Stage 8... My critique on a mysterious untitled post...

I am knocking out the stage 8 blog a bit early because I read and liked Holly's mysteriously untitled stage seven post.  Her blog is "Looking farther than Red and Blue" and I assume she just forgot to put a catchy title on it, which has little impact unless you want to link just the post.  So if I am to critique something it would have to be that minor mechanics issue.

About the content, I feel she brings up a very good issue that should be a concern to just about everyone.  Food stamps and welfare are programs "designed" to help those in need make it threw tough times.  Holly give good statistical information that depicts the growing percentage of recipients getting food stamps in El Paso.  The numbers are a bit alarming since we (the working tax payers) are having to pay the bill.  Working class people avoid going out to eat at restaurants to save money, yet they are buying lobster, soda, and TV dinners for 25% of the the people in their community?  That is ridiculous!  I think Holly also does a good job pointing out the failing systems that are paid for and are supposed to benefit the working Americans like Social Security.  The Economy is like a ship, if you take on more water than you can bail out, you will eventually sink and die.  Well... the liberals in Washington that want to keep throwing vast sums of money at dead-end programs have currently put us in a situation where we are taking on more and more water and have less and less people to bail.  We are going to start sinking one of these days unless people in the important positions grow some attachments and cut the cord on generational free loaders!  (Holly's article has done a good job getting me wound up).

Holly also closes her post with a spectacular quote by Benjamin Franklin, which somehow fits her article perfectly even though it was written 200+ years ago.  I also agree with Mr. Franklin... you buy a man a fish, some Doritos, a few T-bones, and cable TV and he will throw a BBQ for his friends (then say he needs more more more).  Teach a man to fish and get off his lazy ass and earn his own living, and he will tell his friends to bring over their own food and get a digital converter box!  How is this a hard concept?  What happened to Darwin?  Sink or swim... throw someone into the water you will see how fast they get to shore.


Signing off,
Dan-O

What to do about those pesky drug cartels...

It seems our neighbors to the south are having a bit of a problem with some drug cartels along the border regions...  Ok, ok, I know I understated the seriousness of the situation down in Mexico-land.  For those people who are hearing about this problem for the first time, since 2006 roughly 28,000 people have been murdered in a bloody turf war between rival cartels and the Mexican government (that is about half of the number of Americans lost in Vietnam for comparison).  Basically Mexico has completely lost control over large sections of their border and 1,000's of government and law enforcement personnel have been butchered as a warning to anyone that opposes their drug operations.  Although some people may think we should not be involved because it is Mexico's problem, unfortunately we (United States junkies) are the "demand" factor and the cartels are the very profitable "supply" part of the equation. 

There are only 2 options in a situation like this, either you stop(reduce considerably) the demand for the illegal materials or stop the supply.  Various news outlets have been headlining things like "Rick Perry is considering sending troops into Mexico!!", which seems a little sensationalized as media outlets like to do.  He probably would with co-operation with the Mexican government if they requested the help as the Colombians did back in the 80's.  On the supply side of the issue, I don't think it is a bad idea to send over troops to help, but with today's pathetic rules of engagement, the troops would be severely handicapped and scrutinized by the media at every turn.  I personally think if we send over some special operations teams (Delta force, seals, or spooks) and let them "send a message" back to the cartels by forming groups like Search Bloc and Los Pepes (Colombian death squads) we could get this problem to a manageable level.  Sending troops over will be about a affective as the British Napoleonic tactics in the civil war!  These cartels kill wholesale and even dismember people, you have to get your hands dirty if you want to send them a message they will hear.

The other option is to stop the demand in the U.S., which sadly enough, will probably be even less likely to happen.  We may be able to curb the demand by legalizing marijuana, but that is not really a solution, that would be a little like covering a stain with a different stain.  We could try to fortify the crap out of the border as well, which is something we should do regardless, but that may take a while and will most likely require halting the majority of traffic across the border.  I am curious what action our Government will eventually take, this problem is not going to go away on it's own.

 Thanks Y'all,

Dan-O 

My commentary of a Stage Five blog...

I have chosen to write a commentary on Carleen's Stage Five blog titled "Freedom or Equality." 

Carleen starts off this blog with a rant about how much she dislikes Texas and basically calls Texans obese, self-absorbed bigots that have little regard for the planet.  She also chose to write the first 1/3 of the blog about what the blog will not be about, which seems a bit off topic to me, and makes the overall work a bit confusing.  I personally think the blog would have been wonderful if she had chosen to focus the entire blog on the many unique governmental policies that make Texas a great place to live!

