Racism...Alive and Well in the U.S.

From the Huffington Post:

In the latest push to energize and engage white voters, former Senator Rick Santorum's election campaign this morning launched Caucasian Americans for Santorum, with a video introduction from the candidate himself.

"This month we are announcing the 2012 launch of Caucasian Americans for Santorum," the candidate announced in the video provided to The Huffington Post by the campaign. "I don't think there's a better time than African-American history month to consider the tremendous progress that we've made through the sacrifices of so many, or a better time to commit to meeting the very real challenges we face right now."

In the video, the former Senator makes a somewhat rare, direct overture to white voters, urging them to "keep making history."

"Every day I think of the generations of Caucasian American men and women who overcame tyrany and oppression, risked their own safety to cast a ballot, even gave up their lives to help build a country that lived up to its founding principles," Senator Santorum said in the video, which runs about a minute and 44 seconds. "Their extraordinary hope, their unwavering determination changed this country. Their efforts made it possible for somebody like me to be here today."

This really gets the blood flowing, doesn't it? I mean, who the hell does this guy think he is? Caucasian Americans for Rick Santorum? Really? Why is no one going off the handle on how racist this guy is?

Oh wait...I think I know why. Because it wasn't Caucasian Americans for Santorum. No, it's African Americans for Obama (you can see the actual article from Huffington Post here). We can't call HIM racist, because he's an AFRICAN AMERICAN. Only white people can be racist, right?

Race is irrelevant. This man is the worst President this country has ever had. Everything the Democrats hated so much about Bush in 2008; Obama has been worse. Bush's civil rights abuses were merely the warm-up phase for the Obama administration; the TSA has gotten worse with its naked body scanners irradiating thousands of Americans every day as well as gate-rape happening daily, DHS started their Orwellian "If you see something, say something" campaign under his watch, and the NDAA was signed into law (let's not forget, his administration asked for the removal of the language that exempted Americans to be removed). Bush's unjust (and unconstitutional) wars have continued under this administration, and he has started a few of his own. He (apparently) thinks he is a king ruling by proclamation (look at the number of "Executive Orders" his administration has released). His administration has used the Espionage Act more times than all previous administrations combined. Let's not forget that Bradley Manning still sits in a jail cell. It took 18.5 months just to get an Article 32 hearing, which concluded he would face a general court-martial. He still hasn't gotten an actual trial, and we're at 21 months since his arrest. That's not even going into all of the abuses he suffered while in prison.

Apparently, Obama realized just how bad of a President he has been, and realizes that the only way he can win another election is to play the race card; and because he's black, he'll get away with it.

Shame on you, Mr. President. You did a piss-poor job, some (myself included) would even say a maliciously piss-poor job. You not only deserve to lose the election; you deserve to see the inside of a jail cell, yourself.

Top 10's

I just read a top 10 list linked the Good Morning South Arkansas page. It was the top 10 pop songs of all-time. I hated the list. There were only like 2 songs I even like on it. I started thinking about the subjectivity of top 10 lists. This, inevitably, led to the creation of my own top 10 list. This is Chris' top 10 favorite songs of all time list:

10. Anarchy in the U.K. (Sex Pistols) - The Sex Pistols really laid it on thick with this one. This song is as iconic of the punk movement as anything done by Blondie, Black Flag, or the Ramones.

9. Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie (Black Flag) - Black Flag nailed me down as a fan with this song. Not sure if they first did it before Rollins joined the band, but the first version I heard was with Henry singing. I've been a BF and Rollins Band fan ever since.

8. Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth) (Metallica) - Do I give credit to Metallica for this one, or to Cliff Burton and Lars Ulrich (it's a bass solo with some drums in the last half). This proved Cliff Burton to be one of the greatest bassists of all time. This song led me to pestering my father for a bass guitar. This song nailed me down as a Metallica fan.

7. Jerry Was A Racecar Driver (Primus) - The first time I ever heard Les Claypool play a bass. Can you actually call it a bass with the way he strings (and plays) the thing? This guy is funk, metal, pop, and mad scientist all rolled into one. Primus follows right along in his mold.

6. The Post War Dream (Pink Floyd) - Wow. Just Wow. This entire album. I owe this one to my dad. If it weren't for him, I would never have heard any Pink Floyd other than The Wall, Dark Side of the Moon, and Wish You Were Here. This song makes me sad, hopeful, happy, and a little melancholy all at the exact same time. What's more, it does it to me every single time I hear it. This song is the true hidden gem in the prolific Pink Floyd library.

