The August of My Discontent

Boy, August of 2022 really stunk. And I've spent most of the month telling everyone who would listen just how bad it was. 

My father passed away on the very first day of the month. It's not that it was unexpected. We knew it was coming. I was just still very bitter about the manner in which he went out. Considering Dad was such a loyal Christian soldier, dementia is a brutal way to go out, both for him and for the family. My daughter flew home to be with us after the funeral on the 10th. She brought COVID with her and tested positive on the 12th. Then my wife on the 15th, then my other daughter on the 17th. So I knew what was coming next. Despite us isolating as much as possible, I finally tested positive on the morning of the 18th, a couple of hours after I took my oldest to the airport. Thankfully, we're all vaxxed and boosted and none of us really got a bad case. But my cold symptoms have lingered for several weeks. On Monday the 22nd, my wife called me in the afternoon. After her first day back from school she was involved in a car wreck in which both cars were totaled. Ultimately, she was OK but there was bruising and soreness. Our wedding anniversary was on the 24th and we were both too exhausted to do anything. On top of that, we now have to buy a new car - which is something that both of us absolutely HATE. They don't make the model of her old car, so it's not like we can just replace it. Lower on the list, but still a problem was that our air conditioner went out and we had no air for just over a week. 

As you can imagine I welcomed September with open arms. But then I watch a few news segments and I'm reminded of how fortunate I am. 

No one is trying to take away the decision process of what I do to my body. No one is trying to make laws that forcefully oppress who I am as a person or who I choose to love. I'm not an author, so no one is trying to ban anything I wrote that can help possibly confused kids learn about their place in society (seriously, it's 2022...book banning?). I'm also fortunate enough to have been educated in a way that allows me to think for myself. I know better than to blindly follow former terrible presidents regardless of what illegal things they've done. I have drinking water. My cost for five years of college was less than what we paid for my daughter's freshman year. Odd are, I'm not going to get shot in the back if I run from the police. It's painful to realize that's a thing AND that people deny it's a problem. 

So in the grand scheme of things, yes, August is gone and I'm glad. But as depressing as it is to watch or read the news, it does put things in perspective for me. 

And for that, I'm thankful. 

What Will It Take?

 Last night, I watched the hearing of the January 6th Capitol Riots. I had been following along closely, so I didn't expect to really hear anything new. Through news stories, newsletters and several blogs, I had a pretty good idea of who the main culprits were and what had transpired. 

What I didn't expect was the rage I felt when I saw it all in one collection. It was jarring. 

Dating back to when Trump first started running for office, I took note of all the stupid things he said and did. And every day, I told myself, "even hard core right wingers won't let this guy get anywhere near the primary, they don't hate America that much". And every day, I was disappointed. When he was elected and (gulp) celebrated, it occurred to me that this is how a large portion of Americans felt. The absolute sewage that was spewing out of his mouth, they were buying. 

So for the 2020 election, I think a fair percentage realized maybe this wasn't a good idea. I mean sure, they hated Hilary (though I bet if she had a pair of testicles that wouldn't be the case), so they HAD to vote for Trump. But there's a better option now, and I haven't been to a restaurant in a year and a half. So I'm going in the opposite direction. 

Then there's that contingent of everyday folks who, for whatever reason, just won't give up. No, no, no, Trump is being persecuted for what he's saying. He's right about voter fraud. (Turns out he WAS right about voter fraud - like from his own Chief of Staff). He's right that election was rigged. Biden sux, Hunter's laptop, Benghazi, blah blah blah. I'll give old Donald this - he knows how to appeal to a crowd. HIS crowd. 

But if you watched last night's hearing and didn't come away with what many of us have known all along - that Donald J Trump is a con man and one of the most narcissistic humans currently on the planet, then I have to ask you. WHAT WILL IT TAKE? What else has to happen before you begin to question that this man only has his best interests at heart? Is it admitting that you were wrong? Is it just that hard to do in today's society because you enter the made up cancel culture wing of humanity? I have news for you, WE WILL FORGIVE YOU. You thought he would drain the swamp but instead added more vermin. WE'RE NOT HOLDING A GRUDGE. I mean, what really happened other than the loss of freedoms to individuals everywhere and a world wide pandemic that could have been severely restricted? WE WILL TAKE YOU BACK!

