This year, I’m not.

This year, instead, I’m going to be boldly frank. Honesty, is the best policy, right?

On Obama

Not a day goes by that I don’t see a single piece of criticism for our POTUS. Indeed, there are a few things we should be criticizing him about. Namely having to play this ridiculous game we’ve created in American Politics where every president must be a 2 term president to really get anything done, and can only tackle the big stuff his second term. Otherwise he has to play right-of-center, unless he’s GOP. My criticism of President Obama comes mainly from his unwillingness to just ignore this ’2 term requirement’, and instead played hardball with the GOP from the get go. Unfortunately people in this country have really short attention spans, many of which have no clue today what “Fukushima Daiichi” means, despite it being all over the news a few months ago. They forget it was GW Bush and Co. that gave us 2 wars (1 of which we DEFINITELY should not have been in) that cost us billions and too many lives. They forget it was GW Bush and Co. that gave us two tax cuts that drastically reduced revenue. They forget it was the GOP pushing for deregulation that allowed the financial markets to spin wildly out of control in an orgy of greed, and they forget that it was the GOP pushing for deregulation that allows big corporations to pollute our environment. I criticism Obama for not wiling to really step up and tell the GOP to go fuck themselves, and removing his lips from their asses. We could have passed an excellent healthcare reform bill… but kowtowing to GOP interests turned it into a watered down mush. We could have had a lot of things, had we not had to deal with the party of not just no, but HELL NO. It does not matter what is put forward by President Obama, the GOP is against it. Their mission is to see that a black man only serves one term as President.

Yes, I’m pulling the race card here because it seems pretty clear to me that the incessant anger and resentment of the President, and the constant idiotic challenging of his citizenship, stems from deep rooted racism. No, they’re not standing there chanting ‘hang the N*****’, but they are pretty damn close. John McCain, their Lord and Savior during the ’08 Campaign, may or may not have legally been an US Citizen despite the Senate saying he is. No one would question a white guy from the Panama Canal Zone running for president with a huge legal question hanging over his very own birth certificate that would have ended up before the SCOTUS. However, a black man from Hawaii from mixed racial parents one of which was Kenyan, well you bet your bottom dollar that we got ourselves a bona fide usurper. Shucks, if it was 1950, there would have been no shortages of tree limbs and other sturdy places to make him dangle from just for even thinking that he had a right to the White House. The time when racism was the “in” thing all across the US wasn’t too long ago. Some may say it died in the 1970′s, but it is clear to me that it still goes on today. I’ve seen it with my own two eyes and I’ve been disgusted by it. So while some Obama-haters out there may like to pride themselves as being colorblind, pointing out one or more token minority friends, deep down that ‘uneasy feeling’ they get when they hear him speak is not because of the teleprompter (which EVERY MODERN PRESIDENT has used), but because he’s black.

Will Obama get my vote in 2012? Yep. Because out of around 500 campaign promises he made, he’s got a damn good track record, despite occasionally having to kiss GOP ass. Which is substantially better than the GOP’s 2010 campaign promises. I will make one statement here that is liable to cause a few people some grief, but that is if you vote for someone in a campaign based off of promises they make, and not their character, you’re an idiot. I didn’t vote for Obama because he promised to do this or that, or even because of his “Hope and Change” movement. I voted for him because he was exactly what we needed now. Someone cool, someone collected, someone intelligent, and someone willing to do the diplomatic work needed to fix our horribly shattered image abroad. McCain just didn’t bring that to the table, and Palin made me want to leave for Canada. Obama, though, is articulate, intelligent, and has a good sense about him. Knowing how the political game works, I knew for a fact some of his biggest challenges would have to wait until his second term. But, he was successful in de-discriminating our armed forces, and is now forcing the GOP to play chicken: run the economy off the rails for a second time, or, do what is right and raise taxes. He will get my vote again, despite my being a registered Green Party member (and those in the Green Party can sit their asses down… until we get our matters resolved unfortunately we’ll be making strategic votes for time to come).

