Experts: Kim Won't Listen To Reason

That 3:00 AM phone call that Hillary Clinton warned us about during the democrat primaries three years ago came this morning, as President Obama was made aware of a critical situation on the Korean Peninsula. For the first time since the cease-fire between the two warring neighbors almost 60 years ago, the North Koreans shelled civilians in South Korea. Each side claims it was the other country's fault, and there are plenty of experts and analysts out there to dissect it all, so I will spare you. That's not really why I'm posting this, anyway. I've been reading and listening to the news today whenever I had the opportunity, and the big question on every one's mind is, "What, if anything, should America do?" There are idiots on all sides with their own answers, such as, "why don't we just nuke 'em," or, "let them sort it out themselves." So many children have posted on different news sites and blogs that "war is never the answer." Let's consider that for a moment. War was the answer to American independence. It was also the answer to the re-unification of the states and an end to slavery. War was also the answer to the question, "how do we stop Hitler?" War was the answer when Iraq invaded Kuait. War will be the answer when North Koreans in uniforms start asking, "hey, mighty leader, what's for dinner?" Sometimes war is the ONLY answer. I don't want war any more than the rest of you, but the fact is that the Korean war never ended- we've only had a 60 year cease-fire. If the North attacks our ally to the south, we are obligated to help them. Oh, we've been avoiding it for some time now, having our six-way talks and our sanctions. Some say the aggression from the North stems from desperation, because they're starving. Still others say it will never get too ugly, because the Chinese will keep the North Koreans in check. Plenty of people also believe that the threat of a nuclear North Korea is non-existent because they don't have the money to fund such a program and sanctions should be enough. That's all crap. See, the truth is, Kim Jong Il is CRAZY. Certifiably nuts. He starves his own countrymen so he can buy porn, booze, and bombs. He's also pretty sure that China's got his back, so he's not really all that concerned with what, if anything, America decides to do. Besides, we may have 30,000 military personnel stationed in South Korea, but we also have two other wars going on. Kim doesn't listen to reason. I'm beginning to think North Korea is not only threatening war, they are counting on it. If South Korea is attacked, and we don't act, we will be telling our allies they can't count on us. It will also tell our enemies that we are weak and over-extended. We may not want to fight, but if the cease-fire ends, we will have to fight, one way or another. All the same, I sure hope I'm wrong, but I'd rather if we were ready in case I'm right.

Your Political Mirror

Whether or not you consider yourself an Independent, a Republican or a Democrat, you probably have your own political identity. Even if you don't consider yourself either of the above, you are probably pretty proud of that...you're an Independent, and so that is your political identity. Identity politics, the politics of "us versus them," is pretty much the norm in America, it's Blue versus Red, it's Conservative versus Liberal, or at least that's the way it's played out in the media. In Washington, just as in Hollywood, image is everything. And yet we have the Tea Party Movement, a movement that encompasses all different kinds of people, and has it's roots in 1773, before there ever were such things as Democrats and Republicans, before anyone ever divided up the map with "primary colors." So what is a Republican and what is a Democrat? It depends on who you ask. The image that Republicans seek to convey is one of fiscal responsibility, hard-working shop owners and individuals who are strong on defense and proud of tradition. Their heroes are Madison and Reagan. Ask a Democrat, though, and they will tell you Republicans are fat, white, rich guys in suits who check their stocks in newspapers that don't have pictures while they plan the next war for profit. Democrats would like to be seen as fair-minded, tolerant people of all races who value diplomacy and embrace change. Their heroes are Jefferson and Roosevelt. Republicans, however, will describe them as misguided Robin Hoods and aging hippies, one step away from communism, either seeking to take the earnings from others and give it away to the slothful, or sticking their hands out to receive the spare change from Big Government. Libertarians? They will tell you they stand for limited government, private enterprise, and the notion that all people are free to live life as they please, so long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. their heroes are Ayn Rand and H.L. Menken. Republicans and Democrats will tell you that they are naive hipsters and closet pot smokers who want to legalize everything but murder and privatize the sidewalks. Independents? They're just wishy-washy, like Charlie Brown. Most people will tell you, if you gave them the descriptions without the labels, that they are actually a mix of all these things. For example, a person may be for gun control (democrat), against abortion (republican), and indifferent to gay marriage (libertarian). So... are you Red or Blue? Or purple? Maybe, after you've really thought about the things that matter to you, you won't be so sure. I encourage everyone to take The Shortest Political Quiz at http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz As it turns out, I'm a Libertarian.