Now, for the rest of you, who STILL think DJT got railroaded and he has burned it in to your brain that this is (checks notes) "the greatest political witch hunt in history", if you think, after watching the videos of  rioters at the capitol, were (reviews tweets and video) taking in a tour, if you think, after seeing Bill Barr refer to the rigged election claims as "bullshit", that Dominion was changing red votes to blue ones and that AOC and Nancy Pelosi were mandating that anyone crossing the border to register to vote RIGHT THEN AND THERE, then I can't help you. You, my friend, are left to side with the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. That's some set of peers you have there. My guess is you are extremely pissed off about the BLM honcho who filtered money to buy a house, but you don't understand what the fuss is about storming the capitol on the day they are supposed to certify an election. 

So tell me. What will it take for you to admit that THIS MAN DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOU. It has been evident for some time that he got pissed off when President Obama made fun of him at the correspondent's dinner and he wouldn't let it go. He ran for president because it was fun. It was so much fun that he continued to campaign throughout his presidency, playing to crowds, badmouthing his adversaries, and leaving the day to day work to his handpicked cronies, who were some of the worst White House officials in history. He played golf more than any president history. He steered business to his own privately held interests by design.

You know it, I know it, and the rest of the world knows it. He should be in jail for several things. 

What else are you waiting on? 

I'm Sick of #metoo (let me explain)

Before you get your pitchforks and cattle prods, I have to detail why. It's not for the reason you think. I'm not a cro magnon cave man. Or a Tim Allen fan. 

Here lately, I've gotten pretty tired of hearing the phrase #metoo. In the past week, I've been hearing it a whole lot more. Why? because of the Urban Meyer story at Ohio State. Meyer kept someone on staff who (wink wink) may or may not have beaten his wife on a regular basis, and Meyer knew about it. He also lied about it at a press conference. (side note: I could have told you what a piece of cow dung I think Meyer is over a decade ago when he was a Florida, but no one asked). 

Naturally, because this is the biggest college football story happening a couple of weeks before the season starts, EVERYONE is talking about it. And make no mistake, that is a good thing. I hope someone somewhere is saying, "wait, I don't have to put up with this? I'm leaving him". What bothers me is the context in which many in the media are using the term #metoo. 

• There's heightened sensitivity to the Zach Smith case because of the #metoo movement
• Did Meyer do all he was supposed to? It would seem that in the #metoo age, he could have done more
• You can't bury these types of transgressions, especially in the current #metoo climate

So let me get this straight, we should pay MORE attention to this victim because of the current client? If Harvey Weinstein had never happened, would Courtney Smith be branded a gold-digging money grabber? It's almost as if I could imagine someone saying, "Don't worry, all this #metoo nonsense will pass and we can go back to the good old days of keeping your women in line. But this damn #metoo movement means we actually have to deal with an entire coaching staff (and their wives) knowing that someone is being abused and OK, gosh I guess we should do something about it, but I really need to keep this guy on staff because his grandfather was a legend at the school". 

If you're prefacing your dialogue about the Urban Meyer story with "with the #metoo movement", you are still missing the point. You're almost saying it used to be OK, but it's not anymore. Newsflash, it was NEVER OK. 

Trumpers......what else will it take?

I'm guessing that there are people who voted for Donald Trump because emails and Benghazi RAWR RAWR RAWR. Fine, you didn't like her, even though she was qualified. You were SURE that Secretary Clinton was dirty. And every time someone blasted Trump through the first year and a half of his presidency, you cried, "OBAMA STARTED IT". Whatever.

But I'm having a hard time today understanding why it would be so hard to say, "You know what we tried something new and it didn't work." Is it just about admitting you're wrong? Hell, you're not an adult until you can admit that you were wrong. It's a rite of passage for everyone except our commander in chief. I'm having a hard time understanding how, despite what literally every country in the world is saying, you want to defend this man. Ronald Reagan didn't even warrant this much loyalty.

