This is outside of my usual range of topics… But since I’m such a caring and compassionate guy, just consider this a public service announcement, courtesy of me.

For those of you who don’t know, I hate cell phones. I hate people who drive on the phone. I hate people who walk on the phone. I really hate people who shop on the phone (is there anything worse than somebody trying to check out, pay for their stuff, deal with the cashier and talk on their goddamned cell phone?). Of course, I do have a cell phone. It resides in my pocket most of the time. I have not used more than 30 minutes a month for many years. I have it because I was moving so much for a while it was just easier to have it around than constantly switch… Now I have it because I’m roped into a contract. Bleh.

But I digress. Now I can not only hate you for your obsessive-compulsive cell phone use, but I can also laugh at you as you work your way towards getting the newest, trendiest  cancer out there. I call it iCancer (because I loathe Apple and everything trendy and cute associated with it), but you can call it brain cancer. Read the rest of this entry »

Ok, so here’s the deal. I’m sick and tired of being called racist or bigoted. I am not racist. There are people of other races that I don’t like, but there are also white people that I don’t like. I think that there are some deeply-rooted problems in other racial communities, but there are also deeply-rooted problems in white communities as well. When it comes to my scorn and anger, I’m pretty equal opportunity. Yet, I’m called racist on a fairly regular basis. Go figure.

I am fairly young. I’m 28. I didn’t live through the 1960’s and the civil rights movement. I don’t know how things were. But I do know how they are now. Strangely, my view of the state of things is very different than other people. It comes back to my usual question of how it is we all live in the same country but so often see things so differently?

This post spawns from two things that have occurred recently. First off is a post by Arm Jerker J. on her blog where she addresses a peculiar blog she ran across that is basically a guy who is trying to start some sort of interracial relationship movement (i.e. white guys should date black chicks). Second off, this post spawns from a problem that seems to be stemming from the fact that some people have trouble distinguishing between immigrant issues and racism (i.e. if you assail on immigration you’re being racist). To be fair, since I don’t think there is a similar word to racism for immigrants (immigrantism?), I am lumping the two together. Read the rest of this entry »

This is an interesting topic, and one that has been plaguing me for a few days now. As human beings, are we really nothing more than a collection of values, or is there more? Just like rights, there are responsibilities, and just like rights, some responsibilities are necessary. But how do you define them?

This is stemming from the story I did a couple of days back on the rape of a woman in the hallway of an apartment building where 10 people saw it yet did nothing to help her. Why? It’s a matter of values. These people were Somalians, and to them a woman is pretty insignificant, so why interfere with a rape. After all, it’s the man’s business anyway.

Of course, this is abhorrent to us as Americans. We place value on life and liberty, and when we see a woman being raped, we are most likely going to help. Maybe not everybody, but at least one or more of those ten people who witnessed it would have had the seeds enough to help her out. But that is part of our value system. But I can’t help but to wonder if this is one of those things that should be considered a universal value? Read the rest of this entry »

So, it would seem that sometimes I get so wrapped up in the things that are constantly springing up around me that I forget about the basics. So today I sat back and got to thinking. Where’s Al? In fact, other than the little blowout over the bridge, I haven’t heard much from the environmental left since the great 7/7/07 live Earth flop.

I thought this was strange. After all, for months and months I couldn’t look at my feeds without seeing Al Gore, “An Inconvenient Truth” or some doomsday scenario being splashed all over. While this bothered me to no end, it bothers me even more when people like Gore seemingly disappear. It’s kind of one of those things where you like to keep tabs on your enemy. That’s why we have spy satellites that can read the Soviet newspaper alongside some General sitting on the john. Read the rest of this entry »

Immigration.

Is there a better topic to stir up anger on both sides of the divide? After all, immigration is one of the greatest battles between the “humanitarian” liberals and the “self-serving bastard” conservatives. Each side has their own opinions on immigration, and neither wants to budge on what they believe is right.

But what happens when something goes wrong? So wrong, in fact, that both sides should agree that something is wrong… And yet, the humanitarians stand up for the wrong reasons (presumably just to do the opposite of the conservatives). Well, here is is, and sadly it has come to this.

From the STrib…

“Hallway rape went unreported by neighbors

The video shows what most witnesses in a St. Paul apartment building apparently didn’t tell.

A man beat a woman, removed his pants and sexually assaulted her in a hall, and five to 10 people saw at least part of the attack but did nothing to intervene or help”

So what does this have to do with immigration?

Everything.

Actually, this is a story about immigration and assimilation. For you see, the people involved - both the perpetrator and the witnesses - were Somalian. They are legal immigrants, living in this country. They also serve as perfect examples as to what happens when people come to this country and don’t become Americans. The problem here is actually twofold. First off, the Somali culture places power in the male figure which means it would go against culture to question what a man is doing to a woman (even if that means rape). Second off is that Somali’s don’t trust the police and are reluctant to involve the police in their business. So if that means not reporting a crime, then so be it.

Of course, as ugly as that seems, there is one more piece of this puzzle to add further irritation: the language barrier. There are currently no Somali-speaking 911 dispatchers. As much as I would like to say “boo hoo” I can’t, because crimes are being committed and they are net being reported.

Is it too much to ask for? Is it too much for us to expect our immigrants to assimilate and become Americans? Put aside all of the petty differences and the feelings on illegal immigrants. This goes beyond that, because this problem involves both legal and illegal immigrants and their apparent lack of interest in being Americans. This goes beyond the annoyances of having multiple language insurance bills and “press 1 for English.” This is public safety.

