Out of Control

When I follow topics such as the latest gun control issue, it makes me once again whip out my words and thrust them out to the Internet.

Whether you agree, or disagree with me is not relevant.  What is important to me is that I attempt to explain my position to pass down to my family and friends.

You see, we don’t have to all think the same way.  Being able to exercise our minds is what helps us to grow individually.  Those of you who know me already are aware of my thirst for learning as much as I can.  I enjoy a good discussion regardless of which side I fall on.

I almost began this topic stating what I feel to be obvious, but I’ve decided to start off a bit more basic because a lot of the arguments I hear against the ownership of guns seems to be flawed.

We must first travel back in time to when this country was formed.  This is when the Bill of Rights was created.

Throughout history, and even now in modern times, many governments controlled their people with power and force.  Essentially, he who has the power, makes the rules.

This country began because the government had too much power and forced too many rules and taxes on its colonies.  Anyone that spoke out against such things became an enemy and was quickly jailed or killed to stop anymore foolishness of going against the ruling body.

Is everyone in agreement with me so far?  If not, you need to do some reading on our country’s history.

After just kicking the butt of a government that had complete rule and control over them, when the founding fathers drafted our Constitution and the Bill of Rights, they were determined to not give our new government that kind of power over the people again.

This is the whole reason we see things such as “We the people”, and “by the people, for the people”.

How could the founding fathers ensure that the government would not dictate to the people ever again?  They created a series of checks and balances within the government, and gave the people the right to remain armed so that the government could not become controlling over the people any longer.

They knew that if you disarmed the population, they were at the mercy of the government.

In those days people weren’t so much afraid of their neighbor, nor was it about hunting.  Self defense and hunting was a way of life for them already.  It was understood that these folks would have guns to hunt and defend their property.

Why then put the right into the Bill of Rights?  Because it was designed to allow the population to defend itself against a tyrannical government.

Let’s look at the second amendment.

“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

During these times most men were considered part of the militia.  In other words, those that could were expected to take up arms against any threat against their state.

It also says that this is necessary to maintain the security of a FREE state.  The right is not so that people can hunt, or defend themselves against their neighbor.  This is talking specifically about maintaining our freedom!

Many of us accept that we cannot, and probably should not, have missiles, tanks, and that sort of thing, but we should certainly have enough proper firepower to make a good defense against soldiers trying to conquer us!

If the President decides he wants to grab even more power and suddenly become a dictator, we need the ability to make that as difficult as possible.

Stop rolling your eyes and thinking that this could never happen here.  If you allow the government to take away any ability for us to prevent this from happening how would we ever be able to stop this scenario?

It has happened throughout history.

THIS IS the sole reason for the establishment of the second amendment.  It should be the end of the discussion, but alas, it is not.

Now we’re wallowing around arguing about what type of weapons people should be allowed to carry.  So let’s look at this.  If you do not agree with the above, you might as well just stop reading now, because you won’t even be close to this second part of the article.

The point I have made previously, is that we need the right to own sufficient weapons to provide a good defense of our freedom.

Due to the population growth, protecting our freedom has also focused on our ability to defend our individual freedom from the undesirables among us.  We no longer have miles between neighbors, but we live in cities where literally thousands of thugs and hoodlums can easily attack us.

Luckily, because of the second amendment, and our legal ability to defend ourselves from the government, this also allows us the ability to defend ourselves against the criminal element.

Notice this entire article is about defense, and not hunting or target practice.

The argument that we do not need a certain type of gun for hunting is an uneducated asinine viewpoint.  It’s never been about hunting.

If we proceed along the thought process that our second amendment allows us the freedom to own a weapon for our defense, a reasonable assumption would be that we require a weapon that can provide us the best defense possible.

We all enjoyed watching Barney Fife, and his single bullet.  Why was this funny?  Because anyone knows that a gun with a single bullet would be idiotic.

In order to properly defend yourself you need the ability to fire multiple bullets.  How many?  It obviously depends on the situation.  Most of us would like the ability to be able to fire as many as practical in any given situation.

The situation dictates how much ammunition is practical.

When you’re carrying a concealed weapon, for example, you do not necessarily need to look like a crazy man with two bandoliers draped across your chest full of ammunition.  You carry a magazine in your gun and possibly one or two extra depending on your thought process and situation.

If you’re at home, you might possibly want a larger weapon that is capable of carrying a large magazine in case your defense is against numerous armed men trying to kill your family.

In this last scenario you absolutely want as much ammo as you can load at one time.

Why are people trying to limit this number?  Do they honestly believe a criminal will play within any rules they come up with and only have small magazines in their guns?  Even if they do, if there are numerous assailants with small magazines, I’d like to have a bigger one thank you.

In this case, size absolutely matters.

Everything up to this point is why weapons are allowed, and why we require them.

Everything else is irrelevant.

If people take what is legal to own, a car for example, and use it for evil deeds, the proper reaction should not be to outlaw the car, but to punish the person who used it illegally.

