Slacktivism

I just stumbled upon this word yesterday, and I have been stewing over it ever since. It's a perfect representation of what our country has become. No more hard working american people, now it's the get rich quick, easy way, grow fat, collect welfare, hand me everything on a silver freaking platter. No one wants to take action any more, or worse, responsibility. So now, the people with the power are the power hungry bureaucrats and politicians, the CEO's and Movie stars. In short, America has let the people who know the least about anything relevant, run things. People want to complain about the way things are, but it's their fault things have gotten this far. Representatives in this day and age should be representing the people. That is the people's area of power. It's understandable that in the past we couldn't do this. But this is the 21st century. We can get tweets from Athletes, but not from a representative who is going to vote on a bill? I don't give a crap about his personal preference either. He should vote the way the people in his district want him to vote. In the past, you had to pick a person that could represent you and hope for the best, but that was then. This is now! Let's see some actual progress. Which brings me to my second gripe. The second amendment. I am not a gun nut. I don't own a gun. It's probably better for everyone that I don't. The point is, under the constitution we can. No licensing, no 2 week waiting. Nothing. The purpose of this isn't so that crime will increase or decrease. forget all that for a second. The reason is so that the Government will be afraid of it's people, and not the other way around. Our rights are systematically being stripped away. Excuses are made and given, and each incremental loss is accepted. There has been crime since as far back as recorded history. There will be crime until the end of time. You can't stop crime, criminals or terrorists by stripping freedoms. All you do is rob people of their Liberties. We are in this position because Americans as a whole are unwilling to act. Unwilling to get their hands dirty or bloody or whatever is required for that to change. If people on 9-11 had all jumped up and rushed the hijackers, 9-11 would not have happened. Yes, lives would have been lost. Those planes may have still crashed, but not at the cost of thousands of lives that we saw. Instead, Americans did what Americans do. Sit and wait for someone else to fight the fight. I say, let me take a knife on a freaking plane. If you try and hijack it, I will take you down. Instead, now people in Airports get molested and their privacy violated so that people can feel safer. You really think that is going to stop anything? Really? Ever heard the expression "locks only keep out honest people"? Well, it's true. If people want to commit these atrocious acts, they will find a way. You can kill a person with a rock for goodness sakes. I would rather face that situation armed and ready than disarmed and violated. I don't hold much to Machiavelli's quotes, but I agree on this one:
Before all else, be armed.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Americans have got to stop blaming the government for the current situation and start blaming themselves. Stop just voting, find out what is really going on in your government and do something. I don't mean watch the news. I mean, actually look up what bills are coming up and see what they really mean. If something seems off to you, write a letter and complain. Don't e-mail. Don't call. Get up off your but and put a letter in the freaking mailbox. They ignore those things, just like you do when telemarketers call, or you get e-mails from people you don't know. with mail, you have to open it. It's a federal offence if they say they read something and never opened it. Use the system. Be smart. If you feel bad about killing trees to mail letters, go plant trees. Work requires more work. But get up and do it.

The Worst of the best...

So to start things off, I'm going right to my least favorite President. The one that did more to ruin the office and the country long term. As I am sure most of you guessed...
It's FDR!!!
I know most people are probably kind of surprised I would choose the president that "single handedly" pulled us out of the great depression. But to me, the new deal wasn't such a great deal, he ran for 4 terms, so he didn't know when to quit (finally dying in office) Which set a dangerous precedent for all politicians (TERM LIMITS PEOPLE!!!) and my worst thing that he did was take us off the Gold standard. While it solved his immediate problems, it fixed nothing long term. One of the reasons we now face economic trouble (and trust me, things aren't as good as you even think)Is because our dollar has no real backing. Taking us off the gold standard has caused so many other problems, I really don't think I could write them all down in one sitting and explain them all. For one thing, The US got out of the great depression because of jobs created by the second world war. The removal of the Gold standard just made people feel like they had more money then they actually did, and this trend continues today with the increases to the minimum wage. increasing minimum wage means nothing because the dollar isn't tied to anything, so temporarily it seems like your dollar is going farther, but the net result is you have made no more money. The other problem was the stock market. It sucked then, and it sucked now. FDR should have let it die, But for some reason, he helped it grow and become stable. Since shares aren't tied to anything (since the dollar isn't) this creates unnecessary fluctuation. All the stock market does is keep the rich, rich, and the poor hopeful, since once in a blue moon, someone gets lucky and hits a payday. All the economic problems that we face now went through his administration and were largely helped along by his short sightedness. Great politician, Crappy president. Also, unfortunately, the model for most politicians today it seems.

