This Ain’t No CNN.

Limits.

I have been listening to the debates about raising the debt ceiling. I’m finding the various political commentators, with their differing point of views, to be quite interesting. I listen a little to the left, a little to the right. I’m surprised that it’s hard to find commentators that are traveling down the middle. Polarization of the people will do that.

There are a few things that I don’t completely understand about the debt ceiling limit and what will happen if it isn’t raised on August 2. If someone would care to enlighten me I would be thankful.

1. Why aren’t we controlling our spending more so that we don’t have to borrow as much money? There is a LOT of frivolous spending in progress within the government. Why aren’t people looking at these things? For example, in 2005 a bill was passed by Congress for the mints to start printing dollar coins to commemorate each President. A certain number of dollar coins must be made for each President, and they can only be made to commemorate those Presidents that have passed on. The law was written so that they can’t stop printing these commemorative dollar coins until all of the presidents have been commemorated. In addition, the Sacajawea dollar coin must be printed in a ratio of 1 to 4, for every four presidential coins printed, one Sacajawea dollar must be printed.

Have you used a dollar coin in the United States today? I didn’t think so. Yet, the U.S. mint still prints millions of these on an annual basis because Congress passed a law in 2005. They sit in bags in vaults in various secret places in the country, unused and unneeded. The amount of money used printing these coins, storing these coins, etc. is a waste, not to mention the actual value behind the coins.

2. I keep hearing that all of these domestic programs (social security, veterans’ benefits, etc) are going to be cut if the debt ceiling isn’t raised. Why aren’t we talking about cutting war efforts or even cutting foreign aid? Why are we cutting domestic programs first. Shouldn’t we worry about the citizens close to home? If we are forced to pick and choose, shouldn’t we pick and choose the ones that DON’T contribute to the country before cutting from our own citizens? Where is our sense of priorities?

3. I am not a fan of welfare. I am very offended by the fact that people are actually saying it is unconstitutional for welfare recipients to be drug tested by the government, after all, I can be subject to a random drug test at any time at my job and I had to take a drug test to get the job in the first place. I’m sorry, but I believe that if you don’t contribute to the system, you don’t benefit from the system, plain and simple. These people that live off of Welfare for one, two, three or more years should be cut off from their funds and forced to grow a garden and find a way for themselves. Our lack of natural selection/the natural thinning of the herd through these things have overtaxed our resources in ways that we can’t even begin to comprehend. Call me cold, call me callous, but if you don’t put in, you don’t get anything out. And don’t attack me about retirees and the like, they’ve earned their place and their benefits. I’m referring to 25 year old baby machines that enjoy junk food on a check from the government that has been funded by our tax dollars. Here’s a cute story: when I was a baby computer maintenance guy I was hired to show a computer user how to dismantle, remove and then reinstall their high-end computer system of the time because they needed to hide it from the state inspectors when they were being inspected for welfare eligibility. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Being lazy does not equal being disabled.

4. If I were to go to the Apple store to make a purchase and my credit card was declined, I was be forced to not buy whatever doo-dad I was trying to buy. I could ask for an increase in my credit limit, I suppose, but if that was denied, I would have to stop spending and reprioritize my budget. As I have mentioned elsewhere in this post, we need to get our spending under control. Scare tactics of making grandma hungry because we can’t give her her hard-earned check are unnecessary.

5. And last, but not least, has anyone ever considered a flat tax across the board for all Americans? I don’t care if it’s an income tax or a consumption tax, but eliminate every deduction, every loophole, every piece of legislative bullshit from the tax code. You earn a dollar? 23% of that goes to the government. You earn one billion dollars? 23% of that goes to the government. If you have a social security number, you pay. I don’t care if you’re married, single, swinging from a chandelier, rich, poor and nasty and maladjusted. A flat tax across the board would eliminate a lot of this bullshit and the screams of “it’s not fair!” If you have a tax ID, you pay. Plain and simple. And, this is where Earl and I disagree, by the way, I don’t think that folks with kids should get a tax deduction based on the number of children they have. People are pumping out babies and taxing the system/resources all in an effort to lower their tax responsibilities. This has got to stop. Yes, we need to fund education so that we can perpetuate the species responsibly, but penalizing those that don’t have kids by making them pay more in taxes is just not fair.