Now call me simple, but this seems like an extremely easy concept to grasp.

Just because bad people use a gun in the process of committing their crime, does not mean that we suddenly need to disarm law-abiding citizens any more then we should take everyone’s car away because people drive drunk.

If you can’t see the simplicity in the logic I have spelled it out for you, I’d love to hear your opinion.  If you’re thought process is to take away guns, you might as well not even waste your time responding.  This would mean you do not agree with our Constitution and should tread very carefully in this country.

Speaking of which, you'll notice the end of the second amendment says this right "shall not be infringed". This means by the constitution we shall not have to have this right removed from us.

So back off, because last time I checked EVERY military member, police office and government official has sworn an oath to protect this right! This includes the President of the United States. Actively trying to infringe upon this right is actively going against the Constitution.

It is not the Presidents place to attack the Constitution, but to defend it. As usual, he has his priorities, and the understanding of his position, all wrong.

President For Dummies

Obamanomics - Really?

Some people wonder what is so bad about the folks currently running our country.

Let me give you my two cents on the subject.

This little game of creating a bill that only the House will pass, or only the Senate will pass, is childish.  Our government officials act like they are two years old most of the time.

I have said this before, and I'll say it again.  Create bills that are small and do not have a bunch of extra special interest crap in them.  One bill, one problem to solve.  Get things done and stop trying to make a political statement.

Obamacare is crap legislation, but it does have some good parts to it, and we all agree that things must be done to help improve our healthcare system.

Trash Obamacare, then work on improving the healthcare system a piece at a time, with individual legislation that is void of special interest crap.  (Do you see a pattern here?)

My next point.  Stop spending money!

We give billions of dollars to other countries constantly.  Stop it!

Tell these other free-loaders they're going to have to survive without our money until we get our own house back in order.  I suggest they do the same.

Then, only when we have got our act together, and have paid down our debt, and are moving things in the right direction, can other countries reapply to see if we can help them.

They had better have a great reason to ask though, because it's about time they started fending for themselves!

The current administrations plan is to tax the holy bat crap out of people, then give the money to other people.  This is a broken thought process.  As Mr. Spock would say, That's illogical.

For example I present to you the situation where unions demand higher wages and more freebies from a company for their members. They do this relentlessly and constantly.

Sure their members love all of the cool benefits and higher pay, until the whole thing comes crashing down because they have driven the company out of business.

Nice strategy.  It's like a parasite that eventually kills the host.

Employees need to have a more symbiotic relationship with their employers, not a parasitic one.

People need to except the fact that their employers NEED TO MAKE MONEY.  This is how our economy thrives, and how they actually got hired in the first place.

Those of you who are too stupid to understand this raise your hand and I'll get a little more detailed for you.

Then the same people complain that companies are moving out of the country, or stashing their funds in offshore accounts.

We have a shortage of companies growing and thriving in this country.  It's not because they are run by evil rich people you idiots.  These companies are run by business folks who become successful by...wait for it...making money!

If you tax the crap out of them, screw them to the wall for benefits and pay, then tax them again, why the hell should they be in business in the first place?

Have many American people (Yes I'm talking to those who support Obama) become so blind that they actually believe that the policy to spend more money then we have, then try to tax every last ounce of income from the people who have made this country great, is a winning policy?

Obama's administration has spent more money then they have taken in.  This does not mean that they need to take in more.  There is no more folks.  We're on the ropes!  The only answer is to stop spending money.

All of the people getting food stamps, free health care, free education, free government loans to research the mating habits of the South-American Swamp Rat, need to be cut off.

The way our country is designed there are those that have worked hard and have money to show for it, and those that are free-loaders and just whine because they are not getting even more free stuff from the government.

You are not entitled to have the government take care of everything for you.  Work hard, or live like someone who doesn't.

We should go to a flat-tax system where everyone pays a percentage of their income.  No loopholes, no sneaky back room deals to get out of it.  Everyone pays "their fair share".

All of the leeches will cry, but this is THE ONLY FAIR WAY TO TAX PEOPLE.  Poor folks will pay very little, and rich folks will pay in a ton of money.

People ask why I don't want another four years of Obama.  It's because his plan is to tax people more, then distribute the money to who he wants to help.  I have news for you, it's not the American people.

Is Mitt Romney any better?

Every four years it's a crap shoot.  When Barak Obama was elected I hoped he would do what he promised, and yet he let down the country.  Many people who were behind him, and helped him get elected, have realized what a mistake it was.

Someone should have given him a "President For Dummies" book.

I don't know if Mitt Romney will do what is needed to turn this country around, but he is a businessman, and understands finances and dealing with money issues much better then Barak Obama ever has.

If President Obama was hired to run a company, he would have been fired for how he has run this country.  I'm willing to let someone else give it a try.  I hope it can't be any worse.

Give It To Your Woman!

Original article can be found at, Pants' washing instructions read 'Give it to your woman'

Recently I engaged in a discussion on a friends Facebook page about the sexist message in this label. Below is the conversation and how it spun rapidly out of control... I have left out everyone else's comments except the woman I was debating with.

