Why I Love Adam

"What is understood, does not need to be discussed"
- Sammy Hagaar, live in concert on VanHalen's Right Here, Right Now

I have comments.  I have thoughts related to what "he" says.  But some times it is best to let the song speak for itself (rather than "talking it to death" for 10 minutes prior to performing it).

Below is a link to a "The Blaze" article.  The article has two links to Adam Carolla's "rant": one is censored, one is not.  Now, in choosing which one to listen to know this.  He uses a lot of "foul" language.  Children should not listen to the original version. Those who are offended by the "f-word" should listen to the censored version.

I am not endorsing the original version; however, I cannot disagree with what Glenn, Stu, and Pat said in a conversation on today's radio program regarding Carolla's podcast.

Pat: ...You don't want children near.
Glenn: No, you don't want children within the next block, but it is...may I just recommend that you turn the lights down low and light a candle or two, put some Barry White on it, and listen to this rant...It is so exactly right on the money on what's is happening to our society.
Stu: It just what needed to be said in the way it should be said.
Glenn: ...the way that even the most pious among us...
Stu: Yeah, have to go, "Yes!!!! Thank you!!!"...
Glenn: ...there is a time and a place where the f-word is just almost poetry [Stu and Pat laugh] and this is it. [all laugh] I am really sorry...
Pat: I feel bad for liking it, but...
Glen: ...You know what it is?  Its a gallon of Haagen-Dazs.
Pat: Mmmhmm
Glenn: That's what it is.  This rant is a gallon of Haagen-Dazs.  You know you shouldn't eat it.  You know its gonna' make you...I just going to feel fat afterwards, and I'm going to feel like I shouldn't have had that gallon of ..., but all the while your doing it, you're just like, I'm going to keep eatin' this, and eatin' this, and eatin' it because there's nothin' better than Haagen-Dazs.
Pat: And you'll just want to lay on the couch and undo your pant afterwards
Glenn: ...And you'll swear afterwards, I don't want any more of that...and then as soon as you buckle up your pants again, your like, "is there any more Haagen-Dazs left?"  Its good stuff, man.

Glenn Beck is a devout Mormon who advocates good, "moral" behavior (including "clean" speech), but I have to agree. Censoring the original content affects the essence in which Corolla just hits a bull's eye in assessing the dangers that are coming as the last few decade's "youth" start to germinate.

Here it is: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/adam-carolla-breaks-down-occupy-movement-fking-self-entitled-monsters/.  Enjoy, which ever version you choose. ;`)

Tragedy

I was frantically scouring online Black Friday deals at 2 in the morning searching for a new 50" LED HD TV. We had had the 32", 720 p, "bo-bo" brand LCD for far too long. Our Netflix subscription and Xbox 360 had been pleading for an acceptable display area; 32" just wasn't cutting it.

Newegg. Back to Amazon.  Back to Newegg.  Switch over to Best Buy.  So many deals!!! Finally reason overcame desperation.  I don't really need a new TV.  That money could be better spent elsewhere.

Fast forward: next evening.  I solicit sympathy from the wife describing the emotional roller coaster that was comparing deal to deal to deal.  I capped things off with reference to my heroism and epic restraint in not buying a TV.

"That's good." she said.  "I was thinking about it, and we don't really need a new TV. We could use that money to pay off a school loan."

Pay off a school loan?!!!  I can't play COD MW3 on a paid-off school loan!!!

She was right. It was the adult and responsible perspective. That's why she is the CFO.

Or was she right?

I'm part of the "99%".  I'm part of the "working class".  The "1%", those evil bastards with all the money, probably have, on average, one mammoth HD TV in every room of their luxury mansions, and I'm stuck watching old X-Files episodes on what could barely be considered a PC monitor. Oh, the disparity!!  Oh, the financial gap in the rich vs. me!!!

It's those greedy bankers' fault, I tell ya!!!  They knew exactly what they were doing when they made me take those school loans so many years ago.  Looking back, I can see the thumb of the Monopoly-looking character, with the top hat, in my back, pushing me to spend every last dime of cash that wasn't mine, that I never earned, but that I was tricked into taking via the ever so deceitful scam known as a "school loan".  ITS NOT FAIR!!!

Well this is one member of the proletariat that is no longer going to take things lying down.  Sound the trumpet!  Release the hounds!!  Paying off what I owe was so "yesterday".  I'M GOING TO FIND ME SOMETHING TO OCCUPY!!!!!!

Baffled

What the hell is wrong with these OWS folks?!!!  Our poor people have cell phones and computers.  There are people who pay for their groceries with food stamps and eat out at Apple Bees on Friday.  They get free medicine (well, maybe not free, some have to pay $1 and complain about it in between drinks of their 32 oz soda from QuikShop).  They get free medical care (a.k.a., the Emergency Department).

