Bits of Life

Its 2011, Mr. Suh.

2011-11-24T23:38:00.000-08:00

A brief whiskey-fueled post to Mr. Suh.

You are a genetic freak. You are one of the strongest players in the NFL. However, its 2011, not 1971. You cannot rip players helmets off (no matter what your D-line coach teaches you). You can't stomp on opponents on the ground. Being obvious in trying to hurt people doesn't fly anymore. And remember, you might be on the same team one day.

Mr. Suh. The NFL is going to fine you. Again. And possibly suspend you, helping to effectively screw the Lions season. You are a top-tier player. You have the potential to be great. You won't be great if you get suspended for being dirty.

Be a strong player, an intense player, a great player. Not a dirty player.

Remember this. Julius Peppers is great without playing dirty. You could be too.

Signed

An insignificant fan of football

Oh, you expect US to train them?

2011-10-24T09:54:00.001-07:00

An interesting look at the facts behind companies claims they can't find qualified workers. From the Wall Street Journal.

The long and short of it is this: Employers want employees who are fully trained to do the job they are being hired for, immediately, with years of experience already behind them. They don't want to spend any time or money training new hires even though there is an ample amount of trainable people for the jobs.

Interesting read.

We Come in Peace (Shoot to Kill)

2011-10-15T12:38:00.000-07:00

Not that anyone important (or more probably anyone at all) cares about my opinion, but when has that stopped me before?

The US attempts to portray itself to the world as a champion of democracy (assuming a democracy would elect our guy), freedom, and human rights.

However, I don't see how we can do that with any hint of honesty as we continue to carry out raids, both human and drone on foreign soil without any sort of permission.

We claim its in the "War on Terror" and that we are killing "bad people." Ok, maybe we are. Maybe we are killing Al Qaeda terrorists one at a time.

But at what expense? We've pretty much destroyed our relationship with Pakistan (as tenuous and full of lies on both sides as it was), Yemen holds no love for us as we continue to kill on their soil, Iraqis have been ready for us to go home for years. How many future terrorists are we creating by killing in this manner?

Look at it this way, if a terrorist group was based in the US and was giving attacks in another country, would we be ok if that country flew a drone in or dropped a Special Operations team in to kill them? Of course not!!! (The most recent drone attack in Yemen killed ~7 people. This is [i]roughly[/i] equivalent to 80 odd Americans.)

Even if it was "justified" we'd be outraged at foreign attacks on our soil!

Apparently, its ok because the countries we do it to can't fight back. Might makes right.

I must say I'm greatly saddened by the Obama administration continuing the Bush policy of "screw other nation's sovereignty, we're the US." Granted, the killings are on a far smaller scale of magnitude, but that does not make them any more right, just slightly less horrible.

How can something as simple as "Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you" be so difficult for us to grasp? I'm not saying we shouldn't do anything about the terrorists, merely there is a right way to do it and our way of doing it. We're only continuing the cycle of violence and adding to their real and imagined reasons on why we're evil.

Americans: Exceptional in Our Minds

2011-10-15T06:29:00.000-07:00

Great article on the (mostly) mythic idea of American Exceptionalism. Its the same story nationally, we think we're better as a nation than we really are, as it is personally for people when they are asked if they are generally a good person.

USPS-A Fascinating Expose

2011-10-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

The USPS is failing!!! The headlines have been screaming this and I, like probably most other Americans, believed this to be true to some extent.

I couldn't exactly figure out how it was losing as much as it was, I knew pensions, less letters being sent, etc. were all hurting it, but the numbers were pretty staggering.

Well, this article explains the REAL reason the Postal Service is facing such huge deficits, tricky Washington accounting.

The USPS is being forced to make payments for the next 75 years of health coverage over the next 10 years. Yes, the next 75 years in 10 years. The money is being siphoned over to help out with the Federal deficit. Money can go from the Postal Service, but not too it.

The article points out if it wasn't for the insane payments, the Postal Service would've posted a $1 billion profit instead of a loss last year.

A fascinating read and a nice honest look at why this venerable institution is struggling.

RIP- Steve Jobs

2011-10-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

Today, a man who's vision and ideas impacted millions of people around the world died. Steve Jobs, one of the founders of Apple, the man who was turned to again later to revive a struggling brand lost his battle with pancreatic cancer.

Jobs, as many brilliant and powerful people are was often a polarizing figure. If you have even a passing interest in computers you've probably run into a moronic Mac v. PC argument on a forum.

I grew up using Apples. My family had an Apple IIe around 1988 or 89 and I used Apples and Macs almost exclusively until the early 90s.

While I haven't cared for Apple's ad campaigns or their turn to pushing consumer products people are supposed to replace on a yearly basis, the impact of the brand, and their CEO and founder, Jobs, can't be overstated in the American market.

All cancer is horrible, and sadly pancreatic cancer is worse than most, being unbelievably difficult to treat and defeat. Mr. Jobs fought hard and survived much longer than many who battle the disease, perhaps a testament to the will inside a man who took a company from a garage, to the top of the industry, and years later returned to bring it from the brink of collapse to one of the most powerful corporations in the world.

RIP Steve Jobs

Two Wrongs are Not Right.

2011-10-04T18:29:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure when America started believing two wrong make a right?

After 9/11 we certainly did, starting two wars in our anger over being attacked. One passed the "ok" test, if war is ever ok, on a slim end around technicality.

The other, as unjust as Iraq's invasion of Kuwait a decade before.

No, we've long believed two wrongs make a right, even though it goes against anything the Bible states. And you know, we are a country founded on Christian values.

The "war against terror," much like any other war, has proven once again why you don't want to fight wars. Stories about war are nice and simple. There are good guys and bad guys. Heros and villians. Good versus evil.

Lies.

Real war is horrific. Instead of dark and light its mostly a muddled field of gray, occasionally stained with the blood of innocents and warriors alike.

True war is murky, and try as "civilized" man might to put rules towards it, they are cast away in the heat of battle. Adrenaline fueled brains reacting on impulse and fear. The basest of human emotions bared daily, causing scars both physical and mental on all normal people who touch it.

Do not think I'm attempting to equate us with those who attack civilians around the world. The cowards who kill and maim in some twisted believe their "god" desires this.

However, I cannot and will not be silent when my country does wrongs. President Obama ordered as singular a wrong as possibly any President has: he ordered the cold blooded murder of an American citizen.

Don't think I find Anwar al-Awlaki a sympathetic figure. The man incited violence and hatred that has contributed to scores if not hundreds of deaths.

However, what kind of a country do we live in where the President can order a citizen of this country killed, without trial, without due process, without any legal proceeding whatsoever, merely because of "treasonous" acts against our nation?

If we are supposed to be an example to the world, an image of what nations should be (and trust me, I don't think we are that at all) what does this show? That due process, a judicial system, laws, are nice? EXCEPT when things are dirty and inconvient. Then its ok to just kill the person because well, they are "bad."

I'm not a crazy talking conspiracy nut now. I don't think government death squads are going to be formed hunting down dissenters. No reliving of the "Red Scare" only with suspected insurgents gunned down instead of taking to court.

But the precedent, to say nothing of the havoc we've been creating in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, set by this is bad. Very bad.

Being President has to be one of the most difficult jobs on earth. However, no matter how difficult it was to say yes to the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, apparently saying "no" was even harder. President Obama needed to say no. He needed to uphold the ideal that American law is sufficient (though we still kill our citizens yearly in a highly inequitable legal system) no matter how imperfect it may be.

Killing begets more killing. While a nation cannot turn the other cheek, it does not have to respond to a slap in the face with a machine gun.

I don't know where or when it will end, but a line needs to be drawn somewhere.

Relaxation Day- September 27

2011-10-02T16:14:00.000-07:00

We woke up at 6:45, a late morning so far. Today we decided to take a rest day. Between the Hermit's Rest hike and the bike ride, a break for our flatland muscles was in order.

We had a nice breakfast at the Cafeteria and relaxed at the campsite for a little bit.

We then took the Blue Route to the Visitor's Center and caught the Orange Route out to the Yavapai Geological Museum. It was pretty interesting.

To me, the majesty of God is not lessened a bit if it took billions of years and the formation of the canyon took millions. Its still awe-inspiring in its majesty.

We had an Englishman (or at least spoke English natively with an accent) take our picture. He asked where we were from and we said Peoria, IL. He'd been to Chicago (of course) and asked how far it was.

We said about 2.5 hours. He laughed and said "You American's measuring things in hours. In two and a half hours I'd be out of the country."

We walked the Rim Trail, nice and paved and smooth, back to the Visitor's Center a caught the shuttle out to Yaki Point.

I sat on a rock and jotted some notes as a squirrel begged for food. (I didn't give him any.)

It was a beautiful view of the canyon. I'm not sure language, at least English, can capture the beauty of the canyon anymore than a camera can capture the true beauty of the sunset.

After doing some laundry and reading for a bit we caught the shuttle back to Yaki Point to watch the sunset. We walked out to some rocks and as we sat waiting for the sun to set some packrats kept attempting to get into our backpacks. They obviously thought something tasty was inside.

The sunset was gorgeous, though I get gipped with the whole "colors" aspect of it. Katrina learned a $200 digital camera can't begin to capture the beauty of a sunset.

We got back to camp after dark and I cooked up some Dinty Moore beef stew for supper. Its amazingly tasty when you are camping. Not really any other time though. Bed happened around 8:30.

The Bike Ride- September 26

2011-10-02T15:10:00.000-07:00

This day we rented a couple of bikes from the rental place at the Visitor's Center. We headed out towards Hermit's Rest, a 21 mile round trip. We had the bike's rented for 4 hours.

It started out mostly downhill to the Blue/Red transfer and then greeted us with a 6% grade for about a half mile. After that, it wasn't too bad out to Hermit's Rest, this was a bit of a warning for the return.

I admit that I lied to Katrina when she kept saying "Won't it be harder coming back?" I said "No" knowing full well it would be. What were our options? I hadn't realized that she wasn't thinking that "relatively flat" routes at 7000 feet up on a plateau is different than "relatively flat" in Illinois.

Coming back was pretty brutal. The Haro bikes we were given were just 7 speeds, but it wasn't from a lack of gears that made things hard. It was a lack of oxygen and the fact we'd had a difficult hike the day before. Katrina was struggling but making it and it was far from a walk in the park for me.

We stopped at the Blue/Red transfer to rest and I inquired about putting the bikes on the shuttle buses as each had a rack in the front. It was allowed and we rode back to the Visitor's Center in comfort, exhausted.

Katrina kept trying to apologize for not making it, but I assured her I was not looking forward to the climb back. I wasn't exhausted, but I was tired.

All told we rode ~14 miles with plenty of hills.

We headed back to camp. cleaned up and had hot dogs and mac & cheese for supper. Katrina crashed out around 6:00 or so and I probably made it until 7:30.

I did have a couple of very tasty brews, Grand Canyon Brewing Co. of Williams, AZ, makes some wonderful beers. So far I can attest to the tastiness of their American Pilsner, think in the style of a Budweiser or Miller, except it tastes good, and the Sunset Amber Ale. Both are excellent brews.

The Nimbus Brewing Co. from Tuscon, Arizona, had a great English Style Ale called Old Monkey Shine. I didn't drink much of it as it was 8.2% abv (i didn't realize this until after I opened it) but it was delicious.

First Hike- September 25

2011-10-02T12:55:00.000-07:00

We got up about 6am, make a nice breakfast of bacon and eggs and prepared for our first hike. We'd looked at the Guide and decided to do part of the Hermit's Rest trail. Walking up to the shuttle stop we climbed aboard the Blue Route shuttle and rode to the Blue/Red transfer below the Bright Angel trailhead.

Transferring to the Red shuttle we rode out to the Hermit's Rest trailhead and overlook. A cute little curio/gift shop designed by Mary Coulter sits there. She was an architect for the Fred Harvey company and while I didn't get any books on her while out there, I do want to do a bit more reading as she seems like a very interesting person.

The trail was exceptionally rough. Its an unmaintained trail, very rocky, both big and small rocks, and fairly steep. It changes 1000ft of elevation in 1.5 miles.

We pushed hard and did a 3 mile round trip in about 3 hours. We noticed that we descended about the same speed we climbed. Mainly because descending is harder on our joints while climbing is harder on our lungs and muscles. Lungs recover, muscles can be stretched, aching joints, well, those are just miserable.

We did a bit of shopping in the visitors center and at the General Store. I'm interested in learning more about the history of the canyon. Both the Native Americans who lived in and around the Canyon (the Havalupai for one lived in the Canyon, hence Indian Gardens rest area on the Bright Angel Trail) and the early white settlers to the area.

Hermit's Rest gets its name from Louis Boucher, "the Hermit." Who lived in the area apparently.

Its interesting, I'd say 40-60% of the people at the canyon are foreign. Its so cool hearing all the languages and accents. Germans were thick, but I could hear French, both France and Quebecois varieties, various Asian dialects, various eastern European dialects and even some Middle Eastern language. Plenty of various accented English speakers as well, England, Australia and probably other places as well.

Two English sisters in their early to mid 20s flew into Portland and drove to Las Vegas before heading to the Canyon. They were on their way to Phoenix see their uncle. The younger was going to be driving back to Portland to fly back so she could go to school.

A German couple flew to Phoenix and the biked up to the campground! It was interesting as their bikes had internal rear hubs. I hadn't seen touring bikes that used those before, but I suppose it makes as much sense. I'm just a luddite who is scared of internal stuff I can't fiddle with. Sure, if my rear derailleur goes out, I can't shift, but I can at least have one gear. If that breaks, you're sort of toast.

This night had the first fire of the trip. It was small, but nice.

The Drive- September 23-24

2011-10-02T12:11:00.000-07:00

The plan was I get off work at noon, Katrina wakes up and packs the car, I get home and we leave.

Well, does anything ever go as planned?

Katrina had a million screenings the night before (actually both Wednesday and Thursday) and so things moved a bit slower than planned.

While, running to the store to pick up a few last minute food items, Katrina locked herself out. Fortunately work took pity on me and allowed me to leave at 11:30 instead of 12:00.