We have continued our discussion as Facebook messages, and I have removed any of the more personal comments that have no place in the discussion.

Me: Very amusing! As a society we still need to laugh at ourselves and things like this. Clearly this was meant to be funny, and not to offend.

Aubrey: I don't think it's very funny at all. Sad that this is still publicly acceptable. Can you imagine KFC putting a sticker on a bucket of fried chicken that read, "Feed it to black people." Sad that it's socially acceptable to be sexist and that people who are offended are "not good at taking jokes."

Me: I believe intelligent people know the difference between an intentional hurtful racist comment such as your KFC example, and a joke about our past when women were stereotyped in this manner. If anyone these days thinks that women should be "barefoot and pregnant", or their role is to only stay at home and do house work, they're not sexist, they're idiots. As a society we have thankfully moved past this stereotype for women, and African-American's in your example. Insulting a group intentionally is still not appropriate, but laughing about our horrible past can sometimes be a part of healing as a country.

Aubrey: Simplistic and overused gender stereotype... just don't find it very funny. It's not much of a reach or a very sophisticated joke if you ask me. And of course, when it comes to females, it seems not to be egregious. But not with race, because it's more socially acceptable to be sexist than it is to be racist. I dont' think this joke is meant to laugh about a horrible past, especially when that past isn't past at all. And if you do think it's in the past, watch a few laundry commercials and tell me if you see a theme.

Me: Not to be hurtful, but some people take things way to personally. Becoming so offended over something like this should cause you to look at yourself, and why you find this so personally offensive. Most women don't need you to fight this issue for them, so why then are you? We see this type of behavior when minorities view everyone is against them because of their status. If someone doesn't get promoted it's because they are black, or a woman, or gay, or a Mormon. It's never because they just were not the best choice. (Granted sometimes racism and sexism do play a role, but not as much as people try and push it). You can find something distasteful to your own personal thoughts, which is perfectly acceptable. When you abuse the thing and cry sexism that must be stopped at all costs for the good of everyone, you have slipped over the edge of sanity just a tad. :)

Aubrey: Also not to be hurtful, but coming from a white man who rests at the upper echelon of the hierarchy in most of the world, I'm going to stick to my previous comments. Sexism and racism play a socially institutionalized role and I think you downplay their effects. Have a great day! :)

Me: And there it is. I'm white, and a male, so I have caused everyone in the country from not succeeding. Based on our current president, those types of excuses are rapidly losing traction. Enjoyed the conversation. Thank you for the chance at verbally fencing with you. :)

Aubrey: No, I don’t' think your personal life is responsible for people not succeeding. I am merely saying that privileges afforded to you for being male and white (and presumably heterosexual) are things that a lot of people don't have. And usually, one who has these privileges doesn't realize it. (BTW- If having a black president has taught us anything, it should be that it hasn't done anything to change the black/white gap in this country. E.g.: White wealth to black wealth is 20:1 http://pewresearch.org/pubs/2069/housing-bubble-subprime-mortgages-hispanics-blacks-household-wealth-disparity). Also enjoy myself a debate--back to work now, I promise. Just didn't want my statements to be mischaracterized.

Me: Do you think the fact that 63.7% of American's are White might have something to do with these numbers? I'm just saying... My "privileges" were hard earned. I joined the Air Force and put in over 20 years. While in the Air Force I went to school and got my Bachelor's degree so when I got out I could get a decent job. ANY American can have the SAME privileges I have if they would just get off their butt and quit whining about it! My skin color or sex had zero to do with my success in life. Granted if you're 40 and have not done a damn thing but live with your mom and complain about life, you might have a harder time. Then again, that would not be societies fault, but yours. Point blank, if you live in America and work hard, you will be fine. If you instead sit back and whine that you don't get the same opportunities as your neighbor, I have no sympathy for you. If you're lucky I'll toss you a box of Kleenex.

Aubrey: I am a statistician, so these numbers that are shown here should be explained and interpreted as though there were equal numbers of the population who identified as white and black. That is, the average wealth figure calculated takes into account that there are more whites than blacks, and it also takes into account outliers, rendering your point about there being more white Americans a misunderstanding of statistics.

That is what I was talking about when I said that privileges accrued by those who are most privileged in society go unnoticed. For instance, America was built and operated for 330 years under laws that were essentially forms of affirmative action for white men. This is not an opinion. White men were given opportunities that many other minority groups were not. This allowed them and generations like them to build wealth (i.e. OWN things such as property, which are typically passed down from one generation to another). This is not to mention the many laws (HOLC being a powerful one), which enabled whites to move to suburban areas and apply for federal funds to improve their properties, while blacks were left in greatly segregated center cities. Following the white flight of the cities, were businesses… and jobs!

Better neighborhoods also equal better educational resources. Thus, many whites, me included, have had excellent PUBLIC educations. Primarily due to the fact that a lot of school funding is garnered from property taxes.

