This is why we don't need crying men

I have been writing this blog entry for a few months now piece by piece as more examples are uncovered displaying the downfall of men in this country. Although there are volumes that can be written on the political discourse of some men and how poorly they have shown themselves to stand up for what is right and, instead, cave in to the furthest reaches of the political spectrum. No, I think those men are too far gone to help as is this next group.

Over the last few decades I have seen the character of men degrade to the point that they think it is ok to cry over things that in prior decades would have wrought a showering of ridicule and bullying the likes few people today have been on the receiving end of. We had heroes back then like John Wayne, the Marlboro Man, Charles Bronson, Bear Bryant, Van Halen and the like. The idols I had as a young sprouting lad are much different than the ones trying to pass as legitimate teen idols we see forced down our throats today- Justin Beiber? Or the d-bag sparkly vampires and their sworn enemies that look like German shepherds? Really?

But why the shift from real men to real pussies as what we perceive to be heroic people we can look up to? That story is long and drawn out, but the Reader’s Digest edition would attribute society’s role in chipping away at the manliness that once held this nation together. We were told that real men should eat quiche, that we should get in touch with our feminine  sides, that it is ok for women to play in men’s only sporting events and to intrude in men’s only activities and the worst one of all- that it is ok to cry. This is where they went too far.

I am in a minority of men today who can hold in their emotions, who can keep some composure during a difficult time, who can step up and display levelheadedness during a crisis and there have been more than enough examples in our media over the last few decades to show the downward trend in men who display these attributes. But we only need to go back a few years to see some really disgusting examples of men who lost it and broke down in tears, babbled even, over things that just didn’t warrant crying. Before I come across as too callous, crying at the death of an immediate family member is acceptable, however you must come to grips with the fact that in that moment you were a wuss.

There are plenty of examples in history of the manliest men known to the world who shed tears – Eisenhower, Lincoln, Walter Cronkite and several sports greats when they finally retired from their art. It used to be that when a man cried there was some serious shit that just went down or was about to happen. But now we see crying all the time. It is common place now, and even worse- it is promoted. I must admit that there are a few things that will bring a temporary moment of wussiness upon myself. I am very patriotic and spent 20 years in the military. September 11^th was hard on me and on a few occasions a tear or two have welled up in my eyes.  However, I also admit that in those times I am a wuss and I fight back those tears. So I cannot fault Jon Stewart or even David Letterman when they got emotional during their shows when reporting on September 11^th. But they were still wusses.

When bad things happen we need a man to hold it together. We need him to hold it together so that he can be a leader during a crisis when having leadership matters the most. Remember this?

Louisville basketball player Kevin Ware suffered a gruesome injury during the playoffs when he broke his leg on the court. He didn’t just break his leg, it was like his leg was tired of being cooped up under all that muscle and skin and decided to bust out to have a look around. That’s a pretty horrific injury and I would expect some tears of pain, not emotion, from Ware. What disgusted me were the tears from his team mates and especially Coach Pitino. 

That is not the time for the leader of a basketball team to cry. Good job, coach. What a great example you are setting for these young men, who were also crying like babies on the most important, and televised, event of their lives. When the shit hits the fan we find out what men are made of.

How about this one? Here is Bubba Watson after winning the 2012 Masters. Pathetic and weak. First of all, it is golf and you can add this sport to the famous quote by Tom Hanks, “There’s no crying in baseball.” What’s next, crying when someone wins the National Shuttlecock Tournament?

Disgraceful. Like I said, there have been sports heroes over the years that have shed a tear or two, however it was a rare occasion. This idiot blubbers every time he is on television.

More examples of men who failed at holding it together can be found by a simple Google search for men crying at their wedding, during the birth of a child, crying because he climbed up on a jungle gym and couldn't get down (I shit you not) and lastly over a video game. What disturbs me even more is the fact that when they are called out for being wussies it is the accuser who gets the blast from people defending these crying idiots.

The final act that made me publish this post occurred yesterday when some chicken shit set off bombs at the Boston Marathon. We see glaring examples of both kinds of men- those who run toward the danger and those who run away and/or cry like babies. Like I said, when the shit hits the fan, and seeing pools of blood and body parts would definitely qualify, we see what men are made of. That is not the time or the place for someone who blubbers at a wedding or because he won a golf game. Thank God the first responders and bystanders had the wherewithal to keep their composure and start the task of first aid and providing strength and decorum to the injured and dying. I saw a man who was holding his wife/girlfriend’s head in his lap while she lay bleeding all over the place. He was calm and collected and that is what that woman needed.

While the many videos of the bombing are horrifying, they are well worth the watch if you want to see the kinds of men this country is losing.

People on government assistance stimulate the economy?

I know that I am not the smartest peanut in the turd sometimes, however I cannot wrap my head around this administration's economic recovery plan of getting more people on government assistance, specifically food stamps. Please explain to me how taking more of my money and giving it to bums will help my family and stimulate the economy by giving my money (the government took from me)  to someone who isn't working.

The government takes from people and doles out the money. The government doesn't earn money like I do when I get a paycheck; the government takes money out of my paycheck. That is money I would have put back into the economy anyway, so how does taking that money and allowing someone else to spend it help anything except the lifestyle of a person who doesn't have to work for their money? Yes, that is totally fair.

Here is a good summary of the last State of the Union address from last month from The Gateway Pundit:

SOTU 2013: 2.6 Million More in Poverty, 45 Million on Food Stamps, Median Income Down 10%, Record Unemployment, Record Gas Prices

Sure didn't sound that gloomy when Obama was talking. Much of what this guy has said he will do has not happened. He told us that our taxes would not go up, however my first paycheck of the New Year was less because I have more medical taken out. I guess this administration doesn't think that is a new tax despite the promises we were given during campaign season. From Investors.com:

As a candidate in 2008, Obama said, "I can make a firm pledge" that "no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."

Another broken promise.

Addressing Congress as president for the first time in 2009, Obama said, "If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: not one single dime."

And yet this clown won the electoral and popular vote. It reminds me of Stockholm Syndrome. The American public is so stupid, that it doesn't care this guy breaks promises or caters to his special interest buddies at our expense. The majority of Americans are fine with a President that has not stuck to his promises and has not improved our economy, except for the bums on social programs. The sickening part of this attitude is that the Republicans aren't doing anything about it. The Democrats are sticking it in our asses and the Republicans are breaking it off.

Time, Evolution & God

I am a glutton for punishment and I enjoy a good verbal debate on the Huffington Post website. It is an overtly left leaning site but I like to know what people are thinking and how they think even if it is different than my own mold. I have found that the comments section of any news story will bring out the best and the worst society has to offer- again, another post for another time. I was recently bashed on HuffPo for my thoughts on God, a topic that these people both loathe and enjoy talking about, when I made a comment about the CT shooting. The internet is a marvelous thing- it gives us an unending library of knowledge, entertainment and anonymity. Internet Courage is a great boost to one’s self esteem.

The conversation quickly fell into the classic, “Athiests are smart but Christians are stupid because they believe the Earth is only 6000 years old” routine.  I usually let these go since people are not going to be swayed by an internet Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em debate, but I went ahead and addressed this comment.

