Lock Up The Kids

You may want to be seated for this one.

It's finally happened.

Mark has ventured out on his own. Yes he is leaving the comfort of this blog for the unknown, uncensored, often to offend, world of blogging on his own.

It's up, it's running, it's Mark.

Check it out here.

Irk and Bernie

Bernie Madoff. I am sure we're all familiar with him and what he did. And yes, it sucks for those who lost their money to him, big time - especially for those who invested a LOT of money with him. Now he is in prison. For 150 years. Yes, 150 years. Think of all that time he'll have to think about the wrongs he's committed and the lives he ruined, or destroyed. He'll be able to read, relax, work, make friends, play basketball, knit, paint...anything he wants, it' not like he'll have a shortage of time.

Oh wait. He will have a shortage of time because he's going to DIE in prison, unless he has some sort of longevity secret he has been keeping to himself. Maybe he'll be the first person in modern time to live to be over 200 years old!! Right now, as he sits in his cell he maniacally laughs under his breath at how he has out smarted the system again! "Fools all of you!! I will be out long after everyone has forgotten about me and I will do it all again! 150 years and death will not stop me!!"

Here's my issue. Madoff gets 150 years for stealing people's money, yet sentences for murder, rape, and child abuse are handed out for less than 10 percent of Bernie's sentence. Plea deals are made, convicts are let out for good behaviour...you can't tell me you would rather have a convicted murderer roaming your streets over a guy who stole money from people? Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to 15 life sentences (roughly 936 years) and David Burkowitz was sentenced to 365 years. Those I can understand given the number of people they killed and the ways in which they were killed. You don't want those guys roaming around your street. But Bernie Madoff, really? Would Mothers run, screaming, to gather their children from the park if Bernie was coming? Would baseball games be called because Bernie was in the stands? Highly doubtful. Give the guy his sentence, he broke the law. Make an example out of him to try to keep would be thieves at bay (not likely), but let's be realistic here, there has got to be some sort of balance on the scales of justice; 150 years for stealing money and 12 years for murder....seems a little unbalanced to me.

Who is John Galt?

I will try to be concise in this post, but it will probably be a long, bloviating post that will bore 95% of the people who read it. I have been a terrible blogger recently and I will chalk it up to being busy with work and mostly to being too fed up with the world to put any thoughts to paper (or should I say keystrokes).

Our daughter was born nearly ten months ago and although it is hard to fathom, she is already over $36,000 in debt. This is not due to her closets full of clothes, but the actions of our elected leaders in running up large deficits. I am typically ok with national debt, but our situation is quickly getting out of hand. The current budget will put Little Miss T in debt approximately $60,000 (her share of the national debt) by the time she is ten years old. The fact that our lawmakers such as Dodd, Waters and Frank can browbeat leaders of free enterprise in congressional hearings while leveraging my and your balance sheet is the worst hypocrisy imaginable. I wish that we had an elected official who would stand up for what's right the way that Daniel Hannan an elected official in England recently did.

He may be John Galt. (I wish we had leaders who could speak this eloquently, and without even using a teleprompter.) My favorite line which is very applicable to our situation in the States is, "You have run out of our money."

My second nominee for a modern John Galt is Jake DeSantis, a former AIG employee. Jake wrote and excoriating resignation letter to his boss explaining exactly why he was leaving and it was published in the NY Times. The "populist" rhetoric and bile that has been thrown on Wall Street lately is sickening and I think it's high time we head to our windows, open it and yell, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore". It is unimaginable that our public leaders expressed an interest in publicizing employees names who received bonuses so that they could be openly scorned and possibly assaulted. Even more disgusting was the vote to punitively use the tax code to punish hard working citizens with a tax of 90%. Why not tax people who's homes were foreclosed with a 90% tax, or any real estate agents, mortgage brokers, residential lenders, house flippers or people who have defaulted on credit card or any other debt; they are just as guilty and more so than the current employees of investment banks and AIG for our current economic difficulties. I think it was embarrassing to ask these employees to give back their hard-earned bonuses and it was un-American for the employees to comply and give them back. What this country needs is more greed, ownership and capitalism rather than fear, blame and social planning. We are walking down a dangerous path that many have trod before us and I fear that the time may come for the producers of this country to shrug.