Access to excellent education opens the door to a lot of other opportunities: emphasis on post-secondary education is one.

I urge you to read this checklist of white privledges afforded to you every day if you think that everyone, regardless of their minority status, has the same opportunities that you do. Your approach is very individualistic, and it completely neglects the many centuries of institutionalized racism, sexism, homosexism, etc. upon which this country was founded. It troubles me that you credit failure to attain the American Dream to one’s laziness. It communicates to me that you do not blame any of the many institutions in this country, which make it difficult to obtain success.

Sorry for the longer response! I welcome any sort of intelligent discussion. A little bit about my credentials—I am a doctoral student who studies political sociology and the sociology of race. I also happen to teach at Temple University—one course being Gender in America.

http://www.amptoons.com/blog/files/mcintosh.html#daily

Me: As far as statistics go, I won't even entertain the discussion on statistics. They can be twisted in a thousand different ways and it's a futile argument. Anyone can whip out statistics to make their point. An example is in the book, "The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster" the author uses statistics to prove that the declining number of pirates has resulted in cooler temperatures, showing that correlation does not imply causation. (That last line was pulled from Wikipedia)

I definitely agree that this country has been built on the backs of the minorities, whether black, white Native American, or women. I'm actually appalled that this stuff goes on today, and I know that it does, especially in the South still.

My point is not necessarily that folks are lazy, but the ones who are better motivated can, and do, find ways to better their position in our society.

No society is perfect. Looking around the world there is no utopian culture. Even primitive tribal people have there "pecking orders" in their own way. The amazing thing about this country is that anyone with a half a brain can overcome their station in life and work hard to get out of a bad situation.

Unfortunately kids in lower income level areas have a harder time, and don't get the knowledge that they CAN get out of their situation with hard work. Most are content to hang out at their rung on the ladder. Then as they grow older, it's suddenly the rest of us that is oppressing them.

Are there people in this country that still have a hard time advancing do to idiotic people who are biased? Most definitely. Will we ever see a time where this is not a reality. Most definitely not.

There are many well-meaning people in the world that are trying to change this, but unfortunately it's like trying to clean up an avalanche with a snow shovel. You might make a little path where you are, but you will never stop the problem.

This doesn't mean we shouldn't try. Those of us who are not bigoted teach our children to be the same way. I'd like to think this country is getting better, and from what I see it truly is.

In the end, the ONLY way for people to get ahead in life is to work hard at climbing that ladder and show their kids what hard work can do for them.

It's not a magic wand, but it's the tools we have to work with.

I will oppose anyone who is blatantly racisit, sexist, etc... I will not, however, attack people who are trying to lighten a topic through humor. As long as the humor is not meant to be hurtful.

Aubrey: I'll just address the point on statistics... feeling the need to defend them (as it looks like on most cases, we will not agree--I am staunchly sociological, and your view is much more individualistic)! That is called a confounding variable. These statistics that I showed you are not implying causation, so I'm not sure why you brought that up :) Statistics, done well, are excellent quantitative tools. The problems with most data, and this is what I emphasize to my students, have to do with their methodology. It is crucial to be critical of the methodological approaches taken by those who publish statistics. The Pew Foundation is one of the most reputable sources for data out there (I can't say the same for wikipedia!)

Me: LOL True about Wikipedia, but the reference I used from them was for the book, and I just wanted to give credit for the line I used from them. I definitely would not use Wikipedia as a reputable source for anything.

You're correct though. We're getting into the area that we will just agree to disagree.

I want to thank you for the discussion, however. I love having to think through topics, and also when someone makes me think about one of my positions.

You will always be welcome to comment on any of my articles. I write them specifically to try and get a reaction from people. :)

Aubrey: Likewise, enjoyed the challenge! Have a great weekend!

Misplaced Christianity

I'm feeling a bit like a grouchy old fart tonight.

I went to my daughters orchestra concert tonight, and it was awesome as usual. At least, right up to the end...

The director informed us they were going to play and the audience could sing along. Here I'm thinking something cute like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or Jingle Bells.

Instead, it was a medley of four songs about Jesus.

Seriously?

Now I realize that the christians all want to claim this time of year for themselves, and I have heard all of the arguments so please don't waste your time crying to me about the holiday. I understand your position.

My position is that I am not a christian, and I don't wish to have your religion shoved down my throat at a concert unless, of course, I know it's going to specifically be a christian concert.

Now I'm a very tolerant atheist. I don't mind if you call the holiday Christmas, or the tree a Christmas tree. I don't mind christmas carols, or christmas movies with religious themes to them, etc...

But tonight my tolerance was really pushed to the edge when the audience broke out into song as if I were in a church. I've never in my life felt as offended as I did tonight. And for me, that's rare.

Before you get all high and mighty I want you to stop and think for a minute if you were made to stand in an auditorium and made to listen to everyone around you sing about satan, or Allah, or perhaps something else you found distasteful.

