Resolving Heartache via Stupid People

Earlier today, my mother & father made the difficult decision to euthanize our beloved family dog. Scooter was a very gentle soul, he loved food, and he lived a long, happy life. Though my father probably did more harm than good with kindness (i.e. table scraps), I did not think his own immune system would take him down. I'll spare you the technical name for it, but basically his immune system started targeting his own blood cells; it is what vets commonly call a compromised immune system. As expected, it is taking an emotional toll on us and I have some unresolved emotional distress from it.

This is a unique article for me. Typically, I bottle my emotions. Very few people have seen an emotional outburst from me other than random acts of kindness. I'll call myself a "divertist." I'm sure there is a more thorough, common or clinical name for it, but when I am being a divertist, it is because I'm dealing with something much larger or private and this is how I take out stress.

This article is a divertist article: a collection of the most discussion worthy or dumbest (or both) quotes by "important" people in our society in the last few weeks. Where possible, I have included either publication names and dates, a link to web article, or in the least, have noted the source. Without further ado, here is the list.

1. "There is no justification for the current gas prices. This is all about speculation by the people who are speculating on the price of oil and gas," he says. "We could shutdown excess speculation in commodity markets. This government should do that." former Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) - Yahoo Finance - 29 March 2012.

While I agree that the price of gasoline is atrocious, I do not believe the government should be regulating the free market excessively. What's excessive? I don't know, I'm not an economist. What I do know is that, contrary to public opinion, the government and President do NOT control the price of gas nor are they able to significantly alter it's price by any direct action. Since I mentioned capitalism earlier, let's get back to that: the greater the demand, the higher the price. Developing parts of the world like China are putting a huge strain on the oil market but that's not the whole picture.

We import about 10 million barrels of oil a day compared to China's 5 million per day. So if you want to ask questions about gas prices, perhaps we should be looking to the American public. Because we have money and CAN buy things doesn't necessarily mean we SHOULD buy things. If you want to point fingers, make sure you point them at all the pussy, macho-esque men and fat-ass house wives riding around in their precious SUVs and trucks and other gas guzzling vehicles. Because they did have money and could buy their Lincoln Navigator means everyone has to pay more at the gas pump. So there you go: selfishness causes financial trouble for the greater population. The trouble is, they can obviously afford it while you and I find it harder to swallow the gas prices.

2. "Well, first off, the idea of overpopulation is not accurate because really the entire population of the world, if they were stretched shoulder to shoulder, could fit within the city limits of Jacksonville." - Michelle Duggar, mother of 19 children, on over-population - Yahoo entertainment article - 31 March 2012.

Well, first off, I'm not sure if I should tackle the math or social idiocy of Michelle. Okay, let's start with facts. The land area of Jacksonville is about 810 square miles while the world population is little over 7 billion people. That would equal 8.5 million people per square mile. I'm not a mathematician, but she sounds like an idiot ... <cough> ... I mean, maybe her fundamentalist christian lifestyle did not teach her that theoretical math is not always applicable to real life scenarios.

So let's get to the social idiocy. I support her right to pro-create; however, just like getting fisted by a gorilla, there is a limit to what the body can handle and what should be socially acceptable. With the world wide population explosion approaching an exponential increase, I feel that people like Michelle and her husband are probably just fucking in the name of God. The only difference between these two and high school kids who get pregnant, is these adults should know better, but instead rely on God to limit their conceiving ability. Rising cost of living, rising gas prices, limited natural resources, increased pollution, rising sea levels, global warming; all of these issues are caused by an increase of people on our planet and the need to fuel the economy so these people can live. More people = lesser standard of living for everyone. Michelle Duggar and her husband are not living a happy life or the American Dream - they are contributing to an extinction level event caused by ourselves.

3. "Warren Buffett is paying a lower rate than his secretary." - President Obama a few weeks ago at a campaign rally when discussing increased taxes on the rich as supported by Warren Buffet.