And The Winner is...

With all these elections going one. I have come to a conclusion. Politicians are winning, and the constituents are losing. Democrats, Republicans, even Independents. Americas Government was a great thing when it took days for a letter to cross the country by pony express or train. You chose someone that you felt would represent you, and hoped for the best. People became career politicians because moving back and forth across the country was a big deal, so once they lived in WA, just let them stay there. But haven't grown out of all that? Can't we as Americans put on our big boy pants (or girl pans as the case may be). Americans have gotten lazy. when things go bad, we blame the democrats, or the republicans or whatever ethnic group it's popular to blame. But this is american. land of opportunity and Equality. Last time I checked, the Declaration of Independence says :That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Now why doesn't that scare politicians more? In this day and age, why are we using an outdated system. we have the internet for goodness sakes people. you can buy a pack of gum on one side of the earth and your spouse can check you bank account and see it on the other side of the earth. Why can't The people make these decisions?
Well, those answers are easy:
1) Politicians would not have power, and they would probably get sad, drunk and accidentally drive off of a bridge killing some poor hooker/girlfriend.
2)Lobbyists would be out of a job. You would either have to pay everyone in america, or well, there is no other option. Good bye lobbyists. Don't let the door smack you on the way out. I hear McDonald's is hiring.
3)(The only one that really matters) Some special interest groups would take a hit. But realistically? which ones? and how important are they? I find it hard to believe everyone would axe funding for autism research or cancer cures. too many people are affected by these. The whole gay agenda might take a ding, but I can live with that. Same with the people that want to let their kids sacrifice chickens in the lunch room (Ok, made that last one up to make a point). Point is, the Majority would be ok with the majority of the decisions, and like it or leave it, there you would have it. People couldn't just sit on the fence. They would have to give a crap and be active. And that is what this country really needs is for people to quit expecting other people to do everything for them and take some stinking initiative! More to follow, that is enough for now.

When the system is broken...

So what do you do when the system is broken? especially when you need that system to get what you need? It's like saying your cars engine is busted and you need to drive it to get it fixed. fortunately, we have tow trucks. But what is my tow truck? What then? I feel like it's trial for the murder of Julius Caesar and Cimber Brutus Casca and Cassius have been selected for the jury. "On the count of murder in the first degree, we the accused find ourselves not guilty" No kidding, really? What a shock. How does that work? How can anyone "self adjudicate"?

Knock Knock!

No, don't worry. This isn't one of Squidget's knock knock jokes. For any of you who have ever had a kid, you probably know what a I mean. it's that phase where kids become obsessed with knock knock jokes, Which is odd, because They have NO CLUE what is so funny about them, or how to tell them. My daughters knock knock jokes consist of combining 2 random items that are in the room. Squidget:"Knock knock"
Me:"Who's there?"
Squidget:"Lightbulb!"
Seriously? lightbulb? I know that when I ask "Lightbulb who?" The answer will be any other random item in the room, from the tale to my wife. The sad thing is, I have worked so hard to teach her actual knock knock jokes. But somehow I'm now way off target. The ORIGINAL purpose of this posting was, I really am curious as to who is actually reading this, and what you all like/dislike so far. So please, post a comment on here or facebook, so I can see who is actually following this(there is a little button you can click that says follow too, BTW)And for those of you who don't like football, well, There is ALWAYS going to be football posts thrown in there. Football is a rather big part of my life, especially the Steelers. I'll tell you all about it in another post. But for now, if you like something I'm talking about, let me know. I love to talk, but would rather talk about things people want to hear about! ALSO, if It's any consolation, I HATE my grammar mistakes. they drive me crazy. I try and check for them, but it's really hard for me to catch them all. So, please cut me some slack!

Football, Finally!

