No, it was simply a matter of conviction. Conviction perhaps rooted in the Christian values we so loudly proclaim in our moments of lofty rhetoric. We are a Christian nation, right?

As she warned . . .

“Let us not become the evil that we deplore.”

And what about that?

Have we?

As you may or may not know, I left America August 2006. I’ve returned to the U.S. on three occasions for brief visits, but basically I’ve been living as an expat in 21 countries, including five in Europe, three in Africa, and thirteen in Asia.

This has given me the rewards of seeing how a variety of other people live, as well as how their respective governments treat them as citizens and human beings.

Now I live in on the outskirts of a rural town in Japan situated a little over an hour northwest of Osaka, also near Kobe and Kyoto.

In my previous blog I listed the amazing array of services provided by Japan Post, Japan’s equivalent of the U.S. Postal Service.

• Regular Mail
• Stamps
• Parcels
• Letter Packs
• International Express Mail
• Savings
• Loans
• Cash Transfers
• Money Orders
• International Remittances
• Government Bonds
• Investment Trusts
• Life Insurance
• Local Government Services
• Compulsory Automobile Liability Insurance

I reiterate, Japan Post does all of this with care, courtesy, efficiency, incredible attention to detail and a dedication to providing good service. It is among the most loved and respected service institutions in this country. All of these services are available in the main lobby for 57 hours every week, Monday thru Saturday. Mail only services are available for 67 hours each week via a special service window in the foyer, also open on Sunday. Moreover, mail is delivered to each and every home in Japan, regardless of how off the beaten path they might be, Monday thru Saturday, with special parcel deliveries also made on Sunday.

Contrast this with America.

It was recently announced that Saturday mail service for the entire country was being eliminated, effective sometime in the fall.

So . . .

We can deliver lethal explosives via unmanned drones to kill innocent people 1000s of miles away in faraway countries which have no aggressive intentions toward America.

We can deliver enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world 25 times over with 12,000 active ICBMs, and fleets of nuclear submarines and long range bombers.

We can deliver billions of dollars of freshly printed $100 bills to buy the toxic assets of corrupt, blundering, too-big-to-fail investment banks across the economic landscape.

We can deliver weapons of every shape, size and destructive power to buyers throughout the world, often ruthless despots and criminal governments oppressing decent people.

We can deliver trillions of dollars in loans and loan guarantees to incompetent and deceptive banks to allow them to continue impoverishing the many to enrich the few.

We can deliver through the corporate media, empty platitudes, unfulfilled promises, and patriotic blather to a populous craving some order from the chaos we’re submerged in.

We can deliver bilious and vapid television dramas, vulgar reality shows, celebrity gossip, mindless sitcoms, and orgies of violence and salacious sex on DVDs and cinema screens.

We can even deliver hugely expensive and exotic space weapons systems, spy satellites, and futuristic laser guns into orbits around our planet.

BUT WE CAN’T DELIVER THE MAIL ON SATURDAY!

With changes in technology, and the growth and proliferation new businesses and services, Japan Post understandably has had to adjust. But rather than succumb purely to the often anti-social forces of a completely unregulated free market, the government offers responsible countervailing guidance, responsive to the needs of its citizens.

As private companies, like FedEx and UPS, have introduced their own assortments of delivery services __ and yes, Japan has a thriving private sector in this respect __ Japan Post has kept itself viable and solvent by offering the many other services listed above, making itself a one-stop-place-to-shop when people are running their errands.

While the U.S. Postal Service keeps announcing more and more layoffs, Japan Post makes an important contribution to keeping Japan’s unemployment rate down by staying fully staffed with competent, well-trained, unionized workers. Unemployment was last reported at only 4.2%.

Japan Post, as with every other service agency in Japan, not only keeps itself fully staffed, but keeps its staff efficient and knowledgeable with new and ongoing training programs. These assure that whether you are making financial transactions, securing life or auto insurance, setting up an investment trust, planning your vacation, or just selecting and shipping a gift to a friend or relative, you are being assisted by a courteous, competent, eager-to-please individual, intent on providing the best possible service.

And America can’t even deliver the mail on Saturday?

What is going on?

Like it or not, here the simple straightforward truth . . .

