Truly up in arms - American Government is messed up!

sad but true: Russian article regarding the American way of life and the government responsible for taking over the world

So, what does the general population of America think of its government, I wonder? I mean, Obama was voted in. I wonder if that means that the majority of America desires that the Government take over. If this is the case then America is truly messed up.

It is my strong opinion that America is full of a bunch of lazy and self-absorbed people who simply don't want to work or take responsibility for their own selves. With those people the opposite spectrum of people in this country are those that are obsessed with greed, power, and money doing whatever they can to include taking advantage the lazy, self-absorbed people lurching off them and then lining their pockets because they know how to work the system. Finally, there's another group of people in this country, which I believe is quite large but quiet. Those are people like me who see what's going on and are almost frantic at the thought when they see the subtleties of what's happening to our beloved nation.

What can we do? What should we do? The goal, obviously, is to return this country to a lawful and strongly desired republic where the law rules, not people who are corrupt and self-serving such as our government has become.

The newest member...

Today I've finally had a chance to sit down and blog about something that has changed my life forever!

A few days ago, on St. Patricks day, the birth of our new baby, Jackson, occurred. All I can say is WOW! Here's how it all went down.

The night of the 16th, when we went to bed and had been lying there for about three minutes, my wonderful wife unfortunately started feeling a lot of pain. Now, this wasn't too unusual so at first I didn't do anything. I just stayed with her. Then she started acting like I'd never seen her act before during this pregnancy like she was in severe pain. This got me up. I went to her and it wasn't long before the pain subsided. Then it wasn't much longer when the pain came again. I whipped out my watch so that I could time these pains, which were contractions. She had contractions for about forty minutes at about two minutes apart. I started getting our belongings together for the hospital and even went as far as picking up the phone to call the person who would watch our kids while we were having the baby. Then, the contractions seem to subside. I put the phone down and eventually, we went back to bed. Now, she asked me to sleep in another room so that if she were in pain again, which she was but not like that forty minutes period. She wanted me to sleep in the next room so she could sleep, too. I make funny noises at night that have kept her awake. So, she and I went back to bed and I knew she wasn't going to get much sleep but we agreed that our room separation was the best arrangement for both of us.

The following morning I was awakened by her walking into the room. She was fine but hadn't had much sleep during the night. She was extremely tired and asked me if I thought I could work from home, which, as long as I don't have meetings at the office that day, is fairly simple to arrange. So, I answered in the affirmative and went downstairs to send the email to my coworkers letting them know I was going to work from home. Ellen had a set appointment for a doctor visit today. Her due date was the twentieth and we were hoping that this visit would allow us to actually set the inducement date. She's always been induced so there was no reason to think this would be different. Well, I thought the appointment was at 145PM because I looked at the wrong day of the calendar, which another doctor's appointment was set a week later just in case the baby didn't come on the twentieth. So, I'm happily working from home. Ellen was happily back in bed as I customarily take care of the children in the morning while she sleeps in a bit. At about 935AM the phone rang. It was Stacy, our friend who was going to take care of the kids while Ellen went to the doctor. She was calling to make sure things were still on so she could watch the kids. Naturally, I was confused because I didn't think the appointment was until 145PM. She told me that it was at 10AM and now I was thoroughly confused. So, I went and told Ellen that Stacy was on the phone and verifying that things were still on. Ellen confirmed that they were, which confused me! So, I asked Ellen on Stacy's behest, what time Stacy could expect the kids. Ellen groggily stated, around 945AM and told me to tell her so. That's when I broke the news that the current time was 940AM. Ellen freaked, jumped out of bed, and headed for the shower, while all the while telling me that the appointment was at 10! So, I asked Stacy if she could come and pick the kids up, which she said she could and was on her way. I changed my clothes and it wasn't long before Stacy was there. Stacy picked up the kids and Ellen was showered and dressed ready to go by 951! We were out the door. I've never seen Ellen get dressed that fast before but we were on our way! We got the appointment around 1005AM; so we were fashionably late.

By the time we got into the doctor's office Ellen was somewhat joking and sharing her hopes to have the baby that same day. We both chuckled. Ellen couldn't chuckle too much because she was in pain. Moments later the doctor came in and asked our status. We gave him a run-down of what happened the night before. The doctor answered back that it sounded like Ellen was in labor. I was amazed!! WHOA! She'd been in labor?!?! Then the doc checked her and verified that she had dilated to 4cm. The doctor sent us to the hospital but Ellen asked if we could go home and get our things first. The doctor felt that that would be alright and we were on our way.



On the way home I was going a bit fast. In fact, I was going 47 in a 35. How do I know that? No, I wasn't watching the speedometer. I was pulled over by two motorcycle cops. Now, being a cop myself, I know that these guys rarely give a break. If a police officer is on a motorcycle then he's in the traffic division and his job is to write tickets! I pulled over. This happened to be a pair of officers. I waved them over because I wanted to let them know what was going on. Once they came over and I explained my wife's situation and what we were doing and where we were going. I mean, how cliche is this?! I was pulled over while my wife was in labor and we were (technically) on our way to the hospital! Anyway, the officer was nice enough to let us be on our way giving a stern warning to slow down, which I did!

We got home and got our things. I showered. Ellen put some makeup on and we were on our way!

On the way to the hospital, Ellen called her sister, Trisha, who agreed to photo or as she put it, paparazzi for the birth and let her know what was going on and to head toward the hospital. Trisha agreed to meet us there. When we got to the hospital, we were quickly admitted and put in a birthing room. These were nice rooms with wood floors and very little equipment in the room. I guess they try and let you feel more at home, which was nice. After a few hours, lots of a labor pains, and one epidural later, we had a baby. Jackson Alma Conner was born on March 17th, 2009 at 3:57PM. He was 8lbs and 20in long.



Now, being the one who was right there watching the entire thing like I'd never watched a birth before, I was absolutely amazed! When Jackson first came out he was purple. Now, the entire pregnancy was surreal but this one moment was the pinnacle of surreality. I couldn't believe I was the biological father to a new son. At first, I wasn't too impressed with what he looked like. He was purple and gooey. He didn't cry that much but he cried and I was grateful he was making noise. I knew he was OK. As soon as he was out and wiped up he was given to Mommy. I think I stared in amazement! It wasn't long before his purple hew turned to a more plush red and his wrinkles turned into smooth skin. As he turned into less of a prunish mass I found myself becoming more and more fond of him. It wasn't long before he was the most beautiful child I'd ever seen!!



Now that we've been home for a few days, daddy-hood has become a completely different life for me. I LOVE these kids!! I was a little worried about what my feelings for the kids would be after having a child of my own. Fortunately, it's actually become a better experience for me with them. However, my love for my own son is incredible!!



Ellen was amazing! I was right there while she was giving birth! This was her first non-induced birth, which I like, actually. I wanted something different than what she has had. She wanted inducement so she could be ready for it. I think what actually ended up happening was a wonderful involuntary compromise! This birth has brought us together like I never thought it could! I love her so much! We have a wonderful family! Jenna has been a little different. I think she knows she's not the youngest anymore so I've been trying to spend some quality time with her.

Well, I need to wrap this up but I'm gonna try and keep this updated more often.

Nerd Humor - WARNING: Really funny! WARNING: REALLY NERDY!

Gotta remember this!

So, I've been trying to be really good about letting Ellen sleep in the morning because she needs the extra sleep. So, I wake up with the kids. The rules are that the kiddos wake up, make their beds, get dressed, and then eat breakfast. Jenna, of course, can't make her bed yet. So, she wakes up, gets a diaper change, gets her close on after I get them for her, and then she gets placed in her booster seat to eat breakfast. Jenna likes to snap the restraining belt of her booster seat together. I've come to know this about her.