I keep hearing these sob stories: a teacher who can't live on a $1000/month pension, a "student" who lives in the suburbs who reported that the bank took his parents' $100,000+ house (not because they didn't make the payments, and they didn't actually owned it, but that the bank just stole it).  Etc, etc.

HEY, SPOILED LITTLE PUNKS!!!  Poor people in other countries die from literal starvation.  As Rush Limbaugh said once in a radio program, where else on the earth do you have poverty and obesity existing in the same place?  IT DOESN'T!!!!  The poor people don't have anything to eat!!!  They don't have food stamps.  They don't have doctors!!!  They don't have clean running water, let alone a cell phone or a computer.

I heard a clip the other day where a man, who was from the former USSR (that is the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for those recent "socialism converts"), in a thick Russian accent asked some Wall Street Protesters about what they intended to do.  They said they wanted to get rid of Capitalism.  He said, "Oh really?!!!"  He asked them what they were going to replace it with.  They said, "Socialism!!"  He said, "Oh, really?!!!"  The man then went on to ask them about the difference between North Korea and South Korea...I almost can't write this...They said that workers get paid there.

Yep, I nearly passed out.  YOU IGNORANT FOOLS!!!!  North Korea has no economy.  The people are starving, that is if they aren't worked to death in a political prison camp for saying something that "the party" didn't like.  They die from diseases that, here in the US have a 0% mortality rate, because their health care system is still in the Dark Ages.

America, wake up!!  I would chalk these protests off to a bunch of hippies trying to relive the '60's if it wasn't for the rich and famous showing up (yes, I have trouble swallowing the hypocrisy as well) to support these people.  These that are calling for violent uprisings.  These that are calling for the overthrow of the system, including, but not limited to the government and the economy.  There is a mob mentality that is ready to fire up the guillotine and start chopping off the heads of "rich people".  By the way, rich politicians and Hollywood crowd, how do you think that is going to work out for you?  Hmmm, maybe you should ask the French.

America, it is time to count your blessings while you still have them.  We aren't perfect, but we are light-years ahead of the systems and countries that you want us to model.  It is like the Yankees trying to become like the Bad News Bears because "they have it better."

Sure, we have some truly poor and starving people, but how much charity would be left over to address those needs if all the people who were born without any physical or mental disabilities actually went out and got a job and stopped mooching off the tax payers.  Sure I may have to flip burgers at MacDonald's, but what kind of person am I to say "poor me" when people in truly poor countries are eating their young because there is nothing else to eat.

Sometimes, children actually get what they wanted only to learn that it wasn't what they wanted.  Lord, help us!

An Interview

So let me get this straight.  "You" (Mr. President and other "statist" politicians) are going to create jobs by taking money away from those (i.e., the most recently proposed 5% "surcharge" on millionaires) who create jobs.  Being a taxpayer, you could (or should) consider me an investor.  Before we start handing over my money, I'd like to see some references, some track records.
Lets see.  How many sustainable jobs has government ever created?  What's that?  Mmmm-hmmm.

Okay, lets look at the resume of the "millionaires".  How many jobs have they created?  Oh, my!!!

Obviously the "millionaires" are job-creating jaugernauts, but I still want to give strong central government a chance.  How are you, Mr. President and Harry Reid, at managing money.  What is that, Mr. President?  You have done what to the deficit during your 1st term.  Holy macral!!!

To be fair, lets look at the millionaires.  How are they at handling money?  Oooooooooo.  That's quite impressive. A lot of you started at the bottom with nothing and made it into something.  Wow, you just keep getting richer?  What is that?  Oh, you don't just bury your profits in the back yard?  You expand your business so that you can make more profit (you greedy bastards!!!) and these business expansions create more jobs?!!!

I'm sorry Mr. President and Nancy Pelosi, I was so offended by the greed of these millionaires, I forgot you were there.

Okay, the last thing we want to know about someone (or something) before we invest in this: how honest are you?  Here is a good interview question: "So the money you take from me each month for Social Security is invested responsibly and earmarked for our retirements, right?" What's that, you just put it in the general pool and spend it?  Really?!!!  So each year, you have to get more money from new tax payers so that you can pay off those who paid-in years ago?  Mmmmmmhmmmmmmm.  Let me absorb that for a moment.

Millionaires, I haven't forgotten about you.  What would happen if you managed your "investments" in the same way the government manages Social Security?  What is that?!!!  Surely you are joking, or at least exagerating!!  No?!!  You really would go to prison?  Uh-huh.  Its called a Ponzie Scheme?  Wow!

I don't know about the rest of you taxpayers on the panel here, but I think I've heard all I need to hear.  I know who the obvious choice is for investing (i.e., spending my money at businesses).  I hope you do too.

