Wow! Welcome back to me. I finally decided to write a blog after gee I don’t know, 9 months. Now listen everyone, and by everyone I mean none of you, I have been racking my brain thinking over and over again about what would be a worth while topic to wax lyrical with all of you. And of course you know I had to come correct! I had to think of a topic that only I gave a dumb fucking shit about. Seriously, no one gives a rats ass about what I have to say on the subject of the pursuit for the perfect barbecue sauce. Unfortunately for them, I have fucking found it! But it only dwells in little sauce packets made for dipping and now valued at $0.37 a packet for any quantity over 2. You cannot purchase it in a bottle at the grocery store and it doesn’t have some ignorant redneck marketing or name attached to it. Its just fucking Carl’s Jr. (or Hardees for you east coast hillbillies) Barbecue Sauce.

First let me offer you a little background on me. My name is Mark, I am 30, and I love cooking and eating, and I fucking love sauces. I can drink them out of a bottle or cup, whatever, I do not give a shit. All sauces, all flavors, all purposes, all for the drinking without actual food vehicles, say like a steak or chicken nugget to carry them on, straight into my gullet. In culinary school, the class I paid most attention in was, you guessed it, ‘Sauces.’ Ok I am glad we understand each other now.

Here is a side tid bit ( I apologize in advance for digressing): I actually read once that those who partake in herbal remedies always get way too many extra condiments at fast food establishments, when compared to those not under the influence. Come on all of you, we are all guilty for having the 500 hundred extra hot sauce packets we make the poor Taco Bell employee give us at the drive-thru before we leave or that stingy fucker at In-N-Out Burger who only gives us 3 fucking packets of ketchup to dilly-daddle with our order of weak-ass limpy fries. Well, stoners seem to have a proclivity towards eating insanely seasoned or flavored foods when under the influence because it induces another sense of euphoria separate from the one they are already having. Got to keep that high alive I guess. Ever notice that when baked, people will always eat things that require hot sauce, or ketchup, or in my case barbecue sauce, or even say saucy things like pizza, and don’t forget the same thing applies for sweet foods like cereal out of the box without milk (which without sauce meaning milk, induces the same euphoria) and ice cream.

I been obsessed with the finding my favorite barbecue sauce ever since I first had it when I was probably 9 years old. I been putting McDonald’s barbecue sauce on things that weren’t nuggets since the early days of happy meals and free toys in boxes.  I used to think that supermarket stuff like Bull’s Eye and K.C. Masterpiece were amazing. That’s what you get for being an uninformed teenager. Then I tried everything from the cheapest of the cheap garbage you might find covered in dust buried in the middle of a third row in some random Wichita, KS 7-11 to $20 a bottle shit from Napa valley doused in Cabernet and ridden with molasses and brown sugar.

Well I got the top 3 all round up. Second and third place here are really a tie because one is better than the other but the other is one that is much more accessible to me.  So if any of you ever drive on HWY 37 out in Napa and see a place called Angelo’s Deli, don’t hesitate, just STOP! Aside from the fact that their Jerky is sensational, he also has a $3  BBQ Sauce that has something like 5 ingredients, off the top of my head ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, sonoma county red wine. Thats it. It is fucking delicious. I buy 4 bottles everytime I pass Angelo’s.

I also had the pleasure of recently visiting Kansas City, MO with my boy Chris and my other boy Christophe, no I am not joking. We went to the legendary Arthur Bryant’s because that is the only thing to do in Kansas City. I had some burnt ends open faced on some white bread with baked beans and tons of squirts of their homemade sauce and it was truly epic. Had a nice vinegar bite to it, nice and simple like the previous sauce. But I can’t always get that sauce because of it’s location, so I just stick to Angelo’s.

And now the reason why we are all gathered here today. Carl’s Jr. BBQ Sauce!!!! All praise its glory! I am starting to believe there is a secret society of worshippers that are laughing at me and can’t wait to recruit me into their new religion. All these years I felt alone but I know you are out there. All you fat gluttons who have to order their Westen Bacon Cheeseburgers with extra sauce, or those who need it just to dip their fries in it, even the freaky ones who try to stockpile it at home but it never works because they never make it that far!!! Just put the fucking sauce in a bottle already would you? With its sweet tangy goodness with pepper flakes mixed in….All I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU! That’s it, heaven be thy name!

Hi Kids!!! So I have not written a blog about ‘Lost’ in a long long long time. I guess I just felt this shit was just becoming too much for me. Man, even though the show, to me, always tends to be slightly predictable, I am always impressed at how the writers can just stretch this shit out!!! Between you and me, the girlfriend and I especially loved this episode because we have always been fascinated by Miles’ character and why it has taken so long to get his back-story. Also it reintroduced Hurley back to us. I only noticed this because it seemed like he was on a weird 5 episode hiatus or something. First, just for the record, I want to say it out loud, as soon Miles’ mother explained that his father’s grave was in a place that Miles could never go to, it only took me 5 seconds to realize that his father was none other than Mr. Dharma Initiative himself, Dr. Chang. Cmon guys it was so easy, besides Jin and Sun, Dr. Chang was the only other Asian I ever saw on the Island. Another thing I intend to speak on is why in the hell is the Dharma Initiative so annnnnnnnoying!!!!!! And by the way, Ben’s dad is a real piece of crap and honestly I’m glad that he is in agony now. If I have not said it before, I am so over Kate, what a waste of space she has become, and it does appear that Juliette has won the Betty vs. Veronica contest. I am sure there is more I will touch on, let’s just get to it.

First, you know when it comes to Miles, I really dig his approach to not being able to change the future no matter what happens or what they do in their current present which happens to be the past. Even if Miles tried reaching out to his Dad as Hurley suggests, nothing would have changed and the Dharma’s fate would seem all but inevitable. However, I could not help but feel slightly redeemed on behalf of Miles when he saw his Dad lovingly hold the 3 month version of himself through the window as he was passing by. It really poses a question mark when you think about. First, as a result of Miles’ mother’s back story on his dad, we were all lead to believe that Dr. Chang abandoned his family. But that image Miles saw would seem to make that a false accusation wouldn’t it? Not to mention, the kudos I received from my girlfriend when I first predicted that the reason for the abandonment might have resulted from Miles’ mom being pregnant on the Island, which as we all know is a big no-no, hence explaining why Dr. Chang might have expelled them off the Island. But then we learn Miles was born on the Island which explains his gift of post-mortem interpretation and why Whitmore sourced him out to go back to the Island, since inherently Miles is an Island native. But my favorite thing is the shared gift that both Hurley and Miles have. Their dynamic is great. I could watch a whole spin-off show just dedicated to those two. And do not even get me started on Hurley’s idea on pitching ‘Empire Strikes Back’ to George Lucas before it ever came out, brilliant. Here is the last talking to point about Miles I want to bring up. What do you think would have happened if Miles actually introduced himself to Dr. Chang as his long lost son as a grown man sent back to the Dharma from the future? Whoa! I seriously think Dr. Chang’s brain would have melted. There is no way he would have been prepared for that and it single-handily would have proven things like the temple, hatch, and Orchid were actually functional, that the Island in fact has special powers. Good decision on behalf of Miles for not sharing that, yet?!?!?!