Knowing I was going into the lion’s den, I tried to appeal to intellect and reason by dusting off my statistics textbook and delving into probabilities. The probability of any event which has a known number of possible outcomes can be easily calculated – ask any card counter or craps player. The probability of rolling a 7 using two dice would be 6/36 since there are 6 ways to get a 7. This just happens to be the number that would also come up most often simply because there are 6 different combinations.  By contrast, there is only one combination to get snake eyes, a significantly harder or more infrequent number to roll. Nobody said the House was stupid.

The probability of flipping either a head or a tail, which is an event that must happen, is 1. The probability of rolling a 19 with two dice is 0- in other words, it is an impossibility. It isn't even an improbability!

How does this fit into evolution? The “average” sized protein consists of about 500 amino acids of among thousands of proteins in a living organism. Using this protein and some statistics, we can calculate how long it would take, by chance, a single building block to be created. There are 20 essential amino acids in all life on earth and they arranged in a very precise order, much like the order of letters in this sentence. If any single or group of letters is disarranged then the whole sentence structure fails. Our amino acids follow a much stricter order and while we can understand a typo, there is no room for error (called mutations) with proteins.

Here is where the fun starts: taking the 20 amino acids calculating the probability of the proper sequence among the 500 would yield simple a formula 1/20 x 1/20 x 1/20 . . . five hundred times. This number is ridiculous- it is a 1 with over 600 zeros after it. If a legion of Bill Gates supercomputers could begin the task of crunching the numbers and calculating a billion combinations of our 500 amino acids every second, it would take 300 billion years. The known universe is only ~13 billion years old.

However, a lightning bolt zapped a pool of sludge in such a way that an amino acid formed, and then happened 499 more times to get the perfect combination of proteins for our very simple organism. And life flourished from there! 

Improbable or impossible?

Enough with the shootings, already.

Seriously. The frequency and grotesqueness of these events has stepped up over the last 10 years. No longer are they isolated incidents and they continue reveal a darkness of the human soul reminiscent of the Salem witch trial torture sessions.

There is no palpable reason for these tragedies, and this one will haunt us for a very long time. In human history, never has an act been more despicable and more taboo even among the dissidents of society than that of harming a child – of course pedophiles, Baal worshipers of the Old Testament and radical Islamists would argue this point but for the most part you don’t harm kids. A deeper level of disgust and the taste of bile entered my mouth when I learned that most of the 20 children in this tragedy were between the ages of 5 and 8 years old. I have two children in that age range and it wasn't until I had time to think about this during my commute home yesterday that this latest shooting sunk in.

It didn't take long for the religious and non religious to say the exact same thing, “How can a loving and benevolent God allow this to happen?”

I got a knot in my stomach yesterday when a woman on the radio actually said that the shooting was in God’s plan. I know there are people out there who will echo this response but I don’t like it. It is a cliché, an easy way out so that we don’t have to confront or think about the evil in this world. Please explain to me how the death of dozens of small children fits into the Almighty’s plan. Is it to teach a lesson to Fred in Wisconsin that he needs to be thankful for what he has? Is it a lesson to all of us? I think there is a more subtle way to get that point across. What possible good will come to the parents of those slaughtered children and to the first responders who are already getting counseling?

If this shooting was in his plan, then it is a lousy one. I believe in God, I am not judging him or his wisdom, but as his creation can’t I ask him, “What’s up with that?” Even Jesus, while hanging on the cross, asked the Father, “Why have you forsaken me?” I would bet a paycheck a few of the parents of those children are asking the same thing.

There will be no reason sufficient enough for the parents of those children and the spouses of those teachers that will satisfy. If there is a note from this cowardly shooter, it will undoubtedly point to a conveniently formulated reason we have heard a hundred times- his mother didn’t play with him enough, he didn't have enough toys to play with as a kid, voices told him to do it, et. al. Ad Nauseum. Do doubt these wack jobs have psychological issues, but we will never know the reason why- so stop asking. They are crazy assholes- that is the reason.

I do not want to know the name of this person. I don’t want to hear anything about him. I have made this claim before, the movie theater shooting not too long ago being the most recent, but the media do not care. This person, even in death, will get what he wanted- his 15 minutes. We didn't hear much about the victims in the Colorado shooting but we hear everything about that shooter.

I wonder how much of an effect a commercial like this one would have:

All the CEO’s of every major television outlet are gathered together in a room and one by one, a few of them recite a script that explains they will not give one second of media coverage to the cowardly and mentally sick people who go on rampages like this. If there is some twisted thought that comes to these people in the dark recesses in their minds that television coverage of their event will satisfy- they will not get it. The victims will be the focus of the stories.

But this will never happen. Tragedies like this are good for ratings.

You can be sure that every special interest that has a hand in this Connecticut shooting will be throwing in their lot. Gun control, anti-gun control, religious groups, anti religious groups- they all have an agenda and will try to use this event to push it. The next few months will not be pretty as fingers are pointed in every direction for someone to blame. Perhaps we have only ourselves to blame? We have become a soft, entitled and spoiled nation and maybe this is the fruit of the Great American Experiment. We are destroying ourselves from the inside out- our government has done more harm to this country than all the terrorist groups combined. The religious will certainly say that as a nation we have eliminated God as much as possible from our politics and public places so this is the price we pay. Maybe that is true, maybe it isn't.

  

The Connecticut shooting will be an emotionally seismic event for most of the country. It will have a ripple effect and hit the shores of our oceanic neighbors and strike at the very core of human emotion. 

Syrian Government shuts down Internet, no doubt some US lawmakers would do the same here

On Friday afternoon Syria suffered a widespread loss of Internet sans a few off shore networks. It looks like someone flipped off a switch, if there really is such a thing.

No Internet for you!

The Syrian government, well known in the world for its civil rights leaders and progressive women's rights programs, explained they had nothing to do with the black out and that it was the targeted work of terrorist organizations. Despite well documented proof of Syria's involvment with Internet surveillance and malware campaign (starting in 2011), Syria's Minister of Information explains:

"It is not true that the state cut the Internet. The terrorists targeted the Internet lines, resulting in some regions being cut off,"

Forgive me if I am not convinced, especially after the comical reports from Saddam's Mininter of Information as the Iraqi army was getting bitch slapped by our troops:

"I repeat, there is no US presence in Baghdad."

Half of Syria's population is below the age of 19 so I can see why the despotic government would want to keep the Internet away from this age group. If the teenagers were to discover the vast amount of porn that is freely available, I think the frustration levels of the Syrian people would drop and perhaps they would stop joining/aiding and abetting terrorist organizations. The unemployment level among the youth of that country is above 20%. No jobs, no access to Spongebob episodes, no porn, no Hulu- what else is there to do except perpetrate terrorism? Hulu might be stretching it considering they have no broadband and Internet access is by dial up. For crying out loud, we need to get these people out of the Stone Age.

