Catching up with old friends

Alright, my abscense has probably gone un-noticed, but lets get caught up on somethings that have gone on since last we talked.

NEW NAME: I have left the old "Blogger to be named later" and re-taken up a name given to me in better days. That being said, now we can get on with the real news.

HOLA COMO ESTA?: President Obama has selected Sotomayor as his first appointed nominee for the Supreme Court. This issue has been a big deal since the elections because Obama has the chance to name several justices during his term.

Aside from that, we all knew there was going to be pressure on the first black president to share the historic spotlight with his appointing of cabinent members and justices. We have also seen that Obama doesn't necessarily pick the candidate with the best background as numerous nominees have had to drop out of his appointments since Congress doesn't feel it necessary to actually pay taxes, just take them from the American People. This failure to investigate, really a lack of thinking before you speak, has reared it's ugly little head again in the form of Sotomayor's comments about how she feels that a latina with her experience would make a better judgement than that of a white man with those same experiences.

I'm actually incline to possibly agree with her. No matter what field we are in, we all take our life experiences with us and use them for either good or bad. People use them as excuses to do good and try to imrpove their life, but they also use them as excuses for why they are in the situation they're in. A white man, for all his experience, will never know what it's like to be threatened to be deported even though your an American citizen; they will never know what it's like to be called names like "wet-back" "beaner" "spic" or any of these derogitory names.

I applaude President Obama for making this choice. Sure she killed baseball, causing steriods and the long ball to try and bring it back to life, but I think it's about time that there is a justice who looks at the law and thinks about not only how their rulling affects the case, but the law and those who have to live by it. I do hope, however, that Congress takes their time with this because afterall the Supreme Court is unlike any of the other branches of government, it's a "for life" appointment should not be rushed into.

KOREA II: World War III North Korea is flexing some major muscle that has all the world on the edge of their seat. Now, armed with the ability to make nuclear weapons, a crazy dictator and the thought that anyone who messes with their ships want war, the North is setting its sights on a long range missle launch later this month. Third times the charm, and this missle launch is suppose to go 4000 miles, or from North Korea to Hawaii or Alaska.

Kind of makes you wonder what would have happened had the US never dropped the A-Bomb on Japan after World War II. Also, did you know, Alfred Nobel, yes the Peace Prize guy, invented dynimite thinking that once people saw it's destructive power, the world would realize how bad war was...

Czar this, czar that...

I know I've been a horrible contributor recently, but life has been flying along. Buying a house, selling a condo, coaching little league, work is busy... But alas, I hope to be back on the blogging track. I just posted a mini rant over at AM Donkey. It relates to my frustration with the overuse of the term czar. It seems we have one for everything... A cyber space czar? Are you kidding? If there is one thing that isn't structured in any way to have authority or control in an individual, it is the Internet... peace.love.understanding.

Government Steals Land

Stop me when you've heard this one. The American government has been, since 2005, trying to buy 500 acres of land from 7 owners to no avail. To the surprise of one of the owners, the government set May as the end all deadline to agree to terms to sell the land. Now the United States government is going to simply condemn the land and take it from the owners, according to an Associated Press report.

The prime piece of real estate that the government is taking away from tax paying citizens is located at the crash site of Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. After they take the land from the legal owners, the government is then going to spend $58,000,0000 (million) on a permanent memorial and state park.

While I'm not "condemning" the government for wanting to erect a memorial to the bravery that was flight 93, they should not use their power to take land from their own citizens. But, with the rich history that the United States has in stealing land, this should really come as no surprise.

Gotta Love The Police

As I gaze out the window of my real job I see a police vehicle parked in front of the beauty salon next door. Generally this should be a cause for alarm as I did see them pull up an hour ago. But, much to my relief, it is not an emergency of any kind. And as the officer sat next to his official vehicle, smoking his cigarette in his shorts and t-shirt while he no doubtingly waits for his partner to get her hair done, it occurred to me, I'm in the wrong line of work.

I think it's absolutely ridiculous that the police get to take there cars and use them for personal usage. And who gets stuck with the gas bill while they're out there gallivanting all over town? You and me, that's who. There really should be a lot more outrage then there is, but there isn't. There is actually more outrage coming from police who feel that they have every right to use these tax-payer fueled vehicles, and are angry when anyone thinks that they should have to pay to take it home, let alone fill it up. I guess the only thing they're serving and protecting is their own personal interest.

Before you judge me as some whiny cop hater, here is the legitimate list of "run-ins" I've had with these people:

• Called 911 when my neighbors car got broken into, almost 2 hours later a cop arrives
• driving home, a car starts to drive in reverse in my direction, I honk, he flashes his lights and stares me down
• driving to work and I almost get cut off, I honk my horn, this female officer flashes her lights while in front of me and starts to slow down. I slow down too, and take an alternative route. I called the community liaison, give them the plate number, and they tell me that is not one of theirs, and all but call me a liar.
• driving my son and wife around and almost got t-boned by a rent-away truck while there was an officer at the opposite light. I honk to get her attention, nothing. I called to complain and was told that if there are 2 people in the car, they don't do traffic stops
• driving home from work late one night, I get pulled over and get the third degree about where I'm headed. It takes 2 more cops to ask me questions as they flash their lights into my car looking for something. Didn't even get a ticket.
• Driving in the rain many years ago in a town I wasn't too familiar with. A police officer gets up on my tail, so I assume I'm going too slow, so I speed up. He pulls me over for speeding.
• After college my friends and I were setting off fireworks in a field. It was 4th of July and we figured they would just come and take our fireworks away. 2 squad cars jump the curb and continue to chase us.
• My best friend and I were walking to his house one night to play some N64. Some cop stops us and starts to question us about where we got those N6 controllers.
• I had watched the news where they just up'd the speed limit. A cop, who was headed in the opposite direction, pulls me over for speeding. By the time the fine was due, the new limit had already been posted, and I wouldn't have been speeding.

None of this even includes times I've seen cops use their cars for grocery shopping, eating lunch with their kids, and doing 90 on a 55 mph highway. These are way too many incidents for one person to have with police who are meant to serve and protect, not harass and ignore. And I'll openly admit that this also doesn't include the times I got pulled over for expired tags and no insurance.

I understand that the police have dangerous jobs and all that. However, there are too many cases where people pretend to be cops and take advantage of people. So, if one day a "cop" pulls me over in his shorts and a t-shirt and steps to my vehicle while putting out a cigarette, I only hope that the real cops will do something about it, that is if they aren't too busy with driving their kids to soccer practice on my dime.