In a lame duck session of Congress plagued with efficiency and bi-partisanship, President Obama and the Democrat majority Congress passed sweeping new reform of the Christmas holiday. The bill, voted on late last night, will extend the age in which parents have to celebrate and buy Christmas gifts for their children. "A lot of us returned to our districts to spend time with our families and found the houses around ours to be dreary and poorly lit. Business was down, and according to my interns, several of my constituents complained that they were unable to put Christmas gifts under the tree this year. Obviously, Christmas was dying, and we had to act fast" said one House Democrat.
Democrats checked and rechecked the list of votes and it was brought to the floor. There was some last minute confusion when some of the more liberal members of the Democrat party edited the House version of the bill last to include a ban on federal employees and firms receiving government contracts wishing people a merry Christmas. House Republicans were outraged, saying John Boehner, "This was just another example of Democrats trying to subvert a bi-partisan effort because they knew we wouldn't read the bill." House Democrats folded, removing that part of the bill, saying one Nancy Pelosi aide, "We really hoped to keep some of the language in this bill but unfortunately a few of our colleagues across the isle did have an intern read the bill, and more unfortunately, one of those aides was not Jewish."
The bill will mandate that all parents who have only one child buy him or her 22 gifts, parents with 2-4 kids must buy them 8 each, and parents who have from 5-9 kids must buy them 4 each. Parents who have more than 10 children can receive free presents for their children by mailing in a form designating the child's name, age, gender, interests, height, skin tone, place of birth, and social security number. These gifts will be paid for by a new tax on adult couples without kids aged 18-49. The new law also pushes the age that parents must celebrate Christmas with their kids to 26. Republicans protested both of those parts of the bill but were unable to draw compromise with the Democrats. "We're a little concerned about some of the regulations, but we're glad that the word of Christ will be now be handed down by the federal government."
Democrats paraded the bill, saying "Not only will this bill bring back the spirit of Christmas in this country, but it will also help boost the economy during these troubling economic times."
The bill has raised some concern and resentment among couples without children. "I was involved in an accident as child, I can't bear children, now I'm going to be taxed for it?" said one woman from Tennessee, while a New Jersey woman praised the bill saying "My boyfriend and I decided to have children that night. We figured that we might as well have 10 to capitalize on the new bill, and hopefully we can get enough fertilization drugs so we can have them all at once so we can get our own tv show."
A Florida couple made headlines later that day when they decided to put their 11-month old baby up for adoption. "My husband and I did the math and we just couldn't afford to pay for 22-gifts for our baby, but we definitely didn't feel right about a late-late term abortion, so our only option was to put little Jeffrey up for adoption." Under the law, orphans will also receive free gifts, but the mandate is yet to be paid for, as Republicans found enough support from Democrats to threaten a filibuster if the original plan to have children who were raised by two parents pick up 75% of the tab while single parent homes picked up the rest wasn't removed alongside the ban on saying Merry Christmas.
It's unclear what the full impact of this law will have down the line, but for now, the Christmas spirit seems to have returned to Washington.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
Like I wouldn't write something about Election Day!!!!
Excuse my long absence from intelligent writing, I've been busy. But I've returned just in time for the national midterm election and all the really exciting local races! Allow me to tell you who I'm considering voting for this election. I have no shame. Super mega Mayo information & indoctrination hour(Governor, Senate, and District 19 coverage)!
But first, what the @&%#'s up with these amendments?
From my understanding, if I vote No on Amendment 4, I am denying myself the ability to bring proposed land development to a vote for the general public to decide. Pseudo direct democracy on the issue of land development. I looked up to see if the amendment would affect Eminent Domain, my most hated issue. It does, as I suspected. Here's a thing they sometimes call a quote
"Decreased development will lead to something something They wouldn't let me copy and paste this quote" . . .
Basically kids, people are more than likely going to vote down development plans that would lead to increased urban density and consumption of resources etc etc, therefore, because there is less development, there will be less need to seize land in order to create infrastructure to accommodate new development. Got it?
Ok, first, I'm sorry that was so long, I'll try to shorten it up. We'll fix it in edit. Anyways, this is a toss up for me. I am all for voting for something that gives people stronger leverage against eminent domain. Stealing a persons private land for public use by force is the most atrocious act on Earth. However, this is going to create a HUGE bureaucratic nightmare. It's probably going to seen as a negative for companies that want to bring new businesses here. It will stall the development process assuredly, perhaps for several months. Also, it's going to be very difficult to inform voters about the details and plans of several large scale development projects, and it's very vague on how specific it has to get.
I'm not necessarily saying Floridians are too stupid to regulate property development, I just don't think it should be done this directly and in this manner. We have elected officials to make these decisions for us, after all, don't vote for someone who is pro-property development if you don't want property in your area to be developed. Really think about this issue and vote for what you think is the best way to deal with land development issues.
Amendments 5&6
This will change the rules regarding redistricting of voting districts. The amendments propose using pretty common sense criteria set by a non-partisan board for districting focused on geography and being "as equal in population as feasible" compared to what we have now, insanity. Florida's districts are so undeniably gerrymandered it's ridiculous, why not approve these amendments, they're bound to do some good and probably won't break the taxpayer's wallet, although I think I already regret saying that...There's bound to be some corruption at play here that we'll hear about after the change is made.
Governor's Race!!
Alex Sink v Rick Scott (v Independent)
Alex Sink- Pro Obama Health care plan, bad. Pro-Bush/Obama stimulus, if not bad, at least shameful. Ran a business at one point, good. The investment fund she ran for the state of Florida lost $61 Billion in 18 months, bad. "Fiscal Conservative", not really but I like the effort at least. I'm actually considering voting for you.
Rick Scott- This guy. This -bleeping- guy. His campaign didn't even bother to put his stances on wikipedia, bad. He pulled some MAJOR fraud in his health care company. Like absurdly illegal and reckless business practices here, mega bad. A seriously rank-and-file republican, good and bad, I suppose. You kinda make me not want to vote for you Rick Scott. Why couldn't you be a good candidate?
Micheal E. Arth- Independent. Micheal is an "American artist, home/landscape/urban designer, public policy analyst, advocate for the homeless, futurist, and author" Check out his wikipedia page here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_E._Arth, he's a very interesting man, and he leaves me wishing it wasn't such a serious election because otherwise I'd have no qualms voting for him.
