The Internet…

…is a depressing place.

July 4th

Family, Friends, Countrymen,

Today we stand together in celebration of this great, this fine, this proud nation. From the humble beginnings of persectured churchmen and political dissidents, to the outcasts of enlightened society, the refuse of the English Empire, those with too much ambition, those with too little of anything to speak of, our nation has transformed, a chrysalis bringing forth this beacon of liberty, of hope and of justice. Since Columbus set foot on his New World, these lands have been a place to start anew, to begin again; a source of hope, of freedom unknown, of life unhindered, of love and life and faith with burning passions.

On this day, men of letters, proud, principled, intelligent and gifted with God’s wisdom set forth in ink this Grand Experiment. Our Republic, founded by the gun, the pen, and the men and women of this great nation both high and low, set forth as the small backwater refusing to allow exploitation by the Great Lion, the might British Empire, upon whom the sun never set. With unyielding will, minds a lit with the fires of freedom’s promise, and with a little luck, the humble American trapped the mighty Redcoat upon this very shore, and soon this great nation, began the painful, glorious and mighty process of birth.

Ladies and gentlemen, today we have inherited the dreams of our fathers, our mothers, of men and women yet unborn in nations where freedom’s bell rings not, were the bootheel crushes, where hope lives not, where darkness covers the land. The question presented to us today is simple: do we continue to feed that fire? To live that dream? That some day, some place, men may be treated as  equal, before God and men gearter merely by merit, and that the oppressed may find freedom, the crushed maybe lifted up, and that all that means to be human will be celebrated in birth, in life, in death.

Across this world people dream of a better life. They dream of security that comes from wealth, from the lights of hope and freedom, that they may be men and women, respected by God and others for their inherent natural worth, they dream that as beings with wills and aspirations, filled to the brim with life they may live it, for better of worse. They dream that this life lies here, in these hallowed lands, from sea to shining sea; in these flowing plains, in these broad forests, in these harsh deserts, in this mighty cities, in the hearts of the citizens here.

But we must not forget that this Mighty Republic is the world’s Greatest Experiment, and that our freedoms are not forever, nor are they our natural state. They were taken by force from men with far greater means. Whether it was from the British or the slaveholder, from the party machine boss or the gangleader, from the drugs dealt on our streets to the fears and hatreds that spring from our very hearts, freedom is not free! It is not given to us like a present at Christmas, or our names at birth, it is power removed from few and given to the many, that none may dominate over all. It is fought for and many more men and women die seeking than reach it.

It is in this spirit that today, on the day of our independence, and the flower of the virus of freedom, I call upon each of us to bring hope to those men and women within and beyond, to serve and to love, to hope, and most of all to live free. While our light may be covered, our lives may be taken, our homes may be laid to waste, our dream will never die! It shall live on in the hearts of men on worlds far distant from our own, in the skies and in the oceans, in the farthest stars and the closest hearths. It shall be spread across all borders, across all colors and creeds and into the very soul of humanity.

Today, friends we celebrate as we should. And tomorrow, we fight!

God Bless You All

God Bless America

J.M.G.

Misc. Inc.

So I’m just about over not having a job. Not much to do, no money to do anything with. It’s a bummer.

On the one hand, it’s nice to have time to write again, but if that’s all I have to do, it gets old fast, especially since I don’t get paid to write.

I do think it’s extremely funny that I’m getting a lot of Russian spam though, for no apparent reason.

On the lighter side of life, I thought this 17 Great Historical Moments Ruined by Modern Technology | Cracked.com was absolutely hilarious, especially number 17.

In other news, these playoffs have been great for the sport of hockey, and I hope that in the coming years hockey will get the recognition it deserves alongside baseball and football as great sports.

Yeah right, pigs fly, Nancy Pelosi’s honest, and the Canucks will one day win the Stanley Cup.

Judiciary Day

Before I get started on my rant about two major judiciary occurances, an interesting short post about the unintended consequences of closing Guantanamo Bay.

