Give me 7000 dollars please

Last night, I heard in passing that the little bailout for the banks is going to cost each one of us seven thousand dollars, and that is provided that we pay for it right now. (So actually because we are not paying off it upfront, it is like putting 7000 dollars on a credit card).

Now, I am not sure if the figure is correct. I don't care. But it did get me to thinking:

What could I do with seven thousand dollars?

My quick answer is that seven thousand is about what I am borrowing every college semester for living expenses. It is also about five mortage payments. It is also a lot of cat food, gas, and vending machine meals.

I wish that the government would just give us poor people the money, rather than bailing out the rich. And besides it is not like the money is actually going to keep us out of a recession.

Political jokes

At one time, the American people were given a three-year long vacation from Presidential politics every four years. Once the Presidential election was over, you didn’t have to listen to any more Presidential campaign ads for three whole years. Those were the good old days. Nowadays, Hillary Clinton is already starting up her 2012 Presidential bid, and her first television ad is scheduled to appear the day after the 2008 election.

I am bored with the Presidential campaign. It seems to have been going on as long as John McCain has been alive.

I have timed Obama’a speeches, and he has been saying the word “Change” every 5.1 seconds. If someone else was doing this, it would qualify as a compulsive-obsessive disorder.

If a protestor was not seen or heard by a delegate, or the media, were they still protesting?

Peace and Islam

This was my response to someone who thought that there would be world peace if the entire world converted to Islam.

Even if the entire world converted to Islam, there would still be war and fighting. When the radical Muslims are not bombing and attacking us, they are bombing and attacking other Muslims who they do not believe are Muslim enough. They are like every other religion when they don't have an outside enemy, they fight amoung themselves. The only way there will ever be peace on earth is if it becomes a burnout cinder orbiting the sun.

Oh My Obama!

The 19th August 2008 cover of

CCD Campus Connection

the student newspaper of

the Community College of Denver

Is political correctness a danger?

Are we placing too much faith and hope on Obama?

DNC jokes

There is a rumor that a whole houseful of urine and feces is being stored up for use during the DNC protests. As a result of this rumor, some politicians want to pass a law to prevent the use of urine and feces. My question is: Wouldn’t this not also outlaw politicians?

If the law does pass, I guess one should go to the bathroom before going to the DNC. After all, you wouldn’t want to be guilty of having illegal substances in your system while protesting at the DNC.

And wouldn’t the neighbors notice a houseful of urine? Ok, maybe not; the neighbors always seem surprised that the quiet ones turn out to be ax-murderers.

Given the fact that serial killers always turn out to be the quiet neighbors, shouldn’t we encourage our neighbors to throw more loud parties?

My position on the death penalty

In one of my recent entries on my Golden Dawn blog, I said that I was semi-pro death penalty. This disturbs both camps---for some reason, people believe that this is one of those issues that you either have to be all in or all out on.

At one time, I was completely pro-death penalty. To be quite honest, I brought into the argument that the death penalty acted as a deterrent.

One can rack up the loosing up of my opinion to college. A few semesters ago, I took my public speaking (speech) class, and one of the speeches we had to do was an emotional issue.

Personal experience in the past has taught me that people are emotional about the death penalty; in fact, one of the members of one of the rival Golden Dawn lodges here in Denver refuses to sit in lodge with me because of my views on the death penalty (someday, I might go into more detail on my GD blog).

One of the things that I discovered while researching the subject is that it does not actually work as a deterrent. Most murders turn out to be unplanned, spur of the moment affairs.

So if that justification for the death penalty does not hold up, is there any reason to have a death penalty?

This question recently arose when a court overturned a death penalty for a child rapist, calling it cruel and unusual punishment. In the court’s opinion, only crimes resulting in death merit the death penalty. I bet the child’s mother and father beg to differ. I know some witches who would beg to differ (which is another reason why some people will not sit in lodge with me).

Death penalties give comfort to the victim’s relative. Yet, in the end, beyond the fact that it makes victims relatives feel better, is there a purpose to keeping the death penalty as an option. In the end, we have to say yes.

The government wants to keep it as a punishment for treason. Personally, I understand that.

But I would insist that certain terrorists, who want to become martyrs by being executed (with the added bonus of going directly to a happy afterlife), be excluded. Sorry, if you really want to die for your political cause, I vote that you become a lab animal for testing the latest longevity treatments.

Back to treason, there is more than open threats to the American people and the government that the death penalty should be reserved for.

Recently, a jury here in Colorado decided that there was a case that deserved the death penalty. It involved the killing of several witnesses to a crime. Unfortunately, the sentence’s purpose may be simply symbolic based on the research that I have done; people on death row are more likely to die of old age than anything else. But nevertheless, this is one of those times when I think that perhaps the death penalty is the proper punishment. I know that the victim’s parents think so, and an entire jury; I guess that none of them are suitable lodge members either.

Politics and friendship

One of the things that I am worried about lately is that my changing political views are going to start costing me friendships.

I always been strong in my political opinions, but I have always been able to see both sides of the problems that face this country. But lately, I noticed that I am leaning far more towards certain opinions than I used to.

I am not sure if it is because I am in college, and am absorbing the views of my professors and classmates, or if these changes in my outlook are just a natural growth of my own mind.

Either way, I am starting to notice that more and more I am starting to disagree with friends that I used to agree with.

For instance, I don't think that locking our borders and outlawing outsourcing is going to help our economy. I also do not believe that our, or any other country's, economy is a zero sum game. I think that we should be focused on the long term and not just quick fixes.

Unfortunately, I have some friends who lean towards the opposite. I did not realize how much my own politics had changed until I started to avoid talking politics with them. I know that I can not bring them around to my point of view, and I really don't want to bow down to their opinion either. And in the end, I think that my changing worldview might just be enough to destory the few remaining friendships that I have left.

I hope not, but I am not going to hold my breath either.