This isn't going to be long. But I had a thought, and so I thought I would share. First off, I am a huge Steelers fan. Having said that, I don't like to just blindly ignore other teams in the league. One team I think is getting a bum rap this season is the Browns. Now that they have beaten the Bengals (not sure how much of an achievement that is) maybe people will take them seriously. I want people to, because I want the Steelers to. I think there are going to be teams this season that don't and get surprised by them. I can't point to any one thing specifically, but they almost beat the Ravens, and they did beat the Bengals. Now I'm not going to say that they are going to win the AFC north, or even win a wild card spot, but I also think that the AFC north is the best group in the NFL. I think if the Browns or Bengals were in a different group, they would see the playoffs a lot more, and who knows what else. Which brings me to the REAL reason for this blog. Most people agree that Mangini probably isn't going to be around much longer. Holmgren wants to fix the Browns, and he's good at fixing. So a new coach is probably coming. If only the Browns could entice a quality coach to come to their team. But who would want to coach the Browns, that the Browns would want as a coach? Well, someone that has an interest in the team would be nice for starters. Maybe a former player. Any unemployed coaches like that out there? How about someone that knows the AFC North, better than almost any other coach. Yeah, that would be good. Super bowl credentials couldn't hurt. Anyone like that out there that has recently been discussed as coming out back to coaching? Oh yeah, Bill Cowher. This is honestly, my worst nightmare. I think if the Browns got Cowher, they would make the playoffs. Not this season of course, but next season. And hopefully Holmgren isn't thinking like me. Hopefully Cowher would never consider being in the Browns organization ever again. But if there is one coaching/player change that I would dread more than any other this off season, this has GOT to be it. What do you think?

So darn sick

I feel like I have everything right now. Cold flu fever the works. There's more, but at some point it becomes irrelevant.

Don't cheapen the Award...

So apparently, people with Traumatic Brain injuries from Iraq aren't deserving of Purple Hearts because they don't want to "cheapen the award" by giving it out to everyone that is wounded. While this is personally very aggravating, Think about this. Where does it end? does getting cut qualify? And isn't losing a limb much worse than a simply breaking an arm. heck, people get shot on the streets of America all the time. Should we give it out for that?
It is for precisely this reason that the wording for the purple heart is the way it is (http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r600_8_22.pdf) paragraph 2-8 if your interested.
" The Purple Heart differs from all other decorations in that an individual is not “recommended”
for the decoration; rather he or she is entitled to it upon meeting specific criteria. "
That is taken straight from the AR concerning Military awards.
So it isn't really up to bureaucrats to decide who gets it or not. If you meet the requirements, you get it. Yet people who meet the requirements, aren't. this makes no sense to me, but maybe it's because of my brain damage. The criteria aren't all that complicated, but of course, the powers that want to be make these things as muddled as they can. problem is, THEY AREN'T!
That is problem 1. That isn't my problem, yet. My problem is much worse than that. My problem is that the people who are responsible for writing the reports and helping me with this won't. Why, you ask? A good question. The reason is this. I didn't receive treatment for my condition for over a year after I was injured. I tried to get it but was denied it, repeatedly. I went to the building where it was supposed to be, and the place was always locked up tight. they, months before we were to leave Iraq, they packed up and left. Problem is, I wasn't even attached to my company any more. I had been sent to another unit because they didn't like dealing with me since I was having issues. Issues caused by my brain damage. Brain damage I wouldn't have had if they had kept me on post like they were asked to by my doctors before I was sent to Iraq. Helping me now would just incriminate them. So of course, they can't do that. Of course, since I was in the army, there is nothing I can do. These people are still in the service and still able to do this kind of thing to others. There is no recourse for justice at all. I understand chain of command and all. I have no issues with following orders, but at some point, those in power need to be called to account for their actions. There must be a way to see that justice is done here. I may not know what to do yet, but I won't stop trying. I will not quit until I have figured out what I can do. It might take a while, but it will happen. just you wait and see.

Evolution vs.... Enviromentalism?

That's right people. Think about it. Evolution states that creatures evolve and change based off the changes in their environment. Key word being Environment. Survival of the fittest and all that. The strongest creatures survive, the weaker creatures die. and In the end, Change. Creatures change to fill gaps in the food web and the week traits are eliminated. Sounds good on paper. Fact is, no one actually believes this stuff. (I know, you really think you still do.) Fact of the matter is, in spite what they want to say, there is no evidence of evolution. they have the finished process, but they don't ever find intermediate stages. So evolution is either:
A)Fast
B)Fraud

