A Legend Has Passed

George Carlin has died.



He was one of the great names of comedy. The name everybody knew. Some of his greatest acts were more than a decade before I was born, but I still found out who George Carlin was and what he did. I was fortunate enough to see George Carlin as a birthday present last year. I will remember forever how he never bowed to the greater powers, never strayed from his own desires, and never stopped making us laugh.

The Other Foot Falls

We are another step closer to having a multi-party system in this country. Bob Barr might do for Republicans what Ralph Nader did for Democrats eight years ago. If that happens I think we might see people start to vote for policy not party. The old system of government, where all politicians are the same as all other politicians, the only difference is what lies they tell us to get elected, might go the way of the dodo; or it might not. We might be seeing one of those elections that are once in a lifetime. I hope not.

The Butcher

In the words of Chris Farley, may he rest in peace, in his role in Tommy Boy, "I can get a good look at a T-bone by looking up a bull's ass, but I'd rather take the butcher's word for it."

I think I'd rather take Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's word that U.S. forces are the main dividing force in Iraq than actually go there and look. You could also listen to me, but I suppose I'm just a butcher in training.

Girl Power

It's a shame that there aren't any women in politics, government, or business other than Hilary Clinton for girls to take lessons from. Oh yeah, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice, and Oprah (nuf said) should be able to provide plenty of leadership. The glass ceiling only reaches as high as women's hammers want to reach. I'm sorry that there is this perception that any white male can automatically assume any position of power or wealth or influence that he so desires, but it isn't that easy. I still have to bust my balls to be able to get what I want. I am tired of hearing this feminist yarn (tee hee still brought in a sewing joke) about not being able to succeed because of men and their evil penises of death. Perhaps if neo-feminists weren't so busy complaining and looking for chauvinist intent, they'd be able to get more work done.

Just for those of you who don't know me well enough, I have a lot of strong females in my life. I know that women don't get paid as much as men, and I am committed to working on that, but please, leave my ears alone. It's already part of my value system and I don't need to be indoctrinated.

Greatest Generation Jr.

When I was a child I was taught that retirement age was 65. I learned that a person had to work until that golden age before he or she was able to reap the benefits that he or she had sewn during a lifetime of putting money into a system of protection from economic uncertainty. In most recent years, a lot of fuss has come about stating that when the baby boomers start retiring there will be too much strain on the social security system. I don't think that's true at all.

There are several ways to prevent the social security account from hitting the red. As a paralegal who helps people of all ages and disabilities sign up for SSI, I understand and appreciate the need for many citizens who are unable to work. I am also glad that our government has taken it upon itself to help these people. I think that we need to figure out a way, though, to separate Social Security/Disability from Social Security. Those people who have worked their whole life and have paid into the system have earned a monthly check and we owe it to them. I think we need to try to take care of people who can't take care of themselves, but there are other groups that can be put in charge of that.

Another concern is that when the baby boomers retire there won't be enough workers putting into the system. I have a question: where are the jobs going that the baby boomers were working? Are companies going to get rid of the position of CEO? Is middle management finally going the way of the dodo? I don't think so. My generation, and the couple before it, are going to have to step up and carry the load just like the baby boomers did before us. Fortunately for us, we have seen the mistakes of bad mortgages and too much credit. We have seen what is right and wrong to do with money. We are learning that while we will have Social Security as a back up, we need to take our retirement into our hands and make sure that we have a future to develop.

It'd be nice if you old people would just leave us alone and let us worry about ourselves, we'll be fine. I promise.

Dancing With The Stars

Statements made by Afghani President Hamid Karzai have caused me to want to write this article. There are two separate articles quoted in this blog and I could have used more but I thought I would spare you all of that reading. Hizbullah and Syria helped the Lebanese President get into office as long as he holds to the agreement set forth by those two groups. Israel and Palestine have signed a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. Iran has decided to start talking to the EU about its nuclear program. India is protecting itself and its economy. Pakistan and Afghanistan and the Taliban are bickering like siblings. Did I miss anyone? Oh yeah, thousands of American troops in Iraq babysitting a civil war.

If we aren't making the decisions in the region, should our troops be dying because of them? If we can't economically persuade OPEC to produce more oil, should we be trying to militarily convince them?

When I was a child my mama told me that I shouldn't worry about anyone else and I should just take care of myself and deal with the conditions life and others hand to me. I think our country should take a lesson from my mama.

Tongue Twister

An enemy of a friend is an enemy, and a friend of an enemy is an enemy, does that make the enemy of my enemy my friend? Or my enemy?