So, two major announcements today from the land of the judicial branch of the American Government. First is that the California Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Prop 8, on a 6-1 basis. First off, I feel its a good sign that despite being subject to extreme pressure from the political establishment in California the court upheld the right of the people to amend their own constitution. The arguments brought forth by the varying lawyers opposed to Prop 8, particularly the idea that if a constitutional amendment violated a fundamental right then the court was bound to overturn Prop 8. Now, the utter ridiculousness of this argument should be immediately apparent. The California Constitution is the document which defines the fundamental rights of Californians. This isn’t the United Kingdom, or any other commonwealth country where there is a series of unwritten precedents that are consulted in the constitutional court. The simple fact is that roughly seven million Californians voted to define marriage as between a man and a woman. Whether you like that or not, that is now enshrined in the California constitution. If you want to change it, go to the voters, not the courts.

There’s another rant to be had about the whole gay marriage debate, but I think I will just leave it at this.

The second major happening was the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor by President Barack Obama to the Supreme Court. Even though this nomination is to succeed Breyer, who has been one of the more activist judges on the bench, this is extremely disappointing, and indicative of just how the federal judiciary is going to be changed for the next four years. Rather than sober application of laws, empathy and subjectivity is going to be the primary determinant of how justices are to rule, creating laws in order to create more “social justice,” not, you know, whether someone has broken the law or whether a given law is ultimately lawful, or constitutional.

Case in point: “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” – Sonia Sotomayor

This is completely and totally absurd. It should be utterly irrelevant in the judicial realm one’s life experiences. I’m willing to grant that ones life experiences would be important in the legislative process, but once that process is finished, than you want the most objective, even-handed person who is willing to ignore his or her personal convictions in order to deliver the most just ruling possible. She has admitted that she finds it impossible to be objective. *sighs* I don’t think I really need to say anything more.

Some Actual Musings!

Well, good to see this is still here, I would’ve thought the WordPress people would’ve deleted this place for inactivity long ago. So now that school is over and I have time, to you know, breathe, I thought it would be nice to muse about things going on in the world.

First, the wide world of sports. Now I hate to say it because I know it might provoke the one Canadian who frequents this place, but Jim Balsillie will never own a team, and the Phoenix Coyotes will never move to Southern Ontario. Sorry, but this is simply not going to happen. Ever. No, it’s not because Gary Bettman is the spawn of Satan, George W. Bush’s secret fraternal twin, or Ronald Reagan’s illegitimate son. First of all, this is because Jim Balsillie is a spoiled brat, and behaving like it. If he can’t get his team legally and through proper league procedures, then he’ll just break the rules (and possibly the law) in order to get it. Look at his behavior in regards to his attempts to purchase the Pens and Preds. Trying to get the Pens out of the Pitt was a bad idea in the first place, mostly because Mario Lemieux remains one of the classiest guys ever, with undying loyalty towards his team and because Pittsburgh is a great hockey town in general. Though his legitimate attempt to purchase the franchise probably helped keep the Pens in Pittsburgh, it still was not the smartest move ever. But where Balsillie lost me, and probably the rest of the NHL establishment, was his behavior in regards to his attempts to purchase the Nashville Predators. What gall, after promising to keep the Preds there at least a season, to putting up season ticket deposits before he even bought the team! That’s right up there in the Clay Bennett-Bill Laurie-Michael Heisley level of owner sketchiness. I’d use another term, but I want to try and keep this respectable. In his obviously fervent desire to bring another team to Canada, he proceeded to alienate basically everyone south of the 49th parallel. For that reason alone, Balsillie has been basically the worst thing to happen to Canadian expansion. The most obvious candidate to own the next Canadian team is now the least desirable. He proceeded to make Gary Bettman angry, ignored the Board of Governors and the other owners, drive a wedge between Canadian fans and those who desire to see the game of hockey expanded, even to non-traditional markets. He has single-handedly guaranteed it will be at least another ten years before another Canadian hockey professional hockey team will be founded, and there is no one else to blame but Balsillie. Had he been patient and played by the rules, there would most likely be another Canadian team, whether in Southern Ontario, Quebec, Winnipeg, or Saskatchewan. But now, don’t expect it.

