A grouse is a game bird, but colloquially, it's a verb, meaning "to complain".
I've been doing a lot of grousing myself, mostly to myself and to my journal, which allows me to write whatever slips past the internal censors and editors.
Today, I read a book review on rielpolitik.com about the US miitary-industrial complex, which outgoing US President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned against in 1961. I wanted to respond, but that site no longer accepts direct responses, apparently.
So, I'll grouse here, on my own blog, about my longstanding aversion to war and conflict.
The US of A was built on war and conquest. Eisenhower, himself a general in the US Army, headed war campaigns in Africa before he became president. George Washington, first US president, wanted to join the British regular army but was rejected, so he started his own army here.
A study of US history proves the US has been instigator or participant in war almost constantly since the Europeans landed on the shores of the New World.
The article on rielpolitik.com notes that Bechtel, a private military contractor, has reaped enormous sums from the US government for construction of military equipment and bases around the world. It has a huge presence at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, near Knoxville, and one of the sites of the Manhattan Project, where the first atomic bombs were developed in secret during WWII and under FD Roosevelt's last term as president.
The rielpolitik synopsis emphasizes the burgeoning military expenses, with the resultant indoctrination of all levels of US society into the notion that constant war is acceptable, even respectable, and certainly "good for the economy", or so the perpetrators claim.
What is this fascination with competition? I look to the animal world, and to the plant world, and do not see a need or desire to compete merely for the sake of domination.
At the moment, my two chickens are resting beside me and at my feet, cleaning feathers,attending to our environment, but the Gun Clubbers down the street are blasting away with their boom-booms,in concert with all the human grousers who are addicted to fighting.
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katharineotto 
War; (and I know it isn’t all your post talks about) what’s it good for – absolutely nothing! Except…
It’s good for the bankers – selling Arms and Medicines to ALL sides. It’s good for the Reaper Man
My point, exactly. That makes two of us who agree on this topic.
Yes!
I would love to see your followers (any more?) who would agree.
There has to be some… but alas – – –
Katharine, I share your longstanding aversion to war and conflict. It has been the curse of our civilization since, around 2300 BCE, nomadic barbarian tribes living on the fringe of Asia and Europe invaded the peaceful agricultural lowlands of our Neolithic ancestors. In our times, the military-industrial complex has become a gigantic money-making machine for the players involved. Nothing else matters to them.
What you say about the patriarchy, Rosaliene. That you and I continue to play off each other is gratifying and impressive, although I defer to your success in writing. I’m still hoping to finish my one and only novel in the remaining time I have.
The synchronicity of our posts about war and violence was not lost on me. Perhaps, you could consider serializing your novel on a separate WordPress site as another way of getting it out into the world. Just a thought 🙂
Good idea, Rosaliene, and I’ve considered it but keep running into obstacles, like equipment malfunctions, constant upgrades with incompatibility of all the separate components, and corrosion due to the heat plus humidity on this marshy bog I live in.
Despite all this, I still like the concept of my novel, which is my philosophy of life and the mutability of time.
Should you consider self-publication, you would also need well-functioning computer equipment and reliable internet connection.
Right. That’s one of my obstacles.
Knowing the obstacles in our path is an essential step in overcoming them.
Yes. The next obstacle is figuring out how to overcome them. As Carl Jung said, our biggest stumbling blocks can be our biggest stepping stones.