I think I’ve reached my rant limit for my lunch hour.

– Posted from my iPad with BlogPress

Exhibit A.


Exhibit A
Meredith Attwell Baker, Typical Government Corporate Employee.


This woman is Exhibit “A” as to what is wrong with the direction of the United States of America. This is Meredith Attwell Baker. She is one of the five commissioners on the Federal Communications Commission that approved one of the largest corporate mergers in history, the merger of Comcast and NBC.

Ms. Baker just accepted a job with Comcast as the senior vice president of government affairs. So on the taxpayers dime, she basically helped create one of the largest media conglomerates so she would have nice, cushy job to fall into.

Nah, there’s no conflict of interest there at all. None. Nada. And if there was, you’re not suppose to notice. Just keep lapping up what these big media corporations tell you and everything will be just fine.

It’s all plusgood.

Thank You.

Thank you to the men and women in the military, to their families and to the families of the victims of 9/11 and the wars that have ensued since.

A historic night. God Bless America.

Lunch.

Back when I was young and full of energy I worked for a couple of agencies that worked with the developmentally disabled. I worked in group home and assisted living facilities. It was a job that I liked, though I knew that I wasn’t destined to do it forever, and it was a job that pulled on my heart strings and helped me grow in ways I wouldn’t have otherwise found. I learned a lot about the human equation during those years.

One of the daily chores that I would help the folks1 complete was the assembly of their lunches for the next day. These folks, regardless of their age, brown bagged it to the various day treatment or workshop programs they attended during “business hours”. Each of the folks was responsible for making his or her own lunch and as a residence counselor or manager I assisted with the process. My assistance was dependent on the skill set of the individual. Some folks needed help manipulating a knife to spread mustard, others needed to be shown the difference between ham glaze and strawberry jam and yet others had no concept of lunch at all and just knew that whatever came out of the brown bag made them happy. Others could assemble the lunch on their own, they just needed some guidance as to what would be healthy and what probably wouldn’t be a good choice. After a year of addressing and guiding healthy choices with one particular woman, she found a great deal of pride in gaining the skill to assemble a healthy lunch on her own, based on what she had been taught.

A Chicago Area School has banned students from bringing in lunches from home. The students must eat what is served from the cafeteria or else go hungry. Principal Elsa Carmona said that the food coming from home wasn’t nutritious enough so she banned brown bagging it.

So, if a mother wants to make a homemade meal for her child, she can’t. Her kid must eat the processed crap that school cafeterias serve these days. I have been behind the scenes in a school cafeteria. Pork comes in tubes with so much fat that you can pour the pork out of the tube. Hot dogs are a routine staple, French fries are a necessity and there’s always plenty of cookies around.

Not exactly a healthy offering, is it Elsa?

When I first read this article this morning I was became angry, because here we have another example of someone sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong and trying to dictate to others how they should live their life. I’m sorry but the school is not there to be a nanny or to babysit. A school is there to educate, and they are completely missing the mark because they are taking away the responsibility of the parent to teach their kid how to make healthy meal choices. I don’t understand why there isn’t more outrage about this.

There is a cynical side of me that thinks that this has to do with government reimbursements for the cafeteria — a sure way to help the school budget. But I won’t go down that road because it could just be me being cynical. However, I won’t buy one word of the principal’s claims that she is trying to help the students eat healthier until:

  • anything that can be found in a Happy Meal or at a hot dog stand is left off the menu
  • all microwaves are removed from the kitchen
  • all items containing high fructose corn syrup, preservatives or artificial sweeteners is removed from the premises.
  • I have written Ms. Carmona an email expressing my feelings on the subject, after trying to call her but finding all circuits busy (I guess she’s popular today). I’m interested in seeing her response.