Why are guys like Horace, and Ben’s dad, and that twarpy prick that Sawyer punched out from the Dharma at the end starting to really bother me. You know ‘Lost’ fans argue that the Dharma is a “Scientific Experiment” with no real purpose except for the fact that they are drawn to that Island. Screw that, the Dharma is a cult, plain and simple. A false utopia if you will. What is unique about the Dharma is that it is where Science (and for lack of a better term) Religion collide, even though I recognize there is no reference to religion anywhere in the Dharma. But it is more than just science people. All the secrets and mysterious deaths and causes for the greater good screams cult to me, just consider it. Anyway, what I am wondering is why has not anyone, anyone at all, called out Ben’s dad for being the child abusive prick that he really is. Everyone knows it, they have to. It is a freaking Island for god sake, there are no secrets on an Island. Another funny thing about Ben is, even as a child who has no idea who the Oceanic 6 are or what-have-you, he is still able to ruin the lives indirectly of Sawyer, Juliette, Miles, Jin, Jack, Kate, and Hurley. With Ben’s disappearance and the discovery of Sawyer’s naughty surveillance tape, their cover will be blown sure enough, all courtesy of Ben, hence the demise of their well-kept secret.

Also, I have never seen one television show with so many reference to shitty god-awful parenting provided in this case, strictly by fathers. Gee where do I begin. Locke’s dad pushed him out a window, Christian never loved Jack, Ben let his daughter die, Whitmore disowned Penelope because she decided to be with Desmond, even Hurley’s dad abandoned him at one point in his life (bad Cheech, bad), Dr. Chang never loved Miles, and I am sure I am forgetting some too. Does anyone think this is planned, or is this just a coincidence. Maybe there are so many bad dads around because the Island is the mother, or the metaphorical healing loving nurturing mother who compliments the inadequacies of these failing fathers. OK perhaps that was a bit of a stretch.

In the end it really does not matter but what the hell is Faraday doing there!!! And remembering Miles no less? Does anyone remember where we left off withFaraday? I think he stayed behind with Charlotte when she died meanwhile the others were headed to the hatch when Locke broke his leg and moved the Island earlier this season. We also know that Eloise, the woman who seems who be the messiah of the Island, is his mom. So? What does it all mean? I am really loving the show now and I really hope the Oceanic crew reconcile with Sayid and open up a serious can of whoop-ass on the Dharma. You know with the help of the Apleton Others, they could easily win that war. Do you wonder if Miles is going to save his dad when the shit hits the fan? All real good questions right?

Ordinarily, at this point, I would leave you with 10 predictions to look for in upcoming episodes. However I am going to bypass this step on this particular blog due to insane amount of directions the show can go in at this point and next week’s episode is not even a real episode, so why bother right? But hey, thanks for reading and I look forward to writing another ‘Lost’ blog for you on the 100th episode extravaganza.

Yea right, I don’t think so

Alright Hippies put down your pitchforks, or in this case your “water pipes” and skewered s’more kebabs. I regret to announce that your beloved President, after all the self-assuming beliefs we as a Liberal society bestowed onto the man thinking that he might have been a pro-Marijuana guy, turns out not to be, wah-wah-wah. Sorry, you lose!!!! And whether or not you are an educated stoner who follows the issues or a 40 year old burnout always undecided because “politics just isn’t your thing man,” you ended up voting for the popular-golden-boy-all-star-high-school-quarterback and thought,”Hey, he is a pretty mellow guy, he may not smoke it, but he ain’t gonna tell me that I cannot smoke it.”

Well that is actually partially true, Obama is not changing any current laws regarding State Legislation passed in favor of the usage of Medicinal Marijuana. However, in another one of his saturated addresses to the nation, this time in the form of a Town and Hall Meeting, our beloved President addressed the issue publicly. I appreciate that Obama recognized with no shame that this issue which has gone unaddressed by many Politicians for too long came into the question queue with huge and staggering numbers. However, as quick as he was to praise the demand in the issue, he was just as quick to tell the world, thanks but no thanks, this administration has no interest in legalizing marijuana (or any other drug currently deemed illegal) despite the slight admission that this would be a huge stride towards raising revenues and funds towards his ridiculous Trillion Dollar Budget or even possibly aid our wailing deficit.  

Due to the sarcasm and cynicism, I bet you are probably confused on my position regarding the full Legalization of Marijuana in the United States. Again, like any social issue like gay marriage (which I support) or abortion (which I believe is not my right to decide for someone else), it just is not that easy to pick a side without weighing out the cons to your argument on this matter.

Now, generally speaking, paying no mind to the current state of distress in this country is in and what the current year is and how I believe, even though I do not smoke it, that it is wrong to illegalize such a natural crop that has never been linked to any deaths whatsoever meanwhile tobacco and alcohol are free to consume (pending a few restrictions), I actually believe it is best left illegal and I will tell you why….happily!!! Simply put, we can’t handle that kind of responsibility. Sorry to say it, I do not trust our society to embrace it without exploitation say the way Europe and the Dutch do. And for the record, it is not the current avid marijuana smoking population that I do not have faith in, oh no no no…. I actually have total confidence in the average respectable pothead to still continue to go to work, pay his taxes, and not knock off a 7-11 for a pack of joints. It’s the non-smokers I worry about. The people always too afraid to smoke it because it was illegal and in the meantime always had no problem bashing pacifist reefer heads to cover up their own taboos. I am talking about cops, teachers, members of the young Republicans society, the same priests that were never punished for abusing the trust of a little boy, the everyday school bus driver, you get the picture. Too many people would not know what to do with themselves if ever allowed such a privilege only because, unlike the cool kick back examples set by the Euro-trash of today, we are a nation of scaredy-cat crybabies who would just unravel like a knit sweater after America takes it first legalized toke. Do not fight me on this, it is completely true, sadly.

However, times oh how they’ve changed and in such a short amount of time too. I have to say that I am about to reverse my opinion of the issue in leiu of our recent turmoil and our frivolously money-spending President. I may appear to be a hypocrite, but in my opinion, only a smart person can adjust their positions on their values and the implications their values have towards the written law.

First, and I have said this in previous blogs, I have no faith left in our society to ever really do the moral thing as one anymore. So who am I exactly trying to save here? Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em I say! At this point, I am hoping the future impact of legalizing marijuana only to weed out (no pun intended) the hopeless, non-contributing, shameful pot-addicts and somehow put them on a cattle train to Siberia meanwhile leaving behind a society of enlightened and thoughtful people who will be rid of their addictions to reality TV and may start opening books as a source for entertainment. That’s a bit optimistic, chances are we will become a culture of people more addicted to fast food than ever before and spending our leisure time comfortably on our couches having no strength or will-power to do our own laundry. But hey, it is pretty much what we have now and think about it, your cousin Bobby isn’t going to jail for selling that herb anymore because he doesn’t have any customers anymore because America buys its pot from the AMPM (Circle K for you East Coast people) or better yet, Walmart (mmmm Chinese pot?).

On a side note, I do not condone the legalization of any other illegal drug or narcotic simply because I have changed my mind on marijuana. Hard drugs solve nothing and any real drug aficionado will tell you the best illegal narcotics are not even made domestically. So I find it counterproductive to legalize things like cocaine, heroin, opium, etc. besides their terrifyingly addictive qualities, monies used to purchased such exports would only profit countries (and quite possibly terrorist organizations) in Central and South America and Southeast Asia instead putting money back in our own pockets here at home.

