Change the tribe, not the Chief

The elections are the crazy times in this great country. A time where brother goes against brother, shouting matching between people who never argue about anything else and families that break into all out brawls.

All these people are relatively smart and rational people, but when it comes to Politics, a lot of people result to primitive tribe like mentality. Some people I know going as far and stating with conviction, I will never, ever vote for someone in another party.

This is what I think is really wrong with Politics. Hell, there are times when both sides of the aisle are for the same outcome but can't even fathom to entertain the idea of how to do things if the idea came from the “other tribe”

The result is we really do not get anywhere. No matter how much hope and change people try to bring in, when both sides can't even get along unless that are absolutely forced to, nothing meaningful can get done.

Unfortunately, when one party or the other has complete control you get legislation that divides the country, such as the Affordable Healthcare Act.

No matter where you stand on the ACA, you cannot deny its a very dividing piece of legislation. Though President Obama pushed it, this is really the fault of the real change makers of the country. The Congress and Senate.

Remember that great line, “Lets vote for it so we can read it?”. Really? You are going to vote on a piece of legislation where most of the people voting for it at best briefly skimmed through it or read the synopsis that the author made?

Who knows how many times this has happened, but I doubt this is the first or last time.

Change starts from within, not from the top. If you just keep changing the Chief without changing how the tribe works, you will always get the same results.

If you are going to bring up talk Politics, you better know what you are talking about.

My dog started barking when something or someone is outside. She will bark at a plastic bag being blown by the wind, but since sometimes its at someone trying to come to the door, my girlfriend went to see what she was barking at. Luckily for this guy, since we do not have a fence outside, my dog was bound by a lease and wrapped it around one of the poles outside. My girlfriend warned him that she [my dog] might bite if she gets loose. He just stood there. This guy seemed either stupid or someone on a mission to pander or sell something.

Turns out, it was a guy who identified himself as a “community organizer” trying to get more community support for President Obama. Thinking this would be fun for me, I ask him why he supported Obama. His reasons were right out of the the Obama campaign talking points against Romney. Romney wants to take all woman’s rights away and he hates people that are not rich. He also said how Obama is for the working man. This organizer did not look happy when I brought up how it seems he is more interested with campaigning with Clooney, Jay Z and Beyonce other then speaking with Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyah. Also did not like when I made the that the supposed out of touch rich people Obama seems to against he also finds himself aligning himself with during his campaign.

I then asked him how Obama was for the working man. He said that Obama saved Detroit and Romney would have just let them fail and/or out sourced. I then brought up how US tax dollars were used to be given to foreign companies to buy parts of GM, which a lot of those divisions were then outsources. I then made the comment how it seems weird that people are OK when Obama outsources using US tax dollars, but when Romney did this at Bain Capital with private money, that was horrible!. Mr Organizer was appeared to be getting upset and really couldn’t come up with a response.

Going off the Romney thing, since there is no way to argue or have an intelligent debate with someone who will not look or investigate the other side, I turned the conversation to talk about President Obama. I informed him that I did vote for Obama, but Obama has not come through with one campaign promise that I voted him in for and vent into detail about them. He then tried to say how the Republicans have been blocking him, to which I responded, his first two years there was a super majority where the Democrats were in control of the house and senate. I also brought up there has not been a budget for three years. Almost all the time Obama has been in office. You can see the smoke coming out of his ears trying to hold back some petty response how I am racist or something like that because I can tell he was getting upset, but he was not able to respond to anything I brought up.

To his credit, when I brought up Fast and Furious he did say he did not know anything about it so he could not form a response to it. I then explained it to him.

He then made the common statement when you criticize Obama that I must be for Romney. Where I informed him that I didn’t like either of them and I was a supporter of Dr. Ron Paul, but the media was disgusting on how they portrayed him.

I then brought up Libya and the whole debacle on that. Brought up how Obama without directly saying it, said he was sorry about the video that supposedly started this and how the US had nothing to do with it. I also brought up the new reports that Ambassador Stevens asked for more Security was ignored or denied on these request before the attack happened.The organizer then started to deflect asking well, how would Romney deal with it? To I responded, Romney is not the President, Barack Obama is and we are not talking about a candidate we are talking about the person who actually is holding the office.

The organizer then thanked me for my time and handed me one of his flyers.

To all people out there that are going to go door to door and support one candidate or another please know your shit. Especially if you consider yourself an “organizer”.

Dont be a drone to your political party

When it comes to Politics, its undeniable that sides are chosen. Like the old saying goes, there are two topics that should almost never be discussed, Religion and Politics.

Unfortunately, for those of us who like to talk and debate about Politics, it’s getting harder and harder to debate with people without getting one sided views. It’s also really sad to see that when some people do not agree with what you have to say, they succumb to calling people petty and profane names. Also, these people will say things that are sometimes proven wrong, only because "their party" said it was true. It seems that trying to have an intelligent debate with someone is like trying to explain ethics to a sociopath.