    1 The people I worked with at the homes were just folks. We didn’t call them residents. Chautauqua County had a habit of calling them “the guys”, regardless of sex and Oneida County called then “the folks”. I liked “folks” a lot.

Speech.

Okay, I have to admit that this is kind of bothering me. Last night (or afternoon, depending on where you were), President Obama made a speech to the American people regarding Libya. Now, I will admit right here that I chose to be a bad American because I didn’t watch the speech. Personally, I would prefer to read the transcript, which I will do after I finish this blog entry, because I get distracted by his glancing at the teleprompter and his habit of scanning back and forth kind of like a robot. Now, I don’t think that he’s a bad speaker nor do I think he shouldn’t use a teleprompter, I just find it distracting and that’s my thing.

Obviously, when the President deems something important enough to address the nation, we should pay attention and see what he has to say, no matter what we think of politics. That’s part of being a good American. What struck me very odd about this speech was that it was televised at 1930 (7:30 p.m.) EDT. That means it was at 4:30 p.m. on the west coast and even earlier in Alaska and Hawaii.

That’s weird to me. Speeches of this nature usually take place at 9:00 p.m. eastern. So I decided to take a look around to see why the odd time slot and lo and behold, ABC was going to pass on the speech if it was broadcast at the usual later time. This was because it would have pre-emptied “Dancing With The Stars”.

Oh. My. (insert favorite deity here).

Has the American people really become so ridiculous in their mindset that it is more important to see Charo do the cha-cha for a score of 19 or so instead of hearing about the game plan of we are doing to address a very volatile situation in the Middle East? My god, I am ashamed of my fellow citizens if the ad revenue and ratings of “Dancing With The Stars” trumps the importance of sending our troops to this dangerous situation.

Yes, I made the choice to read the speech instead of watching it, but I can tell you that if it had been broadcast at 4:30 p.m. Eastern I wouldn’t have been to watch it even if I wanted to because I would have still been at work.

The FCC requires that those who hold a broadcast license must do so in the best interest of the public. That’s why you hear a smattering of public service announcements at 3:00 a.m. when you’re trying to build a hangover, no one wants to hear about starving people during their lunch hour. This is how broadcasters skirt around the public service requirement. We used to call it “lunar rotation”.

Shame on ABC for their lack of priorities, corporate greed and general asshattery. Shame on the White House for bowing to that sort of thing and playing ‘second fiddle’. And shame on the American people for their superficiality by even allowing ABC to make this a priority.

Here is the transcript of last night’s speech. If you missed the televised version last night, this is your chance to read it.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Japan.

I am very saddened, but somewhat fascinated, by the tragedies in Japan. I am finding the US news outlets to be somewhat contradictory in their assessment of what’s going on over there so I’m following various sources on the Internet and from news outlets from abroad.

The part that fascinates me is the stories of hope. This morning I read that a man was found sitting on the roof of his house after the tsunami hit. The interesting aspect of this was that the man and his roof were 10 miles off the coast in the Pacific. Apparently he had survived the crushing waves and had drifted out there.

That gives me hope.

Watching video clips of the tsunami wiping out entire villages or hearing stories about how there are entire trains missing is very disheartening. Reading that nuclear power plants are thisclose to meltdown is scary. But the stories of hope and survival give us a moment of triumph in a horrible, unimaginable situation. I can’t imagine what folks are going through. I hope I never find out first hand.

In this day and age it’s rather fascinating to see how easy it is to donate to help those in Japan that need our assistance. Sending the message redcross to 90999 let’s you make a $10 donation charged to your cell phone bill. That’s kind of cool.

I wish I had the resources to go over and help. Instead, I hope the universe shares my thoughts and prayers with those that need them.

Wow.

My thoughts and prayers go to the people of Japan as they deal with this latest blow from the Universe. The earth is such a magnificent and awesome living thing that can be so fragile at the same time. The earthquakes seem to be getting more frequent and more fierce; whatever you think about 2012, it does give one pause for a moment.