Isn't it a pain in the butt when the rest of the world thinks that your friends are more dangerous to world peace than your enemies? Especially when you're leading a war against the forces that prevent world peace?

I don't know. Who ever asked me to know anything?

Oh yeah, that's right. I wrote that exact same opinion two months ago and sent it to my senators, representatives, the Secretary of State and my ambassador to the UN. Other than that time, when was I expected to know anything?

I just hope they don't put me in Gitmo for saying the same thing as the Russians. If you want a copy of my opinion titled Resolution for Iraqi Peace, let me know.

The Global Bear Chase

There's an old saying that says when evading a bear you only have to be faster than the guy behind you. Unfortunately, in a global economy it doesn't really matter who's behind you; it matters who is in front of you. Recognizing fully that it is a good goal to bring up the lower 10% of the student body, I think we should take a page from W.E.B. DeBois' book and make sure that our 'talented tenth,' the top 10% of a group, is the best top 10% in the world. If we are able to stay in front of the world with our technology and science and philosophy, that knowledge has a better chance of trickling down than worrying about bringing the bottom tenth up to the median bar. We are losing a lot of talented minds to blasé and boredom and not gaining a whole bunch except perhaps a flooded workforce.

I Knew It

I've been saying it for years and nobody believed me. Science has finally proven that a level-headed, goal-driven, and intelligent young man is less likely to 'get lucky' as his peers. Have fun with that, ladies, I'll be over here with my money and my future.

Here It Goes Again

I only have three words in response to this article. Kellogg-Briand Pact.

Time For The Nest To Empty

I can't really say too much more about this article than the writer already says. The United States is starting to go through the post-partem depression of a new mother after giving birth to democracy around the world. We need to, as a whole country, return to our original foreign policy and not get entangled in foreign affairs. We no longer speak softly as Teddy Roosevelt did. Nor did we avoid entangling agreements as George Washington supported. War is only profitable to those nations that don't fight in them. That's why Brazil and India (and CHINA) are improving their economies while the dollar weakens and the DOW sinks.

We must realize as we did before that we can only lead by example and not by the strength of our military. If we only get our goals accomplished by strong-arming weaker nations, then we are no better than the dictators we topple or the communists we denounce.

We must come together and allow the rest of the world to grow up under our guidance. We must not fight to prevent other countries from making their own decisions. We can't be mother to a world that doesn't want us to babysit it. It is difficult to see our little child become an adult, but it is about time we let it out of the nest and become the world it is supposed to be.

This Land is Not Your Land Anymore

Some of the Republicans in the state of Washington don't think that birth should automatically allow for citizenship in this country. I have been to the great state of Washington and I think it's a beautiful place. I just wanted to get that out so that nobody thinks I am aiming my remarks at all residents or citizens of the state.

After viewing the movie Starship Troopers I am intrigued by the concept of having different rights and privileges for residents and citizens. To become a citizen a person must complete at least two years of military service. Citizens get to vote and residents don't. I think that it is an intriguing way to ensure a volunteer army and also to improve democracy. Who is more invested in our way of life than our military and veterans? This particular way of government, however, will almost certainly never occur in this country. I'm not going to say whether or not this is a bad thing, but if you really want to have that conversation let me know.

As it is, one of the core pieces of the American ideal is that every person born on American soil is an American citizen. I know that these Republicans are trying to find ways to limit or prevent illegal immigration, but I think that they're creative energies need to be spent in other ways.

Especially since most of our natural-born citizens can barely pass reading tests much less naturalization tests.

The New Closed Shops

I'm a liberal. I'm a big liberal. I love unions. Protect the proletariat from the evils of corporate irresponsibility. You know the line. I have never liked the teacher's unions. Ever. I don't think that the group operates well. I agree that teachers should be treated well and paid fairly. I think that there should be a group of some sort protecting the educators of our youth. I also don't think that anybody should have a guaranteed job for any reason. Tenure in public schools doesn't make sense to me. Some school districts have tried to use testing results required by No Child Left Behind as a way to keep teachers accountable for their teaching. I think that's a good idea. I think that if a teacher isn't able to get kids to learn the material on those horrible tests then that teacher should have to face penalties. After enough failed tests, they should lose their job. If a factory worker can't do his job, he loses it. If a doctor can't keep patients alive he loses his practice. Good teachers have nothing to fear from these rules and I tire of hearing the teacher's union moan about losing bad teachers.

All Babies Go To Heaven

I'm glad to know that rather than donate $40 dollars to their local pregnancy care center or provide some diapers for a single mother, up-tight pro-lifers want to get a license plate. If someone with a dissenting opinion gets the same vanity plate, then the opposed party is spewing a message of hate. Nobody from the Pro-Life movement could possibly be accused of hatred. I'm just curious when the last time was that a Pro-Choice person bombed a church in protest.

