I'm officially buying what Ron Paul has to sell.

I've watched the debates. I've looked at the issues. And as a former Republican turned Democrat, I have to say I'm going back again. After all that I've seen, his audacity, his intelligence -- but most of all his honesty -- just blow me away. In his 10 terms in Congress (at least from what I can see from his voting record), Dr. (That's right, folks. He's an OBGYN.) Paul has never wavered on his stances. He's never participated in the double-talk and constant outright lying that other candidates seem so adept at and willing to do.

But what draws me most this elderly man with the grandfatherly manner is the fact that he draws support from people of all ages, classes, races, political affiliations and NATIONALITIES (he is the only candidate with meet-up groups in other countries). Oh, and by the way, he's got the official support of the most military veteran groups in the country. I mean, how can a guy getting support from such a diverse group that is so representative of our diverse country have anything less than great ideas?

But you don't have to believe me. After all, I'm just an everyday citizen like you. But at least take a look at the guy's record. In today's world of pandering, paid-off politicians, these facts alone almost win my vote:

Ron Paul has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.

He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.

He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.

And now, here's the media. Within these videos you can see his stances, his supporters and the Ron Paul Revolution that may just be a lot bigger and a lot more important than any of us thought it could be. So just watch. I'm not going to preach to you anymore, mostly because I feel that when you hear what Ron Paul has to say, I won't have to.







To find out more about Dr. Paul, or if you think you might want to donate a few dollars to help the cause, go to:

www.RonPaul2008.com

Celebrities: They really aren't any better than you.

In fact, they're probably worse.



A short thought on all the celebrity endorsements of various presidential candidates (Oprah for Obama, Angelou for Clinton, Nugent for Paul, etc.): Who the hell cares? Is Oprah or Maya Angelou or Ted $%#@*^ Nugent any more qualified to make an informed political decision than some bum on the street? Doubtful. I get the feeling that they choose a candidate based on image and mud-slinging just like everybody else does.

See, even Jayhawks don't like Jayhawk country

Nice (if old) quote from Drew Gooden in the Lawrence Journal-World. He uttered this gem when a reporter asked him about a rumor that he might be drafted by the Grizzlies to play in Memphis.

"I lived in Kansas," Gooden said, smiling, "and that's probably the worst it can get. But Memphis probably isn't that bad."

How did we arrive here?

As some of you may know, I just don't buy organized religion. I was raised Catholic, and after 21 years of believing firmly in God and His son, it just got to the point where Catholic "teaching" and doctrine seemed like nothing but mysticism.

That said, I truly respect people who believe in a higher power. They possess a faith and commitment that just isn't in me at this point in my life. What I can't respect, though, is when those who believe in organized religion (and Christianity in particular) start to think that their faith somehow ties in to their nationality.

I mean, just look at this:



When did we stop looking to the founding fathers for advice on how to run things? When did God become a public officer? Shouldn't all these politicians who seem so keen on serving the Lord be realizing that calling in the ministry and not the government?

I don't know, but I certainly think that, at least when it comes to running a country, we might want to start looking more at the words in the Constitution, and less at those in the Bible.

So, uh, what are you up to Friday?

I rarely sweat the small stuff.
I'd rather have fun.
I'd rather fly by the seat of my pants,
because life always seemed to be more fun
when I couldn't see past the weekend.

I like not seeing what's next.
I like not caring what's next.
It gives me a certain power over the world,
or at least I think it does.
It's my way of saying
"You may be able to flip me
and dip me
and turn me around,
but you can't lick me, world,
because I'll just stride a little different,
and glide on by whatever you can give me."

But lately, it seems I don't want to fly as much.
I want to plan.
I want to see around the next corner.
For once, I want to look before I leap.

Maybe I'm growing up.
Or maybe I know that what I do now,
in these next few years, will guide my life
forever.

Forever. Wow.
That's a long way past the weekend.

We know what you want, but we just can't admit it.

I work in advertising, and my particular agency has a couple of pretty good research folks. They're always looking for facts, figures and tidbits about what our consumers really want from their ads. They tell us about demographics, generational gaps and what each target audience likes, dislikes, desires, avoids and aspires to.

But (with all due respect to ad research departments everywhere) this is all people really long for:

Here's the mandatory Heath Ledger post.

My parents always told me that God does everything for a reason. I never believed them. I didn't see how my God (when I believed he existed) could create wars in which thousands died. I didn't see how he could create husbands and fathers that beat the life out of their wives and children. And I didn't see how he could take some of his young, talented creations from their existence before their time.

It's not that I didn't think God was capable, mind you. It's just that I could never find a reason for it. Well, I just talked to the guys down at Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, and they let me in on a little secret.

God killed Heath Ledger because he hates fags and anybody that played one in the movies once.