The United States enjoys a relatively open Internet thanks to our First Amendment right to free speech. However, government intervention is certain when social deviants are allowed an autonomous and anonymous reach on such a global medium. The first restrictions to free speech were deservedly aimed at protecting children though child pornography laws. It wasn't long before copyright infrignement laws followed.

There have also been proposals for the widespread limitation of Internet access as well. From Wiki:

The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010 (S. 3480) is a bill introduced in the United States Senate by Joe Lieberman (Independent Democrat, Connecticut), Susan Collins (Republican Party, Maine), and Tom Carper (Democratic Party, Delaware) on June 10, 2010. The stated purpose of the bill is to increase security in cyberspace and prevent attacks which could disable infrastructure such as telecommunications or disrupt the nation's economy. The legislation would create an Office of Cyberspace Policy and a National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications. ".

Sounds pretty harmless until the bill was given a deep dive. The Lieberman bill was widely criticized by the media as the "Kill Switch" bill because of the clause that would allow the President to enact "emergency measures" in the case of a large scale cyber attack. For once, the ACLU actually was on the side of good when it protested this bill saying that the definition of a cyber attack was too broad and what was a Critical Communications Infrastructure (CCI) and what is not. They also took issue with Preserving Free Speech in Cybersecurity Emergencies. Bravo, ACLU, bravo. You still suck overall, but thank you for coming to our aid on this one.

Amusingly enough, Lieberman cited a similar program in China as justification for our adoption. It should come to no surprise that the Democratic leadership would use a communist controlled country with a brag sheet of civil rights/liberties violations as thick as Oprah's ass to justify their position. What other countries censor the Internet? There's China, Syria, Iran, North Korea, a few states of the former Soviet Untion and Cuba. Do we really want to add the United States to this list?

There are many cases of successful censorship on the internet that mostly dealt with file sharing sites, however even personal sites can become targets if the content is disturbing enough. Facebook has come under fire numerous times for their slow response times in dealing with pedophilic members. Again, this type of behavior is neither protected, nor should it be, by the First Amendment. However, the key policy issue with an Internet Kill Switch is whether it violates our consitutional rights to restrict access to or completely block the Internet. Another consideration is if we even need this type of government control and what effect it would have on the United States if the Internet was shut down for even a day- the costs are staggering.

A new bill, the Executive Cyberspace Coordination Act of 2011, is under consideration by the U.S. Congress and was sent to the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies on March 25, 2011. It hasn't received much attention but now that the election is over and Obama has nothing to lose, I would expect this to resurface at some point in the next 4 years.

Here is what internet censorship looks like. This is a screenshot of someonie in the United Arab Emirates trying to access Flickr (yes, Flickr):

I don't like this form of government control and I don't want it.

In your own backyard

Time for a pop quiz! No, I’m not going to have you try and guess the combined tonnage of Rosie O’Donnell and Michael Moore, but it is something that will tax your brain just the same. What are the 7 Wonders of North America? And if you say, “The combined tonnage of Rosie and Moore”- you fail. How many of them have you visited?

This idea came to me as I read the back of the Tasteeos cereal box, a blatant knock off of another popular but tasteless cereal. While it was refreshing to read something other than desperate attempts to get children to keep pestering their parents for the sweet and expensive cereal, I was reminded of a story I read about the Islamofacists and their jihad to control the world with their 7th century lifestyle.

The article, in its entirety is an excellent recount of both Western and Eastern art, music, and architecture and how Muslims reject these influences. The article, found in The Brussels Journal, entitled Why Western Art is Unique, and Why Muslim Immigration Threatens It gives an excellent summation in this paragraph:

As a European, I fear for the future of the Louvre in Paris, the National Gallery in London, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and Michelangelo's paintings in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. There is every reason to believe that they will end up the same way as the Bamiyan Buddhas. Although it may not happen today, tomorrow or even the day after tomorrow, sooner or later, pious Muslims will burn these works of art, and doubtlessly consider it their sacred duty. Muslim immigration now threatens many of the masterworks of the Western tradition of art, the most inventive and groundbreaking mankind has ever seen, with annihilation. History will never forgive us for our cowardice and stupidity if we allow these treasures to be destroyed just because we think history is boring or don't want to say anything unfashionable about other cultures.

Without further doddling…


Sequoia National Park – Home to 35 groves of Sequoia trees, this California park also houses granite mountains and deep canyons. But the biggest attraction is the General Sherman Tree. It is a sequoia, standing 272 feet high and measuring 37 feet in diamter. It is the largest and one of the oldest living things in the world… estimated to be over 3500 years old.

Garden of the Gods- Located near Colorado Springs, Colorado, the Garden of the Gods is a breathtaking collection of unusually shaped, multicolored sandstone formations. These formations have unique names such as Kissing Camels and Balanced Rock. The area of the garden known as Grey Rock serves as a naturally made amphitheater.

Natural Bridge National Monument- Two winding streams in Utah carved three natural bridges from the sandstone that once stood there. The three bridges are called Sipapu (220 feet high), Kachina (210 feet high), and Owachomo (106 feet high) and have spans ranging from 180-268 feet long.

Old Faithful- The most famous geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming is named Old Faithful because it spouts quite regularly, about every 33 to 120 minutes. When that occurs, roughly 10,000 gallons of water from the geyser shoot up an average of 150 feet high.

Niagara Falls- The falls are on the Niagara River, on the border of Ontario, Canada and New York State. The Canadian side of the falls, called Horseshoe Falls, rises up 167 feet from the river, and the American Falls, on the US side, read a height of 176 feet. The water from both falls flows into Lake Ontario.

Yosemite Valley- The valley is within Yosemite National Park in California. The valley contains sheer rock walls, cut from glaciers, Yosemite Falls- the highest in North America with a drop of 2,425 feet- and huge domes and peaks. The greatest of these is El Capitan, a granite buttress that rises 3,604 feet from the valley floor.

Mammoth Cave- Mammoth Cave Park is made up of 52,830 acres of land in south central Kentucky. Mammoth Cave is the longest recorded cave system in the world, with over 354 miles of known, mapped passages.

Dog dies, idiot parents dodge responsibility

In February of this year a dog named Nikko drank some antifreeze and died. This devastated Aaron Coash, a 9-year old boy who had grown up with Nikko since he was a puppy. Nikko apparently wandered off one day and returned home about an hour later. Three days later he died. Aaron started a crusade against anti-freeze since it was determined that it was the most likely cause of death. I cannot find the status of Nikko's Law that was going to be proposed to the Kansas State Legislature that would require bittering agents added to the antifreeze to make it less appetizing to dogs. As a responsible dog owner (at one time), this bothers me.

Nikko's death was not a result of the anti-freeze, but of irresponsible dog owners. Period. While it is tragic that so many animals are killed each year from the ingestion of antifreeze (about 10,000 according to the Humane Society), it is not the responsibility of the anti freeze manufacturers to address.

There are already pet friendly antifreeze products on the market and in a free market society people can choose or not choose those products, much like there are environmentally friendly cleaning products which also give consumers a choice (which aren't as good as the real thing, by the way). If this law is passed then it forces manufacturers to charge more money on the chemical that must be added, on new labeling etc. This will in turn cause products and services to increase their prices as well i.e. Jiffy Lube or other full service preventative car maintenance businesses. Seventeen states already demand this bittering agent.

