Gentlemen: Start Your Engines- Here We Go Again!!

I hope everyone enjoyed that hot summer recess from all the health care hoopla. It was a nice break knowing that no matter how much people hollered, nothing was getting passed, no bills were going to get written and no one was working on the matter- well kinda nice. So now congress is headed back, refreshed and ready to figure out what to do about health care reform and the President is two steps ahead of them.

On Tuesday, the President will address the youth of America- emphasizing the importance of education, studying hard, being a productive member of society, and respecting their teachers/ parents.

What? Why? And why now? Oh that's right- his approval rating is slipping because of all this health care non-sense. Only 55% of Americans 'approve' of how Obama is doing in the office of the Presidency. Something MUST be done- hum, should he feed the homeless? maybe play baseball with some orphans, oh oh I got it- he'll address the kids in his most dynamic and charismatic way- that'll get them coming back. Ohhhhh and we'll do it on the first day back at school- get started running.

With this brilliant plan in place, I think Obama's team tended to forget how controversial his policies are at the moment. Although his message is said to be 'health care' free and not out to push any political agenda- this is ALL the president is concerned about right now. He stays popular, his policies get passed. This is not to say that the very unpopular previous president got stupid legislation passed even with an approval rating of around 35%- Obama can only be effective if he is liked.

One of the arguments I heard on the radio today is that it is up to the teachers to lead meaningful and well organized discussions with their students- to digest what is said so that the students have a well-rounded unbiased opinion of politics- what the administration forgets is on the first day of school the teachers just met their students, they are trying to establish a report, their lesson plan and rules, and the last thing they want to think about is coming up with a new discussion based on a speech they are going to be able to read the day before? Effective, very effective :/ Even if the best and brightest teachers lead very meaningful discussions that speak to their students, at the end of the day they go home to their parents...

This is where the educated meaningful understanding conversation should take place- at home. However, some parents are outraged that the President of the United States of America wants to address their kids- how dare he push his political agenda on our youth, he is just trying to recruit them to convince their parents to give 47+ million people a chance to live a healthy life without crushing medical bills. That socialist prick!!

Well there you go, that's the answer- shield your children from any opinion that is different from your own- other opinions are dangerous and might lead to questions and we just can't have that coming out of our school children.

On the morning of 9/11 I walked to my friends house down the street- at this time I found out that a plane had flown into one of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center- not really knowing what that was being 14 years old- we hoped into the car and got to school. Everyone was a bit of a buzz but I made it to my first class at 8am. Our English teacher had made the educated decision that education was more important than watching whatever was going on in the news. We did our lesson plan and about 50 minutes later when we were let out of class, we were the only ones in the quad. Everyone else was in their classrooms glued to the television as they watched the destruction continue. I ran to my next class and got caught up on what was going on- after about an hour I called my dad to come pick me up and take me home, bursting into tears in the car.

I will never forget that day and I will never forget my teachers decision to choose education over the news, especially that event. At the time I'm sure he did not realize the magnitude of the situation and might regret the decision as well but it will always effect me.

Obviously this is a very different situation but my point is that if we shield our youth from politics and the outside world, it is only harming them and if anything disconnecting them from politics. This isn't China. This opportunity- although very political to improve Obama's ratings before congress goes back into session to debate health care- is a great opportunity for the youth of America to finally have a role model who isn't looking to wage an unjust undemocratic greedy war.

So he'll give his speech, some kids will still have ignorant parents, and some teachers will have great discussions with their new students- starting the year off strong. Then congress will be back in session and we'll see how it all goes- health care? no health care? public option? no public option? It'll be interesting and we'll be around to watch what happens :)

I'm Back... And Not Much Has Changed

For those of you who have been reading my Blogs, you might have noticed the lack of recent commentary from yours truly. Since I am still an unemployed (serving breakfast to picky eaters, again, does not count), most of my time has been spent either trying to find a job or trying to make some extra money. With that in mind, I recently went on a vacation to Yosemite. Last Monday I departed from the well connected world of television news programs, Internet news articles, and cell phone twitter feeds and ventured into the world of really tall trees, big black bears, lots of falling water, and sneaky squires whos only goal is to steal your lunch.

