The Solid

  


 THE SOLID


A Story 

by Robert Barrow

June, 2014

All Rights Reserved

While scientists and computer wizards continue debating whether artificial intelligence (AI) will be the human species' hero or executioner, we prefer to make a vastly uneducated guess and suggest, without reservations, that we're all screwed.  Next time you call up a corporation whose phone is answered by a non-human, human-sounding voice which concludes any and all conversations with Have a nice day, the AI really means it wishes you to have a nice day according to its own standards, not yours, and those pleasant, though troubling words could very well signify the AI's intention to kill you by midnight, because it knows who you are, your vulnerabilities, where you live and everything else about you, thanks to information derived from the NSA and computer information gleaned over the Internet from favorite stores where you shop.  Whatever you do, DON'T ever expect to have or conclude a nice day nicely when you hear those innocent, but terrifying words!

* * *

Andrew Triddleflub paid handsomely to build a personal robot, lavishly equipped to assist him around both home and office.  Andrew was clever like that, he could build anything involving a digital chip.  The robot, whom he named Fabulotemus (with emphasis on the "o"), appeared tall  and gender-neutral, yet constructed of heavy metal pieces, allowing it to perform the most difficult of tasks.  Fabulotemus wasn't molded into good looks, instead resembling the bulky metallic robots of fifties Hollywood movies.  Nonetheless, Andrew's shiny, silvery robot was built for speed as well as for intellect.

Building Fabulotemus hadn't consumed nearly as much time as teaching its "brains" all the knowledge Andrew wished to impart, and afterwards all commands and conversations seemed to progress exactly as planned.  The robot cooked, cleaned, scheduled appointments, watered plants, tended a garden, answered phone calls and both maintained and repaired household appliances when necessary -- even detecting in advance potential technological failures.

Nearly three months had elapsed, and everything seemed so perfect, and Fabulotemus functioned without errors -- like clockwork, as the old folks might say.  Andrew Triddleflub couldn't have been more pleased.

That is, he was pleased until one particular Tuesday, when he made a request of his metallic creation.  "Fabulotemus,"  Andrew called out.  Within seconds, the robot appeared in the kitchen, where Andrew held some papers and was prepared to leave the house in a hurry.  The wall clock designated 10:35 a.m. as the current time.

"I am here, Andrew," replied the robot in an androgynous human voice.

"I know this wasn't the plan, but I have to leave this morning, right away in fact.  A client just flew in and I need to hold a quick meeting with her and a few colleagues," explained Andrew.

The robot nodded obediently as Andrew grabbed the kitchen doorknob, intent upon departing via the back entrance.

"Oh -- and do me a solid, will you?  My friend, Julian, is stopping over sometime this morning with some vegetables from his garden.  You can take those from him and tell him thank you.  Well, have to run."  Andrew rushed out the door,  too quickly for Fabulotemus to ask a very important question.

"Andrew. . .did you say. . .do me a solid?  Did you?  In what respect do you indicate a solid, Andrew?"  Patiently, Fabulotemus waited for a response, but Andrew was gone and there would be no reply.  Of all the things he had taught the robot, he neglected to impart that a solid was a favor, an important action accomplished for a friend or acquaintance.  "Andrew. . .you have departed.  Understood."

Fabulotemus made several calls to Andrew's communications device, only to learn that, in his haste to leave, Andrew had left it on his desk. 

The robot replayed Andrew's departing words over and over, explored downloaded dictionaries and encyclopedias, but nowhere could it find do me a solid, leading it to assume that Andrew had misspoken.  Suddenly, there was a knock at the front door, followed by a doorbell tone.  The robot responded instantly, opening the door.

"My name is Fabulotemus.  I am Andrew's robot, charged with performing household duties.  May I help you?"

"Wow, I've heard so much about you," said the stranger, intrigued.  "Well, Andrew is expecting me.  I'm Julian."

"Unfortunately, Andrew is not here.  He had to leave because of an urgent matter."

"Oh, that's too bad.  You see," began Julian, "I brought him this box of vegetables from my garden."

The robot scanned the box's contents, seemed to lose itself in thought for a moment, as if mulling over some clouded matter, and then returned its attention to the visitor.  "Please enter and follow me," bid Fabulotemus, making its way back to the kitchen with Andrew's friend in tow.