When I got home it didn't take us long to get loaded and we were on the road by 1:30. We forgot a few items, bowls, butter knife, can opener, sandwich bags, etc. but it was nothing insurmountable.

The drive was LONG. We drove straight through with minimal stops for gas and breaks. The longest stop was ~1 hr for breakfast in Tucumcari.

Breakfast was at a Denny's in a Love's Truck Stop. The pay at the pump was disabled so even with a credit card you had to guess how much fuel you were going to put in, and then they'd credit back if you went over. Strange.

Katrina caught a couple hours sleep in the back (4 hours total) and another 2 hours up front.

I caught about an hour's worth of sleep in the back and maybe one more up front After that point, I didn't get to drive anymore.

Prior to that I'd driven most of the way from Oklahoma, across Texas' panhandle, and through pretty much all of New Mexico. Since it was night traffic wasn't bad and there wasn't even too much road construction.

We got into Grand Canyon's Mather Campground about 3:00 and quickly set up camp. We were using my parent's tent that they were so kind to lend us and it was easy to set up. Its roomier than my tent and better suited for a week of camping. After spending $2 a piece for showers (8 minutes of as hot water you want) we went up to the Yavapai Cafeteria for supper as we were too exhausted to cook.

A young kid from E. Peoria was manning the register. What a small world it is!

Getting back to camp we headed to bed about 6pm and slept straight through until 6am. Nothing like 12 hours of sleep after a long long drive.

All told it was about a 27 hour trip. It would've been a bit less except for the extended breakfast and a little bit of time lost in Flagstaff due to missing a sign.

Vacation! Grand Canyon

2011-10-02T12:08:00.000-07:00

The next few posts are going to be versions of my daily journals of Katrina and I's recent trip to the Grand Canyon. It was a wonderful trip, beautiful weather and traveling was great and getting to spend it with my lovely wife!

Pictures may be forthcoming, but some will eventually be up on Picassa or G+.

Ban the NCAA.

2011-08-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness. Have you seen what happened down in Miami? What a scandal! All those players being paid off, gifts, corruption! We can't let this go on in college sports!

Pardon me while I puke.

Honestly, if you are even remotely suprised by this sort of thing anymore you're either dumb as a stump or a diehard college sports fan. Wait, I'm pretty sure those might be the same thing.

Anyway, college football and basketball are corrupt. Completely and totally corrupt. And who suffers? Is it the coaches who were paid millions (or at least hundreds of thousands prior to being caught) no.

Is it the schools? Not really with the massive TV deals being thrown around.

Its the "student-athletes" the NCAA holds so dear. Funny thing is there are always more disposable student-athletes coming in to be the new stars and who cares who got their future ruined along the way.

College football bores me to tears. I guess some people like watching "high powered" offenses throw idiotic schemes against slow defenses. I don't. Its terrible football.

College basketball pretty much bores me to tears anymore, though if the NBA locks out this year I may break down and watch more than just a few games of the tournament. (Though last year's championship game was possibly the WORST played basketball game I've ever suffered through.)

The problem is colleges are supposed to be institutions of learning, not entertainment centers for hillbilly mouth-breathers.

I don't know what it will take to make the NCAA get "serious" about cleaning up college athletics. But as long as its a multi-billion dollar industry, don't hold your breath.

What a joke.

"Corporations are people"

2011-08-14T15:30:00.001-07:00

Ah, Mitt. So, apparently you really want the Republican choices to come down to an extremist from Minnesota and yet another ex-Texas governor.

Mitt, you're correct, Corporations ARE technically people thanks to the 14th Amendment. However, they have none of the responsibilities of a person.

So, you might be right, but many of us Americans are upset that what you say is true, especially in light of how so many corporations act completely selfishly and irresponsibly on a scale that few individuals could dream of doing.

Mitt, I hope you realize you completely suck at public speaking. However, sadly, you're the only sane option among current Republican candidates. Yes, that is pathetic.

Please, wake up and realize that no matter what your personal views might be, much of America is pretty upset with corporate fat cats who have done everything to get gov't bailouts, raise gas prices, lay off thousands, and continue to move jobs overseas all while reaping record profits.

If you really want those who might vote Republican to have to choose between Bachmann and Perry, well, keep up with gems like this. But please, for the sake of us Americans who might actually be open to voting for the GOP get your head out of your rear and start listening to what the majority of Americans want. A leader who can bring about prosperity again.

Protecting corporations and other rich entities while the average American is suffering is a good way to lose out to the real crazies in your party who not only want to protect them, but reward them.

This is an average joe begging you, be an option for me. Please.

America the Stupid

2011-08-13T17:37:00.000-07:00

I'm going to post on two completely separate topics, yet ones I feel illustrate just how dumb the average public is. Yes, I just called most of the people in our country dumb and I believe it. You can be highly intelligent and still be dumb sometimes. I'm living proof.

Anyway, first. Why do middle class Americans feel this desperate need to protect the wealthy from higher taxes? I understand, no one likes taxes. I can accept that.

I also understand we cannot tax our way out of our current spending problem. Ok.

I do not understand why average people, people who's real wages have been steadily declining since the 60s, are protecting those who are making them have less money. When the super-rich, not the 500k-1 million a year people, the REALLY REALLY rich, pay less taxes than ever, and our economy is still spiraling downward with rising unemployment, why can they not see that cutting taxes has nothing to do with spurring economic growth anymore? In the pre-global economy maybe that worked (I don't know) but I KNOW it is not working now.

I'm fairly certain that raising taxes on the ultra-rich, changing capital gains laws and trading laws so that big brokerage firms can't just churn stocks to make fees, and creating true incentives for job creation in the US would all do more to benefit the economy than anything currently being done. If you knew the government was going to take 70% of your income in taxes, might you not lessen your income? Might more of it be available to pay employees and hire new employees?

Maybe stocks would go back to being used to raise capital for companies instead of currently being used as a gambling tool and a way to make $10 off someone else's $1.

But no, apparently a vast segment of middle class America thinks this is bad. They appear to think that the relatively small cabal of ultra-rich that do essentially control our economy (this is NOT crazy conspiracy talk, its a simple fact that a tiny percentage of 1% of our population controls the VAST majority of wealth, hence, they essentially control the economy) is a good thing, that they should be left alone, and that all of them deserve every last penny they made. Sure many of them didn't make it by building factories or doing anything more than coming up with a new way to shuffle imaginary money around inside computers, but hey, that's something right?

Now, an interesting thing I've noticed about many of these same people is a dislike of immigrants and a borderline (if not outright) racist attitude towards certain minority groups, usually hispanic and black. They blame the hispanics for illegally coming here to take our jobs, traffic drugs, and ruin our health care system. They call blacks lazy, gang bangers and worthless.

Well, let me point out a few issues with those thoughts.

First, the reason illegal immigrants come here is because for years now jobs have been made available to them. How do you think so many of those massive homes were built so inexpensively during the housing boom? Union labor? HAH. Much was with cheap, and often illegal, immigrant labor. Same with farming, landscaping, meat processing and a large number of other industries. To keep prices low, use cheaper labor! Its not that Americans won't do the jobs, its that American's won't do the jobs for the wages the companies are willing to pay. Nor do I blame them. The rush of illegals has slowed during EVERY economic downturn as there are less jobs. The vast majority don't come to mooch, they come to work. And if there is no work, they don't come.

Second, to drug and gang violence. Mexico is currently in the midst of a war. The drug cartels kill thousands every year and some northern cities are practically under siege. Now, often, it is Mexicans or other hispanics bringing the drugs in and distributing them. But who's buying them? White people.

White people are the biggest consumers of most drugs out there. Partially its because there are more of them, but its also because they can afford them. Cocaine is pricey. Good weed costs money. Its supply and demand. There is a demand for drugs in America, therefore someone is going to supply it. I'm not condoning the drug trade, its horrible, but if you want drug violence to stop, stop buying drugs. Pretty dang simple really.

Finally, the "black" situation in America. Its far from simple. I'm not going to excuse the behavior of too many blacks in America. However, I can understand it. We have treated them as second class citizens, then created well meaning laws that enabled them instead of helping them. There are no simple solutions here, but it is far beyond a "black problem." It is an American problem and prejudice and blame do nothing to move our country forward.

Americans are stupid because they refuse to ever point the finger at themselves. They continue to elect crooks. They continue to allow judges to destroy our electoral system. They continue to protect the wealthy who give back a fraction of what they consume. They refuse to see why people come to this country illegally. The refuse to stop buying illegal drugs, or allowing the legalization of certain drugs to help stem the constant violence. They refuse to take accountability for past issues and see how those issues can still be effecting people today. They refuse to care about how their actions effect other countries and then are incensed when those countries say negative things about the US.

America is not a city on a hill. We aren't the pinnacle of civilization, shining for the world to see. We are a unique nation that can do much good, but we also do much harm, both inwardly and outwardly. Until we accept that we aren't special, we aren't inherently better than others and begin to work on our own problems, things will continue to get worse for the vast majority of the nation.

But, if we want to keep pointing fingers in every other direction, well, we can do that too.

Did I ramble enough here? I'm just tired of people being idiots. I'm not saying I'm always right, but I am saying too many people are never right. And they can't even see that.

"F" is for Failure

2011-08-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

About a month ago I posted on how the GOP is broken. At that time I commented on the failure of leadership shown by our President and our Congressional "leaders."

I'm going to take a moment to expound on that.

I've been disappointed in Obama since he appointed his cabinet. Yes, before he even was inaugurated. I saw who he was appointing and as one political hack after another got a post I realized it was going to be business as usual. Change was not going to occur.

I continued to be disappointed in Obama as he caved on every issue dear to his left-leaning base. Conservatives blast him as a "socialist" but that's mere name-calling. His policy suggestions have by and large been centrist if not blatantly right-wing.

*Consider the ill-fated "stimulus." It is essentially trickle-down economics. If we pump money into banks and insure that rich people's taxes stay low, well it will trickle down to job creation.

No, it won't. That failed when Reagan, yes, Ronald Regan about as far from a socialist as one can imagine, tried it. It has failed now.

Consider "Obamacare." While right-wing news attempts to paint it as a massive government intrusion into people's lives, essentially its a massive private company intrusion into people's lives. Granted the gov't says everyone has to have health care (a provision just struck down by a Federal Court, we'll see where this goes), but there was no public option. No alternative to the predatory practices of private health insurance companies that are crushing the American medical system. Obama essentially said to private industry "here, you take care of our health care problem" not a very socialist idea to me.

Also on taxes. Oh those darn "tax and spend" Democrats. Wait, hang on. Obama extended the Bush era tax cuts, and switched around other expiring credits so that they are credited on Social Security taxes. He hasn't raised taxes at all, but the spending that Bush started (and many administrations before him) started keep chugging right away.

Then we get to the national credit default. Obama displayed zero leadership. Well, let me give him his due. He appeared to be leading with the meetings with Boehner until the crazy anti-tax nuts got involved. Then he basically curled up in a ball and cried about those nasty mean ol' Tea Partiers spoiling the plan. A plan that already was essentially a centrist if not right leaning plan!

Did he go on the offensive? Did he instantly roll out a comprehensive plan showing what he felt needed to be done? Did he attack and show the American people he knew how to LEAD and that he wasn't going to let the Grover Norquist robots destroy America?

Nope. He said how upset he was and after a couple days the Democrats rolled out a plan. But honestly, you didn't have a contingency plan going on in case talks broke down? Really?

Obama is essentially Jimmy Carter. A nice, intelligent man who surrounded or allowed himself to be surrounded by party hacks who has NO idea how to lead. He focuses on one issue at a time, and even then not very well, and appears to have no plan, no ideas, no WAY to better our country.

It terrifies me because there is a distinct possibility a Michele Bachmann could end up in the White House.

President Obama, you have about 6 months to show America you know how to lead. You have 6 months until the campaigns kick off in earnest and actual governing falls by the wayside. All is not lost, but if any of that "Change" you talked about is going to occur, it needs to occur NOW.

You can't complain the GOP won't work with you. That's ok. You need to sell your plan, whatever it is, to America and let the American public see that you can lead us back to greatness. However, if you continue to cave, if you continue to waver, if you continue to believe in trickle-down economic policies, you will lose those who supported you in the past, you will not gain new supporters, and you could leave the country in the hands of some very disturbing people.

You have the power. Show us you know what to do with it.

*As was kindly pointed out to me by my brother, I was meshing TARP (which began under Bush, but did have Obama's tacit support during Bush's final days) with the 2009 Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

These are two very different stimulus programs that worked (or failed) in different ways.

I still hold that, as evidenced by Obama's support (or at least lack of will to fight against) for the Bush Era tax cuts, and how much of the stimulus came in the form of tax cuts/refunds/shifting money around etc. that he is far from socialist and often crosses towards the middle right in the policies he supports.

Is some of that pragmatism?

Possibly, but too much pragmatism is what keeps the status quo going.

Thanks to schmichael for pointing out my glaring error.

Freedom of Religion, Right?

2011-07-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

So, one of the Republican presidential hopefuls believes towns should have the right to ban mosques. Really, this is the sort of person the Republicans allow to challenge for their ticket?

Last I checked, the United States allowed freedom of religion. One would think that would allow the building of places to practice your religion in wouldn't it? Or, should we go the China route? Maybe make some official state approved mosques for them to go to or else they can just have "home mosques."

He states his concerns center around Sharia law. Ok, I agree. We can't allow religious laws to trump state laws. Certain Muslim sects, and nations, practice versions of Sharia law that are abhorrent and cannot be tolerated in our country. However, those nations are set up as Islamic Nations! It is PART of who they are. It is NOT part of what America is. If practicing aspects of Sharia law, breaks American law, well I'm sorry, the freedom to practice your religion only goes so far. Just ask David Koresh.

I'm also curious as to what he thinks about Judaism after reading this quote from him.

In reference to allowing towns to ban mosques Cain said. "They are objecting to the fact that Islam is both religion and (a) set of laws, Shariah law. That's the difference between any one of our other traditional religions where it's just about religious purposes."

Well, Orthodox Judaism is exactly that. A set of laws. And interestingly enough, they've worked their way into our society with only occasional hiccups. But those problems are dealt with by our legal system.