CAIR: Following The Constitution Is Unconstitutional

Still believe in democracy? As it turns out, your vote doesn't count. In fact, if you don't like the outcome of an election, all you have to do is file a law suit and have a judge refuse to certify the vote. Such is the case in Oklahoma, where 70.08% of the population who voted answered "yes" on State Question 755. The proposed amendment to the state constitution would forbid judges from considering international law or Sharia law when deciding cases. Why was this amendment so important to the voters? Are people in Oklahoma just a bunch of backward, bigoted hicks? Muneer Awad of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Oklahoma says, "yes," and he took the measure to court. In his view, it is unconstitutional to force judges to stick to the constitution. He believes the whole thing was put together to foster "Islamophobia." What are we so afraid of? Well, how about S.D. versus M.J.R. in the New Jersey Superior Court? An American judge actually ruled that a man was not guilty of raping his seventeen year-old wife, not because he didn't rape her, but because he was following Sharia Law. The ruling was overturned in appellate court, but the idea that the judge even took that into consideration is horrid. OK State Question 755 was intended to be a firewall, to keep judges from ruling that it's acceptable to beat your wife or stone a homosexual to death based on religious belief. The amendment does not say you can't be a practicing Muslim, nor does it forbid the election or appointment of Muslim judges. All it says is, "stick the constitution." We don't care what the laws are in Poland, Somalia, China, or Iran. This is Oklahoma. Muneer Awad thinks 70% of Oklahoma voters are just bigots, that we're just scared. Well, honestly, there are aspects of Sharia that are pretty scary. I'm not to keen on international law, either, for that matter. Should we toss out our Second Amendment right to bear arms because the English do not have such a guarantee? I say no, and 695,567 other Oklahomans agreed with me. Use international law to decide on treaties, not on whether or not a civil or state measure should pass. As to the matter of religious intolerance, let me remind you again that this is not a First Amendment issue. Oklahoma is not trying to institute a "state religion." If anything, the voters are upholding the so-called "separation of church and state." Whether or not you agree with the amendment, however, the people voted, the amendment passed, and that should be it. Moreover, activist judges should not be allowed to refuse to certify the vote simply because they don't like the outcome. Certify the vote! Then decide on whether you think an amendment to the constitution does not follow the constitution. Now I know there are enough people out there who, no matter what reasoning I give for voting yes on SQ:755, are going to yell, "Bigot! Racist! Islamophobe! Hate Monger!" Really? Is that all you've got? What if the vote had gone the other way, and someone sued in order to deny the will of the voters? Majority Rule, not Judicial Fiat. Otherwise, what is the point of a vote in the first place? Why even bother defending democracy?

I robbed the photo above from http://www.hollywoodandfine.com/reviews/?p=1102

If you care to read it, you can find Oklahoma State Question: 755 here:
https://www.sos.ok.gov/gov/proposed_questions.aspx

Special note to Liberals: Please, do not start in with me on the whole "separation of church and state is in the First Amendment" garbage. That phrase does not exist in the Bill of Rights. I defy you to find it. Do not quote Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists, it is irrelevant. I said "so-called separation of church and state," and I meant it. The nation was founded on freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion, and I still believe in the Judeo-Christian foundation of our laws and rights. But even if such a thing did exist in our constitution, you should be agreeing with me on this. So give it a rest.

Breaking News: It's Not Your Money

In a recent survey, ten out of ten people polled this afternoon said they should not pay for my cheeseburger and fries at McDonald's simply because they had $50 in their pockets and I only had $4. When asked, "why not," each person polled simply responded, "because it's not your money!" Surprisingly, 4 out of these same 10 people identified themselves as "democrats." When the poll also included the phrase, "share the wealth, man," 9 of the 10 people polled exclaimed, "go to hell."

On the other hand, while engaging in a debate with friends online, 4 out of 5 self-described democrats agreed with the sentiment that, "those who earn more should pay more." One even suggested that we should, as a society, "eat the rich." As it turns out, it wasn't my money after all, no matter how hungry I was, and if someone had decided to feed me out of sheer kindness, I would have had to politely decline and thank them for their generosity. FULL DISCLOSURE: My family and I have been on food stamps. I, myself, have gone to the Salvation Army to ask for food. These are worthwhile programs for people who need a hand up, and I am not suggesting that anyone tell a hungry person to "go to hell." I'm not saying that you should go down to The Bowery and kick the bums and winos and tell them to get a job. What I'm really talking about here is attitude. Read this again; "Those who earn more should pay more." If you agree, tell me why. Then tell me how much is enough. Then tell me why I should strive to earn more if you're just going to take it away from me to cover my "fair share." And don't give me any of that crap about how I benefited from public schools, or how the police are protecting me, or about how much a battleship costs. We each take our equal share of those services, so why should you pay more and I less, or vice versa? Why do you want to tax Joe The Plumber until he's as poor as you? Do you want to spread the wealth, or spread the misery? It seems to me that some people take the phrase, "promote the general Welfare," from the preamble of our constitution, and broaden it just a bit too much. Are you your brother's keeper? Yes. Should you pay your brother's rent? Only if you truly want to , out of compassion, and not because the Government threatens to take your property and your earnings if you don't. I thought being rich was a part of the American Dream. I thought we were all supposed to aspire to be successful. My teachers always taught me that if I worked hard and applied myself, I could do anything I wanted. Not one of them ever said, "and when you do, we'll call you a villain, steal your money, give it to people who didn't earn it, and spend it on stuff we want." Teachers' Unions weren't as deeply entrenched back then, I guess. Think back to when you were a kid and someone asked, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" What did you answer? Did you say, "I want to serve the state and give as much as I can so that all people can benefit from the fruits of my labor?" No. You said, "I want to be a doctor!" Maybe it was a lawyer, or an astronaut, or a chef, or an artist. You wanted to earn a living doing something you were passionate about, and you wanted to have as much wealth as your skill would allow. You didn't want a brown Mazda hatchback with vinyl seats and an AM radio, you wanted the Porche, all leather interior, with the CD changer in the trunk. But you never got one. You never became a doctor. You're jealous of people that did. So now you want to take that Porche, take all the money, and make the doctor heal you for free. He owes you. Besides, he can afford it, right? Well, so what if he can? If you raise his taxes, he hires one less nurse. If you take a chunk out of his salary and spread it around, he goes out to eat a little less and doesn't tip any waitresses. If you raise his taxes, he decides not to buy a new car and changes his own oil. If you raise his taxes and not your own, you are stealing. It's not your money.

