The Zurita Ramblings

NFL Predictions for 2010-11

2010-09-03T20:05:00.001-05:00

The autumn wind is beginning to blow across our great country ushering in arguably the greatest season of the year. Glorified images of some of our most celebrated heroes fill our wanting head. Sanders, Payton, have and now Petterson does that wonderfully grace filled ballet which has been dumbed carrying the rock. Names like Manning, Brady, Brees, and yes even Favre commence a thunderous aerial bombardment on many an unsuspecting defense. It is indeed football season once again.

NFL: This is going to be a very good competitive season I believe. A lot of teams have made agreeable free agent signings and draft picks.

NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - They return a very similar team to last season with two notable additions, the big athletic Left Tackle Alex Barron and the drafting of arguably the best Wide Receiver from college this year, Dez Bryant. I like America's team this season, it will not be an easy run with a much improved division. I say they will win the division and go 11-5.

Philidelphia Eagles - McNabb was finally run out of town. Unfortunate I think, his body of work denotes that he has been one of the more steady NFL quarterbacks in the last decade. However, his replacement is capable; Kevin Kolb. People tend to forget that in two starts last season Kolb averaged 349 yards and two TDs a game. They also have a very potent offense to complement there capable quarterback, speed at WR and RB and a pass catching TE in Brent Celek. Coin flip this could be a playoff team depending on how the Vikings play, I say the Eagles win at least 9.

Washington Redskins- McNabb...stays within the division and legitimizes the QB position in Washington. Whats better they finally have a headcoach who KNOWs how to win, Mike Shannahan. The lack of a productive TEAM player in Albert Haynesworth is a big knock to a much improved ball club. Could reach 8 wins this season.

New York Giants - Team with seemingly no vision...will still win at least 6. Heres to hoping Jason Pierre-Paul has a helluva season though!

NFC South:

New Orleans Saints - Very similar team, well coached...know they can win. Subsequently they will run away with the division 12-4.

Atlanta Falcons - Offense that plays well together but a defense that didn't seem to really make a splash in the off season. Eight wins but not more.

Carolina Panthers - Rebuilding team which seems its star runningbacks in their prime and star wideout in the decline. Maybe six wins not more.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - I really want to see Tampa do well, not just because I live in the city. But no. Team blows...Like the direction under the toutalige of Raheem Morris but not this year. Big on second year QB Josh Freeman and rookie wideout Mike Williams. Improved record of 5-11.

NFC North:

Green Bay Packers - Favre-less and back atop the division. The offense I really believe will be the best in the NFL this year and the defense is fast and opportunistic. Aaron Rodgers still has a big upside I think, and thats saying a lot. 4500 passing yards, 35+ TDs and a 12-4 record for Rodgers and the Pack.

Minnasotta Vikings - Favre...back...sumbeach...This team will most likely roll into the playoffs again this year albeit as a wildcard. Defense is dirty...and even without Sidney Rice the offense is ridiculous. However my prediction is solely dependent on the play of Brett Favre...poor play or injuries WILL prevent the team from doing anything. Up to 11 wins with Favre.

Chicago Bears - Jay Cutler...could have truly been something great IF he stayed in Denver. Screw him...I heard a good quote the other day: Chicago, where offensive talent goes to die. Urlacher is back and could be healthy. Up to 8 wins.

Detroit Lions - Team is going places, but not this year. Matthew Stafford has a breakout season. Jahvid Best is a beast and if Kevin Smith is healthy that is a potent combo. Calvin Johnson is inhuman. A few more tweaks in the trenches and this team has a three game swing, five to six wins.

NFC West:

IDK every team looks terrible. St. Louis WILL be better that much is for sure. I'll tier it this way:

Arizona Cardinals

Seattle Seahawks

St. Louis Rams

San Francisco 49ers

Winner of division may have an even record or worse and Seattle just cut TJ Houshmandzadeh arguably their best wide out so...yeah...and Matt Leinart is garbage.

AFC East:

Another very competitive division.

New England Patriots - I just have a feeling that this division will be won at the quarterback level, and its hard to bet against a three time Superbowl winner. Tom Brady and a healthy Wes Welker have a nice year and win the division with...10 wins.

New York Jets - Mark Sanchez has to be better right? LT is a sleeper pickup at RB and Shone Green should be among the most productive backs in the league. If Revis does not play for the team this year that WILL be a big blow to the defense although Antonio Cromartie is a very capable corner. Maybe 9 wins and a possible playoff berth.

Miami Dolphins - If he is healthy, Chad Henne has one of the most prolific pass catchers in all of football, if he is healthy. Brandon Marshall has the ability to change the momentum of a game on a simple five yard dump catch, if he is healthy. Dansby on defense is a solid player too. Maybe 9 wins for the Dolphins a possible playoff berth.

Buffalo Bills - You have to feel bad for this franchise. And Chan Gailey as headcoach in the NFL will be a duck. CJ Spiller is good though...could be the worst team in football this year 3-4 wins.

AFC South:

Indianapolis Colts - Nuff said. 12-4.

Houston Texans - I wanna buy into this offense...its almost identical to Green Bay...but I just don't think they are as cohesive a unit as people give them credit for...though Andre Johnson is probably best player in the league at his position. Defense has too many questions. No more than 8 wins.

Tennessee Titans - A lot of people are high on this team based on last years performance. While Chris Johnson (or Adrian Petterson) is the best back in the league and Vince Young has matured...and it looks like he is going to be the best QB from the vaunted 2006 class and thats saying a lot. The defense is very good as well...young. The problem is at the other offensive skill positions and along the O-line. These issues provide a four game swing in the negative, 7-9.

Jacksonville Jaguars - Ugh...Jville...no Tebow...blackout homegames...Maurice Jones-Drew, third best back in the league plays for a six win team.

AFC North:

Baltimore Ravens - Anquan Boldin legitimizes the aging receiving corps and boosts Flacco's QB rating by 5 points singlehandedly. Questions at cornerback are truly the only knock on the team...oh and Ray Rice another Big East back is going to bowl over opponents. 11-5.

Cinncinatti Bengals - They are back. Who dey? Sleeper pick to make a playoff run. Carson Palmer has Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens as well as a very solid Cedric Benson. Offense is bonkers and defense is underrated. Could be as many as 10 wins... definitely a playoff berth.

Pittsburgh Steelers - No Big Ben during the first quarter of the season will be too much. A solid club that will be back in the swing of things NEXT season. No more than 8 wins.

Cleveland Browns - Not better...maybe worse...maybe they resign Brady Quinn...I'm not buying what Mangini is selling. Although I believe in Mike Holmgrem's vision for the team. Maybe 4 wins...maybe.

AFC West:

San Diego - Best team by a little...such a close division. Could be as many as 11 wins and as few as 9.

Muddled Bottom, Coin flip between Denver, Oakland, and Kansas City. Each will have at least 5 wins and as many 8.

Go Broncos...dare I say go Tebow?

A little rant

2010-08-16T19:35:00.001-05:00

Tact...less

This damned Islamic cultural center business at ground zero has got me riled up! This thing has deepened the divide in our country and made many an influential figure stuff a foot in his/her mouth. While I believe it is in poor taste to build such religious structure near that hollowed ground which saw so much destruction just nine years ago...I do not believe it is wrong. In fact the ability to build such a structure through the proper city channels is one of those staples of our free society. A society free of religious persecution...However, I am saddened to see many a member of my ideological camp feel the need to fight the construction so fervidly. I agree that the choice of location is tactless. That being said if we as a society decide that this construction should not take place based on religious grounds then the dream that is America will die that much quicker. Further more I feel that in the long run continuing to USE the events of 9/11 to instill a sense of fear within the hearts and minds of voters will become political suicide. And this fight by such individuals against this mosques construction is doing just that. If a Congress returned to Republican control were to see the light of day then these silly battles need not be fought and instead focus be solely placed on the sputtering economy and the brave men and women in service in Afghanistan. The Dems...will commit their on form of hari kari; lets not do the same...again...

On a lighter note. I may be a few weeks behind on this but this is great! Only in Alabama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMtZfW2z9dw

Spectre...

2010-08-12T14:38:00.001-05:00

A lot has occurred since my last post. I have been working as a server at Avila Golf and Country Club in Tampa. I have surrounded myself with the elite of Tampa Bay in serving them every day. In so doing I have set obtainable goals for my future. I also graduated with my BA in Criminology from The University of South Florida in May.

My summer since graduating has been rife with debauchery. Some of my stories are worthy of retelling and would fit in the annals of the stories in literature such as I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. I will spare details unless requested for they may compromise me in my future endeavors. Needless to say I have enjoyed my last true summer. However, now I am longing for something more; something better. I have given myself the project of studying for and taking the LSAT, Law School Admission Test. My test date is October 9 and I am very anxious for this. I have also posted my resume in a hope to find a more sustainable income than my meager $10/hr at the country club. In just one day of my resume posting I had several call backs both of which seem promising and offer a very comfortable salary to a 21 year old college graduate.

I feel it is high time I begin writing again. The Federal Government is killing me. Our congress is filled with corruption. State governments have seemingly rolled over to the will of the Fed and I feel the divide in our country has reached a critical juncture. Our economy is about to see a double dip recession. Our foreign policies have seen ZERO change from that of President George H. W. Bush.

Dare I say…a spectre is haunting the United States?

I speak of unadulterated socialism. It needs to be said. I listen to NPR and only watch CNN now to try and find this not to be the case but it just isn’t. The elephant in the room is Socialism. He’s a guest at the party that half of the people hate, two quarters are too scared to say they don’t like him and the rest are so LOUD and unapproachable about their affirmation for said guest. Barack is crashing America’s party and my generation has to clean up the spilled beer and sticky mixed drink doused flooring. My Generation has to hold the hair back for a gagging American as it will soon purge it’s self of the strong blackout worthy drink it was handed by that unwanted guest, Barack.

So I feel it is necessary to begin to write again. I do this in order to vent my anger and try and inform my compatriots and naysayers. For if no one picks up the torch then the dream that is American will flicker and die.

I Figured it Out!: The Source for America's current Credit Crisis

2009-12-08T17:09:00.003-06:00

After much thought I finally reached a viable conclusion as to who or what can be blamed for the United States's current credit crunch. It wasn't the failed economic policies of our government or the greedy fat cats on Wall Street. It was, however, a result of the private sector and the foolish happenings of an American board game company, Milton Bradley.

In 1988 Milton Bradley announced the release of a revolutionary new electronic board game, Mall Madness. The game was marketed for young girls ages eight and up. It pitted up to four combatants against one another to complete a shopping list randomly given to each player at the start. A central computer randomly selected the amount of spaces you would go and there were a slew of stores in which you can buy hundreds of fake items. The object was to complete your shopping list and make it back to the parking lot before the other contestants did. The kicker in this game was you were handed a credit card at the start. It is here where the fall of our economy started...

From 1988 to the mid 1990s millions of impressionable young women were exposed to the glories of buying things on credit with no recourse. Mall Madness taught our youth it was okay to charge things you can not really afford. These children soon grew into teenagers and subsequently young adults by the early 2000s. Garnering the financial experience gained by playing Mall Madness these new adults began to buy homes which they thought they could afford...Milton Bradley said they could. However, this reckless spending could not be sustained and in 2007 the housing bubble burst. The same young women, and the men they brought to financial ruin with them, were thrown out onto the street; a product of a poor research and development decision by America's premiere board game manufacturer.

Going Rogue...

2009-11-30T15:31:00.001-06:00

No this isn't Sarah Palin's new book; it is the status of the re-elected regime in Iran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been under mounting pressure from the United States to cease and desist its production of enriched uranium. The US, and indeed the Western World fear that Iran will be using the uranium they enrich to not just produce reactor grade uranium but will indeed transform it into weapons grade. If Iran were to continue down this path and indeed develop weapons grade uranium the balance of power in the Middle-East will swing dramatically. Iran is the fourth largest oil producer in the world and has the third largest reserve. With at least one nuclear weapon Iran will have such a large bargaining chip on how they sell their oil that it could cripple the world's oil sales. Iran could at this point choose to only deal in oil with emerging countries like China and Russia and neglect the West. This would drive the cost of oil up in the western world into unprecedented levels. Also Iran is a known sponsor of terrorism with ties to revolutionary Palestinian groups and Al Qaeda. By sponsoring such groups Iran could use them as power players in the region to disrupt order; like sponsoring rocket attacks into Israel. The latter is a scary thought. If Iran were to produce a nuclear weapon and then transferred it to a group like Hezbollah in Lebanon the results could be catastrophic. Hezbollah could use that weapon and detonate in a densely populated Jewish area or military installation and essentially bring Israel to its knees. This would so disrupt the region that Iran, again, would be the only true power. An attack on Israel in such a form would threaten to throw the entire region into war which could only end disastrously.

Iran however, maintains they only wish to enrich uranium to power their country into the 21st century. If this were true though, Iran would welcome the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) into their nuclear facilities with open arms. This is not the case. Iran is being shady-s**t about what they are doing only allowing IAEA officials into select enrichment facilities. The IAEA is supposed to be the international community’s watchdog and first to red flag things when they don't seem to jive. Well the actions of Iran seem to be doing just this. In fact several weeks ago the US made public a secret underground enrichment facility that they had been monitoring in the Iranian desert. That certainly seems suspicious. This has prompted the IAEA to create a report sanctioning Iran to send its low-grade enriched uranium to Russia for further enrichment into reactor grade uranium before it was sent back to Iran. This is in hopes that this will prevent Iran from unchecked enrichment. This sanction was supported by all major members of the UN watchdog agency (the US, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia). This is important because this is truly the first time Russia and China have been in agreement with the other four parties on how to approach Iran. Sadly as soon as the announcement was made by the IAEA the administration in Tehran said that they had plans to develop ten more enrichment facilities to accompany the ones they already have. These new facilities are supposed to create in upwards of 300 tons of fissionable material every year. This announcement by Iran is a slap in the face to the IAEA and their recommendations and it is also a stark challenge to an embattled Obama administration which is entangled in countless domestic issues already. The only peaceful solution to this situation is to cripple the Iranian infrastructure with economic sanctions. This would require a huge leap of faith by China and Russia which depend on the oil production of Iran; this leap of faith I do not see happening. The next alternative is strategic military strikes aimed at putting down these facilities; something Israel has done in the past. It is a touchy situation either way. But it requires the Obama administration to immediately take note on the issue instead of overstretching themselves on things at home OTHER than the struggling economy.

