Rant

Here’s the quick and dirty breakdown (I’ve rounded the percentages): Board of County Commissioners: $666.82 (31%) Library: $113.91 (6%) School Board: $931.65 (46%) Water District: $32.14 (2%) Unincorporated Services: $31.88 (2%) Sheriff: $129.17 (6%) Fire Protection: $103.51 (5%) So, the biggest amount seems, by far, to go to the School Board. I spend over $900.00 on public education– and being that I have no kids, I think that’s very generous of me. Of course, not realizing this until now is completely my own fault. ...

There’s no big secret where I’m going here. Not too much of a secret where I’ve been either. Most everyone knows that I’m a former police officer — if you didn’t, well you do now. I’m not one to label myself a conservative, liberal, or anything like that. I’m registered NPA (no party affiliation) and that’s exactly like I like it. When I vote, I vote for whom I like, although lately that seems an impossible task… but as usual… I digress. If I were to lean one way or another, I’d most likely say my beliefs are somewhat libertarian. I believe that government is necessary, but must be severely limited. I want government out of my house, away from my body, and focused on protecting our nation from those that would cause us harm. ...

Back in the 90’s, one of my favorite commercials used the tagline, “At BASF, we don’t make a lot of the products you buy; we make a lot of the products you buy better.” Well my friends, when thinking about our government’s response to the continued pouring of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, I can only think that our government didn’t make the crisis in the Gulf; they made the crisis in the Gulf more catastrophic. First, let’s ask the most simple question. How much oil is leaking into the Gulf of Mexico? ...

[][1]Sick, Poor? No thanks. You already know where I’m going— it’s in the title after all. At this time, I do not support the health care bill. Now before I get into the many reasons why I do not support this legislation, let me spell out the following disclaimers. I am a small business owner. I am not a Republican. I am not a Democrat. I proudly check the NPA (no party affiliation), when I register to vote for one simple reason— I vote along my ideals and conscious; not along some party mantra. As a general rule, I feel that the government continually mismanages money and our current news media fails to account the statements of government officials to any fact check or truth test. With that introduction out of the way, I can now describe why I believe our government failed us— as we should expect it to. After all, the Founding Fathers did not want us to depend on our government; and for good reason. ...

[][1]Tell me about you. On a recent trip to Target, I decided to add some compressed air to my cart. Working in electronics, I find compressed air to be almost a necessity. The servers, computers, switches, and other equipment I use routinely need a good “spritz” of compressed air to keep the dust from accumulating. But I digress. When I went to check out, my cashier advised that I needed to scan my ID to purchase the compressed air. Not just show her my ID, but rather have my driver’s license scanned into their register. This of course allows Target to scan, read, and store my personally identifiable information. Although just someone’s full name fulfills the criteria of personally identifiable information, a Driver’s License barcode and/or magnetic stripe contains much more. By scanning the driver’s license, Target retains my full name, date of birth, address, gender, race, driver’s license number, license information (restrictions, endorsements), organ donation, and issue date. First, let’s look at the obvious… ...

Can you guess which WiFi network is mine? Passive Agressive? Yes. Funny? Perhaps. I’m no stranger to the fun and joy that comes from dog ownership. Let’s not forget that Forrest was 115lbs and as regular as could be. We tried (well, he couldn’t care actually, more realistically I tried) to be very considerate of private property when making our rounds. Now I don’t want to go off on a rant here, but… ...

I really don’t like Huckabee. I had figured when someone he pardoned brutally killed police officers that maybe we had seen the last of him… but no. For some reason, the powers that be feel that I care what Huckabee thinks. Apparently he wants me to vote for Marco Rubio for Senator. Here’s the funny thing — I can’t. I’m not a registered Republican. You see, I’m NPA; because I vote for who I like, not a party....

The best way to keep our skies safe. So, let’s pretend you’re with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The TSA, created shortly after 9/11, provides security for the nation’s transportation systems. Employing approximately 50,000 people, the TSA “ensures your travels – by plane, train, automobile or ferry – are safe and secure.” After the recent “incident” (this is what the TSA calls it) where an airline passenger successfully brought an explosive device onto an American bound plane, the TSA initiated new travel directives. Apparently, one of these directives includes the seizing of computers owned by bloggers who discuss the new directives. ...

The great thing about government? No accountability for failure. [][1]Things that make you go hmmmmm

In the late 1800’s, after an explosion of immigration to the United States, a new metaphor started circulating — The Meting Pot. Referring to the fusion of different cultures, nationalities, backgrounds, and ethnicities, “The Melting Pot” became part of American culture in the early 1900’s. Although the metaphor intends to help create a national identity, many today see the phrase as antiquated and insulting. People want to keep their heritage, culture, traditions, and not be formed into a new being. In the late 1800’s, after an explosion of immigration to the United States, a new metaphor started circulating — The Meting Pot. Referring to the fusion of different cultures, nationalities, backgrounds, and ethnicities, “The Melting Pot” became part of American culture in the early 1900’s. Although the metaphor intends to help create a national identity, many today see the phrase as antiquated and insulting. People want to keep their heritage, culture, traditions, and not be formed into a new being. Personally, I like to look at the metaphor differently. I like to believe that the Melting Pot allows you to retain your uniqueness, but at the same time, not segregate you from the plate. Yes, the plate in this “Fred” metaphor is America. With this extremely long winded introduction, even more so than usual, I want to talk about exclusion, labeling, classification, and Fox News. Wait, Fox News?...