Tuesday, August 25, 2009
We're Back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So the blog has been down for quite a while now. My partner in crime had left me to run the blog thing myself and I got run down doing at alone. I give people who run their own blogs mad props for all of the work they do. None the less, last week I was thinking of tweaking the blog and bringing it back. So there are some drastic visual changes, and there will be more in the coming weeks. Stick with us as we step up our game and hopefully provide some entertainment and a forum to vent some frustration for all of us. As always, we strongly encourage people to comment, even if you strongly disagree with what we have to say. We do have a tracker, allowing us to keep tabs on any lurkers. Don't just come to our blog, write on our blog. And if you have something you feel strongly about, we will definitely put up guest posts!
Monday, August 24, 2009
A New Art: The Crash
There is a new style of art that has emerged from society’s dark underground to become a social forerunner of our generation. Although the art of wedding crashing does not accent the vibrant colors of a Picasso or charm the soul such as music, it electrifies the mind and body.
There are some people that get offended and are not accepting of wedding crashing. Please, don’t get me wrong, I understand people are entitled to their own opinions however, until they have fully experienced a crash, those people are ignorant and closed minded. I feel that these people are gutless and socially inept.
It is sad that there are people in the world that lack the confidence in themselves to take risks and to enjoy not only the rush of a crash but the memories of the crash. To me, those that dismiss wedding crashing without experiencing one, carry similar negative traits with them in their personal and professional lives. These are the types of people that hide in the corner and refuse to take risks. They spend their weekends at home with the dog instead of enjoying life. Overall, these individuals lack the mental capacity to understand life outside the box and how amazing the bigger picture actually is. That is pathetic and unfortunate… unfortunately these are traits that go beyond wedding crashing…
Sure, there are the closed minded people that feel that wedding crashing is absurd, immature and tacky. They feel that it is wrong to crash weddings because it is offensive to the family and to the couple. Many of these individuals are not married themselves and have not experienced the sacrament of marriage through their own eyes. They are not fortunate or again, too blind to understand the full meaning of a wedding celebration and that it goes far beyond the guestbook.
Weddings are a time of celebration, a chance to slip on the dancing shoes and an opportunity to forget about the stresses of the world and indulge in a few cocktails. On my wedding day, it did not matter who came, my focus was on my bride. If outsiders honored us by taking the time out of their day to watch me and my beautiful wife get married who am I to say otherwise.
Weddings are like sex. From the planning stages to the tears of happiness at the ceremony, being able to feel the eternal love between the bride and groom as they dance their first dance, experiencing how proud a father and mother are of their children and what this day truly means, and of course the fun and freedom of the dance floor, the body and mind is put in a state of euphoria… it is truly orgasmic.
Crashing allows us to experience these emotions over and over. Movies and film have created a negative image of wedding crashing. Again, those close minded people that can’t see the world outside the box only see wedding crashing as portrayed in the movies… ass hole drunks trying to get laid. They are blind to the bigger picture of how fulfilling it is to be apart of a wedding experience. There will always be a sense of personal accomplishment by taking a huge social risk and crashing a wedding but there will also be that feeling that only those who have crashed can experience. It creates a mental bond between crashers and allows us to see how pathetic those that judge without experience actually are.
There are some people that get offended and are not accepting of wedding crashing. Please, don’t get me wrong, I understand people are entitled to their own opinions however, until they have fully experienced a crash, those people are ignorant and closed minded. I feel that these people are gutless and socially inept.
It is sad that there are people in the world that lack the confidence in themselves to take risks and to enjoy not only the rush of a crash but the memories of the crash. To me, those that dismiss wedding crashing without experiencing one, carry similar negative traits with them in their personal and professional lives. These are the types of people that hide in the corner and refuse to take risks. They spend their weekends at home with the dog instead of enjoying life. Overall, these individuals lack the mental capacity to understand life outside the box and how amazing the bigger picture actually is. That is pathetic and unfortunate… unfortunately these are traits that go beyond wedding crashing…
Sure, there are the closed minded people that feel that wedding crashing is absurd, immature and tacky. They feel that it is wrong to crash weddings because it is offensive to the family and to the couple. Many of these individuals are not married themselves and have not experienced the sacrament of marriage through their own eyes. They are not fortunate or again, too blind to understand the full meaning of a wedding celebration and that it goes far beyond the guestbook.
Weddings are a time of celebration, a chance to slip on the dancing shoes and an opportunity to forget about the stresses of the world and indulge in a few cocktails. On my wedding day, it did not matter who came, my focus was on my bride. If outsiders honored us by taking the time out of their day to watch me and my beautiful wife get married who am I to say otherwise.
Weddings are like sex. From the planning stages to the tears of happiness at the ceremony, being able to feel the eternal love between the bride and groom as they dance their first dance, experiencing how proud a father and mother are of their children and what this day truly means, and of course the fun and freedom of the dance floor, the body and mind is put in a state of euphoria… it is truly orgasmic.
Crashing allows us to experience these emotions over and over. Movies and film have created a negative image of wedding crashing. Again, those close minded people that can’t see the world outside the box only see wedding crashing as portrayed in the movies… ass hole drunks trying to get laid. They are blind to the bigger picture of how fulfilling it is to be apart of a wedding experience. There will always be a sense of personal accomplishment by taking a huge social risk and crashing a wedding but there will also be that feeling that only those who have crashed can experience. It creates a mental bond between crashers and allows us to see how pathetic those that judge without experience actually are.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Further evidence why old people suck ass....
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/05/04/samesex.marriage.poll/index.html?iref=newssearch
This poll is just more evidence that old people suck. They have different values, and are far more prejudicial than their children/grandchildren/great grandchildren. One of the problems with everyone living older is the bigots, misogynists, and general pains in the asses don't die....ever.....they just keep living.
In so many issues it seems that the younger generation is more progressive, humane, and intelligent (come on... All people really aren't equal? Burning a non-renewable resource that can almost only be purchased from our enemies is a good energy plan? The death penalty for minors and mentally disabled people is humane? Joba belongs in the bullpen?), but they won't be able to break through and make real change until the geezers pass on. It's a shame because many of these old farts have done wonderful things in their lives and could really pass on some important knowledge. But their past biases prevent them from being taken seriously, and cause the rest of us to live in a society that is lesser than it could be.
So my advice for the gay community is to keep striving for the equality that you deserve. But don't plan on getting that equality until today's 20 somethings actually have political power. This battle is only several thousand years old, so patiently working toward equality for 10-20 years (though unacceptable), doesn't sound too terrible (I know that is easy for me to say). If our generation doesn't get the job done, I will be very disappointed in all of us.
This poll is just more evidence that old people suck. They have different values, and are far more prejudicial than their children/grandchildren/great grandchildren. One of the problems with everyone living older is the bigots, misogynists, and general pains in the asses don't die....ever.....they just keep living.
In so many issues it seems that the younger generation is more progressive, humane, and intelligent (come on... All people really aren't equal? Burning a non-renewable resource that can almost only be purchased from our enemies is a good energy plan? The death penalty for minors and mentally disabled people is humane? Joba belongs in the bullpen?), but they won't be able to break through and make real change until the geezers pass on. It's a shame because many of these old farts have done wonderful things in their lives and could really pass on some important knowledge. But their past biases prevent them from being taken seriously, and cause the rest of us to live in a society that is lesser than it could be.
So my advice for the gay community is to keep striving for the equality that you deserve. But don't plan on getting that equality until today's 20 somethings actually have political power. This battle is only several thousand years old, so patiently working toward equality for 10-20 years (though unacceptable), doesn't sound too terrible (I know that is easy for me to say). If our generation doesn't get the job done, I will be very disappointed in all of us.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Ownership is Patriotic
Land ownership is one of the values that our country was founded on. The United States was a place were anyone could get land and build a life for themselves. It was something that people in Europe never had the opportunity to do. If you weren't born into land or acquire it through marriage, you were pretty much fucked to be a 2nd class citizen your entire life.
It is a very exciting rite of passage for people to join the ownership level of society. It shows maturity, seriousness, and balls. So my buddy Frank the Tank and his wonderful fiance just recently bought a house. The Angry Sailor and his pain in the ass wife (just kidding! Your dog is a pain in the ass, your wife is great!) bought a home late last summer. So many other people I know have been trying to get into home ownership, and that is awesome. You are patriotic Americans and I salute you. You assholes that are perfectly content to rent....well you're commie pinkos to me! That is all.
It is a very exciting rite of passage for people to join the ownership level of society. It shows maturity, seriousness, and balls. So my buddy Frank the Tank and his wonderful fiance just recently bought a house. The Angry Sailor and his pain in the ass wife (just kidding! Your dog is a pain in the ass, your wife is great!) bought a home late last summer. So many other people I know have been trying to get into home ownership, and that is awesome. You are patriotic Americans and I salute you. You assholes that are perfectly content to rent....well you're commie pinkos to me! That is all.
The Half
So I'm a stupid, horse's ass. Let's just start with that.
Instead of doing the smart thing of having a nice, balanced dinner and going to bed early on Friday night, I partied almost like a rock star. 6 Jack and Coke Zeroes later, I was trying to go to sleep at 1245am, with a 6am wake-up call looming. The Angry Sailor definitely was no help. It was so much fun to hang with my bro that I broke the rules. And then I paid the price....
I woke up 30minutes before my alarm. I just laid there thinking, damn I'm exhausted. Why the hell am I getting up so early on a Saturday?! I was also worried about the strange, unhappy feeling in my stomach. After forcing down some OJ, my daily coffee, and an English Muffin with peanut butter, Tank and I departed for the race.
About halfway to the park where the half was taking place my stomach starting being quite upset. I mentioned something to Frank the Tank, but we both quickly dismissed it (I wanted to keep him cool, as it was my boy's first half). After arriving at the park we met some nice people, stretched, and I was starting to feel better. The fresh air and great company was invigorating. We met the MAYOR of Chesapeake VA. He came up and shook Tank's hand, and BSed with us and the people in front of us for a minute or two.
We lined up, listened to the national anthem, and started moving. I was feeling pretty good, not 100%, but definitely not bad. The first 3 miles flew by, and I was right on pace to be where I wanted to be. At that point, I knew in 1/2 mile was the 2nd water station, which was to be my first water stop. The thought of putting anything in my stomach didn't sound too great, but I figured I had to start drinking water or I would never complete the race. So when I arrived, I slowly sipped the water, power walking through the station (I have not mastered the drink and run technique, and even walking I end up wearing more water than drinking). It felt like I was trying to swallow a bowling ball. Not a pleasant thing to do. I wasn't able to get much water in, and was quite worried about dehydration.
Shortly after trying to drink that water I felt an terrible feeling of nauseousness take hold of me. I felt like hell. I felt like a man who got 4.5hrs of sleep and drank too much Jack Daniels the night before a race. Approaching the 5 mile mark, the next water station, I busted out my energy beans as I was starting to drag a little bit. I could barely swallow the 2 beans with the water. Immediately this felt like a mistake. I kept going, but damn it wasn't good. Shortly after turning around at the 6.55mile mark, I lost it. The beans, the water, some the muffin, and definitely some Jack Daniels. It was quick, explosive, and painful. I knew I was FUCKED! I was about as far away as I could possibly be from the finish (the course was an out 6.55 miles and back the same route), and I was dehydrated, unable to drink water, and miserable. If I gave up I'd still have to walk over 6miles, but if I ran it would be the worst 6 miles of my life. I bargained with myself to keep moving forward (it definitely wasn't running, more so falling forward and having my feet catch me). I made it to the water station at the 8mile mark. I tried to force some more water, but it got halfway down my throat and I wretched it right back out.
From here until the last 1/2 mile I had to continually bargain with myself. I would run a quarter mile, power walk a quarter. When I got to the 11mile mark, I told myself I would run until the finish, no matter how painful it was. Well that last 1/2 mile. I walked another quarter, ran another half, walked another quarter and then finally pushed through the last 1/2 mile (I even found the energy to sprint the home stretch, for which I was rewarded by wretching and trying to vomit on the poor bastard trying to give me my medal for completing this trail of tears).
So I put myself through hell and finished the damn thing. But the end result was that I was about 1minute 30seconds slower than last year.....despite being HUNG OVER! The real question, was it worth it to party with my friends the night before the race? I've been training for about 3 months, running long distances and short distances when sometimes it would be way more fun to just sit on the couch and watch a game. Well you're damn right it was worth it! If you can't live your life and have fun with your friends, there is no point in running. You just better be ready to deal with the consequences of being a horse's ass!
Instead of doing the smart thing of having a nice, balanced dinner and going to bed early on Friday night, I partied almost like a rock star. 6 Jack and Coke Zeroes later, I was trying to go to sleep at 1245am, with a 6am wake-up call looming. The Angry Sailor definitely was no help. It was so much fun to hang with my bro that I broke the rules. And then I paid the price....
I woke up 30minutes before my alarm. I just laid there thinking, damn I'm exhausted. Why the hell am I getting up so early on a Saturday?! I was also worried about the strange, unhappy feeling in my stomach. After forcing down some OJ, my daily coffee, and an English Muffin with peanut butter, Tank and I departed for the race.
About halfway to the park where the half was taking place my stomach starting being quite upset. I mentioned something to Frank the Tank, but we both quickly dismissed it (I wanted to keep him cool, as it was my boy's first half). After arriving at the park we met some nice people, stretched, and I was starting to feel better. The fresh air and great company was invigorating. We met the MAYOR of Chesapeake VA. He came up and shook Tank's hand, and BSed with us and the people in front of us for a minute or two.
