Change (I Want To See)

Our politicians don’t seem to represent the average person in the U.S. anymore. They are worried more about keeping their jobs than they are about doing their jobs. (Don’t they always accuse each other of being out of touch with the real America?)

I have come up with a solution that I think will refocus their (politicians) attention back to doing their job (and keeping them in touch) and in the process will fix the economy and bring back the attitude that made America great.

Since our politicians are suppose to represent us, shouldn’t their pay also be representative of ours? In 2007, the median household income rose 1.3% to $50,233.00 according to the Census Bureau. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States).

My plan is simple, politicians get paid based on the median income. Right now the current salary (2010) for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $174,000 per year. Senate Leadership:
Majority Party Leader – $193,400 Minority Party Leader – $193,400. House leadership: Speaker of the house $223,500 Majority Leader – $193,400 Minority Leader – $193,400. (http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/congresspay.htm).

I know they will argue that better pay gets better people (same argument big business CEO’s make). There is a difference between good pay and over pay. Seems to me that the latter gets greedy people not good people. Remember the saying: Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I also believe that those who seek power are those most likely to abuse it.

There is also the argument that they (politicians) need to live in D.C. and back in their home state. Well to this I say “Barracks” or some other type of basic government housing and for traveling back and forth I say “Coach” tickets or the upgrade comes out of their own pocket. Remember they are really just “public servants” who suffer from delusions of grandeur.

I will no longer listen to or believe their hype: “The other party is destroying or will destroy America”.  “That candidate is a Washington insider and will continue abusing the system”.  “I am an established politician who knows how to work with the system”.  “This election is the most important election”.  And for post elections, one of my favorite”, ” the people have given us a mandate”, (there are many more).

I know that there is no way they will take a pay cut and I know they will do what it takes to keep their jobs (and not really do their jobs). I also know that the greatest thing about America is that the real power is in the hands of the voters. So if enough of us get together we can change our world. I myself have taken a personal oath that I will no longer vote for any politician that has had 3 terms or more. And if I don’t like the candidate of the other “major party” there is always a 3^rd party candidates to consider.

If a politician’s pay was tied to the median income the middle class would start to grow. The economy goes as the middle class goes. To quote Henry Ford: “There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible”. Once when asked why he pays his workers so much Henry Ford replied, “someone has to be able to afford my products”.

A Year Of Blogging

I posted my first post on January 24, 2009. I’ve only posted 56 times (57 if you count this post), I’m hoping to post more in my second year. My blog still has no central message. So far, it’s just random thoughts and a writing exercise that I post/do from time to time.

I’ve had a couple surprises since I’ve started blogging. I think the biggest surprise is the fact that I’ve had almost 21,000 views, that’s almost 21,000 more than I expected. When I decided to start blogging I thought, who cares what I post it’s not like anyone will ever see it.

I do take a little pride in the fact that an article I wrote while taking a citizen journalism class, through the adult community education program, got published in the twin cities daily planet (Spring Rolls In With Bocce Ball Players posted May 8, 2009). Thanks to the class teacher/editor.

I’m also really surprised that the post that seems to have gotten the most views has been “The National Flower Of Canada?” posted October 15, 2009. Since it was posted it has been viewed several times a day and it’s also the post that gets the most traffic from searches. Go figure. It’s the post that I put the least amount of thought into. I saw the picture and immediately thought that the red marks looked like a red maple leaf, so I posted it with a question. Apparently, as a whole, Canada doesn’t have a national flower, but if they ever do this one should be the one.

I want to thank everyone who took an extra minute to click the SocialVibe Badge, on the right, and did the activities. Just look at the amount of water you’ve earned. For those of you that haven’t done it yet, give it a try. It will cost you nothing but a minute or two of your time and it’s all for a good cause.

Now on to year two…

Legalizing Marijuana

More and more states are legalizing marijuana for medical use, and there is talk of legalizing marijuana altogether. I’m all for the legalization of medical marijuana. As someone that has suffered from chronic pain, nausea, loss of appetite, weight loss and many sleepless nights I can see the benefits of using pot. I don’t understand how as a society we can accept a prescription from a doctor of morphine, when needed, but not a prescription for marijuana even if a doctor feels it would be beneficial. I’m sure there will be some abuse by patients and doctors but there are abusers to a lot of prescription drugs. Legalization would also mean regulation. For those that say the pharmaceutical companies have already came up with THC in pill form, all I can say is that there is something about a ritual that is far more affective than just popping a pill. I use to have some of my own rituals so I can see the benefit of cleaning, rolling and smoking, just the inhaling and holding the smoke sounds a lot like controlling your breath which is a form of meditation.