During my commute this morning I wanted to catch the latest news. *NPR’s coverage was lacking, in my opinion, so I started spinning around the dial and finally switched over to AM where I found a strong signal with non-stop earthquake coverage. The talk station is rather conservative, but it never hurts to hear all points of view and quite frankly, I felt that the earthquake news was beyond politics anyways. The female anchor was almost giddy when she announced they would be going commercial free to bring the latest news on the disaster. News people get happy about this sort of thing, and I get that, the rush of diving into a big project at work. I think some people lose sight of that when it comes to news.

I sent a message to my sister prompting her to get a hold of her friend in Hawaii to let them know what was happening as Hawaiians were probably sleeping and some might sleep through the tsunami sirens. Hopefully everyone involved is safe and sound.

The station was still on in the car when I left for lunch so I listened to the rantings of the substitute host for Glenn Beck. As I said earlier, it never hurts to hear all viewpoints. That’s the only true way you can formulate your own intelligent opinion. A very smart man reminds me of this from time to time.

NPR has been a little weird for me lately. Pledge drives, public money pleas and departing executives all get on my nerves.

The National Anthem.

So Christina Aguilera sang the National Anthem for the Superbowl this year. You may have heard that she messed up the words. She did.

I’m offended by her performance.

I believe that if you are fortunate enough to have the honor of singing the National Anthem live before an audience, the first thing you need to remember is that this is not your moment. This moment belongs to the country that all Americans love and you have a duty to lead a tribute to that which we hold dear.

The melody should not be screwed with. The word ‘brave’ does not have a dozen syllables with a wild assortment of notes. One of the most dignified performances I have ever encountered was done by the Dixie Chicks, where they performed the song in three part harmony. The tempo was normal and the blending of their voices was awe inspiring. They lent their voice as the song held it’s own.

The National Anthem is not a ballad. It is derived from a relatively lively old English drinking song, if memory serves it has something to do with “Anacron” or “Ananacron”. It’s not a slow number. Don’t make it something it isn’t.

Quite frankly, every American should know the words to the National Anthem, just as we know the Pledge of Allegiance or the way Christians know the Lord’s Prayer*. It should be a given that you know the words. Michael Bolton shouldn’t need a crib sheet and Christina Aguilera shouldn’t do an abridged version.

Don’t hassle me about whether I can do better. I don’t know if it can be compared but I have sung the National Anthem at two hockey games; my performance at one of the games was punctuated by fireworks being blasted over my head in the indoor arena as I sang the last note. I didn’t make the song my own, I used my talent to pay tribute to my country.

I was offended by Christina saying “thank you” at the end of her performance. Not because she was terrible, but because the performance shouldn’t have been about her, it was about the United States.

For the love of all that is decent, please stop destroying the National Anthem with your own interpretations. Lead the crowd in a song that everyone can participate in. *That’s* why you’ve been chosen to sing at the event.

Be proud, be humble and show some love for your country.

* I admit that I still have to sing the Lord’s Prayer in my head when it’s time to sing it.

Update 07 Feb 11 08:13: Reading through comments on various sites, I see that others share my opinions. I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older or if I just have specific expectations of paying tribute through the National Anthem, but others share my feelings. Here are two comments from The Washington Post editorial section:

Note to Roger Goodell (and his colleagues):

The National Anthem is NOT as damned lounge act in a third rate Vegas hotel.

Next Super Bowl (or World Series, or Final Four, or whetever,) get a band from any of the service academies, play the song with dignity, and listen to it being sung by 100,000 people…who know the damned words!

If you don’t know what a rampart is, go back to the 4th grade.

Sid Prejean
LtCol, USAF, Retired

Posted by: sidprejean | February 6, 2011 10:29 PM | Report abuse

I dislike every rendition of the national anthem by singers focused on their own performance rather than respect for the nation, it’s people, and the anthem. There are many groups, military, collegiate, etc. Who will sing the anthem properly. We do not need to listen to mediocre singers, changing the rythmn or the melody (often because they are unable to reach the high notes or keep time), trying to be “cute.” I am offended by self-serving butchering of the anthem. Can we please stop choosing “pop” performers who can’t sing.