President Obama is correct: Buffet IS paying a lower tax rate than his secretary. However, Obama is engaging in a lie of omission. Warren Buffet is probably paying 100 to 500 times more money in taxes than his secretary. If Obama wants attack a problem and use solid math, perhaps he should address the corporate tax code. Both parties are guilty of creating loop holes in the corporate tax code, which in the last 50 years, has allowed corporate tax revenue to the federal government to drop from 30% to just under 6%. And in effort to not commit the same lie of omission that Obama is, that drop in corporate tax revenue (from 30% to 6%) equals out to about the same amount of money collected now compared to the 1960s.

So why has personal income tax revenue increased dramatically to pay for a bloated federal government but corporate tax revenue has not? Because politicians are taking campaign contributions from said corporations to get elected. Why isn't the news media focusing on the rich paying more but completely ignoring the corporate tax issue? Hmmm ... because the mainstream news outlets ARE corporations. Looks like we're fucked in the 'truth, honesty and unbiased' reporting department from both sides of the political rhetoric spectrum. We've been on this trip for a while but have been too distracted by the 1% versus the 99% argument to notice the increasing speed we're moving as we circle closer towards the drain.

4. "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon." - President Obama - Chicago Tribune 22 March 2012

The humorist in me wants to respond with, "why, because you're both black?" However, I'm guessing that may sound racist to some people. I certainly don't intend it to be, so please take my intent into account. The fact is, this situation has turned into a media frenzy. NBC has altered the 911 call dialogue to make Zimmerman appear to be a racist. I don't know that he is, and though it may be a central motivator to this case, it does not matter to me.

Allegedly this kid attacked Zimmerman, with corroborating medical proof of a scuffle, and Zimmerman "stood his ground." Whether we like it or not, Florida law allows something like "stand your ground" to be a legal defense in a shooting. Is it a legal way for the average citizen to be proactive in their physical defense instead of being a pussy and running away? Yes. Having been confronted with a situation like this myself, I can tell you it was more emotionally and psychologically damaging for me to run away than it would have been for me to dig my heels in and push back against an asshole that could have potentially killed me. I'm not sure if Obama did a hail mary public relations move in that statement or if someone actually prepared that statement for him. Either way, it sounds weak, non-committal and one of the most charged yet empty statements I've ever heard from another human being. Even after the media frenzy dies down, I'm still not sure we'll get the whole story.

5. "I mean I am a man. He was calling me a chicken.'' - Ubaldo Jimenez - pitcher for the Cleveland Indians after a bench clearing scuffle at a baseball game.

This quote from a Yahoo! Sports article about the incident is filled with immaturity. This man is making millions of dollars a years as a professional athlete. After hitting a former team mate during a game, the batter took a few steps towards the mound while Jimenez took a whole bunch of steps toward the batter as he yelled and gesticulated wildly. Either Jimenez is in the game to be an athlete and doesn't need a bloated salary for his marginal skills or he's in it for the money in which case being an asshole is uncalled for.  Grow up, pussy.

6. "There's no consensus about the relationship between ultraviolet light and skin cancer. The science isn't there." - John Overstreet, executive director of the Indoor Tanning Association - Chicago Tribune health article.

Get this man a job with Philip Morris! I'm not a scientist, so take this with a grain of salt: we either have a larger ozone layer hole than we thought or woman in first world countries are genetically prone to skin cancer. Both choices seem plausible, but I would like to submit a third choice using Occam's Razor: the substantial increase in tanning bed use by women is causing the ultraviolet light from the tanning beds to give women skin cancer.

Just a thought; I know it's a wild supposition. Mother Nature and Rah (Egyptian Sun god) either have a huge grudge against women in countries where tanning beds are used extensively or the tanning beds are a slow form of death that women are willing to deal with so they may visually fit in with their Hollywood "hero's." I mean, look at the picture on the left. This over-tanned woman, besides looking like someone tickled her funny bone via her urethra, has a fried and over-cooked look about her. Women in tanning beds are willing to risk deadly and disfiguring skin cancer so they can look like this societal icon. Besides looking unhealthy, it looks cheap. People who use tanning beds are risking death to look cheap. That's the societal pressure we are putting on the young people today.

In summary, thank you for allowing me to be a divertist. As you consider my words, I'll return to the emotional rawness about losing my pet.