On the GOP

I’ve always been at odds with the Republican Party, but always respected the need for a conservative balance to the liberal ideas I adhere to. However, in this last year the Republican Party has gone off the deep-end, in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, New Jersey, Florida, Ohio, and Arizona, just to name a few. Their non-stop anti-union, anti-choice, anti-poor, anti-freedom campaign has really gotten me tired. I used to say if the best person for the job was a republican I would vote for them. Today, I cannot in good conscience ever place a ballot entry next to a republican name ever again. For me to explain in detail my disgust for the GOP, I would have to write a novel-length blog post. Let’s just say there’s enough out there in news articles to make my point.

On The People

Folks, it’s our 235th Birthday as the United States of America. In 235 years this small rag-tag group of colonies has changed the world. I would argue that not since the Romans has a single people had so great an influence far and wide. However, we need to decide now what that influence is. Right now that influence comes in the form of selective death. We kill some with bombs, and we let others die from oppression, starvation, poverty, and disease. We manufacture enemies, we use words but do not know the meaning of those words (like socialism), and we have become incredibly xenophobic. However, we’re the one of the last colonial empires on earth. We have military bases (colonies) all over the place. We’re constantly expected to be the world police, for good and for evil.

Well, we can change our violent nature and get rid of our debt at the same time. We desperately need to cut defense spending (which, is a misnomer, as it is often offensive spending). We need to make sure the UN is pulling its weight and actively pursue peacekeeping efforts through the United Nations. We need to be able to tell even strategic allies that their human rights violations are not going to be tolerated, and proceed with sanctions and the complete withdrawal of interests. We need to stop providing monetary assistance to anyone, and yes that includes Israel. We can send food, we can send equipment, but we won’t send cash. We need to first take care of our people at home, because our nation can only be graded by the welfare of our poorest citizens. We need to get off this idea that we’re “Taxed Enough Already”, and come to finally admit we like what we pay for by taxes: roads, schools, emergency services, infrastructure, etc.

We need to stop vilifying public employees regardless of union affiliation. I know it might be hard for some to understand, but once our tax dollars go into “payroll”, it’s not our money any more. If the police officers, firefighters, and teachers want to form a union, which is their constitutional right, and pay for it out of their paychecks, that is their right. It’s not supporting unions with taxpayer funds, as the TEA Party would like you to believe. It is those individuals freely associating themselves, which is their constitutional right. End that right, and you might as well burn the constitution while you’re at it. Telling public employees what they can and cannot do with their pay would be akin to your or my employers saying “We don’t like alcohol, so we’re forbidding you from using your paycheck, which is company funds, for that. If you want booze find another job.” Public sector employees did not cause the huge debt. It was deregulation and an orgy of greed. In short, it was the Private Sector.

We need to stop with this idea that the Private Sector is our lord and savior and everything can be fixed through that route. Do we already forget the days of child labor? We are taking for granted things like fire exits, 8 hour working days, and 5 day working weeks. Remember, the Private Sector isn’t looking out for anyone but Mr. Profit, and if that means having one less exit door, or not paying for breaks, or allowing lunches, or giving you weekends, they WILL DO IT. They have in the past, and given the opportunity, they will in the future. Some things are best public, some are best private. I would like to see more social-capitalism, but I can make do.

We have a huge challenge before us, if we are willing to take it head on. It will need us to do critical thinking, independent research and analysis, and to dare I say turn off the tube. If you don’t already have sites like Politifact.com and Propublica.org bookmarked, please do so. I also invite you to do something extraordinary. I invite you to re-register your political party as Green, and start participating in local chapters and online discussions. Only when we have a practical third-party can we hold Democrats accountable, and challenge the ignorance spouted by Republicans.

We can take back our country if we start demanding corporations be held accountable for their actions, remove their status as ‘persons’, make them pay their taxes, and tax the benefactors of their greed. We can take our country back when we watch chains and Multi-nationals die, and return to small local chains and local businesses that put their money back into the economy, that have civic pride, and are held accountable. We need another Wal-Mart like we need another hole in our heads, but we need more locally owned shops that have a steady stream of customers.

We can do this, if we want it.

I was wrong.

I’m starting a series on some basic steps to help protect yourself online. So step one today will be: Protecting your Gmail Account.

