Author: Rex Nipper

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You Can’t Ask More Than That

I was remiss this month in writing about my wife.  October 14th was our 3rdanniversary.  I’m not sure what was happening, but evidently I was preoccupied.  This rant is an effort to remedy that mistake.  My wife is spending Halloween with her grandkids 800 miles away this weekend. I can honestly say that I’m not comfortable being this far away from her.  Even if it is temporary.
I like to joke that the reason we got married was that she told me we had to.  She doesn’t like that at all.  She thinks she forced me into it.  What she doesn’t know is that I really didn’t know how to ask.  I had been single so long I didn’t know what was expected.  When you’re 20 you think of large romantic gestures and public messages on a train tresle.  In my late 40s it all came across seemly. 
I can remember the first time I told her I loved her.  We were in a crappy little apartment in Castle Rock, and I was sitting on the corner of the couch.  I looked up at her and said “you know I’m in love with you, right?”  From that point on I knew I would spend the rest of my life with her.  There was no question in my mind that after 30 years of living alone, this was the person I would spend the rest of my life with. 
It takes a lot for me to trust anyone.  When you’re single for as long as I was you build up some pretty thick callouses.  You learn that what people say, and what they actually do are polar opposites.  When I met my wife for the first time I just expected her to be the same as everyone else.  It didn’t take me long to realize that she is not like anyone I have ever met.  She says what she thinks, and she follows through with what she promises…even if it means she has to give something up to benefit someone else.
My wife is the most honest, loving, and giving person I have ever met.  She goes out of her way to show how much she loves me, and her family.   I don’t envy her that she has to be so far away from her children and grandchildren.  I’m glad she moved here to be with me.  She has made the last few years the greatest I’ve ever had.  Without question, I would marry her all over again. 

It’s been three years now, and I’m not sure what I would do without her.  She is the best companion I could ever have hoped for.  I never have to wonder if she loves me.  I know it without even asking.  Her words always match her actions.  With her there’s not a lot of sub text.  I’m not saying that things can’t get a little crazy around here, but our crazy seems to work together.  You can’t ask more than that. 
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Diet Soda will Not Kill Me

I drink diet soda.  I love it.  I don’t drink alcohol, smoke, or gamble, so I need something as a vice.  So when I see folks posting negative information about aspartame I start looking at the facts.  Full disclosure, I work with physicians, scientists, nurses, administrators, and other professionals who research all the available information on the chemicals, medications, and poisons used to create the everyday products we all use.  When I get the chance I always ask the question about Aspartame.  In short, this is what I get “Aspartame is not harmful.  It pretty much turns into methane in your system.”  By the way…so does broccoli and cauliflower.  So the danger isn’t to me…just passers by.

In fact I pulled this out of a medical database:

Normal Dosage


A) MAXIMUM DOSE

1) Ingestion of aspartame 50 milligrams/kilogram/day has no toxic effects and has been established by the FDA as the acceptable daily intake. This amount is equivalent to a daily consumption of approximately 17 twelve-ounce cans of 100% aspartame sweetened soft drink by a 70 kilogram (154 lb) person (Anon, 1987).

I’m not sure about you, but 17 cans a day of anything would make me hurl.  That’s almost two gallons of liquid.  I’m pretty sure I’m OK with my 2 cans a day.  Since this is the science I’d like you all to please stop telling me I’m going to die from diet soda while you eat tons of sugar, fried foods, pastry, alcohol, fat, grease, cooking oils and saturated fats.  On the list of things that can poison to the body I think I’m OK.  And if you smoke…well…forgive me if I don’t take your advice on healthy living.

Just to provide more support for the facts you can go to this article on WebMD that provides insight http://www.webmd.com/diet/sodas-and-your-health-risks-debated?page=4.  Basically, these studies are alarmist drivel.  Even the studies that state that your brain processes the sweetener as sugar are not really studies, but opinions from researchers based on personal bias.

Articles about diet soda causing people to be fat are very amusing.  What they leave out are the dietary choices people make while drinking diet soda.  Many people think if they have the diet Coke, they can then have the Twinkies.  This is how they gain weight.  In fact “legitimate” studies (more than 1000 people…not 10) show that switching from sugar sodas to diet soda has a greater improvement on weight loss than switching just to water.  The reason:  carbonation fills you up and water does not. 

Does this mean that some people can’t have an allergy to the chemical?  Of course not.  I have allergies to stupid people.  Taken in small doses I’m OK.  However too many cause me to have an overwhelming desire to beat them about the head and neck with a baseball bat.  I’m taking medication for the issue, but even the best drugs in the world can’t cure everything.  Besides…some of them really need a whack in the head.

Oh I’m sure there will be nay sayers.  I can even tell you who they will be before they half-assed read this article.  However they’re just like the people who think vaccines are killing their children even though all of the “science” around the issue has been disproven over…and over…and over…again…and again…and again.  Never let facts get in the way of a good conspiracy.