Moving on to the remaining 2/3 of her blog, she explains the basic value Texans place on  their personal freedoms and their right to make decisions for themselves.  On this portion of the blog I agree with Carleen and I think she does a good job explaining the two examples she provides of laws that allow Texans to make their own choice.  I have personally used both of her examples and I am glad they exist.  Many people choose to do things everyday that are potentially dangerous or that may not be good for them in the long run, but it is their choice, and that is the important part.  Another good example of freedoms we enjoy here is our ability to provide protection for ourselves and our families with a concealed weapon permit.  Many States do not allow this, but I know I feel safer knowing that anyone around me could be a responsible gun carrier that has the ability to react if a nut job pops up.  I think US government could take a lesson from the Texas state of mind, and learn that micro-managing the daily lives of it populous is unnecessary and unwanted.  I also agree with Carleen that living in Texas is refreshing and filled with friendly smiles!

Thanks Yall'
Dan

Education... The Governors responsibility?

A commentary on the debate our gubernatorial candidates are having over Texas education.

It would appear that once again education seems to be key issue in a political race.  This years contenders are incubate Governor Rick Perry in the right corner vs Bill White in the left.  Gov. Perry says during his tenure, Texas education has improved and more kids are taking college entrance exams, well it would seem he is right.  Mr. White is claiming the the quality of education is less than stellar and kids are dropping out more than previous years, well it would seem he is correct as well.  What does that mean you may ask?  It means that politicians always spin what they say and never give direct answers.  It means that what ever "hot" issue the political machine wants to make "hot", has 2,3,or 4 right answers, and that once someone is elected they will most likely do absolutely nothing to address it.

I may have sounded bitter and disgruntled at politics and politicians, but I am not.  They have a job to do just like everyone else and the bantering and debate just comes with the field.  If I am bitter about anything, it is the dim-witted electorate who allow these types of debates to flourish.  Education is important, and it seems every year more money is thrown at it, like that will fix the problem.  Texas is spending almost 60 BILLION dollars on education, which is the largest expenditure in the budget at over 40%!  Maybe one of the problems could be by 2005 over 50% of students are "economically disadvantaged", or that instead of building a $20,000,000 "sports complex" they spend responsibly, or why don't we realize that not every person is going to get or deserves to get a 4.0 grade point average (you don't need a degree to pump gas).  The most important of all, why don't we hold irresponsible parents accountable for their offspring's performance in school!  Uh oh, did he just say that?  Yes, most of the people who's kids do not do well in school just send their kids to school, don't want the school to discipline their little dirt bags, and expect them to pass with flying colors.  If schools would start holding parents accountable for their kids actions, maybe we would start having better results, parents may actually start parenting instead of treating the school system as free daycare.  Having school administrators that are not worried about getting sued or loosing their jobs wouldn't hurt either, bring back corporal punishment!

In closing, I think Texas (government) needs to focus on the real problems afflicting "our education system" instead of bantering about what they are not really going to do after they win an elected office.  If we really want improvement, we need to hurt some feelings and step on some toes, and quit wiping parents bottoms and hold people responsible for their actions.  Stupid gets what stupid deserves!



Thanks Yall',
Dan-O

Sources:
Dallas News
State Government
State Budget

Hmm...

A critique of:  The Burnt Orange report, written by Todd Hill, titled "Coming Out must be made easier" and "Our new TV add hits Rick Perry...", both written Oct. 14, 2010.

Howdy everyone.  I accidentally scrolled to the wrong blog assignment last time, so hopefully I have it right this time!  Last time I critiqued from a conservative blog so I figured I would switch sides and try a liberal one (from the recommended blog list). 

The first post you come to starts off about a Fort Worth city counsel member named Joel Burns, who apparently is openly gay.  The author continues briefly describing the counsel members words of hope to young gay people and praising his public address.  Unfortunately,  someone who is not a homosexual insider (like myself), is left wondering what the "LGBTQ community" is, since it it referenced numerous times in this post without explanation.  Due to the nature of the article I can speculate, but I am not sure these days what is "politically correct" so if  lesbian-gay-bisexual-transvestite-queer community is offensive or wrong I apologize.  The author continues for the next paragraph describing his own sexual preferences and the struggles a gay person may face when in or out of the closet.
One thing that I have always found perplexing is why gay people are so vocal about being gay, it seems if the "lgbtq community" wanted to be treated like everyone else, than wouldn't it be good to actually act like everyone else (not a reference to sexual preference).  Do people hold "strait parades" and "strait rallies", do strait politician reach out publicly and urge young people that being strait will get better?  My guess is that the "lgbtq community" likes being different and the attention they garnish.  This blog also states that suicide rates for gay teens has spiked, what about strait teens, nerds, or drug addicted teens?  Do "nerds" get a break these days and I am just way out of touch? (I have been out of school for well over a decade).
 On another note, is it even appropriate for an elected official to be using his/her position as an official to address his/her sexual preferences publicly.  What would people say if I was an elected official and went on a tangent talking about some fetish I may indulge in (wow this is hard to write about without sounding like a bigot accidentally).  Continuing on in the post the author tells of the political bantering that is afflicted on basically every minority group on the planet and how harmful it can be.  He does close with a nice and hopeful statement of possibility and prosperity for the future.