As far as legalizing marijuana altogether I have given serious thoughts to both sides. The conclusion I came to even surprised me.

Most arguments against marijuana can be dismissed simply by comparing marijuana to alcohol. For example, for those of you who think that marijuana is the gateway drug, I would argue that alcohol and tobacco would have that distinction if they were illegal. It’s also my opinion that alcohol has caused far more problems than marijuana ever will. In 2008 there were over 13,000 alcohol related driving fatalities in the US, 37% of auto fatalities were alcohol related (http://www.alcoholalert.com/drunk-driving-statistics.html).

After doing some serious thinking about it I came to a couple of conclusions. First, pot isn’t and shouldn’t be a serious offense. Secondly it shouldn’t be made legal unless there are some stipulations attached like age and where and when it can be smoked (just like alcohol and cigarettes). If it’s ever legalized I think there should be pot dens for smokers to smoke and that should be the only place they should be allowed to smoke (I feel this way about cigarettes too). The reason I think we need pot dens is the simple fact that if I’m in a room with a group of people and they are drinking I can still decide not to drink, but if I’m in a room with smokers I’m going to get a contact buzz simply by breathing, taking away my choice. If marijuana was just made legal it would end up being smoked around others who may not want to be subjected to it (this was also my reasoning for banning cigarettes from public places).

Since I don’t see the “Pot Den” becoming a reality I guess I’ll stay on the side of making and keeping marijuana legal for medical use only.

On a personal note, I have done pot when I was younger and after awhile I just didn’t like it enough to continue and I have not used it for medical purposes, but I wouldn’t keep something beneficial away from others just because I haven’t used it.

Writing Exercise #4

Same rules as in the other exercises, use all of the words at least once.  Don’t forget to check out some of the responses from the other exercises (under the comments). If you join in leave a link to your story in the comments so others can check out your blog and don’t forget it’s just for fun. Here are the words:

Puzzle

Jump

Slant

Jolt

Stone

Diminish

How About A Terrible Bowl (Pooper Bowl)? (Or Not So Super Bowl)

Well it’s playoff time in the NFL. Then the Super Bowl, with all it’s glory. The 2 “best” teams in the NFL will go head to head to determine the best of the best. After the championship games to determine who goes to the big game they get a week off. During this week the media builds (and hypes) the game to an incredible height that usually ends in disappointment, leaving the commercials as the best part of the viewers experience. On top of that the game is played in some warm climate stadiums or in a dome somewhere. It’s more like a circus than a football game.

What I would like to see is a “Terrible Bowl”, played the week between the end of the playoffs and the Super Bowl. The Terrible Bowl would be played between the 2 teams with the worst record, and the game should be played outdoors in a stadium some place like Buffalo, Cleveland, Green Bay or New England, someplace where the fans have to brave the elements (not for the luxury box crowd).

Instead of a trophy for the winning team, the NFL could have a banner that would be hung in the stadium of the losing team that read WORST TEAM OF ____ (YEAR)or it could say “THERE IS ALWAYS NEXT YEAR”. Instead of tickets that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars the tickets for the Terrible Bowl could be $10 on a first come basis, sold on day of game at the stadium box office.

I can already see real football fans camping out a week before the game (to get those 50 yd line tickets), and to cheer/jeer their team.

Tis The Season For…Scary Movies!

The holiday season is all about family and friends. It’s also a time for love, peace, joy and good will towards one another. It’s enough to make you sick. How much happiness can someone take before they lose it? OK, it’s not the happiness that makes you sick, it’s the fact that you’re suppose to be happy while trying to make the season perfect. Planning, decorating, cooking and shopping, just untangling and putting up the lights is enough for me to want to choke an elf.

The way I deal and have dealt with this time of the year is to watch scary movies. Any movie that makes you jump, hide your eyes or keeps me on the edge of my seat will do. Nothing helps with the stress of the holidays like immersing yourself in a world where people are hunted, chased and killed. Or a world where you know something bad is going to happen but you don’t know when or where.

I have been watching scary movies during the holidays for years now and have had my friends and family shake their heads at the thought. But I have noticed more and more scary movies on during this holiday season, so I must not be the only one out there who thinks like this.