Senate Race
Kendrick Meek v Marco Rubio v Charlie Crist
Kendrick Meek- I mean, the guys alright? He's a pretty plain democrat. I feel very similar to him what I felt towards Obama in his campaign for presidency. He said some things I liked, but I just don't agree with the overall policy. Meek fought tooth and nail for affirmative action to remain in place when Gov Bush was trying successfully to overturn it with his OneFlorida program, something I supported. He was a captain in the state troopers, the first African American ever to do so, and surely the inspiration for the state trooper character in Carl Hiaasen's classic Floridian political and environmental tale "Sick Puppy," which is an amazing novel. However, I really don't like cops, so this is turn off for me. So Kendrick, I bet you busted a lot of innocent kids for small time possession charges huh?
Marco Rubio- This cat is a superstar in the Republican party. Highly admired by the tea party. He's a conservative, no two bits about it. Claims to want to cut government spending and lower taxes, but everyone says that. I like him personally, he'll vote in my interests often, I think we'll disagree on some social issues like abortion, gay marriage, and marijuana and drug laws, but he hasn't made those issues on his campaign, so I feel relatively safe he won't do anything too radical on the social front that would alienate independent supporters.
Charlie Crist- A dirty whore politician who is scratching and biting for power in a state and political system that turned against him. He was considered a potential vice president candidate for McCain, and less than two years later he's endorsing most of Obama's large scale government spending plans. He rode the wave of populism and it swallowed him up. He lost the republican primary to Marco Rubio but instead of acknowledging his loss, he decided to run as an independent. That's his right, but I don't think the center he claims to represent is as large as it seems(he's polling around 10% right now). I think those voters will ultimately say "there's too much at stake, I have to make a choice." This is good and bad, I wish we could break this winner take all two party system, but it's just not worth supporting a slimey politician who's simply flailing in his struggle for power.
District 19 Florida National Congressional Seat
Ted Deutch- Not a fan. I've talked about this guy before, read it in the other post I wrote about elections.
Joe Budd- This conservative narrowly lost the primary for the special election by .06% to Ed Lynch, who lost the general election. I'm going to vote for Mr. Budd as a referendum on Obama, with the same feelings I hold towards Rubio on social issues. Budd is strongly pro-Israel, and I see this Israel/Iran issue becoming a very huge hot button issue in the next few years, and District 19 has a huge Jewish population, you have to think people and fellow congressmen will look to our representative to speak for the Jewish people.
District 22(includes east Boca)- If you are so fortunate to live in this district, please vote for Allen West, he's a very bright man, I've interviewed and spoken with him personally. I've never loved a political candidate so much as him, although he's a military man which can be a little scary in foreign policy issues(I.E. Iran, I'm going to stay distrustful of warhawk republicans for a looong time).
Local Elections: I can offer you literally no information here. I was considering voting for the best looking female candidate in the judge and school board positions, but I will more than likely vote for old white men.
I hope this helped you out somewhat, please go vote if you haven't already, it's your chance to speak up for yourself and your causes in the most direct way possible. Help shape policy.
But first, what the @&%#'s up with these amendments?
From my understanding, if I vote No on Amendment 4, I am denying myself the ability to bring proposed land development to a vote for the general public to decide. Pseudo direct democracy on the issue of land development. I looked up to see if the amendment would affect Eminent Domain, my most hated issue. It does, as I suspected. Here's a thing they sometimes call a quote
"Decreased development will lead to something something They wouldn't let me copy and paste this quote" . . .
Basically kids, people are more than likely going to vote down development plans that would lead to increased urban density and consumption of resources etc etc, therefore, because there is less development, there will be less need to seize land in order to create infrastructure to accommodate new development. Got it?
Ok, first, I'm sorry that was so long, I'll try to shorten it up. We'll fix it in edit. Anyways, this is a toss up for me. I am all for voting for something that gives people stronger leverage against eminent domain. Stealing a persons private land for public use by force is the most atrocious act on Earth. However, this is going to create a HUGE bureaucratic nightmare. It's probably going to seen as a negative for companies that want to bring new businesses here. It will stall the development process assuredly, perhaps for several months. Also, it's going to be very difficult to inform voters about the details and plans of several large scale development projects, and it's very vague on how specific it has to get.
I'm not necessarily saying Floridians are too stupid to regulate property development, I just don't think it should be done this directly and in this manner. We have elected officials to make these decisions for us, after all, don't vote for someone who is pro-property development if you don't want property in your area to be developed. Really think about this issue and vote for what you think is the best way to deal with land development issues.
Amendments 5&6
This will change the rules regarding redistricting of voting districts. The amendments propose using pretty common sense criteria set by a non-partisan board for districting focused on geography and being "as equal in population as feasible" compared to what we have now, insanity. Florida's districts are so undeniably gerrymandered it's ridiculous, why not approve these amendments, they're bound to do some good and probably won't break the taxpayer's wallet, although I think I already regret saying that...There's bound to be some corruption at play here that we'll hear about after the change is made.
Governor's Race!!
Alex Sink v Rick Scott (v Independent)
Alex Sink- Pro Obama Health care plan, bad. Pro-Bush/Obama stimulus, if not bad, at least shameful. Ran a business at one point, good. The investment fund she ran for the state of Florida lost $61 Billion in 18 months, bad. "Fiscal Conservative", not really but I like the effort at least. I'm actually considering voting for you.
Rick Scott- This guy. This -bleeping- guy. His campaign didn't even bother to put his stances on wikipedia, bad. He pulled some MAJOR fraud in his health care company. Like absurdly illegal and reckless business practices here, mega bad. A seriously rank-and-file republican, good and bad, I suppose. You kinda make me not want to vote for you Rick Scott. Why couldn't you be a good candidate?
Micheal E. Arth- Independent. Micheal is an "American artist, home/landscape/urban designer, public policy analyst, advocate for the homeless, futurist, and author" Check out his wikipedia page here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_E._Arth, he's a very interesting man, and he leaves me wishing it wasn't such a serious election because otherwise I'd have no qualms voting for him.
Senate Race
Kendrick Meek v Marco Rubio v Charlie Crist
Kendrick Meek- I mean, the guys alright? He's a pretty plain democrat. I feel very similar to him what I felt towards Obama in his campaign for presidency. He said some things I liked, but I just don't agree with the overall policy. Meek fought tooth and nail for affirmative action to remain in place when Gov Bush was trying successfully to overturn it with his OneFlorida program, something I supported. He was a captain in the state troopers, the first African American ever to do so, and surely the inspiration for the state trooper character in Carl Hiaasen's classic Floridian political and environmental tale "Sick Puppy," which is an amazing novel. However, I really don't like cops, so this is turn off for me. So Kendrick, I bet you busted a lot of innocent kids for small time possession charges huh?