Finally, Mr. Cain apparently wants to insure any possible radicals stay heavily underground. What's easier to check up on? A mosque where the clerics are known in the community? Or should we force them to practice their religion underground where no one has a clue how radical their teachers might be?

I find it interesting Mr. Cain has chosen to take this route. I guess its easy to prey on fear-mongering among the bigoted and weak-minded, but that's, hopefully, not a path to our Presidency.

I firmly believe that Muslims have as much right as any other religious group to build places of worship. (Sometimes subject to local codes, etc, but the basis for denial of a building permit should never be the faith.) I also firmly believe that we have the laws in place to protect those who could possibly be harmed if some of the more extreme and unfortunate varieties of Sharia were attempted to be followed in the US.

What happened to being FOR allowing people to be free instead of taking rights away from them?

No One Cared

2011-07-17T17:42:00.000-07:00

Its a moot point now, but I'll say it anyway:

If you didn't live in LA, or weren't traveling to LA this weekend, you didn't care in the slightest about the "Carmageddon" Interstate shutdown for repairs.

People whine and cry about the media being too biased. I'm whining and crying about the media being too stupid.

This WAS NOT NEWS. It might have been news in LA, I understand. But the coverage it has been getting (seeing the bylines on Google and Yahoo news, from sources as varied as Washington Times to the New York Times).

Now, I understand, lots of news organizations have bloggers that post under the umbrella of a newspaper or whatever.

I still respond, "So? How was this something relevant for a blogger in NY or DC to have a comment on it?"

Yup, here's a blogger in IL commenting on it, but no one cares what I think anyway.

Its a pathetic statement of our news organizations that the have pretty much given up truly covering events overseas or even events in the US anymore due to cost cutting and instead serve up pseudo-news tripe to get click throughs on the web and ad dollars on TV.

Its sad. We have the freedom of the press and we waste it on "Carmaggedon" and Casey Anthony.

Edit: I actually clicked on one of the links last week as I was curious as to what LA had to do with Carmaggedon.

Intriguing...I may have options...

2011-07-12T20:47:00.001-07:00

Mitt Romney has declined to sign a second hard right, social conservative "pledge."

First he declined to sign the Susan B Anthony list hard-line anti-abortion pledge. (Anti-abortion in all circumstances, no possible option for rape, incest or life of mother threats.)

Now he has declined to sign the "conservative marriage vow" put out by the Family Leader which in its first iteration stated that more black families had 2 parent homes during slavery than they do today. Talk about complete context fail. Wow.

They changed the language after black pastors complained about the wording, but Romney still declined while stating he supported "traditional marriage."

I'll admit that Romney's Mormon faith makes him a hard candidate for me to accept. I need to see more of his economic policy suggestions to truly overcome my concerns, but it looks like the Romney might emerge as a possible alternative to wasting my vote to keep some far right candidate being elected.

I'm pretty sure 15 months from now when the election is happening, I'll look and laugh or cry at this post, but oh well. Its here. Laugh.

The GOP is broken...and the Democrats are missing out.

2011-07-11T16:35:00.000-07:00

Leadership. Its a word that's bandied about in various walks of life. Its something that is completely and utterly lacking in too many facets of life. Our current president has lacked it, as have the leadership in the House and Senate both under Republican and Democratic leadership.

The GOP however, are broken. The Democrats are a joke to a large degree, but the Republican party which is completely beholden to Grover Norquist's "we can't raise taxes at any cost" mantra are broken.

Did you read about the GOP's suggestion on how to raise revenue? It can't be taxes, we'll sell some gov't land. What? Seriously? This is the same joke that states with "balanced budget amendments" (like Illinois) have been doing for years.

We don't want to raise taxes, so we'll sell something that is finite. Brilliant.

People can disagree on how to cut the deficit. Its fine to compromise, but the GOP refusal to allow taxes to be raised, at least to pre-Bush tax cut level is moronic. (Oh, and to the point of lack of leadership Obama's caving on extending the Bush tax cuts is but one of many examples.)

You cannot cut spending out of this. Let me put it this way, you would have to cut EVERYTHING THAT IS NOT MEDICARE, SOCIAL SECURITY AND DEBT PAYMENTS out of the budget to balance it. EVERYTHING.

I'm not saying cuts don't need to be made, they do. I'm not saying tough decisions don't have to be made, they of course do. I'm not saying I'll be happy with where some of the cuts come from, I won't. But tax increases (which are actually closer to a normalization to the pre-Bush era) have to be part of this. And serious tax law changes must happen so that hedge fund managers cannot pay less % in taxes than a doctor or engineer.

If the GOP wants to seriously contend for the presidency and have any sort of legitimacy not built on fear and hatred then moderate party members must stand up and speak out. Currently we have a GOP that is controlled by the moderately far right and the really far right (just stopping short of the extreme far right). This hatred of all things "tax" related while they were happily spending away during the Bush years MUST END. Oh, and yeah, it'd be nice if the President had stood up on that issue when the Bush tax cuts came up for extension last year. See, I'm not just one sided on this.

The GOP desperately needs some members who can still stand for traditional Republican values without being borderline crazy. I'd prefer to have an option to vote for besides Democrat or no one.

Ooops-Wrong Again!

2011-05-21T21:06:00.000-07:00

As the hub-bub dies down around Mr. Campings' silly prediction of the end of the world today, I figure I'd point out a few things.

First, the word rapture doesn't appear in the bible as its always bandied about. There are allusions to something like what's been termed "The Rapture" but that word just doesn't appear.

The logical problems brought about by the idea are many. First, a goodly percentage of the bodies of Christians are dust, their atoms now constituting living people. Is it merely going to be souls going to heaven? If so, then you're back to the Platonic idea of duality of the body and soul.

Second, the Bible specifically states NO ONE, but the Lord knows the day or the hour of the end. That would mean, not Mr. Camping. Not Mr. Koresh. Not Jimbob Two-Toothed. Nobody. So, you can come up with some hilarious crackpot mathematical code to the Bible, but in doing so you have to ignore a fairly pointed statement warning against what Mr. Camping (and many others) have tried to do.

Third, this goes back to the rapture problem. As so lovely illustrated in the awful Left Behind books (ok, I saw the first movie and have never even opened one of the books, nor will I) if "the Rapture" would happen chaos would be unleashed upon the earth. Thousands, if not millions would die as planes crash, cars crash, accidents of all sorts occur at jobs.

Now, those in support of the idea say this is all part of the awful things that will happen during "The Tribulation."

I say, it doesn't seem a very loving God who would bring this upon those who He wants to bring into his fold. It might be because I'm a stubborn contrarian, but I sure wouldn't be turning to the God who is unleashing chaos upon the earth. I'd be pissed. But, again, that's just me.

A final issue that ties more into the general problems of reading Revelations in any sort of literal sense is the idea of the final battles between "Good" and "Evil."

In the immortal words of Star Trek V, "Why does God need a starship?" In this instance a starship being an army. I'm pretty sure the slaughter of millions isn't "good" and that God isn't too keen on the death of innocents at the hands of his "holy army."

I could be wrong and I know people would point to the OT to prove me wrong. I'd say that its because the Jews were specifically interpreting God's commands to benefit themselves....but hey, what can ya do?

Inception- Was it really 12 hours long?

2011-05-21T17:48:00.000-07:00

Continuing a recent trend of ripping into movies, here is my take on Inception starring Leo DeCaprio and written/directed by Chris Nolan.

I don't know where to begin with this movie. Tons of people loved it, but I'm not sure why. It drags on for 2 hours and 28 minutes that feels much longer than that. The plot doesn't make a ton of sense and wastes tons of time on things that don't actually matter.

Character development is non-existent except for Leo's character to a degree. But, since from the start of the movie you realize the "development" about him you end up wondering how his partner hasn't noticed it before.

A good 3 hours (ok, maybe 20 minutes? it seemed like forever) is spent explaining how they develop the "dream" they are going to be using to go into someone's head. The problem is, they more they explain it, the less sense it makes. This whole process needed to be skipped as it didn't add anything but confusion to a plot that was already hanging by a thread.

Basically, this movie could have been great, it just tried too hard. If Nolan had cut 45 minutes from it, cut out plot development that went nowhere interesting, and focused on making a movie that actually moved faster than molasses, it could have been wonderful. Instead....you got what you got.

The CGI special effects were gorgeous and I give their team full credit for that.

Also, why Ellen Page was cast for her role I don't understand. I liked her in Juno and I think she can do certain roles well, but she seemed horribly miscast for this role. Especially since her character was sort of "forced" in my mind. Of course, most of the plot seemed to exist only to justify other points of the plot existing. You might think that's how all plots are, but...if you watch this movie, it feels very very very contrived and not cohesive or flowing in the least.

I'll give it a 2.5/5 as it wasn't awful, but man, it sure wasn't good.

Salt- WTF?

2011-05-15T18:19:00.001-07:00

So, I remembered seeing previews for this movie and then hearing how most of the critics hated it. Ok, I thought, that must mean its a decent action movie. They usually hate those.

Well......

If you go into it wanting to watch an action movie with a nonsensical plot, this is it. To fully enjoy the movie, don't read the box/netflix blurb as it isn't really what the movie is about exactly.

I won't spoil it for you, but prepare to say "what the heck is going on" and "why did they do that?" and "this makes no sense at all" and "come on, really?" a lot.

The action is, well, modern action. Its enjoyable enough. The normal hilarity of 120lb Angelina Jolie (hun, get back up to Tomb Raider size please) being able to go toe to toe with 200lb men. The regular "everyone can hit a bullseye with a pistol while sprinting/leaping through the air" gunplay. Just normal action movie fare. The plot is what did this movie in for me.

Honestly, the movie had lots of potential to be a fun action movie. Instead, someone decided they needed to make the plot ridiculously convoluted and bad instead. Why? I don't know. Its like Hollywood has decided that action movies need lots of plot. No, they don't. More plot just gives a higher probability the movie will suck as the inherent plot problems of action movies come more and more to the forefront.

By the end, the movie I could most compare it to plot-wise was Mission Impossible II. Now, it wasn't as bad as that travesty of a movie (seriously, few movies are) but if you watch Salt and have seen MI II, you'll know exactly what I mean.

So, I'll give it a 2/5, but say that for 99 minutes of your time, there are far worse movies you could waste it on.

Inspired Play?

2011-05-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Really. The Memphis Grizzlies (which is about as stupid a name as you can have) are playing such good basketball because they are inspired that Memphis is underwater.

WHAT!? I know idiocy like this makes for a nice article, but think about the implication: They wouldn't be playing as well if Memphis wasn't flooded.

Whether its the Saints doing well for the city of New Orleans, something good happening in Detroit, or whatever woebegotten city has a sports franchise that is succeeding, the plight of the city has nothing, hear me, NOTHING, to do with how well the team is playing.

Sure, the players might think it does, but realistically, they're playing good basketball because they are peaking and playing together as a team at the perfect time.

So, please. "Real" journalists out there. Next time a struggling city has a sports team doing well, don't say the city's plight (or blight) is inspiring the team to succceed. Its just stupid.

It ain't college anymore Mark

2011-05-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

I have no idea if Mark Z approved of this hairbrained scheme, or even had any knowledge of it, but..this is hilarious.

So, Facebook, that bastion of user privacy (I laughed as I read that) was trying to plant stories about Google? All because they're pissed off that Google's social networking was using FB contacts as secondary connections?

Man, this is funny stuff.

The Alternative?

2011-05-11T18:41:00.000-07:00

So, I've been mulling this over for a bit and while its not the hot button topic at the moment, it will be again soon.

The Republicans want to pull all funding for Planned Parenthood (even though none of the Federal dollars go to providing abortions, which account for approximately 3-7% of provided services). However, since PP's services are directed mostly at the poor, what is the Republican plan to step up services for those who would be effected by this change?

PP gets ~1/3 of its funding from the Federal gov't. Any group losing 1/3 of its funding would necessarily have to cut back services significantly. And who would this affect? The same people that are normally affected whenever social services are cut, the poor.

Now, if we had an actual national health insurance system (not this abomination that we ended up with) I wouldn't be as upset by this. The poor would still be covered with insurance that would be accepted at any clinic (oh yeah, didn't you realize not everyone accepts Medicaid? And lets not get into the quality of care....).

But, we don't have that and nothing like that is suggested in any way shape or form.

I'm sure this is coming across as I'm "pro-abortion." I'm not. I'm ideally pro-life, but am realistic that life isn't as simple as I'd like it to be. I'd love to get the number of abortions lowered. However, I don't see how this would happen by essentially cutting back by 1/3 an organization that helps PREVENT many surprise pregnancies by giving out low cost contraception.

The gist of my argument comes back to this. Outside of a couple of radical ideas (attempting to cut trillions off in one year..good luck with that) the Republican budget ideas have essentially been attacks on social services. Those are not what are bleeding us dry as a nation and the handful of billions saved are truly meaningless as anything except "moral" victories. Which is what the Republicans are back to trying to do: legislate their version of morality.

Funny how it doesn't apply to how corporations act, how banks act, how our nation acts in respect to military spending. In their interesting view of correct morality, well, those darn gays and abortion rights people are the lowest of low. Odd.

What a joke

2011-05-11T18:21:00.000-07:00

So, its no surprise to any living, breathing American that our government officials and private corporations are far to cozy.

Republicans might be the most egregious offenders, but Democrats work hard to keep pace. After all, how else could Rahm Emmanuel leave his job in the Clinton administration and get a job that paid him millions at a bank, with absolutely no banking experience?

Merely the latest in a steady stream of politicians cum lobbyists is the now-former FCC Commissioner Attwell Baker. She is leaving her position to join Comcast's lobbying group based in Washington DC.

Nice, so the person who previously was in charge of regulating companies like Comcast, now works on their behalf pressuring congress and presumably whoever takes her old position.

I'd love to just rail away at Ms. Baker for being a person with no principles, and to a degree I feel that way. But why attack one person? The entire system is so hilariously broken its not even funny.