That's right folks. Heath Ledger died because he helped to further the gay agenda by playing a gay cowboy.
And the Westboro Baptist Church Fightin' Bigots are gonna tell us about it.
On TV.
At Ledger's funeral.

Which leaves me asking one question: If God does everything for a reason, then what on earth was his reason for creating hate-mongers like these?

This could NEVER happen.

Why couldn't Dubya get impeached for receiving a blowjob? Because only Democrats get blowjobs -- Republicans would rather give them.



Seriously though, when we're speaking of impeachment, what's worse: One not-so-innocent extramarital BJ or sending 3,000 Americans to die?

Kurt Vonnegut is smarter than me.

Jerk. Being all "Oooooh I'm not smart I just have a lot of common sense but I'm really a genius but I don't like to say so. Oooooh."

The least funny comic strip you'll read today

This strip, dated September 17, 2001 rings pretty true. It's a little bit scary that a lot of people saw exactly what was going to happen, and we marched into this shit-storm anyway.

More Venn Diagram Madness

Sarcasm + Graphic Representation + Geek = Hilarity. Check it out here.

And just for fun, here are some of my favorites:

These guys put the Fun in Fundamentalist

Happened upon the top 100 quotes from fundamentalist christian message boards today, and let me tell you, they are pretty great. I'm not sure how a being armed with a pretty advanced human brain could say some of these things and really believe them.

Here are some of the best:

"There are a lot of things I have concluded to be wrong, without studying them in-depth. Evolution is one of them. The fact that I don't know that much about it does not bother me in the least."

"I can sum it all up in three words: Evolution is a lie."

And my absolute favorite: I call it "Your God cannot help you now."

"This is what it would be like, if the majority of people were athiests.

ATHIEST KID: Mom, I'm going to go fuck a hooker.
ATHIEST MOM: Okay, son.
ATHIEST KID: Afterwards, I'm going to go smoke pot with my friends, since it's "not addictive."
ATHIEST MOM: Okay, come home soon!

The athiest kid leaves the room. The father comes home from work several minutes later.

ATHIEST DAD: Hey!
ATHIEST MOM: Hi, honey! I'm pregnant again. I guess I'll just get another abortion, since "fetuses don't count as human life."
ATHIEST DAD: Okay, get as many abortions as you want!
ATHIEST MOM: Oh, and don't go in the bedroom.
ATHIEST DAD: Why not?
ATHIEST MOM: There are two gay men fucking eachother in there.
ATHIEST DAD: Why are they here?
ATHIEST MOM: I wanted to watch them do it for awhile. They just aren't finished yet.
ATHIEST DAD: Okay, that's fine with me!

Suddenly, their neighbor runs into the house.

ATHIEST NEIGHBOR: Come quick, there's a Christian outside!
ATHIEST MOM: We'll be right there!

The athiest couple quickly put on a pair of black robes and hoods. They then exit the house, and run into the street, where a Christian is nailed to a large, wooden X. He is being burned alive. A crowd of athiests stand around him, all wearing black robes and hoods.

RANDOM ATHIEST: Damn you, Christian! We hate you! We claim to be tolerant of all religions. But we really hate your's! That's because we athiests are hypocritical like that! Die, Christian!

THE END

Scary, isn't it?"

Scary indeed.

Feel free to check out the rest of these funny yet rather disturbing fundie quips here.

I'd say I've been busy, but I haven't.

Maybe a post late tonight, maybe tomorrow...there's much to talk about.

What do you think?

Well, I've been doing this for a while now, writing my words for you and your computer screen. Now I want to ask you to write a few for mine. What do you think of my blog? My posts, my style, my humor -- all are up for comment and critique.

So whether it's your first time here or you're a regular reader, give me your comments. I'd love to know what all of you out there in the digital dimension think.

That's it for today. Comment away, guys (and gals too, I guess).

Why I love evangelicals.

Here's a page from a kid's coloring book put out by a midwestern mega-church that's all about world religions. For those of you that can't read the copy, it goes something like this:

"This man is of India.
He is praying to his god.
His god cannot help him.
This man must know about Jesus.
Can you think of some ways to help him?"

Pretty bigoted, eh? I'm sure that the chrisitian God would love the exclusion and lack of respect that these white bread born-agains show towards those with other beliefs. Because surely Jesus doesn't like acceptance and respect for others.

It's late, but hey, better than never, right?

Well, it just turned to the 9th of January now,
And I've finally given some thought to my New Year's resolution.
I think, this year, I'm going to make this one a fuller year than the last.
I want to make more of every day.
I want to appreciate the finer things in life,
and the simple ones, too.
I want to watch a sunset or two,
read a bit more,
write a bit more,
think a bit more,
but most of all, just live a bit more.
I want to push the boundaries of my brain a bit further.
Explore the dark nether-regions that are as yet undiscovered up there.