If you still have difficulty with this just keep in mind, none of what I posted is my opinion.  It is science, based on pure scientific findings and not on half-baked articles in non-medical journals based on studies of 100 people or less who had so many major physical problems it was impossible to tell what was killing them in the first place.  In fact, all scientists will tell you that unless you discount other lifestyle factors you will never get a complete study of anything.  This is why I’m always amused when someone states that diet drinks are linked to stroke, cardiac arrest, impotence, cancer, and diabetes and then when I read the study I find that it was a study of 50 people, all who are 100 to 300 pounds overweight and are all on a constant diet of bacon fat and lard.  Of course they’re going to have a heart attack.  With those types of study subjects I could say Sesame Street caused their heart attack.  It wouldn’t make it true!

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I Bet You Can’t

Today on CNN, Ben Carson was quoted as saying:  “If people don’t speak up for what they believe, then other people will change things without them having a voice. Hitler changed things there and nobody protested. Nobody provided any opposition to him.”

Boy how right he is!  The problem is that most of the people who are speaking out now are the ones that have the most to gain from a Hitleresque regime.  The far right likes to point at the President and call him Hitler, but when pressed they can’t provide a single example of what makes him like Hitler.  There is one example but since they agree with it they never use it.  The continuation of prisoners held at Guantanamo without due process.  That’s DEFINITELY an accurate comparison.  However, I can make the argument that they are there because the political pressure on the right is so great that it would make it impossible for there to be a change. 

So for the next few paragraphs I’m going to show how the right is closer to Hitler than the left.  Hold onto your hats folks, it’s going to get bumpy:

1.       Promoting slave labor of Mexicans to build a wall along our southern border. 

Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump has said repeatedly in speeches that he would imprison Mexicans and require them to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.  This would be something you could laugh off as not being a core value to Republicans.  However, he’s the leader in the Polls and that says a lot about their attitudes toward the brown skin folk.

2.       Making laws and policies that are directed specifically at Muslims.

Oklahoma, and Texas have both passed laws that are directed specifically at Muslims.  These laws are geared to prevent them from enjoying the same Constitutional rights as Christians.  Many communities across the country, as different as New York, and Ames, Iowa have passed ordinances to prevent the building of Mosques in their communities.  School boards have passed rules to prevent students who are not Christian from wearing the hijab.  All these policies are geared toward expressing a fear for those who are different from themselves.

 

3.       Suppressing Ideas through book banning.

There’s a whole host of examples across the country of Republican controlled school boards banning books they don’t fine “suitable” for young readers.  We wouldn’t want them having ideas would we?  A Texas school board even removed Thomas Jefferson from their history books because he didn’t fit in with their idea of America.  That’s right, the author of the Declaration of Independence is not American enough.  The real reason was that his writings criticized the Christian faith and promoted a liberal idea of how religion in America should be addressed.  In short, he thought freedom of religion was more important than State sponsored faith.

4.       Demonizing the poor

The far right has been pretty consistent about the demonization of anyone who isn’t wealthy.  Not a day goes by that the poor aren’t attacked by and blamed for their situation.  The right goes after the disadvantaged as if they are lazy, worthless, welfare grabbing drags on the economy.  They see anyone who isn’t white, middle class, or rich as people who don’t deserve the right to life.  A right they say is so important to them.  In fact when during the 2008 elections Ron Paul was asked what should happen if someone doesn’t have healthcare.  The crowd responded “Let them die.”  Yep…how Christian of them!”  Jesus would be so proud.

5.       Denying atrocities ever happened

This is my favorite.  They deny things ever happened.  All of a sudden the Civil War was a war that had nothing to do with slavery and people are just whining about things that never happened.  The problem is that history flies in the face of this.  If someone points out the facts that the Confederate Battle Flag is racist they scream and holler that “oh…you’re just being a baby…that isn’t racist.”  The flag isn’t a racist symbol they say.  The problem is they are dead wrong.  As Alexander Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy wrote:

“Our new government…corner- stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.”

But I guess the Confederates weren’t racist.

These are just a few of the ideas that are promoted by the right wing that illustrate how they are more like Nazi Germany than any other group in the United States.  They talk about freedom for all while promoting the suppression of any group that’s not them.  All the while within the back doors of government they get support from groups like the KKK, FDLS, Whites for Justice, and many others.  Show me where there is a Liberal organization that wants to enslave a people, kill off the sick and injured, imprison others for their faith, or espouse a constant and complete message of hate for everyone who isn’t white, and I’ll change my tune.  However…I bet you can’t. 
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Holding up the Mirror

Every day I watch the news just to see what Donald Trump has done next.  This is a good thing because if I wanted to know anything else, it isn’t there.  They need to rename CNN to DT24 because all you get is Donald Trump, 24 hours a day.  I have to say the guy is starting to actually grow on me.  No I would never support him as Commander and Chief.  That would just be stupid.  However he does provide a breath of fresh air with his “kiss my ass” approach to things.