This morning, I placed her in her booster seat and told her to click herself in. As I was finishing my instructions to her I began to walk to the cupboard to get bowls. I saw her lean her head down toward her belly button as if she were going to communicate with it. As I was walking to the cupboard I heard her little voice say, "click, click", after which she pleasingly told me, "I'm clicked in Daddy!" as though she had made this amazing accomplishment. It was one of the funniest things I've seen and heard her do. She is such a loving and amazing little girl.

This morning after breakfast I put her bowl and spoon in the sink and then cleaned her up. I "unclicked" her from the booster chair and picked her up. "Ok, Jenna, go downstairs and watch TV", I instructed. She was adamant about staying right up there in my arms with me as she grasped my neck harder and said, "No! I want to stay with you Daddy!" I mean, how can a father resist that?! I CAN'T! So, I just enjoyed her tendency to play with my neck and ear with her hand. I love that! I went downstairs with her again and yet again, I instructed her to sit down and watch TV. She had a better idea. "Sit down with me on the couch with me, Daddy", she requested. *sigh*. Can't resist it!! She's sooo adorable and rarely does she want this much attention from me. So, while holding her in my arms still I sat in the couch. Then I played as though my hand was a slow-moving spider walking on my belly toward her. She was sitting to my right on my side. She was so hilarious! She took her little hand and started "crawling" on my stomach as though it was a spider. It would crawl on my stomach onto my arm and she would happily exclaim that it was a baby spider.

Finally, I very much needed to start getting ready for work. She had had enough and was willing to let me get up and go. She stayed on the couch watching the little TV show.

It was a blast with the kids this morning but with Jenna especially. She's such a beautiful and loving little girl. Jessica and James were *very* good this morning. It was just a fine morning.

Politics...sorta

I took this interesting quiz this morning before going to work. In fact, I've taken this quiz before a few year ago. I was a centrist then, too. Interesting quiz, really.

My Political Views
I am a centrist social moderate
Left: 0.03, Libertarian: 0.34

Political Spectrum Quiz



My Foreign Policy Views
Score: 0.18

Political Spectrum Quiz



My Culture War Stance
Score: 4.42

Political Spectrum Quiz

Interesting...

So, I decided to do some blog-surfing, which is something I don't do too often any more given my lack of time. Anyway, I really enjoy this tracker that we have on our blogs. Don't see it? Look down and to the right. It tells us who's visiting our blogs. I know how it works. It's pretty interesting. Anyway, tonight I noticed this:

United States arrived on "Welcome to My Public World"

Well, finally! I've become so popular that the entire United States has visited my blog. I mean, sure! I've been trying to gain that ever-so-desired status of being nationally known but I admit that I haven't been working really hard at attaining it. However, I've finally done it! I've finally attained that status; well, my blog has.

So, United States! Welcome! I'm pleased to have you here...reading...erm...my boring blog or something. Kick back (aka place Florida on my automan) and drink a cocoa by...using...your, um...hmm. Ok. 'nuff of that.

Anyway, that is all.

We just don't really need to worry...

I've been bleak in the blogging area of my life lately substituting these cartoons in place of thoughts but that's just because of a serious lack of time even though I really do want to blog. However, this will have to suffice for now.

http://www.savagechickens.com/images/chickenalpaca.jpg

Black Friday

Want? Bad! Well, sorta...yeah. Could be!

First, if anyone still checks this blog from the questions/statements posed to me regarding the Obama thing, I WILL respond. I'm just getting my ducks in a row and time is my foe in that process. I admit that there was a LOT of opinion in my post but there are facts to back many other statements I made. The problem with facts is that there is rarely real factual information. In other words, facts are two-sided. For example, take global warming. There are facts on both sides of the table of whether global warming is indeed only human-made or whether global is a natural phenomenon. So, I have a feeling that my posting facts will do nothing but throw fuel on the fire in the questions being answered in my last blog. That being said, let me move on. I've digressed from my original intent of this post.

I've recently had a personal epiphany. Wanting is bad in terms of how not getting what one wants is what I'm addressing. I've noticed that, especially in my family, that when one doesn't get what one wants then they get very upset. This goes from adults to children. So, I have three minutes to make my point and I simply can't do it in that short period of time. Think about it, though. When a person doesn't get what they want, how do they respond? How do they react? If we could get that one reaction down to something like, say, a mere disappointment with a focus on trying different ways to get what we want instead of throwing a tantrum or perhaps, instead, to merely realize that we will not get that thing that we desired and to move on without it and without some kind of negative reaction, then we'd be living in a much better world! It comes down to self and dare I say, pride.

Thoughts? Think about it! By the way, pride is literally, evil! But many people won't understand that either. Any time you put yourself before others then you're probably doing something wrong. I say any time. I'm open to believing that's not an absolute but only a tiny margin.

My response...

My reply to this post is at the end

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From: Bradley Schneider
Election Hindsight
Share
Yesterday at 4:14pm
Now the election is over, and the country can move on to a new direction. Bush is finally out and Obama will soon be in as the new leader of the free world.

McCain
This was the first election that I could live with either candidate being president. Don't get me wrong - I wanted Obama to win. But McCain isn't the worst politician. He's an American who loves his country and its people. Though I disagree with him on almost every issue, I do believe that McCain is a good person who holds American prosperity above his own desire for power. The campaign did make a bunch of mistakes that put voters off, but overall it was still run better than that of the last president. Furthermore, I'd like to say that the final speech he gave on election night was absolutely perfect. He bowed out with humility, respect, and good intentions. I wouldn't be surprised if, like "The West Wing," Obama asks McCain to be Secretary of State.

Palin
In my opinion, she was the worst mistake made by McCain. Going for the female vote is a great idea, especially in such a popular governor. However, the vetting process clearly wasn't fully explored. This former beauty queen was investigated on I believe 2 corruption charges, and garbledygook came out of her mouth when she tried to answer tough questions. If you haven't seen the Katie Curic interview, then you haven't seen Palin at her worst. The only good thing that came out of her was Tina Fey's impression. There is now talk about her possibly running for president in 2012 (which would be a HUGE freaking mistake for the Republican party) or hosting a television show (which might be okay).

Obama
The first time I heard the name Obama was at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. The CNN commentators remarked about how this youg Senator was highly popular and could be a potential future Presidential candidate. Then I heard him speak. From that moment, I knew he would be President. Obama is a marvelous speaker. But even beyond that, he feels inspirational to me as a leader. People are passionate about him, which is vastly different than most peoples' feelings for politicians. After a disaster like Bush, we need a strong President that will inspire the people of the US, as well as the people of the world. We need a President who will repair relations with other countries and move us forward into a world of cooperation and respect. Obama is that man. Furthermore, I personally respect Obama for his sincere and complete honesty. I watched a CNN 2 hour program about Obama and his past, and he said in an interview about how he experimented with drugs when he was a kid. I love that honesty. I don't want a President who is a perfect person - I want a person who is perfect to be President.

Black
Many people throughout the campaign have been discussing the role of Obama as a black man. Well, first of all, he's half white and half black. I mention this because people forget he's not exclusively black. I completely understand how black people feel about Obama being elected. Years of opression, discrimination, racism, and biggotry have scarred many millions of people in the US. Some, up until now, believed that black people couldn't attain positions of power the same way white people could. They are now relieved and elated. Now that we're past that, can we as a nation please stop complaining about minorities being opressed when they're not. For instance, every year the NFL comes out with a race report card to see ethnicity among NFL coaches. A couple years ago, the report card scored poorly because only two or three head coaches were black. Seriously? I don't care if every coach is white or every coach is black, so long as they are the best men for their jobs. Where are all the hispanic/latino coaches? Affirmative action still exists in many states as a way to ensure college enrollment wasn't being racist. Aren't we past that? Can we please move on now? I underestand a half black president doesn't solve all of America's problems with biggotry. I, as a Jew, still feel biggotry occasionally. But most of the biggotry I see is on a personal scale by individuals, not by a country, a state, or a major organization. And to those people in the nation who hate that there is a black president (racist bastards) - please move out of the country. You're not wanted. Go move in with Al Queda and its racist members.

