In My Sad Little Opinion

Decisions In Life: Corporate Career or Freedom Of Speech?

2009-09-05T00:46:00.047-04:00

I've been writing for a little while now however I've only made my thoughts available to the public on the internet recently (relatively speaking of course). The ability to speak my mind in a forum where others can relate (or not) gives me a certain sense of freedom.

One of my many, many (many) dreams in life is to write for a living. The thought of spending my days researching and thinking up stories and opinions and finding the right words and combining them together to put down a conscious and functional series of sentences is very appealing to me. The problem with this, at this point in my life is that I have a family that I have to support (not that having a family is a problem but... you know what I mean).

Some of you may have noticed that I can sometimes get into an angry rant when I blog (don't worry, I'm not apologizing. Stick with me). As the subtitle of my blog indicates, I give my opinions on things that I see, hear or read and sometimes what I see, hear or read can really piss me off.

That's the beauty of writing for a blog (or any other venue for that matter). I'm able to take that rage and channel it away from my life through my words and onto the internet for everyone to see and agree or disagree with. My question is, how long will it last?

I've been noticing a growing trend. One, I'm afraid, that is very unnerving for people like myself and others who like to blog what's on their minds and still keep a day job. Corporate America is seeing to it that their employees play nice on the internet by checking in on their blogs and twits and other social networking habits.

While their isn't anything wrong with this per se, it's what they are doing with the information that is dangerous. People are getting fired from their jobs because of what their online persona's are expressing on the internet.

Now I understand if a particular person is on a constant rampage and ranting on and on about how their boss sucks and their job sucks and how the company can burn in hell blah blah blah. They can handle that just as if someone sees a friend talking shit about them online and decides to cut them off.

But what if that's not the case? What if you never mention your job or what you do or the company you work for and your the kind of person who are two totally different people in and out of the office? I personally believe that most of us fit into this category. Most of us treat work and home like two different and totally separate worlds never crossing the line between the two.

I'm this kind of person. When I'm at work my clothing is neat, pressed and I'm pretty much clean shaven (for the most part) and I have my language in check but outside of work, I throw on a pair baggy jeans, an oversided tee, a pair of Tims (that stands for Timberland, you know... the boots), a backwards ball cap and my language turns a little more... colorful.

Then there are my choices of activities. At work, I... well... work. At home, I write whatever the eff is on my mind. I write, blog and twit all while having Facebook open in the background. I read a lot of news sites and watch a lot of the news on TV (it's where I get most of my material). I read magazines and news papers (remember those). Most of the time I get pissed off at what I see, read or watch and my opinion ends up here, for all to see.

Herein lies the issue. If by chance what I write pisses off one of the tight ass, stiff collared corporate types at the company I work for, I can pretty much be shit canned and there is nothing I can really do about it. They already have control over my life when I'm sitting in my cubicle working my fingers to the bone for them but this... this effectively gives them control over my personal life as well.

What is a creative and outspoken person like myself to do? Not only do they have you minding your p's and q's at work for fear of loosing your means of supporting your family but, they are making you walk on egg shells in your personal life as well. Whatever happened to our right to freedom of speech?

In my sad little opinion, the corporate world isn't a democracy. You sign your life away to them in an agreement where by you do something for them and they pay you for it. With this new trend of monitoring your online persona, it seems we have relinquished our personal freedoms as well. Our freedom of speech being first on the hit list.

Holla back with your thoughts.

Birthers And Health Care!?! WTF Is Wrong With My Country!

2009-08-11T20:05:00.008-04:00

I know, I know, I've been gone for awhile but, like so many of my brethren, work has been tough and when I get home I am so mentally exhausted that I just want to veg. Unfortunately, I fell into the trap.

Fortunately, I've been able to sit and watch the non-sense that seems to be going on in the world when it comes to the news, TV, Internet blah blah blah (refer to the subtitle of my blog above) and I have to admit, just when I thought the people of this great country couldn't get any more fucked up, it proves me wrong.

Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on in America lately? This is supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave! Why are we allowing ourselves to be manipulated by any organized political group!?! Don't get me wrong, everyone has the right to an opinion and I can respect that (HELLO) but let it be and opinion that you form on your own based on your own research and experience. Stop piggy backing off of the opinions of these right wing extremists who's sole purpose is to strike fear into the hearts of all Americans!

Let me start with these "birthers" WTF are you guys talking about? Do you honestly think that if this man wasn't born in our very own United States Of America that he would be President!?! They showed you a birth certificate, they showed you birth announcements printed on the original news papers the year he was born for Christ's sake! Accept the fact the he is an American citizen and move on with your pathetic little lives please! Who the fuck cares about your stupid little cause except yourselves! Chanting "we want our country back" you idiots! ARE YOU NATIVE AMERICANS? My guess is NO you morons! If you want your country back then jump on a fucking plane and take your asses back across the pond you ass jacks!

Then there are these people who keep showing up at these town hall meetings with their disruptive antics trying to stop health care reform. I can appreciate that a person has a passion for what they believe in, it's what this country was founded on and it is certainly worthy of respect. That's the key word here though, respect. How do you expect any sort of compromise to come out of this if you keep showing up with no real agenda except to make asses of yourself?

You scream, belittle, boo and jeer at the top of your lungs like a bunch of animals not letting your senator get a word in edgewise! I know what you're really afraid of, your afraid that if you shut your pie hole for two seconds you might just agree with some of the things being proposed! If this is not the case then prove it by shutting the hell up and listening to what needs to be said. Then, post your questions and voice your concerns like normal human beings.

Let's be honest, how many of these people are there based solely on their own opinion on what is going on? You know damn well that health insurance lobbyists are responsible for half of these jerk offs showing up in the first place. They scare the crap out of them by telling them that we're going to turn into a third rate socialist country. THIS IS THE U.S. OF A. PEOPLE! The real reason (which is obvious to those of us with half a brain) is that they are scared shitless of letting this bill pass because it will severely reduce their bottom line.

Our health care system is broken people! We need to get it fixed and we need to do it now! Do you really expect to manhandle and intimidate our states senators into voting for your cause? NO, you bunch of mindless puppets! Bring your sincere concerns to the forum and ask the questions you want answers to in a civil and respectful manner and let your state rep do what he/she was voted into that position to do in the first place, and that's (in case you forgot) represent the people.

I don't think that I have ever been so disappointed in my fellow Americans in my life. In my sad little opinion, it all boils down to capitalism, fear of change, classism (if that's even a word) and racism... yes, I said it, racism.

More to come.

Video Games: What Our Children Play Is Our Responsibility!

2009-08-10T21:46:00.001-04:00

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was eight years old sitting in front of my parents Goliath, wooden framed TV. The tube itself wasn't big, it was probably only about 24 or 25 inches but the housing... ohh the housing... it took up about half of the living room. The first time I saw it on TV I knew I had to have it. With its sleek black lines and faux wooden switchboard, I just knew it was going to be mine no matter what it was I had to do. What I'm talking about here folks is the godfather of all gaming systems, the Atari 2600.