I'm genuinely curious what it would take for any Trump supporter to reverse course and say, "I can't support this man any more". The only groups who benefit from a Trump presidency are friends of the Donald and comedians. If a man flying to Finland to meet with someone who engineered the greatest assault on democracy in recent history and then pulling down your pants to moon the very country who "elected" you doesn't turn your stomach, I'm going to have to assume at this point you are a racist, sexist, blowhard who doesn't give a shit about anyone but white protestant males.

The Beginning of Football Season

You can argue that college football starts the weekend before Labor Day, the first days of fall practice, or when rivalry games start. Me, I say it starts with Media Days. Which is tomorrow for the SEC. You know. The only conference that matters (of course I'm kidding).

Coaches of each team bring three representatives from the team to answer a myriad of questions. The good, the bad and the ugly. And even though all of these coaches and players have probably answered 75% of these questions before, they'll bite their tongue and answer them again with a smile. Before you ever poo-poo any of these coaches and players, follow them around for a full week and then ask yourself if you could show the same restraint.

Anyway, the Bulldogs are certainly in a better place this year than they were last year. You won't find many people who don't think the Dawgs will win the East, and that's even with the East getting better in the off season with coaching. I can't help but think we are in a good position to get back to playoffs, so let me reiterate what I tweeted out in January. Especially after reading this article.

Granted, I wrote this still feeling bummed about being a play or two away from the championship, but reading about the officiating in that game only made it worse. Normally, I always feel like you should play the game so that the referees can't affect the outcome of the game, but that officiating hurt us at key times, all in the second half.

So I go into the 2018 season full of hope despite all the key personnel losses. I think losing Roquan Smith will hurt the most. But talent is just gushing into Athens right now and Kirby is probably a better coach that we gave him credit for in 2016. As is Mel Tucker, Jim Chaney, etc.

Yep, everything is going according to plan.......

Go Dawgs!

I'm tired of this

I started this little diary in July of 2006. It's a nice little outlet for me to rant.

However.....

Since that time, there have been:

• 190 school shootings in the US
• 243 students killed
• 343 students injured

The news yesterday from Santa Fe, Texas that 10 people had been killed at a high school seemed to overshadow the news that there was another shooting just south of Atlanta later that night in which one person was killed and another was injured after a graduation ceremony. 

I'm trying my hardest not to become numb to news of a school shooting. But it's very hard. I would imagine most are like me. We pay attention and we shake our heads in disgust. But we only seem to give our attention to the ones that happen when there are multiple fatalities. So my condolences to the families of those who were killed in Jonesboro, GA, simply because "only one person lost their life". 

I read a very poignant opinion recently (after another school shooting; God help me, I can't remember which one) that summed it up for me. Everyone wants to find a solution for this madness. However, most of the solutions offered up by liberal-minded people involve preventing a catastrophe from happening. Most solutions offered up by conservative-mined people involve minimizing the damage after the fact. I chewed on that for awhile and it's relevant. Most liberals would rather take away the option of having the ability to slay dozens of people in 30 seconds. Conservative approaches (more armed officers at school, equipping the teachers with guns) want to take out the shooter after it starts so they can prevent the shooter from killing even more people. That means someone still dies. 

My wife is a teacher and I still have a daughter in high school. I never imagined there would be a time when I thought I would say to myself, "Jeez, I hope they both finish so they can get out into the real world and be safer than they are at school." But that's the thought I have every day. How is it that my oldest daughter, who lives in the second largest city in the US, seems to be safer than someone who is in school seven hours a day? 

All this to say, I don't have all the answers. But thoughts and prayers are not, and never really have been, a part of the solution. But that's what we get. 

And I'm tired of it. 

Safe Spaces? Liberals didn't invent them.

I typed this over a year ago and forgot to publish. It still holds true.