We lined up, listened to the national anthem, and started moving. I was feeling pretty good, not 100%, but definitely not bad. The first 3 miles flew by, and I was right on pace to be where I wanted to be. At that point, I knew in 1/2 mile was the 2nd water station, which was to be my first water stop. The thought of putting anything in my stomach didn't sound too great, but I figured I had to start drinking water or I would never complete the race. So when I arrived, I slowly sipped the water, power walking through the station (I have not mastered the drink and run technique, and even walking I end up wearing more water than drinking). It felt like I was trying to swallow a bowling ball. Not a pleasant thing to do. I wasn't able to get much water in, and was quite worried about dehydration.
Shortly after trying to drink that water I felt an terrible feeling of nauseousness take hold of me. I felt like hell. I felt like a man who got 4.5hrs of sleep and drank too much Jack Daniels the night before a race. Approaching the 5 mile mark, the next water station, I busted out my energy beans as I was starting to drag a little bit. I could barely swallow the 2 beans with the water. Immediately this felt like a mistake. I kept going, but damn it wasn't good. Shortly after turning around at the 6.55mile mark, I lost it. The beans, the water, some the muffin, and definitely some Jack Daniels. It was quick, explosive, and painful. I knew I was FUCKED! I was about as far away as I could possibly be from the finish (the course was an out 6.55 miles and back the same route), and I was dehydrated, unable to drink water, and miserable. If I gave up I'd still have to walk over 6miles, but if I ran it would be the worst 6 miles of my life. I bargained with myself to keep moving forward (it definitely wasn't running, more so falling forward and having my feet catch me). I made it to the water station at the 8mile mark. I tried to force some more water, but it got halfway down my throat and I wretched it right back out.
From here until the last 1/2 mile I had to continually bargain with myself. I would run a quarter mile, power walk a quarter. When I got to the 11mile mark, I told myself I would run until the finish, no matter how painful it was. Well that last 1/2 mile. I walked another quarter, ran another half, walked another quarter and then finally pushed through the last 1/2 mile (I even found the energy to sprint the home stretch, for which I was rewarded by wretching and trying to vomit on the poor bastard trying to give me my medal for completing this trail of tears).
So I put myself through hell and finished the damn thing. But the end result was that I was about 1minute 30seconds slower than last year.....despite being HUNG OVER! The real question, was it worth it to party with my friends the night before the race? I've been training for about 3 months, running long distances and short distances when sometimes it would be way more fun to just sit on the couch and watch a game. Well you're damn right it was worth it! If you can't live your life and have fun with your friends, there is no point in running. You just better be ready to deal with the consequences of being a horse's ass!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Looking forward to the weekend!
So I'm looking forward to this weekend! I am running a half marathon with my bro Frank the Tank. I'm real slow, he's real fast, I'm still not in very good shape despite running for about a year and a half (apparently you can't run 4 days a week and drink 20-30 beers per weekend and expect to loose weight!), while he's in great shape after running for about 9 months, but for both of us it is a culmination of working very hard toward a goal for the past several months. The sense of accomplishment when you cross the finish line makes all of the blisters, sun burns, cramps, and general miserableness worth it. And then I will reward myself by getting wasted with some of my best friends (my BFF Jack Daniels will be waiting for me at the finish).
As for the blog, either there will be drunken posts or no posts this weekend. So I hope everyone has a good weekend, and please forgive us if we post some real random shit this weekend.
Oh by the way, if you wake up before 10am on Saturday, say a little prayer for me that I can complete the half marathon without looking like the zombie I was last year!
As for the blog, either there will be drunken posts or no posts this weekend. So I hope everyone has a good weekend, and please forgive us if we post some real random shit this weekend.
Oh by the way, if you wake up before 10am on Saturday, say a little prayer for me that I can complete the half marathon without looking like the zombie I was last year!
Cutting the Military Budget by Only Allowing it to Grow by 4%?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/17/us/politics/17gates.html?ref=global-home
So one of the big criticisms of President Obama and Secretary of Defense Gates is that they are "cutting the defense budget during a time of war." That couldn't be further from the truth. They are cutting certain programs and equipment, but are allocating those funds in different places. The military budget is supposed to be 4% higher for next year than this year. I'm not a mathematician, but I'm not sure how that is cutting the budget. Gates has reccomended cutting the spending on the Air Force F-22, an obscenely expensive fighter jet that has been only used sparingly in Iraq and Afghanistan because it is unreliable. Apparently cutting the spending on the F-22 will cause people to lose jobs and Lockheed-Martin to lose money. But at the same time, Gates is increasing the American order on a cheaper more reliable fighter jet (I'm too lazy to look up the name of it) that would cause there to be more jobs created than lost to the F-22.
That is the perfect example of what Gates and the Obama Administration are doing. Looking at doing things outside of the box, shifting priorities to what works and not what is fanciest. It may not be the most popular way to go about business, but in times of turmoil, it seems like the type of leadership our country needs. It is ashame that it took Bush so long to find Gates, he seems to be a really smart leader with the best interests of our country at heart.
So one of the big criticisms of President Obama and Secretary of Defense Gates is that they are "cutting the defense budget during a time of war." That couldn't be further from the truth. They are cutting certain programs and equipment, but are allocating those funds in different places. The military budget is supposed to be 4% higher for next year than this year. I'm not a mathematician, but I'm not sure how that is cutting the budget. Gates has reccomended cutting the spending on the Air Force F-22, an obscenely expensive fighter jet that has been only used sparingly in Iraq and Afghanistan because it is unreliable. Apparently cutting the spending on the F-22 will cause people to lose jobs and Lockheed-Martin to lose money. But at the same time, Gates is increasing the American order on a cheaper more reliable fighter jet (I'm too lazy to look up the name of it) that would cause there to be more jobs created than lost to the F-22.
That is the perfect example of what Gates and the Obama Administration are doing. Looking at doing things outside of the box, shifting priorities to what works and not what is fanciest. It may not be the most popular way to go about business, but in times of turmoil, it seems like the type of leadership our country needs. It is ashame that it took Bush so long to find Gates, he seems to be a really smart leader with the best interests of our country at heart.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
If it's tea you want, go back to England!
Fox News celebrated Tax Day yesterday with Tea Parties all across the country. Absolutely fucking hysterical.*
*I watched Fox News for about 15 minutes last night. I got so fired up that I could hardly sleep. Then I was so busy at work today that I was unable to get up any of the posts that I wanted to....whenever I need a post I should just watch Fox News for a minute or two. But never again right before bed as it makes it too hard to sleep.
I strongly believe in the Constitution of the United States, that is definitely no secret. So these Tea Parties were a great way to exercise one's right to assemble. If people have a problem with something the government is doing, they should be able to gather in public spaces and protest.
Very few many stream media outlets covered the Tea Parties yesterday because they were strongly promoted by Fox News. They didn't want to give a competitor any free publicity. It was really kind of disgusting that a news agency would strongly promote supposedly "organic political protests". If CNN held an anti-Iraq war protest in Atlanta and DC they would be crucified by the New York Times for doing such a thing. No one dared mess with Fox News on this (except NBC, which did display some liberal bias). But at the same time, it was a major story the conservatives and mindless trolls gathered in public spaces across this country to complain about shit that they don't really understand. The other new outlets should have covered this story.
They used Tea Party since they were protesting taxation. But the thing was, the original Boston Tea Party was about taxation with no representation. Last time I checked, we had free and somewhat fair elections back in November (unless the Obamas were busting out some old school tricks and having dead people vote). So we just recently elected our representation. And those incoming political officers have been given a GIANT TURD to deal with. For years states and the federal government have been adding programs and increasing spending like drunken sailors, all while reducing taxes. How does that work? If I spent more money each month than the month before and made less money each month than the month before, eventually I'd be fucked! What it comes down to is people have been getting a free lunch for the past 10 years. If you want services, you have to have taxes. If you want good schools, you have to have taxes. If you want a decent military, you have to have taxes. If you don't want any of this shit, then you don't need as many taxes. I have no problem with complaining with a the belt tightening that will accompany the giant tax correction that we're all due to receive, but protesting that? GET BENT!
So my point with the people in the protests, YOU ARE FUCKING MORONS. I know that is mean. But the problem is that the new government in this country is trying to clean up the mess that was left by the Bush Administration and PREVIOUS Congresses (because you can't blame Bush for everything). So when all of the Democrats and Independents in this country said enough is enough and voted in a new government, you have to give that government some time to fix things. If things don't get fixed in the near future, then you vote in new people in 2010. Have your tea parties on Tax Day 2010. And really, if you're going to do anything it should have been a Coffee Party. We hate tea in this country, we've been coffee drinkers ever since that tea hit Boston Harbor 200+ years ago!
*I watched Fox News for about 15 minutes last night. I got so fired up that I could hardly sleep. Then I was so busy at work today that I was unable to get up any of the posts that I wanted to....whenever I need a post I should just watch Fox News for a minute or two. But never again right before bed as it makes it too hard to sleep.
I strongly believe in the Constitution of the United States, that is definitely no secret. So these Tea Parties were a great way to exercise one's right to assemble. If people have a problem with something the government is doing, they should be able to gather in public spaces and protest.
Very few many stream media outlets covered the Tea Parties yesterday because they were strongly promoted by Fox News. They didn't want to give a competitor any free publicity. It was really kind of disgusting that a news agency would strongly promote supposedly "organic political protests". If CNN held an anti-Iraq war protest in Atlanta and DC they would be crucified by the New York Times for doing such a thing. No one dared mess with Fox News on this (except NBC, which did display some liberal bias). But at the same time, it was a major story the conservatives and mindless trolls gathered in public spaces across this country to complain about shit that they don't really understand. The other new outlets should have covered this story.
They used Tea Party since they were protesting taxation. But the thing was, the original Boston Tea Party was about taxation with no representation. Last time I checked, we had free and somewhat fair elections back in November (unless the Obamas were busting out some old school tricks and having dead people vote). So we just recently elected our representation. And those incoming political officers have been given a GIANT TURD to deal with. For years states and the federal government have been adding programs and increasing spending like drunken sailors, all while reducing taxes. How does that work? If I spent more money each month than the month before and made less money each month than the month before, eventually I'd be fucked! What it comes down to is people have been getting a free lunch for the past 10 years. If you want services, you have to have taxes. If you want good schools, you have to have taxes. If you want a decent military, you have to have taxes. If you don't want any of this shit, then you don't need as many taxes. I have no problem with complaining with a the belt tightening that will accompany the giant tax correction that we're all due to receive, but protesting that? GET BENT!
So my point with the people in the protests, YOU ARE FUCKING MORONS. I know that is mean. But the problem is that the new government in this country is trying to clean up the mess that was left by the Bush Administration and PREVIOUS Congresses (because you can't blame Bush for everything). So when all of the Democrats and Independents in this country said enough is enough and voted in a new government, you have to give that government some time to fix things. If things don't get fixed in the near future, then you vote in new people in 2010. Have your tea parties on Tax Day 2010. And really, if you're going to do anything it should have been a Coffee Party. We hate tea in this country, we've been coffee drinkers ever since that tea hit Boston Harbor 200+ years ago!
Feel the Rush (of my anger)
Oh My God! The fact that I saw this 2nd hand makes it hard for me to go too crazy with it.....but shit!
So apparently Rush Limbaugh was on his radio this week CRITICIZING the Obama Administration for the deaths of the 3 pirates off the Somali coast. That's right. I said he was criticizing them for that. And what was his justification for that? Obama authorized the Navy to shoot 3 young black men.
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!?!
I fully support people having the right of free speech. Where else in the world could I be such a huge jackass but in the United States? The right to free speech is not designed to protect the speech you love the most, but instead is to designed to protect that speech that most of us would hate the most. That much I get. What bothers me is that people, INTELLIGENT people, listen to Rush Limbaugh and say, "Yes he's right. I should think like him and believe what he believes."
So back to what Limbaugh said about the shooting of the pirates. Yes they were teenagers. Yes they were in a terrible position. But hello, THEY CAPTURED A SHIP CARRYING FOOD AID FOR AFRICA WITH AUTOMATIC WEAPONS, AND THEN HELD THE CAPTAIN HOSTAGE WITH THOSE SAME AUTOMATIC WEAPONS!!!!!!!!!! The situation in Somalia is terrible. It needs to be fixed right away. Boys should not be taking speed boats and weapons to the oceans. Those kids should have been in high school or college, or a vocational school, or working a job, anything but running about the high seas with guns. I believe in the rule of law. If there was a way to get the captain back from the boy-pirates without any killing, that should have been done. But if the captain of the naval vessel thought the hostage's life was at stake, he had no option but to shoot. This is standard protocol for most hostage situations (at least according to what I've seen in the movies!). To criticize the Obama Administration for the deaths of the 3 pirates and to try to paint the pirates as innocents is just plain TRAITOROUS. That's right, I said it.
Rush Limbaugh was one of the foremost proponents of the war in Iraq. He was one of the foremost supporters of holding people and torturing people in Guantanamo Bay. This is the man who supported the government SPYING on ITS OWN CITIZENS, A DIRECT VIOLATION OF THE CONSTITUTION THAT THIS COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED ON. Limbaugh vocally called the people who questioned these people as being unpatriotic and traitors. This man DOES NOT VALUE human life whatsoever, and now he cares about pirates? Give me a fucking break.
I wish the poor people who follow this man could take a step back and see the forest for the trees. He can say what he likes. It is very clear that he is doing everything he can to fight the Obama Administration. The Obama Administration has made plenty of mistakes thus far, but this is one thing that I don't think you can really fault them for. The Americans in the hostage situation got out alive. 3 young pirates died, which is very sad. But the country that they live, and the conditions that they live in brought them to the lives that they led. If we want to blame anyone for that, we need to blame the African Union, European Union, NATO, United Nations, and the Clinton/Bush Administrations that have done NOTHING with Somalia since the early 1990s. Don't blame Barack Obama for a situation that started before he was even involved in government.
