bsBlog

Hello Again,

It is lovely to be back writing again.  You see, we dung beetles have a bit of a crisis on our hands that has kept me extremely busy.  As most of you know, this is an election year in the US, but what you may not know is how incredibly dangerous that is for the dung beetle.  This particular election year is the worst on record.

You are probably asking yourself; “Well, why on earth is it bad for the dung beetle?”  Let me take a moment to explain…  Dung Beetle’s exist to clean what most do not even want to acknowledge.  Some think it a disgusting job, but I have heard it said that without the Dung Beetle the Serengeti would be uninhabitable in a year.  Now, I cannot confirm that, but it does give a quick mental image of how much work we do.  This year, well actually starting last year, we dispatched an extra billion of our workers to the US.  The problem is that the candidates are spewing Beetle Snacks at a rate that is literally killing us.  We Are Drowning!  Seriously, our billions cannot take the output of the “funtastic four.”

“Well!  D. Milly I am offended!  My candidate…”  Let me stop you right there.  Let’s look at it, shall we?

1. What kind of a lunatic does someone have to be to WANT to be President of the US?  It is the WORST job in the world and you are guaranteed to NEVER, EVER have more than 50% of the people happy with you.  So this leaves lunatics, power hungry, or totally delusional folks being the only ones that run.
2. The minute ANY candidate says “I am going to…” you know they are lying.  There is an entire system of government in place specifically so no one person has that kind of control.
3. The two front runners on the Republican side are, well, a very interesting person who has no business EVER being in the president’s office, and a man that sits under a pastor that calls for the death penalty for gays.  Before he dropped out, another was make penis size references about his opponent.  Really, are you 12??
4. The Dems, no better really… One can’t be bothered to even use government email to send state secrets so no telling what else will be “too much trouble,” the other thinks its okay to take away from some and give it to others just because the others don’t have as much.  There is way more to that issue than “spreading the wealth.”

Now, these are single incidents and/or viewpoints, but let’s face it; The snacks are flowing at an unsustainable rate.  We dung beetles are doing our very best to stem the tide, but oh my good golly we are fighting a losing battle.  Unless we can get these folks to shut up, I fear the worst.  Honestly, is this the best we have?  If so, maybe its time we gave up.  I however, AM NOT READY TO DO THAT!

So, I am starting a Snacks pile movement to end the insanity.  I am having some T-shirts and stickers printed in case you want to show your support (of the movement, not of me).  I don’t have a resale company so contact me at (d.milly at bentscrew.com) if you are interested.  I will probably do a “Print your own” 8-1/2X11 poster, and make it available for download, sometime soon.

D. Milly says… VOTE “NO CONFIDENCE”

So, until next time, keep swimming upstream.

Hi Again.  I am back with another Beetle Snack for you.  It is actually kinda tough right now because we are at the beginnings of the next election season and the Snacks are flowing at a really high rate already.  It’s almost too much for a Beetle to keep up with.  Starting very soon I will begin chronicling the new political season, but for today I have something a bit different.

Russ has a copy of the neaToday magazine sitting on his desk.  If you aren’t aware, the NEA is the National Education Association and they are the largest education union in the country.  Now, just for full disclosure, I have not read the magazine or the articles, but the cover caught my eye.  The cover is about Generation Z, which basically is the folks in high school now.  There are four statistics on the cover, and although I generally believe you can make statistics support anything if you look at them the right way, these drew my attention as probably being fairly accurate.  They are: 64% are worried about getting a job, 47% say the country is on the wrong track, 64% say healthcare should be free to everyone, and 53% believe college should be free for all.

Jobs – I completely understand why so many are worried about getting jobs.  I have opinions on this that go much deeper, but that is not the topic of today’s snacks, so I’ll save those for another day.

Country – Is there ANYONE that doesn’t think the country is headed the wrong direction?  If so, please share whatever you are taking so I can live in a fantasy too.

