Aloha Dump

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 ah

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 th

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

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 Immigrat

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 a

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

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 neve

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 Clunker