Shop for Spam... a lot!

I can't say that I ever recall eating spam as a child. But I did grow up with Monty Python. I'm glad that people are trying to find ways to feed their families in light of rising food costs.

The New Three-Fifths

Please read the associated article before reading my commentary on it.

I'm not in any hurry, you might as well read the whole thing.

There you go.

Thanks, now then. I have to give Glen Beck some credit, I have used the exact argument that he forsakes. I, too, thought that there were jobs that many of us wouldn't do. I know that I wouldn't go out and pick grapes. On the flip side, I agree (and have for years) that the immigration process is too difficult and lengthy and needs to be fixed. I also think that when these workers are made legal citizens we will be forced to pay them a decent wage which would make them more competitive consumers and make those out-of-work Americans who would do the jobs for higher pay a more competitive labor source.


Instead of putting up a fence on the border, we should be tearing down the wall of bureaucracy that is mortared with red tape.

Who's Fat?

Apparently the childhood obesity epidemic has come to a plateau at about 50%. That's the nice way of putting it.

The Lexington Herald Leader headline read: Percent of Fat kids leveled off.
http://www.kentucky.com/779/story/417276.html

The Salt Lake City Tribune headline with the same story text was "Has the fat-kid epidemic peaked?"

Those of you who know me might or might not know this, but I'm a little self-conscious about my weight. I was skinny as a young child and then I found video games and mountain dew and well you know how that story goes.

I'm not offended by the story nor am I upset with the headlines, it just seems to me that there is a much more polite way to title that article, similar to the first sentence of this blog. I purposefully titled the blog as I did because of the linked video.

What do you think? Am I right or should I not worry about reporters throwing cheap jabs at children?

Biased Journalism

Finally someone who has a bias against the biased. No you won't read this article in any of our country's newspapers, but I happened to find it in the Lebanon Daily Star. I know that the primary job of the editor is to sell newspapers, but the primary job of the journalist is to report. If they want to create a story or give an opinion they should become novelists. Too many people think that opinions and news are the same thing. They think that commentary on CNN is gospel truth. The truth is that news shouldn't be entertaining. Discussing the news should. People should read news to be informed and read books to be entertained. The local daily shouldn't be a one-stop shop.

Which is to blame: parents or products?

An 8-year-old girl swallowed 20 steel balls the size of marbles and 10 magnets. Her parents were in the room. She almost died and the parents are suing the company that sells the product saying it is unsafe for use.

The product has previously been recalled for safety concerns. Eight-year-olds should know what is considered food and what isn't. If the little girl had died the parents would go to jail for criminal negligence and involuntary manslaughter.

Am I right or am I wrong?

They Spoke To Us

On Tuesday, June 3, 2008, Barack Obama gave this speech http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/06/03/text_of_obamas_speech_tuesday?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news

And on Saturday, June 7, 2008, Hillary Clinton gave this speech http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2004456017_apclintontext.html?syndication=rss

I know I haven't been looking at the political field for very long, but I have done my best to look back at it, and I can't recall a more gracious acceptance speech or a more sincere concession speech. I think that the words of the candidates, if listened to, will mend the tears in the Democratic Party and that that party will lead the reunion of the country.

For as long as I can remember, the most vocal members of the new ruling class have done what they can to divide us to make sure that they maintain power. The differences between Republicans and Democrats, Libertarians and Socialists, Conservatives and Liberals, are so small in the grand scheme of world government that we should not lose sight of the goal of this country: to allow people to work and worship and live and love.

If more people get into office like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, then this country can only become better.

An Unheard Opinion

It's always refreshing when I hear other people write the same thoughts I'm having. It sort of affirms everything that I'm trying to do. Too many people run for office because they want a job. Too many people hold office because they enjoy having power at their discretion. Too many officials have forgotten why democracy exists at all.

Undue Process

The title of this blog is a link to a news story that I saw that I think bears a bit of extra attention. I like to use my shared articles spot a lot so do check it, but a lot of my blogs are going to be my reaction to stories that are due comment. Most of the time the title of my blogs will be a link to something.

Now to the actual blog. This kid got suspended for what the school called unauthorized use of a computer. Knowing what people can do with computers, I understand why the rule is in place. But can anybody tell me why this kid got in so much trouble? That's really the only thing I have to say. It doesn't seem to me like this kid was hacking the CIA's Noc List (Mission Impossible reference). Can anyone help me out?