Finished goal of running the distance of 2,080 miles from Lafayette, LA to Washington D.C and back!!!...plus 339.1 miles


0.0 miles run this week.
Daily running average for the week is 0.00 miles per day.
Total amount run in the past 800 days is 2,419.1 miles.
Daily running average overall is 3.02 miles per day.

Day244 Saturday 04/30/11

ran 1.4 miles
Today completes eight months of running against Obama.

"Do you wish to know whether that day is coming? Watch money. Money is the barometer of societies virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion--when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing--when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors--when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect them against them, but them against you--when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice--you may know that your society is doomed.”


Ayn Rand

That was a quote from Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”. If you are in a city playing this movie, watch it! It will give you a far better understanding of what is happening in America right now than the news you watch.

1,374.0 miles to go.

Day243 Friday 04/29/11

ran 3.5 miles
Some quick facts about New Jersey:
  • New Jersey was the third state to join the union on December 18, 1787, fifteen days before Georgia and six days after Pennsylvania.
  • Population, as of 2010, is 8,791,894.
  • Senators are Frank Lautenberg (D) and Robert Menendez (D).
  • Representatives are Robert Andrews (D), Frank LoBiondo (R), Jon Runyan (R), Christopher Smith (R), Scott Garrett (R), Frank Pallone (D), Leonard Lance (R), William Pascrell (D), Steven Rothman (D), Donald Payne (D), Rodney Frelinghuysen (R), Rush Holt (D) and Albio Sires (D).
  • New Jersey has fourteen electoral votes. New Jersey is second only to Rhode Island in having more electoral votes per square mile than any other state. The state has voted blue for the past five presidential elections and had voted red for eight out of the ten before. Obama defeated McCain 57% to 42% in 2008.
In current news, president and CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, Harry Alford, has recently made public his opinion of the business positions Democrats have assumed. Today on Laura Ingraham’s radio talk show Alford was quoted saying, “Obama wanted the National Black Chamber to dance to his music and have blind allegiance to his crazy programs and agenda, which are totally anti-business. We are a pro-business organization. So we have to stand on the side of business, and the benefit of our members, which are black entrepreneurs.”

Referring to Obama and his administration as “Marxist” and “fanatical”, Alford expressed regret in having voted for Barack Obama only “because he’s black”.

“That is a lesson I will take to my grave,” he said, followed by a claim that Obama is “wrecking” the country and is “dangerous”.

1,375.4 miles to go.

Day242 Thursday 04/28/11

700 miles!!!
ran 3.5 miles

I passed the 700-mile mark today! The total amount of miles I have set as a goal is 2,080 so 700 miles is over one-third of the way. When I started this blog and began running these miles I was unsure whether I’d be able to deliver informative posts on a daily basis or whether I’d have the drive to actually run every single day. After nearly 7 months and 700 miles, I have observed that Barack Obama and his presidency are bottomless sources of debate with numerous new issues materializing every twenty-four hours and that the human body is an amazing thing.

The challenge of running one single mile on the first day was grueling. Day by day, I began to wonder if seeing this thing through was a reasonable idea. What keeps me going is the idea that if Barack Obama does find his way to a second term in 2012, I simply wanted to be able to say that I did everything within my limited power to stand up and fight that possibility. I can write and I can run. These are the two strongest things I have to bring to the table of “getting involved” and I love every day of it!

The blog is steadily growing in viewer-ship and, considering the 2012 presidential election is still quite far away, I hope to see it grow some more. Thank you for keeping up with Running Against Obama and I hope you will continue to read the blog.

If you keep up with this blog, or if you’re new to it, please check out the Running Against Obama facebook page and give it a “like”. You can also become a “follower” on the blog.

Thanks for reading!

1,378.9 miles to go.

Day241 Wednesday 04/27/11

ran 3.0 miles
Chapter5

There was a time when people believed in gods and prophets. Saints and angels watched over everyone with an eerie sense of selflessness. Churches and priests filled their holy sanctuaries with religiously biding congregations. Families gathered, children sat still, lovers prayed, and widows wept for an hour at least once a week. That is all gone now and it is easy to say that religion was not about who was right and who was wrong or that faith in one belief was stronger than conviction in another. It was not about a cross or a sword. It was not about holocausts or crusades. It was not about inquisitions, jihads, genocides or any other forms of hatred that have been documented throughout world history.

It was not about Tibetan monasteries. Religion was not about Hanukah, the belief in reincarnation, or the slight variations in man-made doctrines among different denominations of similar beliefs. It was not about a caste system. It was not about monotheism, pantheism, theocracy or democracy. It was not about Buddha or any other –ism.

Religion was about families gathering, children sitting still, lovers praying, and widows weeping beneath one roof for an hour at least once a week. It was about daily thoughts and prayers within a home or a holy sanctuary built for gathering, regardless of what those thoughts, prayers, and buildings may have been called. Everything else was ill-intended and opportunistic.

The history of religion is so vast it would take more than a lifetime to encapsulate even a significant morsel of its long, diverse origins in any one given geographic region. Yet for thousands of years leaders of men have been so pretentious and ingenuous as to control, divert, and redirect people’s beliefs and actions, generation by generation, through the power and manipulation of religion.

Now people believe in nothing. Belief and thought have been replaced by control and fear. The churches are bare and the stained glass windows are broken and boarded. Families no longer congregate, but clamor. Children are a supreme burden of overpopulation, which only the lowest and least educated classes continue to propagate with no apparent restraint for making their own and other’s lives unbearably harder. This was a time when love only complicated survival and softened one to too great a state of vulnerability. Widows wept alone and civilization as we knew it had become uncivilized for the first time in a very long time.

1,382.4 miles to go.

Day240 Tuesday 04/26/11

ran 5.2 miles
Here’s the skinny. If these rising gas prices miraculously implode and shrink back to something acceptable within the next few months, then Barack Obama is to blame for either withholding the proper actions that led to this inflation to begin with or he is to blame for mismanaging our resources or prefabricating a crisis, in which he, at the last minute, emerges as a hero. There is a lot of chatter about who is responsible and what is going on with gas by the gallon. Our president keeps deviating from soaring gas prices by instilling hope in the future with long-term alternatives and avoiding solutions in present matters. Obama likes to take case-by-case, humble scenarios of random Americans, so allow me to do the same.

“Suzie, in Ponca City, Oklahoma, she has two young children, a girl and a boy, and she…she is worried about whether…whether she will be able to afford everything she needs to give them a bright future of…of hope…and change. Suzie wants to know why gas is so expensive. Well, I would say to Suzie…you just hold on Suzie. You tell little Jeffrey and Anna that everything…everything is going to be okay. I say to you that America, by 2021, we can have solar this and wind turbine that and electric everything. Thank you. High-speed rails. God bless. Siphon the earned rewards of others' hard work until it runs out.”

…or some such rhetoric.

John Boehner, Speaker of the House, made a reasonable prediction Monday, in an interview on ABC News, that Barack Obama would not stand a chance of reelection “If gas prices are five or six dollars”.

"I think the fact that he won't allow exploration in the Gulf, doesn't allow exploration in the inter-mountain west, won't allow us to drill in Alaska, this is not helping the situation. And then when you look at what the EPA is doing in terms of the number of rules and regulations comin' down the pike, those were his responsibility."

John Boehner

As I stated above there is not a large enough window of time for Obama to go against everything he has withheld so far, the moratorium in particular, without looking like a fool for all of a sudden issuing drilling permits left and right and relaxing the absolutely irrational regulations of the EPA.