FUCK YOU RUSH LIMBAUGH! PS Enjoy your right to freedom of speech! Obviously I am!
So apparently Rush Limbaugh was on his radio this week CRITICIZING the Obama Administration for the deaths of the 3 pirates off the Somali coast. That's right. I said he was criticizing them for that. And what was his justification for that? Obama authorized the Navy to shoot 3 young black men.
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!?!
I fully support people having the right of free speech. Where else in the world could I be such a huge jackass but in the United States? The right to free speech is not designed to protect the speech you love the most, but instead is to designed to protect that speech that most of us would hate the most. That much I get. What bothers me is that people, INTELLIGENT people, listen to Rush Limbaugh and say, "Yes he's right. I should think like him and believe what he believes."
So back to what Limbaugh said about the shooting of the pirates. Yes they were teenagers. Yes they were in a terrible position. But hello, THEY CAPTURED A SHIP CARRYING FOOD AID FOR AFRICA WITH AUTOMATIC WEAPONS, AND THEN HELD THE CAPTAIN HOSTAGE WITH THOSE SAME AUTOMATIC WEAPONS!!!!!!!!!! The situation in Somalia is terrible. It needs to be fixed right away. Boys should not be taking speed boats and weapons to the oceans. Those kids should have been in high school or college, or a vocational school, or working a job, anything but running about the high seas with guns. I believe in the rule of law. If there was a way to get the captain back from the boy-pirates without any killing, that should have been done. But if the captain of the naval vessel thought the hostage's life was at stake, he had no option but to shoot. This is standard protocol for most hostage situations (at least according to what I've seen in the movies!). To criticize the Obama Administration for the deaths of the 3 pirates and to try to paint the pirates as innocents is just plain TRAITOROUS. That's right, I said it.
Rush Limbaugh was one of the foremost proponents of the war in Iraq. He was one of the foremost supporters of holding people and torturing people in Guantanamo Bay. This is the man who supported the government SPYING on ITS OWN CITIZENS, A DIRECT VIOLATION OF THE CONSTITUTION THAT THIS COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED ON. Limbaugh vocally called the people who questioned these people as being unpatriotic and traitors. This man DOES NOT VALUE human life whatsoever, and now he cares about pirates? Give me a fucking break.
I wish the poor people who follow this man could take a step back and see the forest for the trees. He can say what he likes. It is very clear that he is doing everything he can to fight the Obama Administration. The Obama Administration has made plenty of mistakes thus far, but this is one thing that I don't think you can really fault them for. The Americans in the hostage situation got out alive. 3 young pirates died, which is very sad. But the country that they live, and the conditions that they live in brought them to the lives that they led. If we want to blame anyone for that, we need to blame the African Union, European Union, NATO, United Nations, and the Clinton/Bush Administrations that have done NOTHING with Somalia since the early 1990s. Don't blame Barack Obama for a situation that started before he was even involved in government.
FUCK YOU RUSH LIMBAUGH! PS Enjoy your right to freedom of speech! Obviously I am!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Legalize it......
So I have something controversial to discuss today. I need to start off by making this disclaimer: I have never, and will never smoke marijuana. I was never interested in it growing up, and I've been randomly drug tested for basically the last 7 years.
That all being said, it's about time we legalize marijuana. I just don't see what the hang up is over it. Treat it like alcohol. If someone has it in their system while driving, send them to jail, suspend their license, give them the scarlet M (or W). Charge crazy taxes on it. Legalizing it would cause it to drop in cost, but then you could charge taxes that would make the prices stay similar to whatever they are right now. That money could be used for any of a million projects.
The ATF could regulate it just like they do with booze and tobacco. Yes that would cost more money, but a small portion of the tax money could be spent on regulating and testing the legal product coming in. This would mean that there would be openings in the ATF (job creation, hmmm is that something we need right now?).
The best part about all of this is that we could reallocate our efforts in the War on Drugs to drugs that actually can kill people in regular use. A big part of the gang/drug war going on in Mexico right now is related to the United States' crackdown on marijuana entering our country. If the drug is illegal, I agree 100% in doing everything we can in preventing it from entering our country. But if by legalizing it we can save lives in Mexico by legitimizing the business (and reducing their profits by removing it from the black market), that doesn't sound like a bad side effect.
I can't see any reason to keep marijuana illegal except that it is a drug that alters people's state of mind. But nicotine and alcohol do that very thing as well, and they are very much legal. I say legalize it, make it just like a cross between alcohol and tobacco (which it pretty much is), tax it like crazy, and utilize our drug enforcement agents to stop the serious drugs like coke and heroine from infiltrating our country.
That all being said, it's about time we legalize marijuana. I just don't see what the hang up is over it. Treat it like alcohol. If someone has it in their system while driving, send them to jail, suspend their license, give them the scarlet M (or W). Charge crazy taxes on it. Legalizing it would cause it to drop in cost, but then you could charge taxes that would make the prices stay similar to whatever they are right now. That money could be used for any of a million projects.
The ATF could regulate it just like they do with booze and tobacco. Yes that would cost more money, but a small portion of the tax money could be spent on regulating and testing the legal product coming in. This would mean that there would be openings in the ATF (job creation, hmmm is that something we need right now?).
The best part about all of this is that we could reallocate our efforts in the War on Drugs to drugs that actually can kill people in regular use. A big part of the gang/drug war going on in Mexico right now is related to the United States' crackdown on marijuana entering our country. If the drug is illegal, I agree 100% in doing everything we can in preventing it from entering our country. But if by legalizing it we can save lives in Mexico by legitimizing the business (and reducing their profits by removing it from the black market), that doesn't sound like a bad side effect.
I can't see any reason to keep marijuana illegal except that it is a drug that alters people's state of mind. But nicotine and alcohol do that very thing as well, and they are very much legal. I say legalize it, make it just like a cross between alcohol and tobacco (which it pretty much is), tax it like crazy, and utilize our drug enforcement agents to stop the serious drugs like coke and heroine from infiltrating our country.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Ban Coffee!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/health/nutrition/26best.html?ref=nutrition
This article reminded me of something that I wanted to riff on real quick. So all of these scientists are making fortunes coming up with performance enhancing drugs. Professional and international sports regulating bodies are struggling to come up with new tests and to discourage athletes from risking their long-term health for the sake of short term success. And with all of this, caffeine is a more effective performance enhancer than many of these other drugs. It doesn't require the athlete to lift weights or spend time in a gym to see improved results. All one has to do is have a cup of coffee 1hr or less before engaging in whatever activity the athlete wants to improve in.
I think what it comes down to is that either caffeine should be banned as a stimulant, just like ephedra, or performance enhancing drugs shouldn't be banned AT ALL. What's the difference between taking steroids and having one's career saved by having a ligament removed from your knee and placed in your elbow? How is Lasik eye surgery not performance enhancing? How is microfracture surgery (breaking down the cappellaries in a joint with lasers, causing eventual regrowth of cartillage) not changing the path of an athlete's carrer? These medical procedures don't require any extra time in a weight room (outside of rehab time), and they surely do save/improve careers. If athletes want to ruin their later lives by taking performance enhancing drugs, I really don't have a problem with it. Hell they can take caffeine and they can go get laser eye surgery to improve their performance without spending an extra minute practicing their sport or working out in a gym. So before my run on Saturday, you can be DAMN SURE I'm going to have a cup of coffee!
This article reminded me of something that I wanted to riff on real quick. So all of these scientists are making fortunes coming up with performance enhancing drugs. Professional and international sports regulating bodies are struggling to come up with new tests and to discourage athletes from risking their long-term health for the sake of short term success. And with all of this, caffeine is a more effective performance enhancer than many of these other drugs. It doesn't require the athlete to lift weights or spend time in a gym to see improved results. All one has to do is have a cup of coffee 1hr or less before engaging in whatever activity the athlete wants to improve in.
I think what it comes down to is that either caffeine should be banned as a stimulant, just like ephedra, or performance enhancing drugs shouldn't be banned AT ALL. What's the difference between taking steroids and having one's career saved by having a ligament removed from your knee and placed in your elbow? How is Lasik eye surgery not performance enhancing? How is microfracture surgery (breaking down the cappellaries in a joint with lasers, causing eventual regrowth of cartillage) not changing the path of an athlete's carrer? These medical procedures don't require any extra time in a weight room (outside of rehab time), and they surely do save/improve careers. If athletes want to ruin their later lives by taking performance enhancing drugs, I really don't have a problem with it. Hell they can take caffeine and they can go get laser eye surgery to improve their performance without spending an extra minute practicing their sport or working out in a gym. So before my run on Saturday, you can be DAMN SURE I'm going to have a cup of coffee!
Great Moments in Naval History
So the pirates are upset that 3 of them were killed yesterday:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/13/somalia.pirates.revenge/
I really think that is unwise to broadcast that information to the world. America is a country where we have the 2nd Ammendment. So if those pirates want to vow revenge on an American ship, all that is going to do is encourage American sailors to bring their weapons to sea with them. Security personnel will be hired on boats (just like sailing ships in the 1600s had cannons on them) and pirates will be in a world of hurt.
Some innocent American sailors may die because of this, but at least they've now been given a heads up that they may want to pack heat when they leave the house for a couple of months at sea. Somalia needs some help getting their country together (hey EU, UN, how about a little help here?), and until that happens, it seems like having small security details on shipping vessels might be a necessary precaution....
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/13/somalia.pirates.revenge/
I really think that is unwise to broadcast that information to the world. America is a country where we have the 2nd Ammendment. So if those pirates want to vow revenge on an American ship, all that is going to do is encourage American sailors to bring their weapons to sea with them. Security personnel will be hired on boats (just like sailing ships in the 1600s had cannons on them) and pirates will be in a world of hurt.
Some innocent American sailors may die because of this, but at least they've now been given a heads up that they may want to pack heat when they leave the house for a couple of months at sea. Somalia needs some help getting their country together (hey EU, UN, how about a little help here?), and until that happens, it seems like having small security details on shipping vessels might be a necessary precaution....
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Sunday Night TV Viewing
It was a long weekend here in the Asshole household. After helping the family we scrambled back from SC to an awesome Easter party. And then finally retreated to the friendly confines of our bed and some Chinese food.....
The last post was dealing with HYSTERICAL MORONS, and this post is with HISTORICAL MORONS! It was quite hilarious/frustrating. I was blown away that they put this drivel on television.
On History Channel, it was an hour long special discussing the possibility that aliens either built or assisted in the creation of the many of the great wonders of the world. I do believe in aliens. I'm pretty sure I saw a UFO as a teenager. It is a pretty crazy story, and NO, I was not on drugs at the time. But I'm a believer and this television show was TOO much for me.
I had to keep watching because I needed to see where they were going. They didn't get to fuckin Stonehenge until the last 10 minutes, so you know it was well done. To these "experts" (by the way, I think the only qualification to be an expert on a cable show such as this is to be a complete wing-nut and be able to formulate semi-complete sentences, so A&E I'm waiting by the phone) it was inconceivable that man would build pyramids to deify themselves. Contrary to archaeological and historical evidence, the pharaohs were not arrogant assholes.... And the shape of the pyramids showing up in Mexico, India, and Asia at the same time had to be alien intervention (of course pyramids look nothing like man-made mountains, right?). It was similar bullshit over and over again....the lines were too perfectly cut, stones too heavy to be moved, the energy signals too perfectly in-tuned (ReallY?!). The only credible guy they showed was a historian from NYU who had a fuckin mohawk. Really dude? You're going to be on national tv as the voice of reason and you decide to keep that thing?! WTF?!?!
So I know it is Sunday night and there is nothing else on. Most people are either watching sports or reading books, BUT SHIT! There are people who have grown dumber from watching that crap. Lucky for me I'm already about as dumb as I can be after working at home for 3.5 years!
The last post was dealing with HYSTERICAL MORONS, and this post is with HISTORICAL MORONS! It was quite hilarious/frustrating. I was blown away that they put this drivel on television.
On History Channel, it was an hour long special discussing the possibility that aliens either built or assisted in the creation of the many of the great wonders of the world. I do believe in aliens. I'm pretty sure I saw a UFO as a teenager. It is a pretty crazy story, and NO, I was not on drugs at the time. But I'm a believer and this television show was TOO much for me.
I had to keep watching because I needed to see where they were going. They didn't get to fuckin Stonehenge until the last 10 minutes, so you know it was well done. To these "experts" (by the way, I think the only qualification to be an expert on a cable show such as this is to be a complete wing-nut and be able to formulate semi-complete sentences, so A&E I'm waiting by the phone) it was inconceivable that man would build pyramids to deify themselves. Contrary to archaeological and historical evidence, the pharaohs were not arrogant assholes.... And the shape of the pyramids showing up in Mexico, India, and Asia at the same time had to be alien intervention (of course pyramids look nothing like man-made mountains, right?). It was similar bullshit over and over again....the lines were too perfectly cut, stones too heavy to be moved, the energy signals too perfectly in-tuned (ReallY?!). The only credible guy they showed was a historian from NYU who had a fuckin mohawk. Really dude? You're going to be on national tv as the voice of reason and you decide to keep that thing?! WTF?!?!
So I know it is Sunday night and there is nothing else on. Most people are either watching sports or reading books, BUT SHIT! There are people who have grown dumber from watching that crap. Lucky for me I'm already about as dumb as I can be after working at home for 3.5 years!
The Death of Friendships, How Men and Women Differ
So this post is something that I've been thinking about writing for quite some time and finally decided to write about it.
Men and women are different. Everyone knows this. I won't go too far into any details of all the things that make them different, but how our friendships end is a hugely different.