For those of you not from the Midwest, I’m sure you’re just flabbergasted about how this baboon could be doing so well in the polls especially in Iowa.  If you think about it, it’s really easy to understand.  Iowa is filled with some of the warmest, kindest, caring, and giving people on the planet.  However they have one trait which I have found is lacking in the rest of the country:  Sincerity.

Trump is a pompous windbag with delusions of godhood, but you have to admit he’s sincere about it!  Iowans appreciate that.  They don’t have to agree with you.  They don’t even have to like you.  However, they would much rather deal with someone they despise who tells them their unvarnished opinion than some wimpy gentile southern dandy who smiles to their face and then shits in their mess kit.  Iowans have zero tolerance for the feigned outrage that too many politicians and pundits spew like confetti at a parade. 

I think the other Republican candidates could really learn something from this guy.  All of them lack even a marginal amount of sincerity.  On the Democratic side, Hilary is a total loss.  However, Bernie hasn’t changed his tune in 40 years.  He’s as straight forward as you get and without the crazy.  This is why he’s gaining so much ground on the Democratic side.  If he and Donald land on their respective tickets I’m thinking it will be one hell of a fun race!  It will certainly be quite the “hairy” predicament (sorry for that).

Most of us are irritated that you can never get a straight answer out of the candidates.  This is so they can slightly change their tune depending on the audience.  Rather than taking a stance, or clearly backing an idea, they sit down with marketing firms and ad executives who try to show them how not to piss anybody off and as a consequence end up pissing everyone off.  Not everyone is going to like you.  Piss them off!  It’s OK.  It’s working GREAT for the Donald!

One of the most enlightening things of this campaign is what Donald is doing for the Republican Party.  Donald has taken off the hood.  He’s shown their true colors.  They’ve become too comfortable hiding their hatred in the shadows than bringing it straight out into the open.  He’s added some major sunlight to that festering wound of hatred.  For that I think we need to thank Donald Trump.  He’s holding up a mirror to all Republicans, and showing them who they really are.  I have to say, and I mean this sincerely, I’m actually comforted by the fact that they really don’t like what they see.

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She’s a Christian, so That’s OK

I know a lot of people out there think that Kim Davis is a hero.  Most of these people claim to be Christian and truly believe she is a hero to their god.  A god who evidently has nothing better to do than throw lightning bolts at rainbows.  The problem is she is no hero to them, or anyone else in this country.  She is just another example of the ignorant few who need to spend more time reading books than burning them.

Kim Davis is the perfect example of why we separated from England, and why the founding fathers wrote the first amendment.  It is the prevention of government from creating an organized religion that we left England in the first place.  By Ms. Davis forcing her staff to follow the tenets of HER religious beliefs, and as a consequence the community she serves, she is forcing a community to follow her beliefs, not their own freedom of religion. 

This is just one of the reasons the FIRST Amendment will always be the most important .  I know a lot of people think the most important is the second, but really it’s the first.  The reason we have the second, is to protect the first!  So many people think that this country was founded on Christian principals.  It’s not.  It never was.  You can make the argument that our laws are based on the Ten Commandments, and you may be right…the problem is the Ten Commandments aren’t Christian…they’re JEWISH!  Jesus was Jewish too, but let’s not argue facts.

The problem I have with Ms. Davis and people like her is they are always complaining how they’re rights to practice their religion are being abridged, while all the time abridging the rights of others.  They’re more than happy to freely practice their religion, but they don’t want anyone else to have the same rights.  They’re more than happy to support a Christian teacher’s desire to force her students to pray to their god, but once that teacher’s a Muslim then they want to set them on fire.  You can’t have it both ways.

The hypocrisy is astounding!  There’s no more evidence to this than watching the Presidential candidates fight their way into the jail house so they can get their picture taken next to her.  It makes my head spin around until I hurl pea soup!  Anyone who has a desire to be President should support the Constitution.  They do not.  And before someone says Obama doesn’t support or know anything about the Constitution, I’m sorry…he does…more than you or I.  He’s a Harvard educated Constitutional attorney.  Arguing about his knowledge of the Constitution just makes you look like a moron.  But I could be wrong.  It’s possible that online degree in auto mechanics makes you an expert.

I truly hope that the majority of the people in this country understand that her going to jail is the perfect example of our Constitution at work.  I don’t think her supporters will, but they should.  If you think that jailing Ms. Davis was an injustice, then think of this:  You are a Christian.  You go to a government office.  The clerk is a gay.  They won’t grant you a marriage license because it’s for a relationship they find repugnant.  How do you feel?  This is exactly what Ms. Davis did.  Oh wait…she’s a four time married woman who cheated on her first husband with her third husband, had two bastard children, and then married twice more.  But she’s a Christian…so that’s OK.