Prop 8
Speaking of biggotry, I am ashamed of the millions of Californians who voted Yes on Propisition 8. This proposition will create a distinction between traditional marriage between a man and woman and disallow gay marriage. This sickens me. Why should gay people have their rights taken away? Because these people feel uncomfortable? Because they think Christianity doesn't allow it? I can't think of a single good excuse to allow Prop8. One of my friends recently laughed at me because she knew I would vote No on Prop8. I don't see this as a laughing matter. Passing it means that millions of people will lose their rights. Striking it down doesn't hurt anyone. Saying No on Prop8 only helps people with taxes, respect, and adopting children. Saying No only helps people with rights. 52% of California should be ashamed of itself for taking away the rights of millions of people. What if there was a proposition that stated you had to marry someone within 4 years of your age? Would that be fair? What if 2nd marriages were banned? What if only people with college educations could marry? What if only white people could get married? If you voted Yes on Prop8, you should absolutely be ashamed of yourself as a biggot.

Senate
It's hard to move onto another topic from something that angers me so much, but there's more to cover. Currently (I mean current projections for the next Senate), the Democrats occupy 56 seats and Republicans 40. I am a Democrat, and I am happy that the Dems control the Senate and House, but it kinda scares me at the same time. This nation is very center-Right, and moving far Left quickly is a bad thing. The US has always been known for slow, progressive change, and moving too far in any one direction will cause a backlash. This election is perfect proof - Over the past 8 years, the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches were all mostly controlled by conservatives. Look what happened in response. This nation gravitates toward the middle because it is so diverse, and radical action one way causes a radical reaction the other way (like motion in physics). However, I believe Obama understands this. He wants to change the nation and world, but he also knows the consequences of acting too quickly and radically. Going back to Prop8, I believe that is the reason why it passed - because moving too quickly toward a radical goal will cause a quick backlash reaction. So in conclusion I am glad that the Senate is controlled by Dems, but I am cautious in proclaiming that it is a good thing.

CNN
I watched a good 15 hours or so of CNN yesterday. They did an excellent job this election. There were holographic projections, map video screens that could seemingly do anything, and analysts that knew what they were talking about. Furthermore, CNN seemed especially cautious in proclaiming victory for any candidate in any race. This is especially true with Indiana. MSNBC proclaimed Indiana for Obama about 10 hours before CNN. North Carolina and Missouri are still up in the air despite McCain's concession. CNN did an overall amazing job.

Stats
Just a quick stat to enlighten people. Somewhere around 75% of people with a post-graduate degree voted for Obama. Despite the vast amount of wealth they may have, highly educated people voted for Obama over the Republican candidate who is supposedly good for rich people. To me this just shows that smart people choose who is good for the country instead who is good for their own pocketbook.

The World
After seeing the reactions of peoples and nations from around the world, I believe Obama can repair relations with other countries that were bruised, hurt, or destroyed by his predecessor. People around the world will maybe no longer hate Americans. Maybe.

Bush
Speaking of Bush... what a terrible President. Just awful. How can anyone like him as our leader? Since Bush become President, the US has been hit by a handful of huge terrorist attacks both around the world and on our own soil, has gone to fight a war which it cannot ever win and has pissed off a billion people around the world, and has fallen into an economic crisis that has encompassed every citizen and the world too. Remember Abu-grave, Guantanimo Bay, and supposed WMDs? Bush has made a mockery of his office, and our nation is hated by billions around the world now. Do you honestly think Bush was the best person for national security? Okay, maybe we haven't had any major terrorist attacks recently, but I don't remember any during the Clinton administration either. Bush completely dissolved the rocky Mid-East peace that Clinton created. France used to like us and look up to us. Now they hate us. Iran and North Korea are on the verge of nuking us, and Russia actually yelled at us for our efforts to stop them in Georgia. Bush hasn't created security for Americans - he's done the exact opposite. Bush failed running the Texas Rangers baseball team. He failed at an oil company. He failed as Governor of Texas. And he failed as President of the United States of America. The only good thing to come out of his presidency is Frank Calliendo's TV show.

Michelle Obama
She will make an amazing first lady. I liked Laura Bush, but I don't think we've ever had a Harvard Graduate as a first lady until now. Michelle Obama is guaranteed to do an amazing job.

I look forward to the next 4/8 years of Obama's reign and the direction that this country will turn.
6 comments
Report Note

Raj'ae Mims (North Texas) wrote
at 4:44pm yesterday
Hmmm I agree with pretty much everything youve said except that Obama is only "half black". In this country, if you have dark skin and look black- you're black. There's no half to it. Obama himself says that he is a black man. Not a white man. Not bi-racial. And with his name, there's probably never been a day in his life where someone called him white and not black.
If I didn't know you and saw you in a store, my first reaction would be "oh thats a white guy" not that's a Jewish guy.
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Bradley Schneider wrote
at 4:50pm yesterday
True. I was just making a point.
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Angie Kreuser (Austin, TX) wrote
at 5:55pm yesterday
I, too, pretty much agree with everything you've said. However, I wanted to throw my two cents in here and mention that, in my opinion, no, race cannot just go away. Just because one African-American man got to the presidency does not mean that casual racism and disenfranchisement doesn't still exist. What it just means is that he's one man who managed to get above it. I do agree wholeheartedly that claiming racism or sexism when it really there is not good for us as a nation but I hesitate to say that, for the most part, it's "all better" and we should get over it. It's kind of a yes and no situation. Yes, we SHOULD get over it and lots of people have but there's lots of folks in American who haven't gotten over it and we have to be mindful that all sorts of bigotry and prejudice are floating out there. It's like saying "Well, we've had affirmative action and welfare for years and it should have worked by now so shouldn't we get over it?" Well, yes, in a perfect world where everything worked 100% well 100% of the time. But there's always going to be something that keeps a dream of a non-racist or non-prejudiced world from coming true. So we still need to talk about that kind of stuff.

I do agree with Raj'ae. If you look black, regardless of your genetic makeup, you ARE black. You know me, hon. I'm 1/4 Italian, 1/4 German, 3/8 African-American and 1/8 some random Native American that no one in the family remembers what tribe. I'm biracial and if we want to get technical I have more European DNA floating around in me than African-American. But I LOOK Black therefore to any observer I just AM Black. No one looks at me and muses, "Hm, there's that biracial girl with the pigtails." Also, few forms (governmental or otherwise) give you a choice of "multi-racial" so one gets used to filling in the race that most people are going to associate them with. But I do totally get your point. ;)

I love this post. Thanks for sharing. :)
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Kimberly Varhaug (Houston, TX) wrote
at 6:07pm yesterday
i didn't vote for him (don't kill me... i'm not predicting doom and gloom!), but i just have to say that race difference had absolutely nothing to do with it. but in any case, it's a very historic moment, and congratulations to him. it was a hard road for both, and it won't be easy.
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Scott Schneider wrote
at 10:19pm yesterday
Why does the government track marriages at all? The best thing to do would be to give absolutely no tax incentives to marry, have the government stop tracking marriages, and allow people to marry whomever (or whatever) they want under whichever god they want. If two men want to call themselves married, so be it. If a woman wants to marry her ipod, then go ahead and call yourself married. Until the government stops getting involved in the primarily religious institution of marriage, we will never come to a consensus.
Report

Teresa Mishler wrote
at 9:28am
Great Post! I really enjoyed reading it. Let's add all the homophobic people to the racists to be shipped out of the country!!

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Alright Bradley, you know me so here goes. I will say this loud and proud. I'm extremely nervous of Obama and wish that he was not voted into presidency:

I'm going to comment here but I'm not intending to cause a fight, an argument, or anything of the sort. I'm simply expressing my opinions and thoughts. However, I'm almost positive that someone here will think I'm one of those religious bigots, or judgmental prudes, or something along those lines and someone if not a lot of people will take my comments personally and get furious with me. So be it. People will take my comments personal and rather than think through what I'm saying will almost immediately get defensive.