Marco Rubio- This cat is a superstar in the Republican party. Highly admired by the tea party. He's a conservative, no two bits about it. Claims to want to cut government spending and lower taxes, but everyone says that. I like him personally, he'll vote in my interests often, I think we'll disagree on some social issues like abortion, gay marriage, and marijuana and drug laws, but he hasn't made those issues on his campaign, so I feel relatively safe he won't do anything too radical on the social front that would alienate independent supporters.
Charlie Crist- A dirty whore politician who is scratching and biting for power in a state and political system that turned against him. He was considered a potential vice president candidate for McCain, and less than two years later he's endorsing most of Obama's large scale government spending plans. He rode the wave of populism and it swallowed him up. He lost the republican primary to Marco Rubio but instead of acknowledging his loss, he decided to run as an independent. That's his right, but I don't think the center he claims to represent is as large as it seems(he's polling around 10% right now). I think those voters will ultimately say "there's too much at stake, I have to make a choice." This is good and bad, I wish we could break this winner take all two party system, but it's just not worth supporting a slimey politician who's simply flailing in his struggle for power.
District 19 Florida National Congressional Seat
Ted Deutch- Not a fan. I've talked about this guy before, read it in the other post I wrote about elections.
Joe Budd- This conservative narrowly lost the primary for the special election by .06% to Ed Lynch, who lost the general election. I'm going to vote for Mr. Budd as a referendum on Obama, with the same feelings I hold towards Rubio on social issues. Budd is strongly pro-Israel, and I see this Israel/Iran issue becoming a very huge hot button issue in the next few years, and District 19 has a huge Jewish population, you have to think people and fellow congressmen will look to our representative to speak for the Jewish people.
District 22(includes east Boca)- If you are so fortunate to live in this district, please vote for Allen West, he's a very bright man, I've interviewed and spoken with him personally. I've never loved a political candidate so much as him, although he's a military man which can be a little scary in foreign policy issues(I.E. Iran, I'm going to stay distrustful of warhawk republicans for a looong time).
Local Elections: I can offer you literally no information here. I was considering voting for the best looking female candidate in the judge and school board positions, but I will more than likely vote for old white men.
I hope this helped you out somewhat, please go vote if you haven't already, it's your chance to speak up for yourself and your causes in the most direct way possible. Help shape policy.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
A Lost Cause.
Today, my country formally ended a combat mission in a foreign country. Informally ended a war. I guess our representatives never got around to declaring it. It was a stupid fucking war.
This was a war that divided at least two nations, both Iraq and the United States. It was a war that plummeted my country into crippling debt, bringing us to the brink of economic breakdown. It is a war that has ended the lives of 4417 Americans(so far). It is a war that shattered the lives of 31,929 soldiers(so far), who in one way or another, were wounded in the war effort. This was a war that will impact the lives of my generation forever. These soldiers, they come home, and they readjust to life here. But some can't. The minds of some of these men are so maimed, so forever destroyed by what they experienced that they can never readjust to society. These men kill themselves, or they live life as a shell of their former selves for the rest of their lives. America loves a fighting man, especially when he's successful, but for every story we hear about a man returning home and doing well, there's the story not told of the man who can't sleep at night, the story not told of the man who didn't sleep for 5 days straight, the story not told of the man who died because he couldn't cope with the depression he faced because of the war.
Who's fault is it?
Mine. Yours. Ours. Especially us younger folk. We didn't do our job as a citizen in the United States of America. We took everything at face value. We stopped caring, we were complacent with the status quo. We voted for the men who made the decisions that led to this war, and then failed to voice dissent when things went awry. People blame Hitler for WWII. That's mighty fucking convenient for every German citizen to who voted for the bastard, and then stood complacent when people started getting rounded up in the middle of then night. We, as Americans, must live up to our failures, and this war, this was a monumental failure that could have been prevented, and should have been dealt with sooner. Kids out there, think back to your days when your parents were young. Did they grow up in America? Did they grow up in the 60's and 70's like mine did? Did they protest the war in Vietnam, or did they support the effort? Regardless of how they felt, they made their voice heard. The baby boomer generation made their voice heard, and they changed the outcome of this country. They were radical. They were on the FAR extremes of issues. They spit in soldiers faces and burned flags. They shot protesters and repressed freedom. All in the name of their cause. Was it good? Probably not. Was it necessary? Yes, it was. They needed to be heard and they made themselves heard through whatever means they could. Ask people who experienced the late 60s. They'll tell you it was hell, as if the the world was on the verge of ending. But they persevered, they changed the way things were.
Have we done that? Have we protested? Have we recognized that what we're doing is wrong, and done what it takes to change the course of history?
No. We recognized it. In fact, I'd say we recognized the failures of this country better than any other generation in the past. Look at the vast amount of information we have at our disposal, any of us, to form an opinion on a policy. But by no means, BY NO MEANS, have we done anything to change it. We haven't taken to the streets, we haven't called out representative, we haven't taken it to the polls and made it an issue(and those of you who say the Democrat majority in government is anti-war, you're out of your fucking mind, the industrial military complex churns regardless of which two major parties are in power). We haven't staged sit ins and we haven't burned buildings. We have done nothing. And for that, we allowed the leviathan we call our federal government to do whatever it wishes. Topple dictators across the world, borrow money that isn't ours, waste it on government programs and agencies that will bankrupt our nation. We allowed that to happen. We cannot blame our representatives fully. The blame falls on us. Bush was just one man. But we allowed him to trample ALL over our freedoms and proceed on an imperial rampage that has scarred our nation forever. Less concerning but still relevant is the lives of those outside the US we have affected. Thousands upon thousands dead, hundreds of thousands of people displaced and impoverished.
What have we gained?
Very little. Another piece of foreign land to build a military base on. Another foreign government toppled. Another reason a generation of people will hate the United States. Girls can go to school in Baghdad now, but it's a shame an IED killed everyone on the bus because it was driving by a targeted US contractor's place of business. We pretty much destroyed the idea of international prestige. We further destabilized the shit hole of Earth we call the middle east. We might get some oil futures out of the deal, and the industrial military complex grew exponentially. We sacrificed our fortunes, our futures, and our freedoms, and we gained nothing.
Why does our youth not act?
It's simple. Our quality of life wasn't affected immediately. We were told we were in danger. We were told we needed to do this. That no was simply not an option. We knew wars were expensive, but hell, I still eat, I still got this car from my parents, I still can play videogames, I'm still going to school, my life is not affected right now.
So we stood by as men and women lined up to be shipped out to a desert thousands of miles away to fight the bad guys and prevent bad things from happening to us here, in the US. If we don't fight them there, they will get us here. If we don't fight the communists in Vietnam, they will show up on our shores, right? We fell for the same bullshit. Shame on us. And we continually realized that this statement was wrong, that the reasons stated for continuing the war are not legitimate. But we didn't do anything about it. For 7 years we stood by. We eventually voted in a congress and president opposed to the war, but they perpetuated another one. When are we going to learn? No, when are we going to act?