Religion of Peace Threatens More Violence

The First Amendment is a powerful, liberating concept. Here in America, John Cusack can post, “I AM FOR A SATANIC DEATH CULT CENTER AT FOX NEWS HQ AND OUTSIDE THE OFFICES OF DICK ARMEY AND NEWT GINGRICH-and all the GOP WELFARE FREAKS," on Twitter without fear of intimidation. Hey, that's free speech. You may not like it, but he has a right to say it. And if Muslims want to build a mega-mosque two blocks away from Ground Zero, well, they have a right to practice their religion. This is America, after all. On top of that, people who oppose the location of that mosque have every right, thanks to that same amendment, to assemble and openly protest it. No one is going to attack them. Well, almost no one. Radical Muslims may come after you and try to kill you, and it doesn't take much to tick them off, so maybe you should be careful. Molly Norris, for example, has had to rethink the whole "freedom of speech" thing. She is the cartoonist who made May 20th "Everyone Draw Mohamed Day." She's in hiding now. She's even changed her name, and is currently under the protection of the FBI. I guess she didn't want to end up like Theo Van Gogh, who was murdered by Mohammed Bouyeri in 2004 for expressing his views on Islam and how that religion treats women. Maybe she's hanging out with Salman Rushdie, who has been in hiding since the 80s after writing a work of fiction that Muslims found blasphemous. Maybe she'll end up going from country to country like Taslima Nasreen, a fellow editorialist from Bangladesh, who has been running for her life since 1993 because she criticised the Muslim world's treatment of women. Thankfully, as both President Bush and President Obama have made known, we are not at war with Islam. Islam, after all, is "a religion of peace." It's funny, though, that whenever anyone, like Pope Benedict, for example, offends Muslims, they call for his death and chant things like, "you will pay," and "watch your back." It's also funny that whenever someone (like me) is critical of Islam or Sharia Law, it isn't considered an exercise of free speech. No, it's hate speech. Bigoted. Intolerant. There ought to be a law! Well, a law already exists. The First Amendment. Just be careful what you say, because the religion of peace may seek to kill you for being so intolerant as to speak your mind.

The cartoon above is not my property. I actually robbed it off a website called
http://returnoftheconservatives.blogspot.com

