What a difference a week makes

Well, my second vacation of the year is now over and it was fantastic. I now have just one left this year before I go on a vacation drought. Tannan, Whitney and I took a road trip (I love Road Trips) to Montana to see our Vet friend Bret. Montana was, in some ways, completely different than what I thought it would be and also the same... very confusing. We arrived to 87 degree weather and saw that change to cool but very, very windy, to a threat of snow. Talk about weather. I love San Diego but it would be nice to have some weather outside of the 360 days per year of partly cloudy/sunny weather.

The trip was fun and I cannot wait to do it again soon. I have posted some pictures below and will post more. I will also get back to my somewhat political blog style but in the mean time, decided to share the love. See ya!

Here is a picture of Tannan and Whitney outside of Bret's House as we wait for him to arrive home.

Here is a picture of the start to a Montana Sunset looking outside of Bret's house.

Here is Tannan and Bret settling an argument during fajitas night.

After the snow and on Tuesday, we went to Bannock, a ghost town. Here I am standing under the gallows where 17 people died (I think it was that few).

Help, We're in Jail! From inside this jail, you can really only see one thing... the Gallows!

On Saturday Night we went to the Rodeo. This was, after all, Montana's biggest weekend. We decided to dress up and put on some Cowboy hats, although Tannan's is a cowboy hat that he bought in Thailand.

Since we were in Montana, we decided to take part in a Montana original... a bag of beer. (Yes, you actually by a bag of beer... brilliant).

After the rodeo, they close two blocks of downtown Dillon and suspend the open container policy. It was odd walking past cops while drinking booze in the middle of the street. The people in the back are slightly intoxicated while the old couple up front (Tannan and Whitney) were not. To be fair, some of us (myself and another person who shall remain nameless) were a little more intoxicated than others.

Reality Check

I know I said that I originally started this blog not to be a political sounding board but a sounding board for my various rants and raves. Unfortunately, the posts lately have been on the political side. This one may seem to be no different but I submit that this post is more of a reality check than a political post. This reality check is brought to you by the one year anniversary of the death of a friend who grew up just 3 houses down the street from me. On August 22, 2007, Staff Sergeant Jason Payton died in a helicopter crash with 13 other men and women in our armed forces outside of the town of Tikrit. The crash, deemed to be non-hostile in nature, was ironically on its way to drop the soldiers off after completing a successful mission. This was Jason's second tour in Iraq with one or two more in Afghanistan, where he was involved in an ambush that nearly claimed his life then. When the crash occurred, he was just three weeks away from turning in his weapons and beginning the trek back home. He was to be married the next month after he returned home. Jason was the 3,714 US death in Iraq.

Regardless of your opinions on the war or the current administration, I hope you at least are grateful there are people like Jason that are currently serving to protect us and the innocent. I know he loved the Army and was pursuing a career in the Special Forces. The image of looking at his body in the coffin two weeks after the crash will never leave my mind. He was tiny and looked like a kid but when he was alive, he was bigger than life and always happy. At the time of this post, there have been 4,146 deaths of US service men and women in Iraq. I still support the war and hope that all those who are serving will be able to return home safe and sound. One thing I am proud of is that when our service men and women come home from duty, they are… for the most part… treated with respect and dignity. I am a firm believer in our military and also believe that you can be against the war and still support the troops. I also believe that you can be against the war and be patriotic.

As I mentioned in my previous posts, I consider myself to be conservative. In fact, I am probably a little more than most "conservatives". I "align" myself with the Republican Party not because I want to or feel the need to belong to a group but because I agree with their stances… most of them. I am not a "Compassionate Conservative" as our President calls himself or whatever the party's new buzzword is this day. I am a realistic conservative. I would say that I am socially and fiscally conservative yet I have stances that some would say is "liberal", like that word is a curse word or something. I am also a realistic American in that I will vote for someone that I believe A) will be the best President and will lead America down a path that I believe will be the most beneficial to this country and B) that I agree with. Why in the name of God is it important or "newsworthy" how many homes a candidate has? How will that affect how he, or she, would be as the President of the United States? I agree with the disclosure of financial records because I would be a little untrusting of someone that cannot manage their own finances and would be entrusted with the finances of the US. The media today takes a position and backs a candidate (McCain for Fox News… they are fair and balanced… and Obama for MSNBC and the Communist News Network (CNN) because, as you know, CNN equals Politics) but of course they would deny that they favor one or the other. The media should report the news… facts only… and if they want to add commentary then by all means do so but at least mark it as that, Commentary. We should ask ourselves if the story the media is presenting to us realistically matter in the grand scheme of things. I would venture to bet that most of what they say doesn't.

