10 Things you don't want to be exciting

Excitement.  When we are young it seems that is what we crave.  We want new exiting experiences.  Businesses when they are recruiting employees use the term to describe themselves; An exciting work environment with exciting opportunities in the field of excitement.  Well there are a lot of things that you don't want to be exciting.  not at all.  in fact what you want is boring and mundane.  For example:

- Meetings - Well Mark, nothing could be further from the truth!  I WISH a meeting would be exciting.  You think so?  If a meeting is 'exciting' that means that the people running it are trying to 'motivate' you to something.  Other exciting meetings include the ones where you get fired/laid off.  Otherwise, exciting meetings also seem to take longer and eventually devolve into the not so exciting kind.  The worst part about this is by the time you get out of the meeting, you forget all the things you got excited about at the beginning.  Now all you can remember is the same people asking the obvious sycophantic questions that make a 1/2 hour meeting go an hour long.

- Trip to the Dentist - The Dentist is arguably the most exciting thing you do or should do regularly.  The reason is most people are hyper aware of the new and exciting pain.  The BEST trip to the dentist is a boring trip to the dentist.  In order to make it so, you need to brush and floss regularly.  This is also best when it's boring.

- Sleep - Exciting sleep?  Well, the only reason SLEEP is exciting is because you had some very realistic bad dream that suddenly wakes you up screaming.  Even if you enjoy it, it is not a good way to get a good nights rest.

- Military Service - I have never served in the military, but I have to assume that very few people that enter into the military want excitement.  Excitement in the military usually means some kind of war, which means some kind of injury or death.  Not the kind of excitement anyone is really looking for.  From friends that have served in the military I have heard that military service is typified by long stints mind numbing boredom with sudden brilliant life endangering bits of unwanted excitement.  Military Video Games seem to be very exciting in exactly the same way you DON'T want regular military service to be.

- Elevator - There is one intentionally exciting elevator trip and it's called the Tower of Terror.  The name itself should tell you why a normal elevator ride should be at best forgettable.  When you are a kid, elevator rides are pretty exciting.  You get into this magic box you and there are lit up buttons  and then suddenly you are somewhere else.  It's pretty amazing.  It's even more amazing when you find that you are many feet up in the sky.  That excitement wears off soon and you don't want it to be exciting again because elevator excitement is usually followed by a long stint waiting in that box.  With any luck you are alone and don't have to go to the bathroom.

- Exercise - When I'm talking about exercise, I'm talking about the repetitive motion of weight lifting or running or biking or anything that you are doing to get in better shape.  I'm NOT including a sport that happens to have exercise benefits since the reason you play is compete and competition is normally exciting.  Regular exercise is good for you and all that.  The problem is when exercise gets exciting because you suddenly feel an ache or pain that you really weren't expecting.  It takes you out of your rhythm and makes you worried not to mention takes you out of your routine.  Regular exercisers do not like to be taken out of their routine for any reason much less because they are possibly injured.

- Taxes - Boring taxes are the ones where you take some time to do your taxes and then you find that you are owed or you owe somewhere around 200 dollars give or take.  Exciting taxes are where you suddenly find that you owe several thousand and you had no idea.  Even more exciting taxes are when you are audited because your return seems fishy since you probably don't know if you did your taxes quite right.  What's that? You think the returns where you get a couple of thousand back are pretty exciting?  Sure until you realize that the money you got back from your friend the Government is the money they have been using interest free until they send it back to you.  It was YOUR money to begin with.  This is similar to a bully that has been taking your milk money all school year and the teacher makes that bully give it back to you.  The bully doesn't have all of it, but you get about 1/2 of it back and you are happy.  Foolishly happy since it was your money to begin with.

- Work commute - Exciting work commutes are usually typified by either crazy drivers or bad weather or both.  You get home much later than you normally do with white knuckles and memories that will last for a long time.  The boring commutes are much better.

- Food - Of course some people will disagree with me on this.  Exciting food is great! sure.  Only if it's exciting because it's so good.  The problem is if you start trying food because you want to be excited, you will find at least as much bad food as you find good food.  I've found that I will be much more satisfied with somewhat boring food that is consistent rather than looking for the most excellent of bites to eat. Few things are as bad as bad food.