It took me about three months of begging and pleading and more begging before my dad gave me a break and told me, "Yo no voy a comprar eso! Si tu quiere esa cosa, lo vas a tener que comprarlo tu". Which translates to, "I'm not going to buy it! If you want that thing, your going to have to buy it yourself!" Being eight, I of course had my doubts about how I was going to earn the money but, he quickly made it clear what exactly he had in mind. He broke out this torn up old box of pennies that must have weighed seventy or eighty pounds. Dropping it on the floor next to the kitchen table (and thoroughly enjoying how the loud Boom scared me), he told me that I would have to roll pennies until I reached the price of the damn thing. He counted out fifty pennies and showed me how to roll them up. Again, being eight years old, I thought to myself, "Oh man, this is going to be a piece of cake!" Do you have any idea how many rolls of pennies it takes to reach $176.00?!? For those of you who are curious, it's 352 but it was actually much more than that when you factor the time, blood and sweat. Well, about a month and a half (and many paper cuts and sliced cuticles) later, I finished the job and he kept his word (hidden life lesson, this was my first job ever).

Fast forward a couple of decades to 2009 and here I am still in love with video games. Not only that, I have children who love video games. I have spent countless hours playing both co-op shooter games with my eldest son and two player children's games with my youngest son (not to mention my wife but she wont admit it publicly). The difference between the games that I grew up on with their boxy characters, vehicles and landscapes and the DVD quality graphics available today are astronomical. The realism paired with the content of these games is so effing bad ass that sometimes, I have to look twice before I decide whether or not it's appropriate for my youngest. Lucky for me, there is an entire company designed to take the guesswork out of it. They are dedicated to protecting the safety of impressionable little children.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) spends many hours of their time reviewing video games to alert parents of their content. The ratings are very easy to understand and are pretty much self explanatory. They are as follows: EC: Early Childhood, E: Everyone, E10: Everyone 10+, T: Teen, M: Mature, AO: Adults Only & RP: Rating Pending. The guidelines require every software company that produces a game to place these labels visibly on both the front and the back of the software package. A very useful tool for parents but here's the thing , we need to actually pay attention to these ratings.

Many parents are quick to blame the software companies for the deterioration and desensitization of our children's minds. The funny thing about it is that the last time I checked, we were responsible for what our children play or don't play. It's just like society to blame others for what is ultimately our responsibility. I'm tired of hearing argument after argument after argument about how video games are dumbing down our children and how they are sitting in the living room mashing buttons instead of reading or writing or heaven forbid, the actual physical act of playing with toys or real live friends!

How about the lack of responsibility on the part of us parents! Our kid sees a new game and they ask and ask and ask until we give in and drop 50 bucks for some peace and quiet. Because most adults don't play video games or think that video games are children's toys and therefore don't have time for such nonsense (I forgive your ignorance), you don't realize or notice that the game you just bought little Timmy has what is the equivalent of a solid "R" rating. You buy the game, hand it off to them and probably never see them playing it so there is no way of you knowing that he's shredding virtual humanoids with a chainsaw or getting a virtual handjob from a virtual hooker in a parked car in some alley of a virtual city! C'mon! Do you really need a rating system to tell you that a game called "Grand Theft Auto" or "Bully" is probably not appropriate for an eight year old?

Some parents are too damn quick to lay the blame of their child's deficiencies on someone else's shoulders. Far be it from them to take a step back and think, "Hmm, do I really want my child to play this game?" It's as if you were to let your little boy or girl watch a horror movie and then blame the movie studio for them not being able to sleep at night. It's the same thing with video games. We have to come to terms with the fact that video games are no longer geared toward just children. There are some pretty hard core games out there that have no business being in a child's collection. We as parents bare the sole responsibility of monitoring and controlling what our children play... period, no ifs, ands or buts. If we don't protect them, who will?

Sad, Sad Day In History

2009-06-26T07:20:00.010-04:00

I remember way back in the 80's chillen in my bedroom with that famous Farrah Fawcett poster up on my wall (don't pretend like you don't know the one I'm talking about, the one where she was obviously...a little...well, chilly) and my headphones on my over sized Sony Walkman playing Thriller as loud as my little ears could take. I loved Michael's music. Not as much as some of the people you see in those clips of his concerts where they are crying and fainting but I loved his music none the less.

I don't have a lot of time this morning to write an extensive history of his life, I just wanted to take a second to remember him and his music. May God rest his soul.

In my sad little opinion, this will be a day remembered by many as the day the King of Pop died.

P.S. For those in the news who state that he was the "Self Proclaimed" king of pop, just look at the numbers. He didn't call himself that, the people did.

Breaking the mold.

2009-06-04T20:50:00.025-04:00

I am fortunate enough to be living in the time that I am right now. I would have never thought that I would live to see an African-American President. I mean, I'm not very old but, I'm no spring chicken either. I know people who have actually told me, "I'm not ready for a Black President". I'm serious, can you believe it? Race is not the topic of this post however, I just wanted to put that out there.

Can someone explain to me what has gotten into the ass of the voices of the Republican party? I know, I know, there are plenty of Republicans that aren't as opposed to the new administration and even if they are, they know that we have to unify as Americans to make things work for all of us but, let's face it you are not being heard. I mean, where are you? I know you're out there.

There are plenty of mixed feelings, on both sides of the fence about our Presidents most recent trip to Cairo and how he addressed the Muslim community. I believe that this was, by far, the ballsiest move by any President at least in my history. I mean to reach out to the Muslim community the way he did. That took cojones man! And it's all in the name of peace!

He pretty much laid all the cards on the table when it comes to promulgating the peace across all the Middle Eastern countries. He announced that he favors a two-state solution and he acknowledged that Jewish settlements across the Palestinian West Bank are illegal. He even went so far as to call out Hamas and let them know that they too have a responsibility in bringing peace to the region.

I know of at least one news network that isn't too happy about this and is pretty much, like always, placing their spin on things (who are we kidding, you know which network I'm talking about, the self-proclaimed voice of the Republican party). They mean to strike fear in the hearts of every last American citizen. How are we supposed to come together as a country when we have this...this...elephant sized monkey hanging on our shoulders and whispering evil nothing in our ears every time Obama farts.

In my sad little opinion, the Repubs and Conservatives need to stop crying and get with the program. Obama is going to be here for at least another four years (eight years...shhhhh). Are they just going to continue undermining the integrity of this country by publicly denouncing every decision that this administration makes or are they going to put their differences aside and do what they can to help uplift this country for our own sake and the sake of the world.

Life...finds a way.

2009-06-01T20:05:00.024-04:00

We, as free thinking, resilient and innovative human beings are constantly looking for something better. Our wants are always greater than our needs, no matter who you are or who you think you are, this is always the case. I know many of you may not think that this is true but it is. In some way shape or form, there is something that you have in your possession right now that you would like to upgrade whether its your computer, your cell phone, your car or you home. That's not to say that we aren't grateful for what we have but it's in our nature to want more. In our deepest and innermost primeval core lies our need to...well..."want".

