To all the big wig pundits

Stop using Medicare cuts as a reason to rise up against proposed health care reform. Medicare isn't any more or any less a socialist government option than what's up for debate right now. If you want the government out of health care, get them out of all public options. Why is it that the immorals of a government option don't apply when they're being handed out to the elderly?

What riding should be about

I know this is normally a political blog, but I couldn't pass up posting this video. This kid is from Utah and is one of the most creative riders I've ever seen. It's fun to see someone who's more focused on having fun than pulling the biggest tricks. He's pretty young, so it should be good to see what comes from him in the future.

Tate Roskelley Volume Web Edit

There should be a law against...

Try googling that phrase. You'll be surprised by how many weird hits come up. Really though, is that honestly the only solution to problems within our society?

I see this as one of the major issues of our current culture. I've been pegged as a rosy idealist and an unreal optimist because I believe that not all morality needs to be enforced by external laws. Not only do I think it's immoral for government to fill that role, I believe it's unnecessary.

Recently a leader in my church spoke in a world-wide broadcast to all its members. Part of what he said hit the nail right on the head.

"Policemen and laws can never replace customs, traditions and moral values as a means for regulating human behavior. At best, the police and criminal justice system are the last desperate line of defense for a civilized society. Our increased reliance on laws to regulate behavior is a measure of how uncivilized we’ve become."

Why is it that we all demote ourselves the absolute lowest common denominator? Too many of us believe that "legal" and "right" are synonyms. There are also too many people who try to perpetuate and expand on this concept.

I think Cap and Trade is an excellent example of this. If we as people are really responsible for a trend of global warming, wouldn't we all be self-interested in reversing that trend? Wouldn't it be better to focus on convincing people of the personal benefits of protecting the environment than to force them to go green by criminalizing a specific amount of emissions?

How do you personally handle your morality? Do you have integrity? Do you think you're unique because you do? Do you do the rights things because they're right or because you're afraid of the consequences if you don't?

I personally am doing my best to stop the cycle. The more I - as an individual - depend on laws and government intervention to enforce my morality, the more the government is willing to step in and do so. The more the government steps in, the easier it is for me to relinquish my integrity to the ease of externally enforced morality. It's a cycle that I personally am stopping.

If

When I was in the fourth grade, my parents pulled me and my two brothers (that is grammatically correct) from our neighborhood public school, and sent us across town to a private school. I was there until the eighth grade. I can honestly say that I didn't enjoy going most days, and now I appreciate every single one of them. If I can afford to, I will send my own kids to that same school.

One of the things we did in school was memorize new poems every month. Some of them were bland, others were technically difficult, and there are a few that have stuck with me since then.

One of those poems has been my favorite. I have a copy of it on my desk at work and will be putting up a framed copy of it as my wife and I continue to furnish our home. Lately I've been seeing reference to this poem in a lot of places. Some of the blogs I follow mention it, and a couple of lines are even quoted in a Brand New song from 2007.

This is a poem I think every man should memorize and recite to himself periodically.

If
by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Racist? Really?

Illegal aliens can come from anywhere in the world (or universe apparently). Those who see racism in this costume are harboring their own racial prejudices.

Anti-Discrimination?

On Friday, Salt Lake City mayor Ralph Becker proposed two new ordinances that would make it illegal for businesses and housing developments in Salt Lake City to discrimate against someone, based on their sexual orientation.

This brings to mind a few questions. Does anyone inherently have a claim on a job or on an apartment? Doesn't the landlord or company owner have the right to govern their property as they see fit? I personally disagree with someone who would choose to deny someone a job or an apartment based on their sexual orientation, and think it would be foolish to do so; but shouldn't that person have the right to give jobs or property based on their own personal agenda or criteria? It is their property after all. Does society as a whole have the right to tell someone it's illegal for her to not provide her property to someone based on a common interpretation of right and wrong, and not her own morals and convictions? If so, does that not mean that society in general has more say over the private property of an individual more than the actual property owner? Doesn't this also continue to convey a message to they LGBT community that they can't make it on their own; they're inherently unequal from "regular" people and the only way they can find equal footing is if the government interjects itself? I would be insulted if the government issued anti-discrimination laws for white men. I don't want someone to give me a job to fill a quota or to assuage their sense of guilt. I want a job because I'm the most qualified person for it.