* * *

"Fabulotemus?" inquired Andrew upon returning home, later that afternoon.

"Yes, Andrew," came the reply from the kitchen.

Andrew strolled casually toward the kitchen, pleased to have faith in his creation's reliability.  However, he stopped at the kitchen's entrance, puzzled by the scene before him.  A number of tied garbage bags reposed in one kitchen corner, while several covered pots and pans decked the counter and shelves.  A strange odor permeated the area.

"Fabulotemus," Andrew Triddleflub began, with some hesitation, "what are you. . . doing?"

"Your dinner.  Your dinner is complete.  There is so much, though.  I may be unable to refrigerate the remainder."

"Dinner?  What is it?!??"

"Andrew, when you departed this morning you asked me to do what sounded like do me a solid, but that made no sense, and I assumed you used the wrong word.  Therefore, I took the liberty of interpretation and calculated instead that you meant do you -- make you -- a salad."

Amazed at his oversight with the robot's fund of knowledge, Andrew shook his head.   "This -- no, a solid is a favor that you -- oh, never mind.  So all of this is . . . a salad?"

"Yes, Andrew.  But I needed to download more information because there is an abundance of salads for preparation in the world.  Fortunately, you narrowed the selection and choices for me, and I eventually realized what kind of salad you wished."

A confused Andrew Triddleflub had no idea what was going on here.  "You did?  How?  I mean, what have you done?"

"When your friend brought vegetables this morning, I knew what you wanted."

"Oh?" replied Andrew, walking slowly toward a large pot on the counter.  With some reluctance and a twinge of fear, the robot's creator lifted and removed the lid.  His curiosity quickly turned to utter revulsion and horror as he took a giant step back. "What -- what have you done?  What have you done?"

Unconcerned with and uneducated about Andrew's human emotions, the robot casually answered his gasping question.  "Do me a salad.  I did you a salad, Andrew.  I made you a salad and used the vegetables brought by your friend this morning.  I also included your friend in the salad."

"Included?  Included???" 

"I cleaned blood and placed unused pieces in garbage bags.  I wanted everything to look clean and neat for you so you could enjoy your salad.  Are you ready to eat now?"

Andrew could barely think, let alone speak.  "What?  No, no!  I. . ."

Knowing now the contents of pots and pans placed all over the kitchen by Fabulotemus, a mental lightbulb flashed in Andrew Triddleflub's head.  He wanted to vomit, but denied himself the opportunity because first he simply had to know the why  -- indeed, he already suspected the reason.

"Fabulotemus. . .what. . .what kind of salad did you make?"

The robot freely blurted out the salad's identity, and the words confirmed Andrew's fears.

"Oh, my GOD," Andrew shouted.  "His name was spelled J-u-l-i-a-n,  not  j-u-l-i-e-n-n-e!"

"A mistake, I assume?"

"A mistake?  What the hell am I going to do?  The police. . .oh, the police!  What will they. . .?"

"Andrew," replied Fabulotemus, "I think I understand now.  Andrew, will you please do me a solid and excuse my error?  Yes, I have this now.  Do me a solid, Andrew, please, will you?  Andrew?  Are you listening?  Andrew?  Andrew?"

___T H E    E N D___

A Palpable Conspiracy?

Let us not merely be blind-sided by the new storming of Iraq, which Lord Obama hisself clearly promised recently was in tip-top shape and all ready to care for itself. . .until. . .well, the prez and Hillary Clinton, in her dramatic theatrical role as Secretary of State, long ago helped put into force the carpet-bombing of even the most fragile ruling structures (and dictators) holding the Middle East together.  And here we are.  Can you say, "Look, sweetie -- isn't that a new Caliphate, staking claims all over the planet, while everybody else is blissfully unaware and uncaring, watching junk on TV?"  As if we'll remain unscathed, or deserve to be due to our own ignorance.

Meanwhile, we desperately need colossal attention placed upon our Southern border, where customary hordes of border-jumping Mexicans have been eclipsed by mostly young people "escaping" wretched Central American countries consumed by crime and drugs.  The TV news shows spotlight "children" coming by multiples of thousands in a never-ending human chain.

However, this "humanitarian" crisis is not just what it appears.  These folks were instructed to come here and, obviously coached, know exactly the right words to say to gain entry past border patrol.  TV stations in their native lands told peoples of Central America to send or bring their kids to the USA because the stupid American taxpayers will give them a free education, free medical care, free housing and free free.  Yes, free to be you and me -- no, wait, free to be you because I, me, the citizen, don't count.  I pay, you free.