While being realistic is important, we still need to be dreamers. After all, the next big change and great advancement in our society will be from those who still appreciate being unrealistic… every once in a while. It is finding the right balance that will always be just beyond our fingertips but it is important that we never stop trying to grab it.

Damn Yankees

Despite my apparent inability to sleep the past couple of nights (now on only three hours sleep since 7:30 am Sunday), I have been able to get more things done at work than in past weeks. Who knows, maybe my work lately has been complete crap but so far I have not receive any complaints. I am really looking forward to the Montana trip in a week. That will be olive oil in a water bottle awesome.

 

Today's post covers a topic that is of special importance to me so here it goes. One of the things that I am most grateful of is being an American. Where else do you have the ability to argue several different points with others freely and without fear of punishment from the government and then go to work and try to screw your fellow man in the spirit of Capitalism? I mean, come on. This is just brilliance… much like the creature that makes absolutely no sense to me, the Duckbilled Platypus. It looks like a duck fucked a beaver and a manatee. Then their offspring mated with an otter and a snake (for the venomous part). What was evolution, or God, thinking? Come on. Nevertheless, I digress.

 

I would say that I am a little over the top in being patriotic and I believe that this word means something different than what most of my fellow republicans define it as. It is not being pro-war, pro-life, Christian, flag waving, or Mary Tyler Moore. Someone who is against the war in Iraq or war in general can still be just as patriotic as you or I (okay, maybe not me because few people are). Blindly following the leaders of this country and not saying anything against it because we are at war is not being patriotic. That is being an idiot. You should question your country's actions and the leaders we elect. I am a big Bush supporter yet he has done some f'd up things and I talk to people about them because we should. Of course, if you disagree but decide not to speak up, that's great too. That is your choice but to not question anything???? I am pro-war but most of my friends are not. I am a republican, most are not. I am a conservative, most are not. I am a white male, most are also. I am for the taking over of Canada because really, what good does Canada except mispronounce "O" and add nonsensical onomatopoeia's to the end of statements… and I doubt my friends would be for that as well. The point is, being patriotic means that you want better and greater things for the US. For me, I add the line that you also want the US athletes to kick butt at the Olympics.

 

Now, on to some other rumblings… Despite our inability to balance the budget (and this is not Dubya's fault people… the President has no official say in the final budget that gets passed by CONGRESS), we still dish out more foreign aid than any other country. We have two naval vessels that cost a fortune to operate and take up valuable human resources to man yet they are designed to provide medical assistance around the world. The USNS Mercy is the West Coast ship that is dispatched to the Tsunami area, Mynamar (even though their support was denied by the Junta), and other places. These are giant white colored floating hospitals with big red crosses all over it. Realistically, for the next few years (5-8 years) we should reduce all foreign aid to nothing, except for a contingency of 5-10 billion dollars in case of natural disasters or humanitarian crises.

 

This will hurt other countries that have not only come to rely on these funds but demand and expect to continue to receive it. How dare we even consider spending our own money elsewhere (mainly, on our debt and our own citizens that need help too). Despite this, we continue to shovel out money. By reducing this funding, and not increasing anyone's budget, sorry DOD, you can live with the funds you currently receive, while maintaining everyone's taxes at the current rates, should help to close the gap. To further close the gap, the government needs to close the loophole on big businesses that to this very day pay little or even nothing in taxes. That is wrong. This, of course, is a slow approach method to closing the gap and there are more courses out there that we can take.

 

 

 

Where is Montana anyway?

Good morning, afternoon and evening everyone. After battling with the cold that my good friend Tannan and his wife gave me during the Fourth of July weekend, I am back to being 100%. I know, you really don't care but then again, this is my blog and I can write what I want (assuming I remain compliant with the Patriot Act and on Homeland Security's good side). I have begun my detailed preparation for the LSAT that I hope to take within the next few months with school starting in the fall ('09). I am still applying for both my MPA and now I am really pressing to going back to school for my JD.

If I go the route of the JD, I will do something useful with it by studying a topic that matters. At this point it probably will be business or real estate law. I can tell you that it will not be anything "environmental" or "social" as I really could care less about those topics. I took a practice test and scored in the 150's, which isn't bad but I want my scores to get up to the high 160's or the 170's before I take the test for real. It will take me three to four years to graduate and I will take the bar but not sure if I will go to a law firm after that or stay in the public sector. Money will play a role in it but I also love the public sector.