I for one am getting sick and tired of this. A lot of the people, who complain that this country is divided, are the same people who are causing the division. I am not even going to blame the politicians on this one. Not to say they don't have anything to do with it, but it’s our fault this is happening. Those politicians would not be in office if they were not voted in. This is not to say that the politicians are not to be held accountable for their actions, quite the contrary. They were voted in and they could be voted out by selecting someone else to take their place.

I really don't get why people will only vote for someone because of their political affiliation. I am a conservative, but last presidential election I voted for Obama. I did not vote for him because I believed the hype of hope and change; not because he would be the first "black" President, but because he said he would bring our troops home within a year of taking office, close Gitmo and bring back fiscal responsibility to a country deep in debt. I am not trying to make this about the President, but I am trying to make a point that you shouldn't just vote for someone just because they are part of the political party you belong to.

What I also do not like is when people will just vote for someone, even if they do not like them, because they are not the other guy. Too many times people are shut out of a race; be it by the media or even their own party because they do not toe the party line on everything. To better illustrate this, I give you Dr. Ron Paul. If more people stand up and say enough is enough we will win. With power by numbers at the voting booth, we can take this country back to where it needs to be. But it takes standing firm and not just doing what your "party" is telling you to do or how to vote.

To all the people who are citizens and legal residents of the United States that say "your President" or "your Governor". Even if you did not vote for him or her, he/she is our President/Governor. Like it or not, that's the way it works. It’s up to us to change it when it comes time to vote.

One Week Till Vacation!

Well, in a little over a week I will be back in my home town of Garden Grove, CA. Its been almost three years since I have been back home and unfortunately, last time I was there is was due to the passing of mi abuela [grandmother in spanish]. We miss you grandma and I will be visiting the grave site for you and grandpa while I am out there.

Well, enough of that depressing stuff! Its going to be a great trip. Leanne has never been through the Rockies and she is really looking forward to the drive. I on the other hand am not too thrilled of driving a thousand miles, but hey, at least I get company this time. The kids should enjoy the trip to, since there at least will be more to see then when we drove out here from KY. We drove through Missouri and Kansas. Hey look! More flat land! I don't know how Samantha will be on the trip though. Samantha is my dog and I don't know if she will truly appreciate the beauty of the drive like we will. Our last gas stop will be in or around Las Vegas and maybe I can win some money for the trip, but I am not holding my breath.

Though its going to be a budget trip, we already have lots of things planned, and if my old buddy that I worked with at Disneyland is able to pull through, me and Leanne will be taking a trip to Disneyland. The girls would not be coming with us, which is somewhat unfortunate. For one, I would not be able to afford the outrageously expensive admission prices for them and two, its a lot of walking and waiting in lines. For them being so young, I don't think that would be the best idea. Just a few hours in they will probably start getting tired and cranky. Thankfully my mother has agreed to watch them while us big kids go play at Disneyland.

Where I grew up is pretty close to Huntington Beach and Newport Beach, so when we can we will be taking a few trips to the beach as well.

There are of course the trips I will be taking to south county to meet up with friends and other family things that are going to happen out there, but other then that our schedule is pretty open. I hoping to have a great time out there, but I fear my trip will seem too quick and I will back to work before I knew I left.

People who cry racism the most are usually the most racist

OK, this blog is going to be a rant about racism. But not a rant you might think when it comes to racism. There might be curse words FYI.

OK, I am getting a little sick and fucking tired of all these people calling people racists when sometimes they make a racist remark in the same sentence! Seriously, how stupid is that? I know some of them are trolling, but I don't think think everyone is trolling when they say such things. How serious are do you think you are going to be taken when you say someone is racist and in the same comment, call them a racial slur?

A lot of times, people who are being called a racist didn't even make or hint towards racism in their comment. I getting a little tired of people perpetuating racism in the name of equality. These people are some of the biggest racists of them all.

I would also like to tell the media to stop media to stop stirring up the race issue. It first started with George Zimmerman being called a "white Hispanic" and the new story in Tulsa OK, where he is being called a "white Indian".

I miss the good old days when the news outlet just reported the news. Just said this is what we know and don't put a slant on it. I am not saying people are not entitled to what they believe, but if you are a news organization, don't put in your "spin".

Unfortunately, the news outlets are mainly pushing what sells and gets the most attention. Sometimes its hard to differentiate News outlet like Fox News, CNN, MSNBC to the National Inquirer or The Onion. Media outlets have become little more then gossip outlets. NBC even "doctored" the Zimmerman 911 tape.

Like mentioned in the second article, a lot of people like to call out a so called racist by making a racist remark while calling the other person racist. I don't get this mentality. Everyone is entitled their own opinion and able to speak their opinion. That is one of the things that make this country great. But when Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson go out about racism and start marches on the street, they never bring up anything that is not "white on black". I have never heard them speak out against racism with other races. I have not heard them say one work about the white kid who was burned with Gasoline by a few black kids. I never hear them speak about black on brown, brown on black Asian on white, ect. I don't hear them speaking against the New Black Panther Party, who is put a bounty on Zimmerman. I am not saying Zimmerman is innocent or guilty, but this vigilante Just already scared people out of their homes and if is not stopped is going to get innocent people killed. In my opinion the New Black Panther party are just as bad as the KKK. They are using hate and violence. Both I would consider domestic terrorism.