First, men. Men easily accept that friendships are going to come and go. Someone stops replying to your emails, or rarely gives you a call, you figure out that they don't enjoy your company as they used to. You move on and spend your time with people who email you regularly, who give you a call when they don't have to, and don't think too much about the former friend. When things are over, things are over. If we see our former friends, we're cordial and polite. We don't grasp at straws and try to "relive the glory days". If we do happen to hang out, we don't hold grudges, we forget the old battles, and just have a good time. BUT AT NO TIME do we EVER think that things are going to be back to the way they once were.
I've always had lots of female friends and in that time I've seen many of their close friendships end. It is FAR from a pretty sight. And I'll admit that I have not helped matters. Women fight for their friendships to the bitter end. They never know when to let things go, miss all the signs that things are turning south, and then always try to return to the "good old days".
Over and over again, it seemed that their friends got incredibly jealous over incredibly stupid things. Perfectly rational women would become hysterical morons! They'd get upset that she spent time with a boyfriend/husband, or her family, or other friends. Over an extended period of time they would miss the signs that they were sending her, misinterpret the signs she was sending them. Almost always they would take the easy way out of turning their former friend into an enemy, INSTEAD of just letting things end amicably. Thus poisoning all memories of the good times with those people. And I need to repeat one thing. This is not just one or two instances. Every woman I've come into contact with has had to deal with this sort of fucked up situation. I sure hope that it's not my fault, but I think its bigger than just one asshole.
I don't know why women have the problems with friendships that men don't. Maybe we're colder. But I'd rather be a cold and happy individual than a warm and miserable person. I am not advocating NOT fighting for a friendship. But I am recommending that people spend more time in their daily lives evaluating the signs in their relationships. People need to be honest with themselves about the conditions of their friendships, whether they want to continue friendships with people or not. It will save us all a lot of headaches!
Men and women are different. Everyone knows this. I won't go too far into any details of all the things that make them different, but how our friendships end is a hugely different.
First, men. Men easily accept that friendships are going to come and go. Someone stops replying to your emails, or rarely gives you a call, you figure out that they don't enjoy your company as they used to. You move on and spend your time with people who email you regularly, who give you a call when they don't have to, and don't think too much about the former friend. When things are over, things are over. If we see our former friends, we're cordial and polite. We don't grasp at straws and try to "relive the glory days". If we do happen to hang out, we don't hold grudges, we forget the old battles, and just have a good time. BUT AT NO TIME do we EVER think that things are going to be back to the way they once were.
I've always had lots of female friends and in that time I've seen many of their close friendships end. It is FAR from a pretty sight. And I'll admit that I have not helped matters. Women fight for their friendships to the bitter end. They never know when to let things go, miss all the signs that things are turning south, and then always try to return to the "good old days".
Over and over again, it seemed that their friends got incredibly jealous over incredibly stupid things. Perfectly rational women would become hysterical morons! They'd get upset that she spent time with a boyfriend/husband, or her family, or other friends. Over an extended period of time they would miss the signs that they were sending her, misinterpret the signs she was sending them. Almost always they would take the easy way out of turning their former friend into an enemy, INSTEAD of just letting things end amicably. Thus poisoning all memories of the good times with those people. And I need to repeat one thing. This is not just one or two instances. Every woman I've come into contact with has had to deal with this sort of fucked up situation. I sure hope that it's not my fault, but I think its bigger than just one asshole.
I don't know why women have the problems with friendships that men don't. Maybe we're colder. But I'd rather be a cold and happy individual than a warm and miserable person. I am not advocating NOT fighting for a friendship. But I am recommending that people spend more time in their daily lives evaluating the signs in their relationships. People need to be honest with themselves about the conditions of their friendships, whether they want to continue friendships with people or not. It will save us all a lot of headaches!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
The Return.....
So I'm extremely sorry for taking so much time off with this blog. I'll be honest, I was bored with it, as my co-author didn't have the ability to post with me, and I haven't been very angry. And for that you can blame my lovely wife. She has done a wonderful job of keeping me so happy for the past month +. She has been great about helping me with the housework (as someone who works from home, I have done the majority of the housework for the past 4 years), she lets me watch the sports I want to, she encourages me to binge drink when we get together with friends, she has pushed/supported me in my running/gym antics, and she initiates sex regularly (I'm notorious for being a big time initiator, but its nice to have her rev the engine!).
But my friend the Angry Sailor has finally returned. I have saved up a bunch of material. Hopefully this will be a nice place for the two of us to vent, and for all of you loyal readers to vent with us. I found my previous blog posts to be very therapeutic. I hope this will be a chance for all of us to chill the fuck out and be more productive members of society.
But my friend the Angry Sailor has finally returned. I have saved up a bunch of material. Hopefully this will be a nice place for the two of us to vent, and for all of you loyal readers to vent with us. I found my previous blog posts to be very therapeutic. I hope this will be a chance for all of us to chill the fuck out and be more productive members of society.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Sh*t or Get Off the Pot
It's time for the United States to figure out which way we want to go. This is not an easy decision, but the central debate of our government and our society is really very simple.
Do we want government to provide services for our society or do we want the private sector to take care of these things?
It comes down to this, we can't keep trying to have both. We want our taxes to be low, hell we don't want any taxes at all. We want to keep all of our money. At the same time, we want good roads, good schools, a strong military, safe foods to eat, a cleaner environment, etc...Things that you need taxes to pay for.
There has been a return to an old trend in government. It is called deficit spending. You pay for what you want, and you just take on debt, instead of using tax funds for it. This makes the people happy. You can cut taxes and at the same time provide all the services that the people demand we get from our government. Here's the real trick of it, you then pass down that debt to the next generation. Let them worry about the mess. Reagan was a master at this. Thanks to the mess that he left our nation's finances, George H.W. Bush-a generally decent President, lost re-election to Bill Clinton.
When the 1st Bush took office, he had made the famous pledge of "read my lips, no new taxes." The problem was that our government owed the rest of the world a ton of money. They didn't want to loan us anymore until we started paying down our massive debt. So he had no choice but to reneg on his campaign promise. This effectively killed his presidency.
Well we are in another one of those times (Clinton lucked out with the economy getting moving in the right direction, and having increased revenue from the Bush tax increases that they were actually able to pay down some of the debt). Junior has left us with a mess. Instead of acting like the fiscal conversative that he portrayed himself to be, he spent like a drunken sailor and did nothing but give out tax breaks to the richest Americans (did you know that if you make over $500 million a year, you pay a smaller portion of your income to taxes than people who make $50k-$100k? Pretty disgusting eh?). So now Obama comes in with our huge stimulus package. A major part of that bill is $288 billion in tax cuts. It is supposed to go to the lower income people like myself, who have been paying the lion's share of the taxes for the past 8 years.
Where are we going to get the funds to pay off all of the debt that our nation has incurred over the Junior Bush years, and the debt we will incur with Obama's stimulus package? We have to cut spending and raise taxes. Two things NOBODY likes to do (even a grumpy jerk like me). The government only gets revenue from taxes. So if they don't raise taxes, they won't have the money to pay for the things that we consider vital (like $1,000 hammers, and $50,000 toilet seats in the defense budget).
So why don't we borrow some more? The only country that is really in a borrowing mood right now is China, which manipulates its monetary system so that basically, all loans are like the $5000 line of credit offers that we get in the mail. And China is not exactly our ally. They are not our enemy, yet, but they definitely aren't a friend either. Do we really want to owe a militarily aggressive, totalitarian country trillions of dollars? Not sure that is in our nation's best interest, or protects our country very well....
I myself am willing to pay more taxes to make sure that the services that most consider important to government continue. But I also believe that if we don't have the revenue for it, then we shouldn't sponsor a program. I think the defense budget can be reallocated to be smarter with our money such as sponsoring programs to build robots and drones that can defend our country without the risk of losing our most important assets, our young people versus sponsoring replacing the Air Force fleet with Raptor F-22s that cost $50 million apiece and yet aren't trusted to be used in high-leverage situations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Oh, and I don't want to hear about how the IRS accepts donations. An extra $2000 from me isn't going to make a damn bit of difference. But an extra $2000 from 1000 people like me adds $2million to the pot, enough to get started on a school reconstruction project or a bridge repair, or many of a million important things.
If we don't want to pay taxes anymore, then its time for private enterprise to take over the roads, schools, military, everything. But we saw how well private enterprise did with rebuilding Iraq, and how well it did with running the United States Postal Service (reducing service, laying off thousands, AND asking for a government bailout). Not to mention people from CT remember how well that private company that took over the schools in Hartford did....ugh! I'm all for private business, but government and business have been tied together for so long in this country, that I just can't see it succeeding without a lot of growing pains (also known as corruption). If someone can really draw out a scenario where we pay minimal taxes and still private enterprise takes care of all of our needs, I'd really love to see it.
So I say that it might be time to raise the taxes. I don't like it, but I will be even more unhappy when China looks to collect our debts during my lifetime. I'm not ready to see the US become the puppet of another country (which would happen if China demanded we pay our debts ASAP). The people of my parents' generation made this mess, but I'm ready to start helping fix it. So instead of a tax cut, how about an old fashioned tax hike? That would not be business as usual in Washington, it would show real promise of change and real courage out of the Obama Administration.
Do we want government to provide services for our society or do we want the private sector to take care of these things?
It comes down to this, we can't keep trying to have both. We want our taxes to be low, hell we don't want any taxes at all. We want to keep all of our money. At the same time, we want good roads, good schools, a strong military, safe foods to eat, a cleaner environment, etc...Things that you need taxes to pay for.
There has been a return to an old trend in government. It is called deficit spending. You pay for what you want, and you just take on debt, instead of using tax funds for it. This makes the people happy. You can cut taxes and at the same time provide all the services that the people demand we get from our government. Here's the real trick of it, you then pass down that debt to the next generation. Let them worry about the mess. Reagan was a master at this. Thanks to the mess that he left our nation's finances, George H.W. Bush-a generally decent President, lost re-election to Bill Clinton.
When the 1st Bush took office, he had made the famous pledge of "read my lips, no new taxes." The problem was that our government owed the rest of the world a ton of money. They didn't want to loan us anymore until we started paying down our massive debt. So he had no choice but to reneg on his campaign promise. This effectively killed his presidency.
Well we are in another one of those times (Clinton lucked out with the economy getting moving in the right direction, and having increased revenue from the Bush tax increases that they were actually able to pay down some of the debt). Junior has left us with a mess. Instead of acting like the fiscal conversative that he portrayed himself to be, he spent like a drunken sailor and did nothing but give out tax breaks to the richest Americans (did you know that if you make over $500 million a year, you pay a smaller portion of your income to taxes than people who make $50k-$100k? Pretty disgusting eh?). So now Obama comes in with our huge stimulus package. A major part of that bill is $288 billion in tax cuts. It is supposed to go to the lower income people like myself, who have been paying the lion's share of the taxes for the past 8 years.
Where are we going to get the funds to pay off all of the debt that our nation has incurred over the Junior Bush years, and the debt we will incur with Obama's stimulus package? We have to cut spending and raise taxes. Two things NOBODY likes to do (even a grumpy jerk like me). The government only gets revenue from taxes. So if they don't raise taxes, they won't have the money to pay for the things that we consider vital (like $1,000 hammers, and $50,000 toilet seats in the defense budget).
So why don't we borrow some more? The only country that is really in a borrowing mood right now is China, which manipulates its monetary system so that basically, all loans are like the $5000 line of credit offers that we get in the mail. And China is not exactly our ally. They are not our enemy, yet, but they definitely aren't a friend either. Do we really want to owe a militarily aggressive, totalitarian country trillions of dollars? Not sure that is in our nation's best interest, or protects our country very well....
I myself am willing to pay more taxes to make sure that the services that most consider important to government continue. But I also believe that if we don't have the revenue for it, then we shouldn't sponsor a program. I think the defense budget can be reallocated to be smarter with our money such as sponsoring programs to build robots and drones that can defend our country without the risk of losing our most important assets, our young people versus sponsoring replacing the Air Force fleet with Raptor F-22s that cost $50 million apiece and yet aren't trusted to be used in high-leverage situations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Oh, and I don't want to hear about how the IRS accepts donations. An extra $2000 from me isn't going to make a damn bit of difference. But an extra $2000 from 1000 people like me adds $2million to the pot, enough to get started on a school reconstruction project or a bridge repair, or many of a million important things.
If we don't want to pay taxes anymore, then its time for private enterprise to take over the roads, schools, military, everything. But we saw how well private enterprise did with rebuilding Iraq, and how well it did with running the United States Postal Service (reducing service, laying off thousands, AND asking for a government bailout). Not to mention people from CT remember how well that private company that took over the schools in Hartford did....ugh! I'm all for private business, but government and business have been tied together for so long in this country, that I just can't see it succeeding without a lot of growing pains (also known as corruption). If someone can really draw out a scenario where we pay minimal taxes and still private enterprise takes care of all of our needs, I'd really love to see it.
So I say that it might be time to raise the taxes. I don't like it, but I will be even more unhappy when China looks to collect our debts during my lifetime. I'm not ready to see the US become the puppet of another country (which would happen if China demanded we pay our debts ASAP). The people of my parents' generation made this mess, but I'm ready to start helping fix it. So instead of a tax cut, how about an old fashioned tax hike? That would not be business as usual in Washington, it would show real promise of change and real courage out of the Obama Administration.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Sportswriters are a joke!
Most people will be very bored by this post. Another sports post. But I have a beef, and I need an outlet, so here goes.