THAT IS ALL
(Picture - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad)

Let us give thanks...

2009-11-25T15:35:00.000-06:00

In reflection of the past years events I must say I have so much to be thankful for. The people that have been placed in my life are all wonderful and I truly feel blessed to know all of them. They have each helped me in some form or another and together their influences make me who I am today. I served as president in, what I feel to be the best fraternity (not just the organization I mean TRUE brotherhood) ever. Our hodge podge of brothers are all unique and truly are valuable in making Kappa Sigma at USF a viable and working machine. We come from all walks of life and are pitted together under one banner and are united...I mean not to get mushy but shit I truly would endanger my health to help another one of my brothers and I feel they would do the same for me...that is something to truly behold and give thanks for. As president I was able to connect with hundreds of people all of who have helped me at some point or another. I also gained priceless life experiances which will help me in whatever proffesional career I choose. My family is amazing and they love and support all my endeavors; and that is all I can ask for. I have hit a bump in the road along my career path (failing to graduate Fall of 2009 and missing my acceptance into graduate school by a small margin). However, thanks to some counseling from friends and family I have emerged with a solid plan for the spring which will bring about all of my scholastic goals and then some. I have two jobs now, after minimum search. Most people have been looking for work all year and I found it within two weeks. This is something I really feel blessed for. So at this time I really encourage you to truly give thanks; for maybe life hasn't gone the way you have anticipated it...it could be FAR worse (you could live in Darfur and have aids [that would SUCK]).

On a lighter note I fond this classic video on college humor today enjoy: Why do Pilgrims have buckles on their hats? (Dirty version)

(Picture: Me and my fraternity at our bid-house celebration Fall 2007)

My Biggest Pet Peeve (In a working environment)

2009-11-24T15:06:00.000-06:00

I recently began working, for seasonal employment, at a local Target store in Tampa. I was charged recently to begin working again by my parent's to help supplement my college lifestyle. I answered this call by sending out six applications to local businesses including Target and Marriott. The first, only, company to call me back has been Target. Subsequently I have begun working as a "Team Floor Member" working in "hardlines" at Target. Essentially I am a stock boy which can sub for cashiers when needed. My first day I was introduced to one of my supervisors (shall not be named). The vibe I received from my interactions with him seemed like he was the type of leader who would throw any of his co-workers under the bus (per say) in order to save his/her ass. This is my biggest pet peeve for anyone in professional or semi-professional leadership role.

I remember this summer when I worked as an intern for the United States Marshals Service, USMS, I was exposed to this conduct in a professional setting. The action wasn't from my immediate supervisor but from the person who trained me and whom I worked with the most, we will call her R. She worked in the Criminal Desk at the Tampa Office and was in charge of tracking prisoners and filing important documents. She was also the main intercessor between the clerk of the court's office and the USMS. I quickly learned how to do most aspects of her job and was quite adapt at finishing my personal workload quickly. During my down time I would do work for my other classes or for my fraternity (of which I was president of at the time). I also would not hesitate to ask for more work to do. R's work performance steadily became lackluster. One day R was called into mine and hers supervisor's office. I had little doubt that the topic of conversation resided around R's work efforts. Surely enough she emerged from our supervisor’s office in tears, she was very emotional (all the time). I then was called into our super's domain. He sat me down and asked why I thought I was in there. I sincerely answered that I did not know. He quickly explained that R had implicated me as being lazy and more trouble than I was worth in my work effort. I was flabbergasted. I felt wholly confident in my work and abilities and explained this with sincerity to my supervisor. I also asked if R had indicated any specifics as to what I may have done to warrant such accusations. Our supervisor then called R in and we both sat down with him. I asked R if she might be able to elaborate what I did specifically to alienate her. She reached; she said I was always on the internet checking my email when I could be doing other things. I explained to her that I have other obligations as a student and that I never hesitate to find work. My supervisor was aware of my work ethic and in the end sided with me in the argument. I never trusted R after that day; even though we had become friends.

I find that this is the worst way to manage anything or anybody. During my tenor as president of my fraternity I strived to never do this and accept any and all blame for when things did not go according to plan. This should be the only way to manage especially in a professional career. It builds trust amongst your co-workers and creates an overall better working environment. This will obviously beget a better output of whatever good or service you are producing.

DO NOT BECOME AN R.

In ole New York!

2009-11-23T12:24:00.000-06:00

In a hasty and frankly, unnecessary, move the Obama Administration has decided to put on trial five Guantanamo Bay inmates (all with connections to the 9/11 plot) in New York City. These five include the alleged mastermind of the plot Khalid Sheik Mohammad, who was arrested in Pakistan in 2003. In fact all of the five detainees were captured outside of the United States, I will note why this important later. US Attorney General Eric Holder announced, "After eight years of delay, those allegedly responsible for the attacks of September 11th will finally face justice.". The decision to try these indiviuals has brought much praise from the left and harsh and warranted critiscm from the right. After announcing this decsion last week the Obama Administration has seemed to flub every step since.

First, trying these men in New York City in federal court will bring about the biggest and most ridiculous security nightmare that the city has felt in some time. Former Deputy Chief United States Marshal and supervisor for federal courts in Washington DC and Nevada, Ralph Zurita (my pops) said:

It's going to be very costly because they will have to bring in hundreds of federal law enforcers from dozens of agencies in order to not only protect the courthouse but also the defendants, judge and families. The NYPD will also have to devote a lot of resources to protecting the surrounding areas and transit systems of New York. It will create a post-911 atmosphere in New York City with the heightened sense of security.

He couldn't be more right. The amount of money that will be sucked into this massive undertaking will be enormous. And why? To protect indiviuals who have confessed to committing or masterminding terrorist acts which have killed hundreds of US citizens. Kind of fishy I think. These guys weren't even mirandized because they were arrested overseas and are classified as enemy combatants. So they should face trial in our military court system which is much more equipped to give justice to these men.

Second, our boneheaded Attorney General Eric Holder had these insanely stupid comments to make infront of a congressional committee when he announced his offices decision, "What I told the prosecutors and what I will tell you in what I spoke to them about is failure is not an option. These are cases that have to be won.". 'Cases that have to won', 'failure is not an option', the dumbass guarentteed convictions for the combants. This has a two-fold negative effect. One, by making a statement like this he completely undermines the fundamentals of our court systems. You are afforded the right to a fair trial. However, Holder said the outcome of the trials have been predetermined and that the administration would not bring them to public trial if otherwise. Two, by saying this Holder has tainted the entire jury pool of the United States which is supposed to be unbiased. Now with these public comments from our executive branch too much pressure is placed on potential jurers to hand out guilty verdicts.

Third, the trial will be used as a platform by these indiviuals to spout anti-American rhetoric and to criticise US foreign policy. This will not only enbolden terrorists domesticly and abroad but also shame the names of all those who perished on September 11, 2001. And fourth, by admitting that these men were coarced into confessions by waterboarding (classified as toture by the administration) the administration have provided fuel to the deffense and opened the door for a lenghty apeals process.

DUMB, that is our current adminstration...that is all.

Three Favorite College Meals

2009-11-17T12:01:00.001-06:00

This post will be devoted to providing recipes and cooking directions to my three favorite dishes that I have made in college. These dishes are relatively cheap and can feed you for atleast three meals. One note before I began I have decided to revive my political comics...so stay tuned for a weekly comic.

Dish #1:
Caribbean Pork Roast

x1 Boneless Pork Tenderloin $6.00

1 oz of minced garlic $1.00

12 oz of mojo sauce $2.00

(prep) Place pork into baking dish. With knife cut small holes into meat. Stuff minced garlic into holes (make sure to make many incesions). Pour mojo sauce onto meat covering as much as possible. Cover with foil and let sit over night.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place backing dish (still covered) into oven and let cook for 3 hours. The meat should be very tender and browned. Serve with black beans and rice and ripened plantains. Serves 3-5

Dish #2
Patrick's Red Sauce

1 lb of ground beef $3.00

1/2 jar of traditional red pasta sauce $3.00

1 tablespoon of minced garlic $1.00

1 teaspoon of parsley $2

1 teaspoon of rosemary $2

1 teaspoon of thyme $2

x4 bay leaves $4.00

Brown meat in sauce pan on medium heat. Add garlic, thyme, and bay leaves to meat as it cooks. When meat is browned add sauce, parsley and rosemary. Stir and serve on spaghetti or other pasta. Serves 3-6

Dish#3

Zurrito

1 lb of ground beef $3.00

1 tablespoon of italian spices $2.00

x2 teaspoons of picante $2.00

1 small can of corn $0.69

1 can of black beans. $0.89

1 slice of swiss cheese $2.50

Tortilla soft shells

Brown meat in saucepan over medium heat and add in picante and spices. After meat is cooked open canned vegitables, drain of juice, and stir into meat. Once heated place meat with one slice of swiss cheese into tortilla shell and wrap. Serves 8-12

You can't just open a bag of chips and leave...

2009-11-15T14:59:00.000-06:00

Stop piling the trash on the trash...I was sitting today after a brotherhood event for Kappa Sigma eating some (fraternity provided)Hungry Howies and enjoying the company of my brothers. At one point one of my brothers opened a bag of Dorito Cooler Ranch tortilla chips; even though it looked as though no one else wanted to eat the chips. He proceeded to eat three chips from the large party bag and then walked to the door as if to go home. I cautioned said brother that he could not 'just open a bag of chips and leave'. However, my warning was not heard. He left with a smile and some potentially wasted chips. This upset me; more so because I looked at the more profound meaning of what my brother did.

Our government has been opening hundreds of proverbial chip bags over the past several decades. Now thanks to the most left-leaning administration ever, these chip bags seem to be opening with a dangerous amount rapidity; of which the ultimate result is a BANKRUPT America. In the past year the Obama administration in conjunction with the Democrat led congress our government has turned into America into that friend at a party which stops by drinks and eats for free and doesn't stay for conversation. I will site two glaring examples of this: passage of the TARP bill and the insistence to rush a bill "fixing" health care. When the trillion dollar TARP bill passed it seemed as if it was passed with such haste that the Federal Government did not know exactly how to handle to massive influx of tax payer dollars into bailing out hundreds of business. In our free market society we are told to let businesses which are not successful and are mismanaged to fail. However, the government saw fit to bail some of these big companies out by writing out checks of billions of dollars. As we saw in the case of AIG, some of the TARP money was being used to pay out hundreds of corporate bonuses. This outraged the public. Within weeks of passing the TARP bill Senator Chris Dodd (D) was trying to answer for a problem which went unnoticed in the bill's original passing; the payment of corporate bonuses by bailed out companies with TARP money. What ended up occuring was a new amended bill which restricted the paying out of bonuses over $500,000 by bailed out companies. This in itself seems to be unconstitutional; the government discriminating on a certain group of people. There are laws in place to prevent the targeting of certain peoples by the Federal government; a good example of this are our inherent civil rights. This just shows that our Federal Government is incapable of managing private businesses and by graying the lines with the TARP bill Americans are left with a private sector which answers to the public sector; this is not good business sense and America will suffer as a result. Next there is the ridiculous effort by the Obama administration and his congress to hastily pass a new health care bill. At every step they have attempted to censure any questions about the bill they are trying to form. The ultimate end result for them would be a government run health care "option" which will undoubtedly: force private insurers out of business, limit the amount of health care available to Americans, and BANKRUPT our country. the last estimate I saw was an unprecedented 10 trillion dollars in spending over the next 20 years for this program. If this bill passes as it passed in the house several weeks ago, be wary. This brings me back to my original point. Our Federal Government has turned into that unwanted friend of ours who opens a new beer or bag of chips, takes two sips/chips and then leaves it and the party. All of these wildly expensive government projects in the works and there is seemingly no plan in place to cover the costs. I.E. they opened a bag of potato chips (retarded amounts of spending during a recession) and left the party (no plan to fix deficit).

DICK TOWEL | It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Dick Towel | Buy the Official Dick Towel

2009-11-14T00:39:00.002-06:00

DICK TOWEL | It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Dick Towel | Buy the Official Dick Towel

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I just watched last weeks episode of 'Always Sunny' and thought that this was great gag in the show...inquired and saw that they are actually marketing it. Ha!

If the moon was made of spare ribs, would you eat it?

2009-11-13T14:34:00.013-06:00

...It's a simple question...I know I would. Will Ferrell's classic rendition of famed Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray is a staple of American society. I read today that NASA's LCROSS lunar probe which was crashed into the moon on October 9 in attempt to find water, has apparently reaped some benefits. Approximately 2 gallons of water has been found in the 20 meter crater created by the probes impact. This is significant to the overall objective of the US space program which has called for extended lunar missions and a permanent moon base by 2020. It is in areas like this in which I am not conservative. I am actually a big proponent of the US Space Program. People on the right and indeed the left have been scrutinizing the spending by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL, at NASA for some time; questioning if the spending should be used else where. Fiscal conservatives blasted spending 79 million dollars on the LCROSS project as a complete waste of money. However, I feel these preliminary lunar exploratory missions are vital for the further exploration of our known universe. If we fail to continue this exploration another country will fill the power gap which the US space program will leave. I assure you countries like China and Russia are very much willing to do this. Also JPL has invented technologies which are having a practical impact on present day society including: countless medical advances (MRIs, CAT Scans, ect.), ATM and card reading technologies, and space-age fibers and polymers. In order to fuel these innovations America needs to keep funding NASA. The link to the Fox News article is HERE.