The amazing ability for wildlife to adapt to its environment has always astounded me. Throughout time, animals have had to deal with whatever it is we indirectly throw at them. We have been slowly chipping away at their natural habitats for centuries.

While on an outing with my family at a local water park. I noticed two little sparrows making the best of their environment. Upon closer examination, I realized that these two were seriously living right in the middle of probably one of the busiest parts of the park. I couldn't believe my eyes when I discovered them. Which was purely by accident. I was sitting off to the side watching my family enjoy themselves when one of these little guys came swooping down from a palm tree behind me nearly smacking me on my head. I followed him with my eyes (I hope you don't think I actually got up) until he came to rest on this beam under one of the big slides. The one on the edge inside the beam was taking material from the one on the top and setting up shop. This place was loud as all hell not to mention that the hotel which housed this water park at it's center was sold out so you know there were at least 3000 people there! All running and sliding and carrying on. And here are these two sparrows, making a life for themselves right in the middle of it all.

I don't know much about sparrows, maybe they just stopped by on there way to somewhere more peaceful but that little guy on top seemed pretty adamant about setting up his home.

In my sad little opinion, we could all learn a lesson from our little feathered Friends. No matter what the circumstances are, there is always a way.

In the immortal words of Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum played him in Jurassic Park), "I'm simply saying that life...finds a way".

North Korean Threat

2009-05-28T17:22:00.038-04:00

Okay, so let me get this straight, here we have this little ass country with a nut job for a leader who wants to get into a pissing contest with the rest of the world. No one wants this little man to have the ability to manufacture WMD’s whether it’s for his own personal use or for sale to the highest bidding terrorist. Who the hell does this guy think he is?

Now he's threatening a military strike against their brothers to the south? All for what, power? What the hell is wrong with this person? I watched a show once where a reporter went into North Korea to report on the North Korean way of life. It was unbelievable! The streets are devoid of any significant populous. The reporter herself was not allowed to go anywhere without a military escort. They are basically totally cut off from the world outside of their border.

Hmmm, I wonder why the Bush administration didn’t think about doing anything about it when they were in power? Oh, that’s right; they were too busy looking for WMD’s in Iraq (which we all know were never there to begin with). What really gets me is that the Repubs knew about this and never made a move toward a resolution when they had the ball! Now the Dems have inherited this problem and are forced to make some serious decisions which will most definitely bring on criticism from the usual loud mouth, blow hole Repub cheerleaders (if they haven’t already, I admittedly don’t pay them too much attention but they are good for a laugh every now and again).

I'm no military expert (and I've never claimed to be) but it's time to take this little guy seriously. The last thing we need is a nuclear holocaust at the hands of this little man because we were too "diplomatic" to intervene. China is right there sharing a border. How much do you think they are going to endure before they decide to take matters into their own hands? I don't know what needs to be done here but something has to happen.

Possibly the best way keep this guy at bay without engaging him is to continue to treat him like a child in time out. Cut him off at all the borders. If China watches the border to the north and the Bay on the west coast and South Korea and the U.S. keep an eye on the southern border with Japan monitoring the Ocean on the east coast, this guy wont be able to make a move.

The problem with this plan is that the less room he has to maneuver, the more pissed off he's going to get. Heaven forbid he does get to complete manufacturing of a WMD, he's going to let it loose on someone and the next thing you know it will be WWIII or Korea II. Which, lets face it, will lead to a full blown occupation of N. Korea by one of the surrounding countries (hopefully, South Korea).

In my sad little opinion, if we keep an eye on this little ass country, eventually they are going to run out of options and keep to themselves. The best way to deal with a problem isn't always to jump in and attack (Cough, Iraq, Cough).

Labels breed resentment. Let's get past them please!

2009-05-26T12:00:00.038-04:00

Okay, I know that race has been a hot issue for many many years now but, isn't it time that we put this crap behind us? We are soooo hung up on this that it is stifling our ability to progress. We need to take a deep breath, relax and realize that we are all people. We belong to one race, the human race.

Look, we all have stereo types. Every one of us, no matter where we come from have a quirk, or a style or a slang that is unique to our heritage and culture. It's these differences that make us unique. We need to embrace them, and nurture them and use them to supplement each other.

The Bronx was a melting pot of cultures for me. When I first moved into my childhood home, it was a predominantly Jewish community. As I grew, I saw the Jews move out and the African Americans and Hispanics and Albanians and Italians and Irish move in. As each of these cultures claimed their own space, I was able to become friends with some from each (and date some but that's another show).

It seemed to me that even though our naive, childish minds didn't mind the color of our skin, our parents seemed to have a problem with it. The older we got, the farther away we became and the only thing that we knew was that Mom or Dad or both didn't like us hanging with "those" people. We weren't allowed to hang with them but they really didn't want to explain why except to say that they were trouble makers.

In my teen years most of my friends were Hispanic and African American because, well, if you didn't know, I'm Hispanic. But I still didn't hold anything against friends of other races. We would see each other in the "hood" and say "whats up" and make half assed plans to hang out but it would never happen. I should mention that now that we are older, we've reconnected either in person or on Facebook and even though we have our own lives, we keep in touch and update each other about our families and what not.

You might be asking yourself "What are you getting at bxn? What does the title of this post have to do with you're story so far?" I'll tell you where I'm getting at. Apparently, in Finney County Kansas, Whites are becoming a minority. And for some reason or another, it's a big deal. Well I say, "WHAT'S THE BIG EFFING DEAL?" Why am I reading an article about this on a major news website when there are so many other issues that are more important?

This type of change isn't new. It's been seen in some of our biggest states in our great United States of America! California, Texas, Arizona and my current state of Florida have already seen this shift but I don't recall it ever being a news story. The U.S. census bureau calls it a "Majority - Minority". WTF IS THIS SUPPOSED TO MEAN! The bureau defines it as a county where more than half the population is made up of a group that is not single-race, non-Hispanic white. Wh...what?

I have never been a fan of labels especially the labels of "majority" and "minority". I feel that we are all equal, that no one is better than anyone else, you know? It's why I'm not intimidated to meet people of exceptional talent or position (meaning musical artists, actors, bosses, political figures whatever). My wife gets upset because I can interview for a job with a panel of six or eight or ten people and not break a sweat. But I digress.

I understand what they meant by these labels. It means the "majority" of the population is one race and the "minority" of the population is another race. This however, is not the context of how some people use it. I can't tell you how many times in my life I've heard racial slurs directed at me that included these terms.

It is for this reason and for this reason alone that it pisses me off to know that even though "other" races have become the "majority" in these relatively small areas of our great country, it cannot be conceded to begin calling them the "majority" but rather the "Majority - Minority". Can we just get rid of these labels altogether and move on with our lives already?

In my sad little opinion, we have way bigger fish to fry. We need to lighten up and get over this crap so that we can solve world hunger and global warming and blah blah blah.

Anti-Pirate Coast Guard. It's about time.

2009-05-24T12:00:00.005-04:00

This is just a quick update on my prior post about pirates (seems like years ago I know but it was only last month). It's no news that pirates continue to be a burden on ships off the coast of Somalia and the Horn of Africa and basically that whole body of water but is someone finally making a move toward a solution?