"If someone tries to dupe you into thinking we don't have enough refining capacity, that's (insert expletive)," says Tom Kloza, the co-founder and chief oil analyst of the Oil Price Information Service. "It's a good sound bite, but if anything, companies have probably added too much capacity, and if they add more they have to focus on managing margins."

Many will argue that domestic oil production, or lack thereof, has nothing to do with these gas prices we are currently enduring, and there are indeed other catalysts, but it is happening under Obama’s presidency, regardless of the cause. And as our president we have every right to demand some solutions from him.

Life is never what you expect it is going to be and we all have unforeseeable circumstances that block the road we may think we are supposed to follow. But presidents of the United States of America are, above everyone else, obligated by the merits which got them into the oval office to adapt and present solutions regardless of how far their initial impressions of their presidency may have deviated due to the uncontrollable nature of current events. In this climate that America is currently weathering there is little room for the ideas that Obama seems to hold highest.

I’ve used this quote before and I will use it again, from ex-president Bill Clinton, “It’s the economy, stupid.” We need a leader right now, not a man obsessed with a future that current circumstances have left little feasibility for.

1,385.4 miles to go.

Day239 Monday 04/25/11

ran 4.5 miles
In case you haven’t been keeping up, I’ve been sick and laying low for a few days. I’m almost back up to the top of my hill now and I ran 4.5 miles today. I wouldn’t say it was my best run but it felt good to put my “Running Against Obama” t-shirt on again and to hit the streets.

Sometimes it is good to step away from things. It allows you to reach a level of clarity that habit and routine tend to deny.

With that being said, here we go. The IMF (International Monetary Fund), for the first time, has set a tentative date for the time that America as the “World Leader” will end and the U.S. economy will be surpassed by China. 2016. In only five years, according to the IMF, China’s economy will surpass America’s.

The only reason America has the ability to charge things off to figurative credit cards without ever having to pay the monthly bills is because we are the world currency holders. This could change abruptly. We have got to stop spending! As Barack Obama has so liberally shown, we alone have the ability to print monopoly money to continue the national delusion that everything is okay. If a nation like China, or the other nations who are uniting with them (BRICS---Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) as a coalition to be the new world leaders, or world currency holders, achieve that status, then our world, our country, will be entirely different. The Chinese economy is projected to expand from $11.2 trillion this year to $19 trillion in 2016. The U.S. economy is projected to rise from $15.2 trillion to $18.8 trillion in 2016. These numbers meagerly award America with 17.7% of world output and aggrandize China with 18%, rising exponentially. Ten years ago, the U.S. economy was three times the size of China’s. What this means to us, regardless of when it happens, is that China’s economy is clearly footsteps behind us and it is running at a full sprint while we are dithering in a future of alternatives that have no bridge to connect the reality of our now and the delusions of Barack Obama’s future.

What else? Gas prices. A gallon of gas is more than $2 higher than when Barack Obama took office in January of 2009. To think that this has nothing to do with Obama or his administration is sheer blindness. The Business and Media Institute found that out of the 280 stories covering current oil prices on network evening shows, which have aired since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, only three stories, a whopping 1%, have made any reference to Obama’s drilling ban or any other anti-oil actions pertaining to gasoline prices. Yet, the facts are right there. The president has said himself that he would like to see gas prices increase. He would have preferred a more gradual increase, but this is what he got---soaring gas prices.

The EPA recently pulled the plug on a Shell project in the Arctic Ocean off the northern coast of Alaska. The EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board decided to withhold critical air permits necessary for Shell to perform. This decision has angered many in Congress and has started a wake of legislation aimed at stripping the EPA of its oil drilling oversight.

Shell has spent five years and nearly $4 billion on plans to explore for oil at this site. The leases by themselves cost $2.2 billion. The EPA’s largest argument was that the Arctic drill would be hazardous for the people who live in the area. The closest village to Shell’s proposed drilling site is Kaktovic, Alaska. It is by far one of the most remote corners of the United States with a population of 245 people. The village, one square mile, sits on the shore of the Beaufort Sea seventy miles from the proposed offshore site for drilling. This is how our government and its agencies get things done.

The EPA effectively denied 27 billion barrels of oil. That number represents two and a half times more oil than has flowed through the Trans Alaska pipeline in all its 30-year history. The pipeline is currently only carrying one-third its capacity.

If that’s the direction toward empowering America and embracing our own energy resources to create jobs, to lower the price of gas and to bolster our economy then I think someone has a magnet under our compass.

1,390.6 miles to go.

Day238 Sunday 04/24/11

ran 0.3 miles
Happy Easter! Today ends week thirty-four of running against Obama. I got sick earlier in the week and have not made much progress. I only managed to run 10.7 miles for the week, averaging 1.53 miles per day. I think I will be able to start hitting the roads again tomorrow.

1,395.1 miles to go.

Day237 Saturday 04/23/11

ran 0.2 miles
Gasoline prices have nearly doubled since Barack Obama took office. While it is convenient to blame Obama entirely for this staggering inflation, it is not entirely his fault. There are many factors involved; you have to give him that as a cushion. But, this is happening under his administration and that alone admits reason to question him and his actions.

For one thing, it is common knowledge that Obama does not frown upon outrageous gas prices because in his mind it encourages Americans to re-examine their carbon footprints and to drive less or to purchase more economical cars. However, given the circumstances of his awful polling numbers and his steadily growing unpopularity, he is going through the actions, like presidents in the past have during times of high gas prices, of investigating any abuses in the oil companies that might be making these prices so high. It is a transparent farce.

When President Obama took office a gallon of regular gas was approximately $1.79. Today the national average is $3.86 a gallon, and it will more than likely continue to rise even more before it subsides.

Obama continues to insist that the long-term drive to develop alternatives to fossil fuels is imperative. At a time like this, in an economy like this, in a country like this, which is atrophying at every ligament and joint from the weight of its burdens, this is yet another unrealistic Obama solution that has nothing to do with the present reality we are all breathing air in right now.

Obama has given a costly stimulus package, which had no real impact, and he and his counterparts excuse for its lack of results was that it was not enough. What exactly is enough? It’s never enough, that excuse is the only weak argument to be made for wasting such an exorbitant amount of money. ObamaCare is another example of introducing something absurdly expensive to a struggling economy and a nation of voters, half of which who do not and never did want it, in the name of the future. And then we come to alternative energy sources and the potential end of drilling. This is simply not the time to say or legislate such counterproductive ideas to the crises we are facing right now.

1,395.4 miles to go.

Day236 Friday 04/22/11

ran 0.2 miles
Still sick. I only made it to the end of the street and back again today. Here are some facts about New Hampshire and some good news about the Health Care Compact:
  • New Hampshire was the ninth state to join the union on June 21, 1788, four days before Virginia and one month after South Carolina.
  • Population, as of 2010, is 1,316,470.
  • Senators are Kelly Ayotte (R) and Jeanne Shaheen (D).
  • Representatives are Frank Guinta (R) and Charles Bass (R).
  • New Hampshire, one of the original thirteen colonies, has four electoral votes. The state has participated in all fifty-six presidential elections. Historically, the state has voted red for six out of the last ten presidential elections. Four out of the last five elections, New Hampshire voted blue. Although, surrounded by blue states, New Hampshire is considered a swing state. Barack Obama won by nine percent over McCain in 2008.
Now, onto the Health Care Compact. On Wednesday, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed House Bill 461 into law, allowing the state to work together with other states on health care through a legal compact and avoiding implementation of the federal health care law.

Also on Wednesday, the Texas House passed approval to join the interstate health care compact.