Walk The Walk

This morning, while getting ready for work, a local radio program provided a wonderful example of why changing the status quo may be nearly impossible.  The morning talk show on KCPS featured a question and answer time with Senator Chuck Grassley.  One of the topics was a GOP move to eliminate much of the "social" spending in Washington.  A caller, known for being conservative, even more libertarian, told Grassley that cutting spending was a great idea; however, he encouraged the senator to use discretion and not touch some "re-employment" program that is well-used in Southeast Iowa.  Translation: cut the pork, but not our pork.

This is what American politics is.  We elect people to go to Washington and bring back the goodies.  For example, Grassley's counterpart, Sen Harkin thought that "Cap-And-Trade" was a great policy to save the planet, something that all should embrace...wait, not everybody.  The farmer's livestock in Iowa produce huge amounts of methane.  Cap-And-Trade, according to the Iowa senator, needed exceptions for his voting base.  Translation: its okay to raise costs on business in other states, but not on my state.

Conservatives, Tea-Party members, libertarians, many of them talk a good game, but only when it doesn't affect them.  There is always the program that touched a family member's life, and because of one anecdotal instance, it is necessary government spending.  Everything else needs to go.

For change to happen, we must be selfless.  If I'm going to cut someone else's program and clamor about the bloated nature of our nanny-state government, I have to be willing to have my program defunded.

Have Some Class

Pima County Sheriff Sets Off Debate on Price of Free Speech - FoxNews.com

I'm only going to say this once. Anyone who sees this incident as anything else but a tragedy perpetuated by a nutcase is a political bottom-feeder without a conscience or a soul. Instead of rabidly doing anything to advance an agenda, how about taking a time-out to honor those murdered in a senseless act. That's right. Senseless. There is no rhyme, no reason. Some people really are crazy and do irrational and unreasonable things. To try and tie there actions to an ideology or political cause is really classless and disgusting.

Back Off!!

Last night, in the "wee hours of the morning", I was watching Charlie Rose. To my pleasured surprise, he was engaging in an actual intellectual discussion instead of the usual liberal hack talking points. He and three guests were analyzing the culture, environment, successes, etc. of social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace. They especially examined the success of Facebook and how it is dominating the Internet, including Google (hear, hear).

The panel moved on to the topic of obstacles that Facebook will have to overcome as it gets bigger. What was at the top of the list? Governments. Governments and their regulations. China, of course, is at the forefront, and as they mentioned, Google had to learn this the hard way.

The beauty of the Internet is the unregulated, free-flow of information and opinions among "the people". As one guest said, it is the most prolific empowering of the individual in history. A fat, bald dude can sit in his mom's basement and tell the entire world what he thinks without repercussions, that is unless he lives in a country like China.

To Communists, Islamo-Facists, and other "control-freaks", the unabated circulation of information and ideas contends directly with the agenda: to have a few control the many. Facebook and Google are not welcome in China. The current Iranian regime was incensed with Twitter as Iranian citizens had an outlet to tell the world about a fraudulent election and the iron fist of those who perpetrated the outcomes. The "ruling class" does not like ideas, opinions, and data to be shared among the citizens. For their own good, the facts, the news, it must be kept from the common man.

We in the United States have nothing to fear. Right? Yeah, right!!! This country was founded to protect the rights of the individual. Government was viewed by many of the Founding Fathers as a "necessary evil" to protect an individuals rights. For over two hundred years, politicians have gradually piled on restriction after restriction, law after law, because is it for the greater good. "Security" and "safety" have trumped freedom and liberty over and over.

The Internet, refreshingly, has grown so fast that the politicians could not catch up. You can buy and sell online without being taxed. You can advertise for free. You can publish your thoughts and ideas to millions of people (if they so choose to read them) without any censorship or having to wait for the hacks in the press to show interest.

Not so fast!! The fat, bloated, greedy, aristocratic political class has shifted gears. A few may have a heart attack trying to get a hold of this liberation juggernaut that is the Internet, but they will die trying. There is too much goin' on out there without "our" oversight. We need some regulations; we need some controls!! That's our money, you foolish and simple peasants!!!

Net Neutrality is the latest charge, and like the "Ministry of Love", it's true intentions masked with an Orwellian paradoxical title. It is only one of many. See this article for Obama's recently reported plans to "identify" us on the Internet so that "they" may protect our privacy and security: "Obama Administration Reportedly Plans to Create Internet ID For All Americans" - Fox News.

Hey, Barack! Hey, Nancy! Hey, Harry! I don't remember anyone clamoring about the injustice of the Internet and how unsafe and dangerous it is. We free people would appreciate it if you would stay out of those things that don't concern you. You are public servants, not divinely appointed rulers. Legislate those matters for which the Constitution directed you to target, and let freedom ring in cyberspace!!!