If you use Gmail, you have an option available to you to prevent your account from being hacked. It’s a simple 2-factor authentication you can setup on your Gmail account (and some Google Apps account if your admin has allowed this. If not, please ask him/her to turn it on for you). 2 factor authentication works by requiring you to not only enter a password, but also a security code. VPN users know this from either a keyfob they have on their keychain or a piece of software used to generate these codes. These secure your account as you must have both the code and the password to login.

Sounds cumbersome, but it’s really not. For Gmail, you just need your cell phone with you at all times (which it really should be anyway, and it should be password protected). Gmail’s 2-factor authentication works by sending a code to your phone via text message. If someone tries to get into  your account from a computer you haven’t authenticated on (and marked the box that says remember me for 30 days), they also have to have your phone.

This reduces the chances of someone logging on randomly from someplace and hacking your account and sending an exploit out. They physically have to hack your computer (which is possible, and something I will cover in a future post), or they have to physically find you, beat you over the head with a tire iron or some other blunt object, take your phone, hack your account, enter the code, and THEN they can send out the exploit.

Which is a LOT of messy work for just a single exploit.

So please, if you have a Gmail account, turn on 2 factor authentication, and learn how to use it (there are help documents). Being a novice is no excuse for not reading, learning, and securing yourself.

Tomorrow: More security tips.

It didn’t take long for the masses, completely clueless about Israel/Palestine and the history there, to start making assumptions. The fact of the matter is although it’s easy to take the view of Israel good/Palestine bad, a full understanding of the history is in order. So, as a primer, please read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Israel

Ultimately though, Obama’s remarks on Israel and the conflict are spot on. Israel pulling back to the 1967 Borders (the Green Line) is important, but more so is stopping their occupation and settlement of lands outside of the Jewish State zone. People have been afraid to criticize Israel for this as it may seem anti-Semitic. However, that’s nonsense. Criticism is not hate. It’s time the Israeli people and their supporters admit that the practice of settlements in the West Bank and Golan Heights have made the tensions in that region worse. I cannot support the actions of the Palestinians, but at the same time I cannot blame them.

A two state solution is possible, and necessary, but it requires both sides to cooperate. Israel needs to evacuate illegal settlements inside Palestinian Territory, and Palestine needs to end the practice of using violence to combat the Israelis. Sometimes tough love means slapping two fighting kids up beside the head and telling them to knock that shit off.

It took billions of dollars, thousands of American and local civilian lives in four countries, side-lining many of our freedoms for a bit of perceived safety. It took expanding domestic spying to a level not seen in decades. It cost us our diplomatic status in the world, and made our country an embarrassment. It greatly expanded our national debt. It cost us our privacy when flying. It wrongly accused hundreds of being terrorists, preventing them from flying. It made us xenophobic and much more Islamophobic. It’s turned our country inside out.

And are we safer for it all?

No.

Where one dirty, cave dwelling, religion-hijacking sociopath becomes a greasy stain, there are many more ready to take his place. Islamic extremism isn’t one man. It’s the bastardization of a beautiful religion for political gain.

And we continue to help further it along.

For every civilian that our government killed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and the Philippines by an American bomb or bullet, another terrorist was born.

For every illegal Israeli settlement built-in the West Bank, another terrorist is born.

And they will continue to feel justified.

Osama bin Laden is dead. Yet, Islamic Extremism is still alive and well. Am I arguing that he should not be dead? No. What I am saying is for the cost, we gained very little. We gained people dancing in the streets chanting “USA! USA!” (because that’s the only one we know). We gained celebration,but only for a moment.

But we lost sons and daughters. We lost brothers and sisters. We lost fathers and mothers and aunts and uncles. We lost best friends. We lost good people.

We committed atrocities that have left a swollen bruise on our national face.

The people in the countries we invaded lost faith in America, as their sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, best friends, all died from American shrapnel and lead.

Now is the time to grieve for all the lives lost, and now is the time to end the wars, and come home. Now is the time to change American Policy, once and for all, to no longer use the bullet and the bomb to stop Islamic extremism. We must start at home by shedding our incessant xenophobia and Islamophobia. We must do it abroad by cutting off funding to Israel until they stop the illegal settlements and sit down and come up with a two-state solution. We must get real about the sources of the problem, instead of just treating the symptoms with violence.