- Oil Change - You would think that oil changes could use a bit of excitement but honestly like taxes the only thing you want to hear is 'we noticed that your wiper bearings were a bit rusty and the Johnson Rod needed attunement, but we took care of it for you.  Thanks for coming in!'  The funny thing is, Getting your oil changed is like the Antiques Road show.  It doesn't matter WHAT the mechanic tells you about your car, you ONLY want to know the bottom line.  If that is exciting, that regularly means bad.






Well, boring or exciting, we have come to the end.  May all of your excitements be the good kind and I hope everything else is delightfully boring.

10 Windmill Tilters

It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks.  Don Quixote was the embodiment of the little guy trying against the inevitable and hence the phrase tilting at windmills.  This little phrase from the New Testament represents mans ineffective struggles against some things.  Hard to realize the value of a truth that you refuse to recognize.  These people are a lot more common than you realize.  They struggle and struggle against things that are just too big to fight.  The proverbial Davids against the worlds Goliaths except they lose and Goliath runs around doing a legendary victory dance because he was so big.

- I'm never shopping at Walmart - There are a few of these people that proudly proclaim that they don't shop at Walmart.  This lone voice in an overwhelming wilderness ends up being drowned out by the sound of people stepping into the store to cash in on their every day low prices.  Is Walmart a giant corporation devoid of conscience and willing to kill any mom and pop shop that stands in their way?  Probably.  On the other hand, I've never been that thrilled with the mom and pop shop.  Really, you go in and they don't have much to offer.  Higher prices, smaller selection, and usually someone running you out of the store if you don't buy something.  Go into Walmart and you can loiter around pretty much all day as long as you don't cause trouble.  By trouble I mean try to organize a union,  apparently they aren't too keen on that.

- I'm not Giving Disney 1 more dime - Disney has successfully positioned themselves to sell entertainment and merchandise to children from birth till they decide they are old enough to not like Disney's merchandise.  That average age is around 82.  They will start telling stories about how evil Disney is as a corporation (you know because a company's main objective is to make money and they are really good at doing that and if you are good at doing that, then you must be evil).  They will then tell you some story about how they were accosted by Disney goons after making a scene at the Carnation Pavilion, something about real animal fur being used for B'rer Fox's outfit.  So you spend the rest of your vacation days over at Universal Studios.  Good for you.





- Taxes?!  No WAY! - The non tax payer is a peculiar group.  Government as it is, is an automated sleeping giant.  It takes them a long time to notice anything that doesn't directly threaten them.  If you don't pay your taxes, you will start to be harangued by the IRS until you pay.  They do this by applying service fees and interest that is many times the amount of the taxes you owe.  They have the right to freeze your bank accounts until they get what they think is theirs.  They can garnishee your wages until you are paid up.  So the no taxes people work jobs that get paid in cash and they don't use banks.  They thumb their noses at the Should be Illegal IRS.  I'm with them in spirit.  Our government spends WAY WAY WAY too much money.  Unfortunately if you start letting people get away with not paying their taxes then pretty soon nobody will and then what do you have?  Well, whatever you have it's probably no good.  That's what they've told us.

- Libertarians - Poor Libertarians.  They like and don't like either political party very much.  They stand for an independent mode of thought. They thumb their collective noses at both political parties and proudly proclaim ownership of the TRUE spirit upon which this country was founded.  Freedom First!  Open Government, Open Elections!  Among the many phrases uttered by the Libertarian.  They claim the fastest growth of any political party anywhere!  This is where it becomes important to see that percentages for point in time numbers can be particularly misleading.  Honestly unless both other candidates are convicted felons, there is a small chance that the Libertarian candidate will be elected.  People don't like them.  They just don't fit in with the rest of the red and blue sheep.  I stand with them.  I agree with their political philosophy.  I find both the Red and the Blue to be so completely self righteous and misguided that neither of them are good for this country.  Kick.  Kick.

- Well I'll show them...-  The generic catch all of the disgruntled customer against brand X whatever it is.  This really isn't kicking though unless you actually do something about it.  Say you are still getting a bill from the Columbia record house music club for that 1985 Scritti Politti album you forgot to mail in the bill for and you now have a dark mark on your credit history (STILL).  They have you dead to rights since your little brother melted that vinyl album you didn't want in the microwave before you could send it back.  So you send them their money on a postdated check in that prepaid envelope.  The final kick is you glue that envelope to a cinder block so they will have to pay at least as much as you owe in the postage.  That'l show them!