Nikko’s death comes down to personal responsibility. The dog was unrestrained and ran amok  Instead of Aaron’s parents admitting their mistakes that led to Nikko’s death, they would rather point the finger at the anti-freeze. It is a slippery slope down a path that I don’t believe anyone who supports this law has thought out. Unfortunately, this sense of blame shifting is becoming more prevalent in our society and negligent parents are not held accountable. What kind of monster would throw a mother in jail after her child just died?!

Tiffany and Chris Hebb will likely not face charges, Hillsboro, Ore., police spokesman Michael Rouches said Monday.

In March of this year a toddler drowned in a washing machine. This is a horrible tragedy for any parent, however this was preventable. 

The boy’s mother was reading a magazine in the living room of the family’s single-story home, Rouches said. She was no more than 30 seconds away from the machine when Oliver climbed up on an adjacent tub and fell into the machine. 

This statement is what disturbs me the most:

"We have the DA's office look into it, just to make sure there wasn't a degree of negligence."

This is a cut and dried case to me. Of course there was negligence. Book 'em Dano. At least the parents are trying to get the word out about how dangerous top-loading washers are. For crying out loud, 5 children have died since 2005 from falling into them. They are starting a crusade against this epidemic.

They also want to issue a warning to parents that top- loading washing machines can be dangerous for children.

Thank you for that PSA, you dumb asses. But I digress. Let's get back to the dead dog...

Dogs like to drink antifreeze is because it tastes sweet. Ingesting even the smallest amounts, depending on the size of the dog, can be fatal in as little as 4 hours. Nikko’s Law would require manufacturers to dope the product with a bitter tasting chemical to deter the animal from drinking the anti-freeze. However, there are many other things that taste sweet to dogs that are also toxic to them. Chocolate and alcohol, for example, are very toxic and will kill a dog. They both taste sweet to dogs.  Walnuts, baby food, coffee, grapes, raisins and yeast dough are toxic as well. What if a dog eats these products and dies- do we enact laws to make these foods taste bitter to dogs? We have to apply the mentality of these people to other scenarios to see if they hold water and if the laws make sense.

This proposal is asinine and takes the responsibility of an animal’s death away from the real culprits- the owners. What will Aaron and his parents crusade for when his next dog escapes and is run over by a car? Or is tortured by neighborhood thug kids? 

Where does it end? I don't see an ending because our society and culture are becoming more and more dim as the years go on and the sense of self responsibility fades. We make everyone a victim and hold no one accountable.

Aaron’s homepage has the statement, “Animals and children are accidentally poisoned each year by anti-freeze.” It is no accident. It is the result of irresponsible parents and pet owners. This would be an unfair law proposed by parents who refuse to teach their son that it was their fault his dog is dead.

Nothing is fair and balanced in the media

Nothing is fair and balanced in the media. This shouldn't come as a shock, but for most will not want to believe it. I have friends on both sides of the political spectrum and some can have a rational discussion while others cannot. I get it- politics is an emotional subject and people are charged with their own ideologies of how the world should be- and that includes media outlets.

A lighthearted example can be seen when contrasting The Daily Show with The Colbert Report. Jon Stewart is a left leaning correspondent and rarely takes jabs at the Democratic president. When he does, they are cream puffs like his interview with Obama the other night when the issue of Libya came up. Had George Bush been on that stage and made an asinine comment about 4 dead Americans being "not optimal" Stewart would have ripped his ass. But Obama got a pass because that is what fits the show's agenda. I get it and I don't get pissed about it.

The Colbert Report is pitted against Stewart's show as the antithesis but it really isn't. Colbert jabs GOP just as much as Stewart. Every FB update I get from Colbert has him poking Romney or another dumb ass GOP who got caught doing something stupid. Regardless of what people think, I believe Colbert's show is an extension of TDS using a different twist. Sure, self deprecating humor is appreciated and honorable, but his show fits Comedy Central's agenda. No biggie to me- they are both funny shows. One other point, concerning these "news" shows- if this is the only outlet for your news, please hang yourself in your mother's basement.

I do lean right on some issues and left on others, which I think most people in the US do as well. There are some who are one issue voters and others who take the whole of what the constituents stand for and make a decision based on some, all or none of those factors. For me, the economy and jobs are my main focus for this election. It is beyond me how someone can be stuck on one issue like gay marriage- there are much bigger things at stake on November 6. But that is their choice and it is their right to vote how they feel, and it is my choice to think they are idiots.

There was a recent article about a GOP senator who made a statement about abortion and that it shouldn't be allowed to save the life of the mother since modern medicine has made that point obsolete. The GOP needs to weed people like this out because they are hurting the bigger picture. This guy needs to hold a press conference, go up to the mic and say, "I'm a dumbass" and walk off the stage. The GOP will never win on social issues and it is a suicide agenda, except when appealing to their base, of course. Democrats do the same thing.

Blacks and Hispanics tend to vote Democrat and the Dems do a good job at keeping people on government assistance after the GOP gets them on it. There are more people on government assistance programs now than at any other time in our nation's history- the numbers started creeping up under Bush and Obama not only kept it going but made it worse. "The Democrats care about us" one Hispanic woman said on a CNN segment about food stamps. They do, huh? The national unemployment rate is 7.8%- thank goodness it dipped below 8% a month before the election- while the unemployment rate for Hispanics is almost 10% and the unemployment for Blacks is almost 14%. How can they say the government takes care of them other than to just keep them on government assistance and unemployed? I don't get it, but they seem to think they do.

Unemployment is one of those topics where the numbers are skewed in favor or against the the political party who is addressing the issue. If you take the number of people who aren't even looking for jobs (which this administration doesn't) the number is around 13-14%. Of course Fox News trumpets this because it fits their agenda. Fox news is all over Benghazi while CNN, CSNBC et al don't seem to know where it is on a map. Benghazi makes Obama looks bad so the FNN picks it up while the others don't.

This president has done a horrible job leading this country. Our economy  is in the toilet, our foreign policies alienate our allies and millions are out of work. He inherited a mess - and made it worse. Bush increased our debt $5T in 8 years (won't hear about that on Fox) but Obama has amassed the same amount of debt in only 1 term. Joblessness was on the rise starting in 2000 and continues upwards today. Wall Street continues to be bailed out at our expense and this administration seems to think it needs to control the private sector.

The government is like a Bizzaro Midas except that instead of gold the object turns to a pile of shit. How can anyone look at a government run program and think that would be a great model for private industry? Now this administration wants to take more control of Social Security?! I remember quite vividly back when Bush wanted to revamp SS and he was booed. He was booed and now the Dems are thinking, "Hey, maybe we should do something about SS." You could have done something about it 8 years ago, you morons. Won't hear much about this on CNN et al.