Yet, this sudden surge in border crashers from way-foreign lands -- which the U.S. government supposedly didn't see coming any more than it foresees other events which please this Administration, but remain out of public view until the last minute -- well, just how did words of wild invitation spread, how did they make such an enormous impact in Central America?

News Flash!   U.S. Government want ads were looking for "escorts" for unaccompanied border children as long ago as January.  Conspiracy complete?

Thank President Obama.  Obama, who cares little about borders, language or culture.  Obama, who perpetually seems to have a chip on his shoulder regarding the United States.  Obama, who seems to have some goal to square us with -- and make us similar to -- the rest of the world.  Obama, who authoritatively acts like a one-man United Nations.

The president could have ended this catastrophe simply by dispatching government people to protect the border emergently, and by making statements to the media which could have been played in Central America, warning people to stay away.  Unfortunately, the only thing played is us, the American people.

I suggest a conspiracy afoot here, and if the White House is as complicit with all of this as a normal human mind might believe -- probably with the help of some in Congress, along with key executives in the social media and corporate sectors (and just who pays for attorneys to assure that these folks will never be deported?  For one think social media with a Z, and we don’t mean Zorro) -- an investigation of the highest sobriety should take place soon.  I mean, let's go big time, because encouraging foreigners to crash our borders illegally is a major crime -- and if high government officials happen to have taken an oath to protect our borders and insure our safety, they need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, with extensive prison time and fines.  At the very least.

One thing's for sure: Nobody's protecting us by importing diseased (the menu includes scabies, measles, Staph, TB. . .) invaders all over the country, simultaneously peppering  the USA with throngs of uneducated people who don't speak English and offer no talents, only costs we can no longer bear.  As we said previously, there comes a time when one has to choose country over compassion, or we'll all sink like a rock as the USA becomes the Third World entity which some national prison-eligible "leaders" seem to prefer.

Regarding the disease factor: Even in the movie, The Andromeda Strain, a quarantine was placed to protect the population – yet this president and Hapless Homeless Security let anything across the border that can walk, crawl, drool or infect, putting the entire U.S. in jeopardy.

But to quote one Democrat:  Never let a good crisis go to waste.  And to quote Nancy Pelosi, we had to pass the Affordable Care Act legislation to know what was in it.  I interpret such statements to mean, as they used to say in the military, shoot first and ask questions later.  With this Administration, we shoot ourselves in the foot first to see where the bullet exits, damn the consequences.

Our endless border invasion has worsened because Border Patrol is instructed not to let its dedicated officers do their assigned jobs, and because the usual suspects in high places both in and outside the government apparently want this outrage to happen.  Those responsible, whether of government, of corporations or of social pressure groups must inevitably be held responsible and suffer the legal consequences, if and when we can clearly shout from the rooftops that a grand conspiracy is taking place right before our eyes -- even as our eyes are beckoned to other directions by those who wish to divert public attention away from probable high and ongoing crimes.

Congress considers adding an 11 or 12 cent-per-gallon tax to gasoline purchases in order to pay for highway construction and maintenance.  Well, that's a funny one.  Haven't motorists been paying taxes for decades for that very purpose?  Oh wait, I get it.  As more folks drive electric cars and machinery using alternate energy, there will be less highway taxes.  Okayyyyyy -- but, shouldn't the people who use energy other than gasoline pay those taxes, too -- since they travel the same highways that gasoline motorists use?  Anyway, no, we don't want more gasoline taxes.  The president will surely approve because energy prices "must necessarily skyrocket," in his own words.  Aren't you glad you voted for this presidential travesty?

Congress goes on the attack against Dr. Oz.  Forget the diet supplement controversy.  This was all about Congressional bullies, the lucrative medical and pharmaceutical industry, and others who demand to wield influence.  These powerful forces have no patience for those who do not comply with the status quo, particularly regarding doctors who blab about non-compliant alternatives on TV.  Were I Dr. Oz, I think I'd spend a whole program telling my viewers what phonies, monsters, liars and frauds those who wish to regulate us out of our right to make our own decisions truly are.  I suspect that for every doctor who tries to do some good in the country and gains publicity, there exists a stable of attorneys and power-mad government representatives intent upon taking them down.  Looking for frauds, Congress?  My advice -- simply go shake hands with a few White House occupants, confidants and incompetents.  Our supreme national freak show resides right there, and its actions are tearing the country apart.  It couldn't be more obvious.