We all know war is bad. We all know wars drain economies. We all know loss of life is inevitable. We all know that wars have international political consequences. We all know there is blowback created by our actions abroad that could lead to disastrous events down the road. We all know that war is never worth it. But we voted for one, we stood complacent while one took place, and we are responsible for all the devastation we wrought. We have to own up to this. We all do. We all have to know that we failed in our duty as citizens, and that next time we won't trust our government as much, we will make our voice heard, we won't accept the status quo, we will overthrow tyranny when it encroaches upon us, and we will never allow another mistake like this to happen again.
"That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."
This was a war that divided at least two nations, both Iraq and the United States. It was a war that plummeted my country into crippling debt, bringing us to the brink of economic breakdown. It is a war that has ended the lives of 4417 Americans(so far). It is a war that shattered the lives of 31,929 soldiers(so far), who in one way or another, were wounded in the war effort. This was a war that will impact the lives of my generation forever. These soldiers, they come home, and they readjust to life here. But some can't. The minds of some of these men are so maimed, so forever destroyed by what they experienced that they can never readjust to society. These men kill themselves, or they live life as a shell of their former selves for the rest of their lives. America loves a fighting man, especially when he's successful, but for every story we hear about a man returning home and doing well, there's the story not told of the man who can't sleep at night, the story not told of the man who didn't sleep for 5 days straight, the story not told of the man who died because he couldn't cope with the depression he faced because of the war.
Who's fault is it?
Mine. Yours. Ours. Especially us younger folk. We didn't do our job as a citizen in the United States of America. We took everything at face value. We stopped caring, we were complacent with the status quo. We voted for the men who made the decisions that led to this war, and then failed to voice dissent when things went awry. People blame Hitler for WWII. That's mighty fucking convenient for every German citizen to who voted for the bastard, and then stood complacent when people started getting rounded up in the middle of then night. We, as Americans, must live up to our failures, and this war, this was a monumental failure that could have been prevented, and should have been dealt with sooner. Kids out there, think back to your days when your parents were young. Did they grow up in America? Did they grow up in the 60's and 70's like mine did? Did they protest the war in Vietnam, or did they support the effort? Regardless of how they felt, they made their voice heard. The baby boomer generation made their voice heard, and they changed the outcome of this country. They were radical. They were on the FAR extremes of issues. They spit in soldiers faces and burned flags. They shot protesters and repressed freedom. All in the name of their cause. Was it good? Probably not. Was it necessary? Yes, it was. They needed to be heard and they made themselves heard through whatever means they could. Ask people who experienced the late 60s. They'll tell you it was hell, as if the the world was on the verge of ending. But they persevered, they changed the way things were.
Have we done that? Have we protested? Have we recognized that what we're doing is wrong, and done what it takes to change the course of history?
No. We recognized it. In fact, I'd say we recognized the failures of this country better than any other generation in the past. Look at the vast amount of information we have at our disposal, any of us, to form an opinion on a policy. But by no means, BY NO MEANS, have we done anything to change it. We haven't taken to the streets, we haven't called out representative, we haven't taken it to the polls and made it an issue(and those of you who say the Democrat majority in government is anti-war, you're out of your fucking mind, the industrial military complex churns regardless of which two major parties are in power). We haven't staged sit ins and we haven't burned buildings. We have done nothing. And for that, we allowed the leviathan we call our federal government to do whatever it wishes. Topple dictators across the world, borrow money that isn't ours, waste it on government programs and agencies that will bankrupt our nation. We allowed that to happen. We cannot blame our representatives fully. The blame falls on us. Bush was just one man. But we allowed him to trample ALL over our freedoms and proceed on an imperial rampage that has scarred our nation forever. Less concerning but still relevant is the lives of those outside the US we have affected. Thousands upon thousands dead, hundreds of thousands of people displaced and impoverished.
What have we gained?
Very little. Another piece of foreign land to build a military base on. Another foreign government toppled. Another reason a generation of people will hate the United States. Girls can go to school in Baghdad now, but it's a shame an IED killed everyone on the bus because it was driving by a targeted US contractor's place of business. We pretty much destroyed the idea of international prestige. We further destabilized the shit hole of Earth we call the middle east. We might get some oil futures out of the deal, and the industrial military complex grew exponentially. We sacrificed our fortunes, our futures, and our freedoms, and we gained nothing.
Why does our youth not act?
It's simple. Our quality of life wasn't affected immediately. We were told we were in danger. We were told we needed to do this. That no was simply not an option. We knew wars were expensive, but hell, I still eat, I still got this car from my parents, I still can play videogames, I'm still going to school, my life is not affected right now.
So we stood by as men and women lined up to be shipped out to a desert thousands of miles away to fight the bad guys and prevent bad things from happening to us here, in the US. If we don't fight them there, they will get us here. If we don't fight the communists in Vietnam, they will show up on our shores, right? We fell for the same bullshit. Shame on us. And we continually realized that this statement was wrong, that the reasons stated for continuing the war are not legitimate. But we didn't do anything about it. For 7 years we stood by. We eventually voted in a congress and president opposed to the war, but they perpetuated another one. When are we going to learn? No, when are we going to act?
We all know war is bad. We all know wars drain economies. We all know loss of life is inevitable. We all know that wars have international political consequences. We all know there is blowback created by our actions abroad that could lead to disastrous events down the road. We all know that war is never worth it. But we voted for one, we stood complacent while one took place, and we are responsible for all the devastation we wrought. We have to own up to this. We all do. We all have to know that we failed in our duty as citizens, and that next time we won't trust our government as much, we will make our voice heard, we won't accept the status quo, we will overthrow tyranny when it encroaches upon us, and we will never allow another mistake like this to happen again.
"That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Not sure why I'm surprised anymore...
Easing my way back into politics tonight, with two stories I found shocking, and I'm starting to question why I'm shocked by anything these days. First up,
Obama shuts down 73,000 blogs.
I was unaware of this, but last month, the white house attacked several file sharing websites and seized their domain names. Websites like The Pirate Bay(Endorsed with the Zack Mayo Stamp of Approval) and MegaUpload apparently narrowly escaped the wrath of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Agency, which might just be my new least favorite government enforcement agency(Sorry ATF, you'll have to go kill a few more innocent people). Now, the blog website Blogetery was just recently shutdown by the federal government. The owner of the server was strong armed into terminating service for the 73,000. The feds have kept a tight lid on the situation and no one can say why they were terminated beyond that it showed a "history of abuse" taking place on the server(Guilty until proven innocent, I suppose). I would guess that would mean file sharing and infringement of Intellectual Property(IP).