It seems that the Somali government has decided to take on the responsibility of dealing with the pirate scum that have popped up all over their country. They have asked the international community to help them put together a national coast guard to help deal with pirates.

Somalia has been suffering from a weakened government ever since 1991 when a civil war erupted and tore the country apart. Needless to say they have been struggling to keep their country together. The population there have seen it's fair share of anarchy ever since.

In my first post about pirates (WTF! How do we still have a problem with pirates!?!) I mentioned this kind of alliance and it seems that it might be getting closer to being a possibility. As it turns out, the U.N. has already authorized foreign military to use force and attack pirate land bases however, the Somali government wants to be involved so they are still working out the kinks.

If they can get their shite (minus the "e") together, maybe this will eventually be a thing of the past.

In my sad little opinion, It's about damn time!

Recycled space water? Bleeaaahgh

2009-05-22T23:26:00.011-04:00

Okay, I know that technology has surpassed many of our expectations in the years past. Maybe not to the extent of the flying cars that we're all supposed to have by now (according to the old Warner Brothers cartoons), but its getting pretty advanced.

I read this story today that just totally blew my mind. I know this technology has been around for awhile but, I guess I just didn't realize to what extent. The astronauts on the International Space Station completed a closed loop water recycling system. "But what's does this doohickey do BXN?" I'll tell you but you have to promise not to be consuming anything while you're reading it. Okay, you ready? It recycles urine, sweat and atmospheric moisture and turns it into perfectly safe drinking water.

I know, not very appetizing but hey, they need some way to get their eight glasses a day. But get this, it's not only coming from their urine. NASA says that soon, they will be recycling the waste from the lab animals on the space station. Your read it right folks! They say that seventy two lab rats equal about one human in terms of water reclamation (I wonder what PETA has to say about that).

I don't know how I feel about drinking my own recycled urine let alone that of another person or a rat for that matter. I'm far from a germaphobe but I gotta draw the line somewhere. What do you guys think? Is it something that you're willing to do?

In my sad little opinion, that's just nasty.

Whatever Happened to Tolerance?

2009-05-20T18:50:00.037-04:00

I've said it here before but I'm going to go ahead and say it again. I am a Christian man. What does this mean? Well, it means that I believe that Christ died for me and that through him I am saved. This is not the focus of this post however I just wanted to get that out of the way before I go on to show how imperfect I really am (not that I'm going to be blasphemous, I'm just going to go on to be the person that I am).

I was raised Roman Catholic. I went to a Catholic kindergarten, a Catholic grammar school and I spent three years in a Catholic high school (I may have mentioned this in a prior blog and if I have, just consider it info for the new readers). Through a series of events that I'm not quite ready to divulge, I went through various religions until I was guided to where I am today. Even though I am very happy with my choice, I'm not what you would consider a perfect fit. Not quite like trying to put a square peg into a round hole but more like just barely getting a slightly oval shaped peg into that same round hole.

Of all the religions I've experienced and research I've come to the conclusion that there are no "perfect" religions. The reason why there are no "perfect" religions is because there are no perfect people. No, not one. Even the most devout Christian is not perfect no matter what that particular person tells you. Remember the whole, "let he that is without sin cast the first stone" business? That applies to everyone.

There are a lot of opinions out there (including mine) and of course there is the old adage that says opinions are like you know whats, everybody's got one. Well, I'm going to ask the question (I already have but now in the actual body of the post), What every happened to tolerance?

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a very spiritual person. I pray every night, I go to church every Sunday and I try to be the best person that I can to anyone that I meet. Even the people I don't particularly care for get a free ride with me. That doesn't mean I'm letting them get away with murder or anything. It basically means if you don't start nuthin, there won't be nuthin. I never resort to violence unless I'm defending myself but I might be pushed into a verbal confrontation every now and again (as I said earlier, I'm not perfect).

The reason I'm getting into all of this is to point something out. There are plenty of Bible thumping Christians who are quick to point the finger of judgment not only at the atheist and agnostics (contrary to belief, there is a difference. atheist don't believe in a deity, agnostics don't have an opinion either way) but also at the people who fall into my category.

What is my category exactly? Well, it's the category I'm willing to bet where most Christians fit. It's the category where we believe that we are not perfect therefore we do not judge others because of their imperfections. From what I understand, it is up to God and God alone to judge people's lives. Am I the only one that remembers this part?

Who are we to judge others by what they do and do not believe? Will we ever be able to coexist in this world? Can't we all just follow the structure we as individuals have the right to follow through our own free will until the time comes when whichever God we believe in decides it's all over and pulls the plug? (My apologies to the atheists and agnostics reading this, I just don't know what it is you believe will happen in the end).

In my sad little opinion, if we could get past this part maybe we can put an end to this war (I realize that's a little ambitious but there is something to be said about thinking big).

P.S. Don't judge me.

Aren't we there for the kids?

2009-05-17T01:49:00.040-04:00

As you may have read in one of my prior posts, I was raised in the Bronx (future posts may or may not mention this little tid bit of information). My entire educational career consisted of me waking up in the morning, going to school and coming home. Believe me, it was a very mundane life until I was old enough to go out and actually hang out with my friends.

When I did hang out with my friends, the sports available to us were stick ball, two hand touch football, whiffle ball, basketball (well, a variant of basketball where we painted a box on a brick wall somewhere above us and we made a basket when we hit the ball inside that box), handball and slugs (a variant of handball we played on the side of an apartment building hitting the ground first). Were their any organized sports for us to get into? Yes there was however, our financial situations did not allow us to partake.

I'm happy to say that I'm able to offer my youngest son more than what I had when I was a child and one of these things is letting him play an organized sport. He's played soccer and baseball and his latest endeavor is flag football. A sport that I didn't think he would get into but, alas, he has once again proved me wrong.

But I digress, this is not the direction I was planning to take this post. I witnessed something during my son's game today that made me question why the hell I'm letting him do it. It had nothing to do with him or the way he was playing the game. It was the emotional state of the other parents that had me ready and willing to grab my son by the hand and waltz right off the field.

I wasn't there for more than two minutes when a fight broke out between a parent of one of the kids on the opposing team and the coach of said team. I'm not sure what the issue was all I know is that it was anything but a civilized discussion between two adults.

I understand that people want their children to succeed in sports but where exactly are our priorities? Isn't the point of placing our children in these leagues to help them with their self esteem? To teach them about team work? To tire them out so that we can get them home and have them take a nap so that we can take advantage of some much needed "alone" time?

When are people going to realize how ridiculous they look when they try to demonstrate that they know more about a sport than the coach does? I understand that in some cases this might be accurate but there is a time and a place for everything and telling the coach how to do their job (a job, by the way, that is probably voluntary) while they are trying to do it is downright rude. These people need to stop and think about how they would feel if someone came to their job screaming at them about how they should do it!

We need to remember one thing about kids people and that is that these kids are constantly learning from us. And what I mean by constantly is AT ALL TIMES, EVEN WHEN WE THINK THEY ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION! It's why when my kid lets a curse out by mistake that I let him off with a slap on the wrist. Don't get me wrong, I don't curse like a sailor (at least not at home) but I might let one loose every now and again and he picks up on that.