If I attend a church ceremony I expect to hear christian music, if I watch a christmas movie I expect to hear christmas music and be exposed to a christian theme. Heck, tonight I even expected to hear the typical songs of christmas being played. What caught me off guard, was for the director to actually have the audience start belting out tunes to worship Jesus.

I'm just saying... It made me feel dang uncomfortable and I really did not appreciate the unexpected turn of events.

Am I going to raise a big stink about it, and act like many atheist jerks would? No, because I'm above that sort of childish type of actions.

Will I vent on my blog about it though? You betcha!

Would love to hear your thoughts on this as long as they are not going to be how wrong I am and that I should just suck-it-up because christianity is the only religion on the planet.

Occupy This!

I saw these statements on Facebook this morning. I like their simplicity, yet profoundness, so I thought I would enshrine them here in my blog for future reading.

The message started off by stating that these were possibly the five best sentences that you will ever read. I'm not sure I would go that far, but they do provide some fuel for thought, which is always a welcome read for me.

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government ...does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

These five sentences speak to the value of our capitalistic society. The fact that in America we believe that you work hard and you are rewarded for doing that work.

Those people that live in this country and think that they should just get stuff for living here sort of miss the point.

Yes, being American means that you do have some privileges that less fortunate people have, but these privileges were created from hard work and lose of life. You don't just get to come to America, or be born here, and inherit privileged status.

Being a member of this country means that you believe in the American way of living. This means get off you butt and work hard for yourself and your family. Because that's what America offers. The freedom for you to make a good life for yourself.

Personally, if you're the type of person that does not seek to better themselves through work, school or life in general, then I would love for you to just go live in another country where they tolerate that sort of living.

Oh wait, there are not any countries like that out there!

Many people live impoverished lives throughout this world, but the majority of those people still work hard to feed their family. In every society around the world nobody likes people who sit around and do not contribute SOMETHING.

I do not demand rich people give me things. I see what this country has to offer and I work hard to get what I want for me and my family. Could I work harder and get even more? Yes.

My level of contribution is what I am willing to put forth so that my family can live a comfortable life. I began by serving in the military for 20 years, going to school through my military benefits, and now I can provide a decent life for my family.

Every one of you can do the same thing!

Support this country, and this country will support you. Look down on this country, and I don't pity you in the slightest.

In fact, I look more favorably on a poor village person in a remote country that works hard every day to support their family then I do toward the people whining about others in this country who have money.

The money is there and available to you, but you must go out and earn it.

Watch the true story movie called, "The Pursuit of Happyness" if you're still confused about what I am trying to tell you.

If you think the government should tax the bat-crap out of me so you can get things for free you are sadly mistaken. The "haves" will always fight the "have not's" because you are sorry losers that don't really deserve the handouts.

Now before someone starts going nutty over my comments. I am not referring to people who are in dire straights through no fault of their own. There are many people who are down on their luck and work hard. These people fall into a different group, and will most likely recover nicely in the future.

Upgrade Your Life Filter

The events we experience throughout our lives create the programming we engage when we need to react to different situations.

People try to make laws to guide us, and the medical profession has done a fantastic job trying to discover what makes us tick, but there is no user's manual for how to operate a human being.

We go through life trying to answer simple and complex questions about what a human being is, how we should interact with others, and why we even exist in the first place.

If you look at many of my articles within this blog, you'll discover that I'm at just as much of a loss as you.

Oh I try to sound enlightened, and make an attempt to understand a lot of things, but when it comes right down to it, I'm just as lost as you are.

Those who claim to have all of the answers should be listened to with caution. I have answers, but they are my answers, not yours.

Individually we all must take our life experiences and run them through our filter. This means that you should never take what someone tells you as the only truth there is. Listen to their point of view, compare it with your own thoughts, research and belief on the topic, then come up with your own opinion on the matter.

That is worth repeating... Come up with YOUR OWN OPINION on the matter.

As you go through this process, don't let your filter become clogged with a bunch of crap that prevents proper filtration. You must clean it out occasionally.

Run everything through your own filter. Just make sure every once in a while you inspect that filter for defects.

Always be aware that your filter could be faulty. After all, it has been in use a long while, and there could be sediment built up around the edges that might restrict the proper flow.

Another term for this is to keep an open mind, and be open to change. Someone just might have a better mousetrap, but if your filter is too clogged, you might dismiss it because your focus is too narrow.

Keep expanding your knowledge so that you can improve the efficiency of your filter.

Sticking to one viewpoint, then shutting down your filtration system so that other information can't come through to change your mind may make you feel comfortable with your position, but you're at risk of continuing through life with stagnant conclusions.

I have experienced many people like this, and I'll admit that I'm certain I have fallen victim to this as well.

It doesn't matter if it's politics, religion, relationships, or work, we all have filtered information about each subject. Make your decisions based on your own filter. Provide careful and regular maintenance of your filter so that contamination has a more difficult time getting through.

My filtered information is different then your filtered information.

When it comes to filtered information, I showed you mine, now you show me yours.

Seriously Mr. President?