First? I appreciate that you were able to go with either candidate. That's good, only I've *never* understood how so many people were so for a candidate such as Obama. Actually, that's not true. I understand but am absolutely disgusted by how most people made their decisions for Obama, which was either by how he spoke, his skin-color, or perhaps even his ideals. For those who fell in line with his ideals, at least you were backing him on something you thought was concrete. Unfrotuantely, you also thought Obama aka a liar had your best-interest in mind. For those who fell in love with him because he was a popular candidate or a good speaker, well, you folks disappoint me. I'm curious, how many people really cared if he has terrorist ties or bigot ties of no short-term period? How many cared that he has *never* done anything he said he would do while serving his constituents. How many cared that he AND his wife backed late term abortions. which is illegal and murder? How many noticed that he rarely, if ever, answered the questions asked in the debates with an actual straight-forward answer (this is just a politician method, however, one that Obama was particularly good at). I fear that millions of people voted for Obama and had no clue or, worse yet, couldn't cared less about Obama's short-comings because they saw symbolism. WOW! Symbolism. Americans will vote someone into office because they are a symbol. Nevermind that they have no moral or ethical values whatsoever. Nevermind that they have never told the truth to the American people. Nevermind that while he was in the Senate for 144 days, he never drafted an official law. Nevermind that he has absolutely NO experience whatsoever. NONE. Lack of exerpience, lack or moral guidance and lack of true care and love for his country made Obama the WORST choice for president. Obama has proven to be a liar but Americans don't see or care about that. They just want a symbol to lead the free world. Obama does not care about America. He does not respect American sovereignty. He does not respect life. He does not care about me or you! All he cares about is being the leader of the free world and who really knows where a crooked man can go with that kind of power now? He only cares about himself.


One may ask, what's the difference between him and any other politician? While it may be true that most politicians are indeed the same way, I hope that there are politicians who actually have an appreciation for the country in which they live and serve. Obama, in my opinion, does not have that at all! He and his wife are radical leftists who have done a wonderful job of pulling the wool over most American's eyes. This country is going down hill very quickly!

Before the election, the Democratic-marjority house was at an all-time low approval rating of 13% and that was going down! Why on EARTH did we put more democrats in Congress?

These are my predictions for the next four years.

* People are going to LOVE Obama just like they loved Clinton. Obama's going to smooth-talk Americans so well that they are not going to know the truth about the treachory that will be going on behind the scenes. Obama will continue to get advice from his terrorist friends. He may even go by advice given him from them.
* American jobs will continue and be encouraged to be exported to foreign countries. Obama is not an American citizen. He's a self-proclaimed world-citizen. Therefore, American sovereignty is nothing to him. He wants to be loved by the world. He's narcistic that way and will use America as his leverage.
* We will remain at war in Iraq and Afghanistan because it would be detrimental to how he's viewed by the world if he pulled our troops out (Iraq complains everytime we say we are going to leave). War in Iran will not occur under Obama's watch because Obama is going to attempt diplomatic means with the President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Obama will most likely give up American sovereignty, secrets, wepaons, and perhaps even other treasonous acts to create some kind of peace with a president who doesn't care for or desire to really make peace with America, but will be willing to take what we give them and use it against us in the future. Therefore, whoever the next president is after Obama will be left to deal with the hell from Iran and any other terrorist conutry.
* Taxes is going to go up minimally to set the way for a socialist society because this kind of change isn't one that can be done quickly. However, make no mistake, Obama will put this into play so that, once again, the future is screwed. This indicates how Americans simply don't appreciate hard work, responsibility, and prefer handouts from the government. Did I mention that the government doesn't give a crap about Americans as it is bloated, bureaucratic, and run by near-criminals. So, Americans are simply giving up and are unwilling to take matters into their own hands.
* The military will probably be reduced a la Clinton's time.
* Illegal immigration will become a thing of the past because Obama will do away with the borders. Once again, American sovereignty removed. UWO? I don't like to think of it as something of a reality but it sure seems like we're getting closer and closer to it.
* I will add onto this as I think of things.


Let me say that I didn't really like either candidate but I fear Obama because he is a liar! I can't trust him!!! I couldn't believe the news when the cameras were up in peoples' crying faces! People were crying!! The news showed Oprah and other actresses. COME ON! What a farce! Tell me this wasn't just a faux cade!! These people really believe that Obama is going to do us right. Wow! We are a lost nation.


This marks the true beginning of a horrible era for America in that I believe this is the beginning of the end of American sovereignty. There are millions of Americans who take this country and what it has to offer for granted. There are millions of Americans who couldn't care less if American borders were removed. There are millions of Americans who couldn't care less if their freedom to worship who they please was taken away. I don't believe that there is a majority of Americans who truly care about the freedoms that the government has been infringing upon for a while now. We have become the proverbial frog in the pot of water that while the water is cold the frog will remain. As the water slowly comes to a boil the frog will not notice and will eventually get cooked alive neverminding that point where it could have lept out of the water saving its life. We are that frog and the water just got hot!

Prop8

So many people believe that those who were for Prop 8 were all about removing peoples' rights when removing rights from people was never a thought on our mind. Our thoughts were about protecting marriage! We weren't sitting in a corner thinking, hmm, how can we remove rights from people. Those who were against prop 8 thought that we were all about hating the homosexual and indeed those against prop 8 snarled and hated (hates?) us because they thought it was a personal attack on them. It's not personal, I assure you. I couldn't care less if someone is gay or not. I don't condone the act but I also don't judge it. However, don't push your gay desires on me and my kids. There is no rebuttal to the notion that homosexuality is not natural. There is no rebuttal to the notion that heterosexuality is normal. Marriage *is* the only word that I am aware to describe a legally binding means between a man and a woman. I have nothing against a homosexual couple wanting to be unionized as that is their desire but please don't redefine the word marriage as a proper unionized relationship between homosexual couples.

http://tech.mit.edu/V124/N5/kolasinski.5c.html
http://www.robgagnon.net/SecularCase.htm

Media

I do not understand why people watch media and believe everything they are told. Even worse, people watch a single media outlet and believe that that media outlet has the interest of those watching it in mind. GET REAL PEOPLE! The media is there for one thing and one thing only: to make money! If the media can stir the hearts of those watching it so that the media is succeeding in getting people to watcht he sponsors the media needs to make more money.

So, how do we get the truth? Tough question. Everything we watch nowadays is bombarded with half-truths and strong opinions. The most important thing is that we watch this crap with the knowledge that what we are watching isn't real. Then maybe that will get us to seek the truth more thoroughly in order to make better informed decisions. Most of the world hates Bush because the leftist media is pushing that agenda. Does everyone remember when the leftist media was pushing for us to go to Iraq? I remember listening to NPR and they were strongly for us going to war. Now they are pushing the "we didn't know the truth back then" issue. Please! Nobody but the bureaucrats on high knew and not even all of them knew the truth (maybe even Bush??). The fact is that we get all strung up from what we learn in the media and that's exactly what the media wants us to do so that we will continue watching and pumping in the money.

IT'S A BOY!!

Ok. So we haven't had our baby yet but at least we know what it is and I am excited! I went to my first-ever ultrasound! It was quite amazing. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen; my own child in the womb of my beautiful wife!