Although I welcomed the disconnect, I took it as a social experiment in living the life of one who could care less about what goes on in the world outside of their own experiences. I somewhat expected to come back to reality having missed a plethora of important news stories, feeling shocked to learn all that had happened while I was hiking half way to half dome. When I returned, the first thing I heard was that another Kennedy had died and that California was once again on fire. After returning home, I jumped right into serving people food for lunch, and dinner the next day- breakfast, lunch, and dinner- breakfast, registering guests for a wedding, and then making sure the wedding went smoothly.

Today was my first real day back into reality- ran all my errands, cleaned my car, and watched Kieth Olberman and Rachel Maddow. What a great day! So what had I missed??? Hum, people are still arguing about health care and all the politicians are still on vacation- some sick guy held girls in captivity- a DJ overdosed- mother nature is still kicking our butts- the Michael Jackson case is still full of questions and inquiry- and I still don't have a job.

So, nothing happened... nothing new, nothing surprising, nothing exciting, nothing shocking, nothing really news worthy. Republicans are still saying stupid things and people are still dying. What does this whole experiment teach me? Stop watching the news- what's the point really? Someone will tell me if something that affects me happens? Right? WRONG!! Why do I love the news? Not for times when nothing is happening- which is often, news can get stale, but for the times you are glued to the TV or talking to all your friends and family because you just can't believe what has happened!!

All in all, I am happy nothing happened, I am glad to come back to the world almost the same as I left it- more relaxed and a little sore but I could have predicted all that has happened and I'm ok with that. Now if something interesting happens, I'll be around to let everyone know how much I agree or disagree with it- that is the fun part.

So stick around for something exciting to happen- it might be tomorrow or next week but believe me, it'll happen!!!

Media Feud for the Better

First off, I don't think I've ever been so pleased to be corrected on my options. There are no editors or assistant writers who check my work before it is posted, so these statements are purely my opinion from what I've read or watched on the news. Thank you again to all those who take the time to read my blog and for all those who choose to comment on the content. If you have an option or fact check on ANYTHING I write, please comment and add your voice to my blog.

Now on to the news- for those who do not regularly follow the news here is what is going on: Big flood in China, Military solider charged with conspiring with the Mexican drug cartel, people are beating each other up over a difference of opinion on health care for the poor, Iran is holding American hikers hostage, Costa Rica's President has swine flu, and people are dying.

What do I want to highlight today? The freedom of the press. Outlined in first amendment of what freedoms we as Americans are able to enjoy, decided upon by 18th century white men as rights that all humans should have. Smart men- so what does this mean for the media in 2009?

It means FREEDOM OF THE PRESS! Isn't America great! Currently the anchor of 'Countdown' Kieth Olbermann and the anchor of 'The O'Reilly Factor' Bill O'Reilly are in a feud- the voice of the conservative and the voice of the liberal population are head to head in differences of option. Shocked I'm sure.

Our government has a system of checks and balances to ensure that no one part of the government has more power than another. Now we all know how well this has worked in recent past (thank you illegitimate war and executive powers), but that aside, the media needs to work in the same way. The American people need to hear the leftist opinion and the right-wing view or they are left with one opinion.

Kieth Olbermann has a segment called 'The Worst People In The World', almost on a regular basis he highlights something Bill O'Reilly has done or said which can be interpreted as ignorant, racist, or hateful. In addition, Olbermann replays previous sound clips of Mr. O'Reilly's statements that directly contradict statements O'Reilly has more recently made.

Mr. O'Reilly's response to this criticism? Attack the man upstairs. He has commented on MSNBC's parent company General Electric (weird hu? G.E. owns MSNBC- who knew?) saying they are only seeking profits from the current government by agreeing with their policies.

In an effort not to sound like a left-wing version of Ann Coulter, I will not express my personal opinion of Mr. O'Rielly or my opposite opinion of Mr. Olbermann. I will however stress the importance of keeping both sides of the media in check. There needs to be a news organization who calls the right-wing talking heads out and those talking heads don't take criticism very well- even if its true. And in turn they should be able to have to same freedom of speech no matter what the leftist news show have to say.

While the heads of both news programs attempt to negotiate a 'cease-fire', neither side will succeed to quit criticizing the other side. GOOD!! I never want to watch Keith Olbermann where he is forced to keep his correction of Bill O'Reilly's news reporting because G.E. told him to play nice. On the flip side, I wouldn't want Bill O'Reilly to stop sounding like an idiot every time he opens his mouth. Bring it on, we're in America, both sides have to deal with being criticized and this is for the better of ALL news programs.