Children are like sponges in this respect and when we undermine the authority that is portrayed by their coaches, what are we really teaching them? When they turn around and mouth off at you because you asked them to clean their room and they didn't want to, are we going to turn around and say to ourselves, "Man, I shouldn't have showed him that it was okay to do that when I yelled at his coach". No, we're going to stick him or her in time out or ground them for a week or take away their Playstation privileges.

If we have a problem with the way the coach is doing his job, let's pull him or her aside and discuss it in private, like two civilized human beings. Or better yet, call them and do it over the phone and in another room or when your kid isn't home. This way, if you can't control yourself and start mouthing off, you don't show your kid that it's okay however, we really should be showing them the same respect we expect to receive.

In my sad little opinion, parents need to remember to leave their tempers at home, let the coaches do their jobs and most importantly, let the kids have fun.

I just don't get it... Aren't they fighting a war for us?

2009-05-14T14:42:00.037-04:00

There are things in this world that I just don’t understand. Why do they still sell ten hotdogs in a pack and only eight buns, why do people put $10,000 spinner rims on $3000 cars and why does a certain famous billionaire real estate mogul and reality TV star’s hair still look like that?

Of all these types of questions that go through my mind, one sticks out like a sore thumb and is quite possibly one of the biggest thorns in the side of the

United States.

How is it that we can send our best and our brightest and our toughest people to war and not take proper care of their medical problems both physical and mental? I just don’t under-effing-stand it. If you go out and put your life on the line and fight for our country with all your blood and guts and glory, I believe that you should have all the health care benefits you need for the rest of your effing life!

If beloved ex-President buckethead get’s a pension of about $190,000 plus a year and Secret Service protection for the next ten years for doing the P.O.S. job that he did in the eight years he was in office then why do we throw our soldiers to the wayside when they need proper medical attention? President knucklebrain didn’t do anything near what our soldiers are doing!

Just recently, a Sergeant in our proud U.S. Army went ballistic and killed five fellow soldiers. As I understand it, the pressure that this soldier was under was enough that anyone in his shoes would find it hard pressed not to loose it in some form or another. He did three tours in Iraq, which we all know is freaking ridiculous (do you realize that since 9/11 over 150,000 Army soldiers have been deployed more than once to Afghanistan, Iraq and the surrounding regions? 46,000 of those have returned three or four times! THAT’S EFFING…Ttt… ARGHHH!!!) Not only that, he had personal issues back at home that included not having enough money to pay his mortgage. He was obviously suffering from P.T.S.D. (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) when he decided to wrestle an armed escort for his weapon and went on his shooting spree.

Recently, the highest ranking military officer, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the

U.S.

has to do a better job at taking care of a soldier’s mental health! THE MAN HIMSELF!!!! One of the problems that they are investigating is whether or not there are enough stress clinics and counseling services available for troops. Currently there is one counselor for roughly every six hundred twenty something troops. I don’t know too much about counselor to patient ratios here in civilian life but I doubt that it’s that high.

Let’s not forget the soldiers who are coming home from duty with missing arms and legs and other assorted medical issues. These people have so much trouble getting proper long term health care that they are winding up moving back in with their parents or going homeless altogether. Veterans shouldn’t be treated this way! I understand that we cannot support veterans financially for the rest of their lives. There are just too many of them and our budget will not allow it. They should however, be receiving medical benefits equivalent to at least our members of congress who, by the way, don’t pay for medical insurance even though they have regular lives with regular jobs outside of their congressional careers which only meet in session a few times a year (I'm talking the family plan here folks).

How's that for a kick in the ass. We bust our humps working a job and paying up the whazoo for medical insurance and these bozos get six figure salaries and FREE medical coverage just because they are a member of congress.

In my sad little opinion, if I loose my legs because I stepped on a land mine in a country that I would have never gone to on my own accord, the person who took me there should pay my medical bills for the rest of my life. Even if it’s just an effing cold.

Space Shuttle Woes

2009-05-12T21:51:00.004-04:00

This is just a quick update on my prior post about the space shuttle mission STS - 125 to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. It seem that our worries have started early with reports of damage to four tiles on the right side occurring during lift off.

Apparently the "dings" are minor so it shouldn't be too much of a problem for the experts. Tomorrow they get closer to the Hubble where the real danger lies. I hope all goes well considering the rough start.

What the hell are we doing to our oceans?!?

2009-05-11T21:09:00.005-04:00

Growing up in my generation (generation x if you're curious) we didn't really give as much of a crap about the environment as we do now. The whole "Green" movement that has always kinda been in the back of our collective minds has only been thrust into the limelight within recent years. My question is, is it too little too late?

Back then, garbage was garbage and we didn't really care about separating paper from plastic from glass. As so many other things, we continued to fill our landfills and dump in our lakes, rivers and oceans without regard to the damage we were doing. I know, I know, if you do enough research online you can probably find any number of people and organizations that have been warning us about this for many many years now.

The problem is, being the people that we are, we tend to push the bad stuff to the back of our minds until it's soooo bad that we can no longer function and are forced to rally in order to fix it. No one wanted to hear that we were killing our planet because each of us were really just living in our own private little worlds. Worlds where the livelihood of our planet didn't really matter because it's so massive that this one little plastic cup couldn't possibly make a difference.

The green tree of conservation has many branches (I know, that was cheesy but, I'm trying too keep a theme here) but, the one I'm going to talk about here in particular is the ocean. I remember when I was young, I used to go to Orchard Beach in the Bronx and it was probably the highlight of the summer for me. As I got older the water started turning from a very beautiful ocean green to a very nasty, dark polluted green that is very very unappealing. Not only this, all kinds of nastiness started to wash up on shore. Things like dirty diapers, hypodermic needles and feces (yes, I said it).

I was watching T.V. today, just kinda surfing and looking for interesting stories and I stumbled upon this story about the pollution in the ocean that absolutely blew my mind, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. WTF!?! How many people actually know about this? Apparently, there are several of these patches in every ocean in the world but this one is by far the largest of all.

As the name suggests, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a massive swirling island of garbage in the middle of the Pacific Ocean between Japan and California that's roughly twice the size of Texas and 90 feet deep in some areas. Other places are at about 90% plastic waste. Some spots of this thing have six times more plastic garbage than plankton. PLANKTON! HOW EFFING BIG IS PLANKTON!?! HOW THE HELL DID WE LET THIS HAPPEN?

Can you believe that it's getting so bad that Beluga Whales are actually getting breast cancer? Yes, the same kind that you and I can get. Dead ocean birds are being dissected and do you know what's being discovered inside? Plastic, yes that's right, plastic. Take a look at this turtle. When he was young, he managed to get himself into one of the rings of a six pack ring package thingy and, well, just look at the result (poor little turtle)! He managed to live to adulthood with his shell growing around the plastic ring. I ask you, when is enough going to be enough? How can we possibly continue down this road of destruction? HELLO! This is the only planet we have! Where else do you think we can go?!