The sportswriters covering the Alex Rodriguez steroids scandal make me sick. These men (and a few women) have taken the holier than though approach with him. He has admitted more to them and the public than ANY active athlete in ANY sport. These are the same sportswriters who turned a deaf ear and ignored all of the warning signs for almost 10 years while the sport of baseball was overwhelmed with performance enhancing drugs. So now they have decided to hammer away at the only man willing to come up front and admit his folly. Everything he says, they judge and analyze without recognizing that this is more than anyone has given them.
It is very clear Alex Rodriguez has not admitted everything, and has stretched some things. But how many of us know exactly what we did, exactly what we ate, and exactly where we were 6 years ago? Well the sportswriters of America want Rodriguez to know all of these things. They aren't happy with his reasons for taking the PEDs. Well you know what, we all have our own reasons for doing things. Barry Bonds (it appears) took steroids out of jealousy. Rodney Harrison took HGH to "heal faster". If A-Rod took them because he felt inadequate, why should we not believe him? He has demonstrated over and over again that he is very insecure in himself as a person and in his talent on the baseball field. Why wouldn't someone who is insecure and just been given the richest contract in sports feel tempted to try performance enhancers?! Rodriguez seems like the prime candidate in that regard!
And why is no one questioning that the person who received the leaked test results, Selena Roberts, is also the person about to write a book that slams Rodriguez?! Doesn't this seem a little suspicious?! If that person leaking the info was truly leaking a big story, wouldn't they have dropped a few more names? Or did Ms. Roberts decide A-Rod was the only story that was worth covering and kept the privacy of the other players? Sportswriters across the country jumped to her defense when A-Rod said that she had been "stalking" him for the past several years. They said that she was a well respected writer and had never done anything controversial in her life. But they conveniently forget that she spewed some pretty venomous garbage in the Duke lacrosse scandal. After the Attorney General in North Carolina admitted that they had no case, that the woman that had accused the lacrosse team of rape had actually made it up, she continued to harangue about the athletes getting let off the hook. So she doesn't seem to be a great investigative reporter to me, if she still didn't get the story right, after the attorney general dropped the charges. So this seems a little convenient to me, that she was the person who received this information......
Alex Rodriguez has already admitted that he is sorry for his actions. Maybe he doesn't mean it. Maybe he is just sorry that we all found out. But all we can take him for is his own words. He has admitted that he took performance enhancing drugs for an extended period of time. This is something no other athlete has done. All of them have said "I only tried it once, to help me get back from an injury." or they have vehemently denied it. Rodriguez told us what he took, how he got it, how he took it, and how often he took it. He has apologized to baseball, his teammates, his fans, and everyone else. He has pledged to help prevent children from making his mistake (even going so far as to have Don Hooten, the founder of an group that is trying to educate children about the evils of steroids). The only thing he didn't do is admit he cheated. And here is the rub. If he was facing pitchers like Roger Clemens and Andy Pettite, who it seems to have used performance enhancers, was it really cheating, or was he merely keeping up with the Joneses? And if amphetamines are considered performance enhancers, there were an awful lot of other players playing at that level for 40+ years.
So maybe the sportswriters need to back off a little bit. They are starting to make Alex Rodriguez a sympathetic figure. And as big as an asshole as he is, if they start making us feel bad for him, then they are REALLY are not doing their jobs!
So Jayson Stark, Mike Francesa, Howard Bryant, and the rest of the moronic media, CALM THE FUCK DOWN. We're all sick of this already. Most people have already forgiven A-Rod or don't care either way. Let A-Rod play baseball. You all ignored the problem 10 years ago, so get off your high horse and look in the fucking mirror.
PS--These are the same assholes that glory in the fact that Gaylord Perry and Whitey Ford are in the Hall of Fame, despite much evidence that both doctored the baseball to get hitters out. That is a clear example of cheating that they don't seem to care about.
The sportswriters covering the Alex Rodriguez steroids scandal make me sick. These men (and a few women) have taken the holier than though approach with him. He has admitted more to them and the public than ANY active athlete in ANY sport. These are the same sportswriters who turned a deaf ear and ignored all of the warning signs for almost 10 years while the sport of baseball was overwhelmed with performance enhancing drugs. So now they have decided to hammer away at the only man willing to come up front and admit his folly. Everything he says, they judge and analyze without recognizing that this is more than anyone has given them.
It is very clear Alex Rodriguez has not admitted everything, and has stretched some things. But how many of us know exactly what we did, exactly what we ate, and exactly where we were 6 years ago? Well the sportswriters of America want Rodriguez to know all of these things. They aren't happy with his reasons for taking the PEDs. Well you know what, we all have our own reasons for doing things. Barry Bonds (it appears) took steroids out of jealousy. Rodney Harrison took HGH to "heal faster". If A-Rod took them because he felt inadequate, why should we not believe him? He has demonstrated over and over again that he is very insecure in himself as a person and in his talent on the baseball field. Why wouldn't someone who is insecure and just been given the richest contract in sports feel tempted to try performance enhancers?! Rodriguez seems like the prime candidate in that regard!
And why is no one questioning that the person who received the leaked test results, Selena Roberts, is also the person about to write a book that slams Rodriguez?! Doesn't this seem a little suspicious?! If that person leaking the info was truly leaking a big story, wouldn't they have dropped a few more names? Or did Ms. Roberts decide A-Rod was the only story that was worth covering and kept the privacy of the other players? Sportswriters across the country jumped to her defense when A-Rod said that she had been "stalking" him for the past several years. They said that she was a well respected writer and had never done anything controversial in her life. But they conveniently forget that she spewed some pretty venomous garbage in the Duke lacrosse scandal. After the Attorney General in North Carolina admitted that they had no case, that the woman that had accused the lacrosse team of rape had actually made it up, she continued to harangue about the athletes getting let off the hook. So she doesn't seem to be a great investigative reporter to me, if she still didn't get the story right, after the attorney general dropped the charges. So this seems a little convenient to me, that she was the person who received this information......
Alex Rodriguez has already admitted that he is sorry for his actions. Maybe he doesn't mean it. Maybe he is just sorry that we all found out. But all we can take him for is his own words. He has admitted that he took performance enhancing drugs for an extended period of time. This is something no other athlete has done. All of them have said "I only tried it once, to help me get back from an injury." or they have vehemently denied it. Rodriguez told us what he took, how he got it, how he took it, and how often he took it. He has apologized to baseball, his teammates, his fans, and everyone else. He has pledged to help prevent children from making his mistake (even going so far as to have Don Hooten, the founder of an group that is trying to educate children about the evils of steroids). The only thing he didn't do is admit he cheated. And here is the rub. If he was facing pitchers like Roger Clemens and Andy Pettite, who it seems to have used performance enhancers, was it really cheating, or was he merely keeping up with the Joneses? And if amphetamines are considered performance enhancers, there were an awful lot of other players playing at that level for 40+ years.
So maybe the sportswriters need to back off a little bit. They are starting to make Alex Rodriguez a sympathetic figure. And as big as an asshole as he is, if they start making us feel bad for him, then they are REALLY are not doing their jobs!
So Jayson Stark, Mike Francesa, Howard Bryant, and the rest of the moronic media, CALM THE FUCK DOWN. We're all sick of this already. Most people have already forgiven A-Rod or don't care either way. Let A-Rod play baseball. You all ignored the problem 10 years ago, so get off your high horse and look in the fucking mirror.
PS--These are the same assholes that glory in the fact that Gaylord Perry and Whitey Ford are in the Hall of Fame, despite much evidence that both doctored the baseball to get hitters out. That is a clear example of cheating that they don't seem to care about.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Stimulating Reading....
Well I guess my researching skills need a bit more work. Here is the most recent version of the Stimulus Plan. I still think someone in the Obama Admin needs to take this and put it on a website for the newspeople and American people to readily access it. Most wouldn't dig too far at the US Sentate website....
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c111:4:./temp/~c111I5CxRU::
I'll try to read this either this afternoon or tomorrow and provide more feedback. But I have another issue I gotta get off my chest first.....
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c111:4:./temp/~c111I5CxRU::
I'll try to read this either this afternoon or tomorrow and provide more feedback. But I have another issue I gotta get off my chest first.....
I'll give you something to stimulate.....in my pants!
Our country is not in good shape. We need lots of help on many levels. So the Obama Admin is pushing forward a stimulus package. This sounds like a great idea. It is exactly what we need.
I decided to do something novel. I decided to actually read whatever copy of the Stimulus Package I could get my hands on. I had to do several searches before I could read the actual plan that our lawmakers are debating through the news media. I'll be honest, from my impressions from the media accounts, I was pretty down on it. That was how I started this post, was to rag on the damn Democrats for screwing up a good thing. Here is what is as close as I can find to what the House passed,
http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/PressSummary01-15-09.pdf
Some of the projects that Republicans have condemned as being pork seem to have more value, upon further inspection. For example, I saw on Fox News they were criticizing there being something related to Clean Water in the plan. Here is what the plan says:
Clean Water
Clean Water State Revolving Fund: $6 billion for loans to help communities upgrade wastewater treatment systems. EPA estimates a $388 billion funding gap. The Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators found that 26 states have $10 billion in approved water projects.
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund: $2 billion for loans for drinking water infrastructure. EPA estimates there is a $274 billion funding gap. The National Governors Association reported that there are $6 billion in ready-to-go projects, which could quickly be obligated.
Rural Water and Waste Disposal: $1.5 billion to support $3.8 billion in grants and loans to help communities fund drinking water and wastewater treatment systems. In 2008, there were $2.4 billion in requests for water and waste loans and $990 million for water and waste grants went unfunded.
So I guess nobody is going to get paid to upgrade wastewater treatment plants. No one stands to gain financially by making sure water can get to the American people. There are no engineers who need to bring home a paycheck? There are no construction workers who need to work on building or improving these facilities? No, nevermind, what was I thinking. If we're not talking about tax cuts it really isn't a stimulus plan.
Another segment talks about replacing the federal fleet of vehicles:
GSA Federal Fleet: $600 million to replace older vehicles owned by the federal government with alternative fuel automobiles that will save on fuel costs and reduce carbon emissions.
This has been criticized as well by Republicans and pundits. Because you know, we aren't in the process of propping up the auto industry. Those people don't need jobs. Why would we want to help our investment succeed, by rewarding those companies that offer alternative fuels/fuel efficient options. Those assembly-line workers didn't really need their jobs. They don't have families to feed. The car companies don't need any pushing to make more fuel efficient/alternative fuel vehicles right? Because American car makers have been at the forefront of this thought for the past 20 years?! Government deals like this provide strong encouragement to take that technology to another level. And when companies make that commitment, the general public gets better, more advanced products as a result.
Ok, so I could go on and on. There are a lot of things in this bill that seem sketchy at first and then when we realize the implications of what these items are designed to do, it makes a lot more sense. There is a lot of grandstanding going on about wasteful spending and sattling our children with an incomprehensible debt. But here's the catch, for 8 years the Republicans have been cutting taxes without increasing services, and ringing up quite a debt for my generation. Now its time for decisive action. It is going to take something massive to get the economy moving again. And sadly, my very much unborn children (many years away), will probably be paying for it. Unless the end of the world comes and they're living in a Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome world...
In conclusion, none of us should be believing anyone's story in what the Stimulus Package is until we've actually read it ourselves. The Obama Administration needs to do a better job making this public, so we can all read and decide for ourselves. They spoke of change, that would be a refreshing change, making the entire plan available for review on a daily basis. I am CONFIDENT that there is pork in the plan. There are way too many Washington DC lifers still in Congress for there to not be. But the presumption that this entire plan is full of pork is completely erroneous. Every dollar spent in our society directly or indirectly influences the ability of someone to have a job and make payments on their mortgage or feed their family or pay for their kids to go to college. It may have been a better idea to divide up the Stimulus Package into smaller pieces of legistation, to make them more wieldy, more easily debated, more easily compromised on. But we're a little too far in the tank now to change that. This bill ain't perfect, but it seems to address an overwhelming number of needs that we have.
I decided to do something novel. I decided to actually read whatever copy of the Stimulus Package I could get my hands on. I had to do several searches before I could read the actual plan that our lawmakers are debating through the news media. I'll be honest, from my impressions from the media accounts, I was pretty down on it. That was how I started this post, was to rag on the damn Democrats for screwing up a good thing. Here is what is as close as I can find to what the House passed,
http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/PressSummary01-15-09.pdf
Some of the projects that Republicans have condemned as being pork seem to have more value, upon further inspection. For example, I saw on Fox News they were criticizing there being something related to Clean Water in the plan. Here is what the plan says:
Clean Water
Clean Water State Revolving Fund: $6 billion for loans to help communities upgrade wastewater treatment systems. EPA estimates a $388 billion funding gap. The Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators found that 26 states have $10 billion in approved water projects.
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund: $2 billion for loans for drinking water infrastructure. EPA estimates there is a $274 billion funding gap. The National Governors Association reported that there are $6 billion in ready-to-go projects, which could quickly be obligated.
Rural Water and Waste Disposal: $1.5 billion to support $3.8 billion in grants and loans to help communities fund drinking water and wastewater treatment systems. In 2008, there were $2.4 billion in requests for water and waste loans and $990 million for water and waste grants went unfunded.
So I guess nobody is going to get paid to upgrade wastewater treatment plants. No one stands to gain financially by making sure water can get to the American people. There are no engineers who need to bring home a paycheck? There are no construction workers who need to work on building or improving these facilities? No, nevermind, what was I thinking. If we're not talking about tax cuts it really isn't a stimulus plan.
Another segment talks about replacing the federal fleet of vehicles:
GSA Federal Fleet: $600 million to replace older vehicles owned by the federal government with alternative fuel automobiles that will save on fuel costs and reduce carbon emissions.
