Monday, April 30, 2007

"Frosty" replaces the word "Cool" to describe things

I'm tired of saying "Cool" when something is "Cool." I've been using "cool" for about 23 years, give or take a year or 2. I'm not all that crazy about saying "Sick" either.

So, my new word shall be "Frosty."

Learn it. Know it. Live it.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Demilitarization

For the record, I think our continued involvement in Iraq is unlawful and there will be no happy ending to this war. We should be leaving soon. Once we got to Baghdad and got rid of Saddam Hussein and discovered there were no WMDs, we should have just left.

I knew after serving on the USS New Orleans and going to places Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, Jubal Ali, and Dubai that middle eastern culture is dramatically different from the U.S. I also knew that a Sunni minority ruled a Shia majority via Saddam Hussein's brutal fascist regime, and if things were to suddenly change, there were going to be many old scores to settle and possibly a civil war given my basic knowledge of human behavior. That's basically what's been going on, and this why I think the solution to bringing peace to Iraq is to embrace Joseph Biden's idea of seperating the Sunni, Shia, and Kurds into there own seperate states under one federal government. However, I also feel like political issues can only be solved by the Iraqi people, and there's very little the U.S. will be able to do about the situation there in the grand scheme of things.

In addition, I was watching Charlie Rose the other day, and he had on General James L. Jones a retired marine general. General Jones made the point that despite Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Bush's handling of the war, the US military's intentions are noble in Iraq. They are the same as when the U.S. helped liberate the world from the Nazis regardless of George Bush's inability to make that clear to people.

Moreover, getting back to larger picture and putting it in perspective, President Dwight D. Eisenhower said in his farewell speech that the greatest danger to the American people isn't a foreign enemy, it's our own "military industrial complex." Most people don't know, before he gave the speech, he crossed out the word--congressional. The phrase was "military industrial-congressional complex." President Eisenhower could see the ever increasing influence of military corporations via campaign contributions, and he saw the need congressman have of money to run re-election campaigns. This mixture is dangerous and leads to senseless and unjustified wars--remember, Vietnam?

In other words, for profit military corporations don't thrive unless there is war going on, and congressmen can't get re-elected without money from corporations. So, the real issue isn't whether or not our intentions are noble in Iraq, it's the fact that the U.S. keeps getting involved in costly military operations, and our involvement in these 'wars' 'conflicts' or whatever you want to call them, is due largely to the influence of for profit military corporations.

You might remember, current Vice President, Dick Cheney was the CEO of Haliburton--one of the largest for profit military corporations. Before Haliburton, Cheney was Secretary of Defense under George Bush Sr. Something most people don't know,while he was Secretary of Defense, he had a hand in the policy, which makes companies like Haliburton even greater beneficiaries of wars--American soldiers used to do their own cooking and laundry--now, cooking and laundry is done by "contractors" a la Haliburton. Watch the documentary, "Why We Fight." It goes over in detail the validity of that claim.

Basically, the U.S. has a system of legal corruption in place, and it's not a coincidence that the U.S. goes to war and the largest beneficiary of the war is Haliburton. If you think this is "just coincidence," I've got a bridge in Arizona I'd like to sell you.

The bottom line is, there are disturbing patterns of behavior by our politicians and special interests, which result in the military being involved in conflict after conflict. In fact, you could say the special interests are literally running this country.

I noticed this cyclical nature of the U.S. involvement in conflicts, and I decided to write a book. The book involves changing the loopholes in our Constitution, which make it possible for corrupt conditions to exist, which lead to U.S. involvement in wars. This book is called The New Bill of Rights. As you can imagine, The New Bill of Rights involves changing the Constitution. The purpose was to point out loopholes that create this system of legal corruption and show how to close loopholes with 10 new Amendments.

To give an example, the primary loophole leading to corruption in America's political system came into being during the beginning of the last century--The 16th Amendment: The Income Tax. It's the loophole that makes "the military industrial-congressional complex" a reality. The 16th Amendment: The Income Tax is written in a way that allows Congress to increase taxes as much as they want, and it allows congress to spend tax payer money however they like. The 16th Amendment is a blank check. It puts military corporations in a position to do anything to get their hands on tax payer's money--they call the bribes "campaign contributions." So, it is appropriate for the American people to demand a different way of collecting taxes, which would put more control into the hands of Americans such as a Progressive National Sales Tax.