Our country is being stolen. It is being painstakingly dissembled piece by piece. Our jobs are disappearing. Our freedoms are disappearing. Opportunity is shrinking. The American Dream is dissolving like a ghostly puff of smoke that hinted at better times. Our political and policy decisions are now made by the highest bidder. Our once-amazing country is falling apart. Frankly, America is viewed as in decline by most of the rest of the world.

“Oh! But you’re so wrong. America is #1!”

Oh, excuse me. I forgot. I must be some unpatriotic America-hater to even consider such offensive allegations. I do apologize.

But the question still remains . . .

If America is #1, then why can’t it deliver the mail on Saturday?

Why can’t it maintain and even improve on a service so fundamental and necessary to an organized, functioning society, one that already has a long history of success and approval in our own country, and somehow works just fine in every other country in the world?

The answer is no secret and is appalling:  The U.S. Postal Service is being sabotaged by play-for-pay politicians who at the bidding of private corporations intend to take it apart and privatize it, turning it into another money-maker for interested parties.

The destruction of the U.S. Postal Service is just another in a long list. The corporate vampires will not rest until they’ve sucked the last blood out of every institution in our once-great nation. They’re destroying the educational system, they are bleeding the treasury, they are after Social Security and Medicare, they are already bankrupting the nation leaving people sick and dying while delivering second-rate medical services. They are after every government program, every initiative, every community service agency, to divert tax dollars exclusively to enterprises which improve the bottom line of multinational corporations, bloodsucking institutions which have no loyalty to America, to its citizens, to its families, to its communities, or to actual human beings. With these corporations, the only concern about any of us, our lives, our communities, our country, is what can be extracted in terms of profit.

The tragic disembowelment of the nation’s postal system is just the latest round in their long, calculated crusade to dominate and control every aspect of our lives, to disempower us, and leave us at their mercy, beck and call.

With all that seems to be going wrong with America’s economy, its democracy, its foreign policy, its media monopoly, human rights and privacy abuses, fiscal plunder and national bankruptcy, rampant corruption in all branches and at all levels of government, it certainly makes it difficult, if not impossible, to know where to begin. They always tell you to choose your battles carefully, ones that you have some hope of winning. Maybe this is a place to start. Maybe not.

I know one thing for sure.

We need to take a stand and take it now.

We need to tell the corporate oligarchs . . .

“Enough! Stop destroying our country or we will destroy you!”

Perhaps we can start by trying to saving the U.S. Postal Service.

Or is it too late?

Services and hours for the main post office in my hometown, Sasayama, Hyogo, here in Japan.

The full version of the unofficial creed of the U.S. Postal Service, as it appeared in the USPS Comprehensive Statement on Postal Operations in 2001 is:

“We are mothers and fathers. And sons and daughters. Who every day go about our lives with duty, honor and pride. And neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor the winds of change, nor a nation challenged, will stay us from the swift completion of our appointed rounds. Ever.”

A noble sentiment to be sure, but one which unfortunately no longer applies to the postal service in the U.S.

Let me introduce to you the postal service here in Japan first with a video. It’s short (less than 2 minutes) but you’ll get the idea 20 seconds in. Click here.

As it is in America, New Years Day is a major holiday in Japan. But here they celebrate it by sending out New Years cards, the way we send Christmas or Hanukkah cards, millions and millions of them. It is so important to the Japanese people that these cards arrive on New Years Day that the post office sends an army of their employees into communities far and wide to deliver them. These postal employees are working ON a national holiday.

It gets better.

A quick glance at the photo appearing at the beginning of this article shows that the full range of services of Japan Post are available 9 am – 7 pm Monday – Friday, 9 am – 4 pm   on Saturday. The ATM foyer is open 8:45 am – 7 pm Monday – Friday, and 9 am – 5 pm SATURDAY and SUNDAY. Why is this significant? Because there is a window in the ATM foyer where you can still mail packages, envelopes, whatever, locally or internationally, and pick up mail being held for you at the post office, e. g. vacation mail or items which they attempted to deliver to your home needing a signature. On Saturday or Sunday.

Let me also mention that mail is delivered to each and every home six days a week, and important packages also delivered on Sunday. On a number of occasions, I have seen the mail carrier for my little village on the outskirts of town appear TWICE at my mail box in a single day.

If your mind isn’t blown already by the level of mail service Japan Post provides, let me go on to describe what else it does. Here is the entire range of services available through this efficient and valued institution . . .