I know that conservationalists and the like are working hard as hell to stop the madness but they can't do it alone. I think you know where I'm going with this. We need to take responsibility for this people, who else is going to? Our animal friends depend on us to look out for them. All this garbage is coming from everywhere in the world. We're talking as far into the U.S. as Iowa so don't think that you can't be contributing to the problem just because you live in the Midwest.

In my sad little opinion we effed up big time here.

Happy Mothers Day!

2009-05-10T04:35:00.003-04:00

I wanted to take an opportunity to say Happy Mothers Day to all of my readers who are mothers. I hope you have a wonderful mothers day!

Flyby? What the hell were they thinking?!?

2009-05-06T20:04:00.043-04:00

On the morning of September 11th (theee September 11th), I was in my apartment in Orlando when I was awakened by my wife who proceeded to tell me with some urgency, "Honey, a plane crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I was working the night shift then and I was tired so I admittedly shrugged it off with a, "Holy Sugar!" (I didn't really say sugar but I'm trying to keep it clean) turned over and went back to sleep thinking it was an accident. I mean, I needed my beauty sleep if I was to function so I thought I would catch up with the story later. Well, a couple minutes later she came in and told me in a very much more excitable tone, "ANOTHER PLANE HIT THE OTHER TOWER! RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA!". Needless to say I got up this time and like so many others in America, I was glued to the TV for the rest of the week.

Fast forward to April 27th 2009 and once again the heart of the city was shocked into stone cold fear. Fear induced when a low flying 747 accompanied by an F-16 fighter jet was filmed flying dangerously close to the high rise buildings of our precious city. Video of a panicked populous was all over the news as people began to run for their lives and shouts of "Oh My God" were heard in the background. Buildings were evacuated in both NY and NJ. Frantic 911 calls were being made all over the city with reports of falling planes.

After all the hoopla, it was reported that the decision was made by members of none other than the White House Military Office. And the 747 they used? Air Force One! Yes, I know it's not Air Force One when the President is not actually on it but that's not the point. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall of that meeting when they decided, "Hey, you know what would be a great photo for our new campaign, Let's fly Executive one (that's what it's called when the President is not on it) on a low altitude flyby of New York City!" This is about when I would fly right off that wall and right into that persons throat!

Haven't New Yorkers (me still being one at heart) been through enough? You'd think that someone would have stood up and said, "Um, I don't think that would be a great idea". But NOOOO! They went right on ahead with their plans. Here's the thing, It didn't stop there. They had to notify the state and local authorities of New York and New Jersey to inform them that this was going to happen but did anybody stand up at this point and say something? I can't really answer this but let's face it, someone would have come out by now to state for the record that they were against it. The FAA new and did nothing about it either not only that, they made a consious decision against announcing it.

Now reports are suggesting that the campaign cost $328,835.00 in tax payer money! This is an outrage! To think that I helped fund this fiasco is maddening. Instead of admitting that spending this amount of tax payer money on such an insensitive event was a mistake, they turn around and say that the hours would have been flown regardless and the money would have been spent an another mission. WTF! Do they honestly think that this is going to make it all better? That was a slap in the face if you ask me.

I love this country, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else in the world. One of the reasons I love this country so much is because I'm able to publicly voice my opinion on the decisions that the government makes without fear of an angry gestapo knocking on my door. It is our duty to question these decisions and I don't believe that saying, "We might have effed up by spending this money here but we would have spent it somewhere else anyway" is enough to settle the grief of those who suffered the most during one of the most tragic events in recent history.

In may sad little opinion, this money could have been used for something much more worth while like, umm... I don't know... education maybe?

Golden Heart Award

2009-05-05T17:12:00.067-04:00

WOW! What can I say that won't make me sound like a sap (sniff, I promised myself I wouldn't cry). No, seriously I'm truly honored to be given this award by fellow blogger, vaishu author of Sweet Randomness In Life. It really means a lot to me especially since I'm so new at this.

As the rules state, I'm to pass this award on to 5 blogs that mean something to me so, here it goes:

1) God's Not Finished With Us Yet by Sarah
2) The Kingston Lounge by Richard Nickel, Jr.
3) Kick The Tire by Denise
4) Decked by The Decked Project
5) My Sanctuary by The Drifter

The blogs I picked range in subjects from God to art, architecture to poetry and health which outline some of the most important aspects of my life. I'm happy to nominate each of them and I hope that they continue to bless us with their words and works.

Now that the mushy stuff is out of the way, here are the rules. Pass this Golden Heart Award to 5 blogs that mean something to you and don't forget to drop a note to tell them they got it. Also, mention who nominated you and include the picture of the award in your blog.

Hubble repairs vs. human life... you be the judge.

2009-05-03T21:51:00.053-04:00

On Monday, May 11th 2009, the space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to take off for STS - 125. This is the designation given to the mission where astronauts will fly the shuttle to the Hubble Space Telescope to exact some repairs. Seems like it's a simple enough job (relatively speaking of course). But is it worth the risk?

I know what your saying to yourself, "It's the Hubble bxn! We've got to get up their and fix it don't we? The damn thing costs billions of dollars!" Well you got me there. The damn thing does costs billions of dollars and it has pretty much paid for itself in the shear amount of information that it transmits down to scientists and analysts not to mention the high def pics placed on the internet for all of us to enjoy. But it's not the money I'm talking about. The commodity I'm referring to is life, human life to be exact.

Behind the bright lights of STS - 125 is a little known secondary standby mission, STS - 400. What is STS - 400? Its the designation given to the space shuttle contingency support mission, in other words a rescue mission. Let me take it from the top. The Hubble Space Telescope lies approximately 146 miles farther from earth than the ISS (International Space Station). In this orbit, there are considerably more pieces of space junk than where the ISS is so the chances of the shuttle getting struck by space junk are way higher.

If Atlantis were to suffer a catastrophic hit from space junk while out that far in space, there are enough provisions for the astronauts to survive for anywhere between 23 and 28 days. That's where STS - 400 comes in. The space shuttle Endeavour will be prepped and ready for launch for just such an emergency. But here is my dilemma. If there is that much space junk in that region of space, what makes it safe enough for a rescue mission? Not to put a hex on the whole thing but lets think about this for a minute. How much is the Hubble really worth?

If the Atlantis is, for lack of a better term, rendered dead in the water and Endeavour goes up there and is also struck by space junk (because this is a real possibility) what then? Do we just keep on risking the lives of our astronauts and sending our billion dollar space planes up there until one of them gets it right? I don't know that I agree with the risk. Am I to believe that the lives of the people we are sending up there are less valuable than the Hubble?

In my sad little opinion, let's ditch the damn thing until we can figure out a way to get together with all the space bound countries of the world and clean up the mess we left.

HAVE SOME FAITH WILL YA!!!

2009-05-02T12:20:00.036-04:00

Now, I'm a Christian man as many people are. I'm not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but I'm a believer, you know. I go to church every Sunday and try to live the best life that I can doing the whole do unto others as you would like others to do unto you thing. I like to believe that I'm a pretty good Christian.

