“You and I are America”

“You and I are America. Unless we change, America will not change. Unless we are willing to experiment boldly with the application of absolute honesty, absolute purity, absolute unselfishness, and absolute love in our lives and in our relationships and responsibilities, America, the land of the free, may lose her freedom because she no longer has the moral and spiritual values to maintain it.”

- J. Herbet Smith

Space Cowboys

Yesterday, President Obama spoke to NASA officials about his cancellation of the Constellation Program. He urged NASA to forgot about the moon and shoot for landing on asteroids and Mars. My initial reaction was of disapproval because I think it is important that we continue to be pioneers in this area, but after a little bit of thinking, I have come to the conclusion that if we start chasing asteroids, we could witness the real-life ARMAGGEDON!

I know what you’re thinking. Is he really going to rant about how great the movie Armageddon is again? Damn right I am. Bear, Rockhound, AJ, Sharpe, and the crazy-ass Cosmonaut, get ready! It’s round 2!

Look, people thought landing on the moon would be impossible, yet we did. So, I got to thinking. Ugh, I hate when reality sets in. The moon and an asteroid are apples and oranges. Let’s evaluate. For all intents and purposes the moon is relatively stationary. It takes 28 days for the moon to orbit the earth. Speaking of 28, an asteroid can travel at a rate of more than 28,000 mph (400x the speed of sound). Seems a little impractical, Mr. Obama.

But wait! After a brief fact check, I found that the Helios I and II can travel over 100,000 mph! THE DREAM IS ALIVE! I can hear Steven Tyler warming up his vocal cords. “I could stay awake, just to hear you breathing…” Sorry, I got a little wrapped up in the moment.

All I’m saying is, if the U.S. is going to be gallivanting around the Milky Way playing space cowboy, we should get Michael Bay to film this and Truman should be directing the mission from Houston, just for cinematic effect. Hey Jesus, could you do me a solid and bring Harry Stamper back to life. I just don’t trust AJ with all this responsibility.

LEAVING ON A JET PLANE…I DON’T KNOW WHEN I’LL BE BACK AGAIN…

Quitting is Contagious

“I’m not retreating, I’m reloading.” - Sarah Palin

The act of quitting is contagious. Last month, I went for a run, which lasted for about 6 miles before I yielded to fatigue. To date, this was the longest distance that I have ever run. When I pulled up, I was only about one mile from my home. I walked the rest of the way back and even though I was stoked about running such a distance, I, much to my chagrin, had given up on myself.

The following morning I was cramped for time, so I decided to just run a couple miles so I would have time to shower and get out the door for work. Around the one mile mark, I became unusually indolent. Although I finished the 2.5 mile run, the last mile was a complete pain in the butt. I wondered how I could run for 6 miles one day, yet I wanted to quit a mile into a two-mile run.

I realized when I quit on that six-mile run; I triggered something in my brain which allowed me to sympathize with surrendering. Giving up that one time conditioned my brain to accept quitting, so even when I chose a short distance to run, my body was willing to succumb to the pressure because I had allowed it to do so before.

So, from then on, I vowed never to pull up on a run again. If I felt like crap, I would shorten the run to a distance where I knew I can make it back. I was going to finish every run, no matter the distance.

I am writing this weblog today, after completing a ten-mile run. With that said, I did not set out to run that far. In fact, I wasn’t paying attention and got myself further out than I wanted to. After I righted myself and began to head back to my target end, there wasn’t one time that I considered quitting. Had I ever ran ten miles before? Nope. What I had done is made it a point to run everyday and trained myself to accept nothing other than completion.

Anyone that knows me knows that Armageddon is my favorite movie of all time. There is no debate. Avatar gave it a run, but fell short in the end. There’s a line towards the end when the crew is worried that Harry will fail to detonate the nuclear warhead before zero-barrier. Calming the crew, AJ utters, “He doesn’t know how to fail.”

Thomas Edison said, I haven’t failed, I’ve found 10,000 ways that don’t work. These lessons can be applied to life. These characters trained themselves to believe that failure was not an option. And even in times when they came up short, they were able to absorb the bigger picture and use setbacks as motivation. If we condition ourselves in such fashion, we will perpetually reach for our dreams.