Which brings me to my next topic, that whole ‘non-traditional market vs. Canadian’ debate that is going around in most hockey circles. The argument from the Canadian side is basically the “don’t give your pearls to swine argument,’ which for all it’s provincial, anti-American sentiment, is completely understandable. Because is played on ice, having a team in the desert doesn’t make a great deal of natural sense. There are better places to have a hockey team, even in the United States. Seattle, Vegas, where there are no other major professional sports teams, Wisconsin, Indiana, even another team in New England would probably better bets financially speaking than in Phoenix. All of this I admit freely. However, one thing I would like to point out is the Coyotes have sucked for a long time. As demonstrated by Colorado this season who after basically a decade of winning, now have run out of gas, Chicago for a decade, and Boston since Bobby Orr,  fielding a winning team is pretty important to putting backsides in the seats. No one wants to see a losing team all the time. Perhaps the only expection would be the Clippers, because of the unique dynamics of actually being able to afford to see a basketball game. When the Coyotes played well, they were financially ok. When they sucked on the ice, they didn’t. That’s basically all there is to it. Plus, the Coyotes had a unique opportunity, had they put together a winning team, to lodge themselves in the Phoenix sports market, which consisted of the Worst Team In The History Of Sports (The Arizona Cardinals) and a pretty decent baseball team that sold it’s soul to win a championship way too early. The basketball team was pretty entertaining, but they are on the downturn, and again were very bad when the ‘Yotes moved from Winnipeg. But they blew it, and now look what happened. Plus, the overriding problem with the “They don’t deserve a hockey team” is the economy, which hit Phoenix especially hard because of it’s suburban nature. So to put it bluntly, a lot of things went wrong with Phoenix, not just the fact that the team is in the Desert. There could be a lot more said about what it would take to grow hockey, or any sport really in a non-traditional market, but the potential is there. Especially with the Suns on the down turn.

Which brings me to my final sports rant for the day, which is this: I don’t get (professional) basketball. I just don’t. That sport holds utterly no appeal to me. The broken salary cap system, the blatantly manipulated playoff scenarios by both the league and the sponsoring companies, the absurdly bad and more than likely corrupt officiating (you really think Donaghy was the only ref to be corrupt?), the poor arena/game atmosphere, the stratospherically expensive tickets (not that hockey is any better, but you can at least justify the expensive tickets in relation to basketball because it’s expensive to keep an ice rink running, especially during in the warmer climes), the flopping, and until recently the basically gangster nature of the players, the outlawing of one of the two defensive systems possible in the game of basketball, the lack of any real developmental system for players outside of college basketball (which is alright, but the absurd draft eligibility system is the subject for another rant), the worst Last Two Minutes in sports, all of which leaves me with a simple question. How can anyone like the NBA? I just don’t get it. How this league is more popular than the NHL will always baffle me. I don’t care if the NHL is basically a regional league at the moment, though that is largely changing thanks to a renewal in amazing talent and the bigger media markets. The on-ice is far superior to what the NBA puts out, especially since the rule changes. Maybe I’m just a hockey homey, but I just don’t get it. I get baseball, I get football, I even college basketball. Some one please, explain to me the appeal of the NBA, before I go crazy.

Final Banner Blog

Well, it has been quite the madness for the last month. Seems like school never let up, always throwing something new at me. Which is why this poor neglected puppy got and remained that way. I don’t think that without these assingments for the Banner that this poor blog would ever see anything posted on it at all! It certainly was a tough semester, particularly working in the journalism program. It was not something I had anticipated doing at all, but nevertheless turned out to be pretty rewarding. Even though I have always considered myself something of a writer, it was always within the context of fiction. The idea of writing for a newspaper was new to me, and not necessarily something I was looking forward to.