5. Bang Your Head (Metal Health) (Quiet Riot) - The song that first introduced me to Metal. I had never listened to Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, any of them until I heard Quiet Riot (fun fact: Randy Rhodes was a founding member of this band, he left to join Ozzy Osbourne's solo career). I can honestly point to this song and say "It's their fault."

4. I Wanna Be Sedated (The Ramones) - The song that started punk. Punk went on to inspire British Punk & American Hardcore Punk, the two of which were major influences into the creation of Thrash Metal, which then lead to all the different kinds of metal we have today. Not only that, but it's an extremely fun song. My sister-in-law once listened to a Ramones album (she had no choice, were were in my car, and it was over an hour drive). She said "I thought punk was harder than that. That was like...bubble-gum rock.". She's right. There's nothing hardcore about the Ramones. They are just plain fun to listen to.

3. Shake Like You (Corrosion of Conformity) - My favorite band (CoC), my favorite rock star (Pepper Keenan), and a scathing indictment of the grifts the government constantly pulls on the American people. Oh, and the music is pretty damned good, too. These guys were American Hardcore Punk, then transitioned into Thrash Metal, then transitioned into Power Groove (also known as "Southern Metal"). They've been all 3 types of music I love the most. This song is their best.

2. Beckoned (Coal Chamber) - It's hard to pick one single song from Coal Chamber and say "This is the one". I always pick this one as the top song, because I can make the claim that it's the "Chris and Jason theme song". If you're not offended by language, do a search for the lyrics. If you know me and Jason, you'll understand what I mean.

1. One (Metallica) - I thought long and hard on this one. I knew this song had to be in the top 10 list somewhere, but number 1? It had to outdo some pretty stiff contenders. In fact, I had an extremely hard time picking 10 songs to go onto this list. Metallica had something special with this song. They took an old indie film, and wrote a song about it. The movie is ok, but the song is unbelievably good. (In fact, the movie is 10 times better cut up and used as footage for the music video). This was also Metallica's first video, and they had a hard time living up to this one. The song will move you if you really listen to it.

So, there you have it. My top 10. Will this list change? Probably by tomorrow, but these songs will always be near the top for me. Most of them helped shape who I am. All of them shaped what I consider good music.

-Chris

To Love or Fear?

I remember, as a kid, frustrating my grandaddy (who held paid positions in his church pretty much my entire life) by questioning the thought behind the saying "God-Fearing Man" and "God-Fearing Christian". Why? Shouldn't I be known as a "God-Loving Man"? My grandaddy tried to explain it to my by asking if I feared my father. Well, let's see...I fear my father's belt. I fear my father's disappointment. Once, I even feared I would be less in my father's eyes. But fear my FATHER? Um...no.

It wasn't until years later, that I finally understood. Religion was never the opiate for the masses. FEAR was, is, and always shall be the opiate for the masses. Religion is just fear's favorite syringe. Enter Pastor Terry Jones and his Dove World Outreach Center. Maybe the name should be the Dove World Outreach Center for Hatred and Intolerance? This church sold shirts last year that read "Islam is of the Devil". This year, they want to burn copies of the Quran. I would dearly love to see someone set up in sight of their book burning, and burn copies of the Bible. I'm willing to bet their reaction to it would not be good (I would, personally, be caught between outrage at my holy book being burned and glee at the hate-monger and his flock receiving a very pointed object lesson).

I was surprised at one thing Terry Jones said. He admitted not reading the Quran. I'm not surprised he didn't read it. I'm surprised he ADMITTED he hasn't read it. The favorite tactic of close-minded Christians is to condemn a thing without knowing anything about it while pretending to know a lot about it. I still remember a TV show I once saw on a Christian cable channel that condemned Harry Potter as being Satanic. I've read all the Harry Potter books. In fact, I've read them (all but the last one) 3 times. I have yet to see the Satanism. This TV show put forth fact after fact, and drew logical conclusions from these facts to support their accusation. The only problem? Anyone that has read the books could see how false the facts they presented were. But, I digress.

Terry Jones is, simply put, a fear monger. He is controlling his "flock", and gaining publicity for his church by spreading hatred for a people that don't believe the same things he does. Yes, the men that orchestrated and executed the murders on 9/11/01 were Muslim. Yes, they did it for religious reasons. Here's a wake-up call. Almost none of the things these men believed was true. Oh, I don't mean the basis of their religion. I mean the whole virgins in heaven thing. I mean that killing infidels is the quickest way into heaven, and all that. Most of the things Americans believe that Muslims believe are nowhere to be found in the Quran. In fact, Americans make many mistakes when it comes to Muslims. Here are a few:

Mistake 1: Muslims are terrorists.

Mistake 2: Muslims are terrorists because Islam practices hatred and murder.