Because each time we do so, we lose more than we win.

Earth Day this year is especially important given all that has happened in the few years. The radioactive incident in Japan, Deepwater Horizion, the new reports about Fracking, sweeping droughts, weather pattern changes, all are very real reminders that changing our world is not a “tomorrow” problem. It is a today problem.

We have the technology, but can we overcome our apathy?

One of the primary things plaguing us and preventing us from solving the very real problems today is apathy and ignorance. I still hear people today claim that climate scientists have it all wrong and that there is nothing to worry about, so we shouldn’t change our lives. The argument is nonsense. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe climate scientists are wrong and we aren’t going through global climate change (regardless of what the data shows), why can’t we still clean up our act? We know that fossil fuels are finite resources, and the argument against renewable energy augmenting a huge part of that demand (I don’t see it ever completely going away, but being a much smaller percentage) is that it is too expensive. It will be too expensive if we don’t change our ways now, rather than later. Of course I would love to run out and buy a Nissan Leaf or Chevrolet Volt, but like many of you I don’t have the money to do that.

However, what I do have the funds to do is to rebuild my credit, get out of my current debt, and upgrade my car to hopefully a full electric, or a hybrid electric, or if nothing else a highly economical car, like the Smart Car. Sure, until the cost of the Volts and the Leafs come down many of us won’t be able to upgrade, but they will come down, and hopefully that will be when the life cycle of our current cars have come to an end. Until then, we can reduce trips, carpool, use mass transit, or telecommute. Lifestyle changes that can make a big impact.

There are other things we can do: diminish our use of plastics. This can be as simple as changing from Plastic Bags to canvas and other types of reusable bags when going to the grocery store, to reducing the use of plastics in the home (swapping plastic dishes for glass, etc.).

Time to go solar!

If you’ve been thinking about solar power for a while now, but found buying solar arrays outside of your ability, there are other options. Planet Forward at George Washington University, broadcasting on PBS (yes, that PBS) just named Sungevity as Innovator of the Year. Why? Because they found a way to help finance solar installations. You lease your solar panels from Sungevity, and they maintain the installation, you get to keep the savings on your electric bill. Now isn’t that a bright idea? They also have options to buy. But either way, if we all put solar panels on our roof tops we will decrease the amount of energy needed to be generated by coal and natural gas power plants.

No Magic Bullet

I hear a lot of people talking about looking for that one fuel that will replace Gasoline for our cars, coal for our power plants, etc.

I don’t see that happening. I see our transportation energy especially coming from multiple sources, with different fuel types being available, whether it’s biofuels from algae, Liquid Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, all-electric, ultra-efficient petroleum engines, the days of just being able to pull up to a pump and not worry about the label is over.

The same, I think, holds true for electricity generation. We will need a mix of solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, hydro, natural gas, and hopefully soon fusion power plants. In the mean time, reducing our energy consumption through efficiency, lifestyle, and culture changes is important. The need for bright electric billboards in cities is not there, it may look pretty, but it is ultimately a waste of energy.

Time to kill apathy

Ultimately, going green is more about killing our apathy than anything else. Changing how we live our lives is the first and greatest step.

In my household we recycle more than we throw in the trash. We use energy-efficient bulbs where possible, we watch our water usage, and we use green household products. I use reusable bags whenever possible when I go to the grocery store, saving money as I typically only purchase what I can fit into three reusable bags.

We have the technology, we have the capabilities to reduce our impact on the globe, the question is, will we?

Now, I don’t blog very often because it’s not very often that I have anything interesting to say. And unlike a lot of people, I don’t blog under a pseudonym, but under my own name, so blogging about my day-to-day activities, unless they’re interesting, doesn’t serve much of a purpose. Much like tweeting when it’s something of interest, or becoming a “twitter shitter”, someone who tweets every activity, and I mean EVERY activity.

So, why blog? Because we can, and no other reason.

