Made in China...not such a good thing

Is it just me or are you and those like you finding that "Made in China" sticker a little less appealing than it used to be. Imported seafood from China is now banned in the USA. Isn't it curious that food coming from China over the past few months happens to be poisoned? This pretty much scares me and I'm not gonna touch any food coming from China anytime soon...if I can help it.

United States of AT&T

You and those like you will someday reside in the USA...the United States of AT&T. They own the world and they continue to buy more. I know that as a conservative thinker I should be against regulation, but since telecom has become deregulated I believe that services have gotten better in some cases and worse in others.

There are arguments on both sides, but where I believe that deregulation has really hurt the USA is in radio and TV. Things have become too homogenized.

Mitt hates animals...so says PETA

You and those like you will find this story hilarious. Guaranteed. I love PETA.

MTV News writes something worth reading!?

You must read this article about Michael Moore's new movie "Sicko" by the venerable Kurt Loder on MTV.com. My jaw literally dropped when I read it.

Young voters...DON'T EXIST!

This NYT blog really got me going. It starts off as a blog about Ann Coulter and Mrs. John Edwards and their tiff on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris "the blatantly biased" Matthews. It continues on as a commentary on how the youth in the USA will vote come election time. I'll tell you right now how they're going to vote...IT DOESN'T MATTER BECAUSE THEY DON'T VOTE.

It is the reason why the environment, Social Security and other issues that will effect young people haven't been important in any election (the only reason the environment is "important" now is because of Albert). Young people do not vote. Let me repeat...young people do not vote. I vote, but I'm the exception to the rule. Old people vote, that's why the AARP is so powerful as a lobbying group.

You and those like you might be wondering why young people don't vote, I'll tell you why not...young people are apathetic and they don't care about politics. They like to pretend they are interested in politics, but only to try to show they're smart. They are not.

Big Brother is definitely watching you

The CIA has just released documents outlining some of the stuff that you always thought they did, but didn't know for sure. These recently unclassified docs describe assassination plots, LSD trials and other assorted clandestine goings on.

Michael Moore is fat

Michael Moore needs universal health care so he can afford all of the trips to the doctor due to his obesity. This is a fantastic piece by Amy Menefee of the Business and Media Institute.

Giuliani plays to his strengths

I'm not sold on any candidate yet as far as the presidential nominations go. It has been interesting to see all of the candidates play to their different strengths though. Rudy's strength of course is his leadership and resolve against terrorism. Here's a story about Rudy taking on Clinton's handling of the '93 bombing of the WTC.

Tony Blair, a great Briton

Blair's time as British PM is over. It is indeed a sad day because he was a strong leader for the UK and a great ally for the USA. Here's a good NYT story about his departure.

Muslims in America

There is a great debate between you and those like you about Islam in the USA. Is Islam a peaceful religion? Is it a violent religion? And a lot of people wonder, what the heck is Islam? Well a group in Chicago is coming out with a report on how Muslims in America can fit in better with society.

What I don't understand about the report's suggestions is that all of them seemed to be geared toward non-Muslims. I am all for non-Muslims (or "infidels" for those that believe in the radical Islam) learning about Islamic culture. I think that can be very productive. But for the love of Pete it cannot be the non-Muslims doing all the work. If Muslims want to be better included in society they must begin speaking out against Islamic radicals committing acts of terror across the world. That's the truth Ruth.

Yay for death tolls!

I was flicking through channels the other day and I stopped on CNN (a rare pause on that channel) because I saw something that piqued my interest. While I was watching I of course multi-tasked and read the scrolling ticker at the bottom of the screen. After the ticker told me the date and how many days we have left in the year it reported the death toll in Iraq. I was stunned and upset.

Why report on such a thing continuously and of all places at the beginning of the ticker (signaling to me that it is most important)? I get really tired of the press counting deaths joyfully like the the Count on Sesame Street. I make a joke, but this is not funny. I understand reporting on these things every once in while, keeping a monthly count or something, but my gosh, then I ran across this article in the Washington Post and it makes me sick. These people are real, they are now dead and they are reporting on it like it's a score on a pinball machine. Maybe you and those like you understand that we're at war and our brave soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines have put their lives on the line for our country. And maybe you respect that.