While on one of my many online news searches, I stumbled upon an article on www.weirdasianews.com about a Buddhist monk named Hua Chi. Mr. Chi has been a very busy monk. For most of his Buddhist life he has stood in this same spot praying over 3,000 times a day! Enough to wear a groove into the wooden plank he stands on in the perfect shape of his feet. According to the website, he's now in his 70's and has cut it down to 1,000 times a day. 1,000 TIMES A DAY! Now, I pray, when I get up, a couple of time during the day and before I go to bed. If I get 4 or 5 prayers in a day I feel pretty good about myself but 1,000 time in one day? Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking this guy. He is executing the faith he needs in order to stay true to his particular religion and that is a very beautiful thing.

In my sad little opinion, we could only hope to have a fraction of the faith in our God as he has in his.

"No-Fail" grading system... What the hell MAN!

2009-04-29T11:15:00.002-04:00

Growing up, i sucked at school. I struggled every little inch from about the 1st grade up until I graduated high school. And even then it was with like B's and C's. My entire grammar & high school career was probably the time in my life I caused my mom the most heartbreak and pain. Not because I wasn't intelligent but because I was lazy (an ailment I occasionally suffer from even today). The fear of failing is what got me though it. I just knew that if I had to be left back a grade that I was going to be the laughing stock of the school not to mention all my friends and that I would never get ahead and that my future was going to suck. It was the fear of failing that pushed me to the next level, albeit just over the next level but over it none the less. It is this same fear that keeps my oldest son going in college and my youngest son going in grammar school.

I read this article in a news website that there are a number of middle schools and high schools across the country that are taking on what they are calling "No-Fail" or ZAP (Zero's Aren't Permitted) policies. Wh...what? Who's half brained, nit witted idea was this? Look, I understand that it is important that kids don't feel like failures but lets get a grip. Am I to believe that we are going to get soft on this too? Without the fear of impending doom hovering over their little student heads, what's going to motivate them to do better? Why are they going to care what they get on the math test if they know they can't fail even if they tried? Why do we continue to lower the standards on education? If we don't allow our children to fail, what is the real message that they're getting?

Look, I can understand taking this stance when it comes to child sports leagues. Everyone gets a trophy because everyone tried their darnedest but, this is education people! We need to make sure that they "get it" before we release them into the cold cruel world. Correct me if I'm wrong but, the world isn't going to care that they were handed a passing grade by someone that was to scared to poke his ego enough to let them know that they need to do better. "Oh, but if we give little Timmy an F, he'll be devastated." MAN UP!!! If you don't give him the F, how is he going to take it when he asks Jane to the prom and she says no or when he applies for his fantasy job and they turn him down. I've got news for you, little Jane and the fantasy job aren't going to give a crap about little Timmy's feelings. Failure is necessary in order to highlight success. It feels good to finally be successful at something after we've tried and failed. Why are we going to deny our children this experience?

We are nurturing a generation of softies here people. Whenever I failed a test, I somehow got the motivation necessary to bring my grades up out of the tank and pass the semester. This all stems from the fact that we, as a nation are shoveling our kids off to school and treating our educational system like a day care center and not giving them the space necessary to actually educate our children (see post entitled "Edumacation"). We are in an age where we are over protecting our children to the point where they are not going to be able to manage on their own when it's time to let them go and believe me, that time will come whether we want it to or not.

What is success without failure?

In my sad little opinion, allowing a child to feel the pain of an "F" makes them feel that much more successful when they get that "A".

Edumacation

2009-04-25T17:38:00.003-04:00

Can someone please explain to me what the hell is going on with our educational system!?! I can't believe that the people in power don't think that this is a priority!

Okay, now that the outburst is out of the way let's get on with the commentary. Here is the issue as all of us know it. Our teachers aren't getting paid nearly enough, our schools are falling behind and our children aren't getting the education they deserve. Up until this point, our government has placed a lot of programs ahead of education (hopefully this will change with the most recent change in administration but that remains to be seen). Many decisions are left to the politicians but, that's the nature of our government. We elect these people to make the decisions for us. We have to remember thought that our voice can make a difference. What I mean by that is that we have a certain level of responsibility here.

Where I live there are counties that are considering closing many schools and consolidating students. They say that there just isn't enough money to fund the many programs necessary to keep the schools running so they are going to shut them down. I understand that this isn't a problem exclusive to where I live but I can't speak for anywhere else.

Amongst the plethora issues surrounding this, I believe that one of the problems is with us parents. A lot of parents, not all parents but a lot of parents have their priorities crossed. When the powers that be said that there wasn't any money for text books and that labs would have to be shut down and certain classes couldn't be offered anymore parents sat back and gave the attitude of, "Well, that sucks but you gotta do what you gotta do". BUT, when the school board said that they were going to have to cancel intramural, junior varsity and varsity sports the mobs started forming in the masses complete with torches and pitchforks.

Where are our priorities people? Are we really at the point of where actually teaching our kids something is less important than teaching them a sport? What this means to me is that parents are loosing confidence in our children's ability to make a future for themselves using their brain. We are building a nation of jocks and beauty queens. Don't get me wrong we need jocks and beauty queens but we also need doctors and engineers. Who's going to patch up all those injuries and build the stadiums? If we do not do something about this I'm afraid that the consequences will be dire.

Well, what do you mean by dire bxn? Let me put it in terms we all can understand.

If we keep cutting the budgets that pertain to education, who is going to be smart enough to make these decisions when we are gone?

We have the power within our grasps to change this. We need to write our politicians and let them know that this is unacceptable but, we can't stop here. We need to take responsibility in making sure our children have what they need to succeed in school. Things like taking the time to help them with their homework, taking an active stance in the school system by keeping contact with their teachers and not thinking of them as babysitters there to keep your child occupied while we're at work. So many parent just send their kids off to school and expect the teacher to be both educator and parent. These are our children, not theirs. WE need to help them succeed. WE need to nurture and guide them in the right path. There are millions of children being left behind because parents refuse to be an active part of their lives. The Japanese have a handle on this. Education is number one in the Japanese culture and it's because of this that they are churning out physicist after engineer after architect and what do we have to offer? Some of the most entertaining sports figures on the planet.

In my sad little opinion, we need to grab the proverbial bull by the horns and change the path of our children's future or we're going loose our strength as a nation.

Is there life on other planets? Sure... Why not?

2009-04-22T17:46:00.053-04:00

By no means am I an expert in the subject of life on other planets. I don't have the scientific know how or the equipment necessary to explore space and its reaches far beyond what I can see with my own two eyes (yes, I know, there's the internet but that's not the point). I'm not one of those people who claim to have been abducted and taken to a lab on some spaceship, spread eagle and violated by E.T. either (not that I don't believe them but again, that's not the point). I'm just a guy with an opinion that's just screaming to get out.

I know that we as humans suffer from insatiable curiosity. At any give time of the day we all stop and wonder about something. I'm not talking about the, "I wonder what I'm going to have for dinner" kind, I'm talking about the, "I wonder how the hell is that possible" kind. The kind of curiosity that drives us to investigate the reasons behind whatever it is we are interested in. When you pair "insatiable curiosity" with "unexplainable events" well, we have ourselves a dilemma.