• Regular Mail
• Stamps
• Parcels
• Letter Packs
• International Express Mail
• Savings
• Loans
• Cash Transfers
• Money Orders
• International Remittances
• Government Bonds
• Investment Trusts
• Life Insurance
• Local Government Services
• Compulsory Automobile Liability Insurance
  

Japan Post does all of this with care, courtesy, efficiency, incredible attention to detail and a dedication to providing a good customer experience. Japan Post is among the most loved and respected service institutions in this country.

At Japan Post I can pay bills __ everything here is done electronically and I have never seen a check in my entire five plus years in Japan __ or send money to an individual. Buying on eBay or from a person selling something online couldn’t be easier.

They have gift and travel catalogs. I can select a gift (sending gifts is a national compulsion here) and mail it off anywhere in the world. I can plan and book travel adventures and vacation packages.

I can withdraw from my bank account in America. I can transfer money anywhere in the world. I can open a savings account, I can invest in government bonds, or even set up an investment trust account. I can buy life insurance, and if I drove a car, auto insurance.

All of this at the post office.

I just read that the U.S. Postal Service will be cutting back and no longer delivering mail on Saturday, starting sometime in the fall.

I can’t begin to express how frustrated and angry I get with America when I see what’s going on there. Especially when I know from first hand experience what things are like in other countries __ countries like Japan, which ignorant, bellicose commentators in the U.S. love to smugly deride and ridicule.

You may not want to read my next blog posting called . . .

Going Postal!

I heard that the LAPD raided an indoor nudist colony, killed everyone and drained the pool. What’s going on here? If they weren’t having sex with goats or filming child pornography, what’s the harm? I mean, this was at a YMCA.

Another big problem these days.

Spreading unfounded rumors.

More on that later. First I need to check into a story about an Amish family in Lititz, PA who have been using their 7-year-old son as a human pin cushion.

Also looking into a hamster with a human-like face which apparently can say, “What’s on TV tonight?”

Thank god for the internet!

No one has an excuse for being poorly informed any more.

Well, I’m proposing the opposite: “What if they gave a war and everybody showed up?”

I mean everybody!

All 7+ billion of us.

First, this incomprehensibly large mob would have to see what all the fighting was about. That could take a while.

Next, they’d have to figure out who was who __ who were friends and who were enemies. Considering that there are so many similarities and differences, then similarities in the differences and differences in the similarities, that could take a really long time.

There would just be the basic survival issues. The day-to-day stuff. The meal-to-meal stuff. The where-can-I-take-a-leak stuff. That could really eat up a lot of time and energy.

There would be the inevitable I’m-away-from-home-what-the-hell temptations and opportunities, some innocent, some not. Making friends, fun and games, hooking up, random carnal pleasures. That would provide quite a bit of distraction, to put it mildly.

Think of the possibilities!

Granted, it would be a mess. Just the logistical problems, where to sleep, where to even sit down, would be daunting. It would be the mother of all get-togethers. It could be the party to end all parties.

Let’s just say for purposes of argument or amusement __ if you find this amusing, you really have a lot of time on your hands, so maybe this 7 billion person war is just your ticket __ we finally get around to some serious fighting.

7,000,000,000 people? That is a lot of hard work. Do you shoot them all? Club them to death? Hack them up with ginsu knives? Bore them to death with bad television?

Whew! Very daunting.

My guess __ and I’m definitely going out on a limb here __ is that after killing the first hundred million or so by whatever means, it would all seem pretty pointless. Or at least really really tedious. In fact, I’d venture to say that we’d get sick of it and at least for the foreseeable future, get on with the things that are much more fun (i. e. refer to above, making friends, fun and games, hooking up, random carnal pleasures).

Quite honestly, I don’t think the vast majority of us __ maybe 99.99999% __ would ever get around to fighting. We have better things to do.

So maybe the way to cure our addiction to war is when the next big conflict comes our way, we should all get out our backpacks, duffel bags, kid carriers, picnic baskets, and thermos bottles, then head en masse for the battlefield.

All 7+ billion of us!

Let’s have a real good go at this war business once and for all.

I really truly want to know . . .

What if they gave a war and everybody showed up?

(It’s all a game, eh?) White takes pawn
Black takes bishop
Drone hits building
Everyone is killed