Wednesday Rants

Here is my daily rant. I don't usually blog my rants otherwise they'd take over this blog...but here's what's on my mind today.

I am sure some people would call me a feminist. I wouldn't agree with them, completely. Feminists wouldn't call me a feminist, but I do feel strongly about equality.
Here's where my rant comes in. I guess March is Women's History Month, never knew. My first thought is why is their a month for women's history month? Why not have it all year mixed in with all the other history? Like Black History month, I think history should be history...teach it all year round, have a section on it in school, don't single it out otherwise we'll run out of months. It should be a regular part of school's curriculum.
OK, I am going off my train of thought here.
There were some quiz questions on one of the morning shows about women and their history (first woman to be a Democratic presidential candidate, etc.), one of the questions was "For every dollar a man earns, how much does a woman earn?" The answer was less, my brain has gone blank...I think it was like 70 odd cents per dollar a man earns. To me there should be no pay difference for men and women who do the same job and have the same job experience. Obviously there will be differences if a man is a doctor and a woman is a teacher...that happens, but if they are both teachers, teaching in the same school, with the same experience, they should be paid the same. One other point the show brought up was that less than 7% of the Fortune 500 earners were women. Sure that seems low, but in the workforce what is the percent of working men vs. working women? If only 3 out of 10 workers are women then of course there will be more men earning the bigger pay checks. Did they stop to think that women are more likely to work part time or to leave the workforce if they have children? I get frustrated when columnists, journalists, celebs, whoever start talking about how there needs to be more women in politics, more blacks in CEO level jobs, more Asians in movies, more Canadians in the MLB...whatever. Here's my thing with it all - if people aren't applying for these jobs how can we hire them? Maybe a woman doesn't want to run for office, do we pick an unqualified woman just to have better diversity? What if a Black man doesn't want to be the head of a company... if people do not enter these fields they can't be hired! It's not brain surgery folks. If an employer had two resumes in front of them and one was a man and one a woman and the woman had a better record, more experience, etc., I would think she would be hired (maybe that's the feminist, commie liberal in me, right Mark?), not because they need a woman to look diverse but because she is the best candidate. I don't know what the big fuss is...even if you don't agree with Obama, he is a Black man and the US President. Do you really think he was elected just because he is Black and the US had yet to have a Black president? I sure hope not because that would be stupid and dangerous. May be I am a little too believing in people, and give too many people the benefit of the doubt, but in this day and age I just don't think people base their hiring decisions on race, gender....it's about experience and qualifications. I'm just tired of this "we need more Asians in DC, we need more Women in science, we need..." Well if you need them, start making the rounds at schools and get these kids interested. I guarantee you that if Women, Blacks, Asians, Koreans, Brazilians...whoever, get involved more, you will see more minorities in all of these arenas.
In the end, it comes down to this, you can't hire those who aren't applying. And if you do the same job you should definitely get the same pay.
And those are my two cents. Hopefully it made some sense because it did in my head!

March Migraines

• when Ryan tells us we'll have at least two hours to vote. What does that mean? Will I have 2 hours, or will it be 3? Do east coasters get more time?
  
• when Alison tells contestants they have to lose more than 14 pounds. Why doesn't she say they have to lose 15 pounds to take the lead? Or at least 15 pounds? If I lose 14.1 pounds do I win?
  
