In a nutshell

I dabble in brush and paint; I have mixed a few hundred thousand gallons of cement; but my true oevre is in chopped greens with salt.

In this election season: an opinion on the state of things

I usually shy away from public statements of my political beliefs (heck, I usually shy away from private statements of my political beliefs). The issues which are important to me are usually ones no one is talking about, which doesn't particularly engender me to supporting one side or the other. Those issues are:

The National Park system including its continual growth and stimulation. National parks are the symbol of what makes america a beautiful place. We need to do more than remember that, more than respect that. We need to pursue more of it in our lives and in our nation; to cultivate it and help it to grow. If the park system is floundering, then we need to pull money away from the military, away from corruption, and make sure that our pride and joy, the symbols of our very essence, are cared for and shepherded. 

A tariff on foreign oil imports. This sounds stupid, but American oil and gas should be a source of pride to all Americans. That it is not is squarely the fault of the extraction companies and the media. All we focus on is the blunders and gaffes by humongous money sucking vile corporations, we don't focus on the simple fact that it is our responsibility to source our fossil fuel addiction at home before we look abroad. It is good for our economy and it is better for the environment. If you don't approve of the way companies are extracting resources, don't ban the extraction of resources, ask for stricter laws and more clean cut governing bodies. I can't tell you how much confusion there is in the industry with all the different government groups which try to get involved and the convoluted laws which muddle shit up. We need one government body on a federal level controlling all of the facets of the industry. Don't tell me that fracking is ruining the environment when there are still coal power plants fucking up the atmosphere. Fracking is perfectly safe when performed under perfect circumstances in a controlled environment. Hold companies accountable for achieving perfect circumstances, tell them they have to hold back when earthquakes start, but don't say it isn't safe. That's like saying we are giving up on space travel because it isn't safe after the challenger incident. I work in the industry, I know how hard it is to do this job perfectly. Having crazy rules doesn't help get you to perfect (or "Zero" as we call it). I'm not advocating super strict working conditions. That being said, when shit goes wrong, somebody has to step forward and fix it. If the company can't fix it when something goes wrong, then they shouldn't have fracked it in the first place. The problems with pollution stemming from the oil and gas industry are nothing compared to the cataclysms which plague the international markets, especially the transportation of crude in tankers. The long and the short of it is that it is our addiction, and if we can't handle it in our own back yards, then maybe we need to quit driving our fucking cars and buying shit made out of plastic. In order to protect our native fuel market, we need to tax the shit out of foreign oil imports. Hey, you could even use that money to protect the national parks. 

I also believe there needs to be an examination of campaign finance reform. This is bull shit. Buying candidates? You should have to do that shit in private, illegally. Corruption sanctioned in public is a disgrace. Just look at Russia. I mean, we're better than that, right?

Net neutrality. In their hearts, (almost) everybody in the whole damn world knows the difference between right and wrong. Psychopaths aside, it is freaking obvious that net neutrality is for the greater good. If companies need to raise prices to pay for upgrades to their systems, that is one thing. If they need to do some sneaky mobster shit to earn extra money on the sly, that's something else.

One last thing. Voter turnout. At this point in the game (March, 2016), I don't really care for any of the candidates. What I do care about is people voting. I want to see 75% of eligible american voters participating actively in this year's election. I don't care who you vote for, just vote, dammit. I would also appreciate it if you voted with your damn conscience, not out of some silly party affiliation. Voting on party lines isn't bullshit, it's horse shit (subtly different), and don't try to tell me that's not true. With so many dingbats with so many dumb ideas floating around, no one should be getting the office based on their party. 

Thank you for your time.