Joke: The Chicken & the Egg

There’s a chicken and an egg in bed. The chicken has his head on the pillow, while smoking a cigarette. The egg rolls over, annoyed, and says “i guess we answered that question!”

Hooray for Taxes!

Let’s face it. The newly-signed health care reform bill is not deficit neutral. The bill will cost this country a lot of money. Already the Obama administration is scrapping to find ways to fund such an ambitious venture. Starting July 1, the government will seize control of all student loans. Consequently, they will be raising the interested rates on the 19 million loans costing holders of said loans approximately $1,800 per year. On top of re-raising taxes on the top two percent, there are signs that the administration may levy a Value Added Tax.

While not familiar to many in the United States, the Value Added Tax, or VAT, is very

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“Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better…”

America is losing its manhood. Not in a battle-of-the-sexes scenario, but this nation is losing the grit which made it great. Embroiled in political correctness and “everybody is a winner” fever, our society is consequently breeding mediocrity.

It may be true that all men were created equal, but that’s where the similarities end. After we factor in the intrinsic value of human existence, we must begin to classify people. Individuals have strengths, they have weaknesses, and this is a good thing. Early in the growing process, there is every growing need to find communalities between

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No Country For Young Men

I could spend all day and night detailing the woes of the American judicial system, but I will focus on one troubling issue, that being the lack of options given to prosecutors when trying young minors accused of murder or other capital offenses. I am writing this in reaction to a recent Pittsburgh murder case where a 12-year-old boy shot and killed his father’s fiancé and has been subsequently charged as an adult.

Under PA law, if a prosecutor decides a child can be rehabilitated, he may chose to charge the minor as a juvenile and the child would be incarcerated in a juvenile detention center until the age of 21. At this point the perpetrator

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Bullets & Bricklayers

I must say that I am encouraged by the political climate we are in right now. Some people love the direction the country is moving while others believe the nation is being taken over by the government, and now, some are taking action on their beliefs. Yesterday, as reported, several Democratic legislators’ offices had bricks thrown through their windows. Today, the GOP’s second-in-command, Eric Cantor, had a bullet shot through his office window in Richmond, VA.

While I am strictly against advocating violence, I am glad people are getting there asses off their couch and participating in the political process, of which protest is included.

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I Love Joe Biden

After sticking up for Congressman Neaugebauer, it’s only fair that I stick up for Joe Biden after his most recent gaffe. While introducing Mr. Obama, the Vice-President whispered to the President, “this is a big fucking deal.” Unfortunately, Biden was louder than he thought and it went out on live television.

Of course, once picked up, commentators began criticizing him for his poor choice of words. Personally, I would prefer that the VP not apologize. What are we coming when people make a such a fuss out of a cuss word. With all the issues our executives put up with daily basis, I am surprised

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Who You Calling A Baby Killer?!?

Look, I understand that there is supposed to be a certain decorum when it comes to Congressional hearings and such, but I like to see passion when it comes to our lawmakers. Texas Congressman Neaugebauer yelled “it’s a baby killer” in response to Bart Stupak’s cowardly reversal on Obamacare. This has cause media outrage and concern. While it may have been out of order, this isn’t that big of a deal. In other countries, when things get ugly, melees break out.

I watch CSPAN all the time and last night’s events were the most entertaining hearings I have ever watched. People would watch more CSPAN and be more informed if there

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No Food, No Phone, No problems…

Think you could last 24 hours without technology and food? Yesterday, I set out to accomplish such a feat, for no other reason than to see if I could. March 20 is National Day of Unplugging and I thought it would be interesting to participate. Phones, television, computers, and radios were all forbidden during this Sabbath day. Food was personally added to the list just to up the ante.

Now that its over, I can admit that I had a rather enjoyable experience. In some aspects, my production levels increased even without the contemporary conveniences of technology. While modern machines

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National Day of Unplugging

March 20 is National Day of Unplugging. It is a time to disconnect from technology, connect with family, and get away from the constant buzz of the blackberry or iPhone.  Usually, it begins at sundown tonight, but since I forgot about it, I will begin at midnight. I’m pretty sure I can last 24 hours without technology, but I’ve never had to, so we’ll see.

Here’s a NYT article about the event: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/fashion/18sabbath.html

I’ll see you on the flip side.

“Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou

Someone sent me an email earlier today, I figured I’d pass it on:

“Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

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