- I'm off the grid! - The self sufficiency/minimalist group or the apocalypse group.  These folks are great with their dread locks and hacky sacks or alternatively their guns and their end of days.  Living on some plot of near worthless land in their tinyhouse, or in their bunker they dug out of their basement.  They generate their own electricity with a windmill and a solar panel or two.  They hook up a bicycle to a series of high storage batteries and carry their potty out to the 'pit' every so often.  These hippies live the simple life which of course means anything but.  There are elements of it that are appealing in the short term.  The whole minimalist attitude and getting by with what you need not what you want thing I think is probably a refreshing change from time to time.  The end of days folks are constantly preparing for and less than secretly hoping for the end of days which is code for electricity turns off and world governments are a shambles.  As a life style, it seems you spend more time avoiding the conveniences of life and showers than you spend actually enjoying life.

- We aren't watching TV/Internet - I'm not talking about cable cutters.  That trend appears to be succeeding over time.  I'm talking about the folks in the 70's and 80's that claim they didn't watch TV.  'Not in MY home!!!'  Their kids were always weird with a capital W.  Social misfits at best.  The analog to those people are the 'NO INTERNET IN MY HOUSE' people. Same idea.  They don't want to be connected.  They may have more reason than their Mennonite for bearers since the internet is now all about information gathering.  Some people are tired of the Internet or 'the beast' as they lovingly refer to it, knowing about their every move and desire.  And yet the terrific opportunities for everything that comes from the internet appears to outweigh the inconvenience of no privacy for most of us.  But they will proudly proclaim their ignorance to the Internet among other people gladly chatting with each other about the latest cat video.

- I refuse to work overtime - I try to be among these people.  There is an interesting trend in America that has gone on for decades that was started in the Protestant work ethic.  The idea is that if a company has hired you, you are their indentured servant for all of your time.  They own you and you should be glad to work and work and work.  It's bad company behavior like this that inspires unions to be created.  Yet there are many that will gladly give up their own time in order to make the company more money and keep a few more people unemployed.  I understand the point of giving good value for your employment.  On the other hand, handing away money (oops I mean time) for free to your employer doesn't serve anyone.  So I try to not work overtime (for free).  Of course there are the cases where I am compelled.  The competition for employment gives you the idea that you should show your company that you are a servant worthy of their hire.  Of course any company will gladly let you work yourself into an early grave, that's just fine by them, and when it comes time for layoffs, they will look at the person that doesn't work overtime and push them off the sinking ship first.  That's fine.  Being in a company that's on the ropes or has over extended themselves is no fun anyway.  They are probably doing you a favor.  Kick.  Kick.

- I'm going on a diet - This kick is against your own body.  Your body has told you time and again, It LIKES fats and sugars and salts and it DOES NOT like exercise.  It's not at all subtle about this message.  Every time you get up from your plate of rice cakes and carrots, it crys out for a round of frito's and chocodiles.  Every time you get up to exercise it begs you to go to bed instead.  For most of us, the dedication of healthy lifestyle can usually be summed up by vanity.  If your vanity is big enough you will continue to be healthy because for you health is a competition.  For the rest of us, it's an eventual losing battle.

- I am fighting this traffic ticket!!! - There you are going down the road just humming along.  You notice a speed limit sign and you wonder if it applies to you.  Then you see the gumball machine.  The local constabulary has decided to unfairly target you for going over the speed limit by 8 miles.  You are indignant!  you were going 10 over and he cut it down to 8, why couldn't he just let you off??  Well you won't stand for this!!!  You are going to fight this ticket.  In fact, you are going to follow this police man and make sure he stands up to all of the laws laid out in the traffic code!  You are going to be a modern day punisher execpt you don't kill peopl (comic book reference, sorry, look it up).  Then you pay the ticket.  But your intentions were right there.

Sure this blog was late and kind of wandered around, but hey, at least it's here right?  I didn't want to publish it on the 1st of april because it wasn't a joke.  Enjoy your spring.  maybe i'll be back in a couple of weeks or so.  Who knows?!?