So we were in there and the tech was looking around the belly and stuff. We were talking and I was a little surprised that she didn't just get straight to showing us the gender. In fact, we were in there for probably 20 minutes before I asked if we could see the gender. She stated that she wasn't sure we wanted to know and that was why she didn't show us earlier. It didn't take long for her to get to that area of his body and it certainly didn't take long to know what we had. WOW! :)

Anyway, so I'm excited that we are having a boy. I wasn't sure what I wanted. A big chunk of me was hoping for a girl because I relate to girls better having grown up with them all of my life. Another part of me wanted a boy to carry on the family name. Once I learned we were having a boy I was very excited. Now we have a lifetime of joy, sadness, hard times, etc ahead of us. Right now I'm reveling in the moment knowing I am going to be the biological father to a little baby boy in the next few months.

Things that just need to be blogged...

My friend Doug is a good guy and a co-worker. I just wanted to blog this link, really fast, for future use.

Another good one...

I love how they are holding the baby.

Great comic!

Lessons learned from the blame game

Alright. So, I'm at SRT school right now and I'm sitting here in my hotel room watching some CNN. Now, first, let me go through some things I've learned about myself this last two weeks. After that, I have some thoughts...

This last couple of weeks I've been learning some new skills for the Army. There's no need to go into what specific skills those are, however, I've learned a LOT about myself and also some reinforcing knowledge about myself. These things about me aren't favorable but they are things that I think can help me and others, hopefully.

I've learned that I don't easily take responsibility for my own blunders. I hate that I am like that because among other negative attributes, it's prideful and hurtful to personal and non-personal goals. What I mean by that is that if I would just take responsibility for my blunders and change so that I don't repeat my mistakes, then, especially in a team environment, my fixing my mistakes would increase the successfulness of said team or just myself personally! Now, let me extend this into broader scope. It is so consistent within our homes, schools, governments, and indeed our nation for people, groups, special interests, whomever for individuals within these groups to not take responsibility and then action to fix errors for actions for which responsibility was not taken that we have turned into an irresponsible society.

A few days ago I was yelled at by my team leader. He said something like, "...that is the problem with you! You don't take responsibility for your mistakes and instead want to blame your mistakes on other people...' It's not the first time in my life that I'd been told that I do this and as much as it kills my ego to hear it; it's also a mind-blowing smack in the face that causes me to self-reflect. Do I agree with what he was telling me? I don't agree with the thing he was telling me that I did wrong, but I do agree with him that I tend to try and remove blame from myself when it's not readily obvious to me that I did something erroneous. Why do I do that?? Ego/Pride? Perhaps an altered self-perception of my actions versus his? I don't know. However, I will say this; my example is a microcosm of the situation our country is in right now when regarding our politicians. To me, our politicians are one of two types: the type that turns their nose to problems and says, "It's not my fault" or worse yet "It's not something I can change". Either way, there are politicians in our government who are responsible for the way our country is heading right now. Is *ANYONE* taking responsibility for the state that our country is in? NO! Not a single official in the government. Let me say this too. I don't blame our president for the state that we are in, however, as our president, the state that our nation is in right now happened on his watch. Thus, he *is* ultimately responsible. I don't necessarily like or agree with that but if blame should be cast then that is how it should be done. Right?

To be continued...

Continuation

I decided to bring this over here. I'm going to start writing to it again. I think it will be great therapy! :)

I've added on to it. Part of it is in a true story form. I'm curious if I could write a book. This sucker is 10 or 11 pages long so far. If you want to read it then go for it. If you read the other one then you may want to re-read as I've fixed, added to, changed some parts of the first part. This story has a long ways to go. I've got to get to now which is to where Ken is 28 years old. Right now he just turned 16.

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A Sad Happy Story...

It all started a very long time ago, say, 28 years ago. Little Ken was born. Through the years as he was growing up he, like everyone else, dealt with a great number of things that helped him become the person that he is today.

For instance, when he was about five years old his mother, Faye married her second husband, Carl, after only being divorced from Ken's biological father, James, for less than a year. By this time Ken had had a little sister as well. The man that his mother married turned out to be that kind of guy who was an alcoholic, drug abuser, and very abusive to Ken, his sister Leigh, and their mother. So at the ripe old age of five years old Ken was already dealing with psychological abuse, physical abuse, and watching his beloved Mother and sister coping with the same abuses.

One night, Ken and Leigh were in bed asleep. Ken and Leigh slept in a bunk bed. Leigh was three years old. The room was quiet. The door to the room was slightly ajar. The lights from the adjoining rooms were lit so some light crept into the bedroom. Ken was awakened by yelling. This wasn't uncommon. Carl yelled a lot. Now, Ken knew that when Carl was yelling that something bad was going to happen. Ken was always afraid of Carl because it wasn't uncommon for Ken to be physically struck by Carl in some way and usually for no or some little reason. Leigh had a habit of sucking her thumb. That is what little children do. Ken was lying in bed half asleep when he noticed the door to the room open and a dark shadow cast about the ground next to the bed. He knew who it was. Ken just acted like he was asleep hoping that the shadow and the person casting the shadow would disappear without incident. Ken was frightened and continued to act as though he was asleep.

Ken didn't know why Carl was in the room but there must be a reason. See. Carl wasn't very readable as a person. He was quirky and his moods would quickly change. Nowadays he'd probably be considered bipolar. It was difficult to pinpoint what was bothering Carl and he was set off so very quickly that often nobody saw what was about to happen. Chances are on this particular night Carl had been drinking heavily. He, being the mean drunk that he was, was probably set off by the littlest thing like a speck of food left over on the counter or something Faye said or didn't do.

Ken opened his eyes as Carl walked in the room hoping that his eyes being open wouldn't catch Carl's attention. Just as Ken opened his eyes he found Carl looking at the bottom bunk and screaming at the top of his lungs. Ken slept on the top bunk while Leigh slept on the bottom. With lightening quickness Ken noticed that Leigh was getting pulled out of bed. Now, Leigh was sound asleep and was happily sucking her thumb in a blissful slumber. Apparently, to Carl, babies sucking their thumbs while sleeping was an unacceptable act warranting sever punishment. Carl yanked her out of bed and with one arm held her struggling crying body tightly while with his other hand unbuckled and pulled his belt out from his pant loops in one fell swoop. He looped the belt and began hitting poor little Leigh on her back and butt over and over again and as hard as he could. Her thin pajamas offered no protection to the beating that she was forced to endure. Now Ken was startled, which was a feeling he was all-to-familiar with. As usual, he didn't know what to do against this big man. Ken started crying but got out of bed nonetheless. He loved his little sister and didn't want to see her get hurt so he was yelling for his mommy while watching his little sister get beat to a pulp by this guy. Ken was also quite concerned for his own well-being as he knew he was no match for Carl and his anger. Leigh was screaming and crying and that crying turned to shrieking as the beatings continued. Carl was yelling obscenities and charging Leigh with sucking her thumb. He reminded this three year old child that she had been told numerous times not to suck her thumb. It wasn't long before Faye tried to save them as any mother would and came charging to the rescue. Ken was relieved but the fight was just getting started. Carl was a strong man and very much in shape. As Faye tried to enter the room Carl blocked the door with his foot at the base disallowing Faye to open the door enough to come into the room and save the kids; the yelling, the beating, the crying all continued. However, to Ken it became a blur. Ken marveled at how well the door was holding up to the tug-of-war between the two adults. The screaming was crazy and Ken has no recollection about how the whole thing ended. In fact, the only thing Ken remembered was that they ended up at Ken's Grandma's house and Child Protective Services checking the welts on both Ken's and Leigh's bodies. Oh yes. Ken was not only a bystander in that incident. However, he doesn't remember what happened exactly. Yes, indeed. Not a good night.

There were many instances of abuse in Ken's young life. If it wasn't physical abuse then it was at least some kind of verbal or psychological abuse. When Ken was still five years old he was helping Carl put down a brick patio next to the house. Ken was actually laying the brick. He was doing work that usually only adults do. This was common for Carl to make the kids work this way.