This bothers me for two reasons.
1) The government having the ability to shut down a private freehosting website does not bode well with me. It's very Stalinistic. It reminds me of the tactics of the Iranian government in the recent attempted green revolution(or whatever those crazy Iranians wanted to do). They'd take videos of the beatings and the shootings and post them on youtube and twitter. Soon the Iranian government started shutting down internet access throughout the country. Honestly, before Obama got elected, if you showed me this title "73,000 Blogs Shut Down by Government" I would have sworn it was a story about China. Is this another power we're going to let the executive branch have? Control of the flow of information over the internet. We gave them TV decades ago, mail and telecoms via the Patriot Act, and now the internet? If this doesn't bother you immediately, ask yourself, what's next? Seriously, this sets a HUGE precedent. I don't mean to sound like a stupid right winger conspiracy nut here, but who's to say the Obama can't make a call and have the servers for FOX's websites crash a week before elections in November. Whose to say my account on this website won't be terminated because I've spoken out against my government. "That's impossible." "That'll never happen, it will never come to that." Oh yeah? I think we took the first step today. They didn't shut down the blogs of those people, they silenced them.
2) "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech"
IP is a very, very tricky issue. Sure I want the artists to be able to make a living. But at the same time, all my music may or may not be downloaded from file sharing websites and I simply buy the albums of artists I hold dear to my heart like Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters. If I were a representative in our democracy, I would not make policy based off this, but I believe that file sharing is a freedom, a form of speech, and that it is protected by the 1st amendment. I don't receive campaign donations, so it's easy for me to say that.
Side Note: I spoke to an IP lawyer when I was in London. He was a bright guy and he told me he paid for all of his music. He told me a story about a case where a single mother downloaded a few kids movies to show her children on a car ride. She was caught and prosecuted. Found guilty and fined $250,000. The mother's yearly salary was below the poverty level. She'd have to work years just to pay the fine, not to mention raise her kids and feed them and herself. It just makes me wonder, the crime for stealing those movies from a store would probably be a slap on the wrist. Worst comes to worst, a small fine, maybe a few courses to go through. Why is the punishment for file sharing exponentially larger than the punishment for stealing a hard copy of the file?
Second Story,
Journolist: Liberal Journalists conspire to defend Obama and smear dissenters.
I'll give you the link here http://dailycaller.com/2010/07/20/documents-show-media-plotting-to-kill-stories-about-rev-jeremiah-wright/ and if you're too lazy, the title will suffice.
Yes, a group of like minded liberal journalists(from Time, Politico, the Huffington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Guardian, Salon and the New Republic to name a few) proposed plans to smear critics of Obama, going so far as to use allegations of racism to discredit them.
Now, let's pause for a moment. I was on my high school newspaper, I've studied the subject, I appreciate what journalism does for a democracy, and I am generally knowledgeable on the topic. I am not one who subscribes to the notion of there being a radical mainstream media controlled by liberals that's out to get us all. I hate when people on the right say that because I think that even if they have a valid point, it discredits them immediately to anyone on the left listening. After years of watching various networks(mostly CNN) and thinking for myself, I have gone back to watching FOX news. People seem to forget that MSNBC is at least as far to the left as FOX is to the right. CNN used to be in the center/left but now it's simply irrelevant(I miss you Lou Dobbs). I don't do this because "those guys in the mainstream media are lying" or "the libs control all the other news channels." I do it because FOX makes me aware of stories I want to be aware of (Like Obama shutting down blogs) and because my blood pressure cannot handle the continuous stream of yelling caused by the nonsense spewed to me on other news networks, while I only yell at FOX very often.
LONG STORY SHORT, I'm a little disappointed to find that these journalists were doing that(or to even know of it and not raise a flag at the matter). They take an oath to be fair, to be open, to promote truth and to do lots of other ideal things like that, and these journalists did not do that. My subscription to TIME was ended recently and now I'm glad of it. I could hardly stand the prattle of it's columnists any longer(the photojournalism is worth the subscription alone though). I know there are slants out there, I've always thought they weren't a big deal and chosen to accept them as a fact of life and ignore them. To see in cold hard print that these journalists literally conspired to smear critics of Obama softens me up to the notion that "the mainstream media is controlled by liberals," and I thought I'd never come to that state of mind.
Obama shuts down 73,000 blogs.
I was unaware of this, but last month, the white house attacked several file sharing websites and seized their domain names. Websites like The Pirate Bay(Endorsed with the Zack Mayo Stamp of Approval) and MegaUpload apparently narrowly escaped the wrath of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Agency, which might just be my new least favorite government enforcement agency(Sorry ATF, you'll have to go kill a few more innocent people). Now, the blog website Blogetery was just recently shutdown by the federal government. The owner of the server was strong armed into terminating service for the 73,000. The feds have kept a tight lid on the situation and no one can say why they were terminated beyond that it showed a "history of abuse" taking place on the server(Guilty until proven innocent, I suppose). I would guess that would mean file sharing and infringement of Intellectual Property(IP).
This bothers me for two reasons.
1) The government having the ability to shut down a private freehosting website does not bode well with me. It's very Stalinistic. It reminds me of the tactics of the Iranian government in the recent attempted green revolution(or whatever those crazy Iranians wanted to do). They'd take videos of the beatings and the shootings and post them on youtube and twitter. Soon the Iranian government started shutting down internet access throughout the country. Honestly, before Obama got elected, if you showed me this title "73,000 Blogs Shut Down by Government" I would have sworn it was a story about China. Is this another power we're going to let the executive branch have? Control of the flow of information over the internet. We gave them TV decades ago, mail and telecoms via the Patriot Act, and now the internet? If this doesn't bother you immediately, ask yourself, what's next? Seriously, this sets a HUGE precedent. I don't mean to sound like a stupid right winger conspiracy nut here, but who's to say the Obama can't make a call and have the servers for FOX's websites crash a week before elections in November. Whose to say my account on this website won't be terminated because I've spoken out against my government. "That's impossible." "That'll never happen, it will never come to that." Oh yeah? I think we took the first step today. They didn't shut down the blogs of those people, they silenced them.
2) "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech"
IP is a very, very tricky issue. Sure I want the artists to be able to make a living. But at the same time, all my music may or may not be downloaded from file sharing websites and I simply buy the albums of artists I hold dear to my heart like Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters. If I were a representative in our democracy, I would not make policy based off this, but I believe that file sharing is a freedom, a form of speech, and that it is protected by the 1st amendment. I don't receive campaign donations, so it's easy for me to say that.