This is just the moral issue I addressed which really does not mean diddly to me when thinking about the financial crisis legalizing marijuana can solve today in our country. I guess what really chaps my ass is yet again, Obama. He has no problem being the beacon of revolutionary (many argue radical) ideas being funded through the unconstitutional means (ironic be it that he is a Constitutional lawyer) of printing money or inevitably taxing one of the social classes against his own campaign promises, but not considering, or at least allowing it to swirl in his brain for a second, the breakthrough he would make for the thinking and understanding of our mentally impotent society by pushing forward some real legislation that could honestly solve so many problems and even play a heavy role in his alternative energy strategy.

Does Obama even know how versatile cannabis is? How unlike tobacco, cannabis re-nourishes the soil that it grows in like soy. How hemp is one of the most durable materials on the planet and has proven to be able to make paper (thus reducing deforestation) and even create fabrics for clothing inherently jump-starting our own textile industry hence minimizing the importation of clothes made in sweat shops from third-world countries who laugh at us. Or simply even for the use of marijuana, by smoking it. By making it legal we first put most if not all of the half-assed part-time drug dealing population out of business. Secondly, if done correctly, it will be priced right so consumers will be spending a smaller amount for a legal consumer item which gets funneled back into our government deficit and budget fund. Not to mention that there are so many people today that already know how to grow its vcannabis anyway that quite possibly our government could license these people and create jobs for people who are already experts in this field instead of having to wait for college graduates with degrees in botany to break into the work force. Plus we would stop overcrowding our prisons. The fiscal beneficial repercussions seem to be endless. Yet here we go again, printing more money to pay for shit we just do not need now.

Damn people give weed a chance. Its just a leaf. Its not made of bullets and you do not need a syringe to use it. It is as old as time and finally has made strides towards impacting the medicinal community. Cmon Mr. Obama, Mr. Progressive, you better give this another look’s see, because whatever you got going on from your poor judgement in some of your appointees to giving AIG more and more unearned taxpayers dollar, maybe its time to give the floor to the overlooked solution. Just a thought? 

Honestly, I have had all the recycled news an optimist, rather a hopeful person not an optimist, could stomach in all of 2009 just in the first three months. The News…in fact side note, I think we should start referring to the term “News” as “Weather” instead, since weathermen get paid, very well mind you, for constantly for being wrong. I say let society deem “News” universally as the “Weather” for consistency sake. As I was saying, it seems lately the “Weather” literally has nothing at all to talk about. I mean our government, regardless if you are supportive of their measures thus far or not, truly has impressed me with just going to work, or creating the illusion of them working. Seriously, I do not remember so much activity by our worthlessly-elected Senators and Congressman since the Clinton impeachment. And our president, even though I did not vote for him, at least he has given more addresses to the people in an effort in keeping “us” involved and making government more transparent than say George W. Redneck Dumbass could ever possibly fathom. Honestly, I think this is far more important than governmental intervention in my life today. Now the content, hot air, repetition, and long-windiness of these addresses is truly up for debate in terms of it being helpful to the American people. But at least the effort is being put out there. My point is I think media, government, and more surprisingly the American people have taken their “eye off the ball” regarding what really caused their tragically destroyed livelihoods and worse, who is really to blame.

The answer lies in the shifts, changes, neglegence, and ignorance festering, growing, and eventually overtaking our lifestyles and changes in our environment (be it social or physical environment)  in the past 3-4 years that we as people were so busy prospering in a thriving economy truly built on house of cards that we were too focused on raking it all in as much as we can, while we can, before it was all gone. But the casualties are plenty, and no these casualties are not being reported on the “weather.” Here are some of the most overlooked contributing factors, that are still alive and well, roaming our society today like parasites (really in no particular order because its a cycle and everything is connected and related).

First the quality of television that we view. Now I did not say these were going to be direct causes, just contributing factors which creates a “who gives a shit” society. When I was a mere tot in the 80s, television seemed to be more wholesome, moral, or at least featured programming with a point. Please do not misunderstand me, I am not thumping a bible at you right now. My point is when I was 13 years old, I never saw topless women being advertised to tens of thousands of people in these ‘Girls Gone Wild’ commercials and even now as a 30 year old man I become more and more outraged every time that shit is on my television. But if I was 13 in the 80s in my room alone watching these commercials, I’d probably spend much more time in my room than say when I was actually 13 if you know what I mean. Shows like Desperate Housewives and Greys Anatomy (which are network shows) are the top rated shows in this country. These are shows dedicated to promoting infidelity in a rich suburbian neighborhood and a hospital where fornicating in any dark closet is far more important than say saving a life. And please do not get me started on cable shows like the “Rock of Love’s” or really anything MTV might consider important to poison our children with today teaching them what is wrong with them and not to be comfortable in their own skin. I would seriously argue that 95% of our programming in this country is completely useless garbage and creates a culture of people who need instant gratification constantly no matter how dumb it is.

Next, technology. There are two kinds of technology in this world in my opinion. There is technology which literally increases the quality of life, in general as whole, be it through innovation and creating new jobs or simply creating devices that people honestly thought could or would never be created, say like Blu-Ray quality HD. Then there is bastardized technology. This is technology that preys on addiction and isolation. Case in point, the iPod. I got one you got one we all love our iPods but seriously Apple has created a monster through this one breakthrough by creating new and useless other technologies in the form of accessories making you feel that your iPod experience is always lacking if you haven’t purchased all the bells and whistles and also have cleverly figured out a way to make only Apple products compatible with your iPod. You throw that in the pot with cell phones and that irresponsible high schoolers who couldn’t even handle 8th grade algebra now have the luxury of texting during class, or messing around with their cell phone interfaces and ring tones, say even spend money which is not theirs downloading new and stupid applications to pimp out their cell phones, anything to avoid paying attention to their lesson in class. Even further, take the alienated, nerdy, disenfrachised, high school teenage boy who gets picked on and has no dates. 10 or 20 years ago this guy might be crying his eyes out and studying daily in order to make a better life for himself later, but today, this kid could not give a shit about his social nonacceptance because he is running home after school to play on his X-Box and Playstation meanwhile ignoring his parents who he blames for his social awkwardness. Also, when did it become socially viable to be in a Starbucks on a Wednesday at 11am playing on a laptop and sipping a latte. 20 ago years that person would not have had enough money to even afford a laptop let alone a cup of coffee. Now we have cars with GPS’ (which do not get me wrong, I believe a world without GPS is world not worth living in) taking the thinking and intelligence out of remembering a route or god-forbid being able to read and use a map. There are far more many more types of  distracting technologies than I mentioned above but I feel the problem here lies in the ratio between useful technology vs. technology used to exploit the consumer. I feel everyday the useful technology loses and the exploited technology prevails.