Another night Ken was innocently sitting at the table in the dining room by the kitchen. Carl was in the living room drinking his beers and watching TV. Carl started in on Ken with some kind of strange banter about alcohol. The next thing Ken knew was that Carl was talking to Ken about drinking beer. Ken wanted no part of it but eventually was forced to drink the last few drops of the beer left in Carl's beer bottle. Ken was still five years and he wanted nothing to do with the beer but was scared that if he didn't do as he was told then he would get beat.

Naturally, Ken was always very afraid of Carl. Ken wouldn't speak out loud at home. He would always whisper to his mother and if he needed to speak to Carl it was only out of necessity and as seldom as possible. It was not uncommon for Ken to get beat in the face with a closed fist by Carl. Ken doesn't ever remember the reasons why he was hit. It was probably for little reasons like not thoroughly cleaning a dish or accidentally dropping a plastic glass on the floor. In fact, Ken was so scared of Carl that on occasion Ken would get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Only Ken would be so scared to leave the safety of his own room to go to the bathroom that he would actually pee in the corner of his closet.

Now, Ken was a good boy. He was always quite helpful in the house. Leigh was a good girl. They got along very well unlike many brothers and sister. What siblings wouldn't get along as well as these two? After all, they'd put up with so much together

After a few years of being married to Carl, Faye finally ran away for the umpteenth time and divorced Carl. Naturally, Faye was forced to work for income in order to keep the family going so she would place the care of Leigh in Ken's hands. There was no money to pay for childcare. Ken learned to cook when he was around six years old. This was actually an accomplishment that Ken was quite pleased with. Ken was forced to take on the responsibilities of a young adult as a child.

Several years went by for them. During these years Ken had developed into a young man. They were always very poor. Faye didn't have any kind of formal education save a little bit of college. It was much more difficult for women to get jobs that paid well and treated them properly in that day.

Ken and Leigh grew up wearing clothes that were always other peoples' hand-me-downs. Church was always helpful in that way. The church helped them with clothes, food, and even Christmas toys and birthday presents on those occasions. Ken was always grateful to have what he had, though. He wasn't familiar with anything else. He didn't know what it was like to have new clothes and new things. In fact any time they got new things it was an extra, extra treat and one that was very rare. Ken even got to the point that the bags of hand-me-downs were new clothes for him and was usually pretty excited to see what new things he would be able to start wearing to school.

By the time Ken was in sixth grade they had moved over twenty times, been through at least ten different schools, and had already been through so much more in his life than people his own age that he simply did not relate to his peer group. Ken wasn't into the mainstream, so-to-speak. Fashion didn't exist to him and he always dressed himself. That joking comment about how "your momma dresses you funny" never could truthfully be used against Ken because his momma never dressed him and it showed!

Ken once got this one pair of white shorts. They were "ob" shorts that he loved because they looked nice on him, he though! He liked that they were a name brand that was mainstream sometime in that day. He would wear them all the time; nevermind that these shorts were probably outdated by a year or two to the fashion-minded. Ken didn't know better nor did he care. Ken was only interested in living a life where he was dressed and could be good and do the right things. He was very close to his faith and his family. He didn't read much at all and in fact found it boring. So, needless to say his academics suffered often times. The things that interested in him most were generally physical in nature like sports, and running. He enjoyed Dodge Ball. That was his favorite game ever. He enjoyed the modified version of the sport that he and everyone else called Nation Ball. He played games like soccer and pickle. He loved to run, though. That was his favorite thing to do.

One day in school he was running through the play ground during recess. He was running so fast! He truly felt like nothing could catch him. He ran and ran and then something caught his attention so he turned his head while continuing to run straight forward. Ken didn't see the light pole until he ran straight into it and fell to the ground on his back knocking him practically unconscious. Nobody witnessed this little blunder of his but he surely felt pretty silly once he came to.

Ken wasn't very large in stature during his elementary years. In fact he was pretty skinny and not so tall. Ken had brown, very thick, and puffy hair and rarely washed. He got haircuts from his mom because she couldn't afford to take him to the barber so his hair probably wasn't the best cut and was usually dirty and scraggly. Ken, however, was a humble boy. Since he wore hand-me-downs he wasn't ever well-dressed. He was polite and shy but always felt like he fit in better with adults than children. He didn't get along with his peers very well save a few and only a very little few. He was clumsy! Once, while in sixth grade he was leaving the nurses office at his school in Costa Mesa, CA. He, being the athletic kid that he was, decided that he wanted to run through the atrium and jump the chain that was linked between the poles holding up the awning of the corridor between classrooms. He decided to make a last second change to his plan at what point along the chain he was going to jump. He decided to jump the chain at its highest point closes to the pole. He was positive this would not be a problem for him. Unfortunately, his foot decided otherwise and hooked the chain just as Ken was at the apex of his jump. He came crashing down to the ground. His three front teeth were the first things to make contact with the concrete and the loudest and most female shriek to come from a boy was made from Ken at that moment. He got over it though. He was taken to a dentist where false teeth were capped over what was left of his real teeth and continued that way through high school.

Ken wasn't good at all talking to the girls at all. He missed the class on how to be confident when talking to the ladies. He would go out on a limb and talk to a girl now and then. Therefore, the girl thing didn't happen very often. It wasn't uncommon for him to have a list of girls that he thought were attractive. The list grew but his getting to know those girls never happened.

Ken enjoyed many things, though. He enjoyed riding his bicycle. He didn't get one until he was in fourth grade. He was always good at putting things together and had an aptitude for mechanical things. In fact, he assembled his first bicycle that wasn't really put together completely correctly but that never stopped him from riding it and it was ridden for several years. He got many years of enjoyment out of that machine.

Ken was a complainer! If things didn't go his way then he would complain! Most of his friends, what few he had, found this to be very annoying about him. He was never good at realizing if a girl liked him or not. Ken found some girls to just be plain annoying.

Now, let's talk about school and girls a little more. Ken wasn't always a great student. He was naturally lazy. He didn't like doing his work and much preferred to do the things that were more pleasing to him. Ken was an intelligent kid but lazy! The fact that Ken had few friends was something that Ken had to get use to as he grew older. However, even though he rarely had many friends he was always sufficiently happy to have the friends that he did have.

He started liking girls as far back as first grade. In first grade, for instance, he had a strong crush on a little girl named Michelle. Nowadays if you were to ask him why he liked her so much, he wouldn't remember. In third grade there was a girl that he really liked. She liked him, too. Her name was Tracy. She sat in the row next to him. Ken didn't have anyone else that liked him until sixth grade and a girl named Billy-Jo. They were best friends and having this kind of friendship was very rare, new, and fresh for Ken. Unfortunately, his family moved, though, and never saw her again.

Ken loved his mother, who coincidentally was quite a strict mom and was not one to be trifled with. If they acted up she didn't put up with it. She didn't put up with being talked back to or sassed with and there was only very little disobedience that she would put up with. They saw her date many men and it was somewhat common to have a new man in the house. Fortunately, they were innocent enough not to suspect anything wrong going on.

Ken grew up as a child with a different point of view to everyone else. He rarely cared about what his peers thought of him while he was in grade school. He didn't have any friends in junior high school – not one. In fact, Ken rarely even recognized that his peers even existed. Ken wanted friends but wasn't overly eager to find them; not because he didn't want to know how to find them but because he simply didn't know how to find them. Most adolescents looked at him in disgust at school and at church. Remember, Ken was a shy boy. He was one who truly enjoyed good things. He loved flowers and little things. He cared for living things and even sometimes for inanimate things. As a young boy it wasn't uncommon for Ken to be told to throw something away. As he was obediently doing so, if the item he was told to dispose of was at all useful then he would feel bad about throwing it away. The difficult part for him, however, was throwing something away that he personified and so he felt as though he were doing some kind of horrible punishment to the item that he was throwing away. The one thing that would help him feel better was that he would talk to the object and apologize to it that it was to be discarded. He would reassure the object that its usefulness would not be forgotten.