The presidential comedy show was awesome. Both did a good job in NY but Romney killed it. CNN spun it as Obama bagged only 3 times on Romney but there were 8 bags on Obama. Go fact check "humor" and get back to me. A good friend of mine shared a link on his Facebook page of Ryan's phony soup kitchen photo op and while disgraceful, is not exclusive to one party or politician. News outlets, and people sympathetic to Obama, will share those stories that make the GOP look like tools. I thought about digging up some stories showing Dems doing the same thing but what's the point?

In conclusion, they all suck. We gravitate towards the outlets that share our views and base our opinions on those stories. Some people are irrational idiots but I think most are in the middle on most issues. We have more in common than we think, but the forces that be keep us pitted against one other on the smaller, more divisive issues. They know all too well that if we realize this fact, we won't need them anymore.

Thoughts on Aurora

It has been almost a week since the Aurora, CO massacre. What else is there to say, really, that hasn’t already been covered? It was a despicable, calculated and act by a hateful coward. The whole gamut of emotion and blame has been shamelessly presented by the media and pundits alike.  Special interest groups are ambitiously capitalizing on this shooting to further their cause.

Americans like to assign blame to horrific acts because we just don’t want to believe that an insane, hateful person can succumb to his own psychosis and open fire in a movie theater. No, that will not do. The easiest targets are gun control, video games, Hollywood and over medication. It didn’t take long for the media to try and politicize the event by trying to tie in the Aurora shooter with the Tea Party. Someone at ABC should be horsewhipped for that display of overt irresponsible reporting. But they won’t. The worst thing that will happen is an astute verbal bitch slap by Jon Stewart.

I never fully subscribed to the influence that violence in video games and our movies has on a person’s actions, especially when they become a meme for irresponsible behavior. How many video games did Ted Bundy play? How many violent movies did Hitler watch? I take a more old fashioned approach and apply a little personal responsibility. People that are so close to the edge of reality who would crack after watching a violent movie or playing a violent video game were doomed to commit their heinous acts regardless of the convenient triggers we have pushed on our society.

 I find it interesting how often drugs are mentioned in the wake of these events- specifically anti-depressants. What a cruel joke on us when the medication that is supposed to bring people out of a depressive state will cause them to go crazy and kill. Columbine is a noteworthy example- the pusillanimous behavior of these high school seniors was traced back to mind altering drugs. Imagine that- high school students on anti-depressants. That is a sad commentary on our nation’s social status.

Many will disagree with me, because the animals who commit these atrocities against their fellow man also don’t want to believe they have no control over their lives, so they blame movies, music, video games. It is much more convenient than facing the reality of much deeper seeded issues. Parents are especially guilty of this behavior as the alternative might appear to be a reflection of their own inadequacies of being a parent. For example, Tiffany and Chris Hebb are spreading the word about how dangerous washing machines can be after their toddler fell inside one when Tiffany was doing laundry. The 2-eyar old climbed up and fell into the top loading machine after opening the lid. The mother, like most parents, had a suspicion something was wrong when it was too quiet for too long. Yes, blame the washing machine, not their lack of parenting. No charges were filed and now a national campaign is being stages to put tighter controls on washing machines- costs that manufacturers will now incur and pass along to us.

So what is the connection, or the point, I am trying to make? Eventually, the media will turn the Aurora shooter into a victim- he didn’t have enough toys to play with, his coach fondled him during gym class, he was addicted to prescription medication, he smoked pot, his girlfriend dumped him, et al. It will come and people will agree. In unison with these frivulous and asinine excuses, will be the equally asinine demands of tighter gun controls, tighter video game ratings, and tighter controls over Hollywood. Of the three, I will bet the gun control wins out. Liberals hate guns and this gives plenty of ammo for their cause- pun intended. Opponents of gun control argue that had even one person in that theater had a concealed weapon permit, perhaps the death toll would not have been so severe. Is that premise valid? If evil doers do not have knowledge of the hidden guns in a room, will they be as likely to commit their crimes? There is some merit to that line of reasoning.

Eventually, the religious start to ask the age old question- how can a just God allow something like this to happen? How can he allow a school bus of children to fly off the road and explode into flames? What about the Holocaust? You tell me and we’ll both know. These questions bother people who believe God is omniscient, who believe God controls every movement of every creature, the soft footsteps of every ant on this planet. If he does have this much control, then where does free will come in? I suppose it depends on the accepted definition of omniscience. I believe He is everywhere, knows all things and sees all things, even the blackness of our hearts. But I not believe he pulled the trigger in that Aurora movie theater. I will let the philosophers debate this one.

So what are we to do? People want answers and guns, video games, drugs, etc. just have to be the answer. We want to feel safe, even if it is a false sense of security- which is why we like TSA. There will be some who will never go to another midnight movie viewing just as there are some that will never eat raw cookie dough because 77 people, in a population of 300 million, got sick from eating it. I make no apologies when I say that I will take my chances- living in fear is not my style. The reality is that we cannot be truly safe in a free society and people must come to grips with that. Unless people want their rights taken away and allow this nation to become a nanny state, we will always live in a degree of danger. Sadly, there are people (some in high places) who would rather us live in a government controlled nation. In fact, they will try reelect their champion in November.

As soft as he is on the bumbling Obama, Romney hit a home run with his comments on Aurora. He made it about the victims, their families. The antithesis of the spirit of Romney's speech was found in President Obama's politicking. The Aurora shooter needs to fade into oblivion, his name mitigated as much as possible in the impending Wikipedia entry. I do not wish capital punishment as that would be too easy on him. Death row is just too costly on our fragile economy. Send him to jail for life, although he definitely won't make it to a fraction of that. He will suffer the same fate as Jeffrey Dahmer- succumbing to injuries from a jailhouse beating. If there is any justice in this world, this will come to pass and the honor among thieves will be upheld.

Putting the Nation's Budget and Debt Ceiling into perspective

Here is a lesson on cutting through the financial doublespeak from our politicians and getting down to the nitty gritty of our financial crisis by substituting the obscenely large numbers into something more tangible and relevant.


U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000

Let's now remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget:

Annual family income: $21,700
Money the family spent: $38,200
New debt on the credit card: $16,500
Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
Total budget cuts: $385

If there is no hope for this family budget, then how can there be any hope for our nation's? We need new leadership in the White House. Obama had his chance for 2 years, with both the House and the Senate controlled by the Democrats, to get this economy rolling again and he failed. Cash for Clunkers, really? This is the best you can do, Mr. President?

The bail outs were a bad idea. Bush started them and Obama maintained them. Why should the American taxpayer bail out institutions that engage in bad decisions with other people's money or that cannot manage or lead a company into the black? The banks and the auto industry bailouts should not have happened and we should have let the market taken care of itself.

GM was bailed out and instead of cutting back, becoming leaner and more competitive with the other auto manufacturers- they made the Chevy Volt. This was going to be the car of the future and get us one step closer to foreign oil independence. The Volt is more aligned with the  Ford Edsel and has now become even more of a joke as the electric cars have now been launched into the realm of luxury. Seriously, cut the crap and make an affordable electric car that doesn't spontaneously combust.