Posted by: Eagle-Ed | February 6, 2011 10:33 PM | Report abuse

Lawless.

New York State has a new law going into effective on February 22. This law has to do with young drivers; beginning on that date a “junior license” (for those between the ages of 16-18) will require that only one non-family member under the age of 21 will be allowed to ride in the vehicle with the driver if not accompanied by a parent or guardian. I believe that law also calls for the new driver to have a permit for six months before getting a license. So if you want to take your friends to the movies to celebrate that you got your license that day, you can’t. It will be illegal.

This issue doesn’t affect me in any way. But this new law still makes me angry. I think it’s wasted legislation, which is the result of wasted tax money and time that was used in dreaming up this new law.

Here’s the thing. First of all, I don’t know how any cop is going to be able to determine the age of all passengers, let alone the fact of whether they are related or not, when he or she spots a car passing him at 55 MPH. And how are you going to prove if they are related? There’s halves, steps, adopted and many other ways to be related. Are they going to give a blood test right there on the shoulder of the ride to determine if everyone has matching DNA? What if a young couple is double dating with another and going to the movies on a Saturday afternoon? None of them are related. If this is just a law that is going to be applied as an additional offense to something else, then don’t waste my time and just admit that you don’t give a flip about the safety of the passengers, you just want their money. When do we reach the point that because of the saturation of legislation that the people just say fuck it and no longer care if something is “against the law” or not?

Then we have the “must wait six months before getting a license” aspect of it. This is clearly legislation based on downstate ideals again. There are many young drivers upstate that have a pretty good idea of how to use a motor vehicle and are chomping at the bit to turn age 16 so they can drive legally. I was driving my father’s truck, my mother’s car, a tractor, a forklift and a dump truck (but not all at the same time!) all over family owned property (and other places) starting around age 13. Yes, I waited eight months to get my license at the insistence of my mother who wisely decreed that I would have to drive through the winter on my permit before getting my license. But that was a determination that my parents made, not the law. And that was the right way to approach the subject. My parents did the parenting! Not the State of New York.

Not to sound too overly morbid or insensitive, but all of these laws designed to coddle and control the people are preventing the natural order of thinning of the herd. It’s a fake safety blanket to make people feel better and of course it also generates voter support and revenue.

Don’t waste my time, don’t waste my money and sure as shit don’t try to control me.

Display.

I’m going to preface this blog entry with two points. 1. I am writing about adult themes in this entry so it probably shouldn’t be viewed by someone that would not be considered an adult and 2. I am completely aware of where I am writing in this entry, the content and it’s visibility.

Update: I knew I would add to this after the fact, there is an addition to this original entry at the bottom. -J.P. 24/11/09 1456 EST

As you may have heard, American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert performed the final number at the American Music Awards. This was Adam’s chance to debut the first single from his new album. I believe the title of the song is “For Your Entertainment”.

Here is a screencap from the performance, courtesy of National Examiner.

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Adam’s performance was, to put it mildly, sexually suggestive. No disrespect to inflated breasts but this performance sexually blew Janet Jackson’ wardrobe malfunction out of the water for a couple of reasons: he french kissed a male guitar player, he had a submissively clothed man simulate oral sex on him and he dragged a scantily clad woman across the stage like a bag of so many potatoes. And that was just a few of the highlights. The performance seemed a little clunky in execution but the vibe was very hot and steamy.

The vocals and the song were both ‘meh’. If it weren’t for the controversy around this performance no one would still be talking about it.

My thoughts on this stunt, and I do firmly believe that despite reports to the contrary this smacks squarely of a publicity stunt, are all over the page.