Is it just me, or are you tired of hearing the same old crap coming out of the White House?

“Everyone has to pay their fair share”.

Can someone please give the president a tissue?

When half of this country do not pay any taxes, who exactly is he referring to when he says, “everyone”?

When the government overspends their answer is to want to raise taxes. They claim they can’t possibly recover by just reducing spending.

Really?

So, following this thought process when I overspend, perhaps I should just tax my kids to make up for my own stupidity and lack of control. Or do you think, possibly, that I should just stop spending and get my own financial house in order?

Maybe we should force everyone in the government, including the president, to listen to Dave Ramsey daily until they “get it”.

The key to getting this country’s finances in order is to not raise taxes anywhere, but to cut back on spending. And yes, boo hoo, someone is going to have to suck it up and cut back on their programs.

While I’m on the subject, let’s move to a flat tax to truly have everyone pay their fair share. With a flat tax, we will remove all of the loop holes that the rich currently take advantage of and then everyone will have a stake in the game. Everyone will PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE.

This way, the rich will pay a percentage based on the large amounts they make, which will be a substantial amount of money for those of you who really want to stick it to the wealthy. In addition, the not so rich will also have to pay an equal percentage of their income too.

It’s only fair.

The only way for this to work fairly, is to also ensure that the rich, or anybody else, has zero loopholes with which to weasel their way out of paying. In fact, it should be illegal for congress to pass any legislation that allows for anyone to bypass this flat tax. Everyone pays, no matter what.

Once this is done, then we can discuss who pays their fair share, but until this happens, shut the hell up with the, “everyone has to pay their fair share” rhetoric. It’s insulting to listen to this drivel time and again from the person who is suppose to be the leader of this country.

The term, “Lead, follow, or get out of the way” comes to mind. Mr. president, you have already proved you’re a poor leader, and I don’t expect with your arrogance you will want to follow anyone, so I think it’s time for you in 2012 to just get out of the way.

If you can’t truly come up with a decent plan to help this country then I suggest you just sit quietly in the oval office and wait for the inevitable, the loss of a second term. The continuation of your comments are doing nothing but digging a deeper hole for your legacy.

I’ve always said that a good president is not necessarily the smartest person in the room, but they know how to surround themselves with the people who will get the job done. You have surrounded yourself with idiots, and the truly sad part is that you are listening to them. Either that, or they are trying to help you and you’re ignoring them.

Wherever you are getting your advice from, I think it’s time to change the station. I fear it’s too late though. Unless you do some soul searching and have an epiphany, you might as well sit back, relax, and wait for the fat lady to sing you a lullaby...

Give Us A Little Credit!

Is it just me, or are some of the people in our government just idiots?

I can’t believe that after they were warned that just raising the debt ceiling would not prevent our credit rating to be downgraded, that’s the mark they were shooting for.

They set their goal on mediocre and missed the mark!

Idiots!

Every person with just half a brain knows you cannot keep spending above your income!

Heck there is even a counter that is displayed everywhere showing our debt increasing at a rapid pace. Yet they continue to ignore this fact.

Seriously, how stupid are these people we sent to Washington D.C. to represent us?

I’m a patient person, but enough is enough, this stupidity has got to be dealt with.

The Tea Party folks that we sent up tried their best to get something done, the problem is there is just not enough of them to stop the incumbent imbeciles that are currently ensconced in their offices.

I find it amusing that we hear the Democrats call Tea Party members terrorists, and say that they were holding the country hostage. So what do we call the dip-zweebies that prevented us from trying to balance our budget and therefore allowing our credit rating to be dropped?

We certainly would not call them qualified to criticize anybody else?

I’d love to here the Democratic argument for this outcome, and don’t even bother posting if you’re one of the short-circuited thinking people who are going to STILL cry that George Bush is responsible for this.

I’m all for free speech, but if anyone replies with that line of thought I’m just going to delete your reply on the basis of your brain-damage, and the fact that I refuse to even waste my time trying to talk to a wall.

Seriously, if you’re a “George Bush did it” person you need to do a lot more work on your education of what is currently going on. The term “Sheep” comes to mind.

I don’t like to just rant without providing what I think is a solution (Okay, sometimes I do), so here’s my take on what needs to be done.

Everyone scoot a little closer to your monitors and turn up your volume so you don’t miss this because I have toiled long and hard coming up with this answer.

STOP SPENDING MORE THEN WE HAVE!!!!!!!!!!!

Earth-shattering I know. I should get a Nobel prize for this fascinating realization that apparently the majority of the buffoons we have sent to represent us can’t really figure out on their own.

How proud they all must feel to know that my 11-year old understands this concept, yet they can’t grasp simple economics.

Come next election, you can bet your vote that some more seats will be replaced.

So you idiots on the hill better enjoy the time you have, because it’s going to be your last hurrah with our tax money!

Albert Einstein is attributed as saying that insanity was, “doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.” Why would we allow these people to continue to do the same thing over and over again?

The inmates have run the asylum for far to long now, it’s time to start healing this country.