Naked Jocks Harrass Bimbo Reporter

Have you ever seen one of those cheesy sports movies where the guys in the locker room are all joking with each other, not feeling a bit self-conscious, naked or in towels, until the hot-but-tough chick walks in? They get all nervous and try to pull their pants up, and the hot-but-tough chick says something hot-but-tough like, "Take it easy, boys, it's nothing I haven't seen before." See the woman in the pictures? That's Ines Sainz, a sports reporter for TV Azteca in Mexico. Not exactly Howard Cosell, right? When she walked into the Jets locker room on Sunday, she didn't walk into a cheesy sports movie. She walked into an actual men's locker room. The script writer must have been off that day.
I remember when I was a teenager, my dad, when I would accidentally swear in front of my mother, would say something like, "Hey, keep that kind of talk in the locker room!" I wonder why he'd say that? Maybe because ladies weren't allowed in there! It's no secret, is it? I know I was never allowed in the ladies' locker room. I wouldn't say it's a place for privacy, but there are some pretty good reasons why the men and women don't shower together after gym class. Now I'm perfectly ready for the argument, so I'll say it for you. "We've come a long way in this country, Mr. Johnson, and Neanderthals like you are going to have to give us women the equality we deserve. There's no reason a professional reporter of any gender should be harassed by these thick-necked jocks when she's just trying to do her job!" Good one. Give yourself a high five. But let's face it, she wasn't exactly dressed professionally, was she? In every picture I've ever seen of her, she looks...well...kind of like a Bourbon Street stripper. I think that's kind of her thing, actually. Google trends lists her hotness as "spicy." And wasn't she a beauty pageant winner, or something? "That shouldn't matter, Mr. Johnson, you knuckle-dragging man-beast, she should be able to wear any thing she wants and not be sexually harassed and have to listen to catcalls from horny jocks!" Sure. Maybe in a world where all men are gay. Of course you should be able to wear an outfit that you think flatters you, makes you feel good about yourself, and not feel like a piece of meat. I'm not arguing that. But I never met a beautiful woman with half a brain who didn't know what kind of attention certain outfits would get her. I mean, it's almost like entrapment, or something! And as far as sexual harassment goes, it seems to me the rules are: 1) Don't be married 2) Don't be ugly. Does that about cover it? Until 1990, I was not "enlightened" enough to know that women don't like to be thought of as "sexy," so the details are still a little fuzzy for me. I know that when I was single and I hit on a woman, it was only acceptable if she also found me attractive, otherwise I was a nuisance. But if the rules have changed, I'd like to know, because this means that I can go into the ladies' locker room while you shower after a volleyball game without a shirt on and start asking questions. We're an evolved society, right? You won't laugh or whistle. You're bigger than that. Okay, that's not ever going to happen. You see, I still believe, cave-dweller that I am, that men and women are different. We're supposed to be. And we both need our own rooms, decency demands that much of us. It's hard for me to be sympathetic to Ines in this case, because I'm sure this wasn't the first round of catcalls and whistles she's ever gotten, and really, she ought to know that a group of naked guys full of testosterone and adrenaline are going to act a little inappropriate in their locker room. Well, except maybe in the movies.

Nine Years

It was just another work day when I got out of bed, a beautiful morning, really, and I wished I could go to the beach. I got my shower, my coffee, and the remote control, and decided to catch the news before I had to leave for work. What the hell was happening? That was the Twin Towers, and one of them was on fire! Someone was being interviewed, and I watched as a plane smashed into the World Trade Center again. Troy, my roommate, came into the room then, and he said, "what kind of movie are you watching?" My eyes still glued to the television, I answered, " That's New York...it's happening right now. I think we're at war." Good God! What should we do? What could we do? That was nine years ago...I still ask myself those questions sometimes.

The war still rages on. At least with Pearl Harbor, we knew what to do. The enemy had a uniform, a national identity, and even when they were cruel, they at least had a code of conduct. My grandparents were prisoners of war at a Japanese camp in the Philippines, and they came to know the enemy well. Today's enemy has no face, flies no flag, and takes no prisoners. The kamikaze plane that smashed into a destroyer was clearly marked, but the enemy pilots in this war fly passenger planes, full of innocents, anywhere they think they can kill the most people. How do we fight the enemy if they are just busboys, lawyers, or salesmen right up until the second they attack with a bomb strapped to their chests?

So the debate over civil liberties began. We have had to balance our need to protect our selves and our thirst for justice with the responsibility of the civil society and the duty to be fair. We can't profile people based on their race or religion, we don't want to betray the high ideals of this nation. After all, not all Arabs or Muslims are terrorists...and yet, all of the conspirators of 9/11 were both. There are plenty of patriotic, peace-loving, American Muslims...some of them are even in our armed forces, fighting and dying this very moment...but the next moment, someone like Major Nadal Malik Hasan at Fort Hood, Texas, will attack his fellow American soldiers, shouting, "Allahu Akbar!" Benjamin Franklin said, "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." I believe that, too. So I still ask, what can we do?

Yes, this is a day of remembrance, a day to pay tribute to all of the people who died that day, to honor our police and firefighters, to give thanks for the men and women who protect us still. Today may be this generation's "Pearl Harbor Day," but we have yet to have our "VJ Day." I wonder if we ever will have a day when the parades roll down Main Street, when we celebrate our victory with streamers and the like, a "Victory Over Terror Day." The purpose of war, I have heard someone say, is to kill people and break things until the enemy are dead or they give up. It's ugly, but it's the only way to win. The problem is, we can't even agree who the enemy is. Some Americans will even tell you that we are the bad guys, that we deserved it, that we still do. So we are at war with ourselves, too.
The first anniversary of 9/11 was a heavy day for me. There was a singer, I think it was Suzanne Vega, who sang a song on a talk show that day. She sang, "It hit home...it still does..." I cried. Now on September 11th, 2010, there are no tears, but there has been little healing, either. Never Forget, the radio talk show hosts say. Well, who can forget? How do you forget that you are at war? Maybe one day, jaded Americans will use this day as a holiday, a day to grill hot dogs and complain that the Post Office is closed, maybe one day if the war ever does end. Today is Saturday. A pretty summer day in Oklahoma. I woke up late, had some coffee, and watched cartoons with my children. Nothing blew up, no one died, at least that I know of, and I guess I have a whole lot of people wearing uniforms to thank for that. But I still hear that song, and I still ask myself, "what can we do? What should we do?"