So the $20,000 question is (Google that one, kids): Who will dig us out of this mess? Certainly not big government Obama and his new health care plan that will eventually turn us into a European State with people dying from easily treated conditions because the doctors will no want to spend money on tests. I could post links but just Google that too- there are hundreds of examples. If socialized medicine is so good, why are the rich people with ailment who need hospitalization and/or surgery coming to the U.S.?

The GOP is giving us some slim pickins for November. I guess if Obama wins we are supposed to hope for more hope?

Gingrich, our courts and freedom

Newt Gingrich is gaining momentum and losing headway on a daily basis and I am very surprised to hear anything about him at all. I remember in the late 80's and early 90's when he was an upcoming Minority Whip (and bouncing checks left and right) when he captivated us with his directness and ability to "tell it like it is", long before Oprah coined phrase with that loser Dr. Phil. But the fascination wanned as we found out Newt was just another whacko with a big mouth. He faded into obsurity until recently when he decided to run for POTUS. Quite a shell shock to me.

He reappearance in the forefront of politics reminds me of the new fashion trend that put the "ug" in "ugly". Boot wearing became popular fashion faux pas in the 80's with the pant legs tucked snuggly into the tops. I was in high school at the time and only the sluts wore them. Sorry ladies, Uggs fall into this same myopic view for me. Anyway, Gingrich has a tangenical parallel to these ugly boots in the same way a stupid fad reappears for the next generation.

Gingrich has blasted the court system in response to a Texas Judge's decision, based on the misconception of the elusive Constiutional clause "Separation of Church and State", to ban certain words in school:

In particular, Gingrich has criticized the US. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, on the West Coast, as well as U.S. District Judge Fred Biery of Texas, who ruled this year that a public school district in Texas could not, among other things, use the words “prayer,” “amen,” “invocation” or “benediction” during a graduation ceremony.

This is Texas, for crying out loud, where post-church pot lucks are as plentiful as the love of football and the US military. By, the way, just to backtrack a bit, I challenge you to find the clause "Separation of Church and State" in our constiution. Not an interpretation of the Establsihment Clause of the First Amendment mind you, the actual phrase. By the way, if this picture of Newt doesn't scare away voters I don't know what will. Moving on...

Gingrich was doing ok in this latest rant until I read this gem:

...judges who have ruled in favor of gay marriage or against prayer in school are “activists” who should be thrown out.

Sorry, Newtie. Freedom doesn't work that way. Either everyone gets it or no one gets it and we live like old school Communist Russia where car drives you. No one gets to dole out their interpreatation of freedom based on the antithesis of their "Icky" factor. Well, at least that's how it is supposed to work.

At least he is condemning "activist judges" and didn't single out either liberal or conservative. In an effort to balance my views and to stimulate intellectual growth, I spend a lot of time reading Huffington Post comment sections. Most commenters are not surprising in their support of all things liberal even to the extent of just making rash statements with no factual basis. Of course this practice is not limited to one political or social ideaology, but I see it more on HuffPo since it is a left leaning news source. It is fun to troll sometimes, however.

Here is an excerpt of a comment from someone named outlandish who has over 3000 followers. I imagine I would have more than my modest 65 if I would litter my comments with "Bush sucks", "I love Obama!" and similar leftists comments that adorn the majority of posts. This person really loves liberal judiciary practices does make a few good points:
"A liberal court will uphold the rights for women to choose and maintain the establishe­d jurist prudence and precedent of that law.
A liberal court will protect your property rights and protect your house and land being usurped by a corporatio­n or an individual with good political connection­s.
A liberal court will decide if police activities and excessive Read More... use of force are justified.
A liberal court will balance out the effects of disenfranc­hisement and protect the rights of people to protest.
A liberal court will protect your rights to breathe clean air, drink clean water and eat safe food.
A liberal court will protect you from the excesses of government overreach.
A liberal judge is sworn to uphold the constituti­on and does.
A conservati­ve court bends or ignores the constituti­on, even to the point of declaring personhood­, which should be the purview and sole domain of evolution or in Republi speak, God.
No wonder the totalitari­an base cheered when Newt said he wants to eliminate it.
It holds far too closely to the American ideal and the rights of the people.
It has opened the door though, for whoever wins the nomination and plays perfectly into upholding corporate citizenshi­p.
A controlled 1 party court is the hallmark for a totalitari­an state."
 
Eye opening, isnt' it? The poster really lives up to the user name 'outlandish'. I have a problem with people who demonize one side and hold up their own as the only way things should be. Liek I said, there are some salient points in that post but there are key phrases which scream "liberal kook" to me- particularly the one where liberal juges swear to uphold the consitution and do. Really? Let us examine some of the more popular decisions cast by liberal judges (that made the news) in a similar posting style as outlandish:

A liberal court will uphold the Second Amendment, but only as little as they can get away with.

A liberal court will throw you in jail for shooting an intruder in your own home.
A liberal court will allow a sex offender to continue to live next door to a day care center.
A liberal court will sentence a man to death but rarely carry out the death sentence.
A liberal court will disallow the pledge of allegence in schools and take away the lease of land from Boy Scouts.
A liberal court will vilate Federal Election laws and the 14th amendment.
A liberal court will allow a minor to undergo an abortion in complete secrecy from the parents.

These are all decisions that are provably true and painted with the same broad strokes as my ultra liberal counterparts previous statements about liberal judges. Unfortunately, we need both types of judges to keep somewhat of a balance as they are prone to making laws instead of interpreting them.

It is shaping up to be just like every other election of the last (at least) 20 years where we will be forced to cast a vote for either a turd sandwich or a big douche. Obama will win with another landslide unless the GOP can get someone that will identify with the voters and, more imortantly, do what is best for this country. As it stands, there are slim pickins.

The Love-Hate relationship of the Occupiers

It has been a few months now since the OWS crowd has descended upon our cities. At first, my preconceptions of them were "dirty, stinky hippies" since I could not fathom anyone with a job being able to hang out in parks all day and all night. Boy was I wrong.

After caring enough to dig a little deeper into the movement I found that most of them in fact do have jobs. Granted there are only a few polls but perhaps there is more to these people than meets the eye. The Week reports high numbers of job holding, educated and high earning people who went online to complete the survey. The first quesiton that came to mind while reading the survey result is if the 1639 participants an indicative sample of the OWS crowd. Most news agencies do not portray the 13% making over $75k a year or even the 1% that report making >$300k.

Why don't the media cover the people that make up this minority? Only 1/3 have no job or are making minimum wage, but we only see or hear of the yet smaller minority who are portrayed as loons. The gentleman who handed Obama a note during a speech in New Hampshire seemed like an intelligent person and whose note was well written. If more of these ambassadors came to the camera then perhaps the movement would gain more traction.

Instead, we have people like this Huffington Post commentor who admonished the American citizen to avoid boycotting Wal-Mart  until  after the Black Friday rush because these are hard times and people need to buy cheap presents. Instead, he claims we should boyvott Starbucks because they should be paying their employees more and he shouldn't have to pay so much for a cup of coffee. I could not let this one go- here is my reply:

“Class warfare- the entitlemen­t mentality of "You have more than me, and I want what you have." It is wrong.