Free – This is really today’s Snack topic.  Let’s open up with a statement; “NOTHING IS FREE!!!”  Why do these kids think that it is actually possible for someone to get “Free” healthcare or a “Free” education.  Ooo, Oooo, I think I have it… Because no one is explaining to the young people that the government that “Gives” you all these “Free” things is actually taking the money out of other peoples pay checks, going into debt, or printing more unsecured money, to be able to provide these things.  There is NOTHING free, other than maybe sunshine, the air we breathe, things like that.  Social Security, that is paid into by working folks almost their entire lives.  Welfare, paid for by taxes.  Food Stamps, same things.  Scholarships and grants, gifts of monies from people, organizations, or the government.  Even going to the food bank or a soup kitchen, someone paid for that food and the labor to produce and prepare it for the folks that need the help.

This isn’t about whether any, or all, of those programs are right or wrong.  It is about a society that is beginning to believe, and teaching the young people, that these things are free.  A teacher I know has had their students say things like; “We have health insurance, it’s called Medicaid.” and “We get free meals at the school.”  That stuff is not free, it is just costing other people what they earned.  The real Beetle Snacks of the whole thing is that these young people actually believe they are ENTITLED to these things.  What happened to earning what you have, hard work, saving…?

Trust me, no one is rolling up a Snacks ball for me to keep the larva safe.  If I don’t roll it, they will be out in the cold, probably eaten by a bird. So sad 🙁  Likewise, the Water Buffalo do not hunt me down to dump dinner on my door step, it is a search and gather thing that I have to do.  How about teaching your kids to work, save, plan?  Just a thought.  Then maybe we will at least have a few more people to share the load of all the “Free” things the upcoming generation wants.

‘Til next time, work hard, play hard, and when tax time comes around be ready to Pay Hard 😉

Well, Hello There!  It is awesome that you took a minute to stop by.  My post today is not the same as what I usually write, but here goes anyhow…

For those that know about the insect kingdom you probably know that most insects fend for themselves.  Some of them will protect their young or their hive, nest, etcetera.  People on the other hand have a great propensity to sacrifice themselves for others.  Now, the degree they do this varies GREATLY, but I have seen it to some extent in most humans.  I have seen mothers go hungry to make sure their children have food.  Fathers go without new shoes or clothes so their family doesn’t have to.  Teachers sacrifice every day to teach largely ungrateful kids.  Health workers give everything only to be sued if they make an honest mistake.  Groups of soldiers risk their very lives to go back and get the one that was left behind.  I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea.

So, what is my point?  Just to say thanks for not being insects.  For those few that are selfish and step on and over others to get what you want…  To those that think you are always right…  To those that don’t care when others hurt…  BEETLE SNACKS!

To those that give of themselves…  AWESOME JOB, THANK YOU, and KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

I’ll be back to my Beetle Snackin’ self next time, I promise 🙂

Hi Again!

Well, I came across another Beetle Snack that is just too much to swallow.  Now, in the interest of full disclosure this one some folks may find a bit… Ummmm… Too adult.  If that is the case, please skip it.

Still here… Okay Then… Just a quick reminder that all opinions expressed here are that of a dung beetle, me.

I saw an ad on television for a pill that is, shall we say, popular with men over 40. Given what this pill does this is really not a surprise at all. What is more than a bit surprising is that the commercial starts out with “…about half of men over 40 have some form of erectile dysfunction…”. Why is this surprising? Mostly because of their named source. Here is a picture of the “fine” print. First, this was a male aging study which likely biased the study some. Second, 1,290 respondents?!? In what world of statistics does 1,290 respondents represent the population as a whole? Also, this is a Massachusetts study, how does that represent the entire country (or the world since they didn’t specify).  In 2013 Boston had 645,000 people.  If 1/2 are male then that is 322,500 men. 1,290 is 0.4%, that’s just Boston.  Now, I am not a statistician, but that number seems very small to me.  What were the reasons for their “dysfunction?”  Cancer, heart troubles, … (I’ll let you use your own imaginations here).

This sounds much more like alarmist marketing to me.  Some poor schmuck comes home after a long day, wife’s feeling a bit frisky, it’s been a while, so he gives it the old college try, but alas he fails.  “OH MY GOODNESS!!  That hot girl on the commercial is right!  I must get some medicine so this does not happen again!”  What if he just rested for a bit, took a bit longer at the wind up…  Maybe it would be better for him and his wife?

Well, I am sure I have said too much.  Bein’ a dung beetle and all this isn’t really my area of expertise, so…  What do you all think?  For me, I’m callin’ Beetle Snacks.  Weak stats, alarming message, too much for this beetle.