Shocking News: Politicians are Corrupt!

We're not that naive, are we? No one actually believes that this is something new, right? No. Of course not. So it was no shock to me that a jury came back with only one guilty verdict out of 24 corruption charges for former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich (Blah-GOY-of-itch). I was also not surprised to discover that Congressman Charlie Rangel of New York and Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California are dirty...filthy, even. Let's not forget William Jefferson, the Representative of Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District, who was indicted on 16 charges of corruption. Really? A politician from New Orleans? How shocking! We all know, or at least, I think most of us do, that this is just the way it is for career politicians. Whether you're an elephant or a donkey, there is probably some horse trading and scapegoating going on. Power. Money. Prestige. The focus is on holding on to it and acquiring more of it, and hopefully keeping your constituents just happy enough with pork to keep you from having to get a real job. I think most of us get that. So why do we keep electing these crooks? Because there's no alternative, there's the Republican crook, or the Democrat crook. Getting into politics at all means having to grease palms, make backroom deals, take money from shady people in exchange for political favors, and in other ways sell your soul. If you really want to get into office, you need to have money, lots of it, and that's just to get your name out there. Once a person is elected, they become "our guy," he has name recognition, and so even though the legislature has an approval rating of 16%, well, we like "our guy," so we'll keep on voting them in even if we know for a fact they are bigger crooks than Al Capone. People may be really disgusted with Blagojevich right now, but I think it's more for embarrassing the state of Illinois than any real disbelief that he's done anything more criminal than his predecessors. We all know this stuff goes on. Heck, he may even run for office again and win. If Marion Berry can do it, why not Blago? So what's the solution? How do we get decent people in office who actually want to represent the people? It's simple. Term limits. I know, I know, some of you are saying, "but if I like 'my guy,' if he's doing a good job, I should be able to vote him in no matter how many times he's served." Really? Then why don't we still have President Clinton? Because of the 22nd Amendment, that's why. Because we don't want to have a "president for life." We shouldn't have these career politicians like Kennedy, or Byrd, or Thurman, who don't leave the Capitol until they're carried out in a casket. There's just too much power at stake, and when they stay there too long, they forget that the power belongs to us, not them, and they all begin to abuse it in one way or another. You will do your district, your state, a greater service by sending a citizen representative to the Capitol. Send your plumber, not your lawyer. If we enact term limits, if we decide to send actual representatives of the people rather than people who do just enough to get elected every few cycles, then maybe one day it actually will be shocking to hear of an indictment.
The picture was stolen from rrstar.com

The Hagia Sophia of Manhattan

As a person who believes very strongly in the right to private property and the right to worship, the issue of "the ground zero mosque" has been a difficult one for me. The simplest way to express my frustration is this; I hate it, but there's nothing we can do about it. Building a mega-mosque so close to the site where so many innocent people were killed for jihad is more than just insensitive, it is a ball of spit right in America's already black eye. We know why they want to build it, and many Americans are broken-hearted and angry at the thought of a huge Muslim victory flag being placed so near the spot that even the president, who came out in support of the mosque, acknowledged is "hallowed ground." Yes, as long as they own the property and do not break the law, they can build just about anything they want there. They can tear down the existing structure and put up a statue of Ronald McDonald, if they want to. And since this is America, they can go there and pray to God, Allah, the Devil, or even Whitney Houston...it's a free country. But if Islam is truly a religion of peace, if they truly wish to foster understanding and build bridges, and all of that other touchy-feely crap, they ought to understand exactly why so many Americans, particularly New Yorkers, are so strongly against it. They should hear the people, some shouting, some crying, and say to themselves, "you know, there are lots of places to build in New York...we don't need to cause more pain here." They would decide, out of consideration, to build somewhere else. It would be the decent and sensitive thing to do. As one protester's sign read, "If you care, build it elsewhere." We don't want to stop them from worshipping. We just don't want them to do it on our loved ones' graves. But they already know all of this. They don't care. And we know why they want to build it there. Oh, it's a matter of principle, sure, but not an American principle. It's not about freedom of religion or private property rights. This mosque is intended to be not only a victory flag, but a weapon, a means to divide us further, to get the warm and fuzzy liberals to fight with the hard and scaly conservatives. We'll fight each other, throwing out words like "racist" and "traitor" and the mosque will go up. Some idiot nut jobs will try to burn the place down and, as the FDNY is doing their jobs putting out the flames, everyone will be tripping over each other to apologize for it, and the Imams will be laughing at us. They are using our own high-minded ideals against us. They have every right to build it, and we have no right to stop them. But if they really wanted to show us what a non-threatening place this is, they could build a memorial to the victims of September 11, 2001 with a plaque displayed denouncing those murders. Or they could build a true "community" center for everyone, of all faiths, Jew, christian, Muslim, Hindu, to pray and reflect.Instead, they are like a schoolyard pest waving their arms around us, making funny faces, yelling, "I'm not touching you! I'm not touching you!" I hate it. But there's nothing we can do about it. Isn't that sick?