Cherry Creek School District, you should be ashamed of yourselves. Instead of teaching students that there is respect of our constitutional freedoms and the laws of our state, Principal Leon Lundie has chosen the route of well-known dictators of our time. As a former student journalist, and part of the editorial board for the inaugural season of my small town college newspaper, I know full well the battles students wage with administrators regardless if it is high school or collegiate level. I know how quite often administrators question funding a program which is purposefully designed to snoop on school administration. I know quite well that administrators often hold resentment against any student news service that does more than report the football team’s standings and what is for lunch that week.

However, our nation has a long standing tradition of protecting the rights of the press, so much so that our founding fathers took upon themselves to make that one of the first amendments to the constitution after gaining independence from Britain. A free world owes a great deal to a free press, and I would challenge Principal Lundie to take the correct course and restore the constitutional rights of the students of Overland High School.

Freedom, Mr. Lundie, is universal to all our citizens, including the students under your watch. The lessons you are teaching say freedoms are not important if they inconvenience someone of power. A lesson, Mr. Lundie, as someone who is returning to school to enter the teaching profession, I surely hope you do not continue to teach. I implore you, Mr. Lundie, correct this grave mistake. Your students have inalienable rights granted to them by a constitution and defended by 235 years of blood, sweat, and tears. People have died defending that document. People have been incarcerated defending that document. People have suffered defending that document. These freedoms are bigger than you or I.

So, as a former student journalist myself, I make an open offer to the student journalists at Overland High School: I will share my web hosting space at no cost with you (it is unlimited after all), including providing the initial setup and basic technical upkeep (installing updates, running backups, etc.), and even furnishing the domain name for one year (It’s $10 a year). This will allow you to continue publishing off-campus and outside of the scope of Cherry Creek Schools (something I personally advocate, because of issues like this). You’re responsible for content and to a certain extent design, and I will exercise no censorship beyond what is needed to ensure a safe environment. Students will be asked to hold themselves to strict journalistic standards and compliant with libel laws. They can take your printing press away, but they cannot silence true journalists. If there is a will, I have the way.

Note: I have contacted the journalist at the Denver Post who wrote the article as a means of extending my offer to the students at Overland High School. If Mr. Lundie would like to submit a rebuttal to my opinion piece, I welcome it with open arms and will publish it upon receipt. I am not a taxpayer or current resident of Cherry Creek Schools, now residing in the Douglas County School District, but I have spent some time in the CCSD area.

Why? Well, in a small town it’s often assumed that if you live there, you know the culture, and in the case of a place like Castle Rock, that’s typically Conservative Republican Christians. So, there’s no need for them to really dive in to the issues, everyone is the same. We see the same thing on the state and national levels, but generally the difference is there is an existence of something resembling the Fourth Estate to call the loonier ones out.

Which brings me to my breakdown of the District 3 candidates running for office in Castle Rock. Now, I invite the candidates to contact me if they do not like my assessment of them to try real hard to convince me otherwise. Now for a legalese type statement: y’all are public figures since your name showed up on my ballot. What I say is my opinion and mine alone. If you don’t like it, tough cookies.