Periodically, I hear conservatives talk about how ridiculous "safe spaces" are. You know safe spaces, right? It's those places we liberals had to escape to because Donald Trump somehow won the highest political office in the land, and we needed a place to cry. There were even stories about colleges shutting down for the day and offering counseling. Turns out, some of that was little exaggerated, but the point remained - these lefties just can't handle the real world.

What I find most interesting is that safe spaces weren't really first used by those who are more tolerant of others' cultures. The oldest and most widely known safe space was created by a group who just couldn't stand that other people were acquiring basic human rights - the KKK.

At some point a long time ago, a bunch of butt-hurt white people got together and were disturbed that black citizens (I use that word loosely, based on what they were actually allowed to do back then) had the gall to assimilate themselves into American society. They're trying to take our jobs, our homes, OUR WOMEN! We need to assemble a group of just us whiteys where we can't be bothered by a group of people who are barely allowed to cross the street without being lynched. I mean, they don't have anything, so it's important that we keep them down. So let's make a pact. We need to keep America whhyyyyyyte.

Lunch counters, public transportation, voting booths, schools. You name it. The Klan didn't want those people anywhere. And before you say that was a long time ago, A) that's my point and, B) Country Clubs were still under fire as late as the 1990's for not allowing black members.

What were they doing? They created safe spaces LONG before decent people wept at the thought of a man who bragged about forcing himself on women was elected to lead this country.

I totally met the welfare queen

I saw a black woman coming out of the grocery store with a carton of cigarettes, a case of beer and three lobster tails and she paid for them all with food stamps. She had a Louis Vuitton purse and clothes from The Limited. Then she got into a Cadillac Escalade and drove off.

I am so tired of hearing that same story for the last…...I don’t know, 30 years? How is it that EVERYONE has the same tale? Curiously, this story ALWAYS comes from someone who is either slightly racist, or thinks the gub'ment is enabling lazy people.

Right after I got married, I did see someone who was using food stamps that got into a new(ish) car. It was at Cub Foods in Atlanta. This very young white couple were using some food stamps on some, not all of their groceries. I couldn't tell you what they were buying. I mean, I forgot that it was my business to judge other people in the checkout line at the grocery store. Please forgive me. Anyway, we were not far behind them and noticed that they loaded their purchases into a brand new (or maybe just very clean and 1-2 year old)......Toyota Tercel. Now admittedly, I'm not a car guy but I do know that when it was time to buy my very first car, I was having to decide between the Tercel and a Hyundai Excel. Those were pretty much the two cheapest cars on the market. The only reason I didn't get the Tercel was because it didn't come with a radio or air conditioning - those were ad-ons. So basically, the "new" Tercel that these "lazy welfare" recipients had the gall to get was a far cry from the Cadillac that always gets thrown into these stories. Why didn't that couple sell their car so they could buy food? Since the citizens of that county had refused time and time again to allow public transit system out into "our suburbs", you really needed a car to get around and you know, WORK. What's that you say? Why don't they move closer to the city? Because as any urban dweller knows, the closer you move to the city, the more expensive the rent. I don't know these folks from Adam. I don't know their backstory. Maybe they bought the car and then one of them lost their jobs. Maybe they inherited the car. The point is, everyone has a story and to judge them based on what you see them buying at the Piggly Wiggly makes YOU the idiot.

Are liberals dumb enough to think that people don't commit welfare fraud? Absolutely, fraud goes on, just as it does EVERYWHERE. What pisses me off beyond belief is that most people don't know what welfare even is. They just think that everyone in a housing project graduates from high school, has a party, then the very next day walks down to the federal building and says, "sign me up for welfare". Everyone in the office politely gives them everything they ask for, and this person will be living off of the backs of hard workers like you and I for the rest of their easy, free-loading lives. Then they file taxes and get refunds every year of $5,000 to $10,000 If that were true, don't you think more people would do it? Then why do 65%-75% of the adults who receive public assistance WORK? And that studies show that 30%-40% of the dollars distributed in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and TANF (Temporary Assistance To Needy Families) programs are for children?