Heroes of Iwo Jima

This is a very cool story about the men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima in WWII and the camera men who recorded the now famous image.

Israel makes an offer to Palestinians

Israel is willing to give up some Palestinian prisoners in exchange for some goodwill. I always like to see some goodwill between these two peoples, but recently it seems as though Israel is doing most of the "goodwilling" with little to no response from the Palestinians.

Israel PM Ehud Olmert met with Arab leaders in Egypt recently and said that there is a possibility of peace talks on the horizon with Abbas and his Fatah crew. This is all being done in the shadow of Hamas taking over Gaza. Does this strike you and those like you as curious? Could it be that the Israelis are seeing a split in the Palestinian government/society between those that are pro-terrorist and those that are anti-terrorist?

My guess is no, but I'm sure they're thinking that it is better to deal with Fatah whose stated mission is not specifically aimed at destroying the Jewish country. Hamas...yeah, that's a different story. They want to destroy Israel and it is their main objective to do so.

All of this talking is good, but it does put some of the Arab countries in the Mid-East in a tough position. They don't want to look like they're friends with Israel, but they don't want to lie in bed with the Iranians or other terrorist groups. This is becoming a very interesting story...

SCOTUS and Campaign finance reform

So the SCOTUS just removed some of the restrictions of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill. It was a 5-4 decision with Roberts writing the majority opinion (brings me back to my days in Comm Law class).

I'm all for free speech, if we didn't have it, I wouldn't have a job (no I'm not talking about writing this blog, but yes, I wouldn't have this either). But the other side of this coin is the fact that there is a major problem in politics today. I'm not saying that this problem hasn't been part of politics from the very beginning of democracy, but it seems to be getting worse as the politicians no longer seem to care to cover it up. The problem you ask? Money.

Money makes our politicians beholden to special interests who are now in control of Washington and maybe in control of your state and local government as well (take a look at Anthony Nownes' books). I have a serious problem with career politicians. I understand that career politicians know what they are doing and therefore can run things better, but it is becoming a joke. Guys like Ted Kennedy, John McCain, etc. they've been in "public service" so long, they don't know what it's like to be part of the public anymore.

Ultimately, (and you and those like you might disagree with me about this), I am for severe campaign reform. Not just finances, but also the length of election seasons and the way that we vote. I'm also for term limits. I cannot stand how politicians are abusing their power. These are some real solutions for fixing these problems.

Bong hits 4 Jesus

This is just an odd story and one that I wish would never happened. You might remember the "rebel" high school students who played this prank in 2002. From the Reuters article:

"In the school case, student Joseph Frederick said the banner's language was meant to be nonsensical and funny, a prank to get on television as the Winter Olympic torch relay passed by the school in January 2002 in Juneau, Alaska."

I think the kid that did this to get attention obviously, but wow, can't get much more tasteless than that. The kid obviously has no class. That's just my opinion, but I'm sure you and those like you feel the same way.

With all of that said...while I agree with the Supreme Court in this one, I am torn because I feel very deeply in personal freedoms. This belief however is tempered by the fact that there is a need for order in society. While I don't believe that this prank was a threat to the order of society I do believe that it was an inappropriate way for a child to behave in public. So I could go on forever because after I read this article my head was exploding with all of the possible implications of the decision to block the case.

Here are some:

• the Supreme Court has way too much power
• I cannot stand that people whine about the court being a political entity (even if it is)
• there are drug implications involved here and I think drugs are a serious problem for today's kids
• public schools are supposed to be run consistently across the nation and that is not the case
• this is all about a 10 day suspension...GET OVER IT

Okay, off the soapbox, there is so much more to say, but it would be overkill.

Time Magazine and Mitt

I just ran across this article about how Mitt Romney is not going to raise as much money as he did last quarter (a blistering $21 million). And I got thinking...I've been reading Time Magazine recently and in every issue I have read there is a negative article or opinion piece on Romney. I wonder what Time has against Romney. Now, I'm not calling him a saint by any means, I don't really trust the guy, but it is curious. Maybe you and those like you might know something about Time Mag's distaste for Mitt?

