I am a resident in another country.  I stood in line, applied, paid my fees and followed procedures that would be ridiculous in most countries.  I came across a culture that is different than where I grew up.  But it is their culture that I must assimilate into.

An open or porous border is not in the interest of the people, culture or economics of the people in any country.  In today’s world, there is a need to protect entry into most countries.  Some countries have the borders set up to keep the people from leaving.

I see no reason to reward bad behavior.  I know people here who did not follow the correct procedures to become residents of this country.  Most will be discovered, possibly jailed but definitely deported.  They are here illegally.

People here illegally are removed.  You could be robbed or injured and nothing will happen to you but overstay your visa and suddenly there are laws that must be followed.  That’s the way it is.

I feel for the illegal citizen.  Here, the reasons for illegality center around convenience.  I think that is true in the U.S. as well.  It is easier to be illegal than legal.  I get it, I understand.  At the same time I will not punish those who stand in line legally to get into the U.S. but reward those who skirt the law.  That’s just me I guess.

My stand on immigration is simple.  If you are here legally, welcome.  If you are not then get to the back of the line and wait your turn.

I asked my friend at breakfast “why do people do graffiti?”

His response sounded good enough that I did not want to research it – just accept it.  He said, “It’s a form of power, a way to express yourself when no one will listen.  Also there is a thrill of getting caught.”

I noticed that graffiti in Cuenca Ecuador tended to be removed quickly.  The writings were aimed at the government.

I was told that every graffiti expressionist could be identified, usually because of the way they drew or the misspellings in their statements.  Trying to decipher a foreign language that violates common grammar rules slowed up my Spanish learning.

It dawned on me that FaceBook is the modern day graffiti.  I click on and see the more socially accepted way of showing power.  The expression is cleaner, less artistic and you put your name and picture on the comments.

There are many forms of expression from really nice pictures to hateful comments about politics.  The bottom line to me is that they are forms of power.  It is like they are saying, “See I am involved.” They sit at the computer and communicate without doing anything about the issue they express.  Like the disenfranchised street graffiti expressionist, they don’t have the kind of energy needed to do something.  But they can comment.

I follow my daughter on FB. I feel bad that she has to share her feelings in this format as opposed to having a friend to share with, in a face to face.  I also noticed that the younger crowd avoids the older crowd on FB.  All these communication tools and we don’t communicate, possibly because we believe our power of expression will rule the day.

Here’s the kicker.  I have a street wise rescue dog.  He is cunning and quick.  I looked on my computer and the screen revealed these words “Gruffiti is communication from the disenfranchised.”

You don’t think that…  nah?

You all know the cases of a preacher railing against the evils of unmarried sex only he is discovered to be having just such an experience.  In the field of psychology this is called reaction formation.  But to the populace this is hypocrisy.

I am fascinated by the thinking of the people in the rise of the Nazi’s.  Hundreds of thousands of Jews fled the country in advance of what was to come.  Some had no resources to leave yet some stayed and even voted for that party.  It is this thought process that fascinates me.

I am interested in that thinking process because I suspect it is occurring again.  I have turned this over in my head so often.  I know others see it as well.  But those who see this thought process are marginalized as fanatics, indeed some are but even crazy people get out of the way of a speeding car.

I am currently stuck in the thought process that there are people who believe two things at the core.  1. The government seeks what is best for all its citizens  2. Evil does not exist.

Let me clarify the second.  They either believe that evil is just an extension of good and can be won over or that if you acknowledge evil it comes to bear.  Either way history shows the dastardly levels of evil exist and to ignore such is foolhardy at best.

As I type on the plastic keyboard that is encased in a plastic frame with a myriad of plastic components, let alone metal components that are harmful, I think of the people who attack the oil industry.  These things are all made from oil, metals and various chemical combinations.  I know that many of the naysayers of oil will not give up their car interiors, their TVs, their phones but they will mount an attack against the industries that produce them.

Don’t get me wrong, the industries can be evil in their own way.  But how can these industries be evil yet government and fanatical groups can’t?  Isn’t that hypocrisy?  Or is the thinking that just this one item that I use isn’t asking so much?

I see people disparage one of the two political parties and I stand in amazement.  Can’t they see there is ONLY ONE party.  Each faction wants to control the rights to the money.  And somehow people think that when they elect a representative (funny word when you look at it) that this person will be better than another.

Some candidates spend millions to get a job that pays $170,000.  Just stare at those numbers and ask, “Is this good fiscal judgment?  or “Is there something bigger here?”  It won’t change until we elect someone that doesn’t have the money.  Then they can be bribed unless you elect enough of the poor to have a more representative government.  But then you run the risk of having a government run by Pollyanna’s.  Be careful what you wish for.

The end result for me is that I see hypocrisy in the best of causes.  And I don’t know how to deal with it.