Anyway, I am hoping to get up to Montana in late August or early September but I am waiting for my good friend Tannan to get his and his wife's act together. I will need road trip buddies as it is a 17 hour drive that I really do not want to do on my own. I still think that Montana is the land God forgot but I have not been there so for me to express an opinion is premature. I am looking forward to it but I always love a good car ride. I cannot spend too much money as I need to save my money for school, a house, and to pay off my debt. Too much need, not enough income. In other news, I heard this country's wonderful speaker of the house talk about how George Bush and his administration a total failure. Hmmm, I don't know, getting Lybia to give up its hopes at WMD's, helping the Northern Alliance to de-throne the Taliban, getting North Korea to begin dismantling the nuclear program, now sitting down with Iran and opening up a diplomatic presence there, cussing out a reporter during his first campaign, and bring Air Force One and himself to Miramar where I got to be there, 20 feet away, not necessarily a total failure. Yes, there was the whole Iraq war, a war that I supported but not because of the "wmd" excuse. I supported it to get rid of Saddam. Has it been handled well? Of course not. Have there been a lot of failures, absolutely but I wouldn't call it a total failure.

Total failure would be a congress that continues to bow down and pass bills that a majority of its members publicly denounce, yet they keep voting for them and bitching when the President signs them into laws. Pssst. Here's a hint. If you don't pass the laws you don't want, then they cannot be signed into law.

By the way, I come from the school of thought that the US Constitution applies to US Citizens; otherwise it would be very arrogant to think that our laws apply to anyone. I do not see how an alien (no matter what nationality) is covered by our constitution… as long as they are not within the physical boundaries of the US or its territories. Gitmo and the prisoners would be covered because it is considered sovereign US Soil. I strongly disagree with the US actions and support the recent Supreme Court decisions regarding the treatment of prisoners. In all the wars, past, present, and future, the US is/should be better than others in their treatment of prisoners. This is a moral ground that should never be altered, no matter what the "National Security" threat.

Another 4th of July gone by

I hope everyone is having/had a great 4^th of July weekend. I am sure it was filled with the usual fireworks, national anthem, Old Glory flying everywhere (yes I know Old Glory is one flag that is currently undergoing massive preservation efforts and as such is not every star spangled banner we see flying everywhere), and many different variations of God Bless America and Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA. I will detour from my usual 4^th blog where I boast about how great the country is, even with its many, many faults. Instead, I wanted to take a few minutes to thank those who have served, are serving, or will serve in the armed forces or the many peace groups out there (Freedom Corps, Peace Corps, Red Cross, etc). Despite the many flaws that our and the international media love to point out (let's face it; there is no better story in a foreign country than how the USA screwed something up), Nothing is ever said about the many good things that we are doing, even under this Administration and Congress (I support the current Administration… Congress is a different story). But more on that later in this blog.

Whether or not you disagree with the war on terrorism/Iraq, I would hope you support the troops, who are willing to risk their lives for us and others. Enough cannot be said about them and I just wanted to add my many thanks. At my city hall, there is a "wall" that the Veterans Center has on display with a simple phrase that while it may not poetic, it does sum up the service of the military personnel, "All gave some, Some gave all".

Something caught my eye the other day that was just sad. On a street corner you had a large group of anti-war protesters with signs essentially saying pull them out/bring them home now. They were loud and while I disagree with them, I support their right to protest. What made me sad was on the other corner, there were a small group of pro-war (I will not say pro-military because the anti-war people may be pro-military, just against this particular war) demonstrators (I do not think you can call them protesters as they are not against a current policy/action) that were just sitting there with very simple signs. From my vantage point, it did not look like they were saying anything but they were being yelled at (I assume, the people looked very angry) by two of the anti-war people (they had the anti-war signs). Why is that okay? They are doing the same thing the other group is doing yet they are being yelled at? If it was because they support the war, then that is truly sad. Anyways, on to my ramblings below.

To be fair, I should clarify my 1st paragraph sentence. It isn't that nothing is ever said of these good things, they are either pushed off the main stories or are very briefly covered. During the Christmas Day tsunami a few years ago or the Burma Cyclone Nargis that is still a humanitarian nightmare, very few stories were covered showing that the US, along with many, many other nations were trying to help. The US sent USNS Mercy to the tsunami region and I believe, although I have not confirmed this, to Burma. The Tsunami victims allowed the US to help and we did so willingly and without a favor in return. Our military also sent ships to Burma that to this day are still denied access to unload vital humanitarian aid supplies. Granted, we are not liked around the world and the Junta are pussies but I would think that the media would run a few stories on this. Do not get me wrong, I am not expecting the international media to play into the propaganda campaign of the United States, but run something.