In the words of famed astronomer Carl Sagan, "A still more glorious dawn awaits..."

Picture: Will Ferrell as Harry Caray

Where have all real good questions gone?

2009-11-12T16:11:00.005-06:00

I have been saying for some time that I begin blogging once again. Now I believe is the time. The past year I have been the president of my fraternity at USF. It has been a good ride and provided me with incredible life experiences and opportunities. Now I am about to begin working for Target as a sales floor team member. This contradicts some of my beliefs that America needs to move away from service based jobs and get back to our manufacturing roots. However, the economy is real tough...I am beginning to see this more and more everyday. I am grateful that it took me only one week to find a job (albeit for seasonal employment). My parentals mandated that I work and I will do what they ask.

I was thinking of the Dion song Abraham, Martin, and John the other day. I then began to think of the mishandling of the Maj. Nidal Malik Husan case by the US Army and of the jaded reporting following the tragedy at Fort Hood, Texas on November 5. I read an article on FoxNews.com today about how Nidal was thought to exhibit "psychotic" behavior while at his previous duty station, Walter Reed Medical Center in DC. Instead of dealing with the problem then and there (Nidal was spewing Anti-American rhetoric on the Internet, calling for Muslim soldiers to object to deployment as consciences objectors and trying to get in contact with a radical Iman with ties to Al Queda) the US Army, fearing backlash from the Muslim community, transferred Husan to Ft. Hood in order to 'keep an eye' on him. This all happened one year ago. For the sake of political correctness 12 US Soldiers and 1 civilian are dead with an additional 28 wounded. After the fact the reporting, except for the opinion based programming of Fox News Channel and some programming on CNN, failed to connect the dots with the incident and failed to call it an act of domestic terrorism. Instead the reporting made it a point to skew the fact that Husan was a potential religious radical (with evident and known ties to Al Queda) and attributed his violent actions to post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD. Doing this seems like a cop out on the part of mainstream journalism which fears backlash from it's left leaning subscribers. But in skewing the reporting the journalists, papers, and networks are losing the very essence of good journalism: ask questions, report the truth. Political correctness has assassinated the truth it is official...whats left are two polar opposite palatial view points which WILL never compromise; this leads to a scary conclusion [look at the ancient Greek city-states during the Peloponnesian War 431-404 BC (Democracy died)]. I then thought of a quick remix to Abraham, Martin, and John (song is about the assassinations of Abrham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and John F. Kennedy):

Has anybody here heard my old friend journalism
Can you tell me where it's gone
He informed a lot of people
But it seems the truth died young
I just looked around and it was gone...

A corny remix I know, but yet it seems so true...

On a lighter note I found this video on youtube and I have been listening to it non-stop (more so to piss off my roomates). It is pretty inspirational, not going to lie...

Infomercial Ballad (ft. Scatman)

(Picture: Maj. Nadal Husan from Fox News)

Bud Light

2009-04-24T17:09:00.005-05:00

The cool carbonated nectar soothes my aching throat. The cold bubbly evokes a happy mood starting from deep within my otherwise placid body. I have begun to get a buzz...

My life has changed so dramatically since I last posted over a year ago. I have grown so much in on years time, a noticeable growth at that. I have assumed a lot of responsibility and my college plan seems to be progressing exactly, to the tee, how I had planned from the start. Coming back to college for my second year and being part of a fraternity where you are constantly exposed to those younger than you, i.e. the new freshman, one can't help but feel older. But it goes deeper than just a feeling. In the way I act, in the way I dress, in the way I approach others...it is...different. I can't help but feel nostalgic as a nurse my sixth beer. Stay tuned I believe I'm posting againnnnnnnnnnnn....as for now the twelve packs only half empty...

It's high time I start posting again, and what better subject to talk about than Baraka Obama?

2008-03-20T20:27:00.008-05:00

That is a really long title, I know. That aside I think it is funny what some viral Internet users have done by changing Barack's name to Baraka and imposing his face on a picture of the famed video game character Baraka. Baraka won fame from his appearance as a new character in Mortal Kombat II. He appeared as a servant of the evil Outworld Emperor Shao Kahn.

Barack might need a warrior like Baraka to fend off the persistent media who is keeping him under the microscope of late. The scandal that Barack is dealing with stems from a recently leaked videotape of his (now former) pastor of 20 years, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. In the videotapes Wright is shown preaching incredibly racist rhetoric and hate to his 10000 strong congregation. Barack has known about his pastors views, Hell in an interview with Fox News in 2006 *don't quote me on the source it might have been another news organization* Wright said that Barack might have to distance himself from the views that Wright has adopted and spewed forth from the pulpit. However, Barack did not and now the fiery sermons have leaked. Barack tried to alleviate some of the pressure on himself in a race themed speech he delivered at the Philadelphia Constitution Center on March 19. This did not do quite what it had intended. Instead it raised more questions. If Barack was a candidate who prides himself on better judgement than his peers why did he not do as the good reverend suggested and back away a year ago or more. Rev. Wright abused his position and did not do what he was mandated to do, speak the word of God. Instead he tried to press his own agenda. Another question raised about Barack's integrity is when he used former Democratic Vice-President nominee Geraldine Ferraro as a basic cop out for what the reverend said. I equate this to a basic elementary tattletale situation. Ferraro suggested one thing about Barack'scurrent status, not racist but not the smartest thing to say, and then Barack justifies his pastors hate rhetoric by saying well she said this...I mean grow up, really. He did the same thing with his "White Grandmother" saying that she has uttered stereotypes that have made Barack "cringe". Well if that's the case how come he did not cringe and leave the church in which cringe seems the norm, I mean he his half white. Then on a radio interview today Barack tried to explain what he meant by calling out his grandmother. Instead he dug an even deeper hole. He began by saying that his grandmother is a "typical white person". Now while I am not personally offended by this statement it is a very hypocritical and stupid thing to say. Because he is justifying a stereotyper with a stereotype. WTF!? Whatever his campaigned has suffered from this debacle. Good riddance if I may say so. I am tired of hearing his retarded rhetoric of change when all he intends to do is tax and spend...that's all I ever hear come out of his mouth. We will change this. How Barack!? The only way how is to tax...and not fairly either. The middle and upper classes will feel the brunt of such taxation...that's another issue separately though. In the present John McCain as reclaimed the lead among key independent voters by as much as 8 points in some polls, from Barack. And forty percent of White voters *again don't quote me exactly* have said that their trust in Barack has been shaken over the recent developments. C'est La Vie...

The setting sun...

2008-02-17T11:58:00.008-06:00

Last evening I was blessed with witnessing our sun set on the Gulf of Mexico. This is something that I have not seen in eight months. The time lapsed between my viewing of this event seemed an eternity. I sat on St. Pete Beach gazing fixated on the setting sun. As the first part of that glorious orb dipped beneath the horizon I couldn't help but reflect on all that had happened in those afore mentioned eight months. I had grown so much and yet still had much to learn. I had received my first real trials and tribulations of that of an adult and overcame them. No longer did I carry any sort of physical or psychological connection with Panama City, my home for the two thirds of my life. Some who live in the Redneck Riviera, Panama City, never escape but are consumed by it's angry maw doomed to live a life of mediocrity. I have escaped it's grasp and feel a better man for it. Although I have ascended the large spiral staircase which guides youths into adulthood, I still carry on my childhood in a sort of nostalgic way. For as Frank Sinatra once sang, "Fairy tales can come true-It can happen to you-If you are among the very young at heart." I try and apply this notion to my everyday existence. I feel aged in these brief eight months, wiser perhaps, but aged for sure. This is a debatable thing be that it for good or ill. However, I am excited about the prospect of continuing my journey in this life.
A gentle sea breeze began rolling in from the gulf and a chorus of gulls began to harp as the sun began it's final decent into evening. It is at this moment that, if one listens close, one can hear god speaking. One of buddies put it a good way, 'When the sun sets you haven't any cares in the entire world.' This is true. The cascade of colors presented on the sky canvas and the sentimental value of the setting sun compile to create a euphoric state of being.
All this is captured as the sun sets...

Florida Primary and Pi Gamma Installment

2008-01-30T09:40:00.000-06:00

Well my state has made several foolish decisions in endorsing on he day of their primary. One was showing undaunting support for the Clinton camp, although no Democratic delegates were at stake. The second was the five percent win by Senator John McCain. The man is to old, to senile to become the president of the United States. I mean sure I supported him when he first ran back in 2000 but things have changed and his immigration policy is dumbfounding. But whatever. Mitt will move on, win out West and do better than pundits are saying up North.

Back in Tampa....
I just got back from a weekend trip to North Miami where me and some of my Kappa Sig brothers aided in the installment of a new Kappa Sigma chapter (Pi Gamma) at Johnson and Wales University. It was a fun trip. This week on the USF campus is called Rush, the week in which all fraternal organizations attempt to recruit kids whom did not pledge during the Fall semester. As of right now I am shooting for a class of about 8-10 for our organization. If this did come to fruition that would be wonderful. I'm looking for my Fraternity to grow exponentially during my tenure here at USF.

This Sunday will be the forty-second installment of the Superbowl. This years matchup pits powerhouse New England against NFC rival, the New York "football" Giants. I can not see this game being much of a contest as New England seems to have fielded arguably the best team of all time (this coming from a Denver Bronco Fan).

Picture 1: Myself with some of my Brothers and "Pops" the former Supreme Grand Master
Picture 2: Pi Gamma Chapter of Kappa Sigma

Well it's politicin' time...

2008-01-16T14:50:00.000-06:00

Primary season...
Well it is that time of year. The airwaves are being bombarded with attack ads. Babies are being kissed, along with some asses. Never before as an election generated such buzz as this current presidential race, and it is nigh ten months away. This is also the first year I will be of legal age to cast my own vote something I have longed to do for years. For I have already marked a candidate for my state's primary via absentee balloting.

The field is looking weird. I have almost conceited the next four years to a Democratic candidate. W, the mildly conservative President, as done a lot to leave this nation in a quagmire. Simple solutions implemented long ago could have secured Iraq and our economy. However issues we dealt with haphazardly and with little chance for a successful outcome. The fact that George is a member of the Republican party almost insures the Grand Old Party a loss this year. What people need to understand is that George has done so many liberal and dumb things. His tax cuts were cool, however, he and the old Republican controlled congress went on an out of control spending spree harkened by special interest groups. This way of politicking loses the trust of the people and will just be carried over to a Democratic agenda, especially if it's a Clinton. But whatever.

The early primaries kicked off with a bang. Iowa saw major upsets for both parties. For the Democratic party Barack Obama won a victory over the political powerhouse that is the Clinton camp. This upset might mark a change in the direction for the Democrats who are looking to get younger, fresher. Clinton represents the politics of the late nineties to now. Barack genuinely represents change, not for the better thought (TAX AND SPEND IDIOTS!!). On the Republican side Mike Huckabee a fourth tier candidate vaulted himself to a win in Iowa as Evangelicals came out to the Caucus in droves. Mitt Romney, who invested bookoo cash into the state lost by like eight points. In New Hampshire, a historically older populace, saw Hillary Clinton win out. However, again Barack is applying pressure and is leading in some National poles. Sen. John McCain won the Republican ticket in the state which again saw Mitt fall to second place. In the Michigan primary, a state which Barack did not play a part, saw Hillary win 60 percent of the vote with a remarkably 30 percent undecided. Mitt Romney finally won the state he was born in (again this being Michigan). However the Republican field is looking very tight and a lot is riding on the Florida Primary. For this is when all candidates will commit, fully. It will be an interesting couple of weeks leading to the day. All I can hope for is God to Bless America no matter what the outcome.

Another Life Update

2007-11-14T11:12:00.000-06:00

Well it has been a real long time since I have posted anything. My life has been real busy these past few weeks. In fact this past Monday I was initiated into the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. The organization ins over six hundred years old and has been stateside since 1869. Since 1869 over two hundred fifty thousand become Kappa Sigs. I am grateful and honored to join their ranks.

USF football has floundered of late finally wining this past Saturday after a three game losing streak. This weekend I plan to tailgate with the Fraternity prior to enjoying the last USF home game of the season against Big East Rival Louisville. We should for all intensive purposes win this ball game.

I haven't really been following politics of late, been fed up with it...waiting...praying for Ronald Reagan's resurrection.

This next Wednesday I will travel home for really the first time since coming to Tampa. I am truly looking forward to this visit and to enjoy some real food for a change.

ΛΩΓΤΠ ΑΕΚΕΔΒ

Well, life update...

2007-10-16T16:05:00.000-05:00

The past several weeks I have been afflicted with an illness. It has wrought me nothing but discomfort and has left me very tired. I will only say this about the illness, it is a kissing one. However, my case must have been real mild for I am about 100 percent just two weeks after coming down with the preliminary symptoms. The severity of the illness usually varies but at the least it should have knocked me out of commission for at least two weeks, however just one week after I first started to feel bad I was out and about doing my normal routine. However, I am still unable to consume any form of alcohol for at least another three to four weeks and should probably refrain from exercise for a while, there is an offset chance my spleen will explode. Now that I described my illness I will move to more important things.