I can’t believe that anybody would stand up for these people. They were brought here out of the “goodness” of our hearts (i.e. refugees) and now they are not only refusing to become Americans but they are allowing their own culture to endanger the safety and well being of other Americans. Nice.

So what do we do? Force the issue? Threaten them? I mean, this is a door that we swung wide open without first asking ourselves if we could handle the consequences of our big hearts.

Penn And Teller Get Hippies To Sign Water Banning Petition

I know this has been circulating around, but I can’t help myself but keep it going… It’s just too good. After all, it’s not every day that you can get people to ban water in the name of environmentalism.

“Something given has no basis in value. When you vote, you’re exercising political authority. You’re using force. And force, my friends, is violence, the supreme authority from which all other authority derives. Naked force has settled more issues in history than any other factor. The contrary opinion ‘violence never solves anything’ is wishful thinking at its worst. People who forget that always pay… They pay with their lives and their freedom.”

This quote has long been one of my all time favorites. It is actually part of an exchange between two people, the first of which makes a reference regarding voting as something given by the government. The answer to that statement is obvious. It all makes perfect sense to me. After all, it’s a simple principle. Yet, for as simple as it is - “Something given has no basis in value - I am appalled at how many people don’t understand the difference between rights and privileges.

I was at the gas station this morning, getting my usual Tahitian Treat and (trans fat free) donut. It’s my usual ritual. I do it at roughly 5:30 in the morning. The usual crowd is a group of blue collar workers on their way to work. Good people. But today I watched a waste of life come in to buy cigarettes. She was very different from the usual crowd. She was excessively skinny. Stringy, thinning hair. Hollowed out eyes. Had the shakes real bad. A typical drug addict. I watched her and shook my head. She was straight off the rez. She was also driving a relatively new Cadillac Escalade. Read the rest of this entry »

So yesterday I had my much anticipated lunch with Bruce Benidt (read his take on it here) from “The Same Rowdy Crowd” blog. For those who don’t remember, Bruce and I had an interesting exchange that began with a brief blowout stemming from a severe difference of opinion regarding the I35W bridge collapse (here). What started out as a typical left/right exchange took a much different direction; and whereas it would have been easy to leave it be while each of us stood angrily in our little camps, we decided to take things a step further and actually acknowledge one another in a more civil exchange. This exchange resulted in our meeting face to face in something of an effort to create human beings out of words.

To be honest, I wanted to hate Bruce. Nothing against him, but as I have stated many times before, I have had it up to my eyes with the liberal crap that has seemingly been spewing out of every corner of this country lately. However, I am a very civil person and am always willing to put things aside and be decent if need be. I had no idea what to expect with Bruce other than the fact that I already knew we had differing opinions on politics and we were both fairly passionate about our views.

But, things changed, and they did so very very quickly. Bruce may be a liberal, but he is not a Kos/MoveOn liberal. I guess in all of my anger I had forgotten that it is very possible for somebody to be passionate and not be a militant nut (aka moonbat). In fact, despite our opposing viewpoints, neither Bruce nor I found ourselves to be terribly polarized at all when it came right down to it. And while it may seem like a political faux pas to admit it, but I actually found myself liking the guy. Read the rest of this entry »

Much like the Don Imus fiasco, the Vick case exploded into our lives a few weeks back and has refused to go away. It has been all over my newspapers, my radio, my tv and my RSS feeds. It’s everywhere, and just like the Imus incident, it’s really a non-issue that doesn’t deserve more than a mere mention here or there. When it really comes down to it, this is just plain silly.

What is really silly is the fact that race came into the picture. I am sick and tired of race in this country. For being a free country, we certainly don’t act like it. I know I have been beating on the whole “rights” drum for a while here, and while I was yapping about things like socialism and the flaws in the Bill of Rights, I kind of forgot about civil rights and all of the nastiness that comes from that mistake. That’s why Imus was jammed down our throats, and that’s part of why Vick is as well.

But I digress. Getting back to Vick, the thing we really need to learn from the case is that some people are just assholes. It doesn’t matter who they are, how much they make, what color they are, or how popular they are. People like Vick are simply assholes, and it’s pretty much that simple. Read the rest of this entry »

Ok, so I know I have covered the topic of universal health care and socialized medicine before, but it’s time to revisit it again. Not necessarily because there are any new developments, but because the topic of rights and privileges needs to be addressed.

My original post on Wisconsin’s attempt to introduce universal health care in the state is actually what sparked this topic. When I originally posted it, I didn’t have anybody bother to offer up dissenting opinions, which I left me somewhat disappointed. However, since then I have had a couple of people - presumably people involved with it - write in a offer up their objections to my opinion. I would highly suggest you read the original post and the comments here, so at least you can get an idea as to what I had to say and what the “health care for all” crowd has to say about things.

The issue that I am taking with these guys right now is the issue of rights. Interestingly, somebody had the nerve to bring up the UN and their so called declaration of human rights. Now, this is something of a pickle, because I don’t rightly believe that there is such thing as human rights in the sense that the UN is talking about. The only rights I believe in are the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of property. In turn, I believe that the only role that a government entity should play is to provide the sanctity of theses rights and the opportunity to any other rights. Everything else is privilege; including health care. Read the rest of this entry »