On Treason and Pack Rats

Florida woman shoots and
kills neighbor’s pet cat,
“to protect her pit bull.”

Definition of treason
1: the betrayal of a TRUST : TREACHERY

2: the offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the GOVERNMENT of the state to which the offender owes allegiance or to kill or personally injure the sovereign or the sovereign's family.

It seems to me the Republican resistance (opposition) to the START treaty President Obama has worked out with Russia truly exposes their blatant attempt to prevent Obama from having any successes at all, no matter what. It appears that virtually the entire world wants this treaty to be signed. Our Secretary of Defense wants it, our Secretary of State wants it, our past Secretaries of State want it, the military wants it, all our allies want it, so what’s the problem for Republicans? The basic problem is, as near as I can tell, they don’t want it because Obama wants it. I cannot see any valid reason why there should be a problem with Republican opposition except their stated aim to bring down Obama. They are apparently willing to do this even risking national security, as well as our continuing cooperative relations with Russia. Of course they say they want assurance that funding will be available for upgrading our nuclear arsenal, but is there any conceivable reason to suppose that will not be available? Can they seriously believe Obama would work to get a new START treaty but otherwise neglect our nuclear arms? This is a ridiculous assumption, just a transparent excuse. Consider the above definition of treason, “the offense of attempting by overt acts to over throw the Government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance…” Am I just plain stupid or is that not precisely what the Republicans have been doing for the past two years and are now attempting to do by their refusal to go along with a treaty that has virtually unanimous support within the U.S. and all around the world? Did they not say from the beginning of the Obama administration they would refuse to cooperate and just say “no,” which they have repeatedly done? Did Mitch McConnell not say their number one priority is to insure Obama will be a one term President? Have I been living on some other planet for the past two years? If this is not treason it is dangerously close to it. It is not just politics as usual. Never in the past has one party simply refused to cooperate entirely, even when it comes to the serious problems that face a nation or in national defense matters. All of our recent Presidents have made treaties with Russia about nuclear matters and every one of them has been ratified, usually with almost unanimous consent. I can’t believe the Republicans will not eventually have to agree to this one, but, then, how many loonies does it take to dance on the head of a pin?

But on to other important matters. I have mentioned previously, probably two or three years ago, the phenomenal growth of the storage industry (or business or whatever you want to call it). That is, if you drive around the country you cannot help but see storage units virtually everywhere, in small towns, cities, even what might be considered bergs, and sometimes even just wide spots in the road. On a recent trip I have noted with interest that, if anything, this rather strange (to me, at least) business has continued and seems to be even growing faster than ever. We are apparently becoming a nation of Pack Rats, perhaps hoarders might be a better description. Given the fact that most Americans already inhabit far more spacious housing that most of the rest of the world, why on earth do we need so much storage space? At first I thought this might just be something that happened around trailer parks where people do live in more confined spaces. But my observations indicate that although there are often storage units near such parks, there are far more of them elsewhere. Then I thought maybe this space was being constructed at such a rate to serve the needs of apartment dwellers, but unless apartment dwellers are commuting rather long distances to view their “loot” or whatever you want to call it, that explanation, too, does not seem to be valid. I confess I have not examined any of these space rentals, but the few I have happened to see open seem to be full of used appliances, furniture, cartons of various kinds, old lamps, rugs, bedding, and so forth. I don’t assume this is new stuff awaiting the day they move into even grander quarters, and if they don’t need it otherwise, why keep it hoarded away in a rented space? I just don’t get it. I realize there may be real reasons someone may need storage. College students sometimes store their stuff for the summer until they return to classes. And of course there are some spaces for storing recreational vehicles in the winter, and so on. I suppose some businesses might need additional storage for old records and stuff. But this does not account for the literally acres and acres of storage units you can see everywhere. I know this might not strike most people as being very important. Perhaps it is not. But I see it as symptomatic of our consumer driven culture with its shop til’ you drop ethos and the apparent belief that he who has the most toys wins. People are apparently buying far more stuff than they could possibly need. This in turn must have consequences for the environment and natural resources that we have used so scandalously for so long. Personally, I believe there is something intrinsically wrong with a culture that needs so much storage space.

LKBIQ:
Thank God men cannot as yet fly and lay waste the sky as well as the earth!
Henry David Thoreau

TILT:
Some species of tapeworm can grow to over 100 feet.