Senator Elbert Guillory of Louisiana and Senator Larry Grooms of South Carolina have recently introduced the Health Care Compact to their Senates.

Georgia is the first state to have its governor sign the compact and Arizona is right behind them. The way this compact works is once a state’s governor signs off on the bill, it is ready to go to Washington and upon Senate and House approval the compact becomes law. Barack Obama’s signature, or any other president’s, is not necessary for the compact to become law. In the event that enough states pursue this route, if the number is overwhelming enough, it could be a real possibility.

Oh, and one last thing. The heroes who risked their lives a decade ago by running into the World Trade Center Towers as they crumbled to the ground are being forced to get screened for the terrorist watch list as a prerequisite to receiving medical benefits for the health issues they are currently suffering at the cost of being at ground zero and risking their lives to save others. But we don’t screen welfare recipients for drug use. We do want to give bottomless amounts of taxpayer money to illegal aliens in the form of health care and education. But we don’t want to tighten our borders. Forty-seven percent of this country does not even pay income taxes, yet…I’m rambling. So, in a country that cares so little to screen for things that count so much, in what right mind is this measure necessary in comparison to all of the massive, widespread problems this country faces at such a larger scale?

1,395.6 miles to go.

Day235 Thursday 04/21/11

ran 0.2 miles
Some polls and stats from Rasmussen Reports:
  • Barack Obama’s presidential index rating shows that 25% of American voters strongly approve of his performance while 40% strongly disapprove, giving Obama a presidential index rating of –15.
  • Overall, 46% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of Barack Obama’s performance and 53% disapprove.
  • Only 22% believe America is heading in the right direction. This matches the lowest level of Obama’s time in office.
  • Among American voters, 61% oppose U.S. citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants.
I went to bed on Tuesday night with a stubborn cough that left me half-expecting to wake up Wednesday morning feeling even worse. Yesterday was worse but still manageable, but when I went to bed last night I knew for a fact I would be waking up today to something awful.

This is the worst I have felt in a long time. I got the usual lineup of medicine, cortisone shot and five days of antibiotics, first thing this morning and slept all day. Yesterday’s run was a small distance and today’s was hardly worth mentioning. I only walked to the end of my street and slowly made my way back home. One day at a time.

1,395.8 miles to go.

Day234 Wednesday 04/20/11

ran 1.4 miles
chapter4

“Carmen Elise Sanders?”

Jonas hadn’t felt this confounded since 2002 when he first saw a television commercial for a prescription drug that claimed to remedy anxiety even though one could contract outrageous side effects such as infection, injury, nausea, diarrhea, dry mouth, constipation, decreased appetite, sleepiness, dizziness, sexual side effects, nervousness, tremor, yawning, sweating, abnormal vision, weakness, and insomnia. Furthermore, in the event that one was a teenager, which was a very loose term, one should also watch out for increased suicidal thoughts or actions, severe changes in mood or behavior (example: being anxious, agitated, panicky, irritable, hostile, aggressive, impulsive, severely restless, hyper active, overly excited, or not being able to sleep). Finally, abruptly stopping the medication can result in dizziness, sensory disturbances, electric shock sensations and tinnitus, abnormal dreams, agitation, anxiety, nausea, sweating, mood fluctuations, headache, fatigue, nervousness, and sleep disorders. May also be present in breast milk so tell your doctor if you are nursing.

Once again, Jonas was nearly speechless. Carmen was the first and only girl he had ever cared about. She was his first kiss and the closest he had ever come to being in love. They had spent their time rediscovering the stars together at night and had made their own constellations. Under a blurry cotton-balled sky they spent their days together talking about how they were going to change the world. She was going to be his queen and he was going to be her king.

They had been together for two years before losing their virginity to one another at an obscured echo point within the heavily wooded property of a Natural History Museum. A bricked path had led to a small cul-de-sac whereupon people could stand in the center and create rhythmic waves of sound with their voices. It was on the dark, grassy earth behind a bench lining the circumference of the bricked echo circle that Jonas and Carmen decided to break up and then unexpectedly made love like two awkward and disoriented uncommon species.

The one thing that was supposed to be a final bridge to their commitment to one another ended up being an undermining act against everything television, their parents, and society attempted to convince them of for their entire lives. They felt deceived and victimized for being born into a societal epoch of lowered expectations where everyone around them was already so convinced that the shackles on their wrists were lifeblood and that the routines they performed daily were actually as meaningful as they thought. In the name of everything that was wrong with the world, they sexually rebelled and never spoke again, until now.

That was a long, young time ago and neither Jonas nor Carmen could fully understand the extent of their actions during that time. However, the act they had made was a powerful statement of why youth was increasingly waking up and acting out. They could not put their fingers on what the problem was but they knew something was wrong with the world each day as they woke up.

The media was a poisonous mushroom of lies that looked appealing to any starving consumer of misinformation. Through whatever medium news was broadcasted its sole purpose was to scare the consumer nearly to death, regardless of age, and to control that person with fear. Teachers were scolding and condescending toward twelve-year-old boys and girls in an attempt to purge through humiliation their child-like natures in order to hasten the process of dying into an adult, only to justify their own misunderstood existences. Parents spent little to no time with their children expecting that televisions and computers would rear them properly, and then wondered why they were all of a sudden pubescent and simultaneously pregnant or arrested. The media, teachers, parents and many others, never once suspecting that they had anything to do with the problem, had convinced themselves that everything was alright by telling their poor, misled children and future generations a certain few words of encouragement.

“Welcome to the real world. It only gets better from here.”

Their sarcastic tone of voice, their condescension, their having given up on themselves, their pessimism, and their wish to simply roll over was an inappropriate disaster that they had no right to impress upon the young, sponge-like minds that would be their future.

It appeared that Carmen had turned over to the other side and became exactly what the system desired her to be, weak and powerless. Jonas had to admit that the chances of him running in to her today, under these circumstances, were astronomically incalculable. He was at a complete loss of not only what to say but how to react in any physical or emotional aspect, whatsoever.

It was as though a mighty fist had grabbed Jonas by the spine and squeezed with such paralyzing force that he could not twitch a toe or blink an eye. The other fist of irony had squeezed Carmen into paralysis, as well, allowing only a lone tear to slowly flow down her soft, delicate misguided face.

There was an emotional stupor and a physical silence that briefly demanded their pebble of the universe to stand still. For a moment they both traveled back in time and grinned inwardly. Jonas remembered her shy smile and how she would blush when he’d tell her she was beautiful. He remembered her strength and all the goals she’d had. Carmen remembered the night at the echo point with Jonas and how innocent he was. She remembered being certain that Jonas was the best man she would ever find. Carmen remembered how good Jonas once made her feel.

And then it was over.

Carmen rubbed her eyes dry and Jonas wiped the surprise off his face. All of a sudden, as though a defense mechanism had clicked, like a safety pressed on a gun, they both pretended to not know each other. It was easily the most awkward position either of them had ever been in.

They were now in a standoff to outdo one another with indifference.

Carmen went right back into character and Jonas reclaimed his mission to find a light. With a fair amount of melodramatic sass, Carmen reached into her purse and put on a set of dark sunglasses to avoid eye contact with Jonas.

“Do you want to follow me?”

Jonas was still tangled in the ether of impossibility that this was really happening. He had worshipped and hung upon every single breath this girl had taken for two years and now she was a prostitute offering herself to him for thirty bucks.

“There’s a spot in the alley behind Ike’s.” She ran her fingers along his arm smiling in denial.

Out of options and at a gross loss of ideas, Jonas played into the act like a giant wooden dummy with the hand of an impatient, heartless ventriloquist forming his words.