• why people leave a teaspoon of milk in the jug. Why don't you just finish it off?? Is there already that much milk in your bowl? Or do you just want to annoy me? Same goes for any beverage in any container. (You know who you are)
• awesome shirts that you want to buy that are just a smidge too small and the stores that don't carry the bigger size. Curses on these stores!
• people who talk to you loudly when they can see you're trying to get a cranky wee one to take a nap. Do you think your voice is going to lull her to sleep??
• never-ending senate races. Would you please stop it already?? By the time this gets settled, it'll be time for a new election.
• octomom. And whoever gave her that stupid moniker. Could we please stop discussing her and everything related to her?
• the uproar over sleeveless. Who cares if Michelle Obama wears a sleeveless dress? Now if she wore daisy dukes...then I might understand.
• why does the Today Show have to have so many commercials?
  

I Don't Like Mondays

While I am not one to wax philosophical on politics, I have had this nagging feeling that I should step into Mark's territory for a change and share a thought or two.
This past election season found me annoyed, frustrated and tired of all things politics. I am not a fan of the U.S. system and the format for picking a candidate. While it might not make any sense to say this, politics have become too political for my tastes. That's not to say I don't have any opinions, because I do; they may not be the same as Mark's, or many others, or they may not always be decided based on 100% of the facts. I try to stay informed, and when I am asked an opinion on a topic that I don't feel fully knowledgeable on, I am more than happy to admit it. I'll still give you my opinion, but I'll let you know that it's based on limited information or on pure emotion. Mark and I have had many a political discussion, and sometimes we do agree...or at least somewhat agree, but there are many topics that we stand on opposite sides of the fence.
Being a Canadian, and only a permanent resident of the U.S., I do not vote in elections here (I wish that could excuse political ads from my TV set!!). That being said, I do not belong to any specific political party....I tend to find myself in the middle of the road. There are issues from both sides that have my support. I suppose if I were to find myself a voting person I would be a little torn on which path to follow. Thankfully I don't have that problem!
Having that said, here's my opinion for today. Given that a new President is being sworn in, I felt I should say something that's been on my mind for some months now, about the outgoing President. And shock of shocks, it has nothing to do with Iraq, terrorism or Bin Laden. I think enough has been said about that and there will never be an explanation that will please everyone.
Moving on. While I was pregnant, I spent a lot of time in the Doctor's office, so I made use of the magazines in the rooms. I came across an article in Time magazine. It was about Bush, and it was written by Bob Geldof (click on his name if you don't know anything about him). It's no surprise that Geldof is not an overly supportive fan of Bush, in fact I would guess 90% of what Bush stands for, Geldof doesn't, and vice versa. So I was quite surprised when I read his article. He was actually writing in support of Bush! I was intrigued, so I read on.
His article spotlighted Bush's work in Africa. I had no idea Bush had done work in Africa! But he had, and he had done some amazing work there!!
"It was, for example, Bush who initiated the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) with cross-party support led by Senators John Kerry and Bill Frist. In 2003, only 50,000 Africans were on HIV antiretroviral drugs — and they had to pay for their own medicine. Today, 1.3 million are receiving medicines free of charge. The U.S. also contributes one-third of the money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria — which treats another 1.5 million. It contributes 50% of all food aid (though some critics find the mechanism of contribution controversial). On a seven-day trip through Africa, Bush announced a fantastic new $350 million fund for other neglected tropical diseases that can be easily eradicated; a program to distribute 5.2 million mosquito nets to Tanzanian kids; and contracts worth around $1.2 billion in Tanzania and Ghana from the Millennium Challenge Account, another initiative of the Bush Administration."
Geldof continues to discuss the work that has been done in Africa while Bush has been in office, and it is quite impressive. It just seems strange that in times when everything the public hears about is economic turmoil, job loss, war casualties and other atrocities, it would be pleasant to hear a news piece or two about some of the good that goes on in the world.
The article's next paragraph sums up the entire point to my long winded blog:
"So why doesn't America know about this? "I tried to tell them. But the press weren't much interested," says Bush. It's half true. There are always a couple of lines in the State of the Union, but not enough so that anyone noticed, and the press really isn't interested. For them, like America itself, Africa is a continent of which little is known save the odd horror"
The article is very enlightening, at least to me it was. I learned a lot about the work President Bush has done while in office, much of which is never reported to the public, unless you go looking for it, yourself.
So why is it that the media only reports on the negative, or the argument inducing issues? If you don't agree with the man and his actions, that's fine, but if good deeds have been done, why is the media and the public so slow to recognize them? I am sure during Obama's term(s) there will be good decisions made and poor decisions. No one leader can make the public happy 100% of the time, it's not possible.
What I like most about this article is Geldof's honesty. He doesn't tip toe around the fact that they are at odds with each other on the issue of Iraq, but Geldof is professional and human all at the same time:
"I don't want to go there. I have my views and they're at odds with his, and I don't want to spoil the interview or be rude in the face of his hospitality. "Ah, look Mr. President. I don't want to do this really. We'll get distracted and I'm here to do Africa with you...This is the person who has quadrupled aid to the poorest people on the planet. I was more comfortable with that. But his expression asked for agreement and sympathy, and I couldn't provide either. "Mr. President, please. There are things you've done I could never possibly agree with and there are things I've done in my life that you would disapprove of, too. And that would make your hospitality awkward. The cost has been too much. History will play itself out."
With the media's unabashed love-fest going on right now for all things Obama (he wears boxers!! Read all about it on the 10:00 news! He had ranch dressing on his salad - breaking news! What on earth would happen if a media pundit came out with a semi-negative remark about Obama and his politics??), I just wanted to give some credit where credit is due on this last day of Bush's term. You may not agree with all of his decisions, but we can all agree that there has been some good that has come out of his two terms as President.
Here is the article from Time, I would urge you all to read it.