So that's my blog, I'm trying to hard not to discuss the insanity surrounding health care reform at the moment: guns, fights, arrests, shouting, and anger. This was NOT what Obama had in mind, this was not what anyone had in mind. What is wrong with Americans and what in the world is going to be done to stop the spread of ignorance? Nothing- we're only human and that is the reality of life- most people (including myself) yield to a certain amount of ignorance. It is just unfortunate that it is costing a real solution to a broken system.

To watch Bill O'Reilly lose it on TV watch this clip, oh my imagination only wonders to all the rants that were never filmed and put online:

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1815558

Bill Clinton Awakes From Nap and Saves Journalists?

I assume every one's eyebrows lifted a little in confusion when the news reported that the former president Bill Clinton would go to North Korea to help negotiate two captured journalists release from prison. And then he did...

Wait, I though Hillary Clinton was the Secretary of State?? Sending a women to do a man's work just wouldn't cut it? Why exactly was Bill Clinton sent to negotiate their release? What exactly was negotiated? 'If you don't release those girls, I will play the saxophone until you ears explode' or maybe 'If you don't release those girls, I'll seduce every female on your staff until you do.'

As far as I know the US didn't give up anything for these girls- Bill Clinton went over there, asked for them to be free, took a picture, hopped on a plane, and that was it? Does this smell fishy to anyone else?

Now I'm not saying that there was anything sneaky going on but what has President Clinton done since he's been out of office except take a lot of naps? Wasn't he impeached for lying under oath? This was said to be a 'humanitarian' effort... again, when was the last time President Clinton went on a humanitarian mission??

Did they figure Kim Jong-il hates African people and women so Mr. Clinton was their last option? Did Kim Jong-il particularly like Bill Clinton and ask for him by name? 'Ya, I'll let these girls out if you let your husband come down and have a beer with me, he's a real nice guy- I've missed him for the last 8 years!'

Very few people are questioning why Bill Clinton in particular and why was it so easy? The girls were captured at the end of March, they were put on TRIAL and sentenced in North Korean Courts. They were held in a North Korean prison for 5 months... President Obama publicly told Kim Jong-il to let them go- so did Hilary. What is this women actually doing besides pretending to be on the Ellen Degeneres show getting down with her bad self?

Really, Bill Clinton was all it took and they were free? Oh silly us, we should have sent him months ago before the trial and the sentencing and the jailing and all that fun stuff. From the looks of the event, North Korea was trying to make a statement- now they look like another intern getting on their knees for the former president.

I'd like some more answers- why him, why now, why so easy, and where the heck did former President Bush go? In his classic sneaky fashion with a snicker- he slid out the back door, locked himself in his room, and cried 'its not my fault- blame the black guy- leave me alone!'

That's a topic for another time. To conclude- why isn't former President Clinton our Secretary of State- he sure seems to be doing a lot more for the 'State' than his wife is- which is really sad because I was really rooting for her to be everything she said she was. Now she's just the crazy lady dancing with the people in Africa while her cheating lying husband is actually doing good. *sigh* we'll have a REAL women President one day...

Helium Articles

I will also be writing on the webiste Helium.com.

"Has Obama Kept His Campaign Promises?"

http://www.helium.com/items/1543083-obamas-promises

"Is Sarah Palin a Nationalist or Corporate Globalist?"

http://www.helium.com/knowledge/250388-will-palin-beat-oil-corporatism-in-2012

More to come!

I Smell A Rat

What happened to all the logical people in America? Republicans have waged a vicious war against everything honest and free about this country. They are using the media to manipulate people into thinking the government is taking over their lives.

Have these people stopped to think that the government is trying to help people? I know it's a shock, 'what has the government ever done for me in the past?' Town hall meetings are being ransacked by groups of people either paid or falsely lured to object to any form of "socialized" health care.

What these people do not understand is that most of them HAVE health insurance and a lot of them have Medicare health insurance which is run by the government. "Socialized" health care is when the government provides health care for everyone and there is no private health insurance companies. This is NOT what Obama has in mind.

The plan is a Medicare for the poor in addition to the elderly and children. Why are Republicans SO opposed to any government run health insurance? It forces insurance companies to lower their rates to compete- this in turn lowers their profit margin- and in turn lowers the amount of money the insurance companies can donate to any given politicians campaign.

For decades the government has targeted health care as a problem and somehow nothing has been done about it. Why did Republicans do whatever it was possible to delay a health care vote until after a recess? So they can perpetuate their agenda to the ignorant people in America.