Jonas turned down her advances, grabbed her roaming hands, and looked her right in the eyes. Through her gawky, tinted sunglasses he penetrated her with a glance of deference until he knew she understood that he was not going to bite into a rotten apple.

“I’m sure your shorts are full of sugar but I’m just looking for a Bic or a match. That bump on the road over there may be dead and you are the only other person around. Got a light?”

With an understood amount of attitude Carmen lit up one of her own cigarettes and handed it to Jonas. As he reached for it she broke it in half between her fingers and let it fall to the ground. He had expected no less of a reaction. Jonas picked up the lit end off the cold, damp concrete and ignited his own cigarette with it. They exchanged a confused and meaningless look at one another.

Things were not always like this.

1,396.0 miles to go.

Day233 Tuesday 04/19/11

ran 3.8 miles
From WashingtonExaminer.com, in an article written by Senior Political Analyst Michael Barone, he questions whether Barack Obama took Tax 1 in law school. Following Obama’s speech at George Washington University on April 13, which was coincidentally the day before Standard and Poor’s elected to reduce the government’s credit rating to “negative”, he seemed to be implying that he could acquire all the money we need to balance our budget by placing higher taxes on the rich.

Actually, according to the Wall Street Journal, if the government were to confiscate every dollar from those claiming a taxable income in excess of $1 million in 2008, that amount would not have reached the $1.3 trillion needed to close the current federal budget deficit.

Barone elaborated on a concept that he paid attention to when he was in Tax 1 in law school and that concept was the fact that when you reduce income tax rates, high earners have more taxable income and when you raise them they have less. As odd as that sounds at first glance, you can either go attend a semester of Tax 1 at a law school to fully understand it or accept the fact that there is a deliberate reason why federal tax revenues since World War II have gravitated to a solid 18 or 19 percent of gross domestic product, regardless of tax rates. The reason for this is, historically, higher rates tend to result in less taxable income.

If you need a breath of fresh air, check out Fairtax.org. It is the most effective and feasible solution to America’s economic woes. And future presidents and members of Congress would not be able to abuse this method of taxation as a deceitful tool to confuse and rob tens of millions of Americans. Barack Obama, for one, would have no leg to stand on or any arguably productive ideas to submit under the Fairtax. It says a lot about the role of Washington when a system as functional and as positive as the Fairtax is so difficult to pass in Congress.

1,397.4 miles to go.

Day232 Monday 04/18/11

ran 4.6 miles
Here’s what I don’t get. I would rather be overcharged by health insurance companies from the private sector than be forced to pay the federal premiums for ObamaCare in the potential near future. Am I selfish for that? Am I a bad person for feeling that way?

First of all, under ObamaCare I would be “forced”, and a competitive market has nothing to do with forcing any one man or woman to do anything, regardless of whether it is a good or a bad idea. Our current health care system is not as good as it could be. No one is arguing that it is. But a possible transition of the magnitude ObamaCare possesses in America is the deafening crescendo of a decades-old collective product of politics run-a-muck, corporations thirsting for dollar amounts that will never be enough, and ordinary Americans who lost sight of the principles that make this country so great.

Nearly half of America pays no income tax. Precisely 47% of this nation does little enough to not contribute to society in the form of government programs subsidized by taxpayer money. And the solution under the current administration is to tax the rich more and to enable greater percentages of people to take advantage of the system, a system that actually seems like a decent, humanitarian idea on paper, but, much like Communism, the reality bears no resemblance to the idea.

It is frustrating to see the story of America being written the way it is right now when talk of raising taxes and spending mindlessly work in tandem to deconstruct America, as we know it. Only 53% of this country pays income taxes, yet 47% reap the unearned rewards of the federal government’s imbalanced toils.

So, here’s what I don’t get. Why is the argument I hear most from the left one that involves selfless compassion and a circumstance in which someone like me is only “fortunate” and every single person who has less than me, and I don’t have much, is a victim who deserves federally subsidized alms?

My solution would be to start a program that severely encourages the other half of this entire nation to pay federal income taxes and to give them the opportunity to fully embrace the “risk and reward” concept, which defines America.

Will Someone Else please stand up? Someone Else, 2012.

1,401.2 miles to go.

Day231 Sunday 04/17/11


ran 4.5 miles
Today ends week thirty-three of running against Obama. I ran 27.4 miles this week, averaging 3.91 miles per day.

I found these videos at theblaze.com. The videos contain expletives and vulgarity. You've been warned. The videos are from the Oregon Tea Party Tax Day Rally, which took place on April 15, 2011. The rally was in Portland at Pioneer Courthouse Square and the Tea Party was anticipating union supporters to be present and to oppose them. Having taken a pledge to avoid violence, the Tea Party was heckled and ridiculed throughout the rally as the videos depict.

Free speech is free speech, but this is some pretty disturbing footage.

1,405.8 miles to go.

Day230 Saturday 04/16/11

ran 2.2 miles
I saw “Atlas Shrugged” today in Baton Rouge. The movie stayed true to the book, only omitting what was necessary for time’s sake. Some things had to be cut as the original story in novel form is nearly as long as the text in Obama’s health care law, though far more interesting. The movie was a difficult and stirring depiction of a possible near future in America.

The message in Ayn Rand’s story, written over fifty years ago, fell right into place in a mere future look at America in 2016. If you’re in a city with a theater playing “Atlas Shrugged”, see it! Here is a list of the states and the few cities that are screening the movie.

1,410.3 miles to go.Link

Day229 Friday 04/15/11

ran 3.6 miles
I’m driving to Baton Rouge with a friend tomorrow to see “Atlas Shrugged”, based on the novel by Ayn Rand. I had read the novel years ago and it has been on my “top three” list since. I highly recommend seeing this movie because it deals with many of the political issues America is dealing with presently, even though the book was written fifty years ago. The parallels between fiction and reality are stunning.

In the spirit of Ayn Rand and “Atlas Shrugged”, the video above gave me goose bumps when I saw it. Rand Paul, in Washington D.C., actually cited one of Ayn Rand’s other novels, “Anthem”, to convey his message on the direction America is taking in not utilizing its own natural resources.

I, for one, appreciate any form of art or philosophy or metaphor that is exhibited in our Congress to deliver the message that our accepted state of politics, the loopholes, closed doors and deceit that define our politics, at least sometimes needs to step away from its curious routine of doing whatever it is they do, which so few of us understand.

In closing, here are some stats and facts about Nevada:
  • Nevada was the thirty-sixth state to join the union on October 31, 1864, three years before Nebraska and one year after West Virginia.
  • Population, as of 2010, is 2,700,551.
  • Senators are John Ensign (R) and Harry Reid (D).
  • Representatives are Shelley Berkley (D), Dean Heller (R) and Joe Heck (R).
  • Nevada was one of only two states to join the Union during the Civil War. The state has had only three electoral votes from 1864 until 1980. Nevada’s population has more than tripled since 1980. The state has voted red for the majority of presidential elections since the late 1960s, excluding the Clinton years and Obama. Barack Obama defeated McCain by a margin of 55% to 43% in 2008.
1,412.5 miles to go.

Day228 Thursday 04/14/11

ran 3.4 miles
The state of Oklahoma has officially rejected a $54.6 million federal grant for ObamaCare. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin said the state would alternatively use state and private money to improve its health care system. Oklahoma firmly believes a system can be achieved for an amount less than the federal grant albeit a $500 million deficit in the upcoming fiscal year for the state.

Unlike the news we read and hear about everyday, this single action speaks volumes of what is really going on in this country. This action does not need an elaborate article written about it to understand what it means. A state that is already in the red by half a billion dollars is turning down $54.6 million from the federal government to get ObamaCare rolling and Oklahoma feels that this grant causes more harm than good.