Ugh! (sigh) Stupid Hippies...

I'm so sick to my stomach of the "green" crowd, I can't even come up with a title for this post without using very bad words. Four letter words. Anyway...

There's an article online today on yahoo.com by "environmental journalist" Lori Bongiorno entitled, "Signs of a Green Hypocrite." Not being one of the sheep who buy into the religion of global warming, I was pulled in by the title of the article. I was expecting to read a scathing article on the hypocrisy of people like Al Gore who burn millions of tons of fuel travelling the globe to tell us how we're destroying the planet with our SUVs. Instead, I got...well, here's one of the signs of a "green hypocrite," according to Lori Bongiorno.

"Carries reusable grocery bags, but fills them up with bottled water and packaged junk. What you put into your reusable grocery bag is far more important than the bag itself. It's better to carry a plastic bag and fill it up with locally grown fruits and veggies then to tote around an eco-friendly sack filled with packaged foods and drinks that have been shipped thousands of miles."

What!?!? It's just never enough for these people! "You're just not green enough! I'm greener than you are! You're not doing enough for the planet!" You people make me want to puke. By the way, not to get too far off topic, here, but have you never heard of a truck farmer? How the hell do you think people in Chicago get "fresh fruits and veggies" in the middle of freaking February? Oil! Lots and lots of refined petroleum, like what those PLASTIC BAGS are made of! But getting back to my original rant here, I'll say what I posted in the comments section of the article right here.
Who the hell are any of you to criticize anyone for any of the choices they make, "green" or not? I mean, is this all you do, sit around wringing your hands over the plastic water bottle in some other hippie's cloth bag? Get a life, and stay out of everyone elses'! Seriously. You're going to harp on someone because they drive a Prius, but they don't carpool? The other eco-nuts aren't as good and pure as you because they buy organic vegetables but still eat meat? I guess the world just won't be perfect until everyone acts just like you, huh? Maybe I should poop outside on the lawn and stop wasting all of that precious water in my toilette, would that be "green" enough for you?
Now, I know the point of the article was probably meant to be a series of friendly suggestions designed to get us all doing more than we are, but if that is the author's intent, why call it, "Signs of a Green Hypocrite?" No, her intent was to stick her pointy little fingers in our collective chests and mock people who think they are making a difference but who are really only kidding themselves in her eyes. It's the same as laughing at the fat guy who orders a diet coke with his greasy Big Mac and supersized fries. Hey, Lori. Guess what? You're ALL wasting your time. The Earth will continue to orbit the sun billions of years after my gas-guzzling car has rusted away. Why don't you help combat global warming by keeping your mouth shut instead of popping off with all of that hot air?

The article I'm mocking can be found at
http://green.yahoo.com/blog/the_conscious_consumer/146/signs-of-a-green-hypocrite.html

I robbed the picture from www.thegreatilluminator.com

Want to give me a piece of your mind? Post a comment. If you have a mind to.

Post-Racial America Not So "Post"