Meanwhile, the Internal Revenue Service corpse continues to decompose, stinking up every corner of Washington as its putrid fragrance drifts from coast to coast.  If this scandal among scandals doesn't point to the White House, I don't know what does.  The tax system begs for reform, the IRS as we know it requires a speedy and honorable burial, and the treasonous names behind its obscene political knifings need to go to trial and then prison.  To prison.  The place where really, really bad people who betray others go.  Prison, hmm, that reminds me of the Department of Justice, under its current mismanagement and dictatorship, but why go fast and furious over laws enforced or ignored according to one's politically charged whim?

Four former Environmental Protection Agency chiefs were questioned by Congress yesterday, and when asked to raise their hands if they concur with President Obama's claims that the Earth is warming faster and faster, none -- none -- raised a hand.  Was this reported by the mainstream media?  No.  Credit:  The Blaze.com.  

Readers:  If you aren't checking Web sites for The Blaze and The Drudge Report (see links) every day, you're probably dead.  If you crave real news without the spin and lacking extremist twists, please stay in touch with these constantly updating sources.  The level of reporting makes national mainstream TV news programs irrelevant, out of touch and obviously obedient to the special interest masters who pay to keep TV networks focused upon fluff, brain-sucking entertainment adored by the perpetually mindless, and the escapism provided by sporting events which effectively divert the masses away from matters of importance.  (Well done, network TV.)

The Worst, the Very Worst

We in the USA are currently ruled by the most unimaginably corrupt Administration in recent memory, relentlessly driven by university-bred radicals produced by the progressive collegiate assembly line, with no concern whatsoever about their role in supporting American laws.  To this bunch, laws are things to be ignored, jumped over or reinterpreted to fit the moment. Their moment.  Where is Congress?  Where is the judiciary?  Who will save us in a country where voters choose the same people over and over again, often just because names bask in the familiarity akin to an old comfortable sofa?

UFO disclosure?  If border agents are now warned to neither talk to the press, nor photograph the Obama Admin-engineered invasion horror story currently (and needlessly) occurring on our Southern borders, exactly what does anybody expect "the most open Administration in history" to offer up in terms of disclosure?  If vitally pertinent IRS e-mails are now "missing" due to some fabricated computer crash, how will UFO information survive this White House?

You might want to spend a little time speaking out and saving the country from this bunch of criminals, who really do deserve some prison time once all the evil and violations of established U.S. law shake out.  Believe it or not, there's a lot more at stake than gay marriage and Kardashian antics, but you'd never know it after two minutes with mind-endangering TV "entertainment" and network "news" shows, which gladly substitute trained seals for anything that might smack of TV network higher-ups exposed as politically used and stupid, and making their buddy Obama look like a hazardously incompetent, yet cunning constitutional oath denier, no friend of this country.  Nor are we giving mainstream media newspapers a pass here, either, not when their owners soft-peddle or ignore the crucial stuff.

The truth?  That's what you can't tell the people.

Bits and Pieces for June 2014

Cosmos reincarnation wraps up:  Not to be misunderstood, I thought the Cosmos update series was nicely done, and Dr. Neil deGrasse  Tyson knows how to hold an audience (when UFOs aren't on the agenda).  However, I do think there were some unintentional mixed messages when it comes to science's role in our lives.  To wit, he spent one program attempting to fill in all the holes to conclude that severe climate change mainly results from human activity -- embracing the "science is settled" cult, essentially.  Yet, Dr. Tyson also took great care to weave a balance, making it clear that science is always evolving, and being set in one's ways and unwilling to change as facts change and new evidence emerges is very unscientific.  Well, which is it?  Is science "settled" or in flux?  You get the point . . .

And maybe it's just me, but that end shot of the good doctor's empty chair reminded me, for some reason, of Clint Eastwood's empty "Obama chair."  Is science, as practiced today, sometimes equivalent to Eastwood's empty chair?  I know, I know, the intent was probably to indicate scientific journeys yet unfathomed, routes yet to be pursued in a vast mysterious universe of galaxies and ideas, conducted by faces yet unknown, to go where no man has gone before, etc., etc.  But (sigh. . .) I saw only Obama's empty chair, perched on a spaceship to Hell, nowhere and beyond, all at the same time.  Political season, you know. . .