In a related story, the Health Care Compact, which would restore authority and responsibility for health care regulation to individual states, is leaving a steady wake of progress. The Georgia State Senate passed legislation for the Health Care Compact today and it is now on the desk of their governor. Arizona’s State Senate passed the compact on Monday and it is on their governor’s desk.

The Health Care Compact has been introduced in 12 states and has passed the State House of Representatives in Montana and Missouri and State Senate in Oklahoma. In addition, in more than 36 states, citizen groups and state legislators are actively considering the Health Care Compact with legislative activity expected in the coming weeks.

"Our health care system is too large and too complex to manage at the federal level -- and too important to be debated outside the earshot of citizens. That is why today's passage in Georgia will enable citizens to engage in the policy process at their state level, and to prescribe laws that match the needs of their communities."

Eric O'Keefe, Chairman of the Health Care Compact Alliance

Here are some polls from Rasmussen Reports to close the post:
  • Barack Obama’s presidential index rating shows that 23% of American voters strongly approve of his performance while 38% strongly disapprove, giving Obama a presidential index rating of –15.
  • Overall, 49% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of Barack Obama’s performance and 50% disapprove.
  • Only 23% of U.S. voters believe America is heading in the right direction.
  • Remaining consistent, 51% favor health care repeal.
  • Among American voters, 65% believe significant long-term spending cuts to be unlikely before 2012 elections.
1,416.1 miles to go.

Day227 Wednesday 04/13/11


ran 4.5 miles

chapter3

Jonas unclenched his hands, not realizing how tightly he was frivolously gripping at the steamy air in front of his face, and took another step toward the door. He raised his right hand slowly as though a weight was upon it and pressed through his cloud of breath with the intent to knock. His hand fell effortlessly into question. Unsure, like a squirrel that couldn’t decide whether to stay on one side of the road or the other as cars drove by, Jonas’ thoughts scurried left and right of right and wrong. He placed his knock back in his pocket, turned around, and mashed a new path of red and yellow tracks.


Next to what remained of a skeleton-like crepe myrtle Jonas found a seat on the curb of a quiet road a few blocks over. Lining the concrete edge were numerous cigarette butts, smashed acorns, occasional beer cans, endless leaves, random fallen branches, and unidentifiable scraps of paper. Nestled between a busted shoe and a faded can of beer was a wet dollar bill nearly torn in half. Out of the corner of Jonas’ eye was what appeared to be a wayward bum curled up in the fetal position, sleeping. His body was a crescent shape like that of a cat or dog trying to keep in their body heat.


Jonas was amazed that such things would simply be found on the side of a road. He picked up the dollar bill and put it in his backpack almost unconvinced that it was real. He was one block from a set of train tracks, a halfway house was across the street, a police car was advancing in his direction, an unsavory prostitute was giving him eyes and skin from the parking lot of a closed down barber shop on the other side of the road, a man was sleeping on the curb of a street next to him and, amidst all of this, he happened to find a dollar bill.


He thought nothing more of it and took a seat among the rubbish. Jonas pulled his book of unknown poems out of his back pocket and opened it up to page thirty-four as randomly as if he had opened to page seventy-eight.


The type of poetry Jonas liked most, as though quality and good craft were a gaping pair of incorrigible bucked teeth, tended to be strikingly inferior and poorly crafted. His opinion was that anything widely popularized was almost automatically incredulous. Wide popularization was the money idea put forth by the same opportunists who placed Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” on coffee mugs and made Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” a ring tone on cell phones. Inferiority and poor craft, according to Jonas, were equally as beautiful as anything else and stood no chance of being ruined or diluted by mass production, corporate sponsorship, general commercialization, or posthumous infringement of original intent and purpose. Jonas felt that a long road of potential progress before him was far greater than reaching an ultimate end of exploitation and misunderstanding. Jonas felt sorry for any fool who spent his entire life trying to make millions of people from any one given region concur on a single topic, an idea or a painting, foolishly conjectured or crafted in the name of politics or art. These people ended up on t-shirts, coffee mugs and posters until their messages and their ideas became so generalized and unremarkable that the most undeserving and uneducated minds available picked them up in thrift stores because they were fashionable five years before.


The poems in this book were important to Jonas for the one reason that the book had no author, no name, and all of the poems were untitled. At a garage sale, under a set of fluted plastic salt and pepper shakers and on top of a broken clock radio, Jonas had found the book and purchased it for $0.37. He had talked them down from $0.45. It drew him in as an act that another person had made with the full knowledge that there would be no payoff. Why would somebody spend hours writing letters, words, sentences and paragraphs on pieces of paper when they knew there would be no distinguishing factor or monetary reward, thereafter? It made perfect sense to Jonas and that was exactly why he had been carrying the untitled book around for three years.


He tucked the book back into his pocket and stood up. He breathed in the urban decay of his own generation’s self-wrought surroundings, ignored the redheaded hooker at what used to be Ike’s Barber Shop, and advanced in the direction of the crescent figure sleeping on the curb. Jonas gave him a mild nudge. When the man did not respond he gave him a restrained push. All Jonas wanted was a Bic or a match but he could see that nothing short of accosting the prostitute or standing on the man’s despondent head would get his cigarette lit.


He attempted to glance unnoticeably at the young woman across the street. She saw him looking in her direction and gave him a wink. Jonas stepped over the curled up man, brushed by the skeletal crepe myrtle, and walked to the old barbershop. She saw him coming and smacked her gum a little harder like an excited dog wagging its tail for attention. She spit out the gum and lit a cigarette as though inhaling smoke through her lungs and blowing it out of her mouth somehow made her seem like a better product or a more attractive business proposition. She was playing the role of whore like an amateur porn star in a poorly directed, underfinanced, failed adult film.


Jonas contributed nothing in capturing the scene as he walked up completely disinterested in everything she represented. As he got closer and closer she suddenly fell out of character. She tucked the hint of flesh she was teasing him with back into her armpit-soiled tube top and quickly zipped up her raggedy jacket. She took an unnaturally long drag from her cigarette and stood paralyzed with disbelief. Under her breath she mumbled three words as though she were asking an impossible question.


"Jonas Martin Cassidy?"


1,419.5 miles to go.

Day226 Tuesday 04/12/11

ran 3.3 miles
A series of common themes I came across today led me to the subject of this post. First, I saw a story about George Soros speaking to Bloomberg Television concerning the U.S. economy---the debate over cuts versus government spending. He suggested that the U.S. could take on more debt and should stop obsessing about budget cuts. Soros argues that America should take on more debt and spend it on infrastructure.

Perhaps I should take the money I usually spend for my mortgage, burn it, invest in a pool and patio for my backyard with a credit card at an excessive interest rate, and further disable my complete inability to pay for any of it.

Second, I came across a story about Adam Klugman, host of the radio show “Mad as Hell in America”, and he said that he was sick and tired of liberals running from the term “socialism”.

He had this to say after progressive listeners called in to criticize his comments, inquiring as to whether he had ever read “Mein Kampf”.

“People have been brainwashed by the right into associating Socialism with Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia and not with free, highly successful democratic nations like Norway, Finland and the Belgium. And that’s why I said it. Because I believe it’s time for us to stop making up nice words to describe ourselves so Republicans will tolerate us. Liberal is not a bad word. And neither is Socialist. The fact that we’ve completely given up on these ideas demonstrates a defensive mindset that always keeps us on the losing side.”

