floundersgreatadventure

Well its Turkey day in the US, that’s the bird not the country. Did you know Benjamin Franklin wanted to make the Turkey the national bird? He didn’t like the Eagle because it was a scavenger. I wonder what would have happened if they had made the turkey the national bird what would eat on Thanksgiving? I don’t like Duck and Ham is for Easter and I won’t eat a bunny rabbit. Do you think Eagle tastes like chicken? Well that’s some food for thought on this day of Thanksgiving. Please all of you have a wonderful day enjoy the games on the tube be safe and don’t eat too much. This is Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin Colombia

You have to feel for the American voter this Presidential election. Just look around at the candidates. The republicans lead in the crazy department only because they have more wackos trying for the nomination. I mean take a look they don’t have a clue about anything. On the Democratic side you have Hillary and Bernie. Hillary is old school politician meaning she constantly changes her mind then lies about it. Bernie seems like a good man but he’s only one man and contrary to popular belief the President really can’t do much if the congress and the Senate don’t want him to. And I don’t think all that money is going get on his bandwagon anytime soon. When did this all go to shit? Who started this mess the Republicans or the Democrats? Well my dear friends it was us. We got complacent and trusting and while we did that they sneaked around behind our backs and stuck it up our collective ass’s. There’s still time to set it right but they were smart they brought out the race card and the immigration card and then juts for good measure they threw in the terrorism card. All that will keep us from uniting and actually changing things. The one time we thought we caused change was during the Viet Nam war. We didn’t force the US to end an unpopular war it was time for it to stop anyhow. If we won the country was so destroyed we would have had to spend more on fixing it then we did on destroying it. Not only that look at all those hippies and peace freaks there either living in the hills getting rich on dope or they work for the same people who raped the country in early 2000. So am I surprised that the candidates for President are lying pieces of shit NO. This is Flounder saying CIAO and good luck from Medellin, Colombia.

I’ve seen a lot of stories about what happened in Paris and some people are upset because nothing was said about Lebanon specifically bombing which killed more people than Paris in the capital of Beirut. I agree there’s something wrong with the world’s attitude about this. But I also wonder why people have forgotten this city’s history. At one time prior to 1975 Beirut was referred to as the Paris of the Middle East then a civil war started between Palestine refugees and the Christian government. Syrian and Israeli governments took sides. In 1976 a predominately Syrian peace keeping force was put into place. In 1982 attacks on Israel led to them invading the country. In 1983 a devastating truck bomb attack which killed 229 American and French soldiers resulted in the removal in 1984 of the multination force According to a video released in 2004 by Osama Ben Ladin images of that bombing are what made him conceive the 9/11 attacks. The Sunnis, Shiites as well as others still hate each other. At present there are close to 700,000 Syrian refuges in Lebanon. The Palestine Hezbollah organization has its headquarters in Lebanon. I think with all that goes on in that country on a daily basest a bombing tends to be considered par for the course like the slave trade, blood diamonds and genocide which goes on in Africa. When I search my memory for things that happened there years ago I see the same situation if that country has nothing to give to the rest of the world or is not wealthy it tends to be ignored. War and civil war have destroyed more of that regions history and culture than nature has. And somehow the west gets blamed for it. The Lebanon people deserve just as much sympathy (maybe even more) as France does. They have suffered longer. This is Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin, Colombia.

There was a bad terrorist attack in Paris yesterday and Facebook and the net were full of comments and who or what was to blame. An individual I know decided it was President Obama’s fault. Now I don’t care if you criticize the Pres or any politician. Sense if you’ve followed me for awhile you know I think they all lie. What pissed me of was that he had to make it racist. It shows how stupid the person is and why people like Donald Trump get to run for president. Just so you know it was tactics like this that let the Nazis gain power back in the 30’s. If you think the Pres. isn’t doing a good job that’s cool just give legitimate reasons without adding racism. I thought the last Bush to be President was a moron and I sighted things like almost running the Texas Rangers baseball team into bankruptcy and then sending troops to a country that wasn’t involved in 9/11 and not having away to get them out. Even his father who I thought was a good man couldn’t believe that. But I never used slurs to express my point’s only facts. I can’t wait to hear what people will say to criticize Hillary if she’s elected’ Trump will try and make it against the law to criticize him. What happened in France is a tragedy brought about by people who have no respect for others beliefs. Even so I don’t go calling them rag heads or other derogatory names I just wish them to go away. Please pray if you do or take a moment of silence for those who died for no reason. This is Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin, Colombia.