Let us also take a minute to examine the impact of authoritative figures in the lives of children, teens, and young adults and the role they themselves play in society. More than the stock market, or the budget deficit, I think if anything has plummeted in our culture, it is proper (or at least just an attempt at proper) parenting. In this have and have-not society the youth suffers more than anyone. Why are people in today’s modern post-Doris Day era rushing off to the altar to get married when they honestly, no matter how in love they are, know there is a chance they may not be either financially or even psychologically ready for the responsibilities that are attached. Sure, I understand being in love and wanting to confirm your commitment in front of God’s eyes, but what is the rush, if it truly is love, it will be there forever, right? Not to mention, these impulsive couples usually end up starting their married existence in a $50K  hole from the cost of their lavish “big day.” So then the honeymoon is over, reality sets in, and the problems and arguments are a plenty. So much so that instead of counseling, or patience and compromise in an effort to work it out, most of you decide that just because you have the physical ability to so but not the intelligence or patience to fix a failing marriage you all go ahead and get pregnant, don’t you?  Just because you have the capacity to bear a child does not mean you have the where-with-all to raise one. Some of us can do math, some of us can do science, some of us only know how top drop fries in the deep fryer. Why would parenting be any different. I cannot believe in a country where we need a license to drive a car, buy a gun, or even check a book out of the library, any drug addicted, physically abusive, unemployed through deficiencies all brought on by themselves, self-righteous, person could become a parent whenever they wanted, just because. It truly sickens me and makes me want to contribute to society by not bearing children even though I think I would be a pretty awesome Dad, just like mine was. But why would I want to subject my kids to the same social environment with kids who have spawned from tainted so-called parents who cannot even look out for themselves. But see just as many ill-equipped parents exist, so do as many overachiever-never-have-time-for-my-kids-raised-by-the-housekeeper-and-nannies parents exist too. Which is one worse, I honestly could not tell you. But thankfully today’s kids have the joys of technology to resort to instead of quality time spent with Mom and Dad who are either out at the club or working late at the office with their “secretary.”

You know in a world of people who are completely underpaid and under appreciated for the good and hard work they do, I would say teachers would make the top of that list. But unfortunately the way our country looks at education says that we seem to be quite alright with mediocrity. Now this is a harder issue to scrutinize because finding the teachers who really want to make a difference is usually far more difficult than the teachers who contemplate suicide before returning another day to their demon-seed students at school. Personally, I can name all the teachers in my life who are worth remembering and I know you can too. Today politiquing inside our Education Boards has become an art all to its own. Tenure weighs more than performance now and many 60 year old hags will never get fired becuase of it. Meanwhile, today’s standards of earning your credentials to legally teach honestly in my opinion rivals that of a lawyer or doctor, even though the material is easier, the commitment is just the same. Today’s future teachers are required to go to graduate school, and that does not even assure them a job. When I was in school, I was impressed when I had a teacher who even went to college. And the children suffer because there are so many eager future mind-shapersout there desperate to teach meanwhile indifferent windbags stand at the dry erase board counting down the clock like their distracted students playing on their cell phones. You factor that in with the misappropriation of funds and resources between schools in good and bad areas, and all you are left with is a youth who graduates nearly 50% of the time every year.

Why does the United States have the fattest people on the planet? In countries where families may call sharing a cup of cooked rice between 4 people a lavish over-the-top dinner, we here have the audacity of ordering food, actually it isn’t food, its product made from substances designed to taste, again, addictively so good and have the same affordability as a packet of lunch meat from the supermarket, that making it home in time to cook just seems like a ridiculous notion now, never once having the regard or curiosity to find out that nutritionally it has the same value of say maybe consuming your iPod for dinner. But is this enough to create a nation of obesity? No, not until I explain to you that with the invention of the drive-thru a breed of amenity was created in that people now can order portions and quantities made to look like it was feeding a family, but really was all for themselves, and at that price why the hell not, right? But in the old days, pre-drive thru, you had to go inside where the watchful eye of the public would force you to succumb to the right sized meal for who you were. People are pigs now, straight gluttonous martians from the Planet Pig Fat! There is no other way to explain it but by simply acknowledging the blatant disregard for our health versus the satisfaction of having 20 chicken mcnuggets when really you should be eating 10. Maybe self-control and will power were never taught to these people or maybe the skill of cooking at home was never passed down their gene pool, either way I think the way America eats is our strongest example demonstrating how we just do not care about anything at all.

Lastly, let’s discuss credit and credit cards and how easy they were to get 10 years ago all the way up to 10 months ago. Did anyone besides me notice that after the Internet boom of 90s, everyone just started receiving credit card invitations from Visa and Mastercard, damn near daily. I am sure by now you realized that it was because the only way you could purchase anything off the web was through credit cards. And once people realized the Internet was not a fad, everyone could not wait to start buying useless shit online. Yes, in my opinion this is how far back it goes. People being sold on the concept that establishing credit with free non-existent money creating more and more bills and debt for yourself every day,month, and year for the next 10 years was actually a good idea, in hindsight, was just amazing to me, especially since I was one of them. Too many irresponsible people trusted with money they did not have. How did the credit moguls feel about this? They were probably too busy laughing their fat rich white asses off at the American people meanwhile patting our pal Capitalism on the back for a job well-done (the country not realizing Capitalism was tied, bound, and gagged and being held for ransom for the past 10 years probably in Wall St.’s basement). Are you disgusted with yourself yet? I sure am.

Ladies and gentleman what I have just demonstrated is scientifically unfounded and has not been proved but are simply my opinions of what is different in my line of sight now instead 20 years ago when I was just a kid. You are more than welcome to disagree with me but many of you won’t. Because none of us are innocent. I am not an angel people, trust me, my life was a life of apathy for more than half my life. But people will not take responsibilty for these things publically because it first demonstrates what horrible people they truly are and secondly robs them of what they perceive being an American really is all about, being able to do what you want whenever you want. Don’t you see that is exactly how Wall St. behaved, mortgage brokers who contributed to the housing bubble behaved, and how our government has and still does behave. Which is why getting out of this mess is much harder than throwing 1 trillion imaginary dollars at welfare and city programs and thinking that will do the trick. We need to change our ways as human beings. A president is just a man, a man checked by many rules and laws preventing him from having any real power. Why in the world would any of us have our hopes in him. It just is not fair to him and ourselves. Lesson #1: take some fucking accountability, Lesson #2: If you have children, throw away your television, Lesson #3: learn how to cook for godsake (cavemen figured it out), and last Lesson #4: Cut up all your credit cards whether or not your are in debt, you just don’t need it. Thanks for reading and go make a real contribution to society by changing yourself instead waiting for your government to do it for you!

See even as I complain about there being nothing new to complain about, I still find myself complaining. People who know me personally are saying to themselves right now something to the effect of, “Umm but isn’t that Mark everyday?” Hahaha!!!! Very Funny!!! Now I want to you to take the notion of complaining about having nothing to really complain about and realize that this is not just a unique problem to me…This is now an unwritten law in which nearly all Americans live their lives now perpuated by a government who insists on ruling on the platform of “Fear” reported on by a truly insubordinate National Media that honestly has nothing else to report on, let alone actually try to find a real story. But you know what the really depressing part is? The depressing part is we are left with two groups of people in this country now: those who are so hell-bent on fixing this nightmare that they are overlooking simple honest solutions that invest in the notion that Americans will rebuild, reinvent, and thrive completely on their own with the only help provided by their government is that they stay out of the way and the other group of people, those who simply haven given up or are maybe too ill-equipped to survive or even worse are just sitting around waiting for someone else to get them out of this jobless funk they are in, and most of these people voted for our current President, go figure.

