Top Ten Blog Posts Of 2013

It's that time of year again where Americans gather around the computer to check out the top ten lists for the year. Here are the top ten blog posts for Random Thoughts Of A Random Guy From A Random Place Up In The Sky for 2013. This blog is now 2 and-a-half years old and I've written nearly 100 posts in that time. Unlike last year, only one post on this list was written the year previous, and just barely. Based on the number of reads (or hits), here is the list you have been waiting for:

1. "Dead Sandy Hook Elementary School Principal Interviewed By Local Paper About Shooting"
After a slow start, this post became quite popular, being number one for several weeks and just beating the number two post by a single read. The official report on the shooting does nothing to clear up this bizarre story, in fact, it doesn't mention it at all.

2. "The Pesky Bill Of Rights"
The way the government has been reacting, these rights are certainly being damned pesky.

3. "Announcing The First Ever Donation Drive"
Circumstances beyond my control forced me to go hat in hand on the internet in an attempt to raise $525. $325 was raised over 3 months, but that extra would still go a long way to alleviating some trauma. Won't you be an angel and help?

4. "President Obama Warns Students To Reject Voices Regarding Government Tyranny The Day After Kent State Massacre Anniversary"
Apparently, only Obama and the sheep he was speaking to missed the irony of this low moment of the year.

5. "George W. Bush - Artist"
Some of former president George W. Bush's paintings were "accidently" released on-line (yeah, right, whatever) and in this post I became an art critic (and why not?).

6. "Michael Hastings, The Car Crash & The Autopsy Report"
After moving to Los Angeles late in 2012, this story became one of the strangest and, at times, most heatedly debated of the entire year. So far, Mercedes has not backed down on their claim that their cars do not explode.

7. "ROBERT F. KENNEDY - The Most Obvious Conspiracy"
The 45th anniversary of RFK's assassination prompted this piece which shows how obvious was this conspiracy and cover-up in that shooting.

8. "Michael Hastings Fiery Car Crash: The Tale Of Two Cars & Disinformation"
Even I make mistakes sometimes and am willing to admit it. This post still supplies perceptions shared by even Mainstream Media (MSM) reporters.

9. "Mass Manipulation - Too Many Gunmen At The Sandy Hook Shooting"
This tragic event was subjected to a variety of disinformation campaigns that nearly boggle the mind. Instead of being boggled, here was an attempt to look at the usual script used once again (if it ain't broke why fix it?).

10. "Gilligan's Island - An Appreciation"
One of my longest blog posts ever was one of the most fun to write. I'm glad it made the top ten.
 

The Pesky Bill Of Rights

Back in the day, people in government compromised. The new Constitution of the United States of America, featuring more power for a central government, only came to pass because of the compromise to include the Bill Of Rights. These Rights are laid out in a specific order and there are ten of them. Let's look, shall we?

(The pesky Bill Of Rights.)

The 1st Amendment is all about freedom of and from religion, freedom of speech and assembly and that good ol' right of the people to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Pretty astounding when you think about it. But, rather pointless without the 2nd Amendment, which, without coincidence is second. You can't write something like the 1st Amendment, with it's pesky rights, and they are our rights, without a way to defend those rights. And by golly, the 2nd Amendment guarantees the right to bear arms and defend that precious 1st Amendment. Yep. Damn pesky. For one cannot exist without the other, and those folks in government who are really, really tired of people having ANY RIGHTS are presented here with a part of a document that is not only pesky, but damn irratating for them as well. Not only that, the intertwining of these two Amendments, is pesky and irritating for people who believe they have a left wing or right wing view of the whole thing.

But, wait!!! There's more!

It's the 3rd Amendment! A close examination of this Amendment by the jaded, terrorist fearing crowd of the 21st century, reveals cries of antiquation! Oh, come on, really? Troops being quartered in my house? What is this, the 18th century? Regardless of all the misery and death that the military/industrial complex heaps upon the people on a daily basis, the heart of this amendment has had a lasting effect. Even today, in the 21st century, you'd be hard pressed to find some CIA backed dictator in Africa infringing on this, uh, American Right.

Which leads us then to the important, "I've been arrested for something and I can't get up" Amendments. The 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Amendments all deal with the fact that the rights of the accused supersede those of the accuser. In other words, America believes in an axiom that was expressed, ironically if you prefer, by English jurist William Blackstone in 1765, "Better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer".

And, now we fall upon the 9th and the 10th Amendments, which not only strengthen support of the "you can't have have the 1st which is defended by the 2nd, which also defends the 3rd Amendments" but also uses language so simple that one may be shocked to learn over 200 years later that the words were written by lawyers! And we all know how pesky lawyers can be.

THE PEDESTRIAN RIGHTS

WE do not own a car and we do not own a bicycle. Our primary mode of transportation is us, whether on foot, crutches or wheelchair.

THEREFORE, take heed of the following:

1. We rule the sidewalks.
Motorists yield to us. Motorists shall not block our sidewalks.
Bicyclists yield to us, we do not yield to bicyclists. Bicyclists must let us know when they are passing us from behind. Bicyclists shall not block our sidewalks.

2. We rule the crosswalks.
Motorists yield to us. Motorists shall not block our crosswalks.
Bicyclists yield to us. Bicyclists must let us know when they are passing us from behind. Bicyclists shall not block our crosswalks.

YES, RONALD REAGAN WAS A UNION PREZ, BUT.....

There has been a lot of chatter of late about what Ronald Reagan would think of all the state-by-state union busting going on by his Republican brethren. After all, he did serve as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1947 to 1952 and again in 1959. But, just because Reagan was a member of a union or even its president doesn't mean he was above devastating people's lives for his own benefit.