This has been criticized as well by Republicans and pundits. Because you know, we aren't in the process of propping up the auto industry. Those people don't need jobs. Why would we want to help our investment succeed, by rewarding those companies that offer alternative fuels/fuel efficient options. Those assembly-line workers didn't really need their jobs. They don't have families to feed. The car companies don't need any pushing to make more fuel efficient/alternative fuel vehicles right? Because American car makers have been at the forefront of this thought for the past 20 years?! Government deals like this provide strong encouragement to take that technology to another level. And when companies make that commitment, the general public gets better, more advanced products as a result.
Ok, so I could go on and on. There are a lot of things in this bill that seem sketchy at first and then when we realize the implications of what these items are designed to do, it makes a lot more sense. There is a lot of grandstanding going on about wasteful spending and sattling our children with an incomprehensible debt. But here's the catch, for 8 years the Republicans have been cutting taxes without increasing services, and ringing up quite a debt for my generation. Now its time for decisive action. It is going to take something massive to get the economy moving again. And sadly, my very much unborn children (many years away), will probably be paying for it. Unless the end of the world comes and they're living in a Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome world...
In conclusion, none of us should be believing anyone's story in what the Stimulus Package is until we've actually read it ourselves. The Obama Administration needs to do a better job making this public, so we can all read and decide for ourselves. They spoke of change, that would be a refreshing change, making the entire plan available for review on a daily basis. I am CONFIDENT that there is pork in the plan. There are way too many Washington DC lifers still in Congress for there to not be. But the presumption that this entire plan is full of pork is completely erroneous. Every dollar spent in our society directly or indirectly influences the ability of someone to have a job and make payments on their mortgage or feed their family or pay for their kids to go to college. It may have been a better idea to divide up the Stimulus Package into smaller pieces of legistation, to make them more wieldy, more easily debated, more easily compromised on. But we're a little too far in the tank now to change that. This bill ain't perfect, but it seems to address an overwhelming number of needs that we have.
I'm a shitty blogger
Sorry it has been so long. When I work in CT it seems like there is no time for the Internet. Wonder what I'll do when we finally move back to CT?
I will post something later today, I promise. I've got a lot of anger/frustration building up.
I will post something later today, I promise. I've got a lot of anger/frustration building up.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
UConn Students are a F*cking Embarassment
So last night Meg and I watched the UConn Women's basketball game. It was a pretty big game, they're ranked #1 in the country, and were hosting Louisville (ranked #10) at Gampel Pavilion. This game was nationally televised, ESPN2, hence my ability to actually watch the damn thing.
Now I'm not a huge women's basketball fan, but as a basketball fan in general, I will watch highly ranked women's teams as well as Big East women's teams. And of course UConn (until they are completely blowing someone out).
So last night's game, there were hardly any friggin students there, and Gampel, a puny 10,000 seat arena, was NOT filled to capacity. Only 1 trombone in the Pep Band had face paint on.
WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!!?
I thought college students were supposed to be progressive. I thought they were supposed to be feminists (as in, believing women, and their sports, are equal to men). I thought THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO CARE ABOUT THEIR UNIVERSITY?!?!?!?!?!
It comes down to one thing. It is not "cool" to root for the women's team. It is not "cool" to go to women's basketball games. If you saw the students who were at the game, it would be quite clear that only geeks and nerds give the UConn Women's team the support they deserve.
It makes me sick. UConn has one of the most dominant women's basketball programs in America. The only other program that rivals UConn's is Tennessee. They have one of the greatest basketball players (man or woman) that I've ever seen in Maya Moore. Why are no students going to home games, especially the big home games? Playing home games at Gampel Pavilion should be an advantage.
As someone who works in marketing, I think a big part of it comes down to how the Athletic Department is marketing their product. They need to get edgier and get out into the campus community. They have 2 marketable commodities in Geno Auriemma and Maya Moore. There should be contests for awesome signs made for nationally televised games, there should be a point system for going to the games....students who get a certain number of points get entered in a raffle for tickets/airfare to the Final Four. There should be more thinking of how the hell to sell this team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
UConn has been great for almost 20 years. That is a long enough period of time for the current generation of students to have been raised into rooting for the women's team. So the other trick is somehow breaking down the idea that women's basketball is inferior, and thus unworthy of our time/support. That is something the NCAA needs to work on, as well as the big time schools like UConn and Tennessee.
Either way, I'm very fucking disappointed in my alma mater. We got a bad ass women's team, almost on par with the greatest women's team of all time (2002 UConn Huskies, 39-0). It's about fucking time some people in CT support this team (outside of senior citizens and lesbians).
Now I'm not a huge women's basketball fan, but as a basketball fan in general, I will watch highly ranked women's teams as well as Big East women's teams. And of course UConn (until they are completely blowing someone out).
So last night's game, there were hardly any friggin students there, and Gampel, a puny 10,000 seat arena, was NOT filled to capacity. Only 1 trombone in the Pep Band had face paint on.
WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!!?
I thought college students were supposed to be progressive. I thought they were supposed to be feminists (as in, believing women, and their sports, are equal to men). I thought THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO CARE ABOUT THEIR UNIVERSITY?!?!?!?!?!
It comes down to one thing. It is not "cool" to root for the women's team. It is not "cool" to go to women's basketball games. If you saw the students who were at the game, it would be quite clear that only geeks and nerds give the UConn Women's team the support they deserve.
It makes me sick. UConn has one of the most dominant women's basketball programs in America. The only other program that rivals UConn's is Tennessee. They have one of the greatest basketball players (man or woman) that I've ever seen in Maya Moore. Why are no students going to home games, especially the big home games? Playing home games at Gampel Pavilion should be an advantage.
As someone who works in marketing, I think a big part of it comes down to how the Athletic Department is marketing their product. They need to get edgier and get out into the campus community. They have 2 marketable commodities in Geno Auriemma and Maya Moore. There should be contests for awesome signs made for nationally televised games, there should be a point system for going to the games....students who get a certain number of points get entered in a raffle for tickets/airfare to the Final Four. There should be more thinking of how the hell to sell this team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
UConn has been great for almost 20 years. That is a long enough period of time for the current generation of students to have been raised into rooting for the women's team. So the other trick is somehow breaking down the idea that women's basketball is inferior, and thus unworthy of our time/support. That is something the NCAA needs to work on, as well as the big time schools like UConn and Tennessee.
Either way, I'm very fucking disappointed in my alma mater. We got a bad ass women's team, almost on par with the greatest women's team of all time (2002 UConn Huskies, 39-0). It's about fucking time some people in CT support this team (outside of senior citizens and lesbians).
Monday, January 19, 2009
Inauguration Weekend: A Running Journal
Sorry everyone that I haven't had a post for a few days. As we all know Barack Obama is going to be sworn in as our 43rd (really 42nd) President tomorrow. Quite a few people that I know are going to the Inauguration, and I've had a busy weekend myself. So I decided to keep a running journal of how I spent my weekend, looking forward to Tuesday and the future of our country. Some or all of these things may be true.....
Friday:
5pm-Finished work. Headed directly to the gym.
7pm-Returned from the gym, immediately began making Chicken Parm for dinner.
830pm-Finished dinner, started playing The Office DVD Board Game. Texted my sister to see if she wanted to come over.
845pm-Made first round of drinks (jack and diet for me, firefly for the ladies)
915pm-Got really pissed at the The Office DVD Board Game for sucking at life. Game had a lot of promise but the videos did not advance (so we got the same questions over and over again). Thanks Frank, you're an asshole!
930pm-Began playing DDR. Made 3rd round of drinks. Talked to Brian "Yes I Was Erect" Coffill for the 1st time.
931pm-Made 4th round of drinks.
932pm-Made 5th round of drinks.
933pm-Did my civic duty by saving the rainforest.
1130pm-Started dance hall karaoke. Had a few more drinks.
1230am-Spoke with Brian "Yes I was Erect" Coffill for the 2nd time. Laid down in front of the fireplace to relax/stop the room from spinning.
130am-Fell asleep to the Sounds of Music. Either the hills were alive or the room was moving a bit.
Saturday:
7am-Trying to save the environment, I respond to not turning down the thermostat last night by turning it all the way down to 60 degrees.
11am-Wake up and in-hale a bowl of Life cereal. Life is really an underated cereal. Despite getting soggy as soon as you add milk, it still is quite good. It is even better when you use Kahlua instead of milk.
12pm-Sat around on the couch until 5pm watching college basketball.
5pm-Showered.
530pm-Bailed out US by paying off the entire national debt.
630pm-Dinner at Taste of Thai in Greensboro. It was ok, not great. Apparently the Pad Thai could have been better. The hot sauce did a great job on my digestive system though! Drank a couple of scorpion bowls. Then drove home on the wrong side of the road.
830pm-Stopped at Harris Teeter to get items for breakfast and baking.
9pm-Baked Oatmeal Raisin cookies as a team. Drank more Jack and Diet.
930pm-Began watching Season 1 of Arrested Development. Drank some more.
1030pm-Booked Meg's vacation.
1031pm-Steph discovered Peaches' vagina.
11pm-Ate some cookies, they are very good dunked in Baileys.....
12am-Went to bed.
3am-Rendevue with the wife
Sunday-
1pm-Woke up. Had breakfast of egg, turkey bacon and english muffin. Made a shitty omlette for my wife. Apparently she didnt like the taste of vodka in her eggs.
3pm-Went for a 4.5 mile run.
315pm-Cooled off by drinking a fifth of Tequila.
4pm-Watched some football, then went grocery shopping.
5pm-At Walmart I paid more than full-price for items to make sure my cashier could afford health insurance.
8pm-Asian appetizer night. Meg made the best and the worst dish. I made two mediocre dishes.
10pm-Began watching the WORST MOVIE EVER. Some chick flick about pants traveling all over, I definitely needed a stiff drink at this point.
12pm-Survived watching the WORST MOVIE EVER. My wife owes me a hour back of my life. Meg, your husband owes me a round of mini golf, where I can beat him like a rented mule (not that I support beating rented mules).
1202am-Started playing the "name the artist" digital music channel game. Starting drinking vodka as quickly as possible. I might as well had an IV.
202am-Went to bed.
Monday:
1030am-Woke up with a phone call from my boss. Though we've all known about the Inauguration for 2 months, Dunkin decided this morning that they want a sampling truck in DC.
1031-After taking a few sips of whiskey, worked out a packing list and product order for work, so that we can sample at the Inauguration.
1230pm-Had breakfast of leftover Chicken Parm.
2pm-Started writing up this blog.
245pm-Finally finished writing up this blog. Went to the gym, stopped at Goodwill to make a large donation of our old stuff.
Friday:
5pm-Finished work. Headed directly to the gym.
7pm-Returned from the gym, immediately began making Chicken Parm for dinner.
830pm-Finished dinner, started playing The Office DVD Board Game. Texted my sister to see if she wanted to come over.
845pm-Made first round of drinks (jack and diet for me, firefly for the ladies)
915pm-Got really pissed at the The Office DVD Board Game for sucking at life. Game had a lot of promise but the videos did not advance (so we got the same questions over and over again). Thanks Frank, you're an asshole!
930pm-Began playing DDR. Made 3rd round of drinks. Talked to Brian "Yes I Was Erect" Coffill for the 1st time.
931pm-Made 4th round of drinks.
932pm-Made 5th round of drinks.
933pm-Did my civic duty by saving the rainforest.
1130pm-Started dance hall karaoke. Had a few more drinks.
1230am-Spoke with Brian "Yes I was Erect" Coffill for the 2nd time. Laid down in front of the fireplace to relax/stop the room from spinning.
130am-Fell asleep to the Sounds of Music. Either the hills were alive or the room was moving a bit.
Saturday:
7am-Trying to save the environment, I respond to not turning down the thermostat last night by turning it all the way down to 60 degrees.
11am-Wake up and in-hale a bowl of Life cereal. Life is really an underated cereal. Despite getting soggy as soon as you add milk, it still is quite good. It is even better when you use Kahlua instead of milk.
12pm-Sat around on the couch until 5pm watching college basketball.
5pm-Showered.
530pm-Bailed out US by paying off the entire national debt.
630pm-Dinner at Taste of Thai in Greensboro. It was ok, not great. Apparently the Pad Thai could have been better. The hot sauce did a great job on my digestive system though! Drank a couple of scorpion bowls. Then drove home on the wrong side of the road.
830pm-Stopped at Harris Teeter to get items for breakfast and baking.
9pm-Baked Oatmeal Raisin cookies as a team. Drank more Jack and Diet.
930pm-Began watching Season 1 of Arrested Development. Drank some more.
1030pm-Booked Meg's vacation.
1031pm-Steph discovered Peaches' vagina.
11pm-Ate some cookies, they are very good dunked in Baileys.....
12am-Went to bed.
3am-Rendevue with the wife
Sunday-
1pm-Woke up. Had breakfast of egg, turkey bacon and english muffin. Made a shitty omlette for my wife. Apparently she didnt like the taste of vodka in her eggs.
3pm-Went for a 4.5 mile run.
315pm-Cooled off by drinking a fifth of Tequila.
4pm-Watched some football, then went grocery shopping.
5pm-At Walmart I paid more than full-price for items to make sure my cashier could afford health insurance.
8pm-Asian appetizer night. Meg made the best and the worst dish. I made two mediocre dishes.
10pm-Began watching the WORST MOVIE EVER. Some chick flick about pants traveling all over, I definitely needed a stiff drink at this point.
12pm-Survived watching the WORST MOVIE EVER. My wife owes me a hour back of my life. Meg, your husband owes me a round of mini golf, where I can beat him like a rented mule (not that I support beating rented mules).
1202am-Started playing the "name the artist" digital music channel game. Starting drinking vodka as quickly as possible. I might as well had an IV.
202am-Went to bed.