We have ex-Congressmen and staffers stepping into jobs at the companies they passed legislation in favor of. We have countless government employees, both appointees, and rank and file who leave their government jobs to then lobby the very people who took their place. We have ex-military getting hired by arms companies and "security" companies to cajole their still in service pals to buy their new weapon or hire their mercenaries, er, contractors to help defend the next "humanitarian" mission.

As if it isn't bad enough that corporations can now donate with impunity to elections we allow those who make policy decisions to step away from their jobs and instantly step into their counterparts role.

Our government needs moratorium periods on certain workers before they can take certain jobs. If you want to leave your post to go run a college, or a company, ok. But if you are leaving your post to take a job where your sole purpose is to use your insider information to unduly influence a decision in your new employer's favor? I'm sorry, you'd need to wait at least 2 years MINIMUM before doing that. I'd prefer a waiting period of 5 years.

Go get a real job for a bit. Actually produce something possibly. Or, am I asking too much out of the money machine that is federal politics?

Black Swan

2011-05-02T14:45:00.001-07:00

So, Katrina and I watched Black Swan this weekend. Since it won best picture I had certain prejudices against it from the get go. (To me, about 50% of "best picture" movies are utterly and completely crap, even if well made.)

I'd love to say that Black Swan transcended that, but really it didn't. It was a well made movie with good acting and phenomenal dancing by Portman who purportedly did about 85% of her own dance scenes.

PSEUDO-SPOILER ALERT:

The problem was if you've seen any movie, EVER, involving someone with paranoid schizophrenia, A Beautiful Mind, American Psycho, then you've seen this movie. Oh sure, it had its own unique aspects, but ultimately, you knew what was going on and the movie lost any real suspense for you.

Also, reflecting on the movie, the plot just sort of happens. You never get stuff fleshed out, which is sort of annoying because I, personally, LIKE things fleshed out more.

So, ultimately, it was an ok movie, that was well acted and directed but the plot was the weak point. I'd give it a 3.75 out of 5 I guess. Definately not "Best Picture" quality in my mind.

Edit: Upon reading this "review" I realize I will never be a critic.

Solidarity

2011-03-10T09:55:00.000-08:00

Echoing my thoughts of yesterday I've been thinking more on it. I honestly do think envy and jealousy are the reasons behind much of the support of stripping decent pay and benefits from public employees.

How many times in coversation have you heard "I wish I got what they get" in reference to pay or health care or pensions or vacation.

So, the American way is the path of least resistance. Rather than grouping together and fighting for workers rights as happened in the first half of the 20th century, politicians have fractured the middle class which instead of raising up to the level everyone would like, brings everyone down to an unhappy but "equal" level. (Equal??? Isn't that communist!?)

Workers today need unions badly. Not the clunky old, inefficient for modern problems, unions of yesteryear, but agile, flexible and intelligent unions for the future.

The sad thing is too many people have been brainwashed that unions are what caused American jobs to go to other countries. That is true to a limited extent, but that completely disregards the massive spike in executive pay and bonuses that has been going on for decades. The union mentality of "defend everyone equally at any cost" needs to go. They need to look at things case by case and defend everyone, but understand that some workers are useless.

But American workers need to stop the jealousy at those with decent (and they are only decent because being a public employee has as many pitfalls as perks) pay and benefit packages and start striving to get them for themselves. And if a few million or billionaires have to bring in a bit less money, why is that a bad thing?

Feeding Frenzy

2011-03-09T14:55:00.001-08:00

Why does part of the middle class hate another part of the middle class?

The current feeding frenzy whipped up mostly by Republicans against public sector employees is bizarre. Well, ok, politically its not bizarre. Its right up their alley of cutting things they don't like rather than actually attempting to deal with difficult issues that might upset voters.

However, while public sector employees can have it pretty darn good, it seems mostly jealousy from workers that have seen their companies move away from pensions, they have no unions to join to fight for their rights, and are constantly forced to do more with less knowing they will be replaced by someone cheaper if possible.

I was thinking about this as I was at the DMV yesterday. Those people have to be saints to put up with the constant stream of crap that's flung at them. How on earth is them getting a decent paycheck, with decent benefits (not nearly what they once were relatively, its only because the private sector has done all its can to shove costs on employees that it seems good), and a pension, bankrupting anyone?

I guess lots of American's are confused by the industry funded bait and switch going on. Our states and country are in debt! Its a disaster! Obviously we must fix this! What's the problem? Well, obviously all those decent middle class wages and pensions! Thus the people turn on their fellows instead of looking to the rich who are fiddling as middle America burns.

Oh, FYI, those pensions that are so horribly underfunded? That's not the workers fault, that's the states/towns/whatever's fault for not paying their share. Its also the fault of the stock market manipulators who have destroyed the market the past few years.

So, please, before you go whining about how someone has better benefits than you and that they have a pension, check the envy at the door and really think about it. I bet after you do, you might think differently about things.

I feel a post from someone at a forum I frequent sums up the situation nicely:

Originally Posted by Yarbicus: A public union employee, a tea party
activist, and a CEO are sitting at a table with a plate of a dozen cookies in
the middle of it. The CEO takes 11 of the cookies, turns to the tea partier and
says, 'Watch out for that union guy. He wants a piece of your cookie.'

Interesting thoughts

2011-03-07T08:16:00.001-08:00

Read a great column today that brought up some interesting (and oft discussed and ignored) points about Evangelical Christians in the US.

Now, please, get past the intentionally provocative title to read the content of the article. Also, yes, all Evangelicals (a highly diverse group) are lumped together here, but that is because he is discussing trends reflected from research on the subject.

The jist of what he is claiming is true. At least to my eyes.

Jesus the Savior is easy. Jesus the man is difficult. So they tend to ignore him.

Something light and musical

2011-02-24T19:33:00.000-08:00

So, I love music. Lots of rock and metal, but I can find something in most genres I can appreciate if not seek out.

Classic NWOBHM, New Wave of British Heavy Metal, is something I've been getting into recently. Iron Maiden in particular is a band I've come to love.

Mashups are a where two songs are "mashed" together. Something DJs have been doing for years but with the advent of youtube its been getting highly popular.

Here is a mashup of the Monkees song "I'm a Believer" with Iron Maiden's "The Trooper." You all know "I'm a Believer" so I'll just post the original The Trooper and the mashup.

I personally find this to be brilliant. Oh, and I WILL be able to play The Trooper on guitar one day. Well, maybe not the solos, cause they're just silly.

Wisconsin Update

2011-02-21T13:21:00.000-08:00

Well, as of this writing the blatant assault on worker's rights continues in Wisconsin. Not sure how its being reported nationally, but the Democrats and union heads have agreed to the pension and insurance concessions, if the Governor would budge on pretty much stripping the unions of any union power.

He has refused.

According to the Democrats he has refused to even bother to return phone calls on the issue.

As if it wasn't apparent before this is a politically motivated move, this proves it as the economic aspects have been worked out.

He just refuses to discuss the non-economic sides of the issue. Lovely.

Politics as budget policy

2011-02-18T09:24:00.001-08:00

If you're following the situation in Wisconsin right now you're probably feeling a surge of emotion. Most likely you feel a surge of sympathy for the state workers who are unfairly being targeted as the source of all the state's budget woes.

Or you are excited by the crusading Governor who's going to reign in those unions and right the ship!

Well, hang on. Let me illustrate for you how this is nothing but a power grab and will do a little, but not much to help fix their budget.

First, this is nothing more than a chance to essentially destroy the unions in Wisconsin that primarily vote Democrat. By stripping unions of the power to collectively bargain on anything but wages, taking away their right to collect dues, and forcing them to apply for recertification every year they are pretty much saying "We want you to go away."

Interestingly enough, the police, firefighter and state trooper unions aren't going to be effected under this law. Those unions tend to vote Republican in higher numbers. Oddly though, those are the unions that also wrack up the most money in overtime as teachers and most state employees (outside of DOT employees and a few others) generally do no get paid any overtime at all no matter how many hours they work.

Second, this smacks in the face the Republican ideal of "people's rights to make decisions." There is no effort being made to go to the unions and work with them and letting the union's members speak. Its an all out assault on them, stripping away what was agreed too, rightly or wrongly, without actually attempting to work out the issue.

Remember back when everyone was upset the AIG bankers were still getting their multi-million dollar bonuses as AIG was bailed out. But Obama said that they couldn't break the contracts? Well, apparently Wisconsin has no such qualms. And this isn't about multi-million dollar bankers. This is about average everyday people. People who are being unfairly targeted by those jealous that the economic situation hasn't struck them as hard.

Are certain state contracts stupid? Yup. 30 years and then you can instantly start collecting your pension doesn't work. (Note, that's not teachers, who work as hard if not harder than pretty much anyone outside of law enforcement. They have to work between 35-36 years to get their full pension.) However, making radical attacks on these union contracts (and actually the unions themselves) with no attempt to negotiate is 100% political, because let's get to the numbers.

The Republicans claim that by doing this they will be saving the state 300 million over the next two years. Ok, that's nice, but the financial concessions are being accepted this goes way beyond that.

Let me put this out here: Wisconsin, Illinois, many states, and our federal gov't, are in ugly financial condition. The states even more so as they have fewer options on what to do about things.

The "budget cutting" in Wisconsin is every bit as much a political ploy as the Texas redistricting of 2003. However now, it directly effects people's lives, every day working folk, simply because a legislature wasn't able to control itself in the past.

Now, I'm not blindly pro-union. They too often are ancient behemoths, out of touch with reality. They need to reform themselves to the new way of the world. But we the worker NEED them. We need them as almost as badly as we did in the 30s. This blatant political assault on public unions is a BAD THING and sadly just another case of the two-party system utterly failing its constituency.

*Edit:Fixed a numbers mistake

Spring

2011-02-16T09:42:00.000-08:00

Well, its not here yet, but today, its sunny about 50ish out. I'm stuck inside working, and the sun will be preparing to set when I head home, but that's ok. Its a taste of what's just a matter of weeks away.

I'm trying to prepare for spring. My goal this year is to ride at least 2,000 miles on my bike.

If you're not a cyclist, that may sound like a lot. Its not really, because if you do even a few longer rides the miles add up fast.

As of today with a guesstimated average of 10mph on my indoor trainer I'd done a paltry 37.7 miles or thereabouts in the last 8 days.

I'm hoping to have a few hundred under my legs by the time it gets nice enough for me to ride out regularly.

I've missed biking the last few years and not only because I've put on more than a few pounds. There's a peacefulness associated with it that I don't get from any other form of physical activity. Its very theraputic, which while my life isn't overly stressful is something we can all use.

Looking forward to the coming time when its in the 50s every day. Then instead of getting up early and wandering to the basement, I can wander outside and put in a few miles.

We'll see how close to my goal I get.

We ain't broke

2011-02-15T09:32:00.000-08:00

The current whining and handwringing in Congress over the US being so far in debt, the deficit, and other financial woes isn't a bad thing except they keep saying we're going broke.

They need to shut up and stop fearmongering. The US isn't close to broke. They just don't want to do the necessary things to help right the ship.

Here is a lovely column on the subject, but what the Republicans in Congress (and our President who suddenly has moved amazingly centrist when it comes to fiscal policy) need to understand:

You look like horrible evil people when you're attempting to cut subsidies to help pay poor people's energy bills in the winter and yet a man who made 5 BILLION, yes, 5,000,000,000 last year paid only 15% federal tax on the bulk of it. (To say nothing of wanting to cut all funding for the CPB which helps fund PBS and NPR.)

Is there wasteful spending in Congress? Of course! Are there programs that can be cut/merged/etc? Of course! Should we make some higher tax brackets on the super-rich? OF FREAKING COURSE!!!!!!

Why someone who makes millions of dollars a year pays the same percentage of tax as someone who makes hundreds of thousands is nonsensical. They may even pay less, percentage-wise, depending on how they made most of their money.

I'm all for attempting to reshape the Federal budget, but what is killing us right now is not the social safety net programs.

Its two wars that went un-funded for most of their terms.

Its a defense budget that keeps gobbling more and more money (oh, wait, they're going to try to cut $12 billion a year for the next few years...that's 1.8% a year off the DoD budget).

(An aside on defense spending. "The U.S. Department of Defense budget accounted in fiscal year 2010 for about 19% of the United States federal budgeted expenditures and 28% of estimated tax revenues. Including non-DOD expenditures, defense spending was approximately 28–38% of budgeted expenditures and 42–57% of estimated tax revenues. According to the Congressional Budget Office, defense spending grew 9% annually on average from fiscal year 2000–2009.")

Its the lowest tax rates in 50 years on the richest 1% of the people in America.

Its the corporations that are sitting on a collective 2 TRILLION in cash but aren't hiring new workers, opening new plants, or generally creating jobs that would get America working.

I completely understand that we must be cautious because whenever a dollar is allocated its almost impossible to unallocate it down the road. However, just because bad decisions were made in the past, they don't need to be compounded by bad decisions now.

Also, a personal note on the article. Its written pretty fairly , but I must point out that while the last budget surplus we had was under a Democratic President (Clinton) he was a very moderate Democrat and actually fell more towards the right fiscally. He had a Republican majority in Congress when they did more than just cut taxes and spend as well. Just wanted to add that clarification.

So America, wake up and stop panicing. We aren't on the brink of federal financial meltdown. The people in power just don't want to derail their gravy train of donations from Wall Street in implementing sensible tax rates for the super-rich or a tax on large financial transactions.

An Old School Republican's take on the last 30 years

2011-02-10T09:54:00.000-08:00

Mother Jones did a great article based off interviews with David Stockman, Reagan's first budget director.

He's a fiscal conservative, but he's a true fiscal conservative. He understands that just cutting taxes while spending the same amount, more, or with tiny spending decreases doesn't work.

He's appalled by the continual military spending going up and up (his suggest chop 100-150 billion off the Pentagon's budget in one year, currently we're aiming to lower it by 78 billion over a total of 5 years) and was against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Also, he views the "casino" that is Wall Street as bad for Main Street and the US economy as a whole. He supports the "Tobin tax" which would tax financial transactions and could generate 100 billion dollars a year. It also might have the effect of making the market a place where middle class people might actually be able to make some money. But yes, a Republican who supports a tax!

Its a very interesting and informative read and I just wanted to share it.