If someone wants to debate welfare fraud with me, I make sure we know what we're talking about. SNAP? TANF? SSI? This person you saw in the store - what were they receiving? Can you give me your stats? I find that usually shuts down the argument before it starts. To have all of the information we have today, and still believe myths that have persisted for years (with no foundation for truth) is CHOOSING to be ignorant. Of course, we have a president that has made that acceptable.

The Racists' Battle Cry

Several months ago, someone said something to me that stuck. But then it was amplified after more racists came out of the woodwork after the Charlottesville incident.

No one THINKS they are a racist. I mean, other than the ones parading around right now as Neo-Nazis and KKK members. They of course, admit it. Charles Barkley once said that he'd rather deal with a Klan member because he KNEW how he felt about him. He wasn't so sure about everyone else. And he's got a point. The KKK may be dangerous, but at least you know where they stand. Currently, 35% of the people in this country stand firmly behind President Trump. Now, I doubt that entire group is supportive of a racist attitude, but let's say it's half of that. Still a lot. But we don't know who they are. They live and walk among us. But we can't deal directly with them because they could be anyone. They're neighbors, co-workers, soccer moms, restaurant owners, and everything in between. But I bet if you asked them they don't think they're a racist. They say things like:

"I don't hate ALL black people, just the ones who deserve it".
"Why do they have to act like that?"
"All the crime is in the black neighborhoods"

As bad as these are, there's one statement that really flags them:
"I'm not a racist, I have black friends"

That's the clue. If you have to justify what you say as being OK by stating that you have black friends, that seems to be the last ditch effort to convince others (as well as themselves) that you should accept their words. It's OK, I have the blessing of other blacks to say these racist things. The problem is, they think of those "black friends" as black first and friends second. Racists identify everyone by traits. And first and foremost, race is how they first describe them.

Be wary of those who say they have "black friends". They carry racism as a recessive gene. They just don't know it.

When It Finally Hits

This is her driving off. No more school, no more internships, just off to her job while we're off to the airport.  All the other times I've hugged her goodbye had a different feel. Even though I told her on the eve of going to college, "this house will feel different the next time you come back", I knew it wouldn't feel different to ME. And when she jetted off to LA for the internship, it never had the feel that this was it. Today had that feel. 

Occasionally some will ask what the hardest part of raising kids is. I suppose that I always felt it would be different for each parent. I dreaded not getting any sleep during those first few years. Turned out it wasn't so bad. Despite stacks and stacks of well meaning books, there really isn't a manual. So you hope that you and a spouse can make the best decisions so that your kids don't turn out to be an amplified asshole version of yourself. Sometimes that happens before you realize it. In our case, I have to give credit to my wife. My oldest child didn't put me through one tenth of what I did to my parents. So she turned out really well. And each time we hugged goodbye,  I never worried about her as much. She was ready. Ready for college, ready to fly across the country, whatever. So basically, everything we've been preparing her to do, she's going to do it. And all I could do was watch. 22 years in the making. All of our life lessons, lectures, nagging, etc. All so I could feel like a million bucks AND have a broken heart at the same time. You want to know the worst part of being a parent? This is it-letting go.

My smart phone is not making me stupid, YOU ARE

I'm surprised in this day and age that people keep repeating cliches as much as they do. One of my LEAST favorite cliches is that smart phones are making us dumber. Thirty years ago, none of us even had personal computers and now we all literally carry one around everywhere we go. There's more information at our fingertips than every before.

But you're thinking "that's not what people use phones for!", and you'd be right. At any given moment, there probably are a lot of people using their smart phones for just social media or games. So I guess what I object to is when someone says it makes ME dumber. Do you know why I'm reading my phone when I'm around you? Because you bore the piss out of me. You drone on and on about things that probably aren't true. And since I don't have to go grab a newspaper anymore, I can open up an app and read news from around the world. When you tell me that President Obama is really a citizen of Kenya, you know why I get on my phone? So I can take those nugget of bullshit and look it up. I mean, I'm not gonna tell you you're wrong because, hey, you saw it on ONE SITE the internet so it must be true. I'm on my phone because I literally don't care about what you're saying. So I'm reading. Checking the news. Looking to see how my team is doing. A long standing group text with my high school buddies. And yet, you keep interrupting me with drivel.