10 Traits a hero apparently needs

A hero here , a hero there, there are lots of hero's on the big screen these days.  They are everywhere.  We love the hero, they are people we wish we could be.  But every hero has a few things in common with his fellow hero's.  Here is a few I thought of...

10 - Personal Tragedy - The hero's journey always seems to start with this.  Some kind of personal tragedy.  The interesting thing is that as characters, hero's need some kind of tragedy that is universal.  Usually the loss of a parent.  I've never seen anyone driven to a life of crime fighting because they got a C on a test or came home to find their pet hamster had died.   It has to be a genuine life changing event that usually ends in you losing one or both parents.

9 - No specific need for food - Hero's have an interesting life in that they rarely eat or use the bathroom.  Mostly this is because there isn't anything interesting happening at those times so why bother?  Besides, your average hero might not need those things anyway.  A notable exception is the Flash.  He's always gotta be eating because he burns up thousands of calories running as fast as he does, or even just standing still.

8 - Really dumb people around them - There is something about hero's that make everyone around them helpless and stupid.  It's not very far off to say that we are really that way.  When you call technical support and find someone that can answer your questions, you immediately turn your brain off.  Super Tech is here and will solve all the problems.  Same with driving.  When you are driving somewhere, you are master of time and space.  When you are a passenger, you barely know where you are, you leave it in the hands of the one with the steering wheel.

7 - No sense of self preservation - Hero's seem to rush into danger headlong.  You start to think to yourself, 'Yeah, I'd do that too if I had _____'  where blank is some power that helps the hero.  Well unless that hero is Superman and impervious to everything, you would still be giving yourself second thoughts.  Who want's to get burned? Drowned? Crushed?  Nobody.  But hero's don't really care.  It's probably because they lost their parents.

6 - Really smart person that replaces a parent - Now just because the hero has lost their family doesn't mean they don't have mentors.  A good hero will always have the one or two people that they talk to in order to help them out of a jam.  Usually this person is dispassionate enough to tell the Hero what they need to hear, but enough of a friend to stick by them through thick and thin.

5 - Super powers of some sort - Really without powers, you are just a dude that gets himself into other peoples business.  Once you have a selection of super powers, you are ready to take your show on the road.  Strength, Speed, ESP, There are loads of powers out there, just pick one and have at it.

4 - Weakness - Unfortunately a good hero needs a weekness.  Something for the bad guys to exploit.  Usually this weakness is uncovered by one of that hero's well meaning idiot friends.  Either by helping or by accident, the weakness always comes out.  The real weakness of any Hero is the friends and family they have around them.  Once a bad guy discovers that, they have a real edge.  Unless of course the Hero finds their friends and family.  Except the hero never looks for that.  I wonder why...hmmmm.

3 - No problems with money - Rich or poor, the hero always seems to have what they need.  In fact, sometimes money IS the super power.  Can you imagine Bill Gates in colorful underwear stopping crime?  I'm sure he can.  Since Heros are nearly invincible on a regular day, Money shouldn't really be a problem even if they aren't rich.  Spider-man always needs money, but doesn't need a car, The flash is faster than a car, Superman doesn't need anything.  Money is for regular mortals.

2 - Costume(s) - Speaking of colorful underwear, a Hero needs some kind of disguise.  Why?  primarily because they don't want to be identified as liable for all the collateral damage they wreak capturing criminals.  If you are going to be a hero, you need your anonymity.  After all, Just because Wonder Woman is a great crime fighter doesn't mean Diana Prince wouldn't like to see a movie sometimes.

1 - Your Tax dollars Hard at work - We already discussed that hero's don't need money, but under the pretext that they do, the best they can be is a consultant or entrepreneur.  Once in a while, they get into a profession of some sort that helps them solve crimes, but usually they rely on benefactors like the Government.  Fantastic 4, I'm looking at you.  Even Batman has Government contracts that make his company profitable.  Tony Stark (Iron Man) might as well BE the Government.  Wonder Woman works at the Pentagon.  If they aren't directly involved, Hero's are often in Law enforcement or Research fields, each heavily subsidized by tax dollars.  American way indeed.

There it is.  Think you're close?  Don't take the bait.  Just get a job and start paying into the debt hole.  You won't be the hero we want, but you will be the hero we need.