Well, I waited two years to come back to this, because, frankly, I knew it was coming. I just kept my mouth shut. I didn't write about politics at all simply because I knew that anything negative I had to say at all about the current administration would be called "racist" and then dismissed. We were supposed to be behind all this... we were supposed to be a "post-racial" society now. I mean, I'm not a child, I know that racism still exists, but...we elected a black president, that didn't happen because all of the white folks stayed home that November...surely we should be done looking under the bed for whitey the racist bogeyman, right? Oh, no. No, no, no, no. Just this week- Jessie Jackson equates LeBron James to a runaway slave because Cavs owner Dan Gilbert said a few mean things about him. This was about loyalty! This was about basketball! This was not a plantation owner whipping a fugitive slave! All the Rev. Jackson should have had to say was, "Well, I bet this hurts for Cleveland, but Miami must be pretty excited!" Then, the big story is the NAACP putting together a resolution (what ever good that does) calling for "The Tea Party" to stop harboring bigots and racists. OK...#1- there IS no "Tea Party." It's not like the Democrat party or the Republican Party. It's a name given to a movement to symbolize the frustration a lot of people have over high taxes and big government. So there is no leadership, okay? No one has a "Tea Party" ID card. Anyone can show up at these tea party events, and sometimes there are going to be A-holes. That's just the way it is in a free society. #2- Aside from a picture of Obama with a Hitler mustache, no one has any evidence that there even ARE any racists showing up at these things. Breitbart offered $100,000 to anyone who had proof that Emanuel Cleaver, a black congressman from Missouri, had been spat upon...no one has claimed the prize, as far as I know, and that's a lot of money, so you'd think someone would have at least tried to fake a video. So...what's all the hubbub? And don't let me forget Mel the Jew-hating Gibson! I couldn't belive he was back in the news! Here's the danger of alcohol, my friends-take a guy who can make a great movie like Braveheart, The Patriot, or The Road Warrior but then get so amazingly drunk that he drools out racist and sexist garbage during a fight with his girlfriend, not remembering the last time he tied one on and insulted the entire population of Jews in this world and, not only ruined his career, but sparked up a debate on whether or not most people are closet racists. "Was it just the booze, or is Mel finally showing us who he really is?" Who the hell knows? The guy's an actor, when was the last time he was ever himself? Throw booze into the mix, and it's kind of suprising he didn't blame all of the world's problems on the Underpants Gnomes from South Park! The guy is an idiot...and yeah, he's probably a racist, even if Whoopie Goldberg says hes not. But does it need that much discussion? Is Mel the Jew-hating Gibson keeping you from getting a job? Is Dan Gilbert holding you down? Did Sarah palin and the Tea Party gang show up on your lawn with a burning cross? Enough, already! The only way to solve the problem of racism in America is to be a good person, be a hard worker, be a respectful neighbor, be a good samaritan...be a person FIRST. People will think what they will of you, some will like you, some will hate you (yes, even without a valid reason), and some will have no opinion at all. Will we ever get rid of racism in America? Doubt it. It would help, though, if people wouldn't assume I'm a racist just because I voted for McCain and I'm a white guy. I don't see a "black" entertainer in Eddie Murphy anymore than I see a "white" entertainer in Steve Martin. I just see funny. So it shouldn't be a question that when I see our president, I don't see a "black" president. I see a great orator who can't govern for crap. The only race I'm interested in is the Presidential Race in 2012.

I robbed the picture above from http://www.dreamstime.com/ It seemed appropriate.

Edit: Thanks to Dan Sanders for pointing out that Bill Cosby is NOT funny. The change has been made accordingly. LOL!

Noted Scientist Plays Halflife 2, Loses Damn Mind

According to http://www.timesonline.co.uk/ , noted scientist Dr. Stephen Hawking is now warning us earthlings that, not only are aliens out there, we should all be very afraid of them, and for God's sake, stop trying to signal them. "To my mathematical brain," he says in the article, "the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational." I can't help but wonder if the good doctor just watched Independence Day for the first time or maybe got wrapped up in a kick-ass game of Halflife 2 a few years ago, because he goes on to say, "I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources on their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonise whatever planets they can reach." Will Smith? Gordon Freeman? Are you reading this? We may need you soon. Or...maybe.... maybe Dr. Hawking has an alien living in his brain already! That's the only reason I can think of why he might spew out this next little bit of elementary school wisdom, where he states, "If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much the same as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn't turn out very well for the Native Americans." Here we go again with the evil Europeans and the poor peaceful natives thing. Either an alien is living in his brain, or it's a liberal third grade teacher, I'm not sure. WAIT! I know what you may be thinking! Who are you to question such a distinguished member of the scientific establishment, Mr. Johnson? Where are your academic credentials? Stephen Hawking is a genius! Maybe. That doesn't mean he hasn't lost his mind. Let me point you towards another mathematical mind, Sir Frederick Hoyle. He's the British astronomer who reminded us that the probability of life, any life, randomly being created and being able to reproduce "is about the same as the probability that a tornado sweeping through a junkyard could assemble a 747 from the contents therin." Where's he get that? Math. One chance in one followed by 40,000 zeros, that's how likely it is. As for Columbus, I think Mr. Hawking forgets that the discovery of America was brought about as an unintended consequence of trying to find a sea route to avoid the Muslims and trade with India and China. Columbus and his crew didn't eat up all of the grain in Spain and head to Cuba with Lasers in hand to conquer the Arawak, so...sorry, but no. Not the same. I just can't help but think the guy got a little too into HL2 and now roams around his house in the dark wearing a hazardous environment suit and killing invisible head crabs from Xen with a crowbar. If you have an interest in any more of his ramblings, you could always read here:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/space/article7107207.ece I think the whole argument can be summed up with a quote from Woody Allen, though. "The question is not, 'are there aliens out there,' the question is, 'do they have ray guns?'" Woody Allen...now there was a genius.
The image used is of an antlion from VALVe's Halflife2

The First Avenger: Captain America 2.0?