While the 1% of this country have the money, it is the top .1% that maintains their wealth through fraud. The Federal Reserve and the big banks are part of the same cancerous symbiotic relationsh­ip which people should be fighting against.

Starbucks and similar companies are exercising the oldest staple of capitalism - supply and demand. If someone, who has the money from working a good job, can afford to pay $4.25 for a grande vanilla mocha while someone on minimum wage cannot fit that indulgence into their budget, why should the business owner be forced to lower their prices?

Let's apply your premise to an extreme siuation to see if it passes: Would you boycott a Mercedes dealership so that the person making $25k a year could afford a brand new SLS AMG?

If you want to read a fact concerning taxes, the top 1% of this country earned 18.3% of the total income of the United States but paid 28.3% of all taxes. But that is not good enough for people like you who are stuck in the trenches of class warfare.

To wrap this up, I do not believe raising taxes even more on the rich will solve our economic woes, to which someone of your mind set will say something dopey like, "Well, it will be a good start." Good luck.” 

The whole thread is a very telling revelation of the poisonous, entitlement mentality that the majority of this nation has.

I still wonder why the media outlets have not sought out a reputable mouth piece for the Occupiers to find out exactly what they want. Jon Stewart can't even find material to support them. There was a failed attempt by media and officials to do so in Toronto. The talks failed mainly because the social architecture of the Occupiers is unsustainable. How can things get done effectively and efficiently if no one is in charge? Short answer: they can't. This is a repeatable outcome for most of the OWS sites. Officials cannot get anything accomplished and inevitabley the Occupiers wear out their welcome. The City of LA has actually been the most tolerant towards them, but that is coming to a halt tonight at midnight.


Leave it to foreign reporting to actually get to the bottom of a major story in the US. A UK ournalist wrote an impressive and though provoking piece about the movement and why it has gained so much resistance from elected leaders. Naomi Wolf writes,

The violent police assaults across the US are no coincidence. Occupy has touched the third rail of our political class's venality.

Very bluntly, she states the heavy handed resistance is wielded by the elected officials in Washington who are protecting their own profit streams. Throw George Soros in the mix and it lends a lot of credibility, especially since Soros, an extremely radical billionaire liberal, has many tracks leading to his involvement in the OWS. Interstingly, but not surprisingly, mostly bloggers seem to be reporting this- not the MSM.

I would invite you to research this Occupy Wall Street crowd and not rely on conventional media reporting to give you the full truth. Hell, I would recommend this for anything.

The most expensive sandwiches ever

I can't even remember the last time I had the opportunity to post something ragging on the State of Hawaii. I don't keep up with the nonsense as much anymore and usually just laugh at the ridiculousness of the island mentality in some cases. But this recent story rekindled my belief that although people are stupid where ever you go, the people who live in Hawaii are a special kind of stupid.

Last week an Air Force couple was arrested for shoplifting and their 2 year old daughter placed in Child Services for about 18 hours. the condensed version of the story goes like this:

Add caption

The couple allegedly got lost looking for a grocery store and when they finally found a Safeway they stopped in the deli for a few sandwiches. Some stories report the couple getting lost and others do not. The wife is pregnant and needed food. Instead of paying for their food, they opened the sandwich wrappers and started munching away, allegedly intending to pay for the sandwiches at the check-out area with the rest of their groceries. They bought $50 worth of groceries but didn't pay for the sandwiches.

Safeway security called the cops, stopped the couple and the Hawaii Police Department arrested the couple, placed the 2 year old in child services and then released the couple on $50 bail. Damn, those were some expensive sandwiches. There are so many levels to this story that it is hard to pick an area to dissect.

These two parents are idiots for two reasons. 

1. Who gets lost any more? Most phones have GPS or an internet function to check Google maps.
2. I don't buy the statement that they "forgot" to put the wrappers through the scanner.

That being said, what kind of an idiot calls the cops over a $5 sandwich? It isn't like the couple were a couple of thugs from Salt Lake. It sounds like the store manager was an HPD police academy flunky. Good pinch, jackass. You really used some sound judgement by calling the cops after following the couple through the store and then checking their reciept for the missing sandwiches. Watching all those episodes of Hawaii 5-0 finally paid off.

To add insult to injury, the ass hat store manager banned the couple from shopping at the store for a year.

Lesson learned: Pay for your food. McDonald's doesn't let me eat my burger while I stroll to the bathroom and then come back to pay.

Bums should submit to a piss test

I spent 20 years in the military and was subjected to random urinalysis. If I failed I would have been kicked out of the military with a dishonorable discharge. When I retired, I had to submit a urinalyis sample to start working at my current job.

I work. I pay my taxes. The government distributes my tax money as they see fit to government assistance programs.

Fine. Give my money to bums as you see fit- I don't have a problem with that.

What I do have a problem with is giving my taxes to bums who don't have to pass a urine test. If I had to pass urinalysis during my military career and also to secure a job as a civilian, shouldn't people who collect welfare, unemployment and other goverment assistance also pass a urinalysis? 

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Remember the real September 11

I will not be watching September 11th stories today- in fact, I have never and I never will never call this day 9-11.  Pearl Harbor Day is not called 12-7 and I will not discredit the bravery of the American military with a catchy abbreviation. In my opinion, it is the equivalent of the internet and texting shorthand and it does not make me LOL.

 I will not be scouring online news sources for remembrance stories. I will not be writing an emotionally charged blog entry filled with images of that day. For some Americans, the true patriots, September 11 will be a time of horror, disbelief and anger- something that we do not need to be reminded of. Montages of people taking stock of their life, as they watch the inferno of the Towers above quickly rush away, is not what this day is about.

Some Americans think this day is about the lies of the President as we invaded Iraq and started a war to bring an insane, cruel and evil man to justice. The mismanagement of the war, the billions of dollars spent in the Middle East and the ensuing divisiveness of this country is not what September 11th is about.

I would rather listen to the sounds of freedom from the airshow jets flying over my house today than another special report or story- but not because the subject matter is unworthy. Children of 9/11 (ugh, even People magazine couldn't get it right) will be heart wrenching for sure. There should be more stories about the firefighters and first responders who are now suffering severe health problems in which their own governemnt had to be shamed into providing relief- who then renigged.

For me, September 11 is about the heroes of that day, the people who put themselves in grave and immenent danger to save the lives of strangers. On call and off duty firefighters and policemen, extraordinary civilians who elevated duty above all, who put away the prevailing selfishness of this day and helped their fellow man is what this day should be about. The men and women of our armed forces are a credit to this nation and they were instrumental in bringing our enemies to justice and for making this country a safer place to live.

August bleakest month yet for jobless

Youch- 14 million Americans out of work with about 40% jobless for 6 months or more for the month of August.  To make matters worse, there was no increase in jobs for August - at all - and we remain stagnant at 9.1%. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over?