Now do not get me wrong, I am not an Obama-basher. You know how I know? Because I just watched Alexandra Pelosi’s (yes as in Nancy Pelosi’s daughter) documentary entitled: “Right America Feeling Wronged.” After watching this, it made me realize I forgot to include a 3rd group of people in my little list above. These are the people who forgot what ‘Country First’ really meant even though all they cared about was electing the very man who had the very same campaign slogan. I honestly could not believe my eyes and ears folks. Our country has pedalled backwards into time. We are Pilgrims and Puritans again, intolerant and unaccepting of anyone else’s point of view but our own. I say “we” because even though I do not subscribe to such treasonous and ignoranant behavior, these people are our  neighbors, these are people in the streets I share the train with, you have to assume they are everywhere, because they assume the same about “us” and we are all united in this country no matter how you feel about anyone or anything. In my thirty years, I have never seen it this bad. Regular, honest, society-contributing, tax-paying Southern White men, women, and children (these are not rednecks and trailer trash here) admitting ridiculous notions like comparing Obama to Hitler, having images of the anti-Christ the first time they ever laid eyes on Obama, and the one I hate the most because everyone is so full of shit when they say that they will move to another Country, in this case, if Obama should win. Someone was asked how they viewed the future of this country if Obama should win, he literally could not answer because he was choking on his tears, a grown man choking on his tears at the idea of having someone who actually can put a sentence together at least without sounding like a baffoon might becoming our President makes me want to cry honestly. And this is where these idiots blow any chance of convincing anyone else in the world to agree with their perception of President Obama. Be critical of a man’s politics or decisions but do not make it personal with someone you do not even know for godsake and make outlandish claims that have no merit and that are simply based on a hunch, instinct, or the unfounded realization that you are a racist and sadly do not even know it. All you do is keep turning back the clock on a very ill and sick country that needs to get better through the means of rebellious and revolutionary concepts that this country was founded on. How could any of these people be making a cointribution? They sound like they just started walking up-right and discovered what fire is. Ugh I digress!

So how do you guys feel now having read this? Worse? Maybe even better because we might have pin-pointed the problem in these 3 groups of people that consistently make it worse but insist their way is the only way? Does anyone even agree? See I am done blaming things we cannot control or cannot fix. Things like blaming Bush, that’s a given people, time to move on! I am over Obama ever seeing the light about the right and wrong ways to spend/print money! I am done believing that banks and certain extremely large insurance companies really have the best interest of their customers at heart! I am over the volatility of the stock market and believing that it is really any indication of how bad things really are! These are specific circumstances that are managed by the wrong people who make wrong decisions and no matter how much I kick and scream over it, there really is nothing I can do, except vote, which in the passed 8 years has proven to be a useless privilege and it doesn’t seem to be looking any better. Now, my contribution to making my country what it once was is trying to get people to take the finger they are pointing towards the poor son of a bitch standing in the way of it and turning it around on themselves. Now I do not mean blame yourself for everything that has gone wrong in your life, even though it may very well be your fault, that is just a counter-productive emotion that gets nobody nowhere fast. I am saying from this day forward point the finger at yourself and take some accountability for the direction your life will travel in and do not let anyone or anything (or any government policy) interfere with that. These three groups of people mentioned above, all of us fit into one of these categories. And I believe our government has lost its way so much that I honestly think changing your own individual outlook on life and how you live it would be much easier than waiting for the government to make a decision that actually helps. Unfortunately it requires a real patience and effort which this fast-food, iPod-addicted, self-absored society may really not be cut out to do.

So why am I optimistically saying it is the end of world as we know it? Because there is no cure for ignorance, insolence, and impatience and it is time to move on from these primitive notions like the human spirit will prevail and accept the fate that we as a species have really fucked things up beyond all possible repair. You know this possibly could become a reality, not everything is fixable unfortunately. Brand new cars fresh of the lot get totalled in accidents in the same day all the time, cant-fail companies go out of business constantly, and terrorists fly jet planes into landmark buildings completely unexpectedly sometimes. Why do people think just because we have bailed ourselves out in past catastrophes, usually just by the skin of our teeth, that we can do it everytime. Maybe it is time to pass the torch to the next society that will take over long after our own demise and long after our Mother Earth heals herself, and do it right, do it the way it seemed like we were going to, but actually see it through and not get distracted with television and the convenience of technology.

But how can I be so pretentious to think that if America falls the world will, right? Well I will admit that is a bit presumptious, but I do not see anyone else really flourishing at this point in time do you? Well obviously China but do not worry their meal ticket which eventually run its course if they keep doing business the way they do. Africa is at the worst its ever been. India still has a chance but now terrorism has actually shifted in their direction more now than ever. Even Mexico has finally been exposed for the warzone it really is. Europe is in such bad shape because Putin is holding Europe’s oil hostage. Unfortunately Canada cannot really survive without the US. Antartica is looking pretty good right now, until it melts away due to death the human race serves its Mother Earth everyday in gratitude for all the gifts she has given to us.

Even if some how the world miraculously recovers from this cardiac arrest, how long before the next one, because they are only getting worse. What will we have learned from this? How to rely on others to fix our lives when they are broken? That isn’t natural. No single society can survive on that belief alone. I believe in simple concepts like do not bite the hand that feeds, never take anything for granted that can easily be taken away, only you are in control of what your potential in life is. I honestly have given up on the human race and if I were in Vegas right now I would bet every last cent I had on Mother Earth, Nature, God, and Armageddon kicking the ever-loving-shit out of the human race and soon. I would even double up on the prophecy of the Mayans claiming the end of the world occuring on December 21, 2012 actually happening. At this point, that date really seems quite practical. I mean come on people take a look around, since 9/11 has the world recovered and become a better place. I say no and I say the Mayans were right when they predicted the end of world would be triggered by one of the most heinous acts of war and violence soon after the turn of the millenium. I am optimistic because it is actually very calming to know the possibility of the world ending in my lifetime is quite feasible. There is freedom in knowing that there is something bigger than you turning your world on its head and getting ready for the next re-birth of civilization. But you know what, I could be totally wrong. We can possibly be in this horrible situation for the next thousand years and never see an actual end to the world. But my point is that we as a society forgot what humility is. We forgot nature will always out last man. And this is how we got where we are today and that is why I am not panicking anymore because anything we are experiencing now is exactly what we deserve.

In the end, it really isn’t too late. It is just going to take a universal act of God to get everyone on planet Earth to change their wicked ways at the turn of a dime. But people we have to, we need to, find the strength to do it on our own. Unfortunately, that is really our only hope. Or else, when the end finally does occur, assholes like Osama Bin-Laden will be right about who we are as a people and how we represent ourselves in the world. Osama Bin-Laden will have been victorious, fuck he already is in so many ways, it kills me to say it but it is true. I believe that Step 1 is, to turn off the television. After that its all up to you. Good luck!

In a world where socialism is on the rise and shady back-alley deals seem to be the equvalent of an honest handshake, here we are as a supposed Capitalist nation pedaling backwards into the anti-Trust days of the early 1900′s. My, oh my, how far we come. Apparetly it seems that Ticketmaster, the country’s largest ticket distributor has merged with Live Nation, the country’s largest concert promoter. Anyone who knows me personally knows a merger like this will affect an avid concert-goer like me. People like me have a personal stake in a monopolization like this, and I have the 250 concert ticket stubs on the back of  my office door to prove it. I do appreciate the fact that our government is organizing an anti-Trust investigaiton to look into this, but how does this even happen in today’s modernized world? The implications of such are merger are truly countless.

