Unfiltered Opinion

Goodbye California!

As you can tell I have not posted anything since July 9th. I was too busy helping my wife find a new job any where outside of California.  Then I had to prepare my family to move from southern California to Nebraska. My time has been spent packing and driving across the country with 3 young children who get bored quickly. As soon as we arrived, we had to get my wife settled into her new job and get 2 of the kids registered for school. Then I had to find suitable childcare for my 2 year old. Now I am in the process of finding a new job. However, I feel that everyone has now settled into a routine so that I can start posting again. So many things have happened in the past few weeks and I have a lot to say so stay tuned.

Good Idea - But ...........

Barack Obama has promised to give students a $4000 tax credit in exchange for 100 hours of public service. Students will be able to use this credit to pay tuition and other fees. I think this is a great idea if it is implemented in a way that helps all students of all income levels. However, my life experience has shown me that this tax credit will not be available for a lot of students.

Obama and John McCain are making a lot of promises to the American people on what they will do if they are elected president. I just wonder where they are going to get the money to pay for all of these "great" ideas? For example, I know Obama likes to say that a lot of his programs will be paid for with the money that is now being used for the war in Iraq. That may be true - one day. However, people are naive if they think that the war is going to end and the troops are going to come home as soon as Obama becomes president. Obama may want to bring the troops home immediately, but the reality is that he is going to need the help of Congress. Obama also knows that whether he wants to or not, the U.S. is going to maintain a prescence in Iraq until the end of time. There is no way the U.S. is going to give up this strategic staging ground in the Middle East.

For once, I just wish there would be one presidential candidate that would be completely honest with the American public. Obama has come close to being that candidate. For example, he has consistently ridiculed the gas tax holiday idea for what it is - a gimmick. However, I need Obama or someone to tell me the truth all of the time.

Don't Forget The White Fathers

I was glad to see Barack Obama take black men to task who are not taking an active part in the lives of their children. This has been a problem for a long time that many people unfortunately accept as a fact of life. However, there are plenty of black fathers who do it the right way, but the media does not like to focus on those good men. The media would rather focus on the ignorant fools walking around with their pants half way down their ass who are committed to living a reckless life. Nevertheless, I believe Obama focused on black men because he was speaking at a predominantly black church. I would also like to see him repeat this message at some of the predominantly white churches. There are plenty of white men who decline to be fathers to their children.

I wonder if Obama would be comfortable lecturing a white audience about the importance of fatherhood? That's a message I bet his campaign team will not let him deliver in some parts of the country. The Secret Service can only do so much.

So Much For Party Unity

It's no secret that many moderate and conservative Democrats are not crazy about a possible Barack Obama presidency. Nevertheless, the fact is that the majority of them would rather have Obama as President than John McCain. However, Obama is too liberal for these people and they fear that if he is elected President then the Republicans will surely return to the White House in four years.

There are idiots in each party, but not too many of them have made ignorant comments in public like those made by Tennessee Democratic Party executive Fred Hobbs. This fool said, "he (Obama) may be terrorist connected for all I can tell." You can see more of the statement in the following video.



This is the kind of crap Obama is going to have to fight on a daily basis. I'm not an Obama supporter, but some of these anti-Obama people are not too intelligent. It's one thing for them to fear an Obama presidency because of his expected policies. However, it's another thing to fear the man to the extent that they are just making stuff up about him that have no basis in reality.

There Is More Than One Way To Vote

Roland Martin is a CNN contributor and a Barack Obama supporter (no surprise). I still have no idea how he is considered a political expert and why he has been able to get so much TV time, but that is besides the point. Nevertheless, Martin does make some good points every now and then. Currently, Martin is pushing for the idea of having Election Day held on a Saturday or Sunday instead of its usual Tuesday. For the most part, I don't see anything wrong with this idea. However Martin does not take into consideration the implications for voters who are members of religions that restrict activities on weekends. I'm no religious expert, but I believe members of the Seventh Day Adventist religion are restricted from doing things at certain times on Saturday.

Don't get me wrong, I understand Martin's goal of increasing voter turnout for the general election. However, he is making the assumption that people would get out of bed on a Saturday to go stand in a long line for a couple of hours and vote. I could have taken his idea a little more seriously if he had taken the time to point out that there are options for people who do not have the time to vote on Tuesday. Every voter can choose to complete an absentee ballot if they do not want to miss work or stand in line on election day.