The boot camp trial in my hometown, in which a young hooligan died in the State's custody, came to a quick close. The jury deliberated for a very brief hour and a half and found the guards and nurse not guilty of the charges brought against them. USF football has come to dominate the land and we are now ranked number 2 in the nation according to the latest Associated Press pole. We have a big test this Thursday, however, as our team travels to New York to face Rutgers. Perhaps this will be our toughest game of the season. The Fraternity has kept me busy, I have a lot of obligations with that. Maybe the latter is a attributing factor to my quick recovery from my illness. I have also decided to shave my goatee off. I have replaced it with something I have longed to have on my face, the convented "soul patch" (Picture enclosed). That's really it I guess...

My First, In a while....

2007-09-26T12:37:00.000-05:00

This is my first blog post in quite a while. I have been busy with the pledge process for the fraternity. Life in Tampa is pretty good, although I haven't been able to experience all that the area has to offer. I have been constrained to the immediate area around campus due to obligations I have to hold with the fraternity. Life in Tampa is pretty straight. This week marks the first of my examines, three for each class. I am apprehensive about my history class, it is progressively getting harder and more uninteresting. I said uninteresting. I have prided myself, these past seven years, in my abilities to learn and appreciate history. However, this particular class is proving to be bitch to learn in. The subject material is all skewed towards feminism, and the role women played in the nineteenth century. This is so not interesting. In fact this is far from interesting. And whats more everyone in the class leans to the left...Pretty soon when we latch on to a topic I am familiar with and can add input I am just going to go off on some people. I just completed my first project for money, did well there. This was my first paying job since I left the "Egg", which I have heard has turned to disarray. I am anxious to head home and see old friends, my dog and most importantly my mother. However, this prospect looks unlikely for at least another month, for this pledge process is time consuming. The West Virginia-USF game is this Friday, and for the first time in our school history we are ranked (18). This game will be crazy and I plan to get "crunk" for it. Look for me behind the goal post in the USF student section...I will be wearing green...Oh one more thing. I got my hair edged for the first time, I got Cubano points for side burns and a box whatjamacallit.

Pledge

2007-09-17T11:16:00.000-05:00

Pledge...this is the time when a wannabe fraternity member proves himself to said fraternity. This is the stage I am at in my journey to join a brotherhood. Which brotherhood this is I will not say until after the pledge process and my initiatory journey is complete. To quote Dwight Eisenhower I want to invoke the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking...This process is approximately 8-10 weeks long...

Rush...

2007-09-13T15:54:00.000-05:00

Rush Week Fall 2007. This is the time in which eager young college males sample the fraternal organizations on campus and decide whether or not they wish to join one. Well I have decided. I will refrain from naming said organization until I officially accept my bid tomorrow. I feel guilty, though. The Fraternity I have been hanging out with the past three weeks or so is not the one I will be joining. This is simply due to the fact that this organization is not aloud to accept pledges until the Spring semester, for some infractions that the group has committed. I really liked the group. But on the other hand I feel I need to become involved early in my college tenure, waiting a semester to join a frat would not fit my plan. I know of some who wish to wait the semester out in order to rush this particular fraternity. Still this does not appeal to me. I wish this nameless fraternity luck. As for me I am about to enjoy a free meal with the organization I plan to accept my bid for...

September 11, six years later...

2007-09-10T12:58:00.000-05:00

Well guess what tomorrow is, the sixth memorial day since the tragedy of September 11th 2001. It snuck up on me, as I am sure it has snuck up on most Americans. Lest we forget the tragic events of that day. America, me included, needs to wake up. Smell the roses. Radical Islam still wants to destroy our society. Hell just this last week America's old friend Usama Bin Laden released a new tape calling for more Jihad and other stupid hypocritical Islamic Bullshit.

I recall where I was that morning six years ago to the day. It was a normal Tuesday morning as far as I was concerned. I woke up and began my morning preparations for school, I was in the 7th grade. My routine included waking up, jumping into the shower and eating breakfast while watching ABC's Good Morning America. I sat down in front of the television at about 7:49 AM Central Time. Diane Sawyer was talking about some generic inspirational story when breaking news came in regarding the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The report said that the tower had erupted into flames near the top. Diane said that the tower could have been hit by a plane, possibly a small commuter. The report switched to an eye witness at the scene, via telephone. The witness stated that he did not actually see the impact, however, he did hear what he described to be a jet engine screaming across the sky prior to impact. He said that some people believed that a missile had actually impacted the tower. (Looking back it's amazing to think all the theories that were spreading around on that day) At roughly 7:55 AM GMA switched to live helicopter footage of the scene. At 8:03 AM a Boeing 767, United Flight 175 bound from Boston to LAX, slammed into the South Tower of the WTC. I watched in horror as the fireball encompassed the Tower's mid-section. I stared in shock as I thought of the hundreds of people I had just witnessed parish. That was the most memorable thing to me. I ran from my house to my neighbors, whom I carpooled with. They were preparing to leave and come get me as I can running up, out of breathe. I told them what was happening, that we were under attack (from who I knew not). Disbelief was the reaction I received. No one believed me. We arrived at school, few knew what was happening. By second period, however, our principle got on the intercom system and addressed the school of what was going on. All TV's were promptly turned on to CNN. My second period met in the library that particular day to work on a project. No one worked. We all just gazed in amazement at the extent of the attack. The Pentagon was hit, another plane went down in Pennsylvania. We did not no when it would end. Then the South Tower fell. Then the North. The Iconic towers, which had represented American ingenuity and achievement (and for the most part the American people), were destroyed in the span of several hours. Steel and concrete came crashing down on the people in the streets below. The towers which stood so tall, were no more...three thousand people were no more. Think about that. For me, the thought makes me angry. No, furious. Furious at Radical Islam, and for the most part the Muslim world as a whole (I have seen very few moderate Muslims speak out and condone the actions of the radicals). Muslims claim Americans to be crusaders, crusaders for Christianity. They are partly right, we are crusaders. Crusaders of ideology. Crusaders for a free world, void of tyranny and oppression. This is what Americans are, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, and even Arabian. The Christian crusades ended in the 1300s, the American crusade to rid the world of the 21st century threat of radical Islam has just begun. It was not instigated by the US, though some claim that American Cold War policies to the Mid-East started this trend of violence. The United States has been repeatedly attacked throughout the span of the past forty years (Beirut, Reagan assassination attempt, the first WTC attack, the bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the USS Cole attack, ect). We did nothing. Then came the events six years ago to the day. I recall telling my mother at the dinner table that evening that the world will change. It has changed. The two years that followed 9/11 Americans stood united around the goal of avenging the World Trade Center. This air of cohesion among Americans had not been seen since the attack on the US fleet at port in Pearl Harbor, 60 years prior. Then after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in the Summer of 2003 it seemed as this attitude of cooperation and what not went out the window. Americans began to become isolationists again...the most dangerous thing imaginable. Our enemies saw this. Al Quaeda made it's presence felt in Iraq, spurring on sectarian violence. We, including the ill fated Bush Administration, stumbled around and failed to act swiftly to address the new threat. The finger pointing began. Iran and North Korea saw our diplomatic positions as weak. They acted promptly and began isolating themselves from the rest of the world more so than they were. North Korea detonated an atomic weapon in 2005. Iran is on a dangerous path to follow suit. The European Union is basically aligned against US efforts. The former NATO alliances seem frail. We did/do nothing. 9/11 changed the face of American politics. The heroes from that day are seemingly forgotten. The sacrifices of our American service men are going unnoticed. Change is needed, I do not see it on the horizon, nigh from the left or right. But it is coming, God willing, it is coming.

Lest we forget the event's of 9/11...six years to the day...only six short years...three thousand souls...not to mention the near four thousand fighting in the Middle East...

God Bless our Firemen, Law Enforcers, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen

Last Evening...

2007-09-09T13:04:00.000-05:00

Last evening was crazy, to put lightly. USF played at Auburn in a showcase game for our young program. The game was on ESPN 2 and was watched by millions. I was supposed to go to the game but I did not wish to drive ten hours to and fro while trying to be back at USF before 7 PM on Sunday (for the start of rush week). So me an my Holly F neighbors went to one of the Frat's to watch the first half of the game while consuming cheeseburgers. Kickoff was approximately 9:05 PM. We watched with glee as USF built a 14-3 lead in the first quarter, behind the running of Mike Ford and our stifling defense. However Auburn came back to take the lead into the half, 17-14. It was then that we all left to finish the game at a party/social gathering. We arrived in time to see the start of the third quarter. Defense dominated the second half of play. USF should have won the game easy, we forced five turnovers (including a fumble recover on Auburns three) and only scored three points off of them. Afore mentioned fumble recovery resulted in a missed field goal. We were ready to kill our kicker who missed four on the evening. Auburn managed only three points in the second half. We finally manged to tie the game 20-20 and take the game into overtime. In overtime we won the coin toss and optioned to play defense first. A wise choice, for our defense held Auburn to just a field goal and set us up to win. On our possession Jim Levitt (USF's head coach) was forced with a decision, 4th and inches. Would he send his POS kicker out or sneak it and go for the win. Matt Grothe trotted out, snapped the ball, and followed his center across the first down line. With a fresh set of downs it seemed as if new life was thrust into the troubled hearts of South Florida Nation, whom had already seen their team seemingly throw the game with poor execution on offense and special teams. First down, Grothe was forced to run as Auburn applied pressure. 2 and 9. On second down, Divine intervention. Grothe checked the defense, cover 2 zone. He looked off his first read and looked for his second receiver, Jessie Hester Jr. Hester sat on the three yard line, where there was a hole in the zone. Grothe stepped up and lobbed a nice touch pass over the linebackers in a place only his receiver could catch the ball. Hester then fell into the end zone...ball game. Elation ensued. That is the the only word I can describe the feeling back where we were watching this upset victory by the 10 year football program of USF and the 17th Ranked Auburn Tigers/Eagles or whatever the hell they are. Hi-fives, hugs, random kisses, hooping and hollering, among other things was the name of the game where I was at. It was a good feeling. I then proceeded to stay out till like 5 AM but that is another story.

My First College Meal...

2007-09-07T11:39:00.000-05:00

Last Evening I cooked my first meal in our little Holly F kitchen. I prepared food for all three of my roommates (plus me), and it was really the first time any of us had an opportunity to really sit down and talk with us all being present. My menu included: 10 oz Boneless Rib eye Steak marinated for a day in a Southern Comfort and Apple Juice mix then seasoned and seared with Montreal Steak Seasoning and a splash of Apple Juice x4, Homemade Mashed Potatoes using 8 White Potatoes, Heated Canned Corn with added Pepper and Kosher Salt, and sliced French Bread toasted with real butter x18. The meal was well received and may become a bi-weekly fixture at 208. Then we proceeded to watch the first game of the 2007-2008 NFL season. The New Orleans Saints vs. Indianapolis Colts. Peyton Manning is a faggot and rapes little boys. Indy 41, Saints 10. Denver plays Sunday and will win, my prediction Denver 28, Buffalo 13.

The Right makes me so mad sometimes...

2007-09-04T18:55:00.000-05:00

The right is really starting to piss me off, scratch that. The state of the right is really upsetting me. Between the corruption and poor leadership in the White House I am really growing tire of BS. Now we have log cabin Republicans out the wazoo. At First there was Representative Mark Foley from my esteemed state. He was forced to step down from his congressional seat after it was found that he sent sexually explicit e-mails and text messages to some of his underage pages. The real jab is that the Republicans had caught wind of Foley's dealings long before the story leaked, in September of 2006 (right before elections). If this wasn't despicable enough Larry Craig, a senior Senator from Idaho, was arrested in a sting operation at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. He plead guilty to committing a lewd act. What apparently happened is that this sick f**k went to the airport bathroom and locked himself in a stall and waited until someone occupied the adjacent stall. He then proceeded to slide his foot under the wall into the next stall and tap. This gesture apparently is the universal sign for let's "hook up". Unbeknownst to Craig was the person he was trying to elicit sex with was actually an undercover police officer. Craig too was forced resign. I believe after the Republicans loose the coming election there needs to be an overhaul of the party. Reclaim the mystique of Reagan era politics. The Right is hurting now, but the injuries will heal...The left is just a disease and can never sustain power.

Picture: Sen. Craig (R) doing something with prosthetics...

Football...or as the Americans say Football

2007-09-02T11:53:00.000-05:00

I have now participated in the college football experience, albeit it was short. USF played Elon, a pussy team from Arizona, at 7:05 PM at Raymond James Stadium (Where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play). To celebrate the opening of the football season we (being some friends of mine) went to go tailgate at the Beta Theta Pi tent four hours before kickoff. The tailgate experience was interesting. From there we proceeded to the game which was fun for a while but USF played like shit the first half (a 7-3 lead) so some of us decided to leave early. From the game we made it to back to campus, showered, then started to head towards the after parties. The one I was in attendance of was dispersed by law enforcement and I some how managed to end up at another party and from there I ended up back at my apartment t like 5 in the morning. USF 28 Elon 13
Freshman Mike Ford is a Beast...

The First Week Draws To A Close...

2007-08-30T17:25:00.000-05:00

Since my last scribing I have changed my schedule in a dramatic and good way. I dropped my Ethics class which met on Mondays and Wednesdays. I did this because according to a lady in admissions or what not, I was not required to take the course for a gen ed credit. In it's place I am now taking World Perspectives, a very easy class which only meets on Wednesday from 6-850. I say it's easy because for me such social studies come easy, the teacher is cool, and it is basically the exact same course I completed in High School under the name of AICE International History. Now I do not have a class on Friday so I can stay out late for one extra day a week. This weekend should be packed. Tonight we have a large gathering at the basketball stadium for a showcase of all the student organizations and a comedic routine provided by Charley Murphy, of Chappelle Show fame, and Seth Myers from Saturday Night Live. Tomorrow night there is a Frat party with the Kappa Sigma guys which I will hit up. Saturday Is our first football game against Elon, which is a given 1-0 record for us to start the season. Matt Grothe our quarterback is in my Intro to Criminology class. There will be plenty of tailgating and after parties. Se La Vi...