Monday:
1030am-Woke up with a phone call from my boss. Though we've all known about the Inauguration for 2 months, Dunkin decided this morning that they want a sampling truck in DC.
1031-After taking a few sips of whiskey, worked out a packing list and product order for work, so that we can sample at the Inauguration.
1230pm-Had breakfast of leftover Chicken Parm.
2pm-Started writing up this blog.
245pm-Finally finished writing up this blog. Went to the gym, stopped at Goodwill to make a large donation of our old stuff.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
You wanting a fucking Salary Cap?!
Warning! This is going to be a rant about baseball. Those not inclined to like sports will probably be very bored by this post....
Major League Baseball's owners are getting together to talk about a salary cap. This is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. Here are the percentages for total revenues for the major sports that go to salaries:
NFL-59.5%
NBA-57%
MLB-45%
So compared to their brethren in the NFL and the NBA, baseball players are getting the shaft. Do you really think the players will agree to take less of a share of baseball's revenues? No they will ask for more, since that it is only fair.
Teams like the Pirates and Royals claim that they can't compete with the Yankees for premier players. While that is true, their track record of developing their own players is TERRIBLE. When was the last time that the Yankees signed away the best player from either of these teams?! How much of the revenue sharing money are they spending on their own payroll, or on international scouting/free agents? NOT VERY MUCH. The most profitable teams in baseball have been the ones with the lowest payrolls. The Yankees spend what they spend because of the market they play in and because ownership is committed to taking the teams revenues and reinvesting them back in the team. The Steinbrenners, as crazy and despicable as they often are, NEVER care about making a profit with the team. The fundamental goal is winning. If David Glass in KC or whoever the new ownership group in Pittsburgh modeled themselves after Minnesota, Oakland, or even Tampa Bay, they would see that there is a way to be successful without being in a large-market. When you build a good team, fans attend your games, and you make more money to spend on better players.
If you were to institute a salary cap, there would also have to be a floor. There is no way the Players Union would ever agree to a cap without a guarantee that the Marlins couldn't continue to pay $21 million/year. I've seen numbers thrown out there anywhere from $40 million to $95 million. $40 million is ridiculous, because then players would be receiving only 20% of the revenues of the sport. There isn't a workforce in America that would agree to only receive 20% of their industry's revenues. The most reasonable floor has been $70 million. Would the Twins, Royals, Pirates, Marlins, As, Rays be able to pay the bills at $70 million per without revenue sharing or luxury tax money? Criticize the Yankees all you like, but between them, the Tigers, the Mets and Red Sox, they are subsidizing approximately 1/4 of the teams in baseball.
Idiots often claim there is no competitive balance in baseball because of the lack of a salary cap. Because football and basketball have salary caps, they claim there is parity in those leagues. This is MORONIC! In the last 20 years there have been 12 different Super Bowl Champions, and only 6(!) NBA Finals Champions. During that same time period there have been 14 different World Series champs! That is almost half of the 30 teams in MLB. As for those really dumb people who point to how rarely the Royals or Pittsburgh have been good, I give you the Cincinnati Bengals/Arizona Cardinals in the NFL and the LA Clippers/Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA. People talk about how good the Yankees and Red Sox are every year, but there are teams like that in every sport (Patriots, Colts, Lakers, Spurs). Its not that they spend more money, but that they can spread their money between player development and free agency acquisition. If you want to look at the $209 million that the Yankees spent last year, look at how much was dead or wasted money (Carl Pavano $12 million, Jason Giambi $25 million to be a DH, Andy Pettite $16 million to be league average, Hideki Matsui $12 million to be hurt all year).
If teams are smart like the Rays, and lock in their players during their arbitration eligible years, they can under pay their players during their peak years, and miss out on overpaying for over the hill players (something that the Yankees have been doing since their last World Series victory).
So in summary, a salary cap will not bring about more parity. It will not make it so that the Royals have a chance to win every year. As long as they have incompetent management, they will continue to suck. All it will do is put more money in the pockets of the rich owners, take money away from labor (the players), and possibly bankrupt the poorer teams(Pirates, Royals, As). As a Yankee fan, it is easy to be anti-cap. BUT I have no problem with them paying a luxury tax, so long as the other teams use it to help pay for players on the field. If they are using the Yankees as an ATM, that's where I have an issue (and quite a few of them have done that). The teams complaining about how much money they spent this winter should realize that if the Yankees did not spend, the size of the checks that they would get from the Yankees would go down DRAMATICALLY. Thus reducing their ability to have a healthy bottom line, or spend that on better players themselves.
Major League Baseball's owners are getting together to talk about a salary cap. This is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. Here are the percentages for total revenues for the major sports that go to salaries:
NFL-59.5%
NBA-57%
MLB-45%
So compared to their brethren in the NFL and the NBA, baseball players are getting the shaft. Do you really think the players will agree to take less of a share of baseball's revenues? No they will ask for more, since that it is only fair.
Teams like the Pirates and Royals claim that they can't compete with the Yankees for premier players. While that is true, their track record of developing their own players is TERRIBLE. When was the last time that the Yankees signed away the best player from either of these teams?! How much of the revenue sharing money are they spending on their own payroll, or on international scouting/free agents? NOT VERY MUCH. The most profitable teams in baseball have been the ones with the lowest payrolls. The Yankees spend what they spend because of the market they play in and because ownership is committed to taking the teams revenues and reinvesting them back in the team. The Steinbrenners, as crazy and despicable as they often are, NEVER care about making a profit with the team. The fundamental goal is winning. If David Glass in KC or whoever the new ownership group in Pittsburgh modeled themselves after Minnesota, Oakland, or even Tampa Bay, they would see that there is a way to be successful without being in a large-market. When you build a good team, fans attend your games, and you make more money to spend on better players.
If you were to institute a salary cap, there would also have to be a floor. There is no way the Players Union would ever agree to a cap without a guarantee that the Marlins couldn't continue to pay $21 million/year. I've seen numbers thrown out there anywhere from $40 million to $95 million. $40 million is ridiculous, because then players would be receiving only 20% of the revenues of the sport. There isn't a workforce in America that would agree to only receive 20% of their industry's revenues. The most reasonable floor has been $70 million. Would the Twins, Royals, Pirates, Marlins, As, Rays be able to pay the bills at $70 million per without revenue sharing or luxury tax money? Criticize the Yankees all you like, but between them, the Tigers, the Mets and Red Sox, they are subsidizing approximately 1/4 of the teams in baseball.
Idiots often claim there is no competitive balance in baseball because of the lack of a salary cap. Because football and basketball have salary caps, they claim there is parity in those leagues. This is MORONIC! In the last 20 years there have been 12 different Super Bowl Champions, and only 6(!) NBA Finals Champions. During that same time period there have been 14 different World Series champs! That is almost half of the 30 teams in MLB. As for those really dumb people who point to how rarely the Royals or Pittsburgh have been good, I give you the Cincinnati Bengals/Arizona Cardinals in the NFL and the LA Clippers/Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA. People talk about how good the Yankees and Red Sox are every year, but there are teams like that in every sport (Patriots, Colts, Lakers, Spurs). Its not that they spend more money, but that they can spread their money between player development and free agency acquisition. If you want to look at the $209 million that the Yankees spent last year, look at how much was dead or wasted money (Carl Pavano $12 million, Jason Giambi $25 million to be a DH, Andy Pettite $16 million to be league average, Hideki Matsui $12 million to be hurt all year).
If teams are smart like the Rays, and lock in their players during their arbitration eligible years, they can under pay their players during their peak years, and miss out on overpaying for over the hill players (something that the Yankees have been doing since their last World Series victory).
So in summary, a salary cap will not bring about more parity. It will not make it so that the Royals have a chance to win every year. As long as they have incompetent management, they will continue to suck. All it will do is put more money in the pockets of the rich owners, take money away from labor (the players), and possibly bankrupt the poorer teams(Pirates, Royals, As). As a Yankee fan, it is easy to be anti-cap. BUT I have no problem with them paying a luxury tax, so long as the other teams use it to help pay for players on the field. If they are using the Yankees as an ATM, that's where I have an issue (and quite a few of them have done that). The teams complaining about how much money they spent this winter should realize that if the Yankees did not spend, the size of the checks that they would get from the Yankees would go down DRAMATICALLY. Thus reducing their ability to have a healthy bottom line, or spend that on better players themselves.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Hey Russia, the Cold War is supposed to be over!
20 years after the official end of the Cold War, Russia is still an asshole. There was real hope that they had democracy and were embracing our form of capitalism. But over the past 5 years they have shown repeatedly that they haven't changed all that much, besides controlling a hell of a lot less land.
The current problem is that they are one of the primary providers of natural gas to Europe, especially Eastern Europe. But their "state run monopoly" Gasprom had turned off the spigots. They claim that Ukraine is stealing gas from the pipeline that goes through their territory. In order to force Ukraine to pay up, they stopped sending any gas at all. The problem with this is that it fucks Europe. It is below freezing and they can't get enough gas to heat their homes.
This is a classic example of shitting where you eat. Now Europe is making an all out search to get their energy from someone other than Russia. They will go to Greece and the Middle East pipelines over Russia. Though they have enormous amounts of gas reserves, Russia is in the process of making itself the country that everyone avoids. Unless countries get real desperate, all of that energy revenue rolling into Russia is going to dry up.
Ukraine claims that they never took any gas, and that Russia is trying to punish them for trying to join the European Union and NATO, and generally embracing Western ideas. I have no idea if this is true or not, but it would be consistent with their current attitudes/actions globally.
As it is, Russia has no problem with Iran having nukes, North Korea having nukes, and anyone else that is an enemy of the West having nukes. They don't even know where all of their nukes are! There were international incidents of poisoning critics of the government, censoring newspapers and television, Chechnyan violence, and basically the election of Putin as leader for as long as he feels like. Last time I checked, in democracies the leader doesn't stay in power indefinitely. This doesn't seem like a new Russia. It is very much the same thing, just with a capitalist twist (so that they can rake in the profits from Gasprom).
It is hard for me to blame the Russian government for being anti-Western, as the Bush administration has done everything it can to alienate as many countries as possible. But at the same time, we're the country that is most involved on a global level. We're rapidly descending from super-power status (which I think is a good thing. Time for the rest of the world to ask China to help clean up their messes, not just us.) and therefore, we don't control the Western world like we once did. Anti-Western means more than anti-U.S. at this point, and it seems like Russia is stuck in 1960s-70s thinking. So let them keep killing off critics of their government, let them keep shitting where they eat, let's see them keep fucking with the Western world, and let's see what type of shithole country they end up with.
The current problem is that they are one of the primary providers of natural gas to Europe, especially Eastern Europe. But their "state run monopoly" Gasprom had turned off the spigots. They claim that Ukraine is stealing gas from the pipeline that goes through their territory. In order to force Ukraine to pay up, they stopped sending any gas at all. The problem with this is that it fucks Europe. It is below freezing and they can't get enough gas to heat their homes.
This is a classic example of shitting where you eat. Now Europe is making an all out search to get their energy from someone other than Russia. They will go to Greece and the Middle East pipelines over Russia. Though they have enormous amounts of gas reserves, Russia is in the process of making itself the country that everyone avoids. Unless countries get real desperate, all of that energy revenue rolling into Russia is going to dry up.
Ukraine claims that they never took any gas, and that Russia is trying to punish them for trying to join the European Union and NATO, and generally embracing Western ideas. I have no idea if this is true or not, but it would be consistent with their current attitudes/actions globally.
As it is, Russia has no problem with Iran having nukes, North Korea having nukes, and anyone else that is an enemy of the West having nukes. They don't even know where all of their nukes are! There were international incidents of poisoning critics of the government, censoring newspapers and television, Chechnyan violence, and basically the election of Putin as leader for as long as he feels like. Last time I checked, in democracies the leader doesn't stay in power indefinitely. This doesn't seem like a new Russia. It is very much the same thing, just with a capitalist twist (so that they can rake in the profits from Gasprom).
It is hard for me to blame the Russian government for being anti-Western, as the Bush administration has done everything it can to alienate as many countries as possible. But at the same time, we're the country that is most involved on a global level. We're rapidly descending from super-power status (which I think is a good thing. Time for the rest of the world to ask China to help clean up their messes, not just us.) and therefore, we don't control the Western world like we once did. Anti-Western means more than anti-U.S. at this point, and it seems like Russia is stuck in 1960s-70s thinking. So let them keep killing off critics of their government, let them keep shitting where they eat, let's see them keep fucking with the Western world, and let's see what type of shithole country they end up with.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Mass Hysteria!
Everybody panic! Quick, stock up on bottled water and canned meat! Head to your basement if you have one, or your downstairs bathroom if you live in the South! (we don't have basements down here, no frost line....)
Ok, now that I have your attention, I was doing my best to mock the mainstream media and the government. We are in a recession. Of this I am aware. I think everyone knows this, if not, well, I'd like some of what your tokin. How did we, as a country, get to this point? People living beyond their means, spending money on shit that they can't afford, and may never afford. My friend Mike is a landlord up in CT. He has to evict people from the North End of Hartford, people who have BMWs. They would rather spend the money that they have on a flashy car than pay rent or live in a decent apartment. They drive nicer cars than Mike, who owns multiple buildings (and this is his side job)!
As long as you could afford the monthly payment on an item, whether it be a car, a house, a tv, a credit card, a yacht, you were good to go. When Steph and I were approved for a mortgage, we were approved for up to $280k with ZERO down. That is batshit insane! I like to say that we are a 1.5 income family (and even that may be generous). There is no frickin way I could pay a mortgage for something like that. I have made my share of financial mistakes over the years, but this would be financial suicide, and the mortgage company had no problem mixing the koolade for me.