Communication Videos

These links are for a class presentation. I'll explain each one a little later when I get some time. For now, enjoy!

Pilot Miscommunication

Peephole

Four Candles

Taco Bell

Leeroy Jenkins

Communication Etiquette

Future of Communications

Beauty Without Brains

Great Inspirational Speech

I Want To Order A Pizza

BURN CASEY ANTHONY! BURN!

Artwork by "Jaz Woodrow"


The jury has come back with their decision on the Casey Anthony trial. They found her guilty of lying to the authorities, but innocent of killing her own daughter.

I called this one after watching the closing arguments of both sides. Simply put, the state of Florida did not have a case that was prosecutable.

Anyone who watches CSI, and other police and investigation-type shows, knows the simple fact that if you don’t have enough evidence, the person walks. This is not a big shocking surprise.

A lot of mom’s out there are screaming injustice, and wanted Casey to fry for what she did to her little girl. Heck, who doesn’t want to see justice for the horrible death of a young girl? But you cannot kill a person for thinking that they killed someone. Your opinions do not matter. The facts of a case are what matters.

There are many people in jail right now who have been wrongly accused, and I believe several have even been put to death who were innocent of a crime.

What’s truly horrible in this case is the state jumped into this without having their act together.

Now I’m no lawyer, but if I were on the jury I would have come to the exact same verdict. The state simply did not prove a damn thing and tried to rely on emotions to win this case. How could they screw something as big as this up so badly?

Both the defense, and the state, relied on assumptions for their main arguments. The only difference is, that when you are prosecuting someone an assumption doesn’t cut it. When you’re defending them, an assumption could be raised as a possible alternative of what could have happened, which is the job of the defense.

Since the state had virtually no evidence their assumptions were because Casey was a liar, and in denial about her daughters disappearance and death, she was a murderer.

As defense lawyers tend to do in cases like this, her defense team brought in their own assumptions of a story that could have also been true. Heck, there were so many weird facts in this case that I could probably come up with a few more possibilities that sound reasonable.

That is why the state failed to present their case beyond all reasonable doubt. Their case was Swiss cheese full of reasonable doubt! Which is why they ultimately lost the day.

The blame is not on the jury, who did their job correctly. It was not on the defense, for doing their job correctly. The blame falls squarely on the shoulders of the prosecution and it’s inability to make their case.

The Anthony family is very dysfunctional. Apparently they are all a bunch of liars. Something strange happened surrounding the death of this little girl, and I’ll bet that eventually the truth will surface. I don’t think they’re capable of keeping their mouth shut.

It seems to me that Casey, and her parents, know exactly what happened. Unfortunately, the rest of us are going to have to wait until they slip up in the future.

Justice may not have been served this day in Florida, but I for one am glad that our justice system has functioned as it should.

If you’re the one on the stand facing a witch-hunt of charges against you, you’ll be thanking our justice system for having to actually prove you did something, rather then listening to a mob of screaming mothers with their pitch forks and torches yelling, “BURN!”

Nook Color - Wave of the Future, or Techno Snob?

I guess i'm a bit of a techno-snob. Looking at others deal with life the old-fashioned way seems quaint to me now. From old-style, non-smart, cell phones, going to school in a classroom, looking at a paper map because you're lost, or digging out your tattered address book to look up a friends address or phone number. The future is the present, and all around us.

This was never more noticeable to me then when I got my Nook:Color e-reader. I wasn't sure how I would like reading a computer screen. I realize we do this all the time these days with things like computers, smart phones, and televisions, but I have always been a hold-out when it came to books.

Friends of mine have embraced reading things like programing books online as a PDF format, but for some reason I just like a paper book that I can drag into the pooper with me, or lay next to me while I program. In addition, dragging my laptop to bed to read is a bit awkward, and I am in front of a computer screen all day, it's nice to have a little break from it every now and then with a paper book.

An obvious clue to my voracious reading habits can be seen by the stacks of books on my nightstand. Of course, few are privileged enough to be invited into that fortress of solitude. Some would say they are lucky that way, others may just smile at the memories.

Those of you that know me are aware that I go on an annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas for a conference known as InterOp. Traditionally I have used this time of year to pick up some new technology to play with during my trip. This year, times are a bit tight, so I settled for my e-reader, a Nook:Color made by Barnes & Noble.

Weeks went by as I researched the pro's and cons of various models of e-readers from a multitude of companies. I waded through review after review from users who loved whatever machine they chose, and read all about why they liked their particular e-reader over the others.

There were numerous "flames" about some being too big, too heavy, too many features, not enough features, backlit screen giving them headaches, color vs black & white, buttons vs. touchscreen, etc… It was interesting to hear all the reasons people liked or disliked each of these variables, and after bouncing each off my own filter, headed to Best Buy for the final "fondle" test. I wanted to check the weight and screen illumination personally before I made my choice.

In the end, I went with the Nook:Color, and here's my reasoning.