Maybe that means I should use a few more words. Maybe I should start expressing myself in more complicated, more grandois ways that more fully and deeply express what the firing neurons in my head are trying to formulate on my paper, in my thoughts, and in my words.

Or maybe
more
brevity
is
better.

Maybe that means a more lyrical style,
Maybe I should give that a trial,
Sure my rhymes are usually vile,
But I'd probably get better after a while.

More description might be nice as well. Painting a vivid picture for one's small, undedicated readership can lead to great, sweeping satisfaction akin to that of a...man, I'm not very good at this either.

But that's OK.

Exploring, sometimes, means realizing what you aren't good at,
and refusing to let it stop you from trying.
Never never never stop trying.
Never never never stop exploring.

And now for something completely different.

I saw this and couldn't help but laugh. Those are about all I learned in math class, too. Wait. Not true. I also learned how to get really good at Ti-86 games.

This is how I know

I went out and about the neighborhood today.
My girl and I have decided that once we are wed,
we'll need a house to make a home out of.
We looked at lots,
we liked a few,
and we loved one.
A little bungalow by our favorite video store.
It's not much.
Two bedrooms,
an office,
a beautiful screened-in porch,
and a lot of the charm that old houses bring.
It's simple and quirky and it's aging well.
We think it fits us pretty well,
and we hope it might in the future, too.
I think it probably will.

Winter has sprung.

It's 60 degrees today.
Thank you, Mother Nature.
Sometimes, when the gloom and doom stretch on for months,
I wonder if you're there.
Then,
right when I'm at the breaking point,
right when I'm ready to pack it in,
right when the clouds start to look a little too ominous,
you give me one of these beautiful,
sunny,
warm
days to get me through.

Thoughts on college football.

I just finished watching the Orange Bowl, and now that the season's officially over for the only two teams that really matter around these parts, I have some thoughts. They are presented below in a handy-dandy numbered list.

1. Aqib Talib was quoted as saying "One of the reasons we want to win this game (the Orange Bowl) is to prove that we belong here and Missouri doesn't." KU won, and did indeed take steps to prove they are a real live football program. They didn't, however, prove that Missouri isn't.

2. No matter what all the rabid kU fans that I know tell me, MU is still the better team of the two. We beat kU. We won our division. We finished the year 1st in total offense, and total defense in the Big XII North. All while playing a tougher schedule.

3. If kU really is for real, and it appears that they are, I wish that they would've played a real schedule to prove it. I just don't think you can shrug off the doubters when there were only 9 team in division 1A football that had an easier schedule than you. Mark Mangino said in his pre-game press conference for the Orange Bowl that "people don't remember who you played in September in December." If this is true, I find it odd that he was responding to a question about how weak kU's schedule was this year.

4. Mark Mangino needs to drop a few pounds for the sake of his team. They wouldn't be nearly as good without him.

5. Say what you want, Jayhawks. Just remember, remember the 25th of November. 36-28, and it wasn't really even that close.

6. Let me say it again. We beat you. By a sound margin. And we won the division. Sure, you lost one less game than us, but that game you didnt't lose was one you couldn't play in.

A COUPLE DAYS LATER: So, uh, why did I get so worked up about that? I don't even really care much any more. Such is the nature of sports, I guess.

Belated: This is why I always feel bad at Christmas.

For those of you who don't have superhuman vision, the copy says:

Handbag: $32
Food for a week: $4

Kind of makes you wonder how many people you could feed with those 4 Wii games you (and by "you", I mean "I") got a few days ago. But then, wondering won't put food in the mouths of the hungry, will it?

Two lives become one.

I graduated school recently.
And I thought that when I did,
I was graduating to a new life, too.
I was all set to start the internship that I believed would turn in to my first job.
It did.
I believed that job would allow me to cement a long standing relationship I've always treasured.
It did.
Over the last few months, the nature of my existence has changed immensely.
I'm more grown up.
I party a bit less.
I sleep a bit more.
I have more responsibilities,
more financial compensation,
and for once, I'm giving a few answers
instead of raising my hand to discover what they might be.
This had lead me to believe that the fun, care-free life I had was gone forever.
It seemed to me that my youth couldn't make friends with my adulthood.
Turns out, I was wrong.

The old friends were in town to see in this new year.
We partied in a fancy place that, for whatever reason, felt like the East Campus houses I used to frequent for a great many beers and even more laughs.
We cheered and jeered during the big game at a brand new big screen that, for whatever reason, felt like the nineteen-incher in my former apartment.
We went out to dinner at a nice restaurant that, for whatever reason, felt like the late-night diner 124 miles to our east.
Those I know have changed for sure.
Much in the same way as I.
But what life has given us in these past few months
has not made us forget the simple pleasures we once had.
I hope it never does.