Too many times I see people hide behind the right to free speech. I am a firm believer in this right, I will stand up with the right to free speech for the Black Panther Party, the KKK and who every else says what they believe, as long as they do it in a non violent way. Though I completely disagree with both ideology, everyone has the right to speak out what they believe. I will not support it when entails citing violence.

Unfortunately, being a "white Hispanic" I am probably going to be deemed racist for this blog post.

Talk on your way to class and get detention

While watching the news this morning, I noticed that a principle in a middle school Louisville, KY has banned students from talking in between classes, which is usually a ten minute period when students switch out their books from their lockers and head to their next class. I was almost in disbelief that such restrictions would be made on middle school students going to their next class.

I was almost in disbelief when I saw this. I didn't catch what the reason was for this drastic policy, which if violated gets the student detention.

When I go home, I decided to do some research on this. According to an WDRB News article, the T.T. Knight Middle School put this in place to combat school violence and bullying. Not only are the students not allowed to speak while going to their next class, the are put in a line, single file and escorted to their next class by their teacher.

It wasn't too long ago when I was I in high school and middle school. OK, its been more then ten years, but from what I have seen things have not really changed so much. A lot of times, I talk to my fellow classmates about where we might meet after school and maybe talk about something that we might have in a mutual class later on. It looks like this days are starting to be behind us. Now it seems that the schools want their students to be little drones in the name of “safety”.

These are kids, they want to talk to their friends and if they are going to fight with someone, they will find a way.

I would suggest they put in security cameras in the hallways,but according to the article, they have already done that. Here is an idea, how about watching the students and having some more school security walking around during these times to try to combat these things. I know this is a small case, but when people get tired of being controlled they usually revolt and the ending usually isn't the greatest for either party involved.

I guess they best way to control people is to start them young and get them used to the control.

Unfortunately more and more I am reminded by this quote by Benjamin Franklin, “He who gives up freedom for safety deserves neither”.

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Fustrating "NEWS" Articles

I like to read through different articles on various online publications. I will read up on things from open source development to politics. One of the things that usually get me to not read an entire article is when they are long winded. That is not to say sometimes you need to write a long piece on something when there is a lot a information, but sometimes something that is two pages can be summed up in about half a page.

I know you sometimes have to set the stage for what the article is going to be about, but is it really necessary to write two to three paragraphs on this? We live in society with short attention spans and I know I sometimes fall in this category. If you don't catch my eye with something interesting and you take a long time to talk about something that is usually quite simple, I am just going to go onto the next article.

Another thing that I always frustrates me is when people write a "news" piece and it turns out to be an opinion piece or something so slanted to one way or the other, its can almost be considered propaganda. When I want to read the news, I want to know what happened and if possible, why it happened, supported by facts. If I want an opinion piece attached to a news event, I will read commentaries. Too many times I have seen what is obviously a commentary piece as a opposed to a traditional news article in the "news"

When every I write something, I like to keep with the "KIS" method, "Keep it simple".

Goodbye Horsey Car

A few days ago, I traded in my beloved Mustang "Sarah" for a 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan. Me and Sarah have been through a lot together. In the past five years, she has gotten me through the day to day drives, moved out to Colorado, suffered with me through three years of snow storms, a California trip and through one of the biggest changes in my life. This, of course is when Leanne and her two little ones moved out here from Kentucky.

Now we all know that the Mustang is a horse, but that is not why it is called the "Horesy" car. When Ginny first saw the car when I was out in Kentucky she saw the mustang logo and called it the Horsey car. The name stuck with her and her sister.

For a long time, even before I needed a bigger car, I thought about getting something better for out here. When I bought it, I was living in southern California and having a sports car year round isn't a problem. Even in heavy rain storms she drove just fine. Driving in snow with a real wheeled sports car is not the greatest situation. Lucky I never got into any accident, but I did have a few close calls, not to mention more spin outs then I care to count.

But change, though hard is necessary. So, I made an appointment with a car dealer and by the end of the day, I had the contract signed and was handed the keys to a 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan. Unfortunately, this meant I was trading in Sarah. Not being able to think of name for the new car, Leanne helped me choose one. Suzi.

When I left the car dealer, I though of all the things my Mustang got me through. I got a little teary eyed and even Leanne was sad to see the car go. Main reason is that was the car I picked her and kids up in.

Now its official. I`m a family man. Got the girlfriend, the kids and even a dog!. But its all for the better. Now I am just working on ideas making the van more manly, if that's even possible. If anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears.

Oh, BTW. I will say this about the van. I am loving the stow and go seating!