The First Day of School...

2007-08-27T18:22:00.000-05:00

Today was the first day of the Fall 2007 semester. My first class began at 10 AM and ended at 1150. It is going to be hard as f**k. European History During the 19th Century: Boring Parts. Today, we had a 500 word essay assigned which about the French Revolution of 1789-1792. I promptly finished it in a span of roughly 2 hours under constant distraction. Whatever, the teachers pretty hot. My second class is Introduction to Ethics. It is basically a class devoted to preventing anger and stuff like that. There are roughly 250 people in it. I met a group from Daytona taking the class as well and they seem pretty tight. This class ran from 12-1250. After that I am done for the day. I have the same schedule on Tuesday. On Friday however, I just have a variation of Ethics. It is a class which breaks the 250 man group into like pods of 80 headed by a teacher's aide. Tomorrow I have one of my prerequisite criminal justice classes at the University Mall Theater and oceanography in the afternoon. Semester should be easy, waiting for rush week...may find a job...whatever.

An Old Story But A Good One...

2007-08-26T11:42:00.000-05:00

Last evening was a redux of the night before last...That said I will now tell an old story of mine...

Several years ago on my way to school a large white house cat lunged from behind a bush in front of my car. I attempted to swerve and avoid hitting the animal. I didn't. Fearing the worse I pulled my car over and ran to see if I could help the injured creature.

Alas, when I arrived at the animal I discovered that it was already dead. I then heard some rustling from the bush behind me. I was unprepared for what came out. It was a Mexican male, approximately 5 foot 4 inches tall and 160-180 pounds. He was wearing a red flannel jacket and dirty Levi jeans with accompanying work boots. Under the jacket he had a "I Love Hooters" t-shirt. Covering his head was a "World's #1 Grandma" ball cap. He looked about 35 and his visage was scarred and bore a thick mustache running across his whole upper lip. In his right hand was a Marlboro Ultra-Light. He walked up to me, looked at the cat, took a puff from his cigarette, looked back at me and said with a thick Mexican accent, "Sheet Hapeens." After that the stranger did an about face and ventured back behind the bush.

Last evening....

2007-08-25T10:36:00.000-05:00

Last night I attended my first Frat party, and it was pretty tight...I'll leave it there so as not to incriminate myself. If last evening was a preview of what is in store for this year, then I might just enjoy this college thing.

College, I finally made it....

2007-08-23T23:06:00.000-05:00

Well I am here. The University South Florida. I am hoping that the experience will be all that it is cracked up to be. So far I have begun the arduous process of unloading and becoming situated at my new residence. This residence is at the Holly apartment complex on the USF campus; it is a four bedroom, two bath, small living area, and kitchen flat. The first day was interesting, I guess. Nothing too special happened. I met my roommates (other than my friend from Panama City that moved down with me) and they seem pretty cool. My first night was an odd one and one I'd wish not to repeat. My roommate and I struggled to find a party or something to do during the evening, however nothing came to fruition. We ended up chilling back at our flat for an hour or so. Then at about 12:30 one of us suggested we try and find a fast food restaurant for we had the munchies. After approving the suggestion we also decided the best way to go about procuring the food, and it was not driving. We figured it would be good for us to walk down one of the main university roads in order to better acquaint ourselves with the area. So we walked, and walked...all told we walked for half an hour until we reached a Target shopping plaza. At the entrance of the plaza we eyed a Burger King. We saw that the Burger King was open 24 hours a day. However, when we tried to open the front door it was locked. It was then that we noticed the subscript under the 24 hours a day sign, drive thru. We still held some hope that they would serve two walkers at the drive thru, no luck. We then spotted a Wendy's and made our way towards it. The same story as the Burger King, the Drive Thru was open but the dining area was not. We would not end our journey in defeat...So I walked up to the drive thru window and knocked. And to my surprise they served us, two junior bacon cheese burgers each...We then walked home and that was it...

Internet Slut...I Have Become

2007-08-20T22:36:00.000-05:00

I believe I have become a internet whore...or rather and internet slut, for whores get paid to sell themselves. I have begun blogging...dee dee dee, I have begun to use youtube, I have begun to make a collection of YTMNDs (viewable at YTMND.com my name is ZMan123), I have even considered using the built in webcam on my laptop to video blog.

I have read somewhere that our culture is dieing and the culprit is the internet. Today it is possible for anyone with access to the internet to show the world their own unique forms of art and thought...Some argue that this massive think tank and art gallery, which often includes things that in the mainstream would not be considered art, have dumbed down our society to a point of no return. I do not like this posisition.

The internet is around to provide pleasure and people do not have to view things that upset them. The internet is around for three reasons: information, media, porn. I believe the internet has provided myself a venue to spread my "filth" to the largest audience in the world. I plan to take full advantage of this...

Picture: From my YTMND entitled "I believe the Feds let them out..."

Change...It is swift

2007-08-19T14:51:00.000-05:00

It's amazing to me how much people change in a short period of time. I am referring to the summer that follows high school graduation. I have witnessed changes in persona and lifestyles, myself included. I would say that this is attributed to the new found freedom associated with the coming of age to adulthood, or rather young adulthood. Any semblance of a structured lifestyle is thrown out as children embrace the afore mentioned transition. For parent's they have done all they can to groom their child for the riggers of adult life and now they must sit on the sideline and watch their child progress on there own. Some people have a tough time with this transition; I myself was fortunate to have a strong parental base.

The Innocent youths of yesteryear have now become the druggies and social misfits of today. I believe my graduating class was fortunate for only a few have become delinquents. And of these few only a hand full have no future whatsoever. The same, however, can not be said for the upcoming classes of 08,09,10. From my limited exposure to these groups I would say our country is doomed, save for a select few. I mean last years freshman were doing coke...something inconceivable at the time for myself and the majority of my class. Back to my peers. I have witnessed the slow destruction of a few friends, one close, to illegal drugs. It was Mary Jane that started said friend down a path that will ultimately lead him god knows where...Prescription Pain pills, LSD, Ecstasy....One really close friend knocked his girlfriend up, just months prior to graduating. He then promptly married his girlfriend in June...He is 18...That is probably my welcome to adulthood moment, standing in his wedding as a groomsmen. Others have witnessed a more subtle change, this category includes me. Around the start of the second semester of my senior year I began to start going to social events more often, parties if you will. This change in my life can mostly be attributed to twin Jewish brothers who promptly took me under their social wing and groomed me into the socialite I am today. In turn I sort of did the same to two of my friends during the course of this past summer...In fact it seems as if more and more people are enduring this change. Those from my old friend circle who seemingly stay the same have become dull and boring to me...In all I must say I am ready to begin life anew in Tampa. School for me begins Monday after tomorrow and I move down this Wednesday. The University of South Florida should be an engaging challenge and a unique orgy of fun. Leaving Panama City behind will not be difficult...

Global Warming...Oh I will make it a debate

2007-08-17T14:00:00.000-05:00

It amazes me how people are so quick to make up their minds about global warming. Liberals do not believe their to be a debate about the issue. And when conservatives raise up the issue they are quickly shot down as crack pots. If one uses common sense, one can see the holes in the Liberal’s doomsday scenario. Now don’t get me wrong. I believe it is imperative that we (Earth) need to discover and utilize alternative energy sources. I will now make my case.

In high school last wear I was forced to watch and take a test on Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. I found it inconvenient that I watched the movie. It was filled with non-sense about his long lost presidency and the tragedy that is his life. At one point the recites a tear jerking (cough) tale of how his son was hit by a carbon dioxide emitting automobile…a story which is only in the movie to induce sympathy for the Gore cause. After watching this movie I was amazed at how people…people who I believed were strong willed…rushed to make up their developing minds (Most were 10th and 11th graders). I believe all told there were three (including me) who disagreed with Al Gore’s claims. Needless to say we were outnumbered at received many a dirty look from our fellow classmates. When we tried to make our case we couldn’t get a word in edgewise. I was appalled. Now I will explain some fallacies.

The Planet Venus is a perfect example of what some scientists say is happening on Earth. The difference is that Venus is 30 million miles closer to the Sun than Earth is, greatly increasing the effect I will now describe. The Greenhouse Effect, it keeps us alive here on Earth by recycling water and carbon, providing a breathable and self sufficient atmosphere. On Venus, however, due to it’s close proximity to the sun the Greenhouse Effect is the planet’s own worst enemy. The heat from the sun traps CO2 in the atmosphere heating the surface exponentially. Something that will only happen on Earth towards the end of our Sun’s life. For as the sun dies it will expand into a red giant raising the temperatures of all the solar systems planets and possibly even engulfing Mercury and Venus. However this isn’t likely to occur for several billion years, a timescale not fathomable by humans. What can be observed on Earth today, a temperature hike of a couple of degrees Fahrenheit over the past 150 years can hardly be called global warming. In Antarctica (as with most the world) there is something called spatial variability. Several peninsulas in Western Antarctica have risen a couple of degrees Fahrenheit over the past five or six decades. However, in East Antarctica there is no measurable temperature fluctuations. In fact scientists even call in question the validity of the methods of keeping global temperatures. Just think 10000 years ago, hell even 1000 years ago (the little ice age) the Earth’s temperatures rose rapidly and without the aid of harmful carbon emitting machines of death and pleasure…I’m teeming with anger right now so I believe I am going to switch gears and begin talking about why I believe we need alternative energy sources.

Throughout my tenure in the US public school system one scientific postulation was reiterated time and again…In fifty years the oil and coal supply of the world will, for all intensive purposes, become extinct. However, you never here this issue being raised. This thought scares me…for it will be my generation which inherits this world void of precious resources. It is for this reason that we need to develop alternative energy sources to sustain the human existence. I believe we can work in a bipartisan manner to achieve this goal. However, as long as there is no debate on the issue of global warming then the planet is doomed, scratch that mankind is doomed. Oh and one more thing for all the money that was put into the Live Earth Concert’s, none was used to help solve the problem. Instead all the money was used to raise awareness…awareness WTF that’s the most ludicrous retarded liberal hypocrisy I have ever heard. Let’s spend a ton of money for the cause of global warming…however, instead of using the money to help solve the problem like towards research and stuff we'll use to throw a kick ass Bon Jovi concert. Yeah and it will be to raise awareness about the issue (which isn’t an issue as I explained before) even though the only people who will attend the concert are those who already agree with us. Ridiculous…

The Last Shindig

2007-08-12T01:19:00.000-05:00

It has been several days since my last post and this is mainly due to me not caring to write anything. However, my lack of creative writing can also be attributed to me working on the last of our (my friends and I) Shindig movie series. The film was shot in 2004, however it was not edited. I took it upon myself to finish the movie and complete the final installment in the Shindig series, which spans some eight movies...eighth to ninth grade... Our last movie was the most ambitious and is politically motivated...I posted it on Google Video so whatever...Link is the blogs title...

An example of why racism still exists

2007-07-30T23:51:00.000-05:00

I saw a commercial for the United Negro College Fund, UNCF, on television the other day. Watching it I couldn't help think that this organization, and many like it, help promote racism. The ad explained how the college fund had helped pay the way for thousands of underprivileged black teens to enter university. The underprivileged mentioned were obviously inner-city youths. Then I thought why is such a selective organization needed. The fastest growing minority in the country are Hispanics (especially in the inner-cities of this nation). Also in these poverty stricken regions reside a large contingent of Asians and, yes, even Caucasians. If one is going to have a philanthropic organization such as UNCF why not just have a unified organization that helps ALL underprivileged teens. For what exists now are (not just UNCF but other race based organizations) organizations which seem to feed off of racism. There very existence is based on the idea that social class is bound to what color your skin is. The heads of such "non-profit" organizations live a privileged lifestyle, no doubt a result of their organization's successes. Have a United Underprivileged Youth College Fund...