Now one could make the argument that a merger like this reflects Capitalism to the utmost degree. Only in a free-market society could a business get so strong on its own, without any government assistance, and dominate a market, like ticket sales and event promotion, and never have to fear competition again. But see, it is exactly that “fat cat’ attitude that has gotten us into the housing market crisis, resulting in a credit freeze, ending with Wall St. brokers laughing at the world from their yachts paid for by the U.S. taxpayer. Any true believer of a free-market knows that transparency is key to a vital Capitalist economy, along with moderation, not exploitation. I believe that excess, with anything in life, can lead to disasterous results. How that manifests here is that compeition is the very back bone of Capitalism. All a monopoly, in this situation, does is create an unwatched environment for a corporation to regulate the pricing of tickets, which apparently has no say whatsoever by the group, artist, or sports team, hosting the event, because the concert promoter who just merged with the ticket distributor ends up having an exclusivity deal with nearly all the top venues in the country. This leaves the group, artist, or sports team choiceless. Either the performers can sell the tickets privately themselves (e.g. on their websites or out of the trunk of their cars) with their own distribution and play in venues that are unheard of and probably have the most lacking facilities, or they can take heed to the mercy of Ticketmaster who can willingly inflate the cost of a ticket, simply because they know it is a hot commodity.

The real quesiton here is, what can the government actually do? In my opinion, our government has already done enough. I suppose they can outlaw the merger, but where is the free-trade in that? Not to mention, it seems that the government has enough of its own problems right now. Some pundits ask, in a struggling economy, would it not be in Ticketmaster’s best interest to take advantage of their situaiton right now? Good question pundits. The answer is, not really when Miley Cyrus tickets are being whored out to the world at inflated values well out of Ticketmaster’s means not to mention the Bruce Springsteen Tour that just went on sale sold out in 9 seconds. I guess people still love their concerts. Oh here is a fun fact, did you know our government basically regulated scalping. I mean it isn’t legal, it just isn’t really illegal anymore. One of those funny and fuzzy legislative definitions you know. How does this affect you? Well the good news is you won’t get arrested for trying to get rid of your extra ticket or trying to purchase an extra ticket outside the door of the show you are about to attend, and I also see new business expansion for Craigslist here. However, the sad news is, Ticketmaster will now view scalpers as competitors. So it maybe quite possible that Ticketmaster may inflate the rates of their ticket values so high in an effort to prevent street scalpers from even being able to afford a ticket, let alone make a sale with their exponentially inflated ticket prices.

I suppose there is only one thing we can do as hardcore fans of our favorite bands and teams. Boycott Ticketmaster! Old School-style. Like Pearl Jam did in the 90′s. It obviously has never worked before, but I think Pearl Jam did a poor job at uniting their fan base around this. In hindsight I find it quite noble that they would go through so much trouble on behalf of their fans but the media simply did not know how to report on this because at the time it was quite revolutionary. However here we are in 2009. People are broke. They need their music, sports, theater, and comedy as a form of release and Ticketmaster is behaving the way a pimp does with his prostitutes or crack dealer does with his biggest dope fiends. Remember, without ticket sales, they flounder. We just got to unite. Too bad this country forgot how to do that a very long time ago.

WATCH THESE JERK-OFFS MAKE A CASE FOR THEIR BELOVED MERGE!!!

It is official. Hell has frozen over. I am about to side with Miley Cyrus over this controversial photo scandal. Apparently, the Asian community, specifically Lucie J. Kim, is offended by the picture that has gone totally viral and according to the YouTube clip above, totally mainstream as well. What is this a picture of you may ask? Well to me at first glance, it was a picture of 1 Hollywood Douchebag and 6 people that wish they were her, COMPLETELY DOPED UP OUT OF THEIR MINDS, making a funny face at the camera. I have watched enough ’Cheech and Chong’ movies in my life to know what the hell “Chineze Eyez” are. You know how I know they were stoned? Because there is a stoned Asian guy right next to Miley not giving a fuck about being in a room with 6 round-eyes making  “Chineze Eyez” at the camera. That is how I know. 

But no, everyone wants to get paid for doing absolutely nothing. Do you know this crazy nutjob Lucie Kim wants to sue Miley Cyrus for $4 Billion. Hahaha, and I thought the bitch with 8 kids was nuts. $4 Billion? And what exactly does she want to do with it, pay $0.25 back to every person back home in China for this racial trespass. Actually no, she just wants to pay the 1 million Chinese people living in Los Angeles $4,000 each. This world has damn near lost its mind. Well, let’s be real for a minute. There is nooooooooooo way a Judge will ever let this civil case go to trial. But then again this is Hollywood, the place where O.J. was sent back home for murder and Marv Albert just paid a few bucks out of his wallet to make up for his raping/biting incident. Actually, if I was Miley, I would be pretty damn nervous. Remember when everyone thought half-man half-dolphin Michael Phelps was just going to get a slap on the wrist for his one fun night out on the town. Well say good-bye to his endorsement deals and there is a small chance he may go to jail. Ms. Achy-Breaky Bigot should be more worried about Disney finding out that their precious teen idol was photographed stoned (which no one is talking about for some odd reason). Miley needs to decide what is more important, paying out $4 Billion to some undeserving Chinese people, or feel the wrath of Disney? Someone please get back to me on this one.

A TRIBUTE TO THE CHINESE LOS ANGELENOS WHO SUFFERED THROUGH THIS TRYING MOMENT OF ADVERSITY:

It seems like finally we might be getting some answers in this season right? I regret to inform you, this blog, mmm not too funny. There really isn’t too much irony being dropped on us at this point in the show, right? It seems as if the show is finally making some headway, revealing some answers, and getting to a point. Let’s begin shall we. As Sun gets ready to bum-rush the group with her almighty gun, she gets interrupted by a phone call from Korea from her 3 year old daughter. Sun even goes as far as to tell her daughter that she has a friend for her to play with next time she sees her, of course referring to Aaron. Ewwww creepy, a little bit of Kate is rubbing off on Sun there don’t you think. Just as Sun is about to pull the trigger in my friend Ben’s face, he decides to hit Sun with some knowledge. He tells her Jin is alive. Naturally she does not believe him all the meanwhile Kate is going loco gets Aaron and tells Jack and Ben to leave her alone and hightails it out of there. Sayid at this point wants nothing to do with Ben and Jack and warns it will be rather unpleasant if they should ever meet again. Umm I hope Jack and Ben listened to him because You Don’t Mess with the Sayid!