In junior high school Ken did horribly in his academics, socially (still), and in every aspect. It wasn't more painfully obvious to any boy that he was more utterly useless to anybody than at any other time in his life than this one. Now to a teenager it's already difficult to grow up. However, Ken's life was way worse as he was still poor, he was still funny looking (aka UGLY), and he was still not capable of getting along with his peer group. He didn't have anything he could do in school that was extracurricular. He was often late to school because he'd miss the bus. He had had time where he'd have to walk to school in the rain without a rain jacket. He'd end up at school sopping wet as though he'd just gotten out of the pool with all of his clothes on. He had crooked teeth and so thin that he looked like a snaggle-toothed skeleton with skin draped over it and the largest brown fro a white boy could have. There were some teachers who didn't like him. The only people he could count on for some kind of understanding and love was his family. This wasn't helpful to Ken, though. What adolescent recognizes his mother as the person of choice to go to for some kind of acceptance? All children know or should know that their parents will always accept them. Ken was starting to seek out acceptance from his own age group. This was a futile desire. He didn't like himself. He saw no worth in himself. It became more and more painfully obvious to him by the age of thirteen that he didn't fit in. He didn't wear the right kind of clothes. He didn't have the same stuff as the kids around him. The one thing that helped him was that he was a nice boy. The people who did get to know him by talking to him knew that he was good and had good intentions.

One time in eighth grade he had somehow managed to make another boy so mad that he declared he was going to fight Ken and beat him up. Naturally, Ken was surprised, scared, and wanted nothing to do with this guy. Ken didn't know what he did to make this other boy mad at him but the last thing Ken wanted was some kind of conflict with somebody else.

Ken had an interesting philosophy on fights. As a young boy and who often had other boys who didn't like him and wanted to fight him, Ken always tried to and was almost always successful at averting a fight. The reason was because he thought that even if he had one a fight against another boy that that boy who lost would simply let pride and ego consume him and would hold a grudge against Ken. This would only cause the loser to go and find a bunch of friends to gang up against Ken. Then, Ken could go and get his friend or two and continue the battle. In turn, this would simply cause gangs to form and they would declare street wars on each other eventually solving nothing. So, Ken wasn't into fighting and found them to be futile gestures of stupidity.

So, Ken would avoid contact with this boy at all costs. If the boy was coming one way down the hallway then Ken would turn down another hallway or turn around altogether. Unfortunately, one sunny day Ken had to go to the bathroom during class. He asked his teacher if he could leave the classroom to relieve himself to which she answered in the affirmative. He left. He blissfully went to the bathroom to do the thing that he went there for. He was washing his hands when the bigger boy who had declared a personal war upon Ken walked into the bathroom. Now this boy was bigger, taller, and meaner than Ken. Ken swallowed his heart when the boy walked in. Thought he, what kind of luck is this?

Ken didn't want to seem like a chicken so he didn't run out of the bathroom. No, instead he continued washing his hands. The boy finished his duty and was walking toward the sink to wash his hands when Ken some how managed to summon up the courage to talk to the boy.

"Um, I'm not sure what I did to cause you to hate me…" Ken muttered. By this time the boy started coming up on Ken. However, Ken continued,

"…but whatever I did to cause you to dislike me, I apologize."

From that day forward, though Ken never really talked to the boy, the boy actually protected Ken and was friendly toward Ken all the way through the end of the year. Ken learned a big lesson that day. It's better to talk your way out of rough situations than it is to fight your way out of them.

Ken continued on through school. In his sophomore year of high school Ken had to get braces. Unfortunately, the braces didn't work at first. Apparently, the accident that Ken had in elementary school was so traumatic to his front tooth that the roots of that tooth bound to his jaw, which disallowed any movement of the teeth for the braces to be affective. There was nothing the dentist could do. He was required to remove the cap from Ken's real tooth and remove the real tooth from Ken's front upper jaw. However, the dentist wouldn't be able to put the necessary new bridge in Ken's mouth until after the braces' work was done. The dentist decided that he could put a fake tooth in Ken's mouth to fill the gap of the missing real tooth. The dentist simply attached a brace bracket to the fake tooth and the fake tooth to the wire of the braces. Ken had to go through high school with not only having braces in his already large mouth but having a tooth that could literally twirl around the brace wire and often didn't stay in place especially while he was talking. Now, not only did Ken have the skinny body, a pimply face, a mouth the size of Iowa, poofy hair that would put a clown to shame, and the lack of any kind of decent clothing, but he had braces that happily gleamed in the sunlight when his big mouth opened, a twirly-tooth that would flap in the wind like a windmill if he merely opened his mouth half-mast, and he wore clothes that only pimps wore in the 70's. Yep, he was stylin! There's more, though. Ken wasn't the most socially smart kid, either. Ken enjoyed running. Ken also thought that the ladies thought his running was cool, apparently, because Ken would run from class to class sometimes. Ken's date life probably suffered from all of these things. Needless to say, Ken didn't date much in high school.

That's alright, though. Ken didn't know what he really wanted anyway. It's widely known that people are attracted to one another at young ages. However, what's not widely discussed is why. Why do children feel like they need to have a boyfriend or a girlfriend at such young ages? Is it because their parents don't love them enough at home that they feel they need to reach for it from some other person? Is it because there is some innate human emotional desire that knows that at some point one is going to find one's mate in the future anyway so the human body just gets started at an earlier age? I don't know the answers to these questions and neither did Ken. However, it doesn't really matter. He was attracted to the opposite gender. The opposite gender was not so attracted to him to which he was fully aware.

Ken was in the high school band. This probably didn't score him too many points with many people, but he loved it! This was the one place where he fit in with many people. Bands are interesting. They are full of self-proclaimed misfits who all have one purpose: work together to achieve a goal. Ken loved being in the band. He really loved the camaraderie. He finally made a few lasting friends who saw a different kind of potential in him. He played the drums, which was something he had always had a mild interest in if he ever played an instrument. Marching band was his favorite thing to do. Ken enjoyed going to contests and being a part of the team competing against other local and sometimes not-so-local schools. Ken's band was one of the better ones in the region and everybody got along great including Ken. He didn't care about people in school making fun of his being a "band geek". However, truthfully, people rarely made fun of the band folks in Ken's school because the band really was quite good and had a good reputation. However, the reputation of the band in school didn't get the people who were in the band cool points. They simply didn't get made fun of as often as one would think.

Ken's date life suffered all through his high school years. He had one girlfriend in his sophomore year that broke up with him after three months. She broke up with him by letter. Ken had another girlfriend in his senior year. She, too, broke up with him after three months. She broke up with him by letter. The stories behind these two breakups were not at all similar. It wasn't because of Ken that these two girls broke up with him, either. There were two completely different stories.

Ken was fifteen coming up on sixteen years old and was in band practice one evening just before a football game. He played the smallest base drum in the drumline and was the bass drum section leader. While he was practicing he noticed a new girl in the back by his section off to the side watching and listening. He could tell she was a band helper because of the uniform she was wearing. Apparently she was only a helper because she was still technically too young to be in the band. Nevertheless, something about her caught his attention. Melissa was thirteen years old, short, and pretty at least in Ken's eyes. She had curly brown hair just past her shoulders and she had big innocent hazel eyes. She could play the piano very well but was a flautist in the band. She was very talented, which appealed to Ken. Melissa was quiet-spoken and seemed almost sad. She had a pretty smile that caught Ken's attention immediately.

Ken wasn't good at talking to girls even in his sophomore year of high school. However, somehow he mustered up the courage to talk to her if only to say a few words. She was easy to talk to. She was nice. She was interesting and attractive. They became friends.

