Pardon the belated nature of this, but it is an appropriate foreword to my next thread: We're a movin' on up, (We're a movin on up.) To the east side. (Mo-vin on up.) To a de-luxe apartment, In the sky-. Mo-vin' on up (Mo-vin on up.) To the east side, (Mo-vin on up.) We finally got a big fat bribe Put that cash in the kitchen I'll cast my vote for your bill It just takes a couple Banjamins to get my vote on the hill Now we're up in the big leagues, Get...
My fantasy baseball team is not doing too well this year. In fact, it is downright sucking. To begin with, I made the error of releasing Ken Griffey, Jr. too early, anticipating his stay on the DL to approximate previous stays. I tried to pick him back up off of waivers, but was beat out by someone else. I have a decent core for a team, though. It's just getting them to all click at the same time that is the problem. But that may all be about to change. For the season thus far, I have k...
Link In the latest attempt to create a nanny state, the FDA is looking to enlist restaurant owners in their attempts to reduce portion sizes to combat obesity. Not only does this overlook personal freedom issues, it will effectively do nothing, as all it will do is cause customers to spend mroe to overeat. I said some time ago that I envision a future where individuals are arrested for public gluttony, and where parents have children removed from their homes because they smoke in the ho...
Unfortunately, due to the blacklisting, I'm forced to reply to a question asked of me through my own blog. I will do so. Here is the text of the question: You are having a heated argument with an acquaintance, a disagreement of sorts, suddenly party A says "hey you hurt my feelings" Party B' Says no I did not! I always thought it was up to the party that had his feelings hurt to decide if they were hurt or not. How can anyone say "I did not hurt your feelings" when Party A made it ...
On a message board I frequent, a new user came to the board to promote a rally he is trying to organize in DC. When others tried to offer advice, he chastised their advice and ridiculed them for doing nothing. But in his posts, he slipped up a bit. Seems he claimed to be the sole media representative for the Free State Project, an organization with which I have been involved for about three years (I am not a member, as I had opted out of New Hampshire before we voted for our state, and have n...
Discussion is a good thing. In a democracy, in fact, I would argue it is essential. Without discussion, laws don't get changed and injustices are never remedied. Government agents that abuse their power are essentially given unlimited authority if there is nobody present to debate the validity of their actions. But discussion doesn't take place if you exclude valid points from the debate. Just as American voters never get a true look at their choices because of the fact that many candidates a...
One JU blogger, in a recent article, referred to the Constitution as "just a piece of paper" in order to defend the government's right to apprehend criminals by any means necessary. Sad that anyone in this country truly thinks that. See, our government was intended to be a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people". That is a concept repeatedly reiterated by our founding fathers, and by standardbearers for democracy since that time. Because of that, the government only...
Link Seems gas prices aren't the only thing that's up. According to yahoo! News, many gas station cashiers across the country have been yelled at and harassed by angry drivers fed up over the increasing gas prices. In their attempt to condense everything, they've labelled it "gas rage". Which, of course, FORCES the comment that I thought that only happened when you couldn't release the pressure after a chil cookoff! But I digress...
Over the past several months, I have to say my free time has been in remarkably short supply. In a little over a month, my free time will once again be in short supply, this time all the way through the November elections. So I decided to take advantage of the lull to try to get some of my paralegal coursework out of the way. I am proud to say that I maintained my high academic standards-- 95 on one test, 100 on the other (my average is now about 97). I also found some excellent resources in ...
I love Paris Hilton. Since Michael Jackson moved to Bahrain, she has filled a much needed void by adding herself to the list of celebrities that we don't even need to TRY to make fun of because they're such EASY targets. Link The reality show star/actress/heiress is adding "professional singer" to her list as she prepares to release an album that she describes as a mix of "reggae, pop, and hiphop". Somehow, her "street cred" seems to be seriously lacking in two of the three categories. ...
All of my life, I have been involved in politics. From those days back in the 1980s when I sat in a church basement penning letters to Amnesty International, to this day when I find myself "becoming" a statesman and an activist, I have always had an interest in the principles that guide this country. I was intrigued at the age of 6 with the concept that "anyone can grow up to be President", and while I'm too jaded to believe this to be true anymore, I am nonetheless entranced by the fact that th...
Once again, I've appropriated the title of a schlocky country song about a cheating heart to title an article that is completely and totally unrelated. But I had to give propr to the song, whose title I so shamelessly stole (can't remember the name of the singer; furthermore, don't care). As our soldiers are out fighting overseas, we should be proud. Whether the conflict is right or wrong should not affect our pride in our soldiers; they've rightfully left it to their commanders to analyze th...
Link When Sgt. Patrick Stewart's country called, he answered. In 1989, after graduating high school, he served his time in the army, then joined the Nevada Army National Guard in 2005. He fought in Afghanistan, and is among the casualties of that conflict. All Stewart's family wants to commemorate his passing is a symbol of his faith. While Jews are allowed such with the Star of David, Christians allowed such with the cross, and Muslims allowed such with the crescent, Stewart's grave wi...
Link In a follow up to his Central Park "art display" that attracted nightly ridicule on "David Letterman", self described "artist" Christo and his wife intend to wrap the Arkansas River in Canon City, Colorado. As an avid hiker and conservationist, to say I am appalled would be an understatement. I think we've so trivialized the word "art" as to make it almost meaningless, but more to the point, what Christo is proposing is essentially tampering with the ultimate art, that of the Great...
Let's assume I put together an article discussing the plight of the inner city minorities. Along the way, i peppered it with words like "thugs", "criminals", "trash", and in the context of the conversation made it clear that the majority of these individuals in these particular neighborhoods were minorities. Racist, right? Nope, calling them as I see them. Walk by Cabrini Green sometime (if you dare) and do a brief racial survey of the occupants there. You will find very few whites there; in ...