Side Note: I spoke to an IP lawyer when I was in London. He was a bright guy and he told me he paid for all of his music. He told me a story about a case where a single mother downloaded a few kids movies to show her children on a car ride. She was caught and prosecuted. Found guilty and fined $250,000. The mother's yearly salary was below the poverty level. She'd have to work years just to pay the fine, not to mention raise her kids and feed them and herself. It just makes me wonder, the crime for stealing those movies from a store would probably be a slap on the wrist. Worst comes to worst, a small fine, maybe a few courses to go through. Why is the punishment for file sharing exponentially larger than the punishment for stealing a hard copy of the file?
Second Story,
Journolist: Liberal Journalists conspire to defend Obama and smear dissenters.
I'll give you the link here http://dailycaller.com/2010/07/20/documents-show-media-plotting-to-kill-stories-about-rev-jeremiah-wright/ and if you're too lazy, the title will suffice.
Yes, a group of like minded liberal journalists(from Time, Politico, the Huffington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Guardian, Salon and the New Republic to name a few) proposed plans to smear critics of Obama, going so far as to use allegations of racism to discredit them.
Now, let's pause for a moment. I was on my high school newspaper, I've studied the subject, I appreciate what journalism does for a democracy, and I am generally knowledgeable on the topic. I am not one who subscribes to the notion of there being a radical mainstream media controlled by liberals that's out to get us all. I hate when people on the right say that because I think that even if they have a valid point, it discredits them immediately to anyone on the left listening. After years of watching various networks(mostly CNN) and thinking for myself, I have gone back to watching FOX news. People seem to forget that MSNBC is at least as far to the left as FOX is to the right. CNN used to be in the center/left but now it's simply irrelevant(I miss you Lou Dobbs). I don't do this because "those guys in the mainstream media are lying" or "the libs control all the other news channels." I do it because FOX makes me aware of stories I want to be aware of (Like Obama shutting down blogs) and because my blood pressure cannot handle the continuous stream of yelling caused by the nonsense spewed to me on other news networks, while I only yell at FOX very often.
LONG STORY SHORT, I'm a little disappointed to find that these journalists were doing that(or to even know of it and not raise a flag at the matter). They take an oath to be fair, to be open, to promote truth and to do lots of other ideal things like that, and these journalists did not do that. My subscription to TIME was ended recently and now I'm glad of it. I could hardly stand the prattle of it's columnists any longer(the photojournalism is worth the subscription alone though). I know there are slants out there, I've always thought they weren't a big deal and chosen to accept them as a fact of life and ignore them. To see in cold hard print that these journalists literally conspired to smear critics of Obama softens me up to the notion that "the mainstream media is controlled by liberals," and I thought I'd never come to that state of mind.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Happy LeBronukkah, Bitches.
So being that I live in South Florida and I have a blog, I have to write about LeBron. I don't really know what to say. I have no legitimate predictions to make. I have very little knowledge of basketball outside of playing pickup and playing NBA and NCAA games with my brother growing up. My favorite sports movie IS Hoosiers though. I can barely name the positions on a basketball team(Forward, Power Forward, Guard, Pointguard, and Center?). I've been to one Heat game in my life, Wade and Shaq were out that day. I couldn't have told you what team Bosh played for a month ago. I did watch Shaq when he signed with the Heat, and I watched the playoff run the year the heat won the championship. I can't remember the specific year the Heat won the championship. I still call Kobe a rapist. I also yell "Kobe" when I'm shooting projectiles into a garbage can. I like Steve Nash. My best moment in basketball was a block on my brothers roommate in a pickup game at Leach in Tallahassee. These are my credentials on the topic of basketball.
That being said, suck on LeBron James' massive penis all the rest of you 49 and 1/2 states. South Florida is better than all of you at basketball. My left nut and a water skiing squirrel could suit up for the 4th and 5th spot on that roster and that team would still have a legitimate shot at winning, assuming my left nut doesn't get into foul trouble early. I'm going to go make a new ps3 gamertag called Heat_Fan1990(FlaboyantHomo is getting old) and go buy the next NBA game that comes out and I will play as the Heat every fucking game. I'm going to watch Heat games now, not just the one on Christmas. I'm going to buy Heat apparel. I will get on the bandwagon, and then I will put a Fathead of Wade and Bosh the sides while I make love to the LeBron one. I will go get three fish and name them Wade, Bosh, and LeBron. I won't feed one if it scores under 25 points a game. I'm going to go pay 170 dollars for a LeBron jersey first chance I get. I'm going to go to more than one game this season. I will pay the 99 dollars for a medium soda and popcorn and I will not bitch about it. I will get "Taking my talents to South Beach" tattooed on my lower back. I will laugh in the face of New Englanders and New Yorkers when they hate on the Heat. I will support LeBron/Wade/Bosh the next time the do something illegal or immoral publicly. I will make my friends come over to watch Heat games, even though we all hate basketball. I will make absurd comparisons about LeBron and Jordan even though I don't remember watching Jordan play growing up, but I could probably quote most of Space Jam. I will talk to random strangers wearing Heat apparel and say things like "Go Heat" or "Pat Riley is God" to which they will reply "I can't hear you, I'm mowing your lawn." or "Amen." I will write poetry about the Three Kings of Miami, and then go to games and burn it in my seat because it does not compare to the art I'm witnessing before me. I will update my status about bad calls in Heat games, even though I know no one cares. Similar to getting American citizenship because my mother illegally crossed the border to have me born here, I will be the son of a man from Kansas City, Missouri and a woman from Detroit, Michigan, and I will be a fan of the greatest dynasty in basketball history, I will be a MIAMI HEAT FAN!!!! SUCK MY BALLS FANS OF OTHER TEAMS, SUCK MY BALLS!