Third, I saw that Obama is addressing the nation tomorrow to explain his “spending plan”. In contrast to our president’s interest, Paul Ryan has submitted a “budget plan”, which is receiving a lot of criticism for being too radical. The media has distinguished the two sides of economic paths with the two oppositional terms “spending” and “budget” plans. In an economy like this, I find it hard to believe that anyone would desire to label their plan to reconcile a budget deficit as a “spending” budget. But that’s what his agenda is. Spend, spend, spend.

Next, I read that the IRS, once it was definitively established after the ratification of the sixteenth amendment (the Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes…) in 1913, is actually a Marxist concept straight out of the Communist Manifesto’s second of ten planks: A heavy progressive or graduated income tax. This tenet is what we Americans have come to know as the misapplication of the sixteenth amendment.

And the final thing I came across, like a breath of fresh air, was a feasible solution to reroute the direction our president and his liberal counterparts are leading this nation. If you have never heard of or don’t know much about the “fair tax” I highly recommend you check up on it. Here is their site. There is a Fair Tax calculator that will help you understand how the tax works and how it would effect you.

The guidelines of this tax are 133 pages. The IRS tax code is 72,000 pages. That is a stack of paper eighteen feet high. The bill currently has 67 co-sponsors in Congress. And $22 million makes the Fair Tax the most researched piece of legislation regarding tax reform in American history, backed by over eighty of America’s top economists.

The Fair Tax abolishes the IRS and achieves taxation in a way that most benefits the economy and the taxpayers. It’s a real possibility that is rapidly gaining momentum and definitely worth reading up on.

If you haven’t caught on to tonight’s theme it is the Marxist direction in which our nation is being led. Barack Obama has successfully united half, if not more, of America together to fight against his ideas to a degree that is incomparable to anything we have seen since the Civil War. So many states striving to avoid his health care law, the Fair Tax threatening to abolish the IRS and its 72,000 pages of possible ways to take advantage of taxpayers and ridiculous tax laws for businesses, and the birth of the Tea Party threatening so many of the choices he has made to compromise the values we define as Americans---these are just a few of the sleeping giants of defiance he has awakened with his hope and audacity.

1,424.0 miles to go.

Day225 Monday 04/11/11

ran 5.9 miles
You may not know this, but appropriations bills in the fiscal year 2010 contained 9,499 earmarks worth $15.9 billion. Leading this spree of irresponsible spending were Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss) and Senator Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii). Combined, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, these leaders among earmark recipients secured $890,023,850 in 2010.

Follow this link to see how much you contributed to 2010 earmarks and what percentage your income bracket paid.

Here is something else you may not know. In February of 2009, Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, otherwise known as the “Stimulus package”. Early estimates had put the stimulus package at $787 billion. The most recent estimate by the Congressional Budget Office is $75 billion more, putting the total at $862 billion.

Follow this link to see what your share of the economic stimulus package is.

And here’s one more. Mandatory funds in the health care law are estimated at $105 billion. Mandatory spending is controlled by separate laws other than appropriation acts and these mandatory funds could possibly remain available to Obama and his administration to spend even if Republicans were able to defund the health care law.

Follow this link to see what your share of the beginning of socialized health care in America looks like.

To the right of any three of these links is a list of taxpayer calculators dealing with various projects our tax dollars are being spent on.

1,427.3 miles to go.

Day224 Sunday 04/10/11

ran 3.1 miles
Today ends week thirty-two of running against Obama. I ran 18.2 miles this week, averaging 2.60 miles per day.

Now that our President and our Congress have managed to agree on a disappointing and postponed 2011 budget, Tuesday begins the budget battle for 2012. If you consider how paramount the 2012 budget battle will be in contrast to the dollars and cents that our president and Congress have been arguing over since October of 2010 for the 2011 budget, this one will be far more prolonged and ugly. Plus, House and Senate seats will be on the table, as well as, a presidential election right around the corner by the time any agreements are taken seriously.

These months leading up to November 6, 2012 are going to be a rollercoaster. This is going to be a momentous election, which will have long-term reverberations pulsing through America’s future. There is a fork in America’s road and one direction or another is going to be taken.

To write or say something profound about America, something that everyone can agree on, is such a challenge because this nation is so big and the people who populate it are so diverse. No one has the answer. There is no answer. Democracy is a trial that has been going on in this country for over two centuries. And if it ever becomes a solution then it will be ruined. America is defined by the concept of individuals taking risks and reaping the reward of their hard work or taking risks and failing and then picking themselves back up again.

1,433.2 miles to go.

Day223 Saturday 04/09/11

ran 4.7 miles
Some polls from Rasmussen Reports:
  • Barack Obama’s presidential index rating shows that 21% of American voters strongly approve of his performance while 38% strongly disapprove, giving Obama a presidential index rating of –17.
  • Overall, 46% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of Barack Obama’s performance and 53% disapprove.
  • Roughly two out of three voters think Americans are overtaxed, and nearly as many say future federal tax increases should be voted on by the American people.
  • Only 28% of voters say they share Obama’s political views.
  • Among American voters, 48% side with the Tea party as opposed to the average member of Congress. Only 22% say their views are closest to those of the average member of Congress.
  • Among American voters, 49% think the Tea party movement is good for the country while 26% think the Tea party is bad for America.
  • Regarding taxes, 74% of Americans say they should pay no more than 20% of their income to the federal government. The average American currently pays 30% of their income to the federal government.
I thought it would be appropriate to end this post with a quote from Bill Clinton when he was in his prime.

“It’s the economy, stupid.”

1,436.3 miles to go.

Day222 Friday 04/08/11

ran 1.0 miles
In a predictable manner Washington waited until the eleventh hour to reach an agreement to avoid a government shutdown. Leading up to this eleventh hour, April 8, 2011, these budget proposals had begun all the way back in October of 2010. On Tuesday, April 12, 2011, (in four days!) the debate begins for the 2012 fiscal year. Once again our priorities are at a deficit.

The way I see it, if a democratic President, a democratic Senate and a democratic House had not spent so much time passing strategically timed “lame duck legislation” through January of 2011, leading up to the time that America would be swearing in so many new conservative Senators and Representatives, this debate could have begun and ended a lot sooner than the final hour we now find ourselves in.

The knees of our economy are shaking from strain under the multiplied gravity Barack Obama is forcing upon our backs. His talking points only concern investments in a distant future of energy and a health care law that is simply unacceptable for the economy we are currently suffering.

Instant gratification for every disappointment we see right here and right now in America is impossible, but President Obama does not seem to see things through the same red, white and blue tinted glasses so many of us others do.

1,441.0 miles to go.

Day221 Thursday 04/07/11

ran 5.9 miles
I’m getting back on schedule starting today. I had a big run tonight to compensate for the meager runs I had to begin the week with. There are so many different things I want to post about tonight that I’m having trouble focusing on one single thing. Instead of elaborating on one aspect of current events in this country that make so little sense, I’ll just throw it all at you in the form of a rant.

Congress and our president continue to get paid if the government shuts down. The madman in Libya that Ronald Reagan bombed in the eighties and who we are now “kinetically” at war with (but don’t call it war) wrote Barack Obama a letter saying, “Stop the unjust war on Libya…And good luck with the election…Libya is hurt more “morally than physically” by allied nations. Yes, he really did write a letter to Barack Obama and requested that we cease bombing Libya, followed by best wishes for the upcoming election. How will our military react if they do not get paid due to a government shut down? NATO dropped bombs on the wrong side…again, striking rebels instead of Gadaffi’s forces. And who are these rebels? The man burning copies of the Qur’an in Florida has a $2.4 million bounty on his head from Hezbollah and has received over 400 death threats for the actions he and his thirty member church committed. Keep it up, Trump! As plausible as Barack Obama’s legitimacy may seem, there are just as many curious details that reasonably question Obama’s origin. When someone spends millions of dollars in legal fees to keep a simple birth certificate locked away, it is reasonable to believe that that person is hiding something.