10 Things you pay

Hi, I'm back.  I'd have been here sooner, but you know, taxes.  Rather than rant about taxes and how I should probably be grateful to be paying them or some such nonsense, I'll expand this blog to everything about payment.  Buckle up, this is going to be a slow ride.

10 - The devil  - Pay the devil his due!  Often means to give credit begrudgingly to an adversary. That phrase isn't used much anymore.  It doesn't mean you can't pay the devil, assuming you can find him.  I'm pretty sure he takes most major credit cards.  Except Diners club.  I don't think he takes that.

9 - Sweat - Sweat equity.  The term would indicate you have already paid it, but you probably haven't.  If you are buying a house, you can sometimes discount the price with sweat equity, meaning you will agree to put in the lawn or some of the improvements on behalf of your contractors.  You'll probably do a better job, but you won't get a discount...or is that a credit?  I'm not sure, but you'll pay in sweat.

8 - Hell - Heaven never asks for a payment so to speak, but there is ALWAYS Hell to pay.  It's a bunch of trouble usually termed as a consequence of failed action.  If we don't get these files to Johnoson in Accounting, there will be HELL to pay!  This isn't particularly flattering of Johnson in Accounting because I believe once you've had hell to pay, you'd best give the Devil his due as well and Johnson's not THAT bad a guy.

7 - Your dues - Membership fees due at regular intervals.  But these are different dues.  These dues make no sense.  You've had to have been at a job long enough before you are considered for advancement.  This is called paying your dues.  In fact, any pre-requisite requirement for something, ESPECIALLY if it seems onerous and troublesome can be shortened to paying your dues.  Often the claim of someone that was passed over for advancement.  Hey!!! I've paid my dues!!!

6 - Blood and Tears - Sometimes coupled with Sweat (but not the equity sort) Blood and tears indicates a task so difficult, and requiring such sacrifice, that it would make you cry and sweat blood.  The term is a Biblical reference if you care to look it up.  I personally don't believe that anyone's difficult task is as hard as bearing the sins of the entire world.  It doesn't stop us using the phrase.  If you do use it, you are in grave danger of overstating the importance of whatever task you are describing.

5 - Ceasar - Yet another Biblical reference,  Render (pay) unto Ceasar that which is Ceasars is the first part of the phrase.  It means, you have to pay the things that require payment.  Funny that the Government assumes that they are one such institution that requires payment above all else.  I can actually think of no institution that is more wasteful and foolish with your money than Government.  No wonder they need it so much.

4 - That - You'll pay for that.  I've heard this one hundreds of times in the movies, but rarely in life.   When someone is warning you about foolish actions, they will often tell you that you will pay for those actions later.  It's only true part of the time, sometimes, especially in contests of skill,  you get off without paying a consequence at all

3 - Respect(s) - I'm not sure why you pay respect.  Which is different again than paying your respects.  One is giving someone the recognition they deserve.  I don't think this was a less rude version of paying the devils due.  Respects on the other hand is what you pay exclusively with someones passing.  You pay your respects to the family of the dead person and hope the deceased doesn't have to pay the Devil his due.  Why are they so close?  I don't know at all.  Bottom line, when you pay respect, it's to the living, when you pay more than 1 respect, it's to the dead.  I think it's so we can confuse visitors.

2 - The piper - You've got to pay the piper if you want to dance.  The funny thing here is, this means the same thing as having hell to pay EXCEPT you made a conscious choice that would lead to consequences that you will now have to pay for.  You may not have been fully aware of the consequences, but you knew they probably wouldn't be good.  There are other meanings, though.  He who pays the piper calls the tune.  Which is pretty self explanatory and yet teenagers often have a hard time grasping the concept.

1 - Attention - you pay attention.  When you have a deficit in attention, it's the same as when there is a deficit in the budget.  You owe more than you can pay.  Another strange thing to pay.  If you don't pay attention, there will be Hell to pay.  Does hell take attention as currency?  I don't know.  The other payment like attention is mind.  If you aren't paying any mind, you are being advised NOT to pay attention even though you already have.  I know, it's confusing.