Wading In Hell's Kiddy Pool Chapter 3

2007-07-28T15:23:00.000-05:00

Chapter III

“Excuse me sir, did you say you were a minor, an unaccompanied minor,” the lady said with a slight grin.
“Yes why,” I enquired.
“We can not book you in a hotel if you do not have a guardian present. You must be eighteen or older,” the bitch said.
“Are you S**ting me! Well where in the hell will I be staying tonight?!”
“We will place in a area called Dusty’s Den in the B terminal of the airport.”
“What the hell is Dusty’s Bin,” I said (anger does not capture how mad I was truly feeling), “Are there cots or something there?”
“Yes there are accommodations,” the cold-hearted super said. She then proceeded to print out my meal voucher.
All the passengers had gone and I was left alone with the Delta reps. We were waiting for the escort to guide me Dusty’s Bin. A short stout black women of about eighteen came up to the counter we were standing at. She slowly looked all around like she had lost something . “Where is my un-acomp,” she asked the super.
“I am right here and ready to go,” I told her. By now I had accepted my fate and had calmed down considerably.
“Oooh, that is the biggest un-acomp I have ever seen,” she said with surprise in her eyes.
“He is probably older than you,” said one of the Delta reps to the young black woman. I just nodded and gave the grin of hurry the f**k up and let’s get on our way. Soon enough we were.
It was a quiet trip to Concourse B. Very little stirred within the airport at that late hour. The cleaners and construction workers were just starting to get to work on there projects when we arrived at a door between gates B 21 and 23. It was a heavy metal door unmarked save for a piece of white computer paper taped to it with marker wording reading: Dusty’s Den. We entered.
Dusty’s Bin was a three room flat between the afore mentioned gates in B concourse. The main room was a wonderland for little children and Michael Jackson. The room was filled with ‘kid friendly’ aesthetics. Bright colors bombarded my sleep deprived eyes. In one corner of the room there was a large glass window with blinds drawn revealing an impressive view of the exterior tarmac. In this corner there were three television sets all hooked up to gaming systems, two Playstation 2s and one Nintendo Gamecube. Upon further inspection of the gaming systems one will notice that there was only one game to be shared among all three, Crash Nitro Cart. The sad thing was this was a Playstation game and could not be played on the Gamecube, but whatever I didn’t feel like video games. In the opposite corner of the room was a sitting area comprised of a dirty futon and two wicker chairs. The sitting items surrounded a small television set that was turned on to BET. I glance to my left and see two black women in their mid twenties laughing at the television, enjoying the 2006 BET awards.
“Ooh gurl that was a sad day (referencing the death of the R&B singer Aliyah during 2001 which evidently overshadowed the tragedy that was 9/11), oh hey who’s this.” said the taller of the two black ladies that were seated.
“This is an un-acomp going to stay here tonight,” my companion told the two other women.
“Ooh how old are,” asked the tall one.
“I am only seventeen,” I said giving a nod that agreed with there surprised looks. My companion now left me in the company of the two black ladies in Dusty’s Bin. The shorter one of the ladies now got up and walked toward me.
“Well let me give you the tour. I know it’s not much especially for someone of your age,” she said as she walked to the rear area of the main room. Back here there were two doors, one labeled Girls the other Boys. The chick now grabbed some blankets and a little fanny pack. “There is another boy here he is seventeen also. He got here and just went right to bed so I will try not to disturb him,” she said as she opened the door to the boys room. What I saw shocked me. There were three bunk beds in a little 18’ x 8’ room. On the bottom bunk of the farthest bed was the silhouette (the lights were to accommodate the other kid’s sleep) of a kid. In front of the body was a Apple I book. On the opposite bunk of the kid was a mountain of junk food. The shorter chick now moved to the vacant bottom bunk and proceeded to make my bed. The blankets and pillows she used were straight off the airplanes, surplus I guessed. The fanny pack she gave me contained toilet articles including: toothpaste and brush, deodorant, and surprisingly a razor.
I took my ’goodie bag’ and asked if there was a bathroom. She told me that the designers did not make Dusty’s Den with a restroom. She took me outside of Dusty’s Den and lead me to the employee restroom on the opposite side of the Den. I went inside the bathroom which resembled the bathroom from the first Saw movie including shit stains and interestingly enough a blood stain in the middle from god knows what. The stench in the restroom was unbearable. I urinated quickly then brushed my teeth in the rusty water then exited as quickly as possible. Outside I ran into a woman who seemed to have a nervous uneasiness to her mental stability. She was older than other Delta reps and had black hair. The name on the tag read Marlene. I said hi as I passed and she returned my greeting. I told her I was an un-acomp staying in Dusty’s Den. She said that she was there to relieve the two other women from there shifts and that she would pull the night shift. I wasn’t sure about this woman but what could I do. I got chummy chummy with the two chicks for the next half and hour waiting for there shifts to end. That asked me about the lady that chick that was going to replace them after I told them that I had met her. I gave my impression which was confirmed by the two ladies. I met some pilots who were taking bets on whether or not I was an un-acomp or not. At eleven thirty the two black chicks shift ended with the entrance of Marlene to Dusty’s Den. The short black chick looked at me and motioned to Marlene and made the cuckoo motion with her finger to her head. I nodded in acknowledgement and said goodbye to my new friends. I told Marlene that I was tired and would get to bed. She said that that was a good idea and that she would be taking a test via the computer that evening. I went into the room labeled Boys and got into my bed. My bed it turned out was two feet to short and my feet hung over the edge. The airplane blankets barley covered my feet and lower legs. Sleep never arrived for my that night. At about two o’ clock in the morning I got up to go urinate again. Leaving the boys room I entered the main room of Dusty’s Den. I found Marlene struggling to take the test that she mentioned earlier.
“Where are you going,” Marlene asked with a forceful tone.
“To use the restroom. I can’t sleep so I might just chill out here and watch TV or something,” I said to this lady whose attitude was starting to piss me off.
“The restroom is fine but you can not stay out here, after twelve all kids are supposed to be in bed,” Marlene sneered.
“Are you kidding me! This place is a goddamn prison,” I said using the Lord’s name in vain. This queen ice bitch was unbelievable. However, all fight had left me by that point and I just went along with what ever she said. After the bathroom I went back and tried to rest my eyes, to no avail. At five-thirty I could take it no longer and I began to pack my things and I got the hell out of that place. I did not even look back to here the protests of Marlene, instead I made my way to the subway and back to Concourse D. In the Concourse I used my meal voucher for breakfast and stumbled towards my new departure gate. I waited, slept, for the two hour duration until my flight boarded. My night of hell had ended and it was a new day. Sadly I am still suffering from insomnia as a result of my night in Dusty’s Den.

Picture: My Father, Brother (far right), Nephew and I Christmas Eve in Henderson, Nv

Wading In Hell's Kiddy Pool Chapter 2

2007-07-24T09:27:00.000-05:00

Chapter II

It was now 5:55 PM and my stomach began to growl with the ferocity of eight female Bengal tigers protecting there young from an oncoming predator. I had not eaten since 7:00 AM (Pacific Time), and I was hungry. Since I had a long wait I decided to go eat at the Chili’s inside the concourse. I waited in line for about twenty minutes before I was seated. I ordered a sweet tea, the first in over a week, and a Chipotle Blue Cheese Bacon Cheeseburger. The savory medium-well done burger arrived not long after and was immediately devoured. It was good, save for the crumbly chunks of blue cheese being a little overpowering to the palette. I paid and tipped, well I might add, and then went to sit at my gate.
On the way to the gate I passed a Cinnabon Bakery and decided to purchase a coffee. The warm liquid soothed my body as I downed the drink in it’s black, raw form. I sometimes find that cream and sugar will detract from a superbly brewed cup of ‘Joe’. At gate D 32 rested the lazy bodies of four flights, all departing from the same gate (D 32). Two of the four flights were to Panama City. The 6:48 was the later of the two flights and was pushed back an additional thirty minutes. A scheduled 5:05 flight to Panama City was now scheduled for 8:00. I nestled myself in a seat near the counter and was surrounded by snowbirds. I pulled out my book, Ian Fleming’s From Russia With Love, and proceeded to read for half an hour.
I glanced up from the book to look at the monitor above the counter to see if there had been any updates on the flight. There had. Instead of an estimated departure of 8:35 it now read 9:05. Anger overtook me. I stormed up to the gate’s counter and stood in front of a young Indian man who was talking on the phone. He looked up as I approached the desk. I shot menacing glares at his direction as steam bellowed from my nose. As soon as he was off the phone I exclaimed, in my elevated voice I received from my father, “Excuse me! Are there any other flights leaving for Panama City tonight?!”
“No,” the Delta representative said in a monotone voice. A voice that seemed to say I do not give a flying f**k what happens to you.
“Well I want to know what the hell Delta is going to do for me if this flight is cancelled! And what is the status of the inbound flight!” I was becoming infuriated.
“Sir, I will relay information as soon as I get it.” That monotone, thick Indian voice was starting to piss me off even more.
I sat back down in my seat, it was now close to eight o’ clock. The snowbirds were growing restless. A sweet old lady was sitting next to me. She was wearing a frown. I said to her, “They are always screwing over flights into Panama City.”
“That’s what I here. But we (meaning the bulk of the snowbirds) have been here since two this afternoon.” The lady of about a healthy seventy.
“My god,” I said, “that is ridiculous. Which flight are you on?”
“The 5:40, or rather the 8:35 Now,” the sweet old lady was becoming obviously irate, “And now Delta has a very upset old man (referencing a man at the Delta counter who resembled the salty old mariner Gorton plus thick bifocals). All these people at the counter are idiots, they’ve already moved our gate three times.”
“Well, it’s not the peoples fault, but they are always the scapegoats for us travelers. The sad thing is (Panama Citians) want to build a new airport. There is not enough people that fly into Panama as it is,” I said raising up trivial local political issues with this lady.
“Attention passengers on Delta flight (the 5:40) to Panama City your departure gate has now moved to D 31,” the electronic voice of someone speaking into a microphone said. This address fueled a fire of anger that had already begun to brew among the snowbirds.
The elderly woman that I was talking with started to get up and walk to the new gate. “Good luck,” I said as she walked away.
“You too,” she said. I needed it. Luck, however, was not on my side that cold December night. Lord knows what happened to the snowbirds flight. For all I know the angry maw of the tri-state triangle had consumed them.
Soon my planes own departure gate had changed as well as it’s departing time. DL 1428 was now leaving at gate D 22 at 10:00. Once again I stormed to the (new) counter and raised my voice to the Delta reps. The answer I received this time was the same as before, as soon as information was gotten it would be relayed. I sat down this time adjacent to a heavy set woman in her late fifties. Her face was besieged with wrinkles and a disgusting lobsteresque sunburn with sunglass-coon eyes. She glanced up at me as I seated myself.
“What did they say,” the lady said.
“The same BS as before,” was my answer. We got to talking it turned out she is a native a Massachusetts and she was going to be with her husband in Panama doing the snowbird scene.
A chick I had spotted earlier was now back in the gate for my flight. She had a pretty face with reddish-brown hair cut straight and completely covered her nape. Her skin tone suggested that she had a hint of Italian in her blood. She was wearing a blue tank top that concealed her proportioned breasts, with a red jacket over. Tight black pants rounded out this lady. Her only fault, that I could see, was that she had some baby fat that lead from her chin to the middle of her neck. This feature, I have noticed, is akin sometimes to women who are raised in the South. It can possibly attributed to the constant use of a heavy Southern accent. The chica had a look of distress on her face.
Half and hour later this Chiquita came over, in the company of a slightly overweight black woman, and sat next to me. We got to talking and it turned out my assumption about the young woman was right. She was from Nashville, Tennessee and was going to Panama City to visit her father. When she opened her mouth it was revealed that she was wearing braces to correct an overbite. She was twenty. The black woman had just gotten back from a trip to Paris and London. She was going to Panama to visit her grandparents. This little group got chummy chummy for the next half and hour. Then all hell broke loose.
The monitor displaying the flight information suddenly went blank. ‘Oh God, what’s goin’ on,’ I thought to myself. My fears were realized, the flight was canceled and the next flight was leaving at 8:30 the next morning. I quickly called my father and told him what was going on. He told me that when I complain I mention that I am a minor so as to reap true benefits. I told him okay and that he should call my mother. Delta was booking all passengers into a hotel near the airport and meal vouchers. When it was my turn I raised my voice like I had never done before. Obscenity after obscenity flew from my mouth into the ears of the area Delta supervisor. I told her that I was a minor and then asked what hotel I would be staying in. Oops…

Picture: Me at Hoover Dam, Nevada Side

Wading in Hell's Kiddy Pool Chapter I

2007-07-22T13:22:00.000-05:00

This is chapter one of three from a short story I scribed about my plane trip back from Las Vegas during January of '07.

Chapter I

22,000 feet in the air the city of Atlanta sits in the distance like a glistening southern jewel. A blanket of smog surrounds the city providing an air of mystique. The stumpy Jewish man that sits next to me gets up one last time to retrieve the last of his three carry on items in preparation for landing. It was 5:35 Atlanta time and I was to make a connecting flight to Panama City at 6:48, a quick lay over. The large rear tires of the Douglas DC-10 touched down onto the runway igniting a burst of smoke.
‘This ought to be easy,’ I thought to myself, ‘provided Delta doesn’t screw me over.’ I was on the final stretch of my round trip from Las Vegas, Nevada. It was here that I spent Christmas with my father. After a week of the Vegas scene and not being able to do very much I was ready to spend the last few days of my vacation relaxing at home. My last obstacle was the William B. Hartsfield International Airport (Atlanta), and what an obstacle it would prove to be.
“It is currently 5:43 local time with an outside temperature of forty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. On behalf of Delta we hope you enjoy your stay in Atlanta or wherever your travels may take you. Thank you for choosing Delta and we hope to see you again.” The rehearsed speech was preformed admirably by the blatantly homosexual flight attendant. The speech is always nice to hear before you exit any flight. It makes one feel that they are important and that Delta may actually care about you. Pah!
Leaving the gate I found myself at Concourse B, the 6:48 to Panama City left from D 27. This meant that I needed to travel on the subway two stops to Concourse D. Walking at a brisk pace I made my way to the subway. On board the train I am bombarded with the sickly odor of perspiring bodies cramped in a small space.
“Stand clear, doors closing,” said the recorded message of a pleasant sounding woman, The next stop is “Concourse C, Concourse C as in Charlie.” The train was fast, a travel time of only a few minutes. At Concourse D a wave of passengers seemed to follow me off the train, in fact the train practically emptied. ‘Damn, holiday travel,’ I thought, ‘always crowded and the airline reps are dicks.’ However nothing could help the way I felt, I was forced to just go with the flow.
On the platform adjacent to the rail network there was a series of television monitors displaying the status of appropriate flights that were to leave at the D concourse that evening. I scanned the monitors for a few moments until I spotted my flight information on the bottom right screen. It read as follows:

Panama City Delta 1428 6:48 pm Est 8:05 pm D 32

‘Son of a… It’s delayed an hour and a half and the gate has changed,’ I said to myself. Neither of these things were a good sign, rather they set in motion events that would culminate in a horrible evening/morning.

Picture: My Father and I at Lake Mead, Nv

More Iraq...