All this being said, I think there is one particular area where the discrimination needs to end. We need to get rid of "Don't Ask Don't Tell." Unlike our jobs or our homes, we can't choose our government. We are all represented by it. We all - as citizens of the United States - should also have the right to defend our freedoms and liberties. A gay man or woman should be able to serve in the military with the same honors, privileges, responsibilities, duties and respect as a straight person. They don't get to choose their government any more than I do, and should be able to represent it and fight for their rights and freedoms along side anyone else from this country.

Come on Rush

I would never consider myself a "Ditto Head." I will occasionally listen to Rush Limbaugh on my way to work, but he's one I definitely have to take with a grain of salt. I'm glad I did this morning.

While I was driving in he was talking about how upset he was with President Obama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. I agree with his sentiments, but he was flagrantly wrong on some of his facts.

According to Rush, the voting process for the winners ends in February, this would mean that Obama received the votes and deserved the prize after an extremely short amount of time in office, and not passing any major bills. I went to the Nobel site and they had a very different story to tell. According to them, your nominations have to be in by February (I still think it's a joke that he was even nominated in February) but the actual voting doesn't happen until October.

That took me about two minutes to look up, I'm glad Rush and his goons are doing their homework.

We don't like your stupid First Amendment either

I'm sure you've heard of Humana, right; That privately-owned corporation that provides health insurance. How about Medicare; The government owned entity that deals and works with companies like Humana?

Well here is a letter that was sent from Medicare (the government) to Humana (a private company).

It is in response to a toll-free number and a website that Humana set up to allow their policy holders to contact the government and voice concern about cuts in Medicare if Senator Max Baucus' health care bill passes (Bet you can't guess who was the guy who initiated an investigation into Humana). After receiving the letter and its threats, Humana has shut down the site and the number.

America's Next Great Pundit

No this isn't the title I've officially dubbed myself with. It's a contest being put on by the Washington Post. And thankfully- although the names are similar - this will not be judged or hosted by Tyra Banks. The winner gets to do a weekly column in the Post for up to 13 weeks. Sweet.

To enter, you have to submit a 400 word essay about a current topic in politics; then give a 100 word description of yourself and why you should win.

Here's what I sent in.

"What’s wrong with America today? One word: Entitlement. We’ve become a nation that expects without earning. We demand without understanding how our demands are to be met. And why shouldn’t we? Life is much easier that way. The problem with freedom is that it’s difficult. So is responsibility. If we’re free and responsible, we can’t blame anyone else when things go wrong in our lives. We can’t demand that someone else fix our problems.

What freedom and responsibility really mean is work. Work is an ugly, nasty thing that should be avoided at all costs. Work is for immigrants and stupid people. Work is for those who aren’t smart enough to figure out how to make money the easy way. Work is for saps and suckers. The American dream no longer consists of making of living; it consists of gaining a living. The end far outweighs the means.

And that’s what’s wrong with us. We’ve become a bunch of whiners and perpetual adolescents. Even if we don’t see ourselves that way, we see the rest of America that way. I’m doing it right now. If you’re agreeing with this you’re doing it right now too.

Unfortunately human beings and Americans in particular are a lot like water. We tend to seek the path of least resistance. We seek stagnancy, because that’s where we can find safety. But, just like in water, stagnancy in a human being leads to silt and muck. The water that flows the fastest is the clearest.

The real problem with America is that we’ve asked our government to provide us with the path of least resistance, and our government has been more than happy to oblige. We’re safe without responsibility, and they’re in power without anyone to hold their feet under the fire.

What we need to do is demand more of ourselves and less of our government. Our elected officials need to demand more of us and less of our programs. Once we get our responsibility back, we’ll see that we’re capable of living up to it; that work is hard but rewarding, and that freedom and responsibility are much better than safety and adolescence."

Blogger Briefing

Last night I had the opportunity to attend a blogger briefing put on by the Sutherland Institute. We had Dave Hansen and Rob Miller talk to us about their perceptions of civility in politics now versus how it was in the past. Both made some interesting points.

Miller said he thinks things are now worse than they've ever been. Joe Wilson's out burst is the height of incivility. He also focused on the need for us to govern ourselves and be respectful, even when we disagree.

Hansen said things are worse than they've been in a while, but it doesn't hold a flame to the way things were in the 19th century. Apparently congressmen used to try to strangle each other. Interesting.

I snaked a question from one of the blogs I follow (Thanks Kory) and asked if they thought it was more important to be honest or civil. They both said honest but would ideally have both, but Miller was a bit more detailed. I appreciated his response.

Which do you value more?