Despite our "quick draw" policy, we were able to negotiate with two nations that are our enemies, and arrive at a peaceful solution. Libya and North Korea. The North Korea story, I think, should be a huge story. The US was able to get North Korea to agree to a plan to dismantle their nuclear weapons and their ability to produce them. Yes, the US and 4 other nations arrived at the agreement with the North but do not forget that it was the US's idea and insistence on the 6 party talks. This brought other nations who have an interest in the nuclear North and Korea's closest ally, China. This was important and it was resolved, on paper at least, at a table and not on a battlefield. I would think even those who disagree or even hate President Bush would be happy to hear of a peaceful solution but the story is rarely talked about on the media, especially on CNN and MSNBC. For fairness, Fox News did cover this story to a greater degree but despite their claims, they favor my political side and party.

There really isn't any point to my blog and I know the logic and arguments are rudimentary compared to other brilliant writers but this is what crossed my mind as I wrote this so I wanted to type this down.

Happy New Year!!!

Good evening (or morning/afternoon, depending on when you are reading this). Tuesday is the New Year's and I am excited. Every year, this is the day that we government junkies look forward to. A year of spending is almost behind us and a year of money to be spent awaits. We, of course, spend the money wisely and with caution because it is not ours. It is our customer's (residents) and we must protect it as much as possible.
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That is why I love the City I work for. We reduced our budget by 1% and I know, this does not seem like much but we are keeping a balanced budget and finding more non-tax revenue streams. Not only are we reducing the budget but we are also increasing service. We are adding a 4Th ambulance and staffing a brand new Fire Station. Not many other cities can say that they reduced budget and increased service. And no, my Public Administration friends, no transference took place. We just simply looked at what we were spending and decided we could do more with less. My department is important (and not because I am in the department... well, not entirely) because we bring in the non-tax revenue. Our non-tax revenue is the second largest source of revenue. In almost all cities, Sales tax is king and property tax is number two. Not so with us, property tax is number three. A non-tax revenue source is our number two.
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Not all government is wastefull. If more governments really examined where we are spending money, there would be little need for new taxes. This is a counter point to my friend's blog about the anti-tax society and the need for taxes. To be fair, he was not saying bring us more taxes, he was arguing society's view of taxes is wrong... but I digress. Anyway, the new fiscal year is among us and the point to this blog is really to say... HAPPY NEW (fiscal) YEAR!!!

Birthday Celebration

This blog goes out to my good Friend Karen, whose birthday happens to be today. Karen turns 27 today and is just three years from the big 30.

If you live in the United States then you probably have heard about the recent California Supreme Court decision regarding Prop 22 and the marriage definition. The court ruled that the ballot initiative, which was approved by 61% of the voters only a few years ago, is unconstitutional. Once the decision become finalized, in about 1 month, same-sex couple can get hitched and legally be married. In anticipation of this ruling, opponents have already gathered enough signatures to place a new proposition on the November ballot. This one, unlike the first, would change the California constitution instead of the law. This would make the Cal. Supreme Court's decision null and void from that point on, not retroactive to this ruling. The opponents have asked the court to stay its decision until the November election to avoid a very complex and a legal mess. You see, if the court does not stay its ruling and the ballot initiative passes, then we will have one set of gay couples who are legally married but any future couples would be denied the ability. Courts have historically viewed amendments and laws as future looking, not retroactive. That is why those married between June and November would be legally married after the new amendment is approved.

I supported Prop 22 and continued to be against "marriage" for same sex couples. This has placed a bit of friction on more than one friendships, especially the one with my friend who happens to be a lesbian. Honestly, I am disappointed by the Court's ruling but I will respect the law and the new definition. The last thing I want, however, is a continued battle over this one issue and the millions of dollars spent, by both sides (with the "liberals" planning on spending about $5 million more than the same-sex marriage opponents) on ads and a media blitzkrieg trying to convince us to vote one way or the other. I think there are better uses for that money and my conservative friends should just get over it and act like Christians should. I am against this new amendment initiative and would encourage others to vote against it as the legal mess that would be caused would be a disaster waiting to happen.

We have relied on Courts overstepping their jurisdiction in order to bring socially needed changes in the past. A majority of the population supported segregation and the Jim Crow laws that kept minorities away from the privileges of the majority. The Courts had to defy the popular vote and force the change on us. I doubt there is anyone who would argue that Courts were wrong. This may be one of those cases but I am big enough to admit that I do not know. History will be the only judge that would know for certain so I yield to history. Gay Marriage is a certainty and it is time we focus our attention and resources to stopping the "global warming" farce and helping those in need.