I'm a huge Captain America fan. His title was the only one I consistently bought and collected when I was a kid in the 1980s, and every now and then, as an adult, I still like to check in and see how my favorite superhero is doing. When I heard that marvel was going to do a live action movie for Captain America, I was thrilled beyond words...and a little scared. I wasn't afraid for the quality of the movie, that hasn't been an issue for me at all thanks to Sam Raimi and Tobey MacGuire's awesome work on Spiderman. But please, God, I beg you...do not let them try to "update" Cap for a "new generation!" I've seen the concept art for the movie that has been passed around on the web, and I....well, I hate it. I guess the idea is to make his costume (costume, not uniform) more practical for actual combat, to add things like a web belt, armor plating instead of the chain mail, but people, you have to remember...he's a freaking comic book superhero with superhuman abilities and a bulletproof shield. He doesn't, never needed, and never had anything else. His costume (yes, I said it again) is a symbol, it's not a suit of armor. I've seen in the discussion groups and forums where people are happy with the changes- they never liked the wings, they always thought his costume was cheesy, they're hoping for more changes...and they all sound to me like people who flat-out don't like the character, they don't even like Captain America! So who are they getting to put the movie together? From what I've read, it's people who have never read a Captain America comic book, don't know who Steve Rogers is, let alone Jack Kirby, and don't plan on reading the source material. Yeah, I'm scared. You see, Captain America, to me, isn't cheesy or outdated. Neither is what he stands for. The things Steve Rogers believed in, the things he fought for, and against, as Captain America, are all still relevant. Patriotism is not some old-fashioned concept forgotten in the 1940s. Liberty and love of country are not hokey or passe' ideas. You cannot update Captain America anymore than you can update Frank Sinatra, or apple pie, or baseball. Sure, there are things Cap will bring with him from the 40s when he's revived in the modern age, but that's another one of those things that makes him interesting...and what we discover is that, no matter what decade, some things just are. Messing with these things is as wrong as putting Brussels sprouts in your apple pie, adding a fifth base to baseball, or singing "Farmington Farmington" instead of "New York New York. " Please, no Cap 2.0.

How You Got Spyware and Why You Won't Believe Me

Whenever a person brings me a computer with the complaint that it is slow, they can't get on the internet, or that they keep getting strange popups, I usually discover the problem is spyware. Also, whenever I tell people this, the reaction is pretty much the same. "I don't have spyware," they say, with a sneer on their faces as if I were a doctor who told them they have herpes. Yes, you do. And you probably got it from Facebook, MySpace, or one of those free applications you installed without reading the terms or conditions first. I know, I know, you use facebook all the time, and you've never had any trouble. Yes, I realize you paid for Limewire, but you didn't pay for the music you're "sharing," and you're oblivious to the other things you're sharing along with it. You don't have to take my word for it; go to snopes.com, or just do a little google search. Heck, it's even been on the network news. "But I have Norton (or McAfee, or whatever)! Shouldn't that protect me," you may be asking. NO. Why? Well, because you don't necessarily have a virus, what you have is a piece of malware that you yourself allowed on to your computer. Yes, you clicked on something. It may have been a hyperlink in an e-mail, a website you visited may have claimed you needed to download something in order to view the content, or maybe you saw a popup and tried to close it. Often, when you think you're clicking "cancel," or something to that effect, it actually starts a silent download, installing itself as a browser helper object (like your google toolbar), and since it's user-initiated, your antivirus software is instructed to ignore it. Something to remember- if you ever see a warning in your system tray or from anything other than the antivirus software you installed, it is bogus. Windows won't ever tell you you're infected. It doesn't care. I have witnessed these popups on legitimate, well-respected websites, too, so don't imagine that just because you are at http://www.nytimes.com/ that you are immune. The people who are responsible for these threats are very good at what they do, and the popups can be very deceptive, often mimicking the Windows Security Center or a known antivirus program. You should also be careful whom you decide to accept friend invitations from. There are "booby trapped" myspace profiles, and that message in your e-mail from the hot guy or girl you don't recognize that found you through the "friendfinder" is phony. I could go on for hours, and I could cite different sources, but the information is out there for you to find if you still don't believe me, so now I'll just tell you what you really need to know. The number one cause of spyware infection is user behavior and web surfing patterns. Don't click on stuff that looks suspicious or offers you free solutions for problems you don't have. Don't try to download or watch movies illegaly. Don't go looking for crackz or warez or try to find ways around paying for software and games. Avoid pornography-trust me, a subscription to Penthouse is way cheaper than a computer repair bill. If you use Limewire, Morpheus, Frostwire, or any thing like them, uninstall them. You are sharing more than you know- do we really need to have the "safe sex" talk here? Finally, read the terms and conditions and ask yourself: if this is such an awesome product, why are they giving it to me? Now, since you do all of the above and haven't had a problem yet, I know you don't believe me...but when you do get infected, I recommend this website http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ Follow the instructions to the letter, and you'll be back in business. Happy surfing!

The picture used is of "The Spy" from VALVe's "TeamFortress 2"