• Jennifer Green – So here’s someone who at least has figured out what the Internet is. Using Twitter and a website hosted by Google Apps (not even a personal domain, a fail but at least she got the Internet part). Her platform is basically the same as everyone else’s: Growth, Jobs, Water, raise a family in Leave-it-to-Beaver-land. Unfortunately she couldn’t seem to find a photo that better suited her as a candidate, as it gives an awful first impression.
  • Jobs: So she says she wants to create incentives for businesses to relocate to Castle Rock, but doesn’t spell out what that is. In my experience, this usually comes in the form of tax breaks. So, for not having substance, I give her a FAIL on her first platform plank.
  • Transportation: Completing a new interchange to allow traffic easier access to The Meadows should be a “top priority” of the town. Actually, Jennifer, it should have been an innitial thought of the town when they were busy annexing land for developers to put up cookie cutter homes. Another interchange is all nice and good, but it really does not solve the underlying problem: too many cars. Park and ride: learn it! Our priority should be getting us back into RTD and getting cars off the road via park and ride. Jennifer gets a FAIL on her second platform plank.
  • Water: Her priority says she wants to transition to a renewable water supply to attract business and residents. I really wish she would have elaborated on what “renewable water supply” means in her mind, so here she get’s a meh.
  • Medical Marijuana: So this is her fourth platform – a vendetta against the herb. I’ve noticed that’s pretty big in this town. Which is unfortunate, because most of the information out there on MMJ quoted by most people is dubious at best. So unfortunately, she receives a fail here as well.
• Nate Schaub – So here is one guy that REALLY understands “Internet”. Great website, Facebook, Twitter, the whole shebang. Even has his own domain name “natelikes”, which is really rather unfortunate for a political candidate. I really don’t care what Nate Likes. I want to know what Nate Knows. Now this is where I get a little hazy on Nate. Nate doesn’t do a great job of spelling out his platform on his site, instead relying on some basic buzz topics like integrity, valuing the fact that tax dollars are ‘other people’s money’, and generally posturing himself to sound and act like he’s not a typical politician. Where Nate does well is at least seeming to be responsive to constituent questions and ideas. Unfortunately politicians cannot act as a pass-through for their constituents on all cases. Sometimes they have to recognize when their constituents are wrong and act on what is right.  Out of all the candidates, Nate shows a little more promise. However, he is against the MMJ ballot issue to allow dispensaries in Castle Rock, on the basis that they “attract crime, [but also] repel the very businesses and retailers we need in Castle Rock to spark economic development”, contrary to both published reports by organizations including by not limited to the Denver Police Department (regarding crime), or real-world examples, such as Idaho Springs. Nate needs to do a lot better on solidifying what he believes, and needs to really consider his sources. MMJ dispensaries contribute a significant amount of money in state and local taxes, and when coffers are starting to look a little empty, refusing a revenue source on misguided information is foolish.
• Thomas G. Whittemoore – Doesn’t have really any web presence, beyond mentions in the paper, the CR Chamber Candidate Forum PDF, and an Q&A on YourHub.com, part of the Denver Post. So, right out of the starting gate Thomas is obviously a half-assed candidate. His idea on handling budget issues is to cut, or put programs or services to a public vote to determine if the citizens want to pay for it. So I ask, Thomas, what happens when it comes down to having a Fire Department or raising taxes? Would you really put that to a public vote? There are many important things in this country that unfortunately individuals see as ‘worthless’ and if put to a public vote many would not support them (“I don’t ever call the police, so we don’t need as many officers as we have. My house never burns down so I don’t need as many firefighters. I don’t have kids who go to school, so I don’t want to pay more. I don’t use trails or parks or libraries, so I don’t want to pay for them”). Thomas is also against the MMJ ballot issue (noticing a pattern?). Not much else is known on his platform positions, and really, if a candidate can’t even be bothered to put up a website or Facebook page, why should I care?
• MaryEllen Riley – MaryEllen is a little more sane on the ballot issue (MMJ) deferring to voters, but unfortunately does not actually give her opinion of what she thinks. A fail there. However, she also does not have any campaign website or anything to allow voters to get to know her, another half-assed candidate. She’s primarily a Traffic candidate, concerned mostly with traffic issues. Her main complaint? People speeding through neighborhoods. “Riley put her name in the hat at the urging of neighbors who bemoan the traffic patterns in their neighborhood in The Meadows. “People speed through the area,” Riley said. “You can’t even cross the street, cars are going 50 miles an hour. People want speed bumps because on every block there are kids in the street.”” She told the Douglas County News-Press.  So… she was urged to run by her neighbors because of traffic patterns in her neighborhood. And her solution is speed bumps? Having lived in Tempe, Arizona who uses speed bumps on every residential street, I learned something: Speed bumps DO NOT WORK. They cause people to race as fast as they can between bumps, and if they have low clearance they suddenly slow down for the bump before moving on, or if they have high ground clearance, they just drive right over without any care. For the rest of us, they’re an undue burden on the suspensions of our cars. MaryEllen doesn’t even come close to being considered for my vote, for one showing no real effort to actually be a candidate, having some pretty bad ideas, and admitting she basically got urged into this.