Most of you know I live in Medellin, Colombia past home to the infamous Pablo Escobar. At present President Santos is negotiating peace with some 6,000 members of the Farc a Colombian communist rebel group led by a man named Timochenko trained in Russia and Cuba. This group was considered by the US, Most of Europe, and Central America to be a terrorist organization involved in the distribution of Cocaine. Recently because of these peace talks, which have been going on for over three years, this designation was removed by the US and some others. Well yesterday it was revealed that the Sinaloa Cartel led by “El Chapo” Guzman and the Farc have been running a Cocaine operation in Panama. It is said that the Sinaloa Cartel wants to directly run the Colombian Cocaine operations if the Farc is serious about disarming. Now by all accounts these guys are more violent at the moment than the Farc. It would also seem that Farc soldiers not wanting to assume legitimate work will have a job with the cartel. The thing that stands out to me is that the Farc is still a terrorist organization involved heavily in the international distribution of Cocaine. Which means President Santos is about to give the Key to the country to a bunch of thugs and drug dealers not a legitimate revolutionary army. I think it’s time somebody took a close look into his finances. Anyhow I’ll be back this weekend with a American tale. This is Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin, Colombia. Oh here Fats latest carvings.

Well it’s getting near election time and the US is getting crazy. They just had a General Election down here for Mayors Governors and such. The score card 11 soldiers and 1 police officer killed several voting areas ransacked by upset people and 49% of the people didn’t vote. In the US it’s Presidential candidate time and people are getting ready to pick who will run against who next year. I always get fascinated by this because people actually think that whoever gets elected will change everything. The President needs congress and the senate to approve whatever he wants and it’s usually not what he want but what the people that paid for his election want. Then the people in the other party vote against it and they argue until they can figure about a way to screw the average person and make money for themselves and their banking friends. Now the reason I opened with the story of down here in Colombia is because could you imagine if the people in the US actually decided they have had enough and decide to do something about it. I mean you could have a nuclear strike on Newark NJ for Christ sake. It’s probably a good thing the average voter in the US is not to bright and very complacent. Hey this is Flounder saying HAPPY HALLOWEEN and CIAO from Medellin Colombia

Well if you want to know what I do if I’m not writing I carve wood as you can see above. I have no idea why I decided to start this. It not like I haven’t any other hobbies. I write books, build model train layouts, visit my grandson, and watch TV. Well back to my first love writing. To add to my last post another critical item where water is concerned is the age of the pipes and valves that bring the water to you. In New York City some of those pipes are close to two hundred years old. They have these massive valves that are supposed to protect the city in case of failure of the system of dams. They’ve never been used and are among the oldest of the system. So not only do they have to worry about where they get their water they also have to worry about what happens if there’s too much. OK moving on this Sunday there will be a general election in Colombia. I think they do it on Sunday because less people work and it’s easier to move people around. Now these elections are for mayors, council members, governors and such. If you want to see how nasty politics is, just come on down during an election period. So far more than a dozen candidates have been arrested for corruption or exposed for public drunkenness. Also they are once again taking shots at the ex president mostly because of his views of the peace agreement. There was even a suggestion that the leader of the rebels be added to the cabinet. You should really try to read some of the stuff that’s going on down here it will brighten your day. I want to know what happened to the days of the Lincoln Douglas debates where elections were about real issues and not bull shit. Well this is Flounder saying Ciao from Medellin, Colombia.

