Goodbye 2008

2008 it wasn’t that great…or was it?

2008 was certainly no forgetful year, if anything it’s been like every other year only you add an election, a few political scandals, a couple of bailouts, a recession, and a few Hollywood comebacks.

 Bur first, for the second year in a row, The Moron Report.

 The Moron Report:

• Miley Cyrus may or may not continue to be Hannah Montana, which is understandable, that image is just to clean for her.
• Matt Damon fears Sarah Palin, though he knew nothing about her.
• The Jonas Brothers are a big hit because…I’m still trying to figure this one out.
• Diddy-dumb-diddy-do opens his mouth showing his intelligence – stick to rapping.
• Britney Spears makes a comeback and so does lip-syncing.

Last year I wrote about how in 2008 we need to wake up, get real, and move on. We woke up in the manner that we realized the problems in our country and just in time for it to blow up in our faces. We got real by…I guess admitting there needed to be some change in how we do things, but we’re still working on that. I don’t know what to make of moving on, especially in the media during the election. You had news stories and analysts that either didn’t matter or only favored one side. So in 2009 it’s important that we continue to get real, but also to

 play fair and ask the hard questions of those in higher office.

My 2008:

Favorite Movies:

1. WALL-E
2. Stargate Continuum
3. The Dark Knight
4. Prince Caspian
5. Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Favorite Music:

1. Third Day - Revelation
2. Brad Paisley - Play
3. Casting Crowns - Peace on Earth

High Point: Getting a Wii

Low Point: Stargate Atlantis cancelled.

Even in times of hardship there are still those good moments that shine through the darkness. Everyday we hear the bad and the ugly, but why so little of the good? After a year like 2008, especially after a year like 2008, it’s time we hear more about the good things going on, let's hear about the progress being made. And let's hear the fair and honest truth when it comes to things that affect our lives. 

1. Like that song goes, come on get happy. 

   Goodbye 2008.

Christmas

So the other day I blogged about the insanity behind the supposed offense the word Christmas can bring, but today I’m just going to talk about Christmas itself…or something along those lines.

Turn the television on and you’ll hear those reports about how this is one of the worst holiday shopping seasons for retailers. I don’t really believe that, it’s like they say that just so people will go out and buy more to prove them wrong.

This morning after my family had opened our presents around the Christmas tree, I looked at my gifts and thought how luck…blessed I was. We hear how Christmas shouldn’t be about going into debt, I just heard that in church, but though we hear that we spend big bucks on gifts.

I look at my new Wii games and know there’s quite a bit of cash there, and I think about it being spent on me and I feel bad. But when I take another look at the gifts I also see the love and thought behind them.

But of course we don’t need to show love with gifts purchased. Sometimes the most treasured gifts are those when friends or family spend time together. If Christmas has to be about gifts it doesn’t have to involve money.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Chris***s

It’s almost December 25^th, and you know what that means, it’s time to crank up those holiday tunes. Wait, I said holiday, I should say Chris***s – whoa what just happened? Hmmm, it would seem Blogger or something else is censoring me. Let me try again, Chris***s. OH COME ON!

I’m sure you’re aware of such censorship. It would seem that in these seasonal and festive days certain groups are afraid to the word Chris***s for fear of offending someone. During this time of year where it’s important to just be thankful for what you have and enjoy the time together with your loved ones. It’s called the Season of Giving so why not give some holiday cheer. Instead you have those that don’t agree or care for a simple word like Christmas – ha.

I suppose on days like Black Friday all those millions of people are rushing out to get a head start on their New Year’s Eve shopping. My point right here is that lots of people celebrate Christmas, it’s an official holiday says my calendar. My calendar also has the Boxing Day and the Canadian Thanksgiving, neither of which I celebrate, doesn’t mean I have a problem with it. Nobody is forcing Christmas or any other holiday or practice on anyone, at least…not right now.

What Christmas is founded on isn’t something that is meant to hurt. It’s something that helps to make your days warm and bright. Christmas is just a word, and everyone is entitled to their opinion, but even if you don’t agree can’t we just learn to excuse the occasional and simple difference. I certainly don’t want to have to worry about saying Merry Chris***s.

 

Gas Tax

What with it being Christmas break I’m finally able to hit the blogs again. A lot’s been happening lately and one of those things is the drop in gas prices. Currently the days of $4.00 a gallon are gone, and hello $1.50 average, give or take a few pennies. Who wouldn’t look at this as a good thing? Oh but wait, there was that whole “Alternative Energy” thing, yeah well it would seem Americans are like yeah you do that but just leave us for right now with our $1.50 a gallon.