Any of these candidates I would support? Sadly, no. Nate may end up getting my vote if it doesn’t go to a random write-in name. Only because of Nate’s ability to grasp internet communications, I can be the constituent from hell: a liberal riding his ass. Otherwise they’re all the same person in different suits: afraid to say what needs to be said; “taxes need to go up”, unable to say “unlimited growth isn’t all that great”, and unable to actually support their positions with facts.

We do have some time left before the election, so if any candidate reads this blog post, don’t get mad. Prove me wrong! Back up your opinions and be prepared to have them challenged. Actually state what your platform is. If you don’t have a website, get one. No one is going to take you seriously without one. And be more specific. I want to know real plans not more lame ass buzz-lines. I get enough of that from national and state level candidates. Local candidates need to have the cajones to actually say “this is what I want to work for”.

The claim is the states in our union are undergoing a major budget shortfall and drastic measures are needed to shore up state ledgers. Logical, right? That is until you look deeper:

• Florida - Gov. Rick Scott cuts Education by $1.75 million, only to give Corporations and Property owners a tax break… of almost the equal amount. (http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/gov-rick-scotts-proposed-education-budget-1-75-1302720.html)
• Wisconsin – Gov. Scott Walker fleeces a potential budget surplus on corporate and business tax breaks, before engaging in busting the public sector unions (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2011/02/unions_arent_to_blame_for_wisc.html)
• Ohio – More zero budget impact union busting (http://www.irontontribune.com/2011/02/28/ohio-governor-says-he%E2%80%99s-for-jobs-not-anti-union/), including a special budget easing (not) portion denying Gays the right to marry. Again. Because one law ain’t enough. (http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/BillText129/129_SB_5_PSC_Y.html)
• Indiana – Even more anti-union, zero budget actions and another Democratic flee across state lines. (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20035497-503544.html)

If you read about these situations, and yawn, thinking ‘its just another unions vs. everyone else fight, well, look no further than to Michigan, where the Governor there is about to make all three of the Governors above look like Mother Theresa.

Michigan

First, on the budget, Governor Rick Snyder is cutting $1.2 billion in spending to deal with a $1.4 billion shortfall. Sounds good so far, right? You know better than to think that before finishing reading: $1.8 billion dollar tax break to businesses by requiring only large C corporations pay business taxes. $1.4b-$1.2b=$0.2b in the red. $0.2b+$1.8=$2.0b in the red. A net savings of…. nothing. Actually, a net loss of $0.6 BILLION DOLLARS. (I could work that out to millions, but it’s almost 11:30 PM MST).

But wait, there’s more

On top of his already fuzzy math, Gov. Snyder proposes adding $1.7b in revenues to state coffers by eliminating other tax breaks… “for seniors and low-income workers and getting rid of many other income tax deductions, such as one for donating to public universities.” (http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2011/02/17/news/doc4d5d534aeca82215701842.txt)

But wait, there is EVEN MORE

Still trying to follow this absolutely insane mathematical squeeze? Well don’t rack your pretty little head over it any more. Tax breaks and tax cuts aside, there is a whole section of this budget repair bill that upon reading would make any rational citizen dookie in their Dockers.

Gov. Snyder has asked the state legislature to give his office sole decision making authority over local governments, regarding whether they’re in a fiscal emergency. Once his office, or a agency or firm appointed by him has done so, they can end all contracts, strip bargaining rights, fire personnel, including elected officials, dissolve or reorganize any city or school district, and even put a company in charge of those districts or cities, effectively privatizing them.

What this means, if Gov. Snyder gets his way, he or a firm (company) he appoints can go to your city, say it’s in a budget crisis, take it over, dissolve it, or put a company in it’s place to run it, and kick the mayor and council out on their rear ends. Your school district? Yeah, the superintendent is gone and your district is now part of a larger conglomeration. (http://michiganmessenger.com/47013/bill-offers-no-guidelines-for-use-of-emergency-managers-powers)

If after reading this, you are not completely awake, I recommend finding the nearest body of water that is less than 40 degrees in water temperature and taking a brief swim. Perhaps that bone chilling cold will actually wake up the senses.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we’ve been blitzed by the legislatures and Governors elected by the Tea Party Express. The same group that championed “smaller government” has just handed the keys to many states to people who want to create MUCH larger government, and not in a constructive way.