Furthermore, when the founding fathers wrote the Constitution, they didn't include a provision for balancing the budget. Originally, they also didn't include an Income Tax--before the Income Tax Amendment there wasn't much of a budget to balance. Now, with the Income Tax and no provisions for balancing the budget, the President and Congress can start wars without being concerned if money is there to pay for it or not. Therefore, in addition to changing The Income Tax, a Balanced Budget Amendment is also necessary.

In addition to those 2 Amendments, it's even more important to ban corporate campaign contributions altogether, especially from the military establishment, and there should be a limit on individual contributions. Our constitution says, "all men are created equally"--well, if one man wants a politician to do something for him, and he gives a campaign contribution of $1 million while another man can only contribute $100, there is no equality. So, in The New Bill of Rights there's a Campaign Contribution Limitation Amendment, which bans corporate contributions and limits individual contributions.

Anyway, I realize, for most people this is a boring subject. I also realize, most Americans are irritated by the condition of politics in Washington, D.C. It's sort of a Catch 22. People want to fix it, but where do you begin?

Is protesting a War in Iraq enough? It's doing something, but does protesting address the conditions that create environments that caused the war in the 1st place? Hopefully, I made it clear in the preceding paragraphs, protesting doesn't address the causes.

So, it's the causes that need to be addressed. If they are not, America will find herself in another war soon. It's a guarantee! The next likely candidate will be Iran--Iran has ties to Al Qaeda and is building a nuclear weapon. When the U.S. went to war with Iraq, ties to Al Qaeda and nuclear weapons were THE 2 MAIN REASONS--these 2 "facts" proved to be outright lies. But now, in Iran's case, it's factual, and all that's missing from the War in Iran is the rhetoric to convince people it's necessary, and the order to start dropping bombs--the plans are already drawn up!

Ultimately, what's needed is a major movement--like the Civil Rights Movement in the 60's, there needs to be a "New Bill of Rights Movement." Americans need to get together and make changes to our government--these changes need to promote a more compassionate society, prosperity for all, a peaceful foreign policy, stability with good leadership, as well as instill accountability and honesty in corporations and politicians, which if these changes are made, it will lead to happiness for an overwhelming majority of Americans.

There is an inevitability to The New Bill of Rights. Honest and intelligent people understand the need to change things, and they are tired of not seeing results.

Once people visualize how a world with a New Bill of Rights is going to be, then they'll become as convinced as I am. It's probably going to take a while before enough people catch on. At least, the book has been written.

Was Jesus was a chick magnet?

I'm not sure why I felt the need to pose that question...

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Good things come to those who "work" and "wait."

I've pretty much mastered the waiting part of that equation.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

I think I love dogs more than people.

I had the good fortune of meeting a 13 year old black lab a couple days ago named Alex. I think he pretty much exemplified everything I love of about dogs.

He had an arthritic limp, cataracts, and grey whiskers, but generally speaking, he still had that same silly exuberance of a 4 month old puppy. I only got to spend a few hours with him, but during at least half that time, his favorite toy, a stuffed goose, was clinched between his teeth. He must have come up to me 10 times, wagging his tail with that silly little honking goose in his mouth with that look in his eyes that said, "Let's play." Just thinking of him makes me smile.

He reminded me of "Marley and Me," which I read a few months ago. I'll be honest, I cried while I read the last 4 chapters. I don't cry when people die, usually, but when a dog suffers, my heart breaks, especially labs. They teach one the most important lessons about life--enjoy every moment and love the one's you're with. I can't think of anything else that has a heart as pure and true as theirs.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Something that happended when I was around 1 years old.

When I was 1 years old, I fell on my face and broke my nose. I've never told anyone this. It was sort of a surreal moment, I wasn't able to articulate to anyone what had happened at the time. So, I sort of forgot about it, but it's always been in the back of mind. I definitely have a deviated septum, which effects my breathing.

Now that I've thought about this instance, I remember the before and after. Before the fall, my breathing was free flowing and easy. After the fall, my breathing became sort of labored due to the fact the nasal passage became noticeably smaller.

I've discovered Breathright strips help out considerably while I'm asleep.

Pink

Maybe, I'm a little old fashioned, but I think you should only be allowed to wear pink if you have a vagina.

Snugglepants

I'm sorry I acted like a bonehead. Not a day goes by that I don't think about you.

I love Charlie Rose

Yeah, I said it.

I usually leave my groove thang at home

Once in a blue moon, when Saturn aligns with Uranus, I'll get out on a dance floor and bust a move old school, yo.