Opinion meet Fact

2011-02-08T11:42:00.001-08:00

Just a nice article on the "massive spending" Obama has done. Well written, explains their methodology, good stuff.

You can read it here.

Not that this is a surprise

2011-01-31T21:08:00.000-08:00

Glenn Beck is an idiot.

Seriously. I don't know what's happened to him over the last 8-9 years where he went from an intelligent person with a more right-wing, but not lockstep view, to the current incarnation of Beck where facts have no more bearing on anything he says than they do for Rush.

Its quite bizarre and disturbing.

Is it ego run wild? Has he really been this insane all along?

I'm referring to these 2 instances where he appears completely out of touch with the reality of American history.

This weird far right movement of turning the Founding Fathers into pseud0-religious figures is creepy and terrifying. They were very human men, with very real flaws, firmly set into their time. That's simply fact, not a knock on who they were or what they did.

But to attempt to say the 3/5th clause was an attack on slavery is simply insane, or to use a term that the right has used so often "revisionist" to the point of lunacy.

I still wonder though, what's happened to him. He used to be able to at least discuss and listen to other points of view. Those skills appear to have left him. Strange.

Yeah, those pesky Democrats spending all the money..

2010-12-08T22:11:00.000-08:00

Please, let me put some facts in the way of your lovely opinions on who is to blame for our debt crisis. ;)

http://www.slate.com/id/2276583/

And no, I don't only blame Republicans, but they aren't the "debt fighters" they claim to be. Oh, and neither are the "Tea Party" morons who have already added billions to the spending. Nice huh?

We the descendants of the 10 lost tribes of Israel

2010-11-02T12:06:00.000-07:00

Hopefully you're saying "Wait, wah?" And scratching your head in a confused manner.

If not, please stop reading and throw yourself in traffic.

A disturbing column from The Atlantic on the sad sad state of teaching people about the Constitution in this country. Its very well written and not an attack on anyone, just well an indictment of how things currently stand on people's knowledge of important things in this country.

Criminals

2010-10-28T13:01:00.000-07:00

Guess who's in the news again in a bad bad bad light? HALLIBURTON! Those criminals who profited nicely off the war in Iraq (everything from oil rig equipment to washing soldiers uniforms) have done it again!

Remember that BIG OIL SPILL we had earlier this year? Guess who supplied the concrete to sell the well? HALLIBURTON!

Guess who's concrete mix didn't meet the specifications but they used it anyway! HALLIBURTON and BP because BP had recieved notification that the stuff wasn't good enough and used it anyway.

For all you people out there who don't understand why so many of us hate the energy sector it is because there are too many involved in it who are greedy, dishonest, and downright criminal. Sure, there's plenty in other areas too, but oil spills, rig explosions, refinery explosions, leaking pipelines, etc. etc. are a special sort of horrible.

Only in America

2010-10-22T07:02:00.000-07:00

Only in America can we have a candidate running for the US Senate who hasn't worked a real job ever in her life. Yes, that is hyperbole, but sadly not nearly enough of one to not warrant a massive facepalm

Christine O'Donnell, running for the Senate seat in Delaware, has less than zero qualifications to be a US senator, and yet she is not only being treated as a legitimate candidate, people are actively supporting her.

Her Wikipedia page details her work history, lots of time as a lobbyist, talking head, and working for various non-profits.

However, what she has been most adept at is getting herself into financial trouble and lying about her credentials. She's claimed on numerous occasions that she had been pursuing a master's degree in Constitional Studies, but neither of the schools she mentioned had record of her enrolling or taking classes there.

She got fired from a job at ISI for doing personal consulting work on their coin. Now, she had filed a lawsuit against ISI, stating that their "conservative beliefs" required men to be subordinate to women. Apparently being a conservative who believes masturbation to be wrong only applies so far in your personal pursuit of a buck. She eventually dropped the lawsuit because she was broke.

At some point in time she decided she'd make a good senator and became embroiled in even more financial troubles. She paid her townhouse's mortgage from campaign funds because she was essentially jobless. She's had numerous campaign employees quit and accuse her of misusing funds.

Another problem is, she's a Tea Partier who believes the Constitution to be some sort of "holy document" except she doesn't even know all the Amendments. I wouldn't expect the average American to know them all, but if you claim to be a Constitutional scholar, who holds the Constitution to almost the level of scripture, shouldn't you know at least all the changes and amendments to it?

What amazes me is that the people who are supporting her don't have a problem with this. They don't have a problem with someone who has lied about her credentials, doesn't exhibit any expertise about the thing they hold dear, and hasn't held a job like an "average" person for more than a couple years at a time.

We don't need lifetime politicians, but we also don't need uneducated buffoons making a different sort of mockery of the current system.

Flip Side: Obama admits he screwed up!

2010-10-21T13:22:00.000-07:00

I lambasted the Tea Partiers, now I'll go the other way. Here is an article about Obama standing by hit policies, but saying he should have "sold" them more.

From the article: Campaigning in Seattle, he said: "We had to move so fast, we were in such emergency mode, that it was very difficult for us to spend time a lot doing victory laps and advertising exactly what we were doing because we had to move onto the next thing."

If he honestly believes this is why so many Americans of all stripes are disappointed in his administration so far then he is completely out of touch with reality.

We aren't upset about the bailout because he didn't sell it. We're pissed about it because it was bailing out many of the very people who created and exacerbated the crisis. We're angered because the version of bailout that went through helped the millionaires and billionaires and did next to nothing for the average American who is struggling with mortgages, finding work, and facing the future with retirement funds that were crushed during the crash.

Most aren't upset that you got health insurance mandated. (Some are, and that's fine too.) But many of us ARE upset about how you did it. You mandated everyone has heath insurance, but then gave them no competitive option to purchase it. You de facto handed ALL the power to the insurance companies while doing nothing or next to nothing to change how they operate.

This is on top of the graceless exit from Iraq, the continuation of many Bush era privacy invasions, your weak stance on off shore oil drilling, the continued debacle in Afghanistan, and on and on.

It was that you didn't sell your policies. Its that you didn't fight for them to matter. You didn't force the Democrats to not cave on a public option. You didn't fight to break up the biggest banks. You haven't fought for privacy rights. We're still embroiled in a nasty war with no end in sight.

Those are the reasons we are mad with you sir. Not that you didn't "sell" us on your polices. They just plain SUCK!

Election Season

2010-10-21T13:01:00.000-07:00

I hate it. The 2 party system is broken and corrupt.

Instead of whining about it, here's a great article on how the "Tea Party" has no idea what they are talking about regarding the Constitution and how their supporters have often pushed for additions to the Constitution that has been so horribly altered and abused.

Nice.

Why Do I Expect Consistency of Belief?

2010-08-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to a column/blog by a libertarian. Its a nice little read and points out much of what I find wrong with the "Tea Party" movement.

I'm not a libertarian, I feel its a simple recipe for disaster. But I can respect people who are libertarian and have consistency of belief (for the most part. We all struggle with this to certain degrees.)

Many Tea Partiers whine about the gov't, but don't really try to do anything serious about it. They have no proposals except "cut taxes and spending." They never say HOW they are going to do it. Well, getting rid of "entitlement" programs like Social Security (privatization like Bush wanted would have decimated the system like it did people's 401K's and private investments) and Medicare (old people love it) would be starts, but I'm sorry, that's not realistic.

They like to yell and scream about "social issues" like immigration and an Islamic YMCA with a mosque in it built by Ground Zero, but they don't offer solutions except wanting to take away rights from people they don't agree with or who aren't like them.

Is illegal immigration a problem? YES! However, they keep pointing to the wrong statistics on why its a problem. Crime is not a problem. Even jobs isn't the real issue because by and large Americans don't want to work the long hours for crappy pay that illegals will work. (And not even just illegals, immigrants in general.) They ignore the fact that illegals come here and work for Americans who often are KNOWINGLY flaunting the laws, and if nothing else our desire for ever cheaper prices on meat, produce, housing, hotel rooms, etc. are what have driven the wages on jobs so low that the only people who will take them are those here under frequently dubious circumstances.

But, we have too many laws, too many regulations, we just need to build a fence and police the border and question anyone with brown skin who gets pulled over in a car and seems "suspicious."

Seriously, when you have some actual courses of action, when your positions aren't simply emotion built by ignoring the facts, get back to me. We can discuss, and disagree, but actually have a conversation. For now you offer nothing but rhetoric and a mistrust which looks a lot like intolerance of anyone who isn't like you.

Misplaced Anger

2010-06-16T08:59:00.000-07:00

There has been fury unleashed at BP lately due to the oil spill in the Gulf. Much of it is warranted. They screwed up, cut corners, lied, lied again, lied a few more times, finally admitted they were completely wrong, and now are trying to clean up and keep the company solvent. (Is solvent like the disperents they sprayed all over which just cause the oil to sink to the bottom of the ocean?)

Anyway, some people have called for boycotts of BP, and that's fine I suppose. Just remember, while this happened to BP, it could have been ANY of the oil companies and the response would have been the same.

The problem isn't BP. The problem is are the oil giants and their cozy relationship with those in power. AND America's refusal to change their lifestyles and stop relying on oil.

So, what am I saying? First, something like this was going to happen. It really was. It might have happened to Shell, or Conoco-Phillips, but it was going to happen. And no company would have known what to do, and all of them would have lied just like BP. This is not exonerating BP, merely stating the entire industry is corrupt and used to doing whatever they like.

America, we need to get over our love for oil. Is cheap gas, oversized cars, inefficient roadways, and personal selfishness more important than polluting the oceans and coastlines and putting thousands of jobs at risk? The economic fallout from this is going to be felt for some time.

So America, be mad at BP, but be mad at all oil companies, your government who for too long has turned a blind eye, AND yourselves for continuing to live in ways that encourage this kind of risky behavior.

Perspective

2010-05-25T08:04:00.000-07:00

Now, everyone talks about a balanced budget, but here's a bit of real perspective on it.

From Chris Weigant on Huffingtonpost.com

Last year's budget, for instance, spent $3.55 trillion while it took in
$2.38 trillion, for a deficit of $1.17 trillion. [.....] Four items -- the
Pentagon, Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security, and the interest on the debt --
together add up to roughly the money the government takes in. Meaning that
everything else the federal government does would have to be cut completely --
zeroed out -- in order to balance the budget.

So, there you have it. And, umm, good luck trimming ANY of those significantly enough to make a difference. Old people vote.

This is Sad

2010-05-19T07:39:00.001-07:00

Not having CNN, I never watched the Campbell Brown news hour. I don't know if she was a good or bad anchor. I do know the reasons she is stepping away are both noble and sad.

She flat out says she will not change her journalistic style to the frothing opinion "news" that she is slated against. And since her rating are so much lower, she's stepping away to let CNN figure out what they want to do.

Pound another nail in the coffin of journalistic integrity and get ready for even more screaming heads blabbering on cable news channels.

A Call for Real Change

2010-05-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

While I wish I could enjoy the implosion of the Republican Party at the hands of the Tea Partiers, I can't, because the party isn't imploding, its becoming even more far-right and hardline than it was. That's a bit terrifying.

The Democrats aren't doing anything about it, attacking the radicals (for that's what they are, I'm serious, they are uncompromising radicals), pointing out their hypocrisy and racism to gain points for the November election or anything else useful.

Why? Because its becoming apparent (not that it was exactly hidden) just how bought off they have been.

There has not been a better time for serious change in the political landscape of America recently. The time for real reforms.

With incumbents in both parties at risk, passing real campaign reform laws and term limits would be brilliant.

Oh, I know, it won't happen. But unless people start demanding real reforms the same mistakes are going to keep happening over and over again as politicians continue to be bought.

The only ones who won't be bought are those too toxic in their beliefs to take much money openly. But, they'll still get plenty funneled to them as well.

This is rambling, my head hurts and I can't be coherent.

America is in ugly shape. The time for real, hard changes is during the hard times. We're quickly losing our chance to make reform.

I can dream right?

Drill Baby drill...oh shoot...

2010-05-03T09:05:00.000-07:00

I'd love to think that if any good came out of the oil spill in the Gulf it might be someone will finally tell Sarah Palin to shut up and go home.

Drilling for more oil is not the short or long term solution to America's energy problems.

The technological marvel that is deepwater drilling is showing the dangerous side. If things go catastrophically wrong, there is pretty much nothing we can do about it quickly enough to stop massive environmental disasters.

President Obama correctly put other deepwater well's on hold until more is found out about what happened to cause this disaster and what can be done to prevent future ones.

Even if there is only a 1/10000th chance of this sort of thing happening again, can we risk it for the miniscule gain?

Don't kid yourselves, we cannot raise domestic production to levels that will make a difference. We can't drill fast enough to have any real effect on gas prices. The kicker is too, we have limited (and aging) refinery space to handle any new oil coming in. (This is a bottleneck that frequently drives up the price of oil.)

Oil is necessary, we aren't getting away from it anytime soon. But, if we keep feeding our addiction for little gain (except the pockets of large corporations) no real change is going to happen.

We MUST invest heavily in alternative fuel sources while creating incentives for people to carpool, use mass transit, or buy highly efficient small commuter vehicles.

Change is hard. But it must happen.

Another Chesterton Quote

2010-04-28T08:50:00.000-07:00

From one of my pastor's emails. I need to read some G.K. Chesterton.

"The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Liberals. The business of Liberals is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected."

G. K. Chesterton

(speaking of early 20th century England)

Arizona

2010-04-27T19:43:00.000-07:00

Arizona just put into effect a law allowing police to stop people anytime they are suspicious those people might be illegally in the country. The people must produce proof they are here legally, and may be arrested if they cannot show proof, even if they are here legally.

Let's be honest here, this law is targeting Hispanics. How many people with non-brown skin do you think are really going to be asked to produce papers?

Putting aside the legalities of this, let me pose a question:

What if the tables were reversed? Arizona allows openly carrying weapons and concealed carry. What if every time an officer wanted they could ask to see not only your FOID card (or the equivilent), but wanted your driver's license, birth certificate and recent proof of a background check?

The cries of "the gov't is interfering in mah life daggumit" would be heard to the heavens!