Minnesot-ah!

Here are a few reasons I am happy to live in Minnesota right now.

• Still no sales tax on clothes or shoes of ANY price.
• We'll definitely have a white Christmas this year.
• Even in snow, driving doesn't hurt as much anymore.
• The end is in sight.
• This store at the MOA.
• This restaurant being 20 minutes away.
• Heaven less than a mile away.
• Being close enough to home to get the ingredients, if I run out, for the Christmas treat!

Pain

"I will move away from here.
You won't be afraid of fear.
No thought was put into this.
Always knew it would come to this.
Things have never been so swell,
I have never failed to fail."

I will have heroin and shotguns available for those who are as depressed as I am.

Hope for Change

Prepare to be Disappointed

Why can't us?

Congratulations to the Phils on the WS win, but the following video of fans celebrating made me think about politics.


Besides being an awesome video, I think we're all a lot like this fan as it pertains to this years election. We're excited for the change, but we don't fully realize the consequences of our actions. To those that are excited about an Obama presidency, enjoy the celebration while you can because tht empty bottle of Grey Goose is coming at us and I'm afraid it will be a nasty fall.

Hey Ladies

I fully planned on posting my half finished diatribe on the media’s treatment of Sarah Palin, why I am a Republican, and the flawed economic theory of the Democratic Party, but then I watched Ms. Palin speak the other night and shelved my previous writing. My reaction to her speech was quite different then I imagined it would be. Instead of feeling excited about the GOP’s chances in November, I felt proud of where I come from, the people that are closest to me and the opportunities this country affords each of us.

I have always been surrounded by loving, smart and tough women. I have a great grandmother who could take a bullet without complaint, brand cows with the toughest of men and soothe a grandchild after being stung by a bee. My grandmother taught me the value of an honest days work. Although as a kid I bitched and moaned about the level of pay and her high quality standards (even though I was filling a manure spreader), she taught me how to do a job and do it right. I thought a lot about my mother when I saw Ms. Palin speak. For those who don’t know my mom, she managed a household of seven rowdy kids, a cousin who didn’t have another home and cared for her dying father-in-law while my father lived and worked out of state. My mother is tough, the type of woman who would smack other people’s kids when they get out of line at the grocery store. All the neighbor kids knew that you didn’t cross Eva cause if you pissed her off one way she’d put a boot in your ass the other. Outside of this tough exterior, she is a caring, passionate and intelligent mother and grandmother. Mostly I thought about my lovely wife, a tough, passionate woman who can’t be easily categorized by a single title. Melanie is a woman of deep thinking, deep passion and an uncompromising belief in doing what’s right. I never realized how strong she is until the last few months. The best thing I can say about these women is that they are good people and good mothers, just like most of us have.

