Not so bipartisan

I have high hopes for Obama, but that doesn't mean I expect he's perfect. He's already shown he's not. Since he was voted in, my hope was that he would raise the bar high enough to make his status as the first black president a footnote. This, of course means that everyone wants him to fix all the world's ills.

Well, he's been marked for his first 100 days and came up lacking in the bipartisan department. He was strong out of the gate, but his effort to work with Republicans waned early on. Now it's true that the Republicans were strong-headed about some things and were unwilling to budge at times, but Democrats have been like-minded with a Republican president. In the end, if the other party won't come to the table, the President needs to come to them.

Overall, the first 100 days were promising, but it's time to reevaluate and see what can be done to make it better. Working together is better.

Guns: salvation from guns

Some more jerk weed pirates tried to rob a cruise ship, but the crew fired at the pirates scaring them off. I'm not a big fan of guns although I believe there is a constitutional right to own them. Also, it's hard to deny the fact that in this case guns took some wind out of the piracy that has been going rampant.

Now, on the flip side, this will only lead to escalation and possible casualties in future raids. After all, if the pirates can't get what they want with what they are doing, it's not like they will just give up. "Oh, well. I guess it's time to get a job at McDonalds." No, they will become more aggressive.

It's a difficult situation: you can't just enable them by doing nothing, but escalating the violence will in fact escalate the violence. And with this occuring often in international waters and with little international law, these pirates are most often let go.

So I guess for now we applaud one for our side, and take the time to find better solutions while we fight back in the interim.

Lizz winstead on teen sex

As I am trying to beef up my blogs, I have added a few blogging books to my reading list. One is The Huffington Post Guide to Blogging. It has a lot of great advice about blogging and a few good posts from the blog here and there.

One particularly entertaining post was from Lizz Winstead on the difficulty in curbing teen sexuality. The excerpt from the blog included in the book is as follows (note: this is slightly racy):

You can preach and lecture and throw money at this issue until you are blue in the balls, and the result is going to be the same.

Teens are gonna have sex for three simple reasons:

1. It’s fun
2. It’s free
3. It’s against your wishes

Wake up! When the most fun a person can ever have in the whole world is free, you can’t stop it. Not even with twisting scientific facts like a balloon animal.

I won't continue with the full post as it is quite racy. If you wish to read it, you can find it here.

I'm not saying I entirely agree. I don't know that we throw in the towel on trying to curb teen sexuality, but I can't deny that her bullet points are completely on the money. Sometimes we have to take a different perspective to make sure we are being honest with ourselves on the the difficulties in our position. Of course, this is all the more reason to listen to differing views, to make sure our position is solid and not just the echos of a dittohead.

In any respect, I am enjoying the book and these little post excerpts here and there. It's an enjoyable read.

Bush era "meanness"; it's not torture

Apparently we regressed to junior high at the turn of the millennium. According to an official Bush-era memo, to be torture "an individual must have the specific intent to inflict severe pain or suffering." You know you are skating on thin ice when you are trying to find the loop holes by making sure everyone knows how to define words that everyone knows. I would think everyone knows what torture is, but then Clinton would ask what "is" is.

Look, you're not only grown ups, you are leaders of the free world, but you're using a rubber-and-glue mentality. What's more I have to cringe a little as I write "leaders of the free world" in the same post as how this group allowed torture just by redefining it.

Right is right and wrong is wrong: it doesn't matter how it's defined. Trying to cause emotional distress on a prisioner with entomophobia, leaving people naked and in diapers, administering simulated drowning, or enacting minor physical violence are not the actions of leaders of a free world. (However, throwing a shoe gets you a year of prison time.)

I guess it's easier to hurt people than take real steps toward security. It's no wonder Bush placed among the lowest 8 presidents in a recent survey of historians. Easy solutions to complex problems are rarely the right solutions.

Bowing: non-news

Did Obama bow? Did anyone of substance care? Two wars, the biggest global economic downturn in over 70 years and right-wing inciters care about a bow. Who are these people that give this the time of day?

Manholes: our best line of defense

Want to know how to stop terrorism dead in it's tracks? Manhole covers.

That's the plan according to San Jose Police after recent vandalism took out "tens of thousands" of internet, ATM, wireless, and landline users. It seems this "war on terror" isn't so much a war as a hope that those that wish to do us harm are stupid.

We don't seem to have a problem throwing money around, so why not put a plan together to require businesses to safeguard these assets? Okay, okay - first we'll give corporations tons of money to pass out bonuses for failing, then we can put money into protecting our infrastructure. Heavier manhole covers anyone?

Just make sure it's the right finger

I know it's how we all feel. Of course, you wouldn't expect these captains of industry to be as ready to beg as this, but they have been begging for some time, always wanting more money. The sad thing is begging is one thing they can legally monetize.