That being said, suck on LeBron James' massive penis all the rest of you 49 and 1/2 states. South Florida is better than all of you at basketball. My left nut and a water skiing squirrel could suit up for the 4th and 5th spot on that roster and that team would still have a legitimate shot at winning, assuming my left nut doesn't get into foul trouble early. I'm going to go make a new ps3 gamertag called Heat_Fan1990(FlaboyantHomo is getting old) and go buy the next NBA game that comes out and I will play as the Heat every fucking game. I'm going to watch Heat games now, not just the one on Christmas. I'm going to buy Heat apparel. I will get on the bandwagon, and then I will put a Fathead of Wade and Bosh the sides while I make love to the LeBron one. I will go get three fish and name them Wade, Bosh, and LeBron. I won't feed one if it scores under 25 points a game. I'm going to go pay 170 dollars for a LeBron jersey first chance I get. I'm going to go to more than one game this season. I will pay the 99 dollars for a medium soda and popcorn and I will not bitch about it. I will get "Taking my talents to South Beach" tattooed on my lower back. I will laugh in the face of New Englanders and New Yorkers when they hate on the Heat. I will support LeBron/Wade/Bosh the next time the do something illegal or immoral publicly. I will make my friends come over to watch Heat games, even though we all hate basketball. I will make absurd comparisons about LeBron and Jordan even though I don't remember watching Jordan play growing up, but I could probably quote most of Space Jam. I will talk to random strangers wearing Heat apparel and say things like "Go Heat" or "Pat Riley is God" to which they will reply "I can't hear you, I'm mowing your lawn." or "Amen." I will write poetry about the Three Kings of Miami, and then go to games and burn it in my seat because it does not compare to the art I'm witnessing before me. I will update my status about bad calls in Heat games, even though I know no one cares. Similar to getting American citizenship because my mother illegally crossed the border to have me born here, I will be the son of a man from Kansas City, Missouri and a woman from Detroit, Michigan, and I will be a fan of the greatest dynasty in basketball history, I will be a MIAMI HEAT FAN!!!! SUCK MY BALLS FANS OF OTHER TEAMS, SUCK MY BALLS!
Monday, May 31, 2010
"For God's sake, what'd they do now???"
I was really trying to have a good time over here in Ireland. I really was. I wasn't gonna blog about it until I got back and did a super mega recap package. But of course, my plan was foiled by Jews. Like most of them are.
I've got nothing against Jews. I just happen to enjoy Anti-Semitic Mondays a little more than everyone else. Or so I thought until now.
I was walking through Galway last night and throughout the city, there were Free Palestine: End the Occupation stickers all over the place. It was a little refreshing to see, considering if you put one of those on a sign in my hometown of Boca Raton, you'd be hanged. Which is sad because there are like 4-5 stop signs that have "Gays" written under them so it reads Stop Gays. Which is quite clever. And wrong etc. etc.
Anyways, I wake up this morning, find my internet is not working, and decide to go on Facebook via mobile. Which I'm guessing costs a LOT of money to do abroad. Anyways, a post from a buddy tells me Israel did some shit. So I frantically hit and yell at the tv in the common room until it turns on. On goes SKY News and here comes my 15 minute update on all the UK's latest news! The image is straight out of Call of Stonking Duty.
An Israeli combatant repels down a rope from a helicopter in the high seas at night. He stumbles as he falls, and a Turkish man grabs for his rifle. More men repel. More fighting continues. The image shows an Israeli gunbutting a Turkish guy in the face. My jaw is on the floor. The title reads "19 KILLED IN ISRAELI AID SHIP RAID IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS"
I mean, I thought the assassination of the top Hamas official in Dubai a few months back was the coolest thing I've ever seen happen in real life, it was literally straight out of a Bond movie.
BUT THIS?!?
I really ought to stop paying the Jews over at Muvico, I can just watch clips of Israeli commandos and spies on the news all day. These guys are going to put MGM out of business! Well, more out of business anyways...
But the story gets more intense.
All around the world, Israeli diplomats were cast out of countries because of the illegal passport usage by Netanyahu and his Mossad boys. Ireland, although offended by the incident(the assassins used Irish passports among other countries) didn't expel the Israeli minister in the country. But as they say, the games changed lads!
Six of the people on the boat raided by the Jew commandos were Irish citizens. And they're being imprisoned. And since the raid took place in international waters, I'd guess those citizens are being imprisoned illegally. There were protests across the country here. Cheers to them hopefully not being tortured!
Now it should be fair to mention the other side of the story. The ship was Turkish, filled with mostly Turks. The ship was trying to run the blockade, claiming they were bringing aid to Gaza. The Israelis said they offered to have the aid distributed through themselves or Egypt. Most ships stopped, but one Turkish ship continued ahead. Israeli officials say they were related to Hamas and that this was just a PR event and that Hamas are terrorists and regularly smuggle weapons. They stated that the people on the ship attacked the commandos and that they had weapons. The first comment out of Adrien's mouth this morning upon hearing the news was "They better fucking smuggle some weapons on the ship and say they found them..." I'll only go so far as to say we'll probably never know the truth.
So, let's accept that this was all probably set up by the Turks on the ship. Was it really the best idea to drop commandos into the angry crowd on a small deck of a ship? Couldn't you shoot a few rounds near the boat to scare them off? I've seen that done with drug dealers in their boats and it works pretty good. I've seen Somali pirates get scared off by a few rounds of fire. Surely they would've stopped the ship at that point. Why not arrest them the moment they get into harbor? That's pretty peaceful and at least a diplomatically sound resolution. Why such heavy handed tactics?
Tonight on the little Irish news channel I was watching, the panel of journalists and commentators were angry but showed a sense of realism about the situation you don't get in America. "Until the US stops supporting them, they'll continue to do whatever they want." "This'll be an issue for a few weeks or a few months and then what? Nothing ever changes with Israel." "This seems to be the only form of diplomacy Israel knows." "It's stuff like this that breeds new generations of hate."
These are the kind of comments I say on a regular basis. Say that on CNN and you're called anti-Semitic. You're called unpatriotic. You're told you support terrorism and Islamic radicalism.
In reality, I just don't support commandos with assault rifles repelling onto aid ships in the middle of the night and shooting unarmed civilians anywhere outside of video games.
I've got nothing against Jews. I just happen to enjoy Anti-Semitic Mondays a little more than everyone else. Or so I thought until now.
I was walking through Galway last night and throughout the city, there were Free Palestine: End the Occupation stickers all over the place. It was a little refreshing to see, considering if you put one of those on a sign in my hometown of Boca Raton, you'd be hanged. Which is sad because there are like 4-5 stop signs that have "Gays" written under them so it reads Stop Gays. Which is quite clever. And wrong etc. etc.
Anyways, I wake up this morning, find my internet is not working, and decide to go on Facebook via mobile. Which I'm guessing costs a LOT of money to do abroad. Anyways, a post from a buddy tells me Israel did some shit. So I frantically hit and yell at the tv in the common room until it turns on. On goes SKY News and here comes my 15 minute update on all the UK's latest news! The image is straight out of Call of Stonking Duty.
An Israeli combatant repels down a rope from a helicopter in the high seas at night. He stumbles as he falls, and a Turkish man grabs for his rifle. More men repel. More fighting continues. The image shows an Israeli gunbutting a Turkish guy in the face. My jaw is on the floor. The title reads "19 KILLED IN ISRAELI AID SHIP RAID IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS"
I mean, I thought the assassination of the top Hamas official in Dubai a few months back was the coolest thing I've ever seen happen in real life, it was literally straight out of a Bond movie.