Mistake 3: All of the heavenly promises that require murder and/or suicide come from the Quran.

Let's look at these.

Muslims are terrorists. I have a few good friends that would fall over in a faint if they thought you thought they were terrorists. In fact, MOST Muslims are good, charitable people (and I mean charitable in the "Christian" sense). Show of hands, who knew that Muslims read the bible (both Old and New Testament) as well as the Quran? I know I was shocked to find that out the first time I read the Quran, and it kept referencing Adam & Eve, Moses, Abraham, etc.

Muslims are terrorists because Islam practices hatred and murder. Yeah, I'm gonna go back to my standard stance of "Talk to me once you've actually READ the Quran". Sure, there is talk of killing in the Quran. There is talk of when it's OK to kill and when not. It does even say that it's holy to kill Christians and Jews. Of course, it says it's holy to kill them in DEFENSE of other Muslims. They're kind of like Jedi. "Never to attack, always to defend."

All of the heavenly promises that require murder and/or suicide come from the Quran. In fact, NONE of these comes from the Quran. These were made up by imams to convince people to kill themselves to achieve a goal.

So, the point I'm meandering my way to is this. Read the book, then let's talk. Like my 10th grade American History teacher Mr. Inman used to say..."Better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you're an idiot than to open it, and leave no doubt." When you start spewing facts about Islam without having read the book all Muslims follow, you're leaving no doubt.

I Love You, CERN

So, at the end of World War II, science had this huge black eye. I mean, the most famous scientist of the day had just helped create a weapon that basically destroyed an entire city. Nothing this destructive had ever been dreamed of (much less witnessed) by human beings, before. So, as I say, science had a black eye. People didn't really trust scientists. I mean, the guys we had always looked to as the enlightened few, those who lit the dark corners of human imagination had just used that enlightenment to create a truly horrifying weapon.

So, CERN was created. It was created as a haven for pure science. This is where the smartest men and women in the world go. They get to work on pure theory, never having to chain themselves to the dreary world of the possible. To bolster faith in science, a policy was made at CERN that nothing, and I mean NOTHING is secret. Everything is out in the open for all the world to see. The only places the public is not allowed to go at CERN are places that are dangerous. Usually, there is a clear wall that lets you see into these areas, since you can't physically go into them. I saw an interview with the director of CERN, he said he is constantly amused by people asking permission to take pictures of things and seeing the surprised looks on their faces when the answer is "Absolutely. Take all the pictures you want."

Well, CERN (along with umpteen countries and countless companies funding them) built the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This is the world's largest particle accelerator. The previous holder of that award went to the Tevatron at Fermilab just a little ways out of Chicago. The LHC is something like 3 times the size of the Tevatron. The Tevatron can impact particles at an energy of .98 Teraelectron volts (TeV). The LHC will, theoretically, be able to impact particles at an energy of 14 TeV (it has already surpassed the Tevatron, by impacting at 1.18 TeV). UPDATE: The LHC now impacts at 7 TeV, and will continue at this energy until 2013 when it starts back up after a 2 year shut-down. This accelerator will be able to re-create conditions in the universe roughly 1 millionth of a second after the big bang. Now, I'm a science nut. I love to follow information about new scientific breakthroughs. The LHC has been a constant source of entertainment for me for many years now. The best part about it all? CERN has made the project completely transparent. Go to Google Image Search and do a search for LHC. There are literally thousands of pictures out there. If you go visit CERN, you can actually go into the control rooms, and if they aren't too busy, those aforementioned smartest people in the world will be happy to tell you how things there work.

I have never wanted to visit Europe so bad in my life. If I were to take a trip to Europe, the first stop would be just outside Geneva on the Franco-Swiss border to visit the 17 mile ring that is an average of 300 feet underground. To stand in front of the Atlas impact point and just look up at this massive testament to man's drive to know how things work. To talk to a collection of the world's smartest people, and pit my intellect against theirs (not that I think I'm as smart as them, more to see how long I can follow their conversation without getting lost).

CERN very much accomplished its self-appointed crusade. They made science respectable, again. And they did it without keeping a single secret.

I love you, CERN.

-Chris

Enough is Enough!

To quote the late Owen Hart "Enough is enough! It's time for a change!"

I just read an article linked from my father's blog. I commented on his blog, but felt I needed to say more. This article points out the money that will need to be spent with the IRS to enforce the new health care law.

Now, this bothers me on a number of fronts. I don't have health insurance. See, I served in the Marine Corps. I was injured, and given a medical discharge. I have a 20% disability with the VA. They are my health insurance. I paid for it (and continue to pay for it) with massive amounts of pain and an addiction to prescription pain killers. Now, I'm being told that not only will I have to help pay for your health care, I now have to get a policy of my own, or I will be fined and possibly imprisoned. Only 3 letters can properly respond to that. WTF?!?