So, government is "bad" when it affects the "rights" of white people. But its "good" when it profiles racially and only affects non-whites.

So, really, tell me again how so many of these "conservatives" aren't racist?

Also, Barry Goldwater and I may not agree about much, but he must be rolling over in his grave at this. The man was a true libertarian and this would most likely disgust him.

Federal Dollars for Religious Social Services

2010-04-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

I'm reading a fascinating and disturbing book entitled "Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism" by Michelle Goldberg. As a secular Jew, she doesn't quite "get" all aspects of evangelicalism, but overall the book is excellent if scary.

I'm currently on the chapter discussing Bush's "faith-based initiatives." These innocuous sounding plans allow religious organizations to get public funds to do good work.

The issue is this. Certain well established religious organizations such as Catholic Charities and Lutheran Social Services set up secular branches to work with the government. Both the Catholic and Lutheran churches have plenty of religious social work they do as well under different umbrellas, but those agencies are the ones that recieve the bulk of government funds.

Many other groups do not make this distinction. They offer social services and prosyletization all at once. That's fine, except when you are taking government money. Then you get into issues with the separation of church and state.

Don't get me wrong. We are guaranteed freedom OF religion, not FROM religion. But, when the government starts giving certain groups money, groups who aren't soley interested in social good, but conversion as well, you're getting into dangerous territory. If Christians can do it, so can Muslims, Buddhists, Scientologists, etc. Unless you believe that America was founded as a Christian nation then, well, I'm sorry, the facts just don't support that.

Now, I'm saying no government money for these programs. Does that mean I think these programs should go away? Of course not! These are the places Christian charity should be going. To help people and their souls. But, its also helping people no matter what!

Are there radical secularists in this country that make life hell for any group wanting to do good in Christ's name? Yes. Are there fundamentalist groups that give the secularists good grounds for their concerns? Sadly yes.

Christ didn't work through the government. He didn't speak much about it at all really. I find the idea of so many Christians loathing the government, but wanting to twist it and use it when it benefits them disturbing. Its a very, well, un-Christlike thing to do. There was no duplicity in Christ. At least not in His aims or means.

What if it happens to you?

2010-04-22T14:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, so you don't like the idea of national health insurance. You thought the public option was bad, and you like the system we have.

Just remember this, private health insurance companies care about profits, not people. Am I calling them evil? Not quite.

However, when they are targeting women with breast cancer and AIDS patients to rescind their coverage, that's getting really close in my book. And when the wife of a senator is on the Wellpoint board and that senator helped to successfully lobby to keep a public option from the bill, you're into highly sleazy.

People, I understand you don't want to hear this. However, the only fair, equitable, and morally responsible way to dispense health insurance (not the care, the insurance) in this country is a national single payer plan.

Lacking that, a public option for affordable insurance to compete with the private insurers. These companies care about bottom line. Not people. What is more important? Millionaires making more millions? Or people getting access to the care they need?

Tradition, Tradition!

2010-04-21T07:27:00.001-07:00

A great quote from my pastor's weekly email.

"Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the self-important living who merely happen to be walking around."G. K. Chesterton

Thoughtful Column

2010-04-20T12:19:00.000-07:00

A nice column on what I've slowly realized. (Thanks mightily to such wonderful authors/activists as Johnathon Kozol and Jim Wallis.)

Well, I was right...

2010-04-19T14:31:00.000-07:00

Huh, here's a post I wrote a couple years back.

"...lots of companies could cut back payroll by 15% and not notice it if getting things accomplished was actually the goal of management."

Sadly, this proved completely true as the financial crisis forced layoffs like crazy. Now we have around 10% of the workforce not working, and no real job recovery in sight.

What is it going to take for the government to encourage (force) companies to create jobs in this country?

People need to work.

Reality

2010-04-16T13:14:00.001-07:00

You can believe whatever you want. The facts don't lie. Here are the facts.

Babykillers, Lies, & Love

2010-04-09T12:46:00.000-07:00

Bart Stupak, the Democratic, Pro-Life, Congressman from Michigan is retiring. After initially raising concerns that the new health bill provided room for federally funded abortions, he was ridiculed, called a baby-killer, and other things after eventually voting for the bill. He was assured the bill was not opening that door and decided that the good of the bill outweighed the negatives.

Being a politician of faith is not simple. Faith tends to call us to be uncompromising in our convictions while politics is a continual call for compromise.

Rep. Stupak's choices could not have been easy.

However, I want to direct this towards those who in the name of "life" called him a baby-killer or anything else.

I have never understood some of the more militant stands "pro-lifers" take.

I also don't understand how so many pro-life proponents (of who I am one in principle, life is very seldom as simple as black and white however) can be against EVER allowing an abortion to occur, but have no problems with the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. Or the numerous smaller conflicts the US has been involved in since the "pro-life" movement really got moving in the 1980s.

What it leads me to believe, and I hope I'm wrong, is that too many pro-lifers have a very narrow view of the lives they want to save. They want to save American babies lives. That's nice. That's good. But what about other countries children? (And not just children but all who live in wartorn lands.)

Do they not deserve a life free of American cluster bombs, landmines and machinegun fire? Should they live in fear that kicking a soccerball in an empty field one day will set off a long dormant weapon, scarring and maiming them for life? (I could write another blog on my view of the usage of cluster bombs & land mines. Maybe I will sometime.)

Or even, taking the "-life" idea further, beyond children, what of the lives of those on death row?

Thanks to the vagaries of the justice system, they disproportionately black and poor. Also, since death is final, even one mistake of convicting and sentencing an innocent man results in another innocent life being taken.

Is this right? Is that being "pro-life?"

Finally, taking it beyond the realm of simple life, where is the love? Yelling hateful, spiteful words, even in pursuit of good, is never, ever right. Was Christ sometimes harsh and honest? Yes, but most often against those in his own religious community.

And there is a difference between harsh honesty and poisonous words that can only cause division.

The tragic consequences of abortion on demand in our nation call for a loving, caring discourse. Creating more pain and strife is not the answer.

Nor do I believe it's what Christ wants for us.

Postmodernity is Everywhere

2010-04-09T12:13:00.000-07:00

I'm reading an interesting book called "A Primer on Postmodernism" by Stanley Grenz.

The book is just what the title implies, a primer into the murky world of postmodern thought. Written by an academic to non-academics, it avoids as much as possible the coded, specific language philosophical texts are usually full of.

I'm about 50 pages in and its been very interesting. Learning that postmodern ideas can be both disturbing and transformational has gotten me thinking greatly about how to engage it when necessary.

The lack of "absolute truth" in postmodernity is disturbing, but interestingly enough, God is not 100% incompatible with all postmodern beliefs.

One interesting idea that has come from postmodern art is the collage; a juxaposition of varied images, media, or ideas (truth/fiction) into a final output.

We are hit with this daily in the form of television, but even more so in the form of television "news." The proliferation of "news"-talk programs on TV where they impart fact, distortion, editorialization, sound bites, quotes without context all come from the postmodern viewpoint.

And, following postmodern thought, they all appeal to their own "community."

I see this as another danger. While postmodernism has destroyed the modern idea of the "superiority" of Western thought, etc., the idea of every community, culture, or tribe being equally valid in their worldview can be problematic. Especially if that worldview is being twisted to nefarious ends.

Granted, this is not a problem that in inherent to modernity alone. Christian and Muslim fundamentalists, radical Marxists or Maosists, and extremists of any kind have always twisted information to their own end.

I suppose what I am learning is this: Postmodernism was a necessary progression to wipe away the ills of modernity. It presents its own challenges going forward, specifically a place for God (absolute truth), and the challenges of pluralism leading to increased tribalism in an ever growing and changing world.

Hedge Funds & You

2010-04-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

Not for a strong progressive tax yet? Read this!

Good column

2010-04-08T09:30:00.001-07:00

Great column here on sexuality, marriage and modern men & women.

Its so sad but so often so true.

True to a Point

2010-04-07T12:34:00.001-07:00

Here's a link to a great column about the Hutatree Militia.

She raises many good and valid points. One issue she skirts is the major difference between Christianity and Islam.

Christianity's central figure, Christ, never focused on political power or violence. He healed the ear of one of the people coming to arrest him after Peter cut it off.

Islam's prophet/founder on the other hand used mercenaries to take over a city and violently set up a political theocracy. This was from the start of the faith.

Now, am I going to say that Christ's adherents have followed his ways or teachings very well with how they relate to temporal power? No. We've done a terrible job. Its merely that there is nothing in the teaching of Christ or the New Testament to support many of the horrible things done in his name.

Islam, conversely, has more to answer for because of how it began. Does it mean every Muslim is a potential terrorist or believe in the more violent interpretation of the Quran? Of course not, and its unfortunate that most countries that are run according to interpretations of Islamic law are run by fundamentalists who take the most conservative and harsh stands.

Should every Muslim have to apologize for the misguided and those perverted by evil? No. Does Islam need to do much soul searching about how it interacts with the modern world? Yes.

Just as Christians need to as well.

Election Law

2010-04-07T08:14:00.000-07:00

On our recent family vacation, my dad, brother and I were discussing, among other things, national elections, our screwed up political process and our grand ideas for fixing it. (We have ALL the solutions, unless we don't.... )

A one point during the discussion my brother mentioned "state's rights" and I said something to the effect of "screw states rights!"

Now, I do think to a certain degree states rights are very important.

However, when it comes to National Elections, states rights need to go out the window. For Presidential elections there should be 1 primary date. There should be the same laws and rules applying to all states.

Every state should adopt a percentage based distribution of electoral votes with the majority getting any votes that needed rounded up.

Currently the "winner takes all" approach means that many people's votes literally do not count. In Illinois, this past presidential election was the first time my vote actually counted. I'm sorry, you can say my vote counts, but when my state gives all the electoral votes to 1 canidate, that means my vote actually didn't matter a bit.

I am NOT in favor of a straight popular vote. Voter fraud is easy enough, lets not make it any simpler.

Also, there needs to be a "secondary" vote option. I first heard this idea from my dad and it strikes me a good one.

Since our system is currently set up to exclude anyone who is not from one of the two major parties, a vote for a 3rd party is literally throwing your vote away.

If you vote 3rd party and your canidate doesn't get elected, your vote defaults to your "second" option if you choose.

With the Supreme Court's allowing corporations, foreign countries, and flying ducks to donate money to campaigns now, we need more than ever term limits. BUT, we also need 1 electoral process for the entire country.

Allow states to run their state and local and even legislative elections however they want. But for presidential elections it needs to be a case of everyone playing by the same rules.

I'll rant on the desperate need for people to take part in elections another time. And term limits. We need them so badly that I can't even begin to state the importance of this. Then, only then can we hope to inact some of the lobbying limitations that need to happen.

Yes Virginia, You are living in the Past

2010-04-07T07:27:00.000-07:00

Congrats Virginia, you are a bunch of backwoods hicks! You've effectively made yourself look like racist fools in front of millions.

I'm not saying you are all racist fools, you're just doing a good job of attempting to make the Confederacy look like a good thing. And that's pretty darn foolish.

Now, don't get me wrong, I understand your Governor is pandering to the "conservative" base, but honestly, proclaiming a Confederate History month with no mention of slavery because "there were many issues at stake during the war" is pretty much a joke.

There were many issues at stake, almost all of them can be drawn back to slavery.

States rights? Slavery
Economic issues? The reliance of the southern economy on slavery and lack of an industrial base in the south.

Honestly, I cannot say how much this makes me sad. The attempted glorification of a horrible war, Americans slaughtering Americans mainly to protect states ability to choose to ENSLAVE other human beings is disheartening.

As America becomes ever more polarized this sort of "hat-tip" to those that really don't need support is tragic.

I understand many people are sick of "Black History Month" or "Women's History Month." They have arguments such as "they didn't found the country, they didn't contribute as much..." etc. etc.

Besides the fact that blacks and women have contributed immensely to the economic, academic, and humane aspects of American life, one must remember that for more of this continent's history than not blacks were by and large enslaved and disenfranchised (which continues to be a problem even to this day) and women were blocked from positions of power.

Maybe to celebrate the bank's massive bonuses we should install a National Plutocrat Month where Ayn Rand is required reading and we learn all about Carnegie, Pulitzer, Morgan and others! Think of the fun that could be had in schools as we train children to be even better little consumers and that greed is not only good, its to be expected and encouraged!

Yay!

edit: Just so you don't believe I'm some "All things southern were awful." I'm not. There were many great southerners. Robert E. Lee first and foremost among them. That doesn't mean he made the right choice in joining the Confederacy. Nor does it mean that the Confederacy, the rebelling against the US to insure that states could choose certain things for themselves, such as keeping humans enslaved, was a good or noble memory.

I'm not asking for handwringing, sackcloth and ashes. I am asking please, lets keep the Confederacy and all of Antebellum American in perspective.

Ahh, movement conservatism

2010-03-26T12:23:00.000-07:00

David Frum lost his job at the American Enterprise Institute. What is AEI? Its a conservative think-tank that researches, comes up with policy ideas etc. to generally promote "conservative" agendas.

Liberal versions exist as well, but the conservative ones are more numerous and better funded.

Anyway, he lost his job. Why? Because oh my word he didn't toe the party line.

From the article above:

Bruce Bartlett, another conservative scholar who has been at odds with the
right, wrote that Frum told him AEI staffers "had been ordered not to speak
to the media" about health care "because they agreed with too much of what
Obama was trying to do. . . . The donor community is only interested in
financing organizations that parrot the party line.

See, this is a problem. The donor community, mostly massive trusts set up by very very rich people, don't care about fact. They don't care about the greater good. They care about what's good for them. And having paid scholars who can be fired anytime they aren't spouting what you want is handy.

I'm not saying this doesn't exist on the liberal side. But not to this degree. How can this not horribly undermine what little legitimacy some of these places have when stating opinions contrary to what donors want gets you fired.

I questioned them before, now it becomes apparent they are just mouthpieces for the Enterprise that's in their name. This is sad.

Equal Treatment Under the Law?

2010-03-26T07:55:00.000-07:00

Albert Gonzalez, the hacker who broke into Barnes & Noble, TJ Maxx and others and stole credit card numbers, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors claim he caused 200 million dollars in damages. Numbers are always hilariously inflated in hacking cases because there is no real way to prove how much money was lost.