BUT THIS?!?
I really ought to stop paying the Jews over at Muvico, I can just watch clips of Israeli commandos and spies on the news all day. These guys are going to put MGM out of business! Well, more out of business anyways...
But the story gets more intense.
All around the world, Israeli diplomats were cast out of countries because of the illegal passport usage by Netanyahu and his Mossad boys. Ireland, although offended by the incident(the assassins used Irish passports among other countries) didn't expel the Israeli minister in the country. But as they say, the games changed lads!
Six of the people on the boat raided by the Jew commandos were Irish citizens. And they're being imprisoned. And since the raid took place in international waters, I'd guess those citizens are being imprisoned illegally. There were protests across the country here. Cheers to them hopefully not being tortured!
Now it should be fair to mention the other side of the story. The ship was Turkish, filled with mostly Turks. The ship was trying to run the blockade, claiming they were bringing aid to Gaza. The Israelis said they offered to have the aid distributed through themselves or Egypt. Most ships stopped, but one Turkish ship continued ahead. Israeli officials say they were related to Hamas and that this was just a PR event and that Hamas are terrorists and regularly smuggle weapons. They stated that the people on the ship attacked the commandos and that they had weapons. The first comment out of Adrien's mouth this morning upon hearing the news was "They better fucking smuggle some weapons on the ship and say they found them..." I'll only go so far as to say we'll probably never know the truth.
So, let's accept that this was all probably set up by the Turks on the ship. Was it really the best idea to drop commandos into the angry crowd on a small deck of a ship? Couldn't you shoot a few rounds near the boat to scare them off? I've seen that done with drug dealers in their boats and it works pretty good. I've seen Somali pirates get scared off by a few rounds of fire. Surely they would've stopped the ship at that point. Why not arrest them the moment they get into harbor? That's pretty peaceful and at least a diplomatically sound resolution. Why such heavy handed tactics?
Tonight on the little Irish news channel I was watching, the panel of journalists and commentators were angry but showed a sense of realism about the situation you don't get in America. "Until the US stops supporting them, they'll continue to do whatever they want." "This'll be an issue for a few weeks or a few months and then what? Nothing ever changes with Israel." "This seems to be the only form of diplomacy Israel knows." "It's stuff like this that breeds new generations of hate."
These are the kind of comments I say on a regular basis. Say that on CNN and you're called anti-Semitic. You're called unpatriotic. You're told you support terrorism and Islamic radicalism.
In reality, I just don't support commandos with assault rifles repelling onto aid ships in the middle of the night and shooting unarmed civilians anywhere outside of video games.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
A letter to Obama
Dear Mr. President,
I may be an outstanding critic of your policies, but I would like to bring only one important issue facing all Americans to your attention. You see, MGM studio has indefinitely suspended the 3rd Daniel Craig James Bond film due to a lack of capital and crippling debt. As you may or may not know, I have a tremendous man crush on Daniel Craig. He's amazing. Did you see Quantum of Solace Mr. President? He was totally badass.
Now, if you're willing to trample over the US Constitution to save terribly run corporations like Chrysler and GM, I think you have a duty to the taxpayers to give taxpayer money to MGM. You gave GM almost 50 billion dollars, 6.7 billion of that in cash at 7% interest. GM then took the 13 billion dollars you gave them in "working capital" and used that to pay off the 6.7 billion dollar cash loan. Then GM ran a bunch of advertisements saying they paid off their loan, when actuality, they only paid off $6.7 billion of their government loan with $13 billion of government money. Not only that, but they applied for $10 billion dollars in loans from the Department of Energy to meet new CAFE standards for their plants at 5% interest. All they did was switch from a 7% interest loan to a 5% interest loan! (Thanks to Reason Magazine for this information)
So, Mr. President, if you're willing to give billions to GM and Chrysler, I'd like to see a mere $3.7 billion dollars of taxpayer money go to MGM so they can pay off their debt and make a new Bond movie. Everyone loves Bond movies! Bond movies are the highest grossing film series of all time, and the two Daniel Craig films have made over $600 million each. Imagine if the 23rd film on the 50th anniversary of the series, came out all thanks to you Mr. President. The everyday hardworking lower-middle class taxpayer would love you even more! Unless the movie was bad. So if you do bailout MGM to make a new a Bond movie, you can chill on the set and yell action and stuff, but please don't let any figure of government make any changes to the movie!
Sincerely Yours,
Zachary Albian Mayo
Boca Raton, Florida
(P.S. I'll vote democrat for the rest of my life if you do this.)
I may be an outstanding critic of your policies, but I would like to bring only one important issue facing all Americans to your attention. You see, MGM studio has indefinitely suspended the 3rd Daniel Craig James Bond film due to a lack of capital and crippling debt. As you may or may not know, I have a tremendous man crush on Daniel Craig. He's amazing. Did you see Quantum of Solace Mr. President? He was totally badass.
Now, if you're willing to trample over the US Constitution to save terribly run corporations like Chrysler and GM, I think you have a duty to the taxpayers to give taxpayer money to MGM. You gave GM almost 50 billion dollars, 6.7 billion of that in cash at 7% interest. GM then took the 13 billion dollars you gave them in "working capital" and used that to pay off the 6.7 billion dollar cash loan. Then GM ran a bunch of advertisements saying they paid off their loan, when actuality, they only paid off $6.7 billion of their government loan with $13 billion of government money. Not only that, but they applied for $10 billion dollars in loans from the Department of Energy to meet new CAFE standards for their plants at 5% interest. All they did was switch from a 7% interest loan to a 5% interest loan! (Thanks to Reason Magazine for this information)
So, Mr. President, if you're willing to give billions to GM and Chrysler, I'd like to see a mere $3.7 billion dollars of taxpayer money go to MGM so they can pay off their debt and make a new Bond movie. Everyone loves Bond movies! Bond movies are the highest grossing film series of all time, and the two Daniel Craig films have made over $600 million each. Imagine if the 23rd film on the 50th anniversary of the series, came out all thanks to you Mr. President. The everyday hardworking lower-middle class taxpayer would love you even more! Unless the movie was bad. So if you do bailout MGM to make a new a Bond movie, you can chill on the set and yell action and stuff, but please don't let any figure of government make any changes to the movie!
Sincerely Yours,
Zachary Albian Mayo
Boca Raton, Florida
(P.S. I'll vote democrat for the rest of my life if you do this.)
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