Faith based charity

President Bush was very gung-ho on starting his faith-based initiatives when he came into office. The Supreme Court just blocked a case from a group that wanted to challenge the constitutionality of giving federal money to faith-based organizations. This is an example of the government doing something for the greater good of the people and not giving in to political correctness. There is no doubt that faith-based charities like churches and religious community groups give a ton of support to those in need here in the USA.

I agree that giving federal money to faith-based organizations is a good thing, but I still don't believe that the government should really be doling out money to charities. You might think that is insensitive of me, but you would be wrong. America is the most charitable country in the entire world (see Arthur Brooks', Who Really Cares) and we don't really need the government giving out money. Americans want to give. You and those like you enjoy giving of our time and our money. It is inherent in our nature. That is what is truly great about this country. We are able to work for what we earn and when we earn it, we remember where we came from and give back to those that are less fortunate. It's the sort of stuff that gives me goosebumps. Americans at their very best.

Illegals, undocumented, unknown

I don't really want to delve into the whole immigration debate, because if you are at all connected to the news cycle you have already been inundated by the coverage of this whole fiasco. But, I wanted to expound on what exactly is going on in government right now.

People in the USA are upset. Liberals, conservatives, republicans, democrats and I'm sure the closet Commies and Green party activists. They're all upset and it is not just about the immigration bill, it's about how our government is behaving. They are behaving like men and women on a "power high". These are men and women we elected to office because we have a trust in the system (checks and balances, federal system, blah, blah, blah, the stuff that our young people aren't learning in school anymore. Civics class anyone?) I do not remember a time when our government has been so unresponsive to the will of the people. You and those like you want the current laws to be enforced (they are not currently enforced). Legislators want new laws on the books (that will not be enforced).

You see right now politicians are so hung up on election politics that they couldn't care less about what we want. You might think that is a contradiction, but it's not. They don't care what you think because most of us Americans don't pay attention to the minutia of what is going on. They are hoping that people will see that something was done about illegal immigration and that that is good enough. For you and those like you, it certainly is not. We shall see if all of the calls and emails and letters to our esteemed congressmen are enough to get this bill defeated and help to get our current laws obeyed by the government who created them.

Unfair and seriously inbalanced

Iran is apparently starting its own 24-hour news channel. Not like we needed another one anyway, but definitely not one from Iran. You and those like you have to be wondering if the channel is going to spew the same propaganda their leader does. My guess is...yes.

Pro baseball in the Holy Land

Israel just had it's first ever professional baseball game...take a look, you and those like you are bound to enjoy this story.

Success in Iraq...nah, couldn't be

Yeah, I ripped this off of Instapundit.com, but it is a great story about our troops and what is going on right now with the troop surge in Iraq.

Could it be that you and those like you are not hearing about the good things happening there because the mainstream media are not reporting them? Of course. Here's the piece from Investor's Business Daily.

The government playing God...sorta scary

I was always reminded by my father while I was younger how much medicine has changed in the past 100 years. We went from a life expectancy of 37 years old at the end of the 19th century to now living an average of 78 years (this is the US average according to Wikipedia, and yeah, I know it's not that reputable). This is all due to modern medicine and the knowledge that has come from the unbelievable progress in medical science.

Now the US government is discussing expanding such things as stem cell research. Some people want to harvest stem cells from embryos and other body parts to try to cure diseases. We also have gene therapy...that's right, in case you haven't heard we are now injecting genes into brains to help reverse the effects of Parkinson's Disease.

I'm honestly torn on the issue until I start thinking of all of the apocalyptic applications of doing such things. When I was younger and I thought of having children, I most certainly wanted genetic engineering...I wanted boys, not girls and I wanted them to be good at sports and have full heads of hair and be ultra smart...etc. Later I realized how scary that proposition really is. We someday might actually have the opportunity to engineer our children...sorta takes the fun out of it doesn't it?

As far as stem cells go, I'm not for the embryonic ones, but if you want to harvest some umbilical cord blood...have at it. That's pretty much all I've got on that because one thing you'll never see me do on this website is talk about...shhhh...abortion.