If it weren’t for my balancing all the joy with a little horror my backyard would be a garden of carolers by Christmas. So to you I wish a Scary Christmas and a Screaming New Year.

Under the Banner of Heaven (Jon Krakauer)

In 1984 a woman (Brenda) and her little girl (Erica) were murdered, because God wanted it done.

Jon Krakauer does an excellent job of exploring the mind of the killers and the reasons behind the murders. The killers were Mormon Fundamentalists who believed that God wanted certain people “removed” so His (God’s) plan could be carried out.

To truly understand the killers Jon Krakauer explains the violent history the Mormon church. Violence that was inflicted by the Mormons and towards the Mormons. He also explains the split, and reasons behind the split, of the LDS (Latter Day Saints) and the FLDS (Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints).

The writing is good, and without bias, but at times it reads a bit like a textbook. But the subject is interesting enough to keep you reading. The book was somewhat reminiscent of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.

In the end the reader is left with insight into the mind of a killer created by religion, and left knowing just how messed up people can be.

The Bayou Classic (For Those Who Don’t Know)

Once upon a time I was a sports fanatic. I could name the starters for most teams, their records, schedules and injury lists. Those days ended a long time ago, when the Browns left Cleveland.  I’ve tried to get my excitement for sports back, but I’m afraid it may be gone forever. The only game I truly look forward to watching every year is the Bayou Classic. Back in the day when I was still a fanatic I discovered black college football when BET (Black Entertainment Television) used to show games, that was probably around 20 years ago.

The 36^th annual State Farm Bayou Classic was played November 28, 2009. As always the teams playing were the Grambling Tigers and the Southern Jaguars. The Tigers won 31-13, even though it was a blowout and the Tigers outplayed the Jaguars in all parts of the game it’s still one you should kick yourself if you missed. Over the years I’ve learned that it doesn’t matter who wins or how close the score it’s always worth the watch. The game is always full of great runs, passes and diving tumbling touchdowns. Scenarios you don’t normally see, like going for it on 4^th and 10 in the first quarter with the score at 0-0. It’s just a fun and entertaining game, and for halftime they have the Battle of the Bands, where the Grambling and  the Southern bands go head to head in music, marching and dancing. It’s not just team vs. team its school vs. school. What could be better?

Even though I don’t care who wins the game, I always start off in the Tigers corner but I cheer at every great play (and there are many) and often pull for whoever is losing, and I’m just as happy if the Jaguars win. The reason I always start out pulling for the Tigers is because of Eddie Robinson. Robinson coached the Tigers for 56 years and won 408 games and more than 200 of his players went on to play in the AFL and NFL. The more I find out about Eddie Robinson the more respect I have for him, not just as a coach but as a man (google or wiki him for yourself).

So in November 2010 on the Saturday after Thanksgiving look for the State Farm Bayou Classic on NBC, you won’t be sorry (you may even thank me). I have to thank BET for showing those games that got me hooked so long ago (you should do it again) State Farm for sponsoring the game and NBC for showing the game.

Veteran’s Day or Armistice Day?

November 11 is now known as Veteran’s Day. Once it was known as Armistice Day (and maybe it should be again).

Below is an excerpt from the book Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut, one of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors. After reading the excerpt below I, like Vonnegut will choose Armistice Day.

I will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day . When I was a boy, and when Dwayne Hoover was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind.

Armistice Day has become Veterans’ Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans’ Day is not.

So I will throw Veterans’ Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don’t want to throw away any sacred things.

What else is sacred? Oh, Romeo and Juliet, for instance.

And all music is.

The War Of The Worlds (H. G. Wells)

The only things that I knew about “The War of the Worlds” was what I saw in the movies (1953 version was much better than the 2005 IMHO). The book by H. G. Wells was far superior to the movies.

Wells did a great job with the science of the time (knowledge of Mars, evolution, etc.) His predictions of technological advances in warfare are just plain scary (especially the use of chemical warfare).

The book was published in 1898 so the language is a bit different (but I enjoyed that). For me the thing that made the book so great was the time in history that it takes place. A time when most traveling was done by either train, steamship or horse and buggy. News was delivered by telegraph and newspapers (no TV’s, radio, video,  phones or internet). For weapons humans had no tanks, planes or Atom bombs.

In the end it wasn’t mans  superiority that saves mankind, it was nature.