The executives, brokers, and traders at the nations largest banks stole/lost well over 200 BILLION (actual losses probably far closer to a trillion, but anyway) and what do they get?

Just another $30 BILLION (yes, 150x the losses this hacker supposedly caused) in bonuses in 2009 while 10% of americans are out of work and the REAL number is closer to 15%.

So, does the hacker deserve to go to jail? Yes.

For 20 years? (Probably 10 with good behavior.) No.

Should something happen to the bankers? Yes.

A 150x Yes.

Remember Your Witness

2010-03-25T10:15:00.001-07:00

During the past twelve months or so a loose conglomeration of people have formed the semi-organized "Tea Party." Their beliefs are varied, but it mainly appears to be a libertarian belief of "less government" and lower taxes.

That's ok. This isn't a commentary on the lack of intellectual thought to their platform.
If you are in the the Tea Party, and a believer, please remember your witness. This applies to Christians involved in any political group, but currently, its the Tea Party that is the loudest, most obnoxious, hate-filled and borderline terroristic group out there.

Now, I understand, its a small percentage of the Tea Partiers who are hinting at violence. However, its a larger, though still most likely a minority, who are being very hateful and ugly vocally at protests.

It is a wonderful right in this country to voice your opinion. You can voice it loudly if you like. However, as Christians we are called to a higher path. It is imperative we act with love.

Spewing hateful words, racist words, is not loving.

Please, voice your displeasure at the things the government does. But please do so in a Christlike manner. The Roman's did some pretty horrid stuff, but Christ wasn't screaming in the streets about it.

He did seem to get pretty upset at religious leaders who were a bit focused on monetary gain and rigid moralism though...

Pray For Glenn Beck

2010-03-24T07:58:00.000-07:00

I'm serious. He is seriously lost and confused. I may not like his politics, but the lies he is spouting about Jim Wallis, and the teachings of Christ are, well, I'm glad God is the arbiter of salvation, because then its up to God. Beck needs to stick to bad political diatribes and stay out of theology which he apparently knows very very little about.

Seriously, Glenn Beck needs to be prayed for.

Listen to where he says that "Jesus' message was about choice." It was? Interesting take on the Gospel message. Especially following a 1 line response from Jim Wallis saying the Gospel message was about the redistribution of wealth. Just going from what I've read of Rev. Wallis's books, I'm pretty sure there was a lot more to that statement then a single line snippet showed.

Anyway, here's the video clip.

And here is a link to a column Rev. Wallis wrote in response to Beck's show. Note the difference in tone between the two.

Hans Kung's questions for the Pope

2010-03-23T13:21:00.001-07:00

A great read.

I love the Catholic church even though I disagree theologically with them on many points. This is a great piece on the German (and in general) sex abuse scandal that is ongoing.

The points he makes about celibacy are wonderful, and if you suffer through the comments you will see some people arguing that "marriage doesn't prevent pedophilia."

This is true. But, it does allow more, healthy, men to join the clergy, leaving less space for problem priests. Well, there's much more to say, but enjoy the read.

How'd I miss this?

2010-03-23T13:04:00.000-07:00

"The united states of america was established as a white society, founded upon a near-genocide of one race and then the enslavement of yet another."
Jim Wallis, The Soul of Politics pg 98.

Certain vocal Christian preachers attempt to make statements saying America's woes are because of sins such as homosexuality, abortion, etc. While I don't know how many Christian's believe that explicitly, there seems to be a large section of believers in this country who seem to think all the sins are committed by "someone else." (Everyday sins such as greed, coveteousness, gossip and slander aren't talked about as often.)

However, there is a pervasive sin that is crippling America. Is it causing the wrath of God to fall down in the form of hurricanes, terrorist attacks and other natural disasters? Heck no.
Is it aiding and abetting the distintegration of society through consumerism, fear, hatred, reactionism, and other forms of exclusion.

Am I saying every white person in the US is racist? No. Sure, we all have our moments and thoughts, but not actively racist.

However, because we do nothing to truly change our behaviors or attitudes, the end result is a divided country. This isn't good for anyone.

So...Social Justice is bad?

2010-03-12T09:51:00.000-08:00

Glenn Beck, that bastion of logical thinking, stated on his show last week that any Christian should leave a church that teaches "social justice." Apparently wanting a more equitable and better life for the less fortunate is really just a code word for communism and nazism.

To quote Dave Berry, "I am NOT making this up." Of course, he usually was, and this is totally true.

So, here is a lovely rebuttable from a Jesuit priest to Mr. Beck.

Oh, also, from Sojournor's website you can send Glen Beck an email message saying how you believe what he said to be very wrong and completely missing the point of much of the Gospels.

Shhh, you can't say this out loud

2010-03-09T13:30:00.000-08:00

A fascinating interview with Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of one of Hamas' founders. He worked as a spy in Hamas for the Shin Bet (Israel's FBI it seems, since I think Mossad is their CIA).

He was coverted to Christianity during this time, and has since quit being a spy and is now living in the US.

What I found fascinating, and do agree with, is that he views Muslims as trapped by Allah. He says that Allah is a fundamentalist terrorist god, and that by extension his followers, even peaceful moderate Muslims, are stuck.

Does YHWH, or Jehovah, or "God" have issues in the Judeo-Christian tradition? Yes. Many parts of the Old Testament are VERY hard to reconcile with the God who sends his Son to die for us in Jesus Christ.

Islam, from the beginning was spread by war with the prophet Muhammed leading a mercenary army to capture Mecca.

Am I saying there is no difference between peaceful "moderate" Muslims and terrorists? Of course not. There is a difference.

However, the god they serve is NOT the same as the Christian God. At least not the one understood since Christ.

Also, this doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of Christians who pervert the Bible or Christ's teachings, but that isn't what this post is about.
But, the prophet Muh

Great Read

2010-03-04T14:54:00.001-08:00

I love it when smart people reinforce the things I've been thinking (and saying to friends and family who listen to me...)

Here is a great read by a Harvard Law prof.

Nice summation

2010-03-03T14:07:00.001-08:00

Yes, this is a blog, not a "hard news" report. However, its a great piece on why I am so unhappy with Obama's administration so far.

Really, its summed up by who he chose to help him lead.

Its why I was disappointed even before he was ever officially President. Oh well.

Yeah, you notice he made a few quick million on Wall Street too. Nice having that cushion to fall back on when politics gets old. Be a shame if any politician had to go back to a 9 to 5 job like the rest of us after they leave office or a post....

Its a joke

2010-03-01T15:05:00.000-08:00

Just to show you what a complete joke wealth equity has become in this country, the current senate bill wandering around will provide $15billion to the nations unemployed. (That number is hovering the in millions, around 10% of the workforce.)

However, 165,000, Wall Street bankers recieved $20 BILLION (yes, BILLION, it breaks down to a median of 121212.12 each how much did you make last year? )

So, MILLIONS are getting to spread out $15 billion. A few score thousand got $20 billion in bonuses.

You have to be kidding me right? What is it going to take for American's to revolt against this sort of inequity?

More Education Stuff

2010-03-01T13:58:00.000-08:00

Here is an article summarizing OBama's grant plan for education.

I have a better idea. What if the money was given to the schools that needed it directly? Then they could fix up buildings, hire more staff, buy new books and other aids and possibly catch up with the funding the suburban schools get.

Wait, that wouldn't make sense.

It saddens me that the Democrats are just following along the Republican trail as far as education is concerned. Its not going to help. Not in the long run.

The brilliant thing is this is aimed at "stopping dropping out" but most of the money is headed to high school kids, some to junior high.

That's great, but the seeds of eventual dropping out are usually planted much earlier than even the 6th grade.

Can you tell I've been reading a bit on the issues and inequities of the American Education System lately?

Oh, and notice how I'm not saying "its cause the teachers suck!"

So It Begins...

2010-02-24T12:18:00.000-08:00

Ahh, the lovely fallout of NCLB begins.

So, the theory is, fire all the teachers, hire back no more than 50% of them. Bring in new teachers (at least 50% of your teachers will be new) and watch test scores....improve? Really? Maybe they will, lots can be done if you drill for the tests, but I honestly can't see it helping improve the 50% dropout rate.

Let me see if I understand this. EVERY teacher is bad enough to deserve to be fired, but up to 50% MIGHT be good enough to hire back? Why does this make no logical sense to me?

Another story says the principal wants to lengthen the school day AND thinks the teachers should offer extra tutoring to the students. Note, this is a "tiny impoverished city" so I could bet the school is underfunded already. I'm doubting the teachers were in for much of a raise for all the time invested.

Now, one COULD say "Oh, to save their jobs they should put in the time for free." Well, that is one way of looking at it.

Obviously it is by someone who knows nothing about the average teacher's workday. Teachers at underfunded schools are frequently required to put in MORE hours for less pay, just because they have less to work on.

I'm betting, and I could be wrong, but I'm betting if the school was funded at say, 90% of the richest public school in Rhode Island the results would be different.

Sure, the drop out rate might be higher than more affluent communities, but I bet they could get it up with more manpower.

In the military, they talk about "boots on the ground." How many people are actually there to do the mission.

Well, that needs to start happening in education. We need more boots on the ground. More aides, more librarians, more teachers, to help these kids.

I'm not saying all these teachers were great. There were probably some who were bad, some who were great, many who were in the middle.

Firing them all is not going to solve the schools problems. Nor is more stringent testing requirements.

I won't even start on how the Education Secretary put his two cents of praise in.

These people are clueless. And they are running the show.

Scary.

Musings

2010-02-23T12:58:00.000-08:00

Wow, I should stop reading the news. I should stop delving into stories. I should stop following links, and should just sit back and let the TV "news" channel of my choice lull me into nothingness.

America is in trouble but nobody in our government seems interested in doing anything about it. What issue in particular am I talking about?

The "economic recovery." Call me a liberal, but I see a problem with the current recovery we are having. Its only helping those who are the same people who caused the bulk of the problems in the first place?

Oh, don't get me wrong, the average American consumer (myself included in the past) is an idiot who spends way more than they can afford to. Credit card debt, along with with bad mortgages, too much on car loans, and nothing in savings helped fuel this disaster.

However, that doesn't absolve Wall Street. And Wall Street, not the average American, is who recieved the most bailout money.

Profits are up, bonuses are rolling, and millions of Americans are out of work with no prospects in the short term. Honestly, how long can a "recovery" go on if 10% (and the numbers are higher when you include people who have given up hope of getting a job) of the work force in out of work?

Without getting too deep into the silliness that is financial world pay plans, how about we put some real incentive back into the jobs?
Those people are highly trained, and frequently, doing high stress jobs. I have no issues with them being well compensated. However, "bonuses" should be based on performance, ie making money in the long term, not just "performance" which is shifting money for short term "gains." (Its not a gain if the money goes away again down the line.)

What if, and this is crazy liberal talk I know, we start breaking up companies that are "too big to fail."

Think about it? Why should any company, especially a bank, be too big to fail? That doesn't lead to healthy competition and smart business practices. It leads to making dumb decisions because you know the government will have your back when you tank.
what if, instead of rewarding US companies for moving jobs overseas (it can help boost the bottom line!) we encourage investment in factories here? Sure, I know that isn't cost effective, the way the system is set up currently.

However, it could be. Give tax credits for companies keeping jobs here or creating new jobs. There are lots of carrots you can dangle before them. Hit them with penalties every time they decide to "outsource" jobs to a foreign country. Create tariffs on goods, without actually taxing the good.

Heck, start a national campaign "Buy American for America." We are never going to be a manufacturing-centric nation again, but we do need a certain percentage of those jobs. Do they need to be as high paying as the car company jobs with their great benefits and pension plans?
No. But they should pay a living wage.

And what if, WHAT IF, some sort of cap was set on exectutive pay? Cap it at total compensation, TOTAL including stock options, deferred payments, assorted perks, and cash, could be no more than 500x the average pay of workers in a company.
So, if the average pay was 50k, an executive could recieve no more than 25mil a year in benefits. Is that unfair? Really?

I don't see how this could possibly be a bad thing.

We need to make it easier to unionize. But unions need to be smarter. There needs to be oversight of unions to insure they are looking out for the best interests of their workers.
I'm going to stop my crazy pinko rantings here. They way we have been doing things is not working. At least not for the bulk of America.

Part of the blame falls on the American people.

Much of the blame falls on the super-rich and politicians who seem to have forgetton that the average American is not a millionare.

Leadership

2010-02-20T09:46:00.000-08:00

Leadership, that's something this country needs and it is not being provided by our President.

I'll put this out there. I voted for Obama for a variety of reasons. One reason was I didn't want Sarah Palin second in line for the presidency.

Before he took office I was disappointed with him. Not, surprised, disappointed, as he surrounded himself with Clinton cronies who had already proved once they had no clue how to lead a country.

Someone needs to tell Obama that he doesn't come across as "bridge-building" or "bipartisan" but merely weak and indecisive.

In a day and age where far too many people only get their "news" from the source they find most appealing (gives it the spin they like) every decision is going to be ripped on by someone anyway. So be a leader. MAKE a decision.

Healthcare: We still don't know if Obama really wants the public option in a bill or not. It looks like the Democrats are going to get it back in there (thankfully, because without it, no bill would be better.) So tell us what YOU support President Obama!

Economy: Yes, the bailout "worked." It saved jobs, created a few new jobs and propped up many plutocrats who elected officials will be needing money from every few years. However, there are still 10% of American's without work. More if you count the people who gave up. The jobs bill that is dying in the Senate is a joke. Be a leader. Make hard decisions. Support unpopular, but necessary ideas. Do SOMETHING, besides try to save Democratic seats in the fall. Do you know why people think you're doing the wrong things? Its because you aren't really doing anything at all!!!

Terrorism: Trumpet the fact we've caught or killed a number of high ranking Taliban and Al Quaeda figures over the past few months. Say, "hey, this wasn't my fight, but we're doing the best we can and look what we've done." Talk about how much information we're getting from the Christmas Day bomber because we didn't torture him, but brought in his family to talk to him.