As a man I often talk about the Washingtons, Jeffersons and the Rockefellers who “built” this nation, but I know better. This nation is built upon the backs of strong women. That is why it is so refreshing to see someone like Sarah Palin. I think it’s great to see an elected official who has struggled through the fight of kids, jobs, school, marriage, mistakes and everyday living; someone who seeks out office not to break down barriers or prove something, but to try to make life better for their family. The pundits all debated whether she was talking to the base, swing voters, Reagan democrats or Hillary supporters, but I think it was more than that. She spoke to me as a person who struggles to make a living and tries to do what’s right every day. She spoke to me the same way that strong women have spoken to me throughout my life, and that was a breath of fresh air.

Decisions Decisions

I've had a few people mention to me that I shouldn't let Mark blog anymore. I have to say the response to his blogging makes me laugh. He doesn't seem to like my suggestion of starting his own blog (free of censoring!) - he thinks he'll lose his reader(s). Mark and I have definite blog style differences, but that's what the world needs right, differences? I am sure someone out there appreciates the thought Mark puts into his blogs and wishes he would blog more...right?

Are the lack of comments due to his topics, the utter shock you're left in after reading them, or because you're on the ground laughing at him and can't hit the comment button?

What do you think, should we continue to let him blog, or should he start his own wacky, read-at-your-own-risk blog? Speak up and let me know!

Mark is pissed and unfunny.

I had prepared a blog to post today that is typical Mark humor, penis jokes and attempts at self deprecating humor, but I am going to delay posting it because I have something else on my mind. Those who know me know that I am a pretty easy going guy who probably comes off as an a-hole. Those who know me better know that I love politics and debating current events. Those who know me really well know that I am actively involved in my church and have very strong feelings about it (please don’t think of me as too much of a hypocrite from my prior posts). Today I want to talk politics and religion for just a minute, and then I will get back to potty humor.

I must admit that even though I am Mormon, I could never get real excited about Mitt Romney. On paper I thought he was the best candidate, but I always thought he was a little disingenuous. I think it would be irresponsible to support a political candidate just because they share my faith, skin color or genitalia. I don’t think Mormons should vote for Mormons because of religion and I think the same applies to Catholics, Baptists, Jews, Atheists or anyone else.

If someone wants to use their faith as a stepping stone to a political office then they have that right. What displeases me is when someone uses another person’s faith to bring them down in a political race. When Mike Huckabee brought up controversial Mormon beliefs he knew that it may hurt Romney’s polling numbers. I realize that politics is a dirty game and that personal attacks are often used, but you should be careful when attacking certain things. If he wants to attack a religion then he should have just attacked. I have been criticized for my religious beliefs in the past and I certainly will be criticized in the future, but don’t act innocent when bringing up my beliefs and claim that “I don’t know much about Mormonism”. A pastor with a theology degree should have been exposed to basic Mormon tenets, especially one who attended and addressed his church’s convention held in Salt Lake City in 1998 with the intention of confronting Mormons about their beliefs. If Mike Huckabee believes what his church teaches, that Mormonism is a heretical cult, than come out and say it, I’ve heard it before, but don't give me any of this patronizing BS about not knowing much about it while making backhanded insults. When Jesus reproached the Pharisees at least he had the guts to say it to their face and didn’t apologize afterwards and claim ignorance.