Bonus - A dime - It's not included in the list because when the phrase is used, it is ALWAYS used in context of NOT paying.  It's usually a dime, you aren't paying but sometimes it's a red cent.  Also a scintilla which is even smaller than a red cent.  What ever it is, you ain't payin.







Well, you've been made to pay long enough.  Go on, get out of here.  You've got better things to do.

Top 10 elements of better society

so here we are, Tax time. When Government renews itself and there is just a hint of bureaucracy in the air. Certainly I'm no fan of taxes, in fact, the only people I know that are fans of taxes:

A. already have more than enough money or nowhere near enough
B. support whoever is currently in office

everyone else thinks taxes are for the birds. Yeah, sure, every government needs them, but isn't it also true that there is no existing government that has persisted. What would be the cause of this? There is only one answer. The government stopped serving it's people in one capacity or another. But lets look at this a little closer. How does a government stop serving it's people? In a government where officials are elected by democratic process it happens because the people that are content with government often occupy the middle of the political spectrum. When you occupy the middle, you are very likely to not bother voting because you are busy living life with family friends etc. This leaves the fringes of both sides of the political spectrum. The fascists and the communists. Of course those are extreme examples, but that's where they lean. These are the people that are active enough to vote in every election and therefore garner unprecedented attention from running politicians. The more politicians cater to the fringe elements to get votes, the more they alienate the middle. This is true on either side of the spectrum. Once they cater to the sides enough, the middle believes they are not being served and that's when revolutions occur. Other governments fall for the same reason. they cater to minorities instead of the majority and then the majority revolts.

According to history the disintegration of government service is eventual. This decay could be slow or quick, but it is inevitable.

So how do we stop this? what is the secret to a complete government? We have to look at government in the right light first. Always remember, the government should never be thought of as anything but other citizens. Not above or controlling, but rather organizing on our behalf.

I will now list my top 10 elements of a better society

10. Term Limits - Yes, I know we have term limits every time we have an election and we can vote the bums out. The problem is this, while they have been in office, they have had 2-4 years worth of being recognized by everyone around. The longer they are in, the better chance they have of becoming a household name. On top of that, people keep them in office because in Washington they have become very influential in their own right and so we don't want to vote in some newbie that has no power at all. Make it mandatory and then you solve that problem. Isn't it interesting that most politicians will not vote for term limits? hmmmmm...









9. No foreign lobbies in government - This really bugs me. Why in the world to we allow foreign countries access to our congressmen and senators? What possible reason could we have? Few if any other countries allow us the same courtesy because they feel like other countries might not have their countries best interests at heart. No kidding? If you look around online you'll be able to find out which foriegn lobby's have the most money floating around in our government sesspool. you'll be surprised. Or not.









8. No income taxes - I've heard this from a lot of people. 'You can't do that mark because it's already really unfair and that would just make the rich get richer'. News flash for ya. The rich will get rich no matter what you do with them because they are the people that have enough risk taking juevos to try to get there. Yes, I'm well aware that some people have inherited their money and it just isn't 'fair' boo hoo. I'm not rich, and yet I really have a problem with people that always want to see people that do well 'get theirs' it's a very ugly and selfish attitude. If you replace income taxes with use taxes, the government will make money based on how good a job it is doing in making international trade good for us. That's why they don't like it. they get less money for their little projects if they don't actually do some work helping us out. Sounds good to me.



7. Take care of the poor - In the same way you will always have the rich, you will always have the poor. It's another sad fact of life. Yes, I'm well aware that many of the poor are there because they simply don't have the capacity to earn enough to maintain themselves. We need to make it possible for the rest of us to take care of those poor. The further away from the actual poor you put this power, the less effective it is. Money in government is like a flashlight. The further away you are from what you are trying to light up, the less effective the light is. If you try to solve the problem of the poor with national mandates and national programs, you will not be nearly as effective as individual states who are not nearly as effective as individual cities and counties. Put the money closer to where the poor are and you will have a better chance of dealing with them. In fact, if charitible institutions were to actually take over the the caretaking of the poor, it would be infinitely better than government. Why? Because religion in general cares about people. Sure, they want to tell you what to do and everything, but doesn't government? Government doesn't care about people, government only cares about itself. So keep the care taking of the actual poor with the people that know how in places they know how to do it.