To be honest, I don't care which it is. I can't change the fact either way. Now, the problem that I have is Environmentalism. Not that taking care of the earth is bad. Not at all. I think that is what we are supposed to do. The problem I have is with Hubris. And ignorance, and the general idea that we want our cake, and we want to eat it too. We don't care about the environment. we care about ourselves. If evolution is true, humans and creatures would adapt, no matter what happened to the climate. heck, if the earth flooded, people would theoretically start growing gills. If the atmosphere turned to carbon monoxide, plants and trees would learn to breathe it. because, according to Evolution, everything started off as a simple one celled organism. one celled organisms supposedly came about in whatever this environment was. So, is the environment important, or is it the evolution that is? Would those creatures have come into being in ANY environment? or just a certain perfect mix? (in which case, so long aliens, but that is another story) According to evolution, whatever changes take place in our environment should be adapted and evolved to, and life should go one. Maybe not us, but some life would survive, and then diversify. But we don't want that. we want us to survive. We like us. The problem is, Us is stupid. We don't even really know what is good or bad for the environment. Oh, I know, scientist clam doing such and such will cause this or that effect. but they are all theorems. and not very good ones if you examine them with a skeptical eye. No offense to the hard working scientists, but until you can tell me if it's going to rain tomorrow, hold of on the "whole climate is going to change" prediction. Just since this whole "Climate change" thing started, it went from "Global warming" to "climate change". Originally, they said things were getting warmer. (They weren't) So now things are getting... Changier? What exactly does that mean? We do live on a planet orbiting a star (which for all the hype, has SOME variance) And were supprised that we can't predict the weather (which is really what climate change menas) everytime the weather does something they didn't think it should do, they freak. now, mind you, they have only been keeping weather records for around 100 years, and the earth is theoretically billions of years old. seems like a small test sample to me, but they ARE the experts, so... Lets not think for ourselves about this? come one!
Now consider this. They used to say forest fires were bad. They did everything they could to put them out, etc... Now, they do controlled burns. why? they found out some plants need the fire to grow! Some seeds will not germinate unless they are heated by fire. The thing is, they were stopping fires for years before they accidentally discovered this. consider this, the Roosevelt elk on the Olympic peninsula is considered a threatened, endangered or protected species. I'm a little fuzzy on the details. The thing is, elk that arn't hunted don't have nearly as many calves as the ones that are. I'm not saying shoot them all, but if they wanted the population to grow, SOME hunting would do that more than NO hunting. Don't just give every crazy a rifle that wants one, but take a pot shot at them now and then. Maybe the females get excited by danger, who knows. I'm not an Elk sex therapist. (Oh Rocky, that hunter got me so excited! Take me now!(and yes, I know Rocky was a moose)). Well, that is enough ranting for one day. It won't be the last.

crash/burn

so, I feel like I'm doing something illegal when I use my Ipad to log onto my computer to post a blog. I think it's also a huge pain in the butt, but sitting up hurts, so this is as good as it gets some days.

Isn't technology wonderful/frustrating?

For some reason, beyond my comprehension, I can now be frustrated with computers on multiple platforms. Joy. In other news, why don't people actually read forums? I posted on one earlier that had the answer to a puzzle on my favorite show, NCIS. People were going on about this for years now, and when I proposed something none else had considered, not one person even acknowledged it, they just went right on their merry way without a moments pause. I thought at least someone might try and explain why I was wrong, or call me an idiot, etc... But no, nary a peep. As though I hadn't even posted. *sigh* what is the world coming to these days? But back to the technology thing. My stupid iPad keeps suggesting what it thinks I want to say, and even if the word it suggests is wrong, and I hit space, it uses that word. Also, why have a shift key, but show all the letters as caps? Shouldn't they switch to looking like caps only when the shift key is pressed? I mean, really! Is it that hard? Second thing about the keyboard, why does it have only one symbol on the second screen? Show both with the shift key. Sic semper tyrannous, or something or other in a deed language.

Just to kick things off...

So I feel like I need to say some Things before I really get off on a wild tangent. I like to write about all kinds of things from the plot of my favorite TV shows, to current events, and sports. I would talk about history, because I love that, but for the most part, that is in the past. Mainly, I will probably be ranting about someones stupidity in corporate/political/civilian life. I never really know what I'm going to talk about. I don't know if I'm humorous, but I do like to be straightforward an honest. And I think people do far too little thinking these days, since they prefer to let others do it for them.