Still, throughout the series I was hung up on that freaky spaceship.  Yes, some would compare its sleek appearance to a cell phone or camera.  I used to have an electric shaver of similar appearance, though I doubt Dr. Tyson would traverse the -- cosmos -- in a hyper-energized vehicle requiring occasional emptying, cleaning and blade replacement.  Then again, the darned thing looked suspiciously like one of those battery-operated things that women of the "Fifty Shades of Gray" variety might purchase from the local, um, personal appliance store.  Anyway, the new Cosmos probably introduced a lot of people to the joy of science, so  kudos (I suspect that's derived from the rather unfortunate term, cooties, but cooties are the best we have to offer in this cheap, no-frills blog) to Dr. Tyson and all responsible.

He's your "no apologies" guy.  Yeah, interesting when President Obama announced that he offers no apologies for the trade of five terrorists (and who knows what more) for Bowe Bergdahl.  The thing is, this president does whatever the heck he wants all the time and never apologizes for any of it, so what would be different about this event?

Years ago, I taught a business English class to post-high school students, and a dominant theme instructed students that under almost all circumstances, a business or corporation should never respond to an angry customer's letter (you know, back in the Pony Express era when letters were the major form of written peer-to-peer communication) with an apology.  That is, you shouldn't respond with "we're sorry" or "we regret that our product disappointed you."  Instead, the intended reply would immediately mention an action to be taken to satisfy the customer, or in some way be as caring, firm and positive as possible.   But whatever you do, don't make sorrow and heartfelt palpitations your mode of response!  By the way, I did not agree with the never say you're sorry theme, and departed after one semester, nevertheless, as other directions called.

Now, I don't think the president took my class, but because he flat-out admits that he isn't apologizing for a damned thing, maybe he did, and maybe he just learned everything all wrong.  Just because one doesn't apologize, this doesn't simultaneously require one to announce that no apologies shall be forthcoming.

But there's something else Mr. Obama won't apologize for:  The growing horror story at the Southern borders, which we were assured are, what, up to 95 percent secure?  Not. Not.  No brain surgeon need be brought in to answer the question, is the Administration responsible for the expanding thousands of unaccompanied Central American "youth" crashing our borders?  Yes, and now we learn the White House has ordered up a ton of lawyers for them at taxpayer expense to convince "us" that everybody gets to stay.  This is not merely some humanitarian emergency -- it's a well-organized march of never-ending invaders, sent here with the help of Mexico, Obama and most certainly other sources of a similar mind. 

I like to think of this disaster (for us) as Obama's human trafficking outreach, and this one threatens to take this country (and his presidency, in a fair world) down beyond repair.  Do any solid U.S. citizens of African American, Hispanic or any minority heritage think this illegal conquest using alien children will help produce good jobs in any way?  No, but it will draw us closer to becoming Third World vintage, all of us thrust into The New Slavery as socialist ideals take hold -- all the while strangled by multi-thousands of new people who can't speak English, bring no particular talents other than ignorance to the nation and obviously won't be paying their way because they have no money.  More crime, more drugs, more degradation and continuing societal deterioration.  Who will be happy with this arrangement?  Probably the Catholic Church, whose gatherings will swell as members of its own foreign Faithful storm the borders, though wrecking our country in the process.   

We simply cannot afford to take on a new calamity within our borders. How anxious are we to foul our own nest?  Well, Obama's getting away with it, isn't he?  He and the radicals who have surrounded him since day one of his presidency.  Our solution?  Speak out, complain to members of Congress relentlessly and hope for election miracles in November.   And someday -- prison for the political criminals, believing themselves untouchable, who openly and knowingly reinterpret established laws to their own individual liking of the moment. 

We've reached the point of pondering compassion vs. country, and I'm afraid we'll have to choose the latter or perish.  It's them -- it's that -- or us.  Right, and now I'm a racist, right?

So just who is Slender Man?  I think SM might lurk in the White House, when he isn't golfing, frequently vacationing, misinterpreting the Constitution or eating taxpayers in the woods.  Word has it that Slender Man is sometimes accompanied by his friend, AG Man, who routinely overlooks Slender Man's -- and his own -- violations of law.  Yes, horror incarnate.