When people used to read magazines and novels, did prognosticators say that it was the end of modern civilization because people didn't talk to each other any more? When TV's began appearing in every living room, did they say that people don't socialize any more and we're all doomed? (Maybe they did, but they were wrong).

What I find ironic is that the very same people who are complaining about people being on their phones too much are the very same people WHO ARE ALWAYS ON THEIR OWN PHONE. Guess it's OK, then.

Next time you see someone on their phone around you in a social situation, I want you to consider the very real possibility that they may be on their phone because what they're looking at is much more interesting than you. That's right. You probably got bumped by Angry Birds or Kim Kardashian's twitter feed. Try being more interesting. At least more interesting than those two things.

College football fans are stupid

Pick a message board for any college football team. Any team, it doesn't matter. There are about 125 fan bases right now wondering why they didn't have the season they thought they did.


"I don't understand why we can't be as good as "
"We should be playing for championships every year"
"Our QB/WR/CB is terrible"

No one THINKS they are an armchair quarterback. Everyone IS an armchair quarterback. And truth be told, the power boosters who actually run a program are not much different. It's just that they have money and influence.


The average Joe is just that at his job - average. And that's with no one taking to the internet to critique the jobs THEY do (by they way, I would literally pay money to see that as sitcom). The average Joe doesn't have the access or the know how to run a multi-million dollar business like a college football program. Yet there is no shortage of those who think they can.

So collectively, college football fans are stupid. Most of us are just some sad version of Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite.

Welp......

I had already decided early in the season that whatever happened this first year with Kirby, I was going to overlook it. And I still feel that way. I know there are examples of coaches that come in the first year of a program and win in dominating fashion, but there are plenty of examples where they don't. Kirby said at the beginning of the season that the Bulldogs just did not have enough depth. Turns out he was right. Did he make mistakes? Absolutely. But Georgia has had seasons where, if a few key plays had not gone our way, we would be 8-4 instead of 10-2. I think we just hit it this year. Better times are ahead. Go Dawgs!

I'm a quitter

I did it. I quit Facebook. I didn't do it the right way - I didn't announce it and wait for the ensuing pity party, "OMG, please don't go, We'll miss you, BLAH BLAH BLAH". You see those every once in awhile and you want to scream. Facebook is making us all dumber and more narcissistic. It's not Facebook's fault. They probably had no idea (back when they started it)  that the average human is so self obsessed. So I just stopped.

I had been thinking about it for awhile. I mean, I had hidden so many people that it was just becoming a news feed for me. And there's certainly better ways to get news than FB. I couldn't believe how many people - people I thought were intelligent and decent - were spreading stories that are absolutely full of crap. But I guess if it fits the narrative of what they believe, well then it must be true. I don't know who said it. but some brilliant mind captured it. "If it ain't true, it ought to be". Even before the stories started coming out about FB's role in the election and how they spread fake news stories, I knew something was amiss. Collectively, we used to look down on Wikipedia for being a shady source of information. Turns out, that community does a better job of fact checking than the average moron. God forbid we verify the source of information we consume. That takes time, and most people don't have time to verify the regurgitated BULLSHIT that they spread. 

I will miss seeing updates and pictures from people I really care about, but it's not like connecting to people is that hard any more. I really don't have much of a presence on social media anyway. It's been almost two weeks and no one has noticed that I'm not on FB. So I can do one of two things. I can sign on again and say "I'm back, bitchez!" Apparently that's good for some egos. Or I can just stay off and consume information from better aggregates. Which is what I will do for now. In the meantime, you'll just have to let me know when Angelina Jolie gets caught in a three way with Drake and Paul Ryan. Egad.

Well, it happened....