President Obama, I have cut you slack because you were inheriting a disaster. I didn't think you could do much to turn things around, but I hoped I was wrong. Instead, your lack of will, your lack of LEADERSHIP, has saddened me.

Stop getting into spats with FoxNews, or Sarah Palin, or whoever. Have some guts and say, "You know, you can believe the naysayers if you want, you don't have to agree with me, but I am the President of the USA and I believe this is what we should be doing."

Sure, you'll be skewered for it. But, you're getting skewered anyway.

I know this is a lot to ask, but a 2nd term doesn't matter if you got nothing done in the first one. Don't worry about being unpopular if you're actually doing good things.

Something to Ponder

2010-02-16T14:44:00.001-08:00

I learned today that the Supreme Court ruled that a quality education was not something gaurenteed by the Constitution.

Merely adequate education.

Just consider that.

Its not a right, but the government has mandated higher standards year after year and punish teachers and schools who do not reach artificial benchmarks.

Brilliant. Just brilliant.

Peaceful Revolution

2010-01-07T09:00:00.001-08:00

After reading a Huffington Post blog I got to thinking: How does a wealthy country have a revolution?

No, I'm not talking crazy here. We don't need violence, or guns, or a forcible overthrow of the government. Overall, things aren't bad. However, the overall system is broken and if the American people want the best for their country they need to understand this.

I feel most of the Tea Party people are idiots (sorry, but while some of the ideas they espouse seem nice, think critically on them.... i'll take socialism over a plutocracy if it comes to it) but they at least have the guts to admit that the Republican party isn't going to do anything to help move their ideas forward.

The progressives haven't realized this yet. They seem to think that the Democratic party is going to pull itself away from the corporate trough and actually be, well progressive. It isn't going to happen.

The reason is this. Politicians are in politics to be in politics. Oh sure, they believe they know best and can help, but right now the argument shouldn't be over "big" government or "small" government. It needs to be over SMART government.

Efficiency is not the goal, but it IS part of the overall solution. We need to merge many of the various governmental agencies into powerful watchdogs over whatever sector they watch. This includes the government itself in my mind.

NPR had a story a month or so back about how part of the problem with the derivatives is that 2 different agencies thought the other agency was watching the banks. It "slipped" through the cracks.

One congressman attempted to merge the two agencies, but it failed because that meant one of the committee chairmen would lose an agency to oversee.

Political power once again trumps the greater good.

This sort of thing is RAMPANT in all levels of government, but most noticeable, and concerning at the national level.

Merging agencies, giving them real power and authority, and, good lord, possibly voluntarily limiting certain rights, would be steps in the correct direction.

It will not happen until we change the overall political system, and I'm sorry, that is going to take a peaceful revolution which I think we as a nation are too rich and lazy to partake in.

Accountability

2010-01-05T05:37:00.000-08:00

Reading this, you'll probably think I read all the gossip columns and watch TMZ all the time. I don't. But, if you follow almost ANY news source, you'll see things like young celebrities dying with no evidence of "foul play."

I believe drug overdose is going to become a "natural cause" in California. Michael Jackson, Brittney Murphy, The Rev (drummer for Avenged Sevenfold), and now Johnson & Johnson heiress Casey Johnson is dead too. I'm suspecting a pile of prescription drugs is going to be found at her house, just like at Jackson's and Murphy's. The Rev liked his booze and coke, so, who knows if anything else was involved.

I guess the point I'm making is this: If you want to do drugs, you can always get drugs. However, far too many doctors have merely become drug dispensers for the rich & famous. The pile of legal (prescription) drugs that Murphy had at her house would have done most people in.

Why has it become ok to pop pills just because a doctor gives them to you? These drugs aren't tested against possible interactions with EVERYTHING possible you could take.

YOU are responsible for what you put into your body. BUT, if we're going to hold drug dealers accountable for a product that kills, are we going to hold some of these joke doctors responsible too?

Christmas

2009-12-30T09:51:00.000-08:00

Christmas has become an interesting time of year for me. I guess I'm a bit grown up, because I was more excited to give my wife gifts than about what I might be getting.

My brother and sister-in-law were in from Portland Oregon and we had a blast. My aunt & uncle were down from Minnesota with their 3 kids. Its great, we played lots of Settler's of Cataan. Great game.

I held back and didn't give any presents to Katrina early, but I really wanted to.

I got a great game called Dominion. You build an empire with cards. Its easy to learn, fast to play and great fun for 2-4 people.

This Christmas was nice. I got to spend time with people I loved and I was very thankful for that. It helps me realize how truly blessed I am.

I'm so thankful for a family that loves and cares like mine.

I can't add...

2009-12-29T19:13:00.000-08:00

Blessed are the land-mines
Stretched across the desert floor
God, bless the hands that formed them
Filled their shrapnel hearts with war
May You bless the companies
The goose that laid the golden egg
May they make a million more
Blowing off a million legs
Blessed are the black-tongued ravens
Substituting fear for reason
To hate war is to hate us
If you love peace, then you must love treason
Beat your plowshares into swords
Beat your pulpits, turn your tables
Blessed are the hand-grenades
Bless the church who rattles sabers

This house, is burning
This poison still is worming
This temple, will cave in
There's nothing here worth saving

Nail the gold up to the altar
Like Ahab taunts his crew to war
Blessed are the shareholders
Lack of faith is for the poor
Hold your wallets to the sky
A temple built to sooth yourself
Blessed is the church who tries
To help you build blessed wealth

"Blessed are the land mines"
Written by: Reese Roper
Performed by Brave Saint Saturn

The road to hell...

2009-12-28T14:25:00.000-08:00

Will be paved with the proponents of the prosperity gospel. Yes, I'll say it. God will have more mercy on well, most anyone else.

Adventures in Computing

2009-12-14T08:39:00.000-08:00

My wife's older laptop, a Dell Inspiron 1100, has been running slow for ages. Doing some internet research I learned those computers were notorious for overheating which lead to running slow.

To remedy this I replaced the conducting grease and bought a cooling pad. These helped keep it from overheating and shutting down, but it still ran slow.

I upgraded the ram from 640mb (yes, 640) to 1gb. This too helped some.

I stripped the computer of all but its essentials. Windows XP, plus maybe 3 gigs of other stuff was sucking up 13 gigs of HD space.

So, after copying an ubuntu liveCD and testing it, I decided that was the route to go.

Well, if only it had been that simple. I had forgotten that I experimented with ubuntu, and I installed Xubuntu. Very similar. In fact, from what I understand, the guts are the same, its just the GUI that is different with Ubuntu using GNOME and Xubuntu using XFCE.

Long story short, XFCE isn't playing well with this laptop. I wondered why a stupid Facebook game was sucking up so much memory (330mb? For farmville????) and processor power.

Well, it turns out, the GPU isn't doing anything. The CPU is running both the graphics AND the rest of the system. So, now I'm going to be on my 3rd (well, 5th if you count the times I reinstalled Xubuntu Karmic Koala) OS install in a week. BUT, this should speed up the silly games. I hope.

I'm just glad she's so patient with me.

Edit: Well, turns out the GPU IS doings its job, its just a grappy old Intel 845 chipset which essentially does nothing. I don't know why facebook makes their stupid little Farmville game so graphics intensive, but they do. So, pretty much, this computer won't go any faster for it. Looks like its time to start saving up for that netbook now!

The one good thing is, we do still have a stable laptop computer and its still handy for things like email and the like. Its a little wonky on startup, but it works. I suppose sometimes that's all you can ask.

Scientific "Concensus"

2009-11-28T10:02:00.001-08:00

In case you haven't been following the story, the email and files of some prominent climate researchers was hacked and posted to the web. The emails contained some interesting statements, which of course as being explained away as "of course we weren't manipulating data."

See, the problem here is guys, it looks like you were. As much as scientists want to believe they've come so far, they are no different than scientists throughout the ages who "knew" something to be true.

Is pumping CO2 and toxins in the air bad? Yes. Should we try and stop doing it? Yes.

Is there a true "scientific" concensus on it? Heck no. Dissenting voices aren't heard.* Or are laughed off as quacks because there is lots of money to be had in grants if you have the hot theory.

This isn't just in climatology. This is in evolutionary study, physics, lots of different areas. Dissenting voices are quashed.

The issue to me isn't if the data was being manipulated. It is more an issue of these scientists aren't doing their work with an open mind. Because if they are not, they don't have to manipulate the data, they'll just miss the stuff that doesn't fit unconsciously.

I look forward to seeing this develop.

Also, I'm not saying its a good thing that hackers broke in and stole it...but...dang, this sure is nice and interesting!

*Helps when you put the "n't" on the end of the word so the entire post makes sense...

Its That Time of Year

2009-11-25T07:34:00.000-08:00

Time for the "news" channels to "report" on holiday travel. Its going to be BUSY! WOW!!!!

You should plan accordingly! This is news? Honestly? Really???????

I'm sorry, to me, this is PROOF that TV news makes you stupider. Sure, even NPR does a little piece on holiday travel, but they at least aren't running the same piece every hour all day long.

I understand its cheaper to send a cameraman and a guy with a mic to the local airport to interview Jimbo about his holiday travel plans than it is to send someone to the Phillipines to report on whats going on there. But, honestly, its like this EVERY YEAR! Have you idiots not figured out its busy during the holiday season?

Bah, humbug

Mad Skillz

2009-11-23T13:23:00.000-08:00

Or not. So, while my job's in a bit of limbo and the dealership is probably getting sold, I'm still working! YAY!

Everyone around here is rushing to do inventory, etc. and working off lots of old messed up invoices.

So, today, I got to show off my mad Paint skillz (yes, with a Z) and clean an invoice up. It was kind of fun. I scanned in the invoice, erased the lines that needed erased. Changed the total, and then erased the pen markings all over the place.

I'm not going to be asked to contribute to any amazing photoshop work anytime soon, but it looked much better than it did.

I was pretty proud of myself. I have a few computer skills left at least

Waiting

2009-11-17T13:18:00.000-08:00

I suck at waiting. I'm an instant gratification lover. Yes, this is not a good thing I realize.

Right now I'm waiting to find out if I keep my job. Joy! Nothing like waiting to see if you keep the job currently have! Ugh.

So, I wait. And try not to worry, since it doesn't do any good. And pray. And wait and did I mention this sucks?

I'll know this week sometime.

I normally don't post things like this, but, its really on my mind right now. So, I share?

Politics from the Interwebs

2009-11-11T13:04:00.000-08:00

If you read this, you know I hate our two party system. I've hated it long before I started to read much stuff politically on the web.

That said, here is a hilarious comic on it.

See, I can poke fun at myself.

NEVER SURRENDER!

2009-11-09T10:15:00.000-08:00

The French are frequently made fun of for surrendering. The 20th century was not overly kind to them in war and well, lots of jokes are made at their expense.

Apparently to compensate for this, they have decided to defend their language at idiot lengths.

Here is a hilarious article on the efforts that go into keeping French "pure."

Ya know. I rip on English for being an amazing bastardization German with French, Latin and Greek roots shoved in all over. But, I like how our language just adapts as needed. We just add a word that works. We don't bother to come up with bizarre five word descriptions that aren't needed.

Thanks to Sheldon for pointing this out to me.

Nanowrimo

2009-11-07T10:49:00.000-08:00

Nanowha? Nanowrimo. National Novel Writing Month. Yeah, writing a 150 page novel in a month. 50,000 words. 1666.66666(repeating) words per day.

I'm trying it. I'm not too far behind right now and its fun. Lots of fun. None of the constant editting and changing, just writing. After November is over, I can edit all I want. For now, its just crank out words as fast as I can.

Wish me luck. If you want to track my progress my name on there is ovid9.

StL Cardinals

2009-10-27T13:09:00.000-07:00

I know that only 1 of the 3 of you who read my blog care about sports, but here it goes.

I love the Cardinals. They have been my favorite baseball team since I was little. I've been a fan. I was18 during the summer of 1998 and a bit niave about performance enhancing drugs.

Since then I've learned lots. Including the fact that Mark McGwire, among scores if not hundreds of other pro's cheated by using steroids.

The Cardinals have now hired him to be their hitting coach. Yes, you read that right.

I believe Tony Larussa made it a requirement that McGwire be brought on board to stay another year as manager. I wish they hadn't done it.

Tony, you're a great manager. You've done some amazing things with pile of crap teams. Thanks, and goodbye.

That's what I wish they would've said.

Instead, we keep around a surly enabling manager and bring on board a cheater to coach our hitters. Great.

I'm not saying I won't cheer for them next year, but I will make sure I pay far more attention to the White Sox than I did this year! *Please Sox, don't be bad....*

And we gave them MFN status

2009-10-23T11:16:00.000-07:00

Posty day (slow at work)

Thanks to my dad for this link. Economically we are pretty screwed as a nation.

Chinese refuses to even attempt to play fair on the world stage, and honestly, why should they? They have no self-interest in doing so. Dictato-capitalism the the route to go!

And, they own so much of our debt, I'm not sure what we can do about it either..... oi

I said this months ago...

2009-10-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

Wow, maybe I should go into finance, or at least being an "expert" on it. I was saying what this article suggests earlier this year. (Horn-tooting found here....)

The system is broken. Why are we going to continue to let people make tons of money losing other people's money?

They want teachers to get paid on performance when they don't control the product coming in? Well, then I think investment bankers, paper pushers and the like should get the same thing. Not paid on how many millions they move, but how much they actually make!

Also, its finally being admitted that the "recovery" is only in the financial sector and the business world. Companies had bloated payrolls and have trimmed down. The issue is, people on the street need jobs. We're having a 2-tiered recovery. The rich get back to getting richer, the rest of us hold on and hope.

Blame it on...

2009-10-23T07:04:00.001-07:00

Sinfest, possibly the greatest webcomic ever, (and in my humble opinion (IMHO) the 2nd greatest comic ever) has another great one.

Its never MY fault. Ever. Always somebody elses...

Comic

Inspiration for Atlantis?

2009-10-20T13:54:00.000-07:00

Thought this was cool, figured I'd share. Plato might not have had the story correct, but its sounding like some of the "myths" might not be all that far off. Cool!