The bottom line is this - if people want to exercise their right to vote then they will vote on Tuesday or by absentee ballot. If people do not vote then they lose the right to complain about the results of the election. I wonder how many people complaining about the current Bush administration actually took the time to vote for John Kerry? I'll admit he was not a good option, but my point is voter's had a choice and they chose Bush - again. This would have happened on any day of the week.

My Exile Is Over

I have returned to the blogging world from my self-imposed exile with a new focus and renewed energy.  I am still relatively new to blogging, but I am disappointed with the attitudes of a lot of people in the blogosphere.  I have found it to be a place where people can hide and say anything that they want.  Their commentary can be full of lies and misleading statements. Some readers leave comments that make you wonder how they graduated from high school and found any kind of employment.

I have always lived by the adage that I would never say or write something about someone that I could not say to their face. I have never felt compelled to hide behind a letter or computer screen to voice my opinion. The blogging world is full of cowards who like to make comments that are sexist, racist, unintelligent, deceitful  and devoid of any truth. There are some people who actually take the time to see if they can be a bigger jerk than someone else on the site. These people are cowards in public and these people are cowards tapping away on their laptops.  The blogosphere has almost made it cool to be a jerk to other people. 

I have always had a problem with people who are ignorant or who do not have any common sense. I don't knowingly deal with these types of people nor do I coach them.  I make a conscious effort to weed these people out of my life.  This is why I am not accepting comments any more on this site.  For example, people know that I have not been a big fan of Barack Obama's political views or his old church membership.  However, I have more of a problem with the racist language people have used to criticize Obama and his family.  I have also hated the language Obama supporters have used towards John McCain and Hillary Clinton.

I know that people blog to express their feelings and expertise on various subjects. However, that does mean I have to provide a forum for shallow people to spew vile and hateful comments that do not have any place in this society.

She Should Have Used Raid

A woman in New York is suing the owner of an office building in Manhattan because she is allegedly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after being repeatedly bitten by bedbugs at work. This shows you how stupid I am - I thought bedbugs were only found in beds. I never have sworn to be knowledgeable about bugs in the workplace.

Jane Clark claims she was bitten three times from 2007-2008. She also claims that she feared that that she would bring home the bugs and that they would bite her child. I really hope Clark is getting some form of counseling besides that of the legal variety. There has to be other reasons for her mental trauma. Even if she was bitten by a bedbug three times, that still does not seem to warrant having nightmares and sleeping with a flashlight by her bedside. Maybe it's just me, but it just sounds a little weird.

What An Idiot!

There are some things that happen in life that you just cannot explain. For example, this man in Fort Worth, TX has an itch on his back that he needs to scratch. This moron grabs a gun to scratch himself and ends up shooting himself in the back. This man will be elected to Congress someday.

Will Beyonce Dress Her Daughter Up Like This?

I am a big fan of Beyonce the singer and actress, but I am not a fan of the fashion part of her business
empire - House of Dereon.  In their advertising campaign for their new clothing line for kids, House of Dereon has girls that look to be 5 and 6 years old dressed in outfits that I would not want to see adults wearing.  These young girls are in high heels, tight fitting clothes and wearing makeup.  I know I am not as hip as most of the people in the world think they are, but I think this advertising campaign is perverse.

As the father of two young girls, I can guarantee you that there is no way in hell they would ever dress up like this.  Unfortunately, this is par for the course when it comes to the clothing choices for young girls. Most of the clothes these days are tight and cut to be very revealing.  Parents have to work hard to dress their girls in "normal" clothing these days.  The only way these fashion designers will change is if parents stop buying these clothes for their daughters.

Beyonce needs to shut this campaign down and find something else to do with her extra time.

Everyone Has The Right To Count Their Money

In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has ruled that the U.S. Treasury Department discriminates against blind people by making paper money the same size and feel.  The court ruled that this policy makes it impossible for blind people to distinguish the monetary value of paper currency.

"The court also ruled that the United States failed to explain why changing the money would be an undue burden. The Treasury Departmenthas redesigned its currency several times in recent years and adding features to aid the blind would come at a relatively small cost, the court said. Other countries have added such features, the court
said, and the United States never explained what made its situation so unique."

I have never considered how difficult it would be for a blind person to distinguish the difference in paper currency.  I also find it pathetic that the government even tried to fight this in court without just making the necessary inexpensive changes to accommodate the blind citizens of this country. Instead the government wasted tax dollars trying to fight for their right to maintain the status quo.