Back on the Island, Jin realizes (without his brain melting) that he has traveled back in time when he realizes he is meeting a 16 years younger version of Rousseau. I should seen it coming that all her French Douchebag Buddies would bite the big one since they appear to be useless and arrogant (like the French). However, at least we got some insight as who Alex’s father is right? As Jin is looking for Sun on the Island (which she obviously is not around) the Frogs decide to look for the infamous Radio Tower to try and transmit a signal off the Island. Unfortunately, they are interrupted by ‘The Monster.’ The Monster one by one picks them off first with the line-less Nadine and then off to King of the French Pricks who I believe remains nameless. As ‘The Monster’ attempts to suck Mr. Asshole into his underground lair, I feel a perfect ‘Saw’ moment approaching. The Frogs are trying to save him and BOOM! ‘The Monster’ sucks him hence forcing his friends to rip his arm clean off. Awesome! I actually wished it would have been his entire body. And like a bunch of morons, all but Rosseau go in and try to save French Bastard #1. Cue the first time flash. Jin is what seems to be days or even weeks later and finds the decaying arm next to him. He heads toward shore to find their camp and some of the French guys who went into ‘The Monster’s’ lair shot and killed. And now here is Rosseau pointing a gun at her baby’s daddy. Apparently, ‘The Monster’ has fucked with their heads and now it seems to be a 28 Days Later situation. Gun fired, baby’s daddy dead! You know I am convinced ‘The Monster’ is The Keeper of the Island.” It saved Locke by not killing him in Season 1 but only attempts to harm those who bring hate and death, or just a bad attitude to the Island. Rock on ‘Monster.” I digress, sorry. Rosseau finds Jin and tries to kill him thinking ‘The Monster’ has made him sick too. Cue time flash #2, and Jin finds Sawyer and the rest of the camp, and finally a happy moment in ’LOST’ yet again.

Now the time flashes seem to progress quicker and more frequently. Jin finds out Sun is off the Island. Juliette and Sawyer get more nosebleeds. And Charlotte, sad to say but not really, is on her way out. I had a feeling this was the episode she was going to die and she surely does. But not before the rest find the Orchid and Jin makes Locke promise not to bring Sun back. This was all due to Charlotte’s one and only uttered ramblings of hysteria for some reason making sure Jin understands that Sun cannot ever come back and that ’This Place is Death (hence the title).’ If Sun were to ask of Jin, Jin gave Locke his wedding ring and made sure he gave it to Sun proving Jin was dead. One last piece of useful information Charlotte’s decides to privately divulge to Faraday in a moment of clarity was revealing to Faraday that she was born on the Island and a man who looked just liked Faraday had forbidden her to ever come back. That is when Faraday tells Charlotte not to die because he sent Desmond out to find Faraday’s mum who apparently is the key to entire bid! Too late Charlotte dies, wah! Back to the story, Locke gave Jin his word and as he slides down the rope to the bottom of the Island-moving mechanism, and yet another time flash occurs, Locke falls, and attains a compound fracture in his shin. Damn, the Island is brutal huh? Giving a compound fracture in the leg to a man you just healed that used to be in wheelchair, ouch!!!  The flash occurs the hatch is sealed and Locke is alone only to find, that’s right Jack’s dad Dr. Shepard just as he was in Jacob’s house waiting for him. Dr. Shepard was nice enough to clue the audience into the fact that O.G. Other Apleton may actually not have the answers and can in fact be wrong about everything he has been telling Locke. With a severely broken leg and no help from Dr. Shepard, Locke turns the mechanism, end scene.

Back in Los Angeles (Honolulu), Sun is holding a gun to Ben’s head as he is driving her to the very proof of Jin being alive which is consequently keeping Ben alive. Jack has a moment of pussy-ness and apologizes to Sun for leaving Jin behind on the tanker. Apparently, Jack is pretty pissed at Ben after finding out that Ben was responsible for going after Aaron, Kate’s fake baby. Of course these morons are too dumb to realize it was attempt to get Kate to come back to the Island. Ben flips out and has had it and let’s the dumbasses know everything he is doing is in an effort to save the Oceanic 6 and the people on the Island. However, what is left untold is, what is Ben’s stake in this exactly? It is left a little bit unanswered. But they arrive at the church, the church with answers. Ben gives the ring that Locke had from Jin to Sun. Ben explains the woman in the church, Eloise Hawkin, can get them all back to the Island, and that they need to go back in order to keep the Islanders alive. And sure enough, right on time, is Desmond, looking for Faraday’s mum, and is in fact Eloise Hawkin. They all go in. And short a of ‘The Six,” Eloise says it will have to do and is ready to get started. End episode.

ENJOY A BROKEBACK MOMENT ON ‘LOST:’

Let’s Talk in the Future-Tense Shall We?

1. So now we know why Rosseau has been all alone all these years when the Islanders find her.

2. I have a feeling Faraday is going to try to bring back Charlotte in some time-travelling manner.

3. I assume we are left to believe that now that Locke moved the Island, there will be no more time flashes?

4. It appears that Dr. Shepard has shown himself yet again, but where is Claire?

5. I hope Desmond does not end up going to the Island, that was never part of the deal right.

6. Eloise Hawkin, who is she to the Island? She could be the one behind the Dharma Initiative from the start.

7. When is someone going to slap the sense back into Kate, make Sayid a believer again, and get Hurley off the Hot Pockets?

8. So where the hell is Locke if he is already off the Island and dead.

9. And how did he give Jin’s ring to Ben, if he is dead.

10. So no one is concerned that Kate, Aaron, Sayid, and Hurley are not there when it is time to go back. Isn’t that going to mess things up pretty bad?

Adios Capitalism. It was nice knowing you. You know that principle fundamental that this country was founded on? No, not on the genocide of the American Indians or the enslavement of an indigenous African people. The concept that we were all free men (and only men at the time, sorry ladies). Free men who could go as they please, pay taxes to a deserving government, and go into business for themselves and only through their own intelligence, business strategy, and ability to adapt and persevere, create and turn this thing called a ”profit” and prosper in a land of opportunity called: America. And well as Darwin put it, so ironically on this being his 200th birthday, if you were weak, feeble, or scrawny, you would probably die and your species would not survive the up and coming era. There would be no larger animal species to protect you from the stupidity of ignorantly exposing yourself to the blood-stained fangs of a much hungrier and larger animal. You, your children, and your parents would most likely perish, and life would carry on without you.

You know this method has worked out for nature for hundreds, thousands, and millions of years (depending on what religion you believe in) quite well, might I add. See the thing about nature is, there was never anyone to interfere with its course before the need for harvesting fossil fuels and trees for paper ever were invented. Nature just ran its course, as the saying goes. I think that might have been America’s greatest attribute these past 235 we have been a country. Now look at us. Even our illegal immigration rate has plummetted significantly in the past 6 months. No one wants to come here, even illegally. I am dumbfounded. Oh wait, no I am not. Actually it all really makes sense.

Look, I am not about to start Obama-bashing. OK , well maybe a little bit. But only the same way I would bash any president making a bad policy decision and using fear to get his legislation passed. I am not some card-carrying Republican (like I used to be) who just hates liberals and Democrats and think they are all dumb and fiscally out-of-touch (well, I kind of do). But also, I am not like Rush Limbaugh. I want President Obama to succeed. Why wouldn’t I? The thought of wishing him a failing presidency is ludicrous. In the waking days of his presidency, President Obama actually has passed ethical legislation that I have supported with much devotion. Concepts like creating transparency in our government, capping his staffs’ salary, and publicly allowing Israel to defend itself as a Democratic nation are all notions I support alongside President Obama.

But 850 billion dollars to save ourselves with money we simply do not have, money we are about to print and honestly should not be printing, and money coming out of the tax payers wallet meanwhile trying to cut taxes, I honestly just do not get it. Fine let us backpedal for a moment. I am not holding President Obama solely responsible for the circumstances that he is about endure. All this fell into his lap courtesy of President “W.” We all know this. However, he can only keep holding “W” responsible for a year. That’s it. One year. After that this is all on him. I do not make the rules, this is just how it is unfortunately, and President Obama knows it.

