Issues

-During the campaign season, I wrote way too much about politics. I annoyed myself sometimes. That's not what this is. It's just footnotes. If you've missed any of these things, look into them if you have the time.  Because this is a comedy blog, not a news blog, I will not post links. You will have to take my word, or look things up.

-Something that has really been pissing me off lately is people saying, "We can't _____ because we need to focus our energy on the economy." You can do more than one thing at a time. Republicans have been using the argument to try to block legislation (health care reform), and Democrats have used it to avoid having balls (Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal). Gay marriage just passed in the Vermont and New Hampshire legislatures. The governors are going to veto on the grounds that it's a distraction from the economy. All they have to do is sign a piece of paper and people would have equal rights. 

-People keep signing up to follow me on Twitter. I don't know if it's people who read my blog and know that I'm trying to have the worst page on Twitter, or if it's people who find my posts interesting. Are they interesting? You be the judge:

You never see anyone covered in soot these days? Where did it all go?

Swivel chairs.

Something about fish.

You can never use too much varnish.

Courier New... What a font!

Laces untied... again.

-The Blackberry Bold is awesome. If you need a new phone, get one. It really is near perfect. The only thing that sucks is the battery life. I think it's going to be the product that I "swear by." Like Wilford Brimley swears by Quaker Oats, I'll swear by the Bold.

-One of the options for curbing CO2 emissions is a carbon tax, in which people are taxed for consumption. I understand the merits of the argument, but this is a horrible idea in application. Anyone making a marginal income will be slammed by this tax. They won't be able to afford to buy more energy effecient products. If they can afford to, the price of the new product won't be offset by the tax reduction for a while. It should be up to the government to provide more tax incentives to companies who are energy efficient or create energy efficient products (which has been done[not cap-and-trade]), incentivize renewable energy projects (which has been done), and update the energy grid (attempting to be done, but some say we should be focusing on the economy). That's it for the carbon tax. It will stretch the finances of people who are living paycheck to paycheck to the point that they may not be able to afford basic things. Look at what $4 per gallon gas did. That double in cost cut tens of billions of dollars of what would have been expendible income being put into the economy. It's not the cause of the economic situation we're in, but taking tens of billions of dollars out of the economy exacerbated the problem. 

Note: I know that the money was spent and therefore "put into the economy," but it was localized in the energy industry, instead of being spread. People ate out less, bought fewer video games, went to fewer movies, etc...

- Afghani President Hamid Karzai today forced through a bill that effectively legalized rape. Now married women are required to consent. Their husbands can make them consent. There are other troublesome parts of the bill, but rape is probably the worst part.

There are reports of gay people being executed in Iraq for their sexuality. 

It's a good thing we brought Western Democracy to the Middle East. 

- Anyone who has ever smoked pot knows it should be legal. The only argument against it is "Well, it's illegal." President Obama and his Press Secretary Robert Gibbs have been asked about it this week. They both gave weak, bullshit answers. They're scared of starting a culture war. Meanwhile, I bet if this was put to a national vote, 60% would be in favor of legalization. And 10 years later, 80% would support the legalization. It would cut the tax burden of keeping non-violent drug offenders locked up. It would allow law enforcement to focus on things that matter. It would create tax revenue. It would decrease violence that is a result of illegal drug trafficking. There isn't a better medical treatment for many ailments. The last time I saw one of my doctor friends, someone asked him about treatment for pain. He said, "Best thing to do is smoke a bowl. That's the best treatment for a lot of things." The government needs to stop acting like it's protecting us from ourselves and make it legal. I would like to see someone as the president why alcohol should be legal and marijuana illegal.

-Cable news channels keep getting worse. I've been writing about this for three years. There's only one show on cable news that I can watch. It has gotten to the point that the channels aren't only ideological, but as masturbatorial as an 8th grader. Every time I see a snippet of cable news, the report is about cable news. They all just talk about what people are saying on the other shows. Who cares? Aren't they supposed to be "reporting"? The one clip that I've seen in the past few months that I liked was Shepard Smith mocking Glenn Beck. It was great. 

Most opinion shows go like this: "_____ from MSNBC/liberal blogs/Fox News said_____ and they're evil. Here's why:..."

-The Catholic Church has excommunicated a 13-year-old Brazilian girl and her mother because the child got an abortion. She had the abortion because she was raped by her step-father, and her health was at serious risk. The daughter and mother were excommunicated. The rapist was not. This means there is redemption for rapists, but not rape victims who protected their own health. I must have missed that part of the bible.

-One of my favorite Senators, Jim Webb, has proposed massive prison reform. High-five.