I've been thinking....

I've been thinking about a lot of things... The fiscal cliff, gun control, climate change, and on and on, so this will probably be a bit of a ramble. I what to know what YOUR thoughts are on some of these issues if you have been thinking about any of them.

(cue scary music and thunder) The fiscal cliff. you can't turn on the TV or radio to a news show where this isn't one of the top stories. Here are my thoughts on this issue. For me, at this point, I don't care if we go over even if it adversely affects my finances (which are a whole 'nother issue). I want to see EVERY politician who refuses to even listen to a perspective not his or her own booted.  What's wrong in Washington is there is no longer consensus building, but party line rancor.

What makes that worse, is the American electorate has no long term memory when they go to the election booth. They (we) tend to vote for either the top name, or the guy who is already in the office, forgetting how mad we were at how he voted just months before. If ever there were a valid reason for term limits, I think that is one. I say next election, if there is a third party candidate, vote for them. If we all do, maybe the  republicans and democrats will get the hint and start working together for our country instead of against each other for their parties.
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That's all I'll rant on about that subject, today.
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Gun control. This hasn't been a hot topic, but in the wake of yesterday's tragedy in Connecticut you can bet it will be.  I was thinking about this as I drove home from work, listening to the coverage on NPR.  Mark Follman from Mother Jones was on talking about an article he did recently on mass shootings. I've linked it, it's good. According to Follman, there have been 7 of these incidents THIS year. They found 61 mass shootings in the US in the past 30 years. Most of the shooters, according to the article used legally obtained guns.

  Weapons: Of the 139 guns possessed by the killers, more than three quarters were obtained legally. The arsenal included dozens of assault weapons and semiautomatic handguns. (See charts below.) Just as Jeffrey Weise used a .40-caliber Glock to massacre students in Red Lake, Minnesota, in 2005, so too did James Holmes (along with an AR-15 assault rifle) when blasting away at his victims in a darkened movie theater.

To me this says it's time for gun enthusiasts to step up. Because if I'm thinking we need stricter gun control, a lot of people are. Here's my proposal.... keep the current law for the more common, small caliber weapons that are used by hunters, to me that is the only legitimate reason for someone other than law enforcement to own a gun. For the other weapons, such as the AR-15 assault rifles ( why the  hell does any one need one of those?)  Make it harder, add a mental health check at the purchaser's expense to the already required (in most states) criminal background check.  Neither side of the issue will be totally happy, but it sounds like a reasonable compromise.
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That's what I think on that.
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Climate change... Has anyone stopped to wonder if global warming is normal, and not completely a man made issue? Serioiusly, the dinosaurs supposedly lived in a semi tropic climate, we had an ice age... see where I'm going... the climate has changed  a lot, not just in the years man has kept records of the weather. Just sayin'.
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Discuss.