2007-07-20T16:43:00.000-05:00

Do not get me wrong in this blog and do not think me to be a hypocrite. The death of any US serviceman pains me and pisses me off. I believe the mission in Iraq is necessary and should seen through to the end. I do believe I have lost faith in the administration, in their ability to conduct the war. I have pondered military service for a long time. However, it would not be advantageous to join the military at this time before I begin my career in law enforcement. I would, however, gladly serve my nation if I received a draft notice in the mail. I believe that at least one year of mandatory military service should be required of all males after high school. Other European countries such as Germany due this and it makes a lot of sense. At the very least one year civil service needs to be required of our youth, doesn't have to be military. Now for my rant...

It erks me to see liberals and others who oppose the war in Iraq blow the number of US casualties out of proportion... To better make my point clear let me show you some statistics:

War and #of Dead

# of Americans

% of Pop (Dead)

Years Involved

Revolutionary War - 4435

3929214 (1790)

0.00113

8

Civil War (both sides) - 191163

31443321 (1860)

0.00608

4

World War I - 53402

106021537 (1920)

0.00061

1.5

World War II - 291557

132164569 (1940)

0.00221

3.5

Korean Conflict - 33741

151325798 (1950)

0.00022

3

Vietnam Conflict - 47424

203302031 (1970)

0.00023

10+

Iraq (Now) - 3681

300000000 (2006)

0.00001227

4

http://www.americanfamilytraditions.com/war_casualties.htm

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_casualties.htm

http://www.census.gov/population/www/

On the beaches of Normandy, France US servicemen suffered roughly the same amount of dead as throughout the entire Iraq war. I mean lest we forget what our forefathers hath done. The problem, which is mostly Congress's fault, is that the Army is spread unbelievably thin. There are only 500000 US Army personal to man all bases (worldwide) and participate in Iraq. This is why I believe in mandatory one year military service for our male high school grads. The grads would learn discipline and the military will grow by millions with a continuous rotation of new servicemen every year. Whatever what do I know? God Bless our Armed Service Men, Past and Present

Another Broken Egg...Thanks for the memories

2007-07-17T20:18:00.000-05:00

I have tendered my resignation for my job as a grill cook at Another Broken Egg. The decision has not come lightly. I wish to spend the last couple of weeks before school starts with my friends. I look back at my cooking adventure with a smile. It was a long tumultuous journey that has culminated in my last, bittersweet, days of employment.

My first day at work was an adventure: I met my kitchen mates, received on the job training, and worked on the second busiest day of the week (Saturday).

First there was Rich.

Rich is the Egg's other grill cook. He taught me everything I know about using the grill. He was my master and I but a padawan learner (putting in Jedi Star Wars terms). I owe my very survival as an employee at the Egg to Rich and his guidance. Now Rich is a unique fellow. I've heard him described as one of those crazy motherf**kers who would shoot up his work one day; my first impression of him was not far from this. We barely talked during the day, it was disheartening. As closing time grew near Rich decided to throw some leftover Chick-fil-A chicken onto the grill. After heating up the nuggets Rich placed them onto a plate for consumption. On the plate he poured two sauces for dipping, honey mustard and bar b que. I assumed that by placing the chicken down in between me and him that it was for the both of us. I was incorrect. I reached for a piece and as I began the dipping motion he snatched the re-fried morsel out of my hand. I thought that he was messing with me, hazing me if you will. I grabbed another piece and again he ripped it from my grasp, tearing the piece in two. Rich looked like he was growing irate. I then quickly grabbed one of the two halves of the newly separated nugget and placed it into my mouth. Rich just stared and me with fire in his eyes. He stormed passed me towards the back of the kitchen. "Cocky, little prick," I heard him (say to himself) as he passed me. I was shocked, I believed I had done nothing wrong. I latter apologized to Rich (I did not wish to get of on the wrong foot with him seeing as how we would be working together for the next month and half). As we worked more with one another we grew to be friends. Rich is a native Kentuckian, you wouldn't know it by looking at him. He enjoys reading and seems to be a kind of loner. He plans t go to Full Sail college in Orlando in November to study computer programming (Although he has no experience in this field). I wish him luck in his endeavors.

Next there is Anthony.

Anthony is a unique person. He is one of the stove top cooks. He looks unkempt...sporting a pony tail and a hastily shaven visage. His temperament changes daily. He is only in a good mood when on the previous evening he received a booty call from his estranged lady friend neighbor.

Ricky

Ricky is and old Co-worker of mine back when I dish washed at the Big City Fish in 2005. He is a heavy set 20 something. He is another stove top cook. Ricky is a mean motherf**ker when he is working. However, when he is not working he is a pretty cool guy.

Jack

I worked with Jack at BCF as well. Jack is the head chef(I guess) at the egg. He usually tends to the stove top but also is in charge of new menu items and there creation. Jack is in his mid thirties, is *friends with benefits* with a large breasted waitress, and has a crazy persona. He often does drugs...though not at work that I know of. He drinks heavily and sports a soul patch. "Give me a hoo haa two times Tuesday," was Jack's most famous saying... Others include: Play Free Bird(talking to the XM radio), Huh?, Yeah, Do What?, Hey babe we should have had sex before work, and many more. I believe the decades of drinking and drug use are catching up with Jack...though; I'd often see him coughing up big loogies and on occasion throwing up, once in the kitchen(garbage). All in all though Jack is a cool guy.

Ray

Ray is the Egg's manager and is a very excitable person.

The dishwashers were from Kazakhstan (three of them) and hated Borat jokes. The waitresses were okay, two were hot, one a ghost from my past and several were drug addicts. And then there was Dee Brown. Dee is literally a larger than life figure. He is co-owner and head chef (also was my boss at the BCF) of the Broken Egg. Dee is also a very large man, round if you will. He is mean as a nest of bees stirred by the clawing of a hungry bear....but nice as can be post work hours. I often received a butt chewing from Dee for stupid reasons. What you learn to do is provide a straight answer to him and take the scolding. It was often unintelligible and the only word that was understood would be motherf**ker...

That is the Broken Egg in a nutshell, or should I say eggshell...

I believe we CAN win Iraq, and this is how

2007-07-10T18:48:00.001-05:00

This is how I believe we can win in Iraq:

(This plan is based on my knowledge [gathered from my interest in military history that has been growing the past seven years] of military history and current tactics implemented by America's enemies. This plan would take a large commitment by the United States and would piss Muslims off even more and would require a large fiscal commitment by the United States to rebuild the nation's infrastructure.)

The majority of all violence in Iraq centers in the "Sunni Triangle": Baghdad, Tikrit, Al Ramadi. The area receives it's name because of the large Sunni Muslim population. The Northern part of Iraq, where the oil fields are, is for the most part secure and harbors the US friendly Kurdish sect. The South is mostly secure, the British occupy this region, and consists of a majority Shite Muslim population. In the Sunni triangle however, you have a large Sunni population living with a large Shite population (these two Muslim sects hate one another). Thus the Sunni Triangle is a catalyst for violence. Another thing that must be understood is that Sunni Muslims are a minority in the Muslim world, in fact only one Middle-Eastern Country has a Sunni Majority, Iraq's neighbor Iran.
I propose isolating the Sunni Triangle. Offer to extract all women and children from this area and leave men of fighting age. Then provide an ultimatum for the remaining inhabitants in the Sunni Triangle, throw down your arms and help restore Iraq or (Die). Once this is done all that should remain in the triangle are the die hard fighters from all combating groups. Now I would implement a strategic bombing campaign on the level of the Allied bombings during the Second World War. The sheer psychological effect of such a campaign would be enough to deter a determined enemy. After a long campaign I would use the majority of US and Iraqi ground forces to systematically eliminate remaining resistance. This sweep should push all the way to the Iranian border where a strong border ringed with forts needs to be established. After this two pronged campaign a garrison of at least 60000 US service men should remain in the country, similar to the US in South Korea. The next phase would require the US to rebuild Baghdad...Again similar to the Allies after WWII. The cost in US lives should be Minimum and the outcome would, in theory, be good. This is because the true threat in the region is Iran and a strong Iraq with a permanent US garrison would undermine any attempt by Iran to extend it's growing sphere of influence. Think of Iraq like the Federal Republic of Germany, West Germany, and Iran like the German Democratic Republic, East Germany. Baghdad is Berlin. If you approach the situation like this WE CAN WIN this thing. The War is NOT lost (Harry Reid).

Essay On Bob the Builder

2007-07-09T17:04:00.000-05:00

I was watching an episode of the acclaimed children’s show “Bob the Builder” and I couldn’t help but to think that the show helped promote the destruction of our environment. The entire episode was devoted to clear cutting a forest because it was as Bob put it ‘old’. In the forest’s place was a new road, the first in Sunflower Valley.
“Can we build it,” Bob exclaimed to his artificially animated tools of destruction.
“Yes we can,” replied Bob’s wrecking crew.
All in the name of progress I thought. However while clearing the forest a family of rare Blue TV rabbits was displaced from their home. As Bob used an axe to chop down a tree of some two hundred years he explained that trees turn carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen for mankind. This act was very hypocritical, I thought. In another scene one of the machines of death, I think it’s name was Rolly, was leveling a tree that contained a endangered bird. Al Gore would be appalled if he saw the carnage displayed on this ’kid friendly’ TV show. The voice of Bob sounded familiar. After careful thought I figured out where I heard it before. It was none other than the voice of comedian Gregory Proops whose credits only extend to a recurring role on the American version of “Whose Line is it Anyway”. Between shows like this and the faggots portrayed in the Teletubbies American youth’s are in grave danger.

That's America to Me

2007-07-04T15:31:00.000-05:00

This post is going to be a simple one. It is the 1943 song "The House I Live In", written by Abel Meeropol and performed famously by Frank Sinatra. The song became a sort of anthem for wartime America during the latter years of World War Two. I believe the lyrics perfectly summarize what America is and why it is unique and the...well the best damned country on this earth. So as Americans join in celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, think about this song and what America means to you...

The House I Live In

What is America to me
A name, a map, or a flag I see
A certain word, democracy
What is America to me

The house I live in
A plot of earth, a street
The grocer and the butcher
Or the people that I meet

The children in the playground
The faces that I see
All races and religions
That's America to me

The place I work in
The worker by my side
The little town the city
Where my people lived and died

The howdy and the handshake
The air a feeling free
And the right to speak your mind out
That's America to me

The things I see about me
The big things and the small
That little corner newsstand
Or the house a mile tall

The wedding and the churchyard
The laughter and the tears
The dream that's been a growing
For a hundred and fifty years (231)

The town I live in
The street, the house, the room
The pavement of the city
Or the garden all in bloom

The church the school the clubhouse
The millions lights I see
But especially the people
- yes especially the people
That's America to me

National Security...Wake Up America!

2007-07-02T16:23:00.000-05:00

The recent plots to detonate car bombs in England got me thinking again about our own national security and how it can be improved. England has done something that the United States drastically needs to adopt, the implementation of closed circuit televisions in the major cities of the country. The United Kingdom has something in the neighborhood of 50000 CCTV’s in use daily. It is said that the average Londoner is filmed around 400 times a day. In New York City, CCTV’s have been placed in high crime areas with great success. If the Federal Government would initiate an effort to adopt the CCTV policies of the UK I foresee a much safer country, not just from terrorism but from the average criminal too. Opponents of such systems cite the fact that the privacy of the citizen being filmed would be infringed on. This is silly, the citizen would be filmed in public so this argument is null. Another item that needs to be implemented in the US is the adoption of a national Identification card. There is legislation that is trying to pass Congress that would allot Federal Money to make ID cards compulsory. The United Kingdom passed similar legislation last year. The ID cards would enable the establishment of a centralized national database of all US citizens. This database will greatly help all law enforcement agencies who currently have no centralized way to track felons and other red flag citizens. Lobbying organizations like the ACLU oppose such legislation because it infringes on the rights of US citizens, which right this is I’m not sure. The Federal government already uses a national ID number for it’s citizens, social security. State governments provide licenses for driving, gun owing, etc. And say if a terrorist (could be domestic) attacked, (because we were not able to track them successfully) and you died, wouldn't your ultimate civil liberty be infringed on….the right to exist? Hell, the ACLU is a joke…When they help out the rights of the minority they always seem to intrude on the rights of the majority…a little Hippocratic. We need these two parts of LEGISLATION…JESUS wake up AMERICA…Isolationism will not work…Pre 9/11 thinking is dangerous and will lead to the deaths of Americans!! What ever…

A Solution to Gay Marriage

2007-06-28T11:03:00.000-05:00

What I will attempt to do in this post is provide a solution to the gay marriage question. I am appalled by the lifestyle think it to be completely disgusting (I’ll explain why next paragraph). That said I do not wish to infringe on the ‘rights’ of US citizens. Before I provide my solution I will recall my first experience with homosexuality.

My first experience with the gay culture happened shortly after we (my parents and I) moved to South Florida. We decided to take a vacation to Disney World, our first…I was three. My parents unknowingly chose a poor time to visit the theme park, however. Unbeknownst to us was that Disney had a Gay Week. One evening we decided to go to the Downtown Disney, an assortment of shops and restaurants at the heart of the complex. At the entrance I saw a white limousine pull up to let someone off. Out of the limo crawled an elderly man in his mid-80s. He was wearing a white dinner jacket and used a diamond crusted cane. Behind him came a young man, possibly 20 or so. I figured that they were father and son, and or grandson. However, the young man moved in and embraced the older man. After the long sensual embrace came the French kiss. Even at my tender age of three I remember being physically repulsed by this action. Having a limited knowledge of Freudian Psychology I believe in the nurture aspect of homosexuality.