1,442.0 miles to go.

Day220 Wednesday 04/06/11

ran 0.3 miles

chapter2

Jonas shivered as a fall gust up heaved a small tornado of leaves just behind him. The tiny whirlwind left a wake of smothered, damp grass that was further rustled over by even more endless red and yellow hued debris. The earth was hard, slightly frosted, and premeditative with the onslaught of a cold, cruel winter ensuing. Jonas felt how bitter and dank the weather was outside but he drew a source of warmth from within. Based on a few of his less than tolerable prior experiences and the fact that he had been through much worse than this current position, he soldiered on shrugging hunger, the cold weather and the fact that he had no home or sure destination. He immediately felt better and began thinking about how long it would be until spring would arrive, even though winter was still yet to come.

There was nothing coincidental about the four seasons that composed the intentions of a single year. Nor was there anything coincidental about Jonas being at that exact location at that precise time with a determined purpose. Spring was rebirth and summer was life just as fall was an infliction and winter was death. Jonas was a means and the door of 216 Fifth Street was an end.

Everything, in its commonly peculiar way, was just as it should or should not have maybe or perhaps not have been. It was in this light, yielding to the loose and hazy chaos surrounding him, that Jonas felt divinity and solace, comfort, at its most clutching moment. He would sooner conduct conversation with a tree than confide in a priest. He would rather read Emerson on a patch of clovers than go to a church. And, aside from his dissident interpretation of organized religion and its questionable history, Jonas believed in a God and a way of life that was bejeweled with gems of thought that few others seemed to find any value in.

He was a spiritual man who contemptuously despised religion. He was a humanitarian who understood that charity was the worst possible thing to give to anybody. He belonged to nothing that claimed to have substance or power, except for his temporary jobs. They granted him sustenance and various roofs over his head, but he still felt violated for having to perform even the most menial of tasks for such uninspiring men and the corporate machines they were gears of. Jonas was always on the move. In a farcical manner he behaved the way other people expected he should when it was necessary only so they would leave him alone and not draw attention to him. He had no interest in long-term commitments or faith in any one thing. He had no pride in ownership or shame in poverty. Jonas, no matter which direction the currents of life pulled or pushed him, had only one concern and that was to watch the colors change.

Jonas, when challenged, penetrated those around him with an intimidating look of honesty and simplicity. Often mistaken for sarcasm, the look in his eyes forced others to think before they spoke or to say nothing at all. His thoughts in any given conversation were well articulated and his words were sophisticated and diverse; however, what made Jonas appear to be illuminated in respect to the gloom that surrounded him was his honest and simple belief that he knew nothing. Of life, of history, of religion, of facts and untruths, Jonas Martin Cassidy proudly admitted to himself that he knew nothing. Regardless of how many books or newspapers he had ever read, how far back in history his mind had delved, or how many religions he had studied, he realized one day as a summation of his efforts to learn as much as he could, that he knew nothing. A point in anything seemed elusive yet he found everything to be perfectly necessary. He believed in disbelief and this worked well for him.

Because he came to terms with this curious truth he chose to deliberately exploit the fact rather than hide behind its awkward reality by capriciously owning objects he did not need and owing worthless debt he had no desire to pay so that he could appear to be somebody who he was not. Jonas sensed early on that there was an imbalance of priorities that existed in everything that was Human. It had much to do with power and money, both of which concepts have been emblazoned upon Man’s most inner precepts since the first traces of human civilization.

Generally, people in this country either have more than they need or they have more than they want. If a person has more than they need then they have too much. Having too much creates fleeting and sparse feelings of guilt, but only every once in a while. These feelings of guilt are easily diverted by purchasing more things, which in turn alleviates the doubt that anything is wrong at all. When people become so easily persuaded and disillusioned as to believe that purchasing overpriced appliances and electronics in excess or financing unaffordable vehicles or homes, which they know will only put them at a financial disadvantage for years to come, becomes a measure of character, soul and integrity, something is wrong.

If a person has more than they want then they, also, have too much. However, these people do not suffer from guilt. They are completely apathetic to those around them who have much less and they intend to keep things that way, while convincing people otherwise. The masses of those who ungraciously have more than they need constantly praise and desire to be like those who have more than they could ever want. Allowing this absurd goal to pummel their pockets and fetter their futures with fear and greed, only expressing blurry glimpses of moral discontentment within the silence of their own homes, they strive to become the enemy that they are so envious of.

Jonas had an inclination that others felt this same way, too. But there seemed to be more allure for others to simply blend into society and its programmatic ways. Every few weeks or couple months people seemed to get the sudden urge to sporadically buy a CD, unnecessary home décor, uselessly elaborate electric appliances, a new computer because the one they got nine months before was apparently obsolete, or a new high definition television with surround sound just because the one they had was a couple inches smaller and the newer model was a few decibels louder. And once the purchase was made everything became all right again, at least for a while. They had succeeded in occupying themselves for a couple hours and it had made them feel important to make a purchase. What they had missed from the beginning when they had found themselves alone, sitting with nothing to do, impatient, bored, and desperate to not have to be forced to think about the most simple and obvious of natural thoughts, was the idea that everything just might have been wrong. And the reason they couldn’t sit still was because they knew they were a part of the problem.

What separated Jonas’ cloaked intelligence from the others was the fact that they seemed to think they knew everything and that if they ever doubted themselves they could simply medicate their arrogance with commodity purchases and the financings of unaffordable objects. Jonas, on the other hand, had thrown away everything he owned long ago to begin searching for something he was fairly certain he would never find: a reason to join society. His largest obstruction was the unwritten law that one could not join society; one had to blend into society. Jonas did not look at himself as a soluble ingredient for a social elixir.

Jonas had no available answers for the most minute of philosophical dilemmas, but he would utterly and accurately disprove any idea set forth by another. He could find no meaningful reasons for the movements he made in one direction or the other on any particular day, but he was determined to keep making them. And he lived by one single creed, which encapsulated his uncertainties in certain terms. Where there are problems one will always find solutions and where there are solutions one will always find problems. Even he knew this and he knew nothing.

1,447.9 miles to go.

Day219 Tuesday 04/05/11

ran 1.1 miles
The Wisconsin Democrats who had fled Madison nearly two months ago to derail union legislation have finally decided to return with their tails between their legs to uphold the civic obligations they were elected by their constituents to perform…except at times when they cannot have their way. Two months must be how long it takes to regenerate a spine.

President Obama implored Congressional leaders to “act like grown-ups” today, referring to the threat of a partial government shutdown if a budget agreement cannot be reached by Friday. Obama sternly suggested they stop “spending our time quibbling around the edges”. Our deficit and the immediate urgency that has presented itself is no quibble. What kind of understatement is that? There is no quibbling at a time like this. And what edges are there? There is no edge to our deficit as our economy currently stands. There is no reachable edge to balance or teeter along. This deficit needs to be attacked head on and Barack Obama and his counterparts are the quibblers. Republicans are attempting to slash away at the deficit in the manner they were elected to do and Obama is obstructing this dire goal. What good comes from not cutting our spending habits at the knees? America will be able to pretend for yet another year that everything is perfectly fine and our economy will be that much worse at this time next year. This cycle must be broken and Barack Obama does not seem to have any interest in putting this country on a strict spending diet for its own good.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan warns that our country is at a “tipping point” in its debt crisis, which stands to “curtail free enterprise” and make way for a “gradual moral-political decline as dependency and passivity weaken the nation’s character.” Ryan is proposing $6.2 trillion in cuts for the 2012 fiscal year, which begins on Tuesday (and yes, that is in one week from now even though Congress has not even agreed on the 2011 fiscal year budget). This is the sort of stern and assertive leadership our country needs right now and which Barack Obama is obstructing from happening. I don’t get it. Whatever Obama’s big picture is he will never arrive at it until some real effort is shown by him to lop an entire limb off the body of our deficit…at least a figurative finger or toe and not just a single hair.