Life of all shapes and sizes are constantly being discovered right here on this beautiful rock we call home. It isn't too hard to believe that there are undiscovered species of insects and animals in the middle of our rain forests but, that's not the only place where life is popping up. Recently, near a place called Blood Falls in Antarctica, scientists have discovered evidence of microbial bacterial life! In Antarctica! I KNOW! And not just floating on the top of the water or laying on top of an iceberg. It was deep under what's known as Taylor Glacier on the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.

This makes me wonder (see, there I go again). How is it possible for life, albeit microbial life but life none the less, can find a way to live underneath a cold, dark and wet environment with no sunlight or oxygen? I mean, we as humans could never survive in such and environment. We need fresh water to drink and the heat from the sun and the oxygen in the air around us to survive. With these things alone it wouldn't be much of a life but you get the drift.

Armed with this knowledge, we still have the audacity to believe that all life must have what we need to have in order to live. Millions and millions of dollars are going into a space program to find water on Mars because if there was water on Mars, then there could have been life on Mars. Hasn't anyone stopped to think that maybe it doesn't need what we need in order to survive? How can we be so closed minded?

Everyday scientists are discovering planets orbiting suns outside of our galaxy. It has been proven that there are billions (say it with me) billions of galaxies floating out there just within our visible universe (and by visible, I mean of what the Hubble Space Telescope can see). Each one has many many suns to which many many planets could and probably are orbiting around. Do you really think that our relatively small planet (Jupiter, in our own neck of the woods is more than 11 times bigger than Earth) is the one and only planet capable of sustaining life? I for one think it's impossible, the odds are against us in this respect.

In my sad little opinion, it's just a matter of time.

Controversial Interrogation Techniques

2009-04-21T19:54:00.007-04:00

This is a very sensitive issue. Their are human rights activists all over the world breathing down the necks of the members of the Bush administration pointing fingers and taking names over the alleged torture of suspected members of Al Qaeda.

I'm not going to say I'm for or against it but, of course I have an opinion that I'll be keeping ambiguous. There are two sides to this story and they both have very valid points.

On the one side you have human rights. People, regardless of what heinous act that person may have committed should not be treated inhumanely. I fully understand this outlook. I would hate to think that if I carried out the orders of my superiors, orders that I truly believed in with all my heart, that people would at least treat me humanely.

Then there is the other side of the argument. The ones that point out that these people didn't think compassionately about the people they killed and that in fact, they have proclaimed jihad against those whom they consider infidels. These people are so hell bent on killing the rest of us in the name of their god that they will stop at nothing to destroy us. Since they are not the only ones out there, there is a very strong belief that we need to do what we need to do in order to expose whatever it is we need to expose in order to stop any further attacks.

The problem is, these people follow a belief that is fundamental to their way of life. They believe what they believe because their faith in their god is unwavering. They have absolute faith otherwise, how do you explain why they are willing to die for what they believe and not only die but, endure hours and hours of alleged torture or so called advanced interrogation techniques.

You may have noticed that I have been referring to their god as their god. I say this because I don't believe that their god is my God. My God is a God of love, tolerance and compassion. I refuse to believe that they worship the same God that I do. I don't even believe they worship the same God other Muslims do. If only we, as a nation of so called God fairing people, practiced the same kind of faith in our God as our enemies have in theirs.

You may be asking, "Well bxn, what does that mean exactly?". Well, lets think about this for a moment. What were to happen if we all had the same faith in our God? What would happen if we all had the faith that God will take us out from underneath our rocks of intolerance and blessed us with the means to live in peace with our brothers across the ocean and them with us? Could it be possible that he would have delivered us from evil by now?

Hmm, maybe my sad little opinion isn't so ambiguous after all.

WTF! How do we still have a problem with pirates!?!

2009-04-19T15:39:00.029-04:00

Reading article after article after article of issues with pirates off the Horn of Africa is tripping me out. How the hell is this still a problem? Oh that's right, the legality of carrying firearms on board ships is still in question.

Look, I know that it's not that easy. There are issues pertaining to the vessels regarding both the country of origin of the vessel and the country they are to port with but there are international laws aren't there? I know that they can come up with an international procedure to remedy this.

What needs to happen is that the powers that be need to come up with "Rules of Engagement" for pirates on international waters. Laws that involve either training existing crews on board these ships in fire arms and provide them with adequate fire power to thwart off pirate attacks OR, let them hire an agency that will provide this service.

Another option would be to commission an international pirate task force to patrol these waters. Of course, they will need to stay in international waters so as not to break any laws of the surrounding countries. It being an international task force, all the surrounding countries can pool their resources and contribute men, ships and fire power to keep the renegade Somalis at bay.

I mean c’mon, effing dingys with 4 or 5 men with automatic weapons and RPG’s are taking over massive freighters 10 times their size. In the case of the Maersk Alabama, the U.S. Navy took 3 of them out via snipers. Snipers, on a ship that is moving on the ocean took out 3 pirates on a dingy also moving on the ocean without harming so much as a hair off the head of Captain Richard Phillips. You can’t tell me that that kind of talent can’t be contracted and paid to sit on these ships in case of an attack.

That leads me to another reason I believe countries are not paying more attention to this, they haven’t pissed the right people off yet. Let’s think about this. I know that for the most part, the countries involved up until now have pretty much either out ran the ships with evasive maneuvers or fought them off with sheer luck on their side. Then a ship with U.S. citizens gets caught and they take them out with snipers. There is a lesson to be learned here. And not the age old lesson of not effing with the U.S.

In a recent attack against a Norwegian tanker (MV Front Ardennes), a Canadian navy ship (HMCS Winnipeg) and a British Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel (The Wave Knight) were able to capture the pirates during their attempted commandeering. However, because there aren’t any formal procedures for NATO personnel to follow, they were released. WTF! It’s like we’re giving these people diplomatic immunity. You can’t tell me that if you catch someone red handed in the middle of the crime, your going to relieve them of their weapons and set them free without so much as a slap on the wrist. Don’t you think that they are going to go back to their country, pick up another RPG and head right out onto the water?

I’m no politician or military leader; I’m just saying what’s on my mind and what I believe to be on the minds of many people looking at this from the outside in.

In my sad little opinion, this shouldn’t be a problem anymore.

In the beginning

2009-04-16T23:09:00.007-04:00

Hello all!!!

I've been doing some research and guess what! There are no shortage of thoughts & opinions on the web about any given subject at any given time. So what sets me apart from all the others? Well, I can't really answer that because I haven't read them all. You're going to have to judge for yourself.

All I know is that I'm an ordinary guy, living in an ordinary world with some extra-ordinary thoughts & opinions on lots of different subjects.

Some you will relate to, and others not so much. We'll just have to see. I just hope that those of you that decide this is something you want to follow, enjoy whatever it is that comes out of my mind and through my fingers. Even if you don't, feel free to comment on any of the subjects I decide to post about.

This is my attempt at an introduction and that's all I really have to say today. Until next time!