The end result of all of this money-spending madness has been record foreclosures, the near collapse of the financial sector, and company after company laying people off. In response to all of the gloom and doom, it finally appears that most of society is coming to their senses. We are all saving more money, spending only when we need to. The retail stores got demolished this holiday season, because we all decided to spend less and more thoughtfully. I know I didn't pay full price for any holiday gift that I purchased. The deals were unreal. If things keep up this way, I can't see all of these retail stores staying open.
But isn't all of this new found financial responsibility a good thing? Yes, quite a few retail chains and large companies may go under, many good people will lose jobs (and that may be easy for me to say, but I'm not so arrogant as to think that I couldn't be one of those people), and families across the country will have to tighten their belts. If the end result is a culture of people only spending what they can afford, people saving money to get them through hard times, people investing in higher/advanced education, and generally investing more responsibly, wouldn't that make the US a stronger country, more ready to succeed in the 21st century? I believe this would be a case of taking 1 step back to take 2 steps forward. Economists write books about how parents should teach their children to save money, spend what they can afford, and avoid credit card debt. So it is about time we all finally did what all these smart people reccommend.
And now that we're all FINALLY doing all this, the mainstream media is freaking out. Talking about deflation. In typical fashion, they continue to focus on all of the negative. I know there is a ton of negative news, and that it is all news we need to know. At the same time, maybe they should bring up some of the positive. There has been a lot of flab added to the American economy. Companies have over-expanded and need to trim down. We're all going to the gym now and slimming down. No pain, no gain. New year, new you. So they should also talk about how this could help the country in the long run. They should mention how families and businesses can save money, prepare better for the future, and make more responsible financial decisions. Fostering mass hysteria just causes everyone to freeze up, panic, and hide away in the basement.
Ok, now that I have your attention, I was doing my best to mock the mainstream media and the government. We are in a recession. Of this I am aware. I think everyone knows this, if not, well, I'd like some of what your tokin. How did we, as a country, get to this point? People living beyond their means, spending money on shit that they can't afford, and may never afford. My friend Mike is a landlord up in CT. He has to evict people from the North End of Hartford, people who have BMWs. They would rather spend the money that they have on a flashy car than pay rent or live in a decent apartment. They drive nicer cars than Mike, who owns multiple buildings (and this is his side job)!
As long as you could afford the monthly payment on an item, whether it be a car, a house, a tv, a credit card, a yacht, you were good to go. When Steph and I were approved for a mortgage, we were approved for up to $280k with ZERO down. That is batshit insane! I like to say that we are a 1.5 income family (and even that may be generous). There is no frickin way I could pay a mortgage for something like that. I have made my share of financial mistakes over the years, but this would be financial suicide, and the mortgage company had no problem mixing the koolade for me.
The end result of all of this money-spending madness has been record foreclosures, the near collapse of the financial sector, and company after company laying people off. In response to all of the gloom and doom, it finally appears that most of society is coming to their senses. We are all saving more money, spending only when we need to. The retail stores got demolished this holiday season, because we all decided to spend less and more thoughtfully. I know I didn't pay full price for any holiday gift that I purchased. The deals were unreal. If things keep up this way, I can't see all of these retail stores staying open.
But isn't all of this new found financial responsibility a good thing? Yes, quite a few retail chains and large companies may go under, many good people will lose jobs (and that may be easy for me to say, but I'm not so arrogant as to think that I couldn't be one of those people), and families across the country will have to tighten their belts. If the end result is a culture of people only spending what they can afford, people saving money to get them through hard times, people investing in higher/advanced education, and generally investing more responsibly, wouldn't that make the US a stronger country, more ready to succeed in the 21st century? I believe this would be a case of taking 1 step back to take 2 steps forward. Economists write books about how parents should teach their children to save money, spend what they can afford, and avoid credit card debt. So it is about time we all finally did what all these smart people reccommend.
And now that we're all FINALLY doing all this, the mainstream media is freaking out. Talking about deflation. In typical fashion, they continue to focus on all of the negative. I know there is a ton of negative news, and that it is all news we need to know. At the same time, maybe they should bring up some of the positive. There has been a lot of flab added to the American economy. Companies have over-expanded and need to trim down. We're all going to the gym now and slimming down. No pain, no gain. New year, new you. So they should also talk about how this could help the country in the long run. They should mention how families and businesses can save money, prepare better for the future, and make more responsible financial decisions. Fostering mass hysteria just causes everyone to freeze up, panic, and hide away in the basement.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Don't Trust Your Waitstaff!
Waitstaff. They cannot be trusted.
Ok, so that is kind of a crazy thought. Just last night I went to Friendly's with my wife's family, and our waitress Natasha, was AWESOME. She dealt with a family that could be politely called difficult, and made sure that everyone walked away happy. But she is the exception to the rule. Well her and my girl Stacey from Toronto, but that is another story!
Let me set a scene for you. New Year's Eve 2008. A beautiful club, nice people, nice tunes, seemingly nice waitstaff. But that's where everything went wrong. The bar staff started the evening by pouring DUBRA for the cosmos and vodka crans. Not exactly the top shelf that I thought we were paying for (in fairness they did have absolut and skyy, you just had to specifically request them). A little sneaky, none the less.
Next, the waitstaff began to pass out warm appetizers. If you were unfortunate enough to be sitting at what we jokingly called "the Kids Table", then you had to flag the waitstaff down to get any of these delicious tidbits. Twice I was the only person at the table not to receive an appetizer (I missed out on the delectable pigs in a blanket and fried calamari), as the waitstaff only had enough for 9, not 10. In general our table missed out on many really awesome looking appetizers due to age-discrimination by the waitstaff.
Finally, I had been one of the designated photographers. Obviously nobody wanted to memorialize my super amazing dance skills. In my drunken haze, I decided that it would be fine to put down the camera on the table with people's wallets, I-Phones, LG Dares, Blackberrys, money belts, purses, and gold bars. I didn't think twice about a little pink camera (it really matched my shirt). So I added the camera to the pile of expensive goodies and went to get my groove on to some Journey. At the end of the night, we all collected our belongings, but the little fucking camera was gone. Not the wallets, I-Phones, LG Dares, Blackberrys, money belts, purses and gold bars. All of those were still there. I was flummoxed. So we began looking under tables, in ceiling tiles, in my pants, everywhere. It was gone. We asked the bartenders (but they were busy pouring Dubra into Absolut bottles). We asked the waitstaff (they were busy running for doors). We would have asked the other guests, but they had long since gone home (it was similar to Jack and John's wedding in that regard, minus my helping load someone's car, that I hope was a relative's, with gifts). So I asked our waitress point blank, did she know where it was. Suddenly, she could barely speak English, it was all Polish (really, I'm not making that up, one of the friends I made that night was Polish and he told me that was her native language). I figured we weren't going to get anywhere with her, so we gave our contact info to the bartenders (I guess they were in charge) and left in a huff.
So what did we learn here? Not much. If I were waitress I might have taken the I-Phone, or maybe the money belt. Not a crappy camera (no offense to the owner of the camera, which wasn't me). Just be careful, and make sure to give all of your waitstaff full body cavity searches before you leave for the evening. And maybe keep that stupid little camera in your pocket.....
Ok, so that is kind of a crazy thought. Just last night I went to Friendly's with my wife's family, and our waitress Natasha, was AWESOME. She dealt with a family that could be politely called difficult, and made sure that everyone walked away happy. But she is the exception to the rule. Well her and my girl Stacey from Toronto, but that is another story!
Let me set a scene for you. New Year's Eve 2008. A beautiful club, nice people, nice tunes, seemingly nice waitstaff. But that's where everything went wrong. The bar staff started the evening by pouring DUBRA for the cosmos and vodka crans. Not exactly the top shelf that I thought we were paying for (in fairness they did have absolut and skyy, you just had to specifically request them). A little sneaky, none the less.
Next, the waitstaff began to pass out warm appetizers. If you were unfortunate enough to be sitting at what we jokingly called "the Kids Table", then you had to flag the waitstaff down to get any of these delicious tidbits. Twice I was the only person at the table not to receive an appetizer (I missed out on the delectable pigs in a blanket and fried calamari), as the waitstaff only had enough for 9, not 10. In general our table missed out on many really awesome looking appetizers due to age-discrimination by the waitstaff.
Finally, I had been one of the designated photographers. Obviously nobody wanted to memorialize my super amazing dance skills. In my drunken haze, I decided that it would be fine to put down the camera on the table with people's wallets, I-Phones, LG Dares, Blackberrys, money belts, purses, and gold bars. I didn't think twice about a little pink camera (it really matched my shirt). So I added the camera to the pile of expensive goodies and went to get my groove on to some Journey. At the end of the night, we all collected our belongings, but the little fucking camera was gone. Not the wallets, I-Phones, LG Dares, Blackberrys, money belts, purses and gold bars. All of those were still there. I was flummoxed. So we began looking under tables, in ceiling tiles, in my pants, everywhere. It was gone. We asked the bartenders (but they were busy pouring Dubra into Absolut bottles). We asked the waitstaff (they were busy running for doors). We would have asked the other guests, but they had long since gone home (it was similar to Jack and John's wedding in that regard, minus my helping load someone's car, that I hope was a relative's, with gifts). So I asked our waitress point blank, did she know where it was. Suddenly, she could barely speak English, it was all Polish (really, I'm not making that up, one of the friends I made that night was Polish and he told me that was her native language). I figured we weren't going to get anywhere with her, so we gave our contact info to the bartenders (I guess they were in charge) and left in a huff.
So what did we learn here? Not much. If I were waitress I might have taken the I-Phone, or maybe the money belt. Not a crappy camera (no offense to the owner of the camera, which wasn't me). Just be careful, and make sure to give all of your waitstaff full body cavity searches before you leave for the evening. And maybe keep that stupid little camera in your pocket.....
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Israel and Gaza
Ok so where to begin....
We could go back thousands of years. The people of Israel and the people of Palestine have been butting heads for quite a while now. The current crisis, in my super advanced opinion, has the potential to start WWIII. Yes, that does sound severe. But basically both sides are in a glorified pissing contest. Both groups of people feel that they have the right to control certain lands, and both groups feel that they are justified using violence to obtain that control.
Violence begets violence. The way I look at it, Palestine is less advanced nation that can't be expected to have complete control of its people. Israel is a modern nation, with a world class military and even a system of laws. The extremists among the Palestinians are terrorists. They lack the mental development to understand that bombing the advanced world will not improve their conditions in life, nor that of their children. These terrorists have, in general, lived lives that are far harder than anything we can imagine. I shouldn't judge them on most of their views, but their complete disregard for human life is unfathomable. The people in charge in Palestine can't stop these extremists. To hold them responsible for the extremists would be like holding the state of South Carolina responsible for the actions of the KKK. But for some reason, Israel doesn't get this. Every so often, they get tired of getting attacked and strike back in Gaza or the West Bank.
I don't blame Israel for being pissed at the terrorists. If I had my family and friends killed by bombs lobbed by moronic assholes, I would want blood. BUT countries are supposed to act better and bigger than human beings. They are not supposed to lash out just because they are angry. Governments (at least democracies) are put in place to take care of major issues (like terrorist attacks) in a way that is more advanced than 2 kids fighting in the playground. Israel needs to be the bigger person and try harder to work with the Palestinian leaders to reign in the terrorists. Israel needs to WORK WITH the Palestinians to bring peace to their region. Bringing more bloodshed to the region does nothing but alienate the Islamic world, while recruiting more angry extremist soldiers among the Palestinians.
Just as Israelis deserve a country of their own, the Palestinians do too. I think it is time for Israel to realize this and act like a more civilized nation. If they keep using the GW Bush playbook for foreign policy, the US and the rest of the world will soon be dragged into a very nasty quagmire. So Israel and Palestine, get your shit together and start valuing human lives!
We could go back thousands of years. The people of Israel and the people of Palestine have been butting heads for quite a while now. The current crisis, in my super advanced opinion, has the potential to start WWIII. Yes, that does sound severe. But basically both sides are in a glorified pissing contest. Both groups of people feel that they have the right to control certain lands, and both groups feel that they are justified using violence to obtain that control.
Violence begets violence. The way I look at it, Palestine is less advanced nation that can't be expected to have complete control of its people. Israel is a modern nation, with a world class military and even a system of laws. The extremists among the Palestinians are terrorists. They lack the mental development to understand that bombing the advanced world will not improve their conditions in life, nor that of their children. These terrorists have, in general, lived lives that are far harder than anything we can imagine. I shouldn't judge them on most of their views, but their complete disregard for human life is unfathomable. The people in charge in Palestine can't stop these extremists. To hold them responsible for the extremists would be like holding the state of South Carolina responsible for the actions of the KKK. But for some reason, Israel doesn't get this. Every so often, they get tired of getting attacked and strike back in Gaza or the West Bank.
I don't blame Israel for being pissed at the terrorists. If I had my family and friends killed by bombs lobbed by moronic assholes, I would want blood. BUT countries are supposed to act better and bigger than human beings. They are not supposed to lash out just because they are angry. Governments (at least democracies) are put in place to take care of major issues (like terrorist attacks) in a way that is more advanced than 2 kids fighting in the playground. Israel needs to be the bigger person and try harder to work with the Palestinian leaders to reign in the terrorists. Israel needs to WORK WITH the Palestinians to bring peace to their region. Bringing more bloodshed to the region does nothing but alienate the Islamic world, while recruiting more angry extremist soldiers among the Palestinians.
Just as Israelis deserve a country of their own, the Palestinians do too. I think it is time for Israel to realize this and act like a more civilized nation. If they keep using the GW Bush playbook for foreign policy, the US and the rest of the world will soon be dragged into a very nasty quagmire. So Israel and Palestine, get your shit together and start valuing human lives!
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