1,448.2 miles to go.

Day218 Monday 04/04/11

ran 2.1 miles
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens…Let it simply be asked, where is the security for prosperity, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education…reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

George Washington, Farewell Address

It is one thing to live and to be willing to die for such American principles as freedom of religion, but when these principles are used against a nation for the advancement of beliefs that serve no purpose other than to undermine the culture and beliefs of that nation, those freedoms are no longer tools for happiness and prosperity but weapons wielded to twist and maul the fabric of freedom.

The double standard that exists between America’s humble acceptance of all religions and those religions that despise America’s culture and beliefs is getting more and more difficult to accept. There is a fine line to walk when trying to balance the integrity of America’s religious freedoms and the insult some of those freedoms slap our nation in the face with when used divisively.

I don’t think George Washington was referring to Shariah law or any other oppressive system of belief that violates so many God-given human rights. I don’t think our first president ever condoned the idea of killing infidels or any other people who did not see things the way he or America’s citizens did.

The freedom America grants certain people to encourage such ideas as Shariah law as a real American possibility, the freedom this religious zealot in Florida has to make world news of burning copies of the Koran, the fanatical church members who recently legally earned their right to protest at American soldiers’ funerals, the freedom America grants to entertain the idea of putting a Mosque at Ground Zero---where does it end?

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed today that President Barack Obama would face an end far more embarrassing than that of his predecessor, George W. Bush. His reasoning was that Obama uses force, as well as, deception and conspiracy. If that’s not snow calling rice white, I don’t know what is. Apparently we are supposed to play “fairly” and “transparently” against nations who despise our culture and our differing religious views.

George Washington’s emphasis on religion and morality as a necessity for America to thrive can hardly be argued, but we are threatened by another religion that seeks to buckle our beliefs and to impose itself upon this nation.

Our president began his term apologizing to the world for America’s elitist behavior and our nation’s “arrogance”. That obviously served no real purpose in maintaining America’s strength and integrity and it goes to show that no gesture, however humble it may appear, will appease people who refuse to accept your culture or your beliefs.

1,449.3 miles to go.

Day217 Sunday 04/03/11

ran 1.9 miles
Five days until the federal government shuts down. Democrats and Republicans are arm wrestling, have been arm wrestling for quite some time, under the sweat of who will come out looking better for the 2012 election and the grit of who will have the less amount of mud flung at them in 2012.

In this arm wrestling match there is no stronger side that wrestles down the wrist of its opponent. They simply capitulate after putting on a big show. Democrats have the audacity to slash next to no spending worth mentioning and Republicans lack the fortitude and resolve to stand their ground and do what so many voters put them in office to do on November 2, 2010.

Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t the next degree following a crisis a meltdown if that crisis is not resolved? Our economy is in a crisis and neither side is treating it that way. One side ignores it and the other side only ignores it less.

Regardless of how this thing turns out on Saturday, the following Tuesday begins the fiscal 2012 budget battle. I’m sure that will be resolved quickly. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin will be proposing a $4 trillion cut over the next decade. As assertive and rational as that sounds I have nearly already forgotten about it as I type these words because I know it is an impossibility for our Congress to solve such crises in a timely manner.

1,451.4 miles to go.

Day216 Saturday 4/02/11



ran 2.7 miles
There are very few causes or organizations that aren’t represented on the web. If you take the time to search for them it would be no challenge to drop your jaw at some of the stuff you may find. Last month I posted about a site with the goal of establishing Shariah law in America, which is instantly disturbing to look at as soon as the first few million pixels materialize on you screen. That site is shariah4america.com.

Now the Communist party of America is making headlines. Equally disturbing, their website is cpusa.org. Our nation has been fighting communism for decades. Thousands of our soldiers, from many different generations, in our military have died fighting to stop the spread of communism. Communism is a poison to everything America stands for. It has been proven to fail and it has been proven to suck out the personal ambitions, happiness, and freedoms of entire nations.

It is an insult to America and our history to advocate beliefs like this. Our freedom of speech allows people to express whatever their beliefs may be, regardless of others’ interpretations of them, and this is the way it should be, but I also have the right to make the judgment that it is my opinion that members of this American Communist Party have completely given up on themselves, they have no determination to exist or to contribute to society or to do anything for themselves, and they obviously have no clue of how rewarding hard work and sacrifice can be in this amazing nation. They would rather make everyone equal and allow a government to own and operate everything.

1,453.3 miles to go.

Day215 Friday 04/01/11

ran 2.8 miles
Today I feel reminded of why I had never paid any attention to politics until recently. It’s 8:09 p.m. as I type these words and there is little I wouldn’t give right now to see my television interrupted suddenly by a news report flashing “April Fool’s Day…about everything. Not just today but last week, last month, oh, and that thing last year and the thing before that…April Fool’s Day…for it all. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.”

Nothing in particular happened today in the world or in our nation that struck a culminating point of how frustrating it is to make sense of America on a day-to-day basis, but for some reason today it hit me like a bolt of lightning that the more things change the more they stay the same.

The French novelist Alphonse Karr coined that phrase in the nineteenth century. It also appeared in George Bernard Shaw’s “Revolutionist’s Handbook”, as well as, dozens of books of proverbs and maxims. It is one of the most profound truths I have ever heard regardless of how many times I hear other people say it.

I have always been drawn to nonconformity and used any excuse I could find to not belong to a majority of any sort. One of my favorite quotes, by Mark Twain, has always been “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect”. I have always gone against the grain for the simple sake of going against the grain.

I can honestly say, now that I find myself among the closest thing to a political majority I have ever been a part of, for the first time in my life I am proud to be like-minded with so many others in wanting Barack Obama to be a one-term president and wanting our Congress to do what we elected them to do.

With the millions of miniscule details pushed to the side, the constant speed bumps on the American interstate, which slow us down to an idle speed, we need to stop spending, slash our deficit, maintain our status of world currency holder, and it is going to take sacrifices from everybody in every state in different ways unique to whatever each state’s circumstances are. This has to be where it starts. Whatever your vision of America is begins with our Congress uniting to cease the wasteful spending. Yet, the best compromise Democrats and Republicans can come up with is to reduce the volume of an ocean by a drop.

Felt like ranting a bit tonight. Friday’s posts are usually statistics and facts about a certain state, so I’ll close with that.
  • Nebraska was the thirty-seventh state to join the union on March 1, 1867, nine years before Colorado and three years after Nevada.
  • Population, as of 2010, is 1,826,341.
  • Senators are Mike Johanns (R) and Ben Nelson (D).
  • Representatives are Jeffrey Fortenberry (R), Lee Terry (R) and Adrian Smith (R).
  • Nebraska has five electoral votes. Historically, the state has not voted blue since 1964. Nebraska is one of only two states, Maine being the other, in which the winner of the popular vote gets two electoral votes while one is assigned to the winner of each of the three congressional districts. McCain defeated Obama 57% to 42% in 2008.
1,456.0 miles to go.