We have found ourselves in a new era, where people hell bent on destroying the very fabric of this nation have been elected and are well on their way to succeeding.

If there was ever a time to invest more personal time into being informed from trusted and reliable sources, of doing personal research, and of organizing against the injustices that are occurring, now is that time.

We’ve been blitzed and robbed. We cannot stand to allow that to happen any longer.

Ladies and gentlemen, I really have to remind you that with all stories you hear from friends or relatives, most are big fish stories. Sure, just as we’ve all heard of the airline horror stories most of us will still gladly line up, pay $500 to fly to some far off destination. Yet, there is something about bus travel that makes many people take very similar horror stories (really only the mode of transit is changed), and make us swear off of ever taking a bus.

I recently had to find a way back from Wenatchee, Washington to Denver, Colorado after attending (and officiating) my younger brother’s wedding. Getting there was easy, I drove my Mom’s car while she drove a rental truck (her choice). But, after the wedding they were heading to points further south, nowhere near Denver, and I had very limited time to get back. Being a “passenger of size”, flying means generally spending $450 for a $190 airline ticket and then praying they don’t oversell so I can get a refund of the extra seat. I decry bullshit on that practice, and besides, I didn’t have the money to do it (considering I’d have to take a commuter hop from the small city of Wenatchee to Seattle, and then to Denver on a jet). So I looked into Greyhound.

Sure, I heard the horror stories and even read articles about people doing some really freaky shit aboard intercity buses. But then I thought: I have a pretty much equal chance of getting aboard an airplane only to find it hijacked and flown into a building as I do someone trying to cut off my head and eat my flesh (yes, a true story aboard a Canadian Greyhound). When I looked at the fare, the cost for an advanced ticket was a mere $97 one way. And there were no notices about fat people needing to be monetarily raped. So I booked my ticket: Wenatchee to Spokane on Northwestern Trailways, Spokane to Billings on Greyhound, and Billings to Denver on Arrow Bus Lines.

The Good

The entire trip went amazingly well. There was no lost luggage, no people trying to eat me, and no freak rollover accidents. The buses were a little late in all stops, but they did everything they could to hold connections (and I was able to make all connections). The drivers were mostly friendly. Out of 5 total drivers, only one was a bitch. Most went above and beyond in customer service and safety, or just did their jobs without pissing people off. Ralph (Greyhound), the driver over the passes between CDA and St. Regis, did exceptionally well with the ice covered roadways. Bruce, with Arrow, worked hard to whittle down being 45 minutes behind to only being 30 minutes behind when we finally arrived with the 2nd driver of that leg into Denver.

The passengers were mostly just average people getting from point A to point B. No one smelled of dung, only one person was mildly annoying, but in all most people slept or engaged in casual conversation. There were a lot of interesting people, like one guy who was traveling with his girlfriend to see his mom. Another guy was traveling from North Dakota back to Phoenix for work. Just average people trying to get home, a lot like the airport.

The Bad

There weren’t too many negatives with the bus service. Although I can tell you if you don’t be careful how you schedule your route, if you’re like me and never use a public restroom for a #2, you will become constipated very quickly. This can be remedied by scheduling in hotel time, purposefully having a long layover.

The other bad was the Northwest Trailways bus sounded like the transmission was going to fall out of the bus. Other buses (including greyhound) had minor problems like some overhead lamps not working or the vents not working, but the seats were more comfy than air planes, and the buses were hardly full so most people had 2 seats to themselves.

The Ugly

The onboard bathrooms are not for the faint of heart, and must I say I feel sorry for women who have to use them. They stink, they don’t flush often, and because of this it’s best to sit as far forward as possible. The other ugly is when you have a bitch of a driver that just can’t help but rub people the wrong way.

In all, the experience was actually very good. Will I take that long of a trip by bus again? Maybe, but only with careful planning in the future. 30 hours cooped up in bus after bus is not fun, but it’s doable, and unless you’re going to someplace like LA, most likely it will be crazy free.

Thanks to all the drivers, including the rude one, for a good trip.