Hillary TV, morning, noon and night.  Critics seem to have formed a consensus indicating Hillary Clinton's new book a snooze enabler.  But have no fear -- the usual TV networks, right on schedule, have begun a love-fest 24 / 7 with their own hand-picked president for 2016.  Like human-caused climate change, apparently the politics have been settled for those distant presidential elections, because, by George, Hillary Clinton is entitled, darn it.  It's her turn.  You may not accept this, but the TV networks surely do, and by whatever means between now and then they will impress upon our minds that there simply is no other candidate.  Unfortunately, however, at some point Hillary will need to debate other candidates on TV, as she has before, and based on past experience she may not come off looking well at all.  But that's okay, the mainstream media will prop up what televised debates cannot.  That's show biz.

When Alien Youth can Topple a Nation

(First. . .the breaking news about the release of American serviceman Bowe Bergdahl. . .nice we got him back, and Obama did manage to take the heat off HIS own VA disgrace in the meantime by negotiating with terrorists instead of locating and killing them, but how many soldiers did we lose originally when they searched for Bergdahl, after he decided to walk away from his mission in an alleged case of desertion?  Six, we are told.  Five superbly dirtbag radical Muslim flea-infested rat-bastards were traded for his release, and now we wait and wonder how many other American lives will be lost and military personnel kidnapped for ransom, once the Taliban and their even crazier and calculating Al Qaeda buddies regroup.  Mr. Obama, of course, disregarded firmly established law in making the trade, and again we ask -- when are illegal White House actions going to be rewarded with articles of impeachment, a trial and prison? Why do congressional spines continue to atrophy whilst soaked nonstop with Administration urine?  And finally -- some two months have elapsed since the apprehension, torture and imprisonment of U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi in a Mexican high-security prison -- and our shameful U.S. president has done and directed nothing to gain the release of a serviceman who simply took a wrong turn and had no idea he was in Mexico.  I was taught to respect the Office of the President, but the frauds and slimy bastards who yet lord over this White House deserve nobody's respect -- a fact hardly lost upon even the worst of the international community, which dismissed or laughed away America's domestic would-be dictator even before some among the rest of us caught on.)

In one or two past blog entries, I made statements to the effect that babies aren't cute anymore -- your babies, their babies, anybody's babies.


Why would I say something so utterly reprehensible?  Is it because I'm a child hater, or potential real-life candidate for a position as the irascible Mr. Bumble in the musical, Oliver?  Not at all.  What I meant is that we humans are too many, having multiplied and morphed ourselves into an overpopulating civilization of something increasingly destructive, redundant and ripe for self-annihilation, possessing the inauspicious resources to take a wealth of species into oblivion with us.  The climate change thing?  I still await the cherished "consensus," which continues to be elusive, as scientists of impressively alternative views and agencies come forward to cast doubt on the "settled" science of human-caused climate change.  Green?  Sure, absolutely -- but not insane green.

Some of you will scratch your heads politically at the mere mention of overpopulation, but I consider that about as "conservative" a statement as one can make.  Yes, in parts of the world human numbers continue on the decline, but really, how many is enough?  The cheapest and easiest thing in the world to produce is us.   Yeah, a nice dinner and wine, a little romance, sometimes  a little unintended or unexpected violence, then somebody inserts a ***** into a ****** and nine months later there's your bundle of joy.  Easy to accomplish -- but now, far more consequential.

Across the U.S., public schools, now saddled with the nonsensical hell that is Common Core, already have enough trouble attempting to educate children who neither can, nor wish to speak English, and who, frankly, often come from homes whose family occupants had neither the education, background -- or desire -- to teach their growing offspring a damned thing.  However, public schools make one  heck of a great taxpayer-funded babysitting service.  And common sense?  Good luck inculcating common sense into the evolving brain pathways of kids who barely matured beyond the process of toilet-training (and Third World denizens brought to the USA who can't quite make sense out of toilets at all).  Can America survive when pure education is faced with so many new obstacles?  When so many good teachers are forbidden to teach the important stuff?  When teachers' unions become accomplished thugs, pulling the strings to perform shakedowns on taxpayers, all nice and legal?

I don't know.  But things are about to get a lot worse, unless Congress takes quick-action spine growth supplements.