The second post is simply a distasteful and intentionally misleading political advertisement aimed at Gov. Rick Perry.  This post and add are both ridiculous and dishonest, stating numerous times that the Texas State Governors mansion is "his" as if he owned it!  Well right along side should be an advertisement bashing Obama for spending millions of dollars refashioning and powering "his" White House!  Just plain stupid, and a bit hypocritical since in the previous post he semi-blames "drastic increase in hate mongering and nasty, spiteful rhetoric we've seen from political discourse today" for the troubles of gay teens!

This article is most likely written for anyone who reads it, targeting no particular demographic as far as I can tell.  I think the author is well written, but makes claims without providing any sort of statistical information for comparison.  I find the blog to be a worth while read, however I do not agree with the political viewpoint of the author.

Thanks Yall',
Dan-O

P.S. If at anytime I came across as politically incorrect or offensive it was completely unintentional, I hold no malice or discontent with the "Lgbtq or gay communities"... whatever that stands for.

The Blame Game...

A critique of:  "A return of the Bush policies? Yes, please."

This article gives a brief synopsis of some of the many things that the Democratic Party personnel like to claim/blame is a result of President Bush's time in office.  I think this type of "not my fault" mentality is one of the core problems with our steadily declining society.  The Texas Rainmaker clearly points out that what some politicians say should be taken with a grain of salt or completely ignored.  The sad truth is that many people hear things like "... is all Bush's fault" and pursue the cause fervently with out a second thought, like chickens, spook one and they all run.  Hopefully some day this general (and ignorant) mentality will fade, people will start using the gray matter between their ears, and start taking responsibility for their thoughts, actions, and opinions. 

It is easy, take a simple example: I speed all over town during my busy day driving here and there.  When I get pulled over by a police officer, I don't blame him/her for writing me a ticket, the guy ahead of me going just as fast, or even my wife who is "in labor and needing a ride".  I just say "ya, I was driving a little faster than I should" and take responsibility for my actions, if your gonna do the crime, don't cry about the time.  And believe it or not, more often you will get a warning for being refreshingly honest, at least that is how it plays out for me.

I agree with the author and I think it is great that he can take an example of the blame game, see threw the muck, and turn it into a positive.  This article is written in a conservative blog but is a worth while read for any affiliation.  It would be refreshing if "news media" would critique more of the political whitewash with factual breakdowns instead of interviews with "political insiders" that just throw a different color on the same old paint.  When reading a blog or article that states information in a factual or statistical manner we assume that it is presented accurately, and with that in mind, I think this is a credible argument.  On a different note, top article on the Texas Rainmaker is a fine example of how stupid some politicians are... and I bet she blames the Conservatives for her actions some how.

Thanks yall'
Dan-O

Formula 1 is coming to town!

*I am not sure if this post can be considered "about Texas government", but it seems to be a topic of some contention, and the Texas government people sure have their fingers in it.

I keep pinching myself to see if I am dreaming when I hear news about the F1 track coming to Austin and the United States Grad Prix being held here in our backyard in 2012.  As a fan of open wheel racing (namely F1 and GP2) and motorcycle racing there could be no better possible outcome than to have a purpose built F1 track so close to home.  Some people are in complete agreement with me and some people just want to complain about the project for the sake of complaining.  People who support the track are looking forward to being able to enjoy a wide verity of motor sports, not being forced to drive 3-15 hours to see an event, and looking at the economic impact (surplus) that a track like this will bring to Central Texas and the benefits to it's citizens.  F1 is the most expensive sport on the planet!  Where there is big expense, there is big money.  This type of event is broadcast live all over the planet, and will bring in people from all over the globe, increasing tourism and commerce.  An increase in commerce is an increase in tax revenue, which in turn increases how much money is pumped into our government and civic project. 

Opponents tend to complain about tax payer money being spent on such a project, the noise, and the congestion that may arise from such a large venue.  Most of the complaints seem to be unfounded or of a personal nature that I have read about.  The articles that I am linking give a little insight into where the track is going to be, what hurtles the promoters have to overcome with government agencies, and the economic and employment (and political) impacts the new track is estimated to bring to our local economy.

About the site
About the hurdles

Thanks,
Dan