But see there is a tinge of political hypocrisy here. Obama made it a point during his campaign in 2008 that government using fear in this country to motivate its people has always led our nation to its darkest moments in history. Anything from the slavery of the 1800′s, to the communist scare of the 20′s, to the internment of the Japanese people of the 40′s, to the Civil Rights movement of the 50′s, to “W” starting an unsolicited war in Iraq in 2003, to our Wall St. bailout last September, to Prop 8 being passed in California all fall under this very concept. So why oh why is Obama scaring the House, the Senate, all of Congress, and all of the American people into this notion if we do not pass this Stimulus Bill, we will all flounder and die! Why are people like General Electric’s C.E.O. who single-handily put the company’s stock to nearly 10 dollars on President Obama’s economic team? Why is  Treasury Secretary Geithner speaking at all, let alone about things that are not concrete and even make allusions to Wall St. still being able to get away with murder? Where is this ever-so-loved transparency?

I whole-heartedly believe in the concept of “having to spend money to make money,” but it sure is easier to do when the money is not yours and you have nothing personally invested in it, besides your legacy I suppose. As much as I hate saying it, I believe we need to let the economy bottom out. That is right, I said it, let it bottom out!!!  Sure the sting will seem unbearable but we will recover much quicker this way. It is a clean slate. Everyone has the opportunity to start from scratch. I know people will hurt, but not for as long. When has throwing money at a problem ever solved it? When, please tell me? By letting the economy tank, people who have saved their money, maintained their credit, and have planned and prepared will rise above and buy out failing corporations and plummeting real estate investments. This will create jobs and wealth and yes dare I say it, it will trickle-down eventually. It has too. It knows no other way. I just want to do this old school you know. Rip the damn the band-aid off!!! Let it heal on its own. Bring back capitalism, the very thing that made my Dad immigrate to this country and try do it for himself and on his own.

Right now our country and its government is running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Lost and aimless. The very thing that has made our country as prosperous as it is, is the belief in the small-business owner and our ability to invent new technologies that we can sell back to other countries. Lower business taxes, while you are it, lower all of our taxes, stop the spending, stop the printing, stop passing debt down to my grandchildren. Read the bill and then cut it in half. Do not ruin my life because you feel pressured to save the world! President Obama, you are a Constitutional Lawyer, you know better than this. I just hope to God, survival of the fittest trickles literally inside our government and gets rid of the hot heads and time wasters like Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. Yes, forget the partisanship, and while you are at it, forget meddling in people’s lives, and get back to work Washington!

Let’s Hear it from the mouth from today’s Politcal Soothsayer: Dr. Ron Paul

I seriously cannot believe the world is up in arms about 3 Time MVP MLB Star and current do-er of Madonna, Alex ”A-Roid” Rodriguez, getting caught using a certain Steroid called PED. “Getting caught” actually is a wrong choice of words. How about confessed, revealed, or admitted to, now those are more accurate. If you were one of those losers shocked when it was learned that A-Roid lied, then honestly I feel really really really sorry for you. You are still probably figuring out that our country is in a recession and ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is not part two to ‘Marley and Me.’

I know we all wished we lived in a world where the sanctity of sports can go untainted but so sorry Planet Earth, not going to happen, not in today’s age. In my opinion, it is only a matter of time until we find out that even the Olympics are tarnished with ‘The Juice.’ Oh wait, that already happened. Remember when Marion Jones got 5 medals taken away last year because she needed a little ‘encouragement’ from her trainer too.  Even rap stars like Dr. Dre, Wyclef, 50 Cent, Timbaland, and Mary J. Blige are onriods (and I don’t mean hemorrhoids people)! Rap stars, seriously, who is next Bret Michaels and Axl Rose??? This is getting to be quite laughable and regrettably depressing. This world needs, and has always needed, a hero, and we all used to look to athletes as children, even from children who were not quite that athletic. Shit, I sucked at basketball, but I really wanted to be “like Mike.” We all did!

I actually watched on Bill O’Reilly’s ‘O’Reilly Factor’ (please do not ask me why) a woman analyze A-Roid’s posture and eye contact during hisKatie Couric interview and specifically make the allegation that A-Roid is clearly lying. Clearly? Really? How can you tell Oh-wise lady on O’Reilly Factor? Did you know that if you stare too hard at your mark while answering a question, it is the same as having shifty eyes or looking to the ground while answering a question, basically the equivalent of lying.I did not know that.  And neither did A-Rod according to this YouTube Clip below, when he clearly and blatantly lies about his Steroid usage.

Anyone who knows me knows that I, aside from being a loyal hometown Dodger fan, can really give two diddly-shits about baseball. First, I do not get why these over-paid gladiators even need steroids. Aside from chess, golf, pool, bowling, and poker, I would make the argument that baseball is the least stamina and endurance driven sport. All you do is get a stick, hit a ball, run some bases, catch a ball, touch a diamond-shaped white thing, score a run, and put a point on the board. I am not knocking the sport here, but come on, it isn’t like football, basketball, or hockey. These fuckers are always on the move and if anyone needs an edge first, I am sure it would be these guys (and I am sure some of them use them too). But really, all the performance you need is to clearly hit the fucking ball out of the fucking park, run the bases, and collect your check.

I do not know why, but images of our corrupt brothers on Wall Street flash through my head as I write this. I just look at steroids like golden parachutes; still get paid no matter who or what bails you out and even when your performance is at risk of being quite shitty. The steroid problem is another personification of what is wrong with the United States, or at least the government of the United States, or maybe the people and the irresponsible choices they made in the United States, or wars we start in parts of the world illegitimately sponsored by the United States. God, no wonder why the world hates us. We took the very thing, the very concept, that made this country so great, and exploited it. Exploited it? Hell, we practically raped it! What is this thing and concept I speak of? It is called, FREEDOM! It was because we were free and honorable people that we would never make decisions like taking America’s past time, something we invented, and making it a laughing stock in places like Japan and Central America, where talent is just organic and cannot be fucked with. Jackie Robinson along with all of our Founding Fathers would kick our spoiled Hot Pocket eating asses all over the block if they were alive today.

But the sad fact remains that I am not surprised that A-Roid and probably more than half the country’s greatest athletic stars are plainly cheating. It is cheating people, stop fooling yourselves. I am in consulting and sales professionally and the only way I could cheat is by lying. I do not lie. Ever. I could lie but I do not. This is a choice I make. Is it apathy that explains why I am not surprised? I do not know. Have I lost faith in Americans? Absolutely. Are they dumb, selfish, and undeserving of the very freedoms that they take for granted everyday? You are damn right they are. Am I a traitor to my country for saying such things? Some would argue yes probably. But unless we get back on track here, honestly this country is seriously fucked. Integrity is what separated us from the rest of the world, and honestly that well has run dry.

Next thing you know, Michael Phelps will probably get a huminatarian award for smoking weed instead of taking steroids. And in my opinion, he fucking deserves it. Weed is a NON-performance enhancing drug and he still won 8 gold medals. Or maybe A-Roid had this coming since he stole Madonna from Guy Ritchie. Sorry A-Roid, you don’t mow another man’s lawn. Karma sure is a bitch, isn’t she.

And now for your viewing pleasure, a song for A-Roid