2 Months, 1 post

So it has been awhile. How are you all doing? Hope things are good. Anything of any particular note to talk about? Throw it in the comments and pretend we are talking about it here.

So, on to the post. A few things have happened in the two months I have been gone. For one, I am now a married man. I’m still trying to bridge the mental gap of saying wife and not girlfriend/fiancé. It is jarring to pass milestones in your life, cruising through life’s goalposts leaves a numbing sensation until I am miles from it and can appreciate it. Basically It felt like years building up to it, then it was over in a blur.

The honeymoon was awesome, Mexico was an amazing time with the beautiful weather and magnificently high-tided ocean. I absolutely love the food down there, the tuna steaks are surreal. Tried an Argentinian Steakhouse and I honestly have to say that is the best meal I have ever had in my life. The streak had to have been flavored with ground up Unicorns and pixie dust, I have never had a flavor profile like that before. The steak was so tender I only used my fork. If there was one around here I would be addicted end up selling blood to pay for my new addiction.

By the way, Mexican food in America =/= real Mexican food, at least around Ixtapa. Everything has black beans in it, so the weight loss inducing result of drinking the water isn’t a worry. Just eat some food and pack the fiber in and you are untouchable. We didn’t really have any problems down there. It was peaceful and calm. My wife slept for seventeen hours straight after we got there. Needless to say we relaxed and just enjoyed ourselves.

A few small things happened when we got back. We went to Best Buy to get a new DVD rack and ended up buying way more. I also got a 55′ Samsung LED TV, a Samsung Series 7 laptop, and a new entertainment center. Believe it or not it wasn’t my idea, it was my wife’s. So yeah, I married the right person. I love my new toys. Both the TV and laptop have made it easier for the new projects I have started. More on that at a later date.

So, man, politics. The Republican primary race was super entertaining, I was sad to see Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain drop out. No I wouldn’t vote for them but anytime they opened their mouth it was solid comedy gold. Alas though It seems we have set the crazy aside to get back to the same old boring finger-pointing issues. You know, where both parties more or less do and say/do the same things but act like it is different. I really don’t care what anybody says, in the long game there isn’t much different between either camp; we’re in and/or heading into some serious issues for our country and the people at he wheel really make it seem like their IQ is comparable to a moldy loaf of bread in my kitchen.

Speaking of difficult, I have basically disowned parts of my family. Some members were pretty shitty through the entire wedding process and even now are causing a lot of unnecessary problems. I have tried talking and coming to some sort of understanding, but it became very clear the past few months that communication wasn’t going anywhere. It just really isn’t worth the constant fighting and negativity. I was worried it was the wrong decision but now that I am on the other side it feels like a weight is gone and I can breathe. I’m guessing that is a good thing.

I haven’t been writing and that bothers me. There are a few reasonably important odd jobs I need to finish up before  I can devote my time to the word mines again. Finish off some debts and be that much more financial free. As I make that dream into a reality, let me tell you it is nice being able to pay for things on the spot. I have some student loans left then I am pretty well free. Such a weird feeling. I made a plan for myself in life and with some hard-work and hopeful foresight things are coming together.

For the past two months I have basically been taking it easy, spending time with the wife, and working to complete a few of my other goals. Now that I am on the ass-end of that stretch, time to return to writing and all the starry-eyed dreams that come with it. I have a mountain of inspiration built up and my creative juices are probably going to be pretty pulpy.

Cheers.

Colbert 2012

So if you haven’t heard, Stephen Colbert is running for president in South Carolina, you know his home state. He tried a few years ago and was removed by the South Carolina Democratic Party executive council. So like any good little Southerner, he won’t be told what to do. Colbert is going to take on the system, with the system.

His super-PAC, which in no way communicates with him, is running a series of ads in South Carolina by owner John Stewart that offers some very funny rifts on our already troubled and out of touch Republican candidates while actually making some valid points.

Here is one about Mitt Romney.

Basically in Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, 118 U.S. 394 (1886), the Supreme Court recognized corporations for the purpose utilizing the Fourteenth Amendment which gives a wide definition of what citizenship is, gives Due Process to all of a state’s citizens, and Equal Protection under a state to all of its citizens.

Now, with those rights it gives some basic freedoms to Corporations to help protect themselves (like you and I have) and simplify tax laws. That is all fine and dandy.

Where the problem begins is that is also allows Corporations to make donations to political parties.

Take that and couple it with the ruling of United Citizens v. Federal Election Committee in 2010, basically saying that money equals free speech. Corporations and Unions don’t have a limit on independent spending in politics.

Ask yourself a question, what is it that politicians live and die for?

The answer is being elected.

The second a Senator gets elected, he immediately starts to figure out how he can be re-elected. He isn’t alone in this, all politicians have this gene. politicians love getting elected almost as much as anybody else in the world loves money.