In the uncut version of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST  Jason Robards plays a notorious outlaw.  He is captured and while awaiting  transfer to another location, a story writer stands outside the cell bars looking for an exclusive bit of inner thinking from a killer.

The writer asks, (something like this) “If you could do one thing better what would it be?”  Robards mulls it over as the camera builds the intensity of his impending response.  He says with regretful understanding, “I would have taken better care of my teeth.”

My first day in Cuenca, Ecuador, I had lunch overlooking the city.  A husband and wife and older daughter shared the table next to me.  In our impromptu conversation the father, a U.S. dentist railed on the evils of fluoride.  He said that fluoride was a poison, plain and simple.  He explained that the fluorine industry made millions using fluoride, a throw away by product of the fluorine industry.  His daughter practiced law and chimed in on the various suits she had involvement with attacking the unnecessary premature death and suffering of Americans.

The father went a step further and said that in order to be accepted into a dental school in the U.S., one had to sign a form  essentially stating  the prospective student would not make claims against fluoride or the fluoride industry

The family explained how they use baking soda and this black toothpaste from Russia.  They had a package on hand.  (They were in the process of opening a market for this product).  I noticed the family did not use any sugar in their coffee and they ate food that contained no sugar.  These people possessed a serious commitment to good health and good teeth.

The tag team conspiracy theorists struck a nerve in a gene I call, “those bastards” gene.  Some call it the underdog gene.  You know the urge to root for the team that doesn’t have a chance. I saw the fluoride magnates laughing as they took their garbage and sold it to greedy city politicians.  I was an underdog.

A short while later I met a U.S. dentist practicing in Cuenca.  He did not try to change my opinion. Rather he calmly stated the research in developing countries (this is another topic ) that allowed children to keep their teeth simply by adding fluoride to the water.  He added there was no change in disease or death rates except people fared better with teeth.  He took it a step further, talking in my language of statistics, and explained the numbers.

I find that I have a tendency to employ the “recency” effect.  Whoever spoke to me last makes the most sense.  I have found that some people are very good speakers, “conmen” if you will and use their education as a launch pad for their attempt to sway your opinion.

The first question I asked myself, “What did each party have to gain by convincing me of the use of fluoride.  The movie JERRY McGUIRE has the line “show me the money.”  That helped tilt my opinion.

I often brush my teeth with activated charcoal because years of baseball bad hops have put hairline fractures in my teeth that bleaching (now that’s a poison) would destroy my enamel covering.  But after the charcoal brushing I brushed my teeth with fluoride toothpaste.

So off to the web to research the topic I went.  I decided to balance the articles with pro’s and con’s.  That didn’t work because there were so few cons.  In fact, in peer reviewed journals, there was not one article against fluoride.  Rants from Mrs. Jones, that her child contracted autism because of fluoride water, were common, but nothing of fact.

The research into the possible effects of long term fluoride use became the only concern.  No doubt if you look at parts per million (PPM), and you ingested too much, one would cause damage.  However, the amount of fluoride in the water is monitored to prevent a PPM intrusion.  In some areas, fluoride in the water is naturally elevated and steps are taken to reduce the PPM.

I remember a cartoon of a bunch of fat rats who were burying their family members who overdosed on artificial sweeteners.  There were mountains of empty wrappers the contents  of which they consumed.  I got the point (didn’t agree but it was a cute ad).  In fact I felt if you understood the cartoon you also saw the ad homonym or rhetoric in their suggestion.

So I believe, based on reading scientific reports and studies, that using fluoride in the water as well as in toothpaste is not only safe, but beneficial.  Trusting local government officials to follow safe procedures is another matter (a later topic).

So when your neighbor or local internet browser expert says that fluoride is bad for you or that there is a financial conspiracy, simply ask what is the PPM count that would satisfy his concerns.  The response will prevent an argument and you will know that your teeth are safe until the next soiree.

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I have done some bone head things in my life.  Things that cost me, things that can only be told in embarrassing disclosure  and things that haunt me.

The one saving thing about these faux pauxs is I usually did them when I could afford the negative consequence of the event.   And I pushed the envelope.  I tried and failed, but I learned something in the epic failure.  I have a history of “Why nots?”

But now I look back at my failed “why nots?” and think “what if?”  There are a series of things that if they had turned out differently, would not have me sitting here writing this post.

Since I don’t hold onto fate I realize I either picked-up and moved on or somehow I integrated the event into my personality.

Some people have a major event or a series of repetitive events that is now a “chip on their shoulder.”

I think of events that people have to live with such as Bill Buckner’s ground ball.  I heard him say that it really doesn’t effect him.  I think he’s lying.  I have little league errors that make me cringe.  Granted they did not change my life’s direction.

So in the tradition of March Madness, I am going to list the top 64 life events that I think may have changed me.  I have to be selective because major events surely have merit but it might be a simple event that proves a turning point.  When I get to the Final Four I might disclose them.  But then that disclosure might become my Turning Point.