[evil dictator voice]There's a problem in this nation! Too many people can't afford health insurance! We have to do something! Oooh, OOoh, OOOh, OOOH! I KNOW! We'll force health care down their throats! We'll throw them in jail if they don't get health insurance! That'll fix the problem! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! [/evil dictator voice]

I also like how everybody was against this bill. There was a huge controversy over it. Then, the day after it passes polls are coming out showing support for the bill? GET A FREAKING BACKBONE, AMERICA! Not only is it your right to criticize the idiots that are running this country and the idiotic things they are doing, it is your DUTY to criticize them.

And while we're on the subject of the Gestapo...er...the IRS (same difference), what's with Obama wanting to spend $8 Billion to cover the $3 Billion "tax gap" (the amount of taxes that don't get collected). Did I go stupid, or does that mean we are going to LOSE $5 billion dollars? Seems to me we are better off leaving the $3 Billion alone. We're going to lose almost twice as much as we'll make! No wonder our national debt is so high!

-Chris

Why Are You Surprised?

I work nights at a hotel. My shift starts at 11PM and ends at 7AM the next morning. I work what most people call the "Graveyard Shift". People will come into my hotel, or call down from their rooms in the middle of the night, and ask for stuff. No problem, that's part of the reason I'm here (the other part is a bunch of paperwork, as I have to close the business day, start the new one, and balance accounts). However, if you call me at 3AM don't be surprised if I am unable to fill your request. It's the middle of the night. I don't know of a single business that has a full range of services throughout the night. So why are you surprised when you can't get something done in the middle of the night?

I have a friend that works the audit (that's what they call the night shift at a hotel) in Louisiana. He and I chat on the phone at night. I recall one night a guest came down looking for towels. Hotels generally keep enough towels to stock every room in the hotel twice. Some carry more (like resorts), some carry less (like "Roach Motels"). Now, my friend had been handing out towels all night. People get extremely wasteful in hotels. A guest came down at 6:30 AM looking for a full new set of towels. My friend told him there were no more clean towels, they had all been handed out, and that he could get some sent to his room as soon as housekeeping showed up and got some cleaned. This angered the guest who stated he couldn't believe the hotel could possibly run out of towels. Now, the hotel was full at this point (and before you say there's no way he could know, full hotels are pretty obvious, if from the lack of free parking spaces alone). Even with my friend explaining he was the only person there at night, the guest still couldn't believe he wouldn't have cleaned more towels when he ran out. However, and I can confirm this one from first-hand experience, had my friend left the desk to clean towels and a guest needed something, all hell would have broken loose. To top all that up, my friend would get written up (if not fired) for having left the desk unattended.

I've had guests call me at 3AM with a TV that won't work. I've gone to the room, and done what I could, then told the guest I would get the TV taken care of as soon as maintenance got in the next morning (between 7AM and 8AM). I've had guests get extremely pissed about this. Why isn't maintenance here now, they'll ask. Because it's the middle of the night, I'll answer. It's never enough. How hard is it to understand that hotels are here to make money? To have maintenance (or housekeeping as in the previous example) there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to fix problems (or clean towels) that only pop up once a month at most is extremely wasteful of capital.

If you go into Wal-Mart in the middle of the night, do you expect their customer service desk to be open? I hope not. I've only ever seen 2 Wal-Marts with CS desks open in the middle of the night, and that was right after Christmas.

So, why are you surprised? It's the middle of the freaking night! Just be glad the company is open to give you any service, and go on your merry way. Stop acting like such a spoiled brat, America.

-Chris

NO You are NOT Special

I've got a news flash for you, America. I know this is going to be hard to hear, but I've got to tell you the truth. NO you are NOT special.

I know, I know. You've been told since the day you were born how special you were. You were told you could do anything you wanted to do, etc. Sorry to break it to you, that was probably your parents talking, and they look at you with rose-colored glasses. While it is technically true that you can do anything you want, it is not realistic. If you have asthma and/or a heart condition, chances are you won't be an Olympian or an astronaut. If you have an IQ of 75, chances are you won't become a quantum physicist.

And the next time someone tells you that you aren't allowed to do something because there is a rule against it, let me just go ahead and answer your question. No, you are not an exception. Your circumstances are only extenuating to you. No one else cares. The rule is in place, now deal with it. No, I will not make an exception for you if it is my job to enforce the rule.

You are NOT special, America. It's time you realize that and start to deal with the real world.

-Chris