Our borders, pummeled with illegal immigrants for years, costing American workers -- with no voice in the situation beyond do-nothing legislators -- millions of dollars and tons of jobs, have suddenly become the emergency key to either the survival or destruction of American society as we know it. 

As Reuters and other sources have reported, thousands and thousands of children -- unaccompanied by no family members -- are illegally cascading across the Southern U.S. border, not from Mexico as much as from Central America.  While it is hardly comforting to learn that perhaps 60,000 children will invade this year (up from 6,000 in 2011), estimates of 130,000 more in 2015 is  beyond devastating.  Costs are expected to exceed two billion dollars as we reach that number.

And it is time to categorically say no.  Get out, keep out, stay out.  My government is all in a frenzy and a sweat about the "humanitarian" costs that Americans are expected to bear.  What?  No, what you do is tell these kids, look, you found your way here and you can find your way back.  If things go poorly on the return trip, I guess it sucks to be you.  We must be firm.  "But they're only children," we will be told, and I will respond, yes they are, and they are here because the Great Obama, Pied Piper of American Decline, put out the clarion call, as if by dog whistle, that young invaders should come here and soak up the riches paid for by America's taxpayers, entitling them to free food, free education and no responsibilities whatsoever.

Unless some tough love and kick-you-out activity is swiftly directed toward the quickly expanding criminal alien youth element, whose mere presence will decimate what little remains of solid public education and society, we'll lose our country.  This is the kind of thing to which I refer when throwing out overpopulation.  It's terrible, it's poisonous, it's deadly.  The whole world will come crashing across our borders if we continue to allow it, and we must not.  Even European nations are waking up to the fact that not all immigration is good immigration, and countries are saying enough is enough.  When will we smarten up?  This is a crisis which need not be, and we can make it all go away overnight -- just by allowing immigration personnel to do their work and enforce the laws we're supposed to enforce.   Trouble is, when a devious dictatorial Administration supports lawlessness or self-invents new laws with no opposition, one gets what one receives.

Unless we want a steroid-pumped Dream Act for illegal masses of  wandering criminal youth, causing your legal kids to become irrelevant and liable for their expenses, these folks need to go away.  Our social structure basks in extreme jeopardy otherwise.

Obama makes promises to protect Poland, but he wouldn't have to do so, had he not killed off the missile defense system ready for deployment in that part of the world when he assumed the presidency.  Now, to use those all-inclusive words of the street, it's complicated.

The president's energy policy, to be administered via EPA thuggery:   There's nothing wrong with protecting air, water and land, but there's everything wrong when an agency becomes an oppressive billy club, administered with SWAT teams and the ability to level extraordinary fines and other forms of punishment, striking fear and hatred into the hearts of Americans still suffering under the illusion that government serves, not rules, us.  The just-announced warnings and regulations, which could only have been whipped up by Pol Pot-style university intellectuals and credentialed nearsighted dolts who possess absolutely no concept of-- or maybe the words are concern for -- what they wrought, will devastate.  What rational minds would deprive a society, already teetering on the economic edge, of sufficient, reasonably priced energy before there exists enough of some other form of energy to replace it right away?  Because labor unions and political winds of change are already starting to question this monumental fraud, perpetrated by the even more monumental fraud in the White House, I wouldn't be surprised to find a major portion, if not all, of  this brainless scheme replaced by something akin to common sense via Congress or the courts.  Nevertheless, keep in mind Obama's original promise that under his plan energy prices would "necessarily skyrocket," though he neglected to add that even having access to required energy amounts may present a frightening downside.

The Veterans Administration:  Hey, if you can't even get your own medical records after having a close-range UFO experience (per the Rendlesham mystery), and not even Sen. John  McCain can get full cooperation on one's behalf, what is one to expect?  And when it happens to more than one airman who was present for some strange UFO-related doings, it's not merely a case of records lost in the bureaucracy -- it's a matter of extreme importance to somebody who won't share with the rest of us. 

Is there some federal agency out there responsible for telling us, by the way, when it will be time to panic in the streets?  Would there be a tweet or e-mail or something?  Actually, I'd prefer a letter, stamped and mailed.  Utter horror is so much more palatable and enjoyable when you can hold a paper in your hands, actually proclaiming the doom of civilization.  So, how about you keep watching the skies, and I'll continue watching the mailbox?