The Times reported a few factors that contributed to this depressingly bleak outlook of the (once) great financially secure nation of the United States. Of course the debt ceiling debacle made the top of the list. Who can blame employers for cutting back hours and trimming the fat when there was so much at steak stake? Thank you, elected officials, for screwing us (again) without the common courtesy of flowers and chocolate. I have made up my mind; in 2012 I will not be voting for ANY incumbent on that ticket. Not a one. So bring it on crazy third party fruitcakes! Let's see what you got.

Obama has his work cut out for him next week as he addresses a war-worn, economically depressed, record high levels of government assistance people of this nation. He should have a epic plan, the likes this country desperately needs, since he has had plenty of time to relax on the golf course (hitting 75 rounds the end of June).  I haven't seen much of our president, which is probably a good thing is he want to keep his ratings from ending up in the toilet. Scratch that, at least keep it floating in the toilet. No, really- the less he is around, the better his ratings get.

Unfortunately, the initial date of his address on September 7th shows just how little he cares this country- another petty thumb-to-nose bipartisan display proving, once again, that he is not good for this country. What is so special about 9/7? It just so happens to be on the same day the GOP debates are scheduled.

So why would the Obama administration schedule an important speech on a night when many people would be tuning into the GOP debates to see just who this Rick Perry guy is? My guess is because he is going to unveil another thinly veiled plan to get people back to work. My apologies, a thinly veiled "jobs plan" since all the stimulus plans have bombed like a Kardashian admission of previous nuptials. Interesting parallel, both Obama and Humphries have no idea what is going on.

I especially dislike news reports stating how well the economy is improving based on one study for one month. For example, consumer spending was up significantly in July and both the Obama administration and the media touted this rise as proof the economy was in fact improving. Considering millions of kids were going back to school in July and August, and they needed new clothes and school supplies, the increase in consumer spending is no surprise and no indication things are getting better.

What's next, a prediction that the economy will get even better because consumer spending will increase in November and December, with spending curiously ending on December 25th?

Start socking away your money and buying up gold. I suspect things will get much worse before they get better. Seriously, the only thing left for this country is a zombie invasion.

Bad things happen in 3's

Bad things happen in three's, this is especially true with celebrity deaths, but this week was a ringer for The Fates.

First, earlier this week our debt ceiling was raised. It was a long process marred by sophomoric behavior on both sides and in the end the Democrats caved and Obama tried to pin the compromised on the American taxpayer under the guise of, "it has been your voices that have compelled washington to act." I don't think so, pal. Watching the recaps and reading the pundits I think the Republicans and the Democrats only got it half right. They kept their own best interests in mind and in the end we are not really that much better for it. What good is it to reduce spending and not raise taxes when we can't get people back to work? What good is a debt ceiling when the new Congress will wring their hands like a teenager with a new credit card waiting for something to break it in on.

Mark my words, if Obamacare passes the resulting tax increases will tear this country apart. We will be in the same pitfall as Europe and China will be laughing all the way to the bank.

Secondly, shortly after the debt talks were concluded the S&P downgraded our credit rating from AAA to AA+. Now the United States is looking more and more like deadbeat to the rest of the world- much like the people who bought houses in the early 2000's knowing their income could not support it. To top it off, China calls us out in front of the whole world while pointing an unapologetic finger at us. I wish I could say we didn't deserve it, but we do.

Lastly, and having nothing to do with with politics, a helicopter crashed in Afghanistan killing 38 people. 31 of were Americans and 20 were members of Seal Team 6, the same cowboys who stormed OBL's Pakistani compound in May and gave bin Laden's brains a chance to see the light of day. This is truly a day of mourning. I do not know what I will do if I read or watch a report showing Taliban rejoicing and trying to make a kharmic connection.

Happy birthday USA; Rekindled faith in youth; Top 3 Greatest Americans

Happy Birthday America. It's been a hard 235 years and those familiar with our nation's history will know what I'm talking about. There were so many times during the fight for our country where the outcome rested on a single event that, had it not happened, would have changed the course for our country. I'm not just referring to the fight for our independence from Great Britain but all the fights we have endured throughout the last 2 centuries plus- the right to be our own country, the right to live how we please including what we say, what gods we pray to and how we choose to express our feelings and sentiments.

**WARNING - Debbie Downer paragraph**
At the risk of sounding cliche, Americans take these liberties for granted- they are so ingrained in our minds that we cannot comprehend an opposing culture that would kill a woman because she wasn't covering her face when we deem it appropriate to let our teenage daughters wear string bikini's. The unforeseeable germination of the freedoms penned into our Constitution, by some of the greatest thinkers in the world, is laid out before us today - a nation in debt, unemployment at sickening levels, what some would call a steady decline in morals and a fostering of entitlement that has pushed this country on the brink of collapse.

As usual, I digress and this post is more than just a history lesson, although and I encourage you pick up a book and read it for yourself. Hell, even Jon Stewart's America has some great insight, with his comical slants of course.

Two things got me thinking about the future of this country last night as I sat on the north shore of Lake Tahoe while waiting and watching a spectacular fireworks display with my family. A group of 7 teenagers had sat down behind us, very peppy and a little loud. At first I was annoyed but then I realized that they were actually very polite just having a good time. My younger children were with me and I just don't think they need to hear the f-bomb and the like just yet- they hear it at schoold, I'm sure, but dammit I don't want them hearing when I am around (even when it comes from my mouth).

 I was very surprised when 2 of the guys (followed by the rest) started signing the Star Spangled Banner- and knew all the words. They sang it twice that night and the second time my 8 year old son stood up and put his hand over his heart. When the teens started in with God Bless America, my son was singing along while simultaneously signing the words (while my wife simultaneously cried). I taught that boy well. When one of them apologized to us for singing so loudly behind us I told him I was 20 years prior military and that I loved that song. All of them immediately thanked me for my service.

I was only half listening when I heard one of them say, "That guy in front of us put in 20 years in the military." to which his friend replied with a clever reference to Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, "Yeah, dude is like, 'You shall not pass!'" Respect for their country, for their fellow man and for the men and women who served this nation. I wish they represented the majority of teens in this country, but I know that is a fairy tale.

While one of the guys was taking time to lecture his friends on the origins of our national anthem, one of them said that Francis Scott Key was a great American- to which the first replied Key was a Frenchman. The only error I had heard in their conversion, I politely told them that Key was in fact an American born in Maryland, and that there is a monument to him that I have visited in Baltimore. I started thinking not only about the Americans who, in the last 235 years, helped to shape this country and mold it into what it is today but also the definition of "great". regardless of Webster's definition, I would hold a great American by three standards:

1. someone who, single-handedly, did something that forever shaped our country's future,
2. their contribution would not have happened by any other hand and 
3. whom without we would not be where we are today. 

I find it appropriate that George Washington, first president of the United States, is my number one. He is the Father of our country and without whom there would be no United States of America. How fitting that he be placed on the most used currency.

Abraham Lincoln is my number 2 as he was President during one of the most tumultuous times in our history- and he brought us back together as a nation.

Lastly, is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for bringing equality to our nation.





That is my short list and of course there are many more out there but this is my top 3 that follow my criteria above. In closing, I wish everyone a safe and fun celebration of the birth of the greatest country the world has ever seen.