But it certainly taught me much more than I was expecting. It taught me the importance of going outside of your areas of interest and experiencing writing about new topics. One of the most enjoyable articles I wrote this semester was the profile on Professor Renfro, who taught my Honors seminar in Russian Literature. It was a new experience to me, meeting someone who had grown up in what had been the Soviet Union, and who had experienced so much in her life. I felt very honored when she chose to share some of her life with me, particularly during our interview when she told me a story about how a Soviet journalist had twisted things that she had said in order to make a political point. The necessity, nay the sanctitiy of my job as a recorder of someone elses experiences was really impressed upon me in that interview.

As for writing in the future, I think I’m done with journalism. Even though it has been a wonderful, if occasionally challenging experience, I just am not cut out for this kind of thing. It is not my temprament to write like that. But I will always thank this course for reinvigorating my interest in writing and I have planned to write a novel length story this summer and hopefully try and get it published when I return from Air Assault school at the end of May. While I am kind of scared of what it would take to finish all that, my experience in this class and the feeling of seeing my name attached to something real and concrete that was published and read by others as something authoritative was very powerful and has given me a lot of motivation to continue writing and to see my work improve to the point where it can be published.

Spring Break

So I’m going on ‘vacation.’ Hooray, vacation!

Banner Midterm Blog

So, I do think it is somewhat amusing that no matter how much we all protest President Obama and his policies, we are still talking about the man. Sign of the times I guess.

Now, as for evaluating our new President’s first month or so in office, one can say it certainly hasn’t exactly been the honeymoon I’m sure he’d hoped it would be. But then again, what do you expect when you run through four cabinet-appointees in a matter of two weeks? I mean really now, I would expect even the Democrats to not appoint tax-evaders to the Treasury. First of all, they don’t have the sense of irony. Secondly, I thought even they weren’t that stupid. Thirdly, did I mention irony? Finally, really now, Mr. President. You were elected to the highest office in the land with admittedly one of the savviest political campaigns in recent memory. Did you fire all of your smart campaign staff? Did you not think that sufficiently vetting your candidates might cause some problems? Or did you expect your cozy relationship with the media to counteract any furor from the general public? You know what, nevermind. Too many rhetorical questions. Never expect anyone to answer these questions. Because that would make sense, and given how we’ve seen Washington behave in the last month or so, sense clearly does not reside anywhere near Washington.

As if to demonstrate this folly, one of my friends showed my a subtitle from a story in the Press-Enterprise, the primary newspaper from the Island Empire (That’s the region of California where Riverside is, for those who don’t know) that said something like this: “As billions in stimulus flow, Obama calls for nation to learn to tighten its belt.” Something about do as I say, not as I do, eh? Seriously, it’s like most Obama-followers have utterly suspended their sense of irony. Unfortunately, nations canot be governed by irony. The ’stimulus package’ certainly was nothing but stimulus, mostly just pork and patronage for Democratic special interest groups.

Now, I’m not necessarily complaining about that pork and patronage, that’s kinda par for the political course, and I’d expect a certain amount of that from basically anyone, no matter what party affiliation, but the thing that really, really rankles me is that this is all being done in the name of economic stimulus. What a load of horse manure. It’s Democrats governing like Democrats. That’s just what it is. If you don’t like it, well, they won, so they get a little leeway to do that. Doesn’t make it right, but it is what it is. But please, don’t try and clothe your politics in technocratic competence. It’s politics, plain and simple.

Man Cannot Live by Bread Alone

Wiser words have never been spoken.

Cowards. The Lot of Them.

I’m with Jerry Taylor on this one. Congress has become a house of cowardly jackals who’ve abandoned their duty as representatives of the people and of the states. I would have to say it started with the House Republicans and President Bush. As much as I am grateful for his presidency, I think that the most damaging thing about it was the way that House GOPers caved like limp pasta when Bush came to spend money. If I God ever drags me into Congress, this is something I wouldn’t stand for.

Thing is? Democrats are even worse. How any sensible Democrat allows themselves to get led by Pelosi and Reid, I cannot fathom.

Cowards, the lot of them.