If all I wanted to use it for was to crank through novels, then the Kindel might have won the day. It's lighter, thinner, and the monochrome e-ink screen is nice.

Just like in the days when the first color cell phones came out, I was drawn to the color over the old black & white screens, even though the color was a bit cheesy back in those days.

Our eyes are made to enjoy the colorful world around us. It's a part of who we are. Getting something these days that seemed to be a throw-back to the days of the LCD calculator screens just wasn't right. So color was a concern for me.

The same thought process was used for the actual screen itself. The Kindel has cheap-feeling plastic buttons, and the screen is non-interactive. I'm getting so used to touchscreen technology that it just seems strange buying something like an e-reader and not being able to interact with the screen. While using the Kindel every fiber of my being wanted to touch the dang screen to do something. It's like going into a public restroom these days and sticking your hands under the faucet only to realize, embarrassingly, that you have to touch it to get it to work. Yuk!

I really was not looking for a device that operated like a scaled down laptop, such as a netbook or ipad2, I really was looking for something about the size of a book that I could drag around with me. Something like the ipad2, although awesome, is not the form factor I was after. Besides, I have my MacBook Air for any serious computing I need to do.

This pretty much left me with the Nook:color.

Once I got the Nook I was into checking out all of its features. I was worried it would be too heavy for holding to read with, or that the horror stories of eye-strain and headaches would make me realize I made a bad mistake. The more I played with it, the more I discovered I made the best choice for me.

The backlit screen is great, and I can sit in bed and read in total darkness if I choose. And yes, I cranked through a chapter one night with all the lights off. I don't have great lighting for reading in bed, so it was fantastic not having to migrate around the bed trying to get the ceiling light out of my eyes and the pages lit well.

So far I have not read long enough to give me a headache, and I doubt I will. If you're a marathon reader, as in someone who will sit and read for hours at a time, this might be a concern for you. My reading style is more of hit and run. I whip out some chapters while waiting for my daughters to get done with whatever thing they're doing, or just before bed, so extremely long reading sessions are not my cup of tea.

One fantastic benefit of color is the magazines. Oh my! The Kindel does magazines, but in shades of grey. I find myself actually reading more of the ads because they are so vibrant and in your face. The Nook has a great feature over reading something like a webpage called, "Article View". When browsing though a magazine, instead of doing the pinch and spread maneuver for expanding what you're trying to read, you hit article view and the article is pulled off the page and brought to you in a separate reader-type pane. Very cool!

I believe magazine subscriptions are cheaper then the print variety, and so much more convenient as well. With the Nook you get to carry all of your magazines around with you! Anytime you get the urge and want to brows an issue, you have it at your fingertips. I have bought so many magazines that have got put in a stack at home and forgotten about. What a waste, this is much better.

The convenience of ordering a magazine subscription, or just getting the latest issue is great, but this same convenience is also there for the books.

I finished a great book recently and immediately went online to check if the author had written a sequel. Ta da, there it was. With a few touches of the screen it was downloaded to my device and I was reading the first chapter. I have yet to mention it, but I love the fact that the book covers can be seen in color. For some reason I think I would be bummed if I could not see the colorful book covers.

Looking for a particular thing in a book? You can search through any of your books for any word, such as a characters name, a place, or whatever you might be looking for. Not sure if I'll use this, but it's a nice feature nonetheless.

When you read a book, you never lose your place. Isn't it frustrating when something happens and you lose where you were in a book? No problem with the Nook. Every time you open it up your right where you left off.

I find myself reading a lot more then I ever have just because I now have my library with my everywhere I go. During work one day I was at another location and had to wait for our support folks to call me back. Sitting in a server room listening to the hum of equipment is not that exciting, and I did not have anything else going on at that site, so I pulled out my Nook and another couple of chapters went by.

Oops, I almost forgot about the extras!

In addition to a great e-reader the Nook has a web-browser, and is based on the Android OS. There are games and other apps you can get. I don't have the newest version of the OS loaded yet, but when I do, here comes Angry Birds on an 11" screen! LOL

What this means is that if you want, you can pause reading and switch over to check your email or play a rousing round of solitaire (I still don't know how people can play that game for hours and hours. Variety is the spice of life people!

Can you tell I like this e-reader? The final point is that you are contributing to the "green" movement in a big way. No trees need to have lost their life to support your reading habit, and less waste will end up in the local landfill from your little-read magazines. I certainly hope you don't throw your books away!

Having my reader now for a few weeks I really have not found any negatives. I am a convert to reading digitally, and this is where the snob part comes in. After embracing this new form of reading, I now look at people lugging around a hardback book as silly. I feel like telling them that there is a whole new way to read that takes up less space, and I think is more enjoyable and flexible all the way around.

If you're in the market for an e-reader, I hope this article gives you some insight into the exploration I have done and helps you make up your mind on the type of device you'd like.

Either direction you go, I highly recommend jumping into the e-reader technology. They are relatively inexpensive, yet provide a great amount of features that you will enjoy! I never thought I would shed the feel of books, but I'm in it now, and loving it!