6. General education stops at High School and is run locally - This idea of consistent education throughout the country is nonsense. No child left behind...are you kidding? Once again. the problem is that in different areas things work differently for myriad reasons. Government should be a vehicle to assist parents in the education of their children not a method of babysitting to get kids out of parent's hair. Or even worse a method for indoctrinating the young to the ideas of the old. The idea of national standards is ridiculous and the argument of 'at least we are trying something' is just an admission of failure. Lets run our education as though we are preparing our children to life life on their own in stead of preparing them to live life at the feet of a paternal government due to bad education. After grade school, College should start out in specialized fields. General Education is a joke at best and a waste of money at worst. All it does is makes you better at Jeopardy!

5. Nacho's - any truly formed society will eventually develop good nachos with that radioactive yellow cheeze that drapes itself over the chips like a Greek God is draped in a toga. Just hot enough to be enjoyable and cheezy enough to make you forget how unhealthy it is. It won't matter because the rest of society is so good that they will more than make up for how bad Nacho's are for you.











4. Fair - All laws made by government are given to all people to enjoy regardless of race, gender, creed etc. All men are created equal they say. and I've heard it said that some people are more equal than others. But honestly, how can any government be considered great unless all the people are treated fairly under the law. This includes freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom to engage in commerce. You know, like that one document says that we all should be. Along with this we should remember that government is there to serve the people, not entities. I very much dislike that government gets itself into the business of promoting business. Business should be allowed to succeed or fail based on it's merits on a fair and even playing field. The only thing the government should do in the case of business is make sure there is always competition. Lets see...how has our government done with that...*sigh*




3. Hurt feelings can not be legislated - You know what I mean. People are offended. They are offended by this and by that and by anything that tickles their fancy. You could stand outside and give everyone free cupcakes and someone would be offended because they are the same color that their religion or culture deems to be the most insulting color that ever existed. Don't even get me started on the shape of the cupcake. Boo hoo. The only people that are complaining are the people that have enough time to complain. Yah Yah, they have a history of one thing or another. we all do in one way or another. But how long are we going to sit mired in the past worrying about all of the injustices done to us by nature, God, or nachos. There is no playing catchup with the past, and no amount of reparations will solve the pains of an unjust past. The only thing you can do is make things fair. see # 4 again.

2. Trade is free - we should make certain that our country only trades with countries that are willing to open their markets to our products and vice versa. Why don't we have this equal playing field? go back up and check number 9 again. We've allowed our government to become so corrupt through foreign lobby that they have sold our bargaining position in the world for their own security. If we do this we will be much better off and ultimately more competitive.












1. limited health care and insurance is illegal - Normally I'm against government doing anything that is not a constitutional right. Since health care is not in the constitution, it really isn't a right. After all, how many people has medicine cured? The answer, 0. There are a lot of people that medicine has postponed death for, but ultimately they all die. We have to be comfortable with this idea first before we continue on with health care. Once we are, we can look at the reason most people go into the emergency room and make free clinics for all to go to with most of those common maladies. These would be immunizations, strep, various broken bones and skin breaks that need stiches and various other ailments that would constitute 80% of what we know these are all conditions that are relatively simple to treat and do not need a lot of expertise. We require doctors to serve there for several years as a part of their overall education. Of course this works as long as there are lots of people that want to be doctors. this shouldn't be a problem for the forseeable future. Insurance should be made illegal because all it does is creates a drag on the overall healthcare system as well as makes very easy and simple procedures much more expensive than they are. 'But Mark! if we take insurance out, then I will have to pay for everything and I deserve good health care!'. Well, I'm sure you do, but the fact is, if we had food insurance, we would only be allowed to eat re-fried beans and salad and the bill would be 20 dollars but it's ok because we only have a 4 dollar co-pay. Take insurance out and make people responsible for their own health care again. shop around. allow competition back into the arena. Doctors used to make housecalls and were affordable. Now they are very expensive and yet paid less because HMO's and insurance have taken over all the money. Everyone else got ripped off.

I know I know, this wasn't a very amusing list, but I've been cheezed off since paying my taxes. I hate hearing about how my taxes are going to pay for Car companies and banks that are too big to fail, or better yet to pay for houses that people shouldn't have bought in the first place. Don't get me started, and there is no end in sight. BAH!