Well I know those of you that actually read this have been wondering where I’ve been this week. It seems I might have a partially detached retina which makes typing rather a difficult task. But let’s give it a shot shall we. You all heard the expression water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink. That is becoming closer to the truth every day. Now before you run away screaming not another Global Warming story. This is not about that this is about mans stupidity. When I lived in Parsippany NJ there was a lot of construction going on especially office buildings. Many of these had 70% vacancy rates but they still had to run Air Conditioning and Heat, both of which use water. When I looked at the criteria for approving this construction I would see great concern for the sewage and garbage that would be generated. I didn’t notice any concern for where the fresh water was going to come from. This lack of concern for fresh water is not just a NJ problem but a worldwide problem. Using NJ as an example when I first moved to NJ I lived in East Orange whose water was supplied from artesian wells. It was great water and there seemed to be plenty of it. Well East Orange now has to buy water from other sources as does Parsippany. Now look at the rest of the country the largest reservoir in the country named Lake Mead is down to the lowest level since they filled it way back when. Oh the dam is called Hoover maybe you’ve heard of it. I’ve read news items that will tell you the next big money commodity will be fresh water. Now how many of you would freak out if tomorrow morning if when you went to the sink to make coffee and when you turned the tap noting came out. Now after you’ve called everybody and complained you’ve been told hey we ran out. You would probably say not possible the planet is seventy percent water this can’t happen. Well it can and has in some parts of the world. Down here they’ve diverted rivers so that the mine Gold and Emeralds. The result is large reservoirs are now near empty. I live in Medellin Colombia and it rains almost every day or night yet the reservoirs are at 59% of capacity. The west coast of the country is in the middle of a major drought. Yet when I look out the window new construction is being done and old homes are adding floors resulting in an increase in the local population without consideration as to where the drinking water will come from. Wealthy people just order bottled water and don’t think about it, this too will run dry. The most obvious answer and one nobody wants to hear is population control. Did you hear that it was the Catholic Church screaming Nooooooooo. Well my eye is driving me crazy so we’ll have to continue this later. This is Flounder saying Ciao from Medellin Colombia.

You watching or reading the news these days you see politics, murder, and stuff they call human interest. News about politics is anything but informing. It appears to be more like some old comics stand up routine. Then you have murder and other violence in the news. Sometimes I think this is shown just to make us feel uncomfortable. Human interest that’s just to show us the news has a human side. It’s all bullshit! They don’t want you thinking about issues during an election if you did you might decide to ask one of the candidates his opinion on the subject. That would be a no no for anyone who wants to get elected. News about violence is to scare you into accepting more police presence in your life. You’ll be willing to give a little independence to have that feeling of security. Human interest is just a story to escape too sort of like cartoons at a horror movie double feature. What I’m trying to say here is the news isn’t the news anymore it’s just bullshit to keep you from getting upset with all the other bullshit going on around you. This is Flounder saying Ciao from Medellin, Colombia.

So Sunday September 20th my wife and I are shopping in the Exito, which is Colombia’s version of Wal-Mart and guess what? They have the Christmas decorations out already. Now you might say they have a long Christmas season but they don’t. They put everything out on the floor now and when it sell it doesn’t get restocked so that by Dec 15th at the latest all signs of Christmas is gone from the store. For somebody like me that like to shop close to Christmas it’s a real drag. Somebody told me it’s because employment contracts end in around the beginning of Dec. which means a lot of people especially in the professional fields will be unemployed from two weeks to a month or a little more. That and everybody starts partying and getting drunk right up to New Years Day. December 7th I think and Christmas Eve everyone is shooting off fireworks. Christmas Eve is also the all night drunkathon or party if you prefer. It seems that Easter is more religious than Christmas. I love Christmas and I approach each year with childlike glee only to see it slip into haze of hangovers. If I ever sell a lot of books I’m going to have one last great Christmas. This Is Flounder saying CIAO and have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN from Medellin,, Colombia.