Now a simple (I think) solution. First I will make it up to states to vote amendments into their respective constitutions allowing or banning gay marriage. This will probably be only a few blue states that would allow this. Next I would make it mandatory that all marriage licenses be renewed within 60 days of moving into a new state. So, if a gay couple received their marriage license in a state that allowed gay marriage and they wished to move to a state that banned gay marriage they would not be able to renew the license, and subsequently their marriage would be annulled. The renewing of licenses makes since as people have to renew other licenses within 60 days of moving to a new state as it is. But then again what do I know…

CIA's Dirty Laundry and Immigration

2007-06-27T09:11:00.000-05:00

I find it amazing that there is such an outrage by the newly released CIA classified documents known as the “Family Jewels”. In the documents the CIA exposes some of it’s projects and what not that were in the works or carried out during the 1970s. One such project was a plot to assassinate Cuban Dictator Fidel Castro. The media has been making a to do about this plot. However, I can say that I was not amazed by this and feel that the CIA probably still has some plan to depose the dictator. This is not a hard concept to grasp. Hell the United States and Britain had operatives ready to kill Adolf Hitler at any moment during the Second World War (they didn’t because Hitler was a military retard and assassinating him would enable a smarter military mind like Goering or Rundstedt to take control of German Military operations). The US, under Democrat JFK, had numerous plans to assassinate Castro. The JFK administration came to two notable heads with the island nation: the Bay of Pigs and the Missile Crisis. The US has always been a sworn enemy of Communism and thus Cuba. Fidel wasn’t even always a communist. He only changed his affiliation to the Reds when it seemed it would be advantageous for him and his revolution. If you ask the thousands of Cubans who come to this country to escape the socialist state they would welcome Fidel’s death. Which brings me to another point the new immigration which is trying to pass through the Senate. The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act will enable far to many immigrants from entering this country every year. It is estimated that the measure will increase legal immigration by 500 percent and effectively increase the population of the US by close to 100 million. The US cannot cope with this dramatic influx of people whilst the domestic population growing exponentially. I see two foreseeable choices save for reform to the immigration process:

1.) Make it a state responsibility to control the illegal immigrants already within ones state. With a small amount of Federal monies and the rest provided from a states fiscal budget a systematic effort needs to be mounted to deport illegal immigrants. If a sweep by state law enforcement agencies is made to all business that may hire illegals with harsh fines and jail time being dished out to said business that harbor such immigrants, I see a possible solution. Also a bolstering of border patrol would be necessary.

2.) We can invade Mexico and colonize it, or buy it and colonize it. I see New Texas fitting nicely in the Yucatan Peninsula.

CISPEN Manifesto

2007-06-25T14:44:00.000-05:00

What follows is the result of a class project in which we were forced to create a country, given a plot of land. My group was given the Galapagos Islands and we decided our country would be a command socialist state. We designed the economic base for the nation, centered around our cash crop...the coca plant...

A brief history of CISPEN:
The Confederate Island States of the Peoples Ecuadorian Nation, CIPSEN, was founded after a bloodless coups that forced the socialist leaders of Ecuador from their country. Since the Galapagos was a territory of Ecuador the former Ecuadorian nationalists settled there. They formed CISPEN around the doctrine of Soviet based communism...called Conservative Socialism. They have filled there country with thousands of migrant workers from Central America to till the coca fields on the islands which are fertile thanks to the volcanic soil. They also use the mighty Galapagos Tortoise as a means to travel and for the CIPSEN military body armor. CISPEN as declared it's enemies: The United States and their coca rival Columbia. CISPEN has also sent out representatives to the various nations of the world who have migrant labor to try and sway these estranged workers to join the CISPEN cause.

CISPEN Manifesto
(For Migrant Workers in the US)

A plague, a plague I say has spread across the whole of society. It has slowly diseased the people’s of this earth into believing that prosperity can be found through our own individual means. This assertion is wildly incorrect and has been implemented in your minds by the burgeoning West. God did not create man equal. Case in point the mentally handicapped have no chance, no chance I say, to better themselves. Is the swan the same as the pig, the cow akin to the chicken, or the baboon better than the weasel? No! No, I say this is the assumption of the one’s who control nations such as ours (The USA) and India, Hollywood and Bollywood respectively.
Brittany Spears, Kevin Federline why are these names important I ask? They aren’t. However, it is names like these which control America. It is this new elitist class known as the entertaingeosisie which utilizes it’s monetary and political power to employ and make policy. For heavens sake they employ many of your brethren (Mexicans and other working-class)! It is this new entertaining class that restricts the whole populace. Equality is the only answer. Rather Neo-equality, with the rich aristocracy and hip-hop moguls controlling the destiny of the society. For too long have we toiled for the Hollywood elites, only to be feed their stupefied garbage.
It is time for revolution! For as we speak nationals from Ecuador have begun to establish a nation on the Galapagos Islands. Our Ecuadorian brothers have begun their new colony under the principles of equality with the ruling class. They have discovered manna from heaven in the form of their lucrative cash crop, the coca fruit. A unique division of labor has already been established on the islands to farm the fruit. The poor and uneducated now live as equals with the former middle-class and till the coca fields. While we as the aristocracy oversee congenial matters of the state and deal with the Entertain-ist monster that is the United States. The nation is called the Confederate Island States of the Peoples Ecuadorian Nation, CISPEN. CISPEN needs us to fan the flames of this glorious anti-Hollywood revolution. So I ask you comrades, will you join? Or will you continue to be content with the oppression you face at the hand of the entertaingeosisie?

Long Live the Revolution! Long Live CISPEN! Get Rich or Get Resurrected!

Iraq: Why We Are There And Why We Need To Stay

2007-06-20T12:02:00.000-05:00

What follows is a list, ranked from least important to most, for the reasons why is US is currently involved Militarily. The list is based on my understanding of the current situation and Historical precedent in addition to my own bias.

7. Iraq under Saddam Hussein has harbored and developed what the international community would agree to be “weapons of mass destruction”. Hussein has even shown he is willing to use these weapons, including on his own people (the Kurds in 1988). Credible US and Great Britain intelligence suggested that Saddam had large stores of said weapons and may have even began to redevelop a nuclear weapon/power program.

6. Oil. No matter how the administration skews the reasons for war, oil is an important tenet. There is no immediate effect for the US as a result of occupying Iraq in relation to the price of domestic petroleum. However, I believe the US and US oil companies are expecting to secure oil futures in the northern oil fields of Iraq. What this means is that if the US stays in Iraq and successfully develops the nation as a democracy the US will have an exclusive monopoly on Iraqi oil (similar to the British in 1940-50s Iran).

5. The brutal dictator Saddam Hussein was successfully removed from power.

4. The people of Iraq are free from the bondage of the Baathist Regime (although they are not sure what to do with this new found freedom, a result of almost constant oppression dating back to the 1700s).

3. The pundits say that the case that Iraq was a base for Al Qaeda is null. However, I believe that even though there was no direct connection between Saddam and the terrorist regime it can not be said with any bit of certainty that Iraq’s vast deserts were not used at the very least for movement for the organization. Now Iraq has become a certain base for Al Qaeda and as a result it is necessary for the US to stay and at the very least fight Al Qaeda and help secure some bit of stability in Iraq.

2. The establishment of another, legitimate, Middle-Eastern Democracy.

1. The most important reason we invaded Iraq and why we need to stay (with a garrison at the very least) is to check Iran. Iran has long believed Iraq to be part of it’s sovereign territories, dating back to ancient Persia. With the current Ultra-Conservative Regime in Iran it is becoming ever clearer that the US is not dealing with the nation of Iran but rather the embodiment of a modern Persia. If the US leaves ( in haste like Vietnam) Iraq I have no doubt that Iran will take advantage of the situation, maybe even in conjunction with it’s to satellite states, Syria and Lebanon.

Hillary and Her Billary, for the middle class

2007-06-19T15:40:00.000-05:00

What follows is a little thing I researched several month's ago as part of a mini think tank about the effects on the US economy if certain presidential candidates were elected. I collaborated various reports, non-biased and from her web site to develop a hypothesis on the latter idea for Hillary Clinton.

-Hillary practiced law early in her career where she met William, they married in 75’ and he soon ran for his first term in congress soon there after.

-She made the bulk of her wealth from investing in cattle futures

-In 1981 the Clinton’s were told by friend and confidant of a real estate venture along the White River in the Ozark Mountains. The Clinton’s invested no money into the venture, however Hillary used her role as attorney for the venerable Rose Law Firm to run the venture. The plan was to sell land plots to people, if you buy a piece of land and finance it you would receive a copy of the deed. If you missed payments and could not work things out with the finance company your property would be repossessed. After paying off debts you would receive any remaining equity. However the contract that the Clinton devised was a simple contract which in it’s fine print basically said that the purchaser did not actually own the property until the final payment and that if a buyer missed just one monthly payment the previous payments would be considered rent and those they would have no equity on the land at all. Several middle class buyers failed to make one payment and subsequently had there property seized and resold with no reimbursement. The venture failed. The Government got involved, Clinton’s were cleared of wrong doing (Clinton was president at this time) however the Clinton’s friend and his partner were indicted on other charges.

-Clinton entered politics as a Junior Senator in 2001.

-She campaigned on the promise that she will improve the economic situation in Northern New York, promising 200000 new jobs during her term. She would do this by offering specific tax incentives to business and encourage investments in the high tech sector. However during her first term the State saw a decline in the jobless rate buy 0.7 percent which included 170000 jobs from in the manufacturing sector.

-At a fundraiser for her 2004 campaign she said that (in the presence of campaign contributors) that some tax cuts may help the members in her audience and the middle class but it would be in the country’s best interest to increase taxes on the afore mentioned groups and redistribute the wealth among the poor, socialism at it’s purist form.

-Her current platform “supports the small business sector” at the expense of big business (this obviously works for country’s like France with a GDP which is declining *sarcasm*). And that’s basically it.

My inference if Hillary became President of the United States of America, is a new age of socialism. In a realistic scenario I see an America that will see a drastic increase in taxes on the middle class and an increasing tax shelter for the low income, reducing any incentive for them to improve their condition. Tax and Spend is her name of the game.

My Second Post

2007-06-16T17:01:00.000-05:00

Today I began a new job, blue collar. I am a short-order cook at a local restaurant. It is something completely new to me and it was rough going for me at first. My two previous jobs were both dish washing ventures at two other local restaurants, one a resort. This new job forces me to be in at 6 in the morning and work in the the neighborhood of 9-10 hours a day. While this is tedious labor, I do not wish to complain. It is just a new challenge for me to overcome.

Working in these places one can see some of the poorest of the poor(average US income wise). However I find it hard to feel pity for some of the people that work with me. A good portion of my coworkers are avid illegal drug users. Some can not wait until he next paycheck in order to receive their next fix. All the while they throw their loved ones under the bus, through not providing for their families and abusing them physically and mentally. More often than not they will have had some sort of higher education, however they will have also (the majority) dropped out of school effectively ending any chance for them to better themselves and position in life. The problem lies sometimes in the government handouts, such as food stamps and welfare. They do not see (a few) any incentive to work harder and strive for better things. This leads to a society than resembles the socialist state of France. French workers work 20-30 hour work weeks and have zero threat that they might me fired from their job for poor performance. France also has a steadily decreasing GDP because they are not competitive...shades of this are becoming evident within our own capitalist society. The emerging Asian market has established itself and is growing rapidly something American manufacturers and the Government must address. I will expound this problem in a latter blog. This issue at heart is the plight of much of the American poor is a result of their own life choices and can not be aided by government and it is foolish to believe that this can somehow be solved by government intervention. It pisses me off so much seeing my generation seem almost incapable of achieving anything spectacular. I am going to cite the greatest generation (as I often will). They were able to achieve some of the most incredible feats (defeating fascism, communism, starting the US baby boom, solving our domestic problems)...while I see my parents and my generation struggle with tough issues both domestic and abroad. It erks me so much*angry inflection in my voice*. God only knows where this nation would be without people like JFK, Ike, FDR, Reagan, and the countless other (non-presidential) Americans who were part of this generation. Whatever, Americas F**ked as long as the bickering between the right and left continues to divide this nation...The latter was a tangent I will often go on...

My Blog Virginity

2007-06-15T20:08:00.000-05:00

This would be the popping of my proverbial blogging cherry. I believe the majority of my blogs will be political charged. However, on occasion I will throw in a couple of my own life stories and what not. With that piss poor introduction I will now briefly describe myself (history and plans) and then the reasons for this venture into the realm of bloggers.

I was born Patrick Michael Zurita on the 30th of April, 1989. My hometown was Leesburg, Virginia named for Confederate General Robert E. Lee and is about Thirty miles or so away from the District(Washington DC). Both of my parents were United States Marshals and worked at the DC office. My father took a promotion to chief deputy of South Florida and we subsequently relocated to the Miami Metro area. When I was eight my parents divorced and I went to live with my mother in her hometown of Panama City, Florida. I still reside in Panama City, I have just graduated from Bay High School and am going to attend the University of South Florida (Tampa) in mid-August. I am social conservative who paradoxically has a pro-choice stance. I am fiscal conservative. I am a staunch opponent of the Libertarian isolationist platform (obviously isolationism works *Sarcastic inflection in my voice*, WWI, WWII, Korea, Communism outside Asia). I am a racial mutt, my mother is white my father Hispanic(Peru and Spain). I am beginning this blog as direct, albeit vain, attempt to counteract the ridiculously retarded Liberal bloggers who have much sway in the beltway. This past week Sen. Harry Reid met with a powerful group of bloggers who garner large sums of money, these bloggers act as lobbyists and try to impose their will on politicians. I am going to, in future blogs, attempt to expose the retardations of the left. This blog was boring and I apologize, but it was necessary in order to introduce myself and lay the foundations for my Dennis Miller-esc Rants.