First of all, I believe that many of the issues we find in American society are because people are downright terrified of their sexuality and because of this, we have put so many taboos on the subject that everyone is afraid to do what truly turns them on. Whether this was a publicity stunt or not, Adam was expressing himself artistically and freely. I totally get that and I identify with that. There is something quite freeing about walking down a foreign city street on a hot summer night in a pair of assless chaps, a jock strap, a leather vest and a pair of military boots. However, time and place are the key here. And this is where I have a problem with Adam’s performance.

The American Music Awards are primarily a family program. This is where the younger generation gets to see awards given to their favorite artists. This is where they see live performances of what they are listening to through their headphones. Whether they are a good influence or not, today’s artists are definitely influences on the younger folks. What they see and hear get integrated into their life experience either consciously or subconsciously. While I don’t have an issue with Adam’s performance per se, I don’t think that a nationally televised award show airing before 11 p.m. (10 p.m. Central!) was the right venue for it. Where Janet Jackson’s boob was a wardrobe malfunction, there was no mistaking what was going on during this performance.

I get the artistic expression. I get the overt sexuality. I don’t have an issue with that. I have an issue with the time and place. One has to wonder if Adam really likes to get his groove on in this manner. I hate the thought of sexuality being used in a non-genuine manner for the sole purpose of publicizing something. Back in the early 90s, I truly believed that Madonna was expressing herself in a genuine way.

One of the unfortunate aspects of this controversy is that some are saying this sets the gay civil rights movement back a notch or two. I don’t believe that to be the case and quite honestly I think the ones that are saying that from our team are the ones that are desperately trying to prove that gay and lesbian couples are no different than their heterosexual married counterparts. And for many people, that is most certainly the case. But just as their are kinky heterosexual folks out there, there are most certainly kinky gay folks as well with varying degrees of ingenuity all the while across all types of people. I know straight married couple that only played in three ways, I know another that would send their kids to the sitters so they could tie each other to the bed and play with whips. If simulating the forcing of a young man onto his crotch gets Adam going then I think that it’s great to find a way for everyone to be fulfilled, but demonstrating this on the stage at the American Music Awards is not the right place to do this.

It’s no secret that there are festivals, fairs and parades all over the world celebrating sexual exploration. I think these are great things and I have even attended my share of these events over the years but like my feelings on Adam’s performance, I have an issue when these things include family-friendly stuff such as circus-like fire shows, face painting and ice cream. While I believe that parents should be open and honest about sexuality with their children as they ask questions and such, I don’t believe that it should be thrusted (no pun intended) into the face of youngsters without an opportunity for their parents or guardians to step in and decide whether the particular activity/scene/etc is right for their kid. Just as I don’t believe that a kid should see me walking through a hotel lobby in the aforementioned assless chaps. There is a time and a place for all of that stuff and I firmly believe that it’s not always the time nor is it always the place.

We are all different. I know that. I knew I was different in kindergarten when I wanted to tell a young classmate that I wanted to marry him by trapping him under a wood slatted rocker/see-saw thing. I understand that most people are wired to be monogamous. I get that some are wired to only insert pole A into slot B and go no further than that in sexual adventure. And I certainly get that some don’t consider a sexual encounter complete unless there is meters of rope, the rattle of chains and a spinning ceiling fan. I get all that. And this diversity should be celebrated. Again, it’s just a matter of timing and placement.

Do I think the gay rights movement was damaged overall. I don’t. Those opposed to equal rights or pushing the hate and fear button are going to latch onto anything they can get their grubby little paws on, and while I think Adam provided them with a week or two of water cooler chatter, I don’t think it’s going to do any long-term damage. People are who they are and they’ll do what they do.

I just wish it would have taken place at more adult-oriented venue.

Update: One of the things that I want to be clear about is that I have no issue with Adam doing a man-on-man kiss during his performance. It was a bit forceful and had a bit of a crazed thing going on but the actual kiss itself wasn’t R rated. Distasteful? A bit but hardly offensive in my eyes. It was the other adult stuff going on that I was commenting on.