Many will say that this is just the rambling of a sore loser, but as a Republican I think that McCain is a better nominee than Romney as far as his odds of winning the presidency. I will support McCain, but I will not support any ticket that has Mike Huckabee on it. I took his attacks personally, as a Mormon. I hope that he did apologize to Romney for his statements, but an apology to the other 13 million or so Mormons would be nice.

Cheers: to Mitt Romney for running a solid campaign and doing what was best for his country and party by graciously stepping aside today.

Jeers: to me for bringing up politics and religion in the same post.

(Don’t worry, I will be back to my dirty minded, sarcastic self shortly).

Will It Ever End?

The short and easy answer to that question is no. However, if I left it at that, this blog wouldn't make any sense!
Let me try again, "will the politics of politics ever end?" I know no better adjective to describe how I feel about politics other than political. Politics has become just too political. There are polls and statistics for every things; how did women vote, how did women under 30 vote, how did a certain race vote, how did genders within that race vote, etc. If it is so important for candidates to win a certain demographic, why don't they just come right out with it? Forget the "political correctness" and just say it. Hillary, "vote for me because I'm a woman and so are you", Huckabee, "I'm a Baptist, so are you" and so on. To me, a candidate should represent the majority of the people based on their positions on the issues (economy, health care, taxes, etc) not if we share the same chromosome, religion or race. If a 30 year old white woman is voting for Hillary, should I vote for her too because I am 30 and white? What about Mitt? He's LDS, so am I - do I vote for him? McCain's white, do I vote for him? I guess that leaves out Obama since I am not a man, Black or his religion. Seems a simple way to whittle down the choice of candidates - let's just openly discriminate! Why don't people take the time to find out the candidates positions on issues you feel strongly about. It won't take long, and there are enough websites to help you with your choices. Voting is a personal matter, and it is your responsibilty to find out who best represents you and your beliefs, not what Oprah believes. While Oprah is entitled to her opinion, I think anyone who yields that much public influence/power, needs to be careful. I hope most people take the time to make educated decisions, but you know many people who love Oprah think that, "if Oprah likes him, he must be good, so I like him too". Just because you might like the same book as Oprah, doesn't mean you feel the same way about tax reform or health care as Oprah. Let Oprah back whomever she wants, but I think she (and other celebrities who publicily endorse candidates) has a responsibilty to say, "I have done my research, this person gets my vote, now you do your research and decide your vote." The overall message being the importance of voting. An educated vote has a much more meaningful message than a popularity vote.
Another issue I have with the current politicking is the focus on Hillary Clinton for the sole issue of being a woman. If she becomes even slightly emotional everyone jumps on her for not handling her emotions (what would she do in a war?). If she wears a shirt that is below her collarbone - oh my goodness cleavage!!! I haven't heard anything about the hideous ties worn by some of the candidates at a Republican debate. No one got on Mitt Romney's case for becoming emotional during his interview with Chris Matthews...how come? It's a double standard and it shouldn't happen.
While some might consider me to be a very opininated person, I don't usually strike up political conversations, but I find politics in the U.S. to be so different! Primaries, caucuses (who created that word anyway?), delegates...starting the process 2 years before the actual election... Why a party would even hold primaries when they don't award delegates is also beyond my grasp. It's like announcing the Oscar for Best Film, but then not giving them the award because it doesn't really matter anyway. Why have the vote if it means nothing? It's a giant waste of time and resources.
I wish I could say that it will all be over soon, but I know that would be a lie. Once these primaries are over, it just starts up all over again. Lucky me this year - the RNC is being held in Minneapolis! Oh joy, live coverage every day. Then the actual election and debates start....at least I know that come the end of January, things will quite down for at least a year, right??
One last comment...I can't even vote down here so take it with a grain of salt. Just do me the favour of educating yourself before you vote. Don't fall prey to the vote for me because I am just like you mentality.
So to answer my question, no, it will never end (and the same can be said for this post!!)