Well now I sound just as angry and belligerent as these people at the town hall meetings. It is just really hard for me to understand. These people TRULY think they are doing what is best for this country by protesting reform. George Tiller's shooter TRULY thought he was doing what was best for women by shooting and killing a partial birth abortion doctor.

The previous Presidential administration was very good at being manipulative and sneaky to achieve their own personal agenda. It isn't until now that these events are coming to light for what they TRULY were- events leading to collapse of our economy. Now the policians who supported these crooked agendas are struggling with how to deal with honest truthful reform to BETTER America and its people.

After all the money in the economy was sucked out by greedy financial institutions and then lost in the twists and turns of manipulated mortgage packages- it is a surprise to the Republicans how the Stimulus Package, pumping that money back into the economy, could have possible worked. Financial institution KNEW what they were doing and KNEW they were manipulating people into mortgages they couldn't afford and then taking all their money.

When will the time come where politicians are honest and REALLY want what is best for the people they serve, not their own pockets. Like I've said before- there was a crash in the financial industry exposing corruption and forcing reform- this is what is happening to the government- corruption is being exposed and Republicans are the ones running with their tails between their legs.

In the next 3 years or 7 years depending on how effective the Republicans are, I would like to see for once the Republican side be progressive and not just reactive. Make a difference not just a delay. Give Republicans a good name- not just a war, a recession, and a lot of sick people with a lot of bills.

Obama Wins a Battle at the Expense of Losing the War

Now that the stimulus money has started really filtering into America's economy, everyone is in agreeance that the economy has halted its decline, jobs are being kept because of money from the stimulus package, people are buying new cars because of the cash for clunkers, and Republicans are forced to admit they were wrong, well not all of them, and take credit for the improvements done to their state.

Maybe after they all go back to their home states and see how much good the stimulus money is doing, they might be a little more lenient on giving their citizens health care as well.

The down side to the 'end of the recession', we are still at war. Although Obama has only been in office for 6 months he has been doing so much, people tend to forget, I think Obama tends to forget, that we are still at war. One of the first things Obama did, as we all asked and expected him to do, was end the war in Iraq. This all happened a lot faster than anyone had anticipated and now the troops are dying in Afghanistan.

When the US first went to war after 9/11, the Military went into Afghanistan and if was apparent that because of the terrain and hidden militia it was very difficult to get anything accomplished. So the Military moved into Iraq, took over their dictatorship government and implemented a democratic government- well not until they vote for their own president, that's when it will get interesting.

So now the military is back in Afghanistan and people are diying. In January, the amount of suicides in the military had reached a record high, 24 in one month, increasing Americans desire not to be in Iraq anymore- not to be at war anymore- but Obama couldn't do that without months of opposition. Since October, 749 soldiers have died in Afganistan and all together 5,065 young American men and women have died for us to be at war.

The economy has stopped declining and it seems as if we're all going to be ok. Obama now needs to get back to the original problem of the US still being at war. After the economic crisis, America needs to get back to caring about America and not killing more American soldiers.

Health care will get passed, homosexual's will get the right to marry, abortion will stay legal- lets not forget about the soldiers we've been raising money for, sending packages to, putting up yellow ribbons for, cheering for in the airports, and being reminded that they are dying for America.

1st Lt. Roslyn L. Schulte

Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.

Age: 25 years old

Died: May 20, 2009 in Operation Enduring Freedom.

Unit: Air Force, Headquarters, Pacific Air Forces Command, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii

Incident: Died near Kabul, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from a makeshift bomb.

Chief Warrant Officer Brent S. Cole

Hometown: Reedsville, West Virginia, U.S.

Age: 38 years old

Died: May 22, 2009 in Operation Enduring Freedom.

Unit: Army, 1st Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Incident: Died when his helicopter went down.

Senior Airman Ashton L. M. Goodman

Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.

Age: 21 years old

Died: May 26, 2009 in Operation Enduring Freedom.

Unit: Air Force, 43rd Logistics Readiness Squadron, Pope Air Force Base, N.C.

Incident: Killed by a makeshift bomb.

Lt. Col. Mark E. Stratton II

Hometown: Houston, Texas, U.S.

Age: 39 years old

Died: May 26, 2009 in Operation Enduring Freedom.

Unit: Air Force, Joint Staff, Pentagon, Air Force

Incident: Killed by a makeshift bomb.

To see all the faces of the fallen soldiers, please click on the link below.

Faces of the Fallen:

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/afghanistan/