Bottom line is that there are some things in life that you should just lay off and genetic engineering (which gene therapy is the precursor of) and testing on human embryos are two of them. If I could honestly say that the science will not go further than injecting genes into a brain or using umbilical cord blood to cure diseases than I would be all for these sciences, but I'm afraid I can't. Perhaps you and those like you feel the same way?

I'm poor because I buy gas

Congress just passed new standard for fuel economy in cars and SUVs. I am for the environment, but I am against hurting the automotive companies and oil companies. If you think about it, some of the most successful companies in the USA are oil companies. Do we really want to hurt them?

Honestly I'm surprised that Al Gore achieved his goal of bringing "global warming" (yes, I put it in quotes, because I don't really believe in it) and the environment to the attention of lawmakers. The clever thing that politicians are doing now is milking the whole thing for everything it's got. They can make new standards for cars that'll be made 13 years from now when they're probably out of public life and don't have to answer for their votes. It's really quite brilliant, but not a new tactic. You and those like you should be wondering what the real reason for the new standards are...

Joe Biden, afraid of no one

Yeah, I know this story is old, but it just blows me away. FNC and the Congressional Black Caucus are putting on a debate in Detroit this September. All democrats except Joe Biden (D, Delaware) have said they would not be attending. WHAT?! Are they that scared of Fox News? I mean come on this is a joke isn't it? Aren't politicians supposed to be interested in healthy debate? I believe they have an obligation to engage in debate...but obviously not in debates where they might be asked difficult questions! You and those like you should be upset, but strangely entertained by the cowardice of the democratic presidential candidates (except Joe Biden, good for you Joe, Lord knows you need as much media exposure as you can get). I don't need to mention that the Republicans were on "left leaning" network debates already.

Guantanamo Bay prison situation

So I have never quite understood the whole movement to close the Guantanamo Bay prison for all of the enemy combatants and other assorted terrorists of note. I have always thought it was better for the people who want to kill Americans to be...well...NOT IN AMERICA. But this does not seem like the case. While over the years I have agreed with much of what the President has done when it comes to the War on Terror, closing Guantanamo just seems like an insipid idea.

And look, I understand that these guys are not getting their due process, habeas corpus, etc. And honestly...not that upset about that. Sure I know if I was in Iran or something I would be pretty upset if I didn't get those rights...but...I'm not. So in my humble opinion and I'm sure in the opinion of you and those like you, keep the terrorists out of the USA.

First Post

Okay, so I happen to have a lot of free time nowadays and I don't know how long that will last, but I figured a good way to fill that free time was to get on here and start sharing my ideas with the world. That's what people are doing nowadays isn't it? That's what I've heard at least. Keep reading and I'll try to keep you informed on what's important to me and therefore, important to you and those like you. I'll try to make it interesting, but since I'm new at this bear with me...

So, I'm a younger guy and I feel like the world treats my generation as a joke. News flash...we're not a joke...we're the last hope you've got (I'll explain). My generation is the last one that: played outside, broke limbs and didn't sue, swung high on the swings, didn't play video games all the time, got in trouble, beat up our siblings (or got beaten up in my case), went to detention for bad behavior at school and didn't get mandatory anger management training and a psychiatric evaluation...I could go on forever, but you get the point.

What I'm trying to get across is that my contemporaries and I are the ones that will fight in wars, stand up for what we believe in and work hard to get ahead. Those are the kind of values that our country was founded on and they are the values that our country needs to progress. We are in a serious vacuum of responsibility and accountability. Many believe there is nothing we can do about it...but that is where we are wrong.

We are the ones that have the optimistic attitude to fight on for what we believe in when others fade away. That is what this blog is about. "You and Those Like You" is for all of the people that are losing hope in America because they are not old enough or informed enough to make a big splash (in terms of societal changes), but they are certainly old/informed enough to see the decay in our society and worry about it.

It is true that we might not be able to change things, but we can start preparing for the future (keeping informed, communicating with others, reading books, holding others to our high standards, etc.)...because the future is near and it is looking hazy and full of uncertainty. But it is you and those like you (and there are PLENTY of us!) that will secure our future...of that I am certain.