I hate election years. Just hate them. I'm not sure if it's because I'm a liberal and I'm surrounded by conservatives or if it's just because it brings out the worst in EVERYONE. I think the sad thing is that people are just uninformed. People read headlines, not articles. No one checks facts, or digs into root causes. I'm a root cause kind of guy. It's why my HR investigations take so long. People share news items or memes on social media without thinking of the consequences because, "it's important that people know how I feel". Maybe because no one has ever told them, "I don't give a shit what you think".

But we did it. We just put a child in the White House. Seriously, he's not a grown man. Twitter fights? Check. Bashing a comedy show that makes fun of him, EVEN THOUGH HE HOSTED SAID SHOW? Check. Calling actors names like "fat pig" and shaming sexual assault victims because they're not attractive enough? Can do. Co-mingling business with his political career? Done. And he's not ashamed and he has people defending what he did. 

Look, I'm not going to try to defend those folks that cried all day and hugged puppies in their safe space. I mean, if you're not white and male, I get where it comes from. But to hear people that fly confederate flags (because "heritage") tell me to "get over it because you lost" is THE most ironic thing that's happened. Most of them are just too stupid to realize it. They bitched and moaned every time Obama farted and now they don't understand why we can't just go along and give him a chance? Kiss my ass. Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving. 

This election is so 2016

( originally posted 9/28/2016)

You know how you sometimes start a blog and then forget about it? Me, too.

I would give almost anything if we could zip through the next 6 weeks just to avoid election coverage. The first debate is tonight and it will bring out the worst in people afterwards. My candidate is awesome, yours is awful! The really jacked up folks will see an article online that says, " completely shuts down/destroys on and YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT". By the way, stop reading those. Those are what intelligent people call 'clickbait' and you're regarded as a moron for sharing it with other people. Ever have to click through twelve slides to get an answer to the question in the title? They work off of advertising hits/clicks and they're using you to do it. And if you do see someone sharing it in an email or on social media, scroll right on by. 

Election season also puts Snopes and Politifact in overdrive. I follow both of those sites and I'm always amazed at what I see. Some of the stuff they review I think, no way, nobody in their right mind would believe that. Lo and behold, it will inevitably pop up in one of my social media feeds. A tip from me to you, if you ever see a really questionable story on a web site, find the "about" section of the page. Make sure that A) it's not a satire site and B) they don't already have an agenda. I mean, teapartytakeover.com is probably not going to do a story with a positive spin on Hilary Clinton ever, but where do they get their sources? From members? Any credible news sources? 

(if you answer "well the liberal media won't report on this....", please STAAAHHP. I'm going to have to beat you with Rosie O'Donnell's leather restraints. You know what the media reports on? Whatever gets the most clicks. That's right, you may be sick of hearing about Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the national anthem, but every time you click on the story or watch it on TV, you're telling that media conglomerate "I'm interested". That's called 'trending' and YOU are part of the problem, not the 'liberal media', dumbass)

Back to the election. My advice is this: whether you are a Republican, a Democrat, or a Libertarian (ok, OR a Green Party follower), you will want to vote along party lines. I don't understand why it's such a badge of honor to say, "I NEVER vote for a party, I vote for the candidate". Well, that's great, but there's usually a reason each candidate has a party affiliation. Because they buy into the platform of that party. Sure, they get money from the party, but they largely agree on most issues. It's called compromising (something Congress has forgotten the last six years). You may not like any candidates this year, and you wouldn't be alone. But ask yourself this - what if 15 million Americans decided not to vote this year just because they have to hold their noses to do it? Then ask yourself what would be the worst case scenario if the candidate you hate the most wins? 

Spend some time reading the party platforms, look at the history of what candidates have done in previous terms (not from what they said on TMZ) and then vote. Also, spend some time reading about your state and local elections. You'd be surprised what kind of crazy stuff gets done in local governments.

Although, Mississippi recently said slavery was bad, so kudos to their legislature for finally getting on board. 

Repost if......