So, how does this happen? Well he/she raises money to travel around and tell people how awesome he/she is. The more he/she advertises explains his/her greatness, the more likely people will vote. (generally). Traveling around, making posters, paying people to organize things, creating TV ads, making websites, and all that costs money. In fact it costs a lot of money. Where does it come from?

Say, how likely are you to donate to a politician? Well corporations donate a lot of money to politicians, they lobby them to make decisions in their favor. Politician gets money to get elected, the corporation gets backing for something they want/need. I’m oversimplifying that process a little, but that is basically how it works.

Everybody wins, except the American people, and democracy insures that we will only be governed as well as we deserve.

Lobbying itself isn’t inherently evil, the donating money to the politicians is what hurts everybody. The law process in our country starts to shift (and has in some areas) a tug of war game between big corporations where the American people are caught in the middle.

COUGH – SOPA- COUGH. Media v Tech.

So cue the current Colbert super-PAC ad. Romney said that corporations are people. Romney also used to dismantle business and sell what he could. So if corporations are people, and Romney dismantled business and sold what he could….. he is then a serial killer?

If Corporations are people, why hasn’t one ever been executed and why when a corporation is brought to court is it not judged by other corporations?

It’s a joke of course, but he raises a good point. Which is basically in a nut shell what Colbert is trying to do in the big picture. He is not actually trying to run for President of the United States, he is just trying to show the idiocy that is our current system.

It amuses me when news channels blast Colbert for missing his deadline to register for the ballot, like he didn’t know that? Him and his army of writers and political aficionados aren’t likely to look over that detail, just saying.

Now before you dismiss what he is doing as nonsense, tomfoolery, and/or mockery of our voting system, I urge you to look at a few things.

• He explained in layman what a super-PAC is, how it works, and what is used for.
• He is showing that as long as you have money, you have all the free speech you want.
• He is showing just how shady and squirrely the laws have become for our elected officials.
• He is proving how synonymous politician and entertainer have become during election time.

Elections are less and less about actual policy and law and more about entertaining the people with non-sense and things a President has no control over rather than addressing difficult issues.

Whether you agree or not with a person’s decision, is it the place of the government to tell somebody who they can and can’t marry? I guess it isn’t that surprising considering it wasn’t that long ago various groups of our nation didn’t have rights, we seem to still be stuck in some backwards mentality.

See I probably just hit a button. Now watch when a politician is being asked a question that is best left unanswered, watch how quickly they jump to a social hot button and avoid tough questions. No single party is innocent of this tactic either, oh no. In fact there are no innocent parties in politics. Everybody is guilty of something. I just happen to believe that right now the conservative side is showing just how weak it is.

No, I didn’t vote for Obama. But I will with the crowd we have now. We have Newt complaining about how Romney came into money by the very laws that Newt helped pass. We have people not voting for Romney even though he is the poster child for fiscal conservatives. We have people who think Freedom of Religion means every religion but Judeo-Christian. We have another guy who, although he is honest and sticks to his guns – I really, really do admire that, is kind of crazy. Then again maybe we need crazy?

Anyway, just because I don’t agree with the conservative doesn’t make me a liberal. In fact I’m a moderate. I believe we need balance between states and federal government and I believe Republican and Democrats have valid points on some issues and believe they are idiots on others.

This “my party or the enemy” mentality needs to go, the my way or the highway approach isn’t working. We need better discussion and open dialog. I think that Colbert/Stewart are the only ones trying to level the field, trying to bring things around from out of touch politicians stuck in their ways and expose the loop-holes in our system.

If you comment, be nice.

The Politics of Writing

So I have been reading about the politics that writers find themselves wrapped in sometimes. Apparently if you are liberal or a conservative, some writers and readers won’t read or even acknowledge your work. I find this to be asinine, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised because … well people distance themselves from anything they disagree with. I rarely talk to somebody and them say, “Yea, I don’t agree with you but I enjoyed talking to you about it.” I say things like that to other people, if they aren’t being douche bags. I’m not saying I’m a model for this sort of thing, but if people could just respect the other side a little more, overall life would be easier.

When it comes to stories, does it matter if you disagree with something central or minor? If the story is enjoyable can’t it be looked past? I don’t believe in communism but I still read and have enjoyed books where they was a central theme. I have stories where I don’t personally subscribe to the political ideologies contained within, but I find them interesting and worthy of exploring. If a book is on post-apocalyptic global warming, why label it tree-hugger trash? Even if you don’t think it is a real thing, if the story is good then who cares?

I don’t care about the author’s politics, religion, gender, sexual orientation, preference of boxers or briefs, ranch or thousand island. My point is if the story is good, if written well, then what does it matter? I don’t believe in elves, but I own a lot of fantasy books. Seriously, what does it matter?