A week went by and he really liked Melissa a lot. However, he had no idea how to ask her to be his girlfriend, which is what he wanted. Finally, he decided that he needed to simply confront her on the matter. He walked up to her during a band practice after school. He didn't sway or back down. He didn't turn around wistfully only to change his mind. He boldly walked up to her. Well, not boldly but he didn't back down. He walked up to her and told her that he really liked her. He asked her to be his girlfriend. She didn't answer. In fact, she told him that she would think about it and get back to him. Ken wasn't too keen on this answer. He wasn't stupid. So he decided to simply back off. Ken ended up telling one of the other boys in his bass section about how he felt about Melissa and what he asked her and what her response was. The boy's name was Rob. Rob knew Melissa and offered to ask Melissa what her answer was. Ken was pretty sure he already knew what the answer was but he took Rob up on the offer and off went Rob to do some fact finding.

Moments later Rob returned. "Dude, she said yes!"

"What?" inquired Ken.

"She said yes!!" repeated Rob.

Ken had never felt so elated in his life. He felt as though he was lifted off the ground, hovering in joy he'd never felt before.

Melissa went to the junior high school, which was right down the street. So Melissa and Ken only saw one another in the evenings for band practice and during band contests and games during band season. However, when band season was over they had no way of seeing one another except for brief moments on the bus.

The high and junior high schools were on the same street. The small city they lived in was sort of shaped like a barbell where the bar was the main road linking to main portions of the city together and the schools were on each extreme end. Naturally, students from both schools lived on either end of the city so busses dropping off students on, say, the left side of the city would pick up students at the school closest to the right side of the city first and then would go to the school closest to the left side of the city and pick up students there then continue on to the homes located in the left side of the city to drop off it's load of children. Vice versa was true for the children who lived on the other end. Melissa lived on the right side of the city and was going to the junior high school that was on the left side of the city. Thus, Ken would be at the high school as Melissa's bus was passing through to pick up those students. Melissa and Ken would religiously pass notes through the window and this was how the majority of their relationship was spent since her parents didn't like her going out with an older boy. She was told to break up with him but they couldn't do it. They talked on the phone every night and could talk and talk. Jim truly was in love, so he thought. Melissa told her parents that she had broken up with him so any rendezvous were secret. Now, Ken met Melissa's parents once. He liked her mom but her father creeped him out. Ken felt something wrong with the man but he never told Melissa.

Melissa and Ken would meet and spend time with one another at various band get-togethers and things of that nature. They were caught together by Melissa's parents on a few occasions with no adverse reactions of her parents.

This same kind of thing continued on for the three months until one day Ken received a letter through the bus window from Melissa. This time the letter was different than usual. This time the letter was morose and ended up telling Ken that she needed to break up with him. Ken read the letter several times on the way to his house while riding the bus and he just didn't understand why she was breaking up with him. It didn't seem like anything was wrong with the relationship. Ken called Melissa as soon as he got home and asked her what was wrong.

"Did I do something wrong?" inquired Ken.

"No. I just don't feel right lying to my parents anymore about us and I think we should break up. I don't want to break up with you but…" answered Melissa.

"Melissa, I know it's hard but they don't understand! Please don't break up with me."



Ken finally convinced Melissa that breaking up was too difficult to do.



The next day was like déjà vous. Ken went up to the bus to swap letters with Melissa. This time her letter stated that she needed to break up with him but that the reason was very much different from what the previous letter said. This letter taught Ken a very important thing about life and brought to light something that he had never before had to deal with before in his young life and that is other peoples' wrong-doings and how they affect others.

Melissa's letter was chilling but explained how her father had been sexually molesting her for a long time and that they could no longer be together in order to protect Ken. Melissa didn't get into specifics. She didn't need to. Ken was so infuriated and so angry at her father. Ken, however, didn't know what to do. Fortunately, however, Melissa had already started on the path to getting things fixed by telling her mother shortly after she told Ken. However, from the day that she broke up with him they didn't see one another again until the next year at band camp. By that time Ken had already moved on feeling as though Melissa wanted nothing to do with him.

The next year Ken had started noticing another new girl in the band. It was the beginning of his junior year of school and school had not even started yes. The band starts practicing for the new year months before school starts. Melissa started playing in the high school band this one year and they had opportunities to talk, however Ken avoided her not because he didn't care for her still but because he didn't know how to talk to her. Ken thought that she didn't like him anymore and he had moved on. He was interested in seeing what would happen with Terrah. Terrah played the saxophone. Now, she was thirteen years old. Ken was, now, sixteen years old and driving. Terrah's mother was a band helper. The rules had changed that year in the band and people who were thirteen and going to the junior high school could march in the high school marching band as long as they had a way to the high school and didn't miss practices or contests Ken and Terrah didn't t know each other that well but they talked occasionally and he was finding that he liked her.

One afternoon just after a practice session, Ken was outside near the band room entrance waiting for his ride home when Melissa came out. Ken saw a big difference in Melissa. She was happy! Before she used to be quite melancholy. He liked the new Melissa but was still hurt by what happened.


"What are you doing?" Melissa asked.

"I'm waiting for a ride." He replied.

"I'm waiting for my mom to come pick me up, too."

"How are things?" He asked.

"My father is in jail. He's been indicted for six years. I'm better. My mom didn't believe me at first. I told her but she got mad at me and didn't believe what I told her. I told my Grandma, too. Finally, other things started becoming more obvious and my mom called the police. Now everything is good." She replied.

"You seem happier now. I'm glad that everything went well for you."

"Do you want to go and do something?" She inquired.

"No. I better not."

"I'm learning how to drive when my mom gets here." Melissa said happily.

"What?? You're not even old enough to start learning to drive!"

"So? It's a parking lot and I've already done some driving." She balked.

"You know? You're going to get in trouble. You're not allowed to drive. Besides, why are you even talking to me? You broke with me, remember?"

Now Ken really was curious. He didn't understand why Melissa was spending the time with him. It was a perfectly temperate pre-fall day. It was partly cloudy and the leaves were falling off the trees. As the conversation continued he was sitting by a light pole and she was standing by the pole holding on to it with her hand and walking circles around Ken. The sun was dusk and about an hour and a half from being gone for the night. There were only a few other students out doing various things. Ken and Melissa were pretty much alone in this area. He was calmly waiting for a ride.

"I didn't want to!" retorted Melissa. Ken felt good when she said that but he didn't know how to react. And what about Terrah. He liked Terrah and was curious where that would go.

"I did what I thought I was supposed to do! I'm sorry if I hurt you." She continued.

Now when she uttered these words Ken was even more confused and didn't know what to say.

"My mom will be here soon. If you want we can give you a ride home." Melissa offered.

Ken was nervous because the last time he heard Melissa's mom didn't like him. However, Ken didn't have much of a choice whether he wanted to stick around and find out because into the parking lot drove Melissa's mother.

"There she is! What's your choice?" She asked.

Just then Melissa's mom greeted them as she drove up.

"Hi guys!"

Illegal immigration -- explained perfectly!

I have been in many a "discussion" about illegal immigration. I have always found it difficult to explain my point of view about illegal immigration. I've just never been able to find the right words and then those who don't understand me believe I'm some kind of hater or something. My mother-in-law sent this to me yesterday and I am relieved to find someone who thought the same as I do on the matter. Thing is, I had no idea this existed until yesterday but this pretty much sums up my thoughts/feelings on the matter:

Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907.

'In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.'

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Thank you President Roosevelt. This should be a litmus test for every potential American immigrant prior to allowing that soul to enter and permanently remain in the United States. For those who come here illegally simply to take money and send it back to their homeland, continue speaking their language, and break our laws (besides the one where they immigrated here illegally), well, I have no respect for you parasites and request, collectively, that you all go back to your own countries. Don't come back until you decide to truly be an American. For those who have come here illegally but truly want to assimilate themselves into Americans, I respectfully ask you to go back to your countries and start the process legally. I appreciate your wanting to be true Americans and hope the best for you, however, it is an immoral act to break our laws in coming here illegally and it is poor form and disrespect to those who have before you come here legally. It's also just not a good way to start out your life as an American.