I'm really tired of Facebook "friends" asking me to repost a message or picture if I'm against child abuse or breast cancer. I thought we agreed a long time ago, as a society, that those things were bayd M'kay? Rather, let's ask someone to repost if they are PRO child abuse/breast cancer, then go beat the crap outta that guy. Better yet, close out Facebook, get off your butt and go volunteer at an orphanage. I mean, since your concerned about the kids and all.
Also, drug testing every welfare recipient in this country won't save us $. It will, however, make drug testing labs very rich.
So repost if you are too lazy to look up facts or inaction suits you well.

How did we get this collectively stupid?

Georgia vs Florida

Occupy Jacksonville.

That is all.

Another Long National Nightmare OVUH!!

I have to admit, I don't really watch the NBA much, save the Atlanta Hawks. I'll turn on the finals every now and then, even if it's the Celtics/Lakers (yawn). But I am fascinated by they hype that the league generates. For what seems like six years now, Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets has been waiting to be traded. He's had his own by-line on ESPN's "bottom line" ticker since the start of the season. I'm not sure we gave this much attention to Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez.

Lucky for us, it's all over. He was traded to the Knicks in a 3-team deal. I think this is how it shakes out:

Knicks get: Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter, Renaldo Balkman, Kurt Rambis, Kermit Washington, Spud Webb, an assistant coach to be named later, a trainer, two extra posse members for Amare Stoudemire, a Pepsi Center ticket taker, three parking lot attendants, a director of Sales/Marketing, and a lower level popcorn vendor with a meth problem.

Nuggets get: Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, Corey Brewer, $3 miilion in cash, Steve Kerr, Chris Webber, Marv Albert's stilettos from the "biting incident", a 2014 first round draft pick, two 2014 second round picks, a 2021 second round draft pick, reminders in 2013 and 2020 that they have those picks, a security guard fresh out of Alcoholics Anonymous, an A/V nerd, four cheerleaders, two pictures of Bill Bradley in tight shorts, a book containing Isiah Thomas' greatest pick up lines, and a concession stand training DVD ("Beer Doesn't Pour Itself").

Timberwolves get: Anthony Randolph, Eddie Curry, and a book titled, "How To Pick Up And Move On When You've Been Screwed In An NBA Trade"

I've only been watching Sportscenter for 15 minutes this morning and I'm already sick of it. Sports Media is SO in love with this deal. Why? Because it might make the Knicks relevant again. And nothing is so important in this world as to have the teams in New York and Los Angeles be relevant. God forbid other teams be the center of attention for one entire season.

The NBA really sucks.

Killing time while being unemployed

At some point in time, being unemployed means running out of things to do. If you're a handyman, you've probably got an endless list of projects you can work on. But if you're not (and I fall in to that category), then you have to look for things to do to avoid becoming a couch potato. Sure, you can stumble on the internet, but it becomes as mindless as watching TV. And you really don't want to be "that guy" who constantly sends links to people you know to the point that when your name is mentioned in conversation, it's in the realm of "did he send you that web site link that had a picture of a chimpanzee dancing to 'Moon River'? That was atrocious."

Anyway, last week I began volunteering at my daughter's school. The week before I ate lunch with her and noticed that some of the teachers had "lunchroom duty". Which consists of, among other things, listening to complaints, opening ketchup packs, and wiping down the tables. I don't even know when they get to eat. Never the less, I figured I can wipe tables and open ketchup packets.

Now, I know a lot of these kids since I've coached some of them in softball and soccer. I can handle those kids. But if they don't know me as 'Coach' or 'Olivia's dad', then there's going to be a period of feeling me out. I must admit, they look at me like I'm a new guard in maximum security prison. They're curious to know if I'm going to rat them out for shanking another 2nd grader. Luckily, the other teachers know which ones REALLY have to go to the bathroom and which ones are just wanting to get out into the hallway so they can slip into the laundry room and carve up a soap bar into a zip gun.

I always thought I respected teachers for their dedication and passion. My wife is a 1st grade teacher so I KNOW. Working for an hour and a half in there each day, my admiration has grown even more. Teachers are paid so low because their salaries come from public funds. I will never, EVER complain about taxes anymore - knowing that teachers must truly believe in what they're doing but we're just low-balling them.