On the December 7th edition of Meet the Press, interim moderator Tom Brokaw had this to say to exclusive guest President-elect Barack Obama:

MR. BROKAW: Let's talk for a moment about consumer responsibility when it comes to the auto industry. As soon as gas prices began to drop, consumers moved back to the larger cars once again, to SUVs and the big gas consumers.

PRES.-ELECT OBAMA: Right.

MR. BROKAW: Why not take this opportunity to put a tax on gasoline, bump it back up to $4 a gallon where people were prepared to pay for that, and use that revenue for alternative energy and as a signal to the consumers those days are gone.

PRES.-ELECT OBAMA: Well...

MR. BROKAW: We're not going to have gasoline that you can just fill up your tank for 20 bucks anymore.

Now I like Tom Brokaw but Tom come on! Americans don’t want to pay $4+ for gas, especially when it’s foreign. So thank goodness when Obama responded saying, “...keep in mind what's happening in--to families all across America. Yes, gas prices have gone down. But, in the meantime, maybe somebody in the family's lost their job. In the meantime, their housing values have plummeted. In the meantime, maybe their hours have been cut back. Or if they're a small-business owner, their sales have gone down 50, 60, 70 percent. So putting additional burdens on American families right now, I think, is a mistake.”

Duh.

Tom you were supposed to be asking the hard questions not coming up with an idea for Alternative Energy fund-raising. Alternative Energy is important but it will be years if not decades before the whole country has been redone to function on such a system. I believe Americans want to help but not if it means hurting their back pockets with a gas tax.

What's In a Name

Birthday cakes, a tasty reminder and symbol of celebration of the years past since you were born. A special treat dedicated to you. The candles are lit, Happy Birthday is written with creamy icing, as well as your name. Your name, a special notice of honor placed on the cake, you’re so thrilled to see it, and you’re especially thrilled to see it just in case you’re at the age where you tend to forget what your name is. But what if someone told you that your name couldn’t be on the cake, not because there wasn’t room for it, but because of what your name was. How would you feel?

3-year-old Adolf Hitler Campbell’s father was denied a birthday cake for his son because well….his name was Adolf Hitler – like you couldn’t figure that out. This child probably has no real idea who Hitler was, his parents do, but despite that they still named their child after the Nazi dictator because they like the name and knew nobody else had it. Heath Campbell, the father, said, "They need to accept a name. A name's a name. The kid isn't going to grow up and do what [Hitler] did.”

So let’s say your name is John Smith, it doesn’t mean you are the famous 17^th century explorer, it’s just your name. But the problem with that is there’s always a chance of being named after that person. Now I know people named Jesus, but that doesn’t mean they’re the Christ, though personally I wish people would name their children after Him. The point I think I’m trying to make here is, should we judge someone based on their name? So someone wouldn’t sell a cake with the name Adolf Hitler because they knew what kind of a person Hitler was. Now would that same person also deny a cake to President-elect Barack Obama because his middle name is Hussein?

We may not like who a person is named after, or that they are named after a person despite whether they were good or bad. But it’s important to not judge a book by its cover, judge a person by who they are, not by what’s in a name. 

No Bailout for Blagojevich

“I think there’s nothing but sunshine hanging over me,” said Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Now you and I read this and it would seem like things are going well for the governor....well…maybe if we were reading this on the 8th of December. Because you here Blagojevich say that and then say, “tape my conversations,” gives the impression that this guy has nothing to hide.

But, the governor did have something to hide, and I’m not talking about whatever lies beneath that rug on his head. No! Under that “innocence” laid a plan the FBI sums up best: two charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. Really rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? Oh, and in case you thought Blagojevich was hiding a different kind of secret, I don’t blame you, you never know what politicians are doing behind closed doors.

So incase you don’t know who Blagojevich is or what he’s done I’ll tell you, actually, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald says it better. “Blagojevich put a for sale sign on the naming of a United States senator; involved himself personally in pay-to-play schemes with the urgency of a salesman meeting his annual sales target; and corruptly used his office in an effort to trample editorial voices of criticism.”

Trying to sell the empty senate seat left by our President-elect, how RIDICULOUS! To think he actually thought he was going to get away with it. It’s is somewhat humorous how there’s been a 3-year probe into the governor’s administration and the day after opens the invitations to record his conversations he’s arrested.

The future for Rod Blagojevich is uncertain but it doesn’t look good. No bailout for Blagojevich.