Tag: Politics

After repairing my refrigerator and then seeing the movie An Inconvenient Truth, it dawned on me that people probably have several appliances in their house that aren’t running efficiently and simple solutions might exist. In the case of my refrigerator, the blocked up grill probably caused the refrigerator to run twice as often as needed. If other people did the same thing, it could be a real energy saver.

And on the topic of the movie, I was so pissed off when I left the movie on how arrogant our current (and some of our recent) administrations have been. Al Gore presented very compelling facts about global warming. One that really got me is the fuel efficiency standards here in the US. The major push against raising them has been the big auto manufacturers that can’t make money where you have Honda and Toyota making money hand over fist and making more efficient cars. There is a good reason I don’t buy American cars…it’s all about protecting jobs instead of making a quality product. I’m not saying I don’t buy American, but I buy quality products that provide value; if it is American, great, if it isn’t, oh wel..

When of the disadvantages of being a non-partisan voter near a primary election is that both parties spam you with crap. I’m getting phone calls (luckily they go straight to voicemail) and printed material from both Republicans and Democrats. I’d love to call both parties and tell them that I really don’t care. I said to my wife yesterday that for $5000, they can have my vote. Yes, I know buying my vote is illegal. However, with these candidates for whatever office they’re running for, I frankly don’t care. I’m so disinterested in politics, I’d be happy with Mickey Mouse for governor/secretary of state/senator/whatever. Only a few more days until this election is over.

I know people will say that not all politicians are corrupt, but based on what has been in the news lately, it is hard to believe. Let’s start with William Jefferson. Those that bribed him have admitted (or plead guilty, I can’t recall) to bribing him, but Jefferson says he wasn’t bribed despite the $90,000 in cash found in his freezer. Then you have other congressmen upset that the FBI searched his office. Are politicians above the law? The shouldn’t be, but sure act as they are. Why should congressmen have places that can’t be searched by the FBI with a search warrant? They shouldn’t.

Next, let’s take the case of congressmen flying on corporate jets and only paying first class airfare which obviously doesn’t come anywhere near the cost to operate the jet. That is corruption in my book. The problem with all this corruption is that congress makes up their own ethics rules and then “follows” them.

I used to say that I was apolitical (is that really a word?) in that I didn’t care much about politics. Now I can honestly say that I’m anti-political. I have a strong dislike for politicians and politics. A politicians main job is to get re-elected, so what incentive does he (or she) have to serve their constituents? Very little.

It’s now more obvious than ever that President Bush isn’t as conservative as he made himself look in his first term in office. I think that he appeared and acted very conservatively to get re-elected (isn’t that the goal of all politicians?) and please his republican, some very conservative, base. His stance on immigration with the guest worker program and providing a pathway to citizenship for those that have broken the law shows have liberal some of his views are.

I don’t disagree with the guest worker program as it would (hopefully) reduce those coming across illegally (we’re really only talking about Mexico here as no one really cares much about illegals from other countries). It sounds (at least on the surface) like a decent solution. However, offering a path to citizenship for those that have come here illegally is doing two things that I don’t like: 1) it is encouraging more people to come over illegally and 2) it is rewarding those that have committed a crime. While it hasn’t been a felony to come over illegally (as far as I can tell), it is a crime nonetheless. Do I have a better solution? No. Bush is correct that we can’t just deport the millions of people here illegally. There are no easy solutions to immigration issues.

Knowing congress, no agreement will be reach in the immigration debate for some time, so all the pro and anti illegal immigration rallies and debates are kind of moot.

With the release of Da Vinci Code movie today, there has been some press about the church being afraid of the movie and wanting to steer people away from seeing it. This just seems plain stupid to me; the movie is a story that I hope will be entertaining. I’ve been listening to the audiobook of it (I listen to the unabridged versions of the books as I like to hear all the details; one book I listened to was abridged and I could easily tell where pieces were missing) and am enjoying it…as a story. Do I believe it? I haven’t even thought about believing it; to me it is entertainment. (I’m enjoying the book so much that I just purchased Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons so I can listen to it next.)

As pointed out in the book, the church seems to be afraid of anything that is contrary to its own teachings and doesn’t allow its followers to think on their own. I’m not one that lets others dictate what I believe. I take in everything I can and make my own judgments and decisions based on the knowledge at hand. I personally view religion as a guide instead of an absolute way to lead my life. Blindly following reminds me of George Orwell’s 1984 (at least the Apple commercial based around his work) where people can’t/don’t make their own decisions.

Is it so bad that people do their own thinking? I thought that thinking set us apart from other species. Of course this is just my opinion, so please don’t send me hate mail.

Our new mayor, Jerry Sanders, seems to be a good guy with the right intentions to get the city back on track after the pension scandal and fiscal disaster. However, last week, he came out saying that he will do all that he can to keep the Mount Soledad cross which is on city owned property. This is after 15 years of it being debated in court, voted on by the votes, etc. The judge has said that the city has 90 days to move it or face a $5000 a day fine. Can’t people leave well enough alone? It is a cross on city property basically saying that the city endorses it. While I’m personally against having religious symbols associated with the government, this is no longer about that; this is about what the justice system and the votes have said needs to move. I’d be more than happy to pitch in $50 to move it if I never have to hear about it again.

I was reading in this morning newspaper about the ongoing battle between the San Diego County Airport Authority and the military about exploring the joint use of military facilities for a new San Diego airport. It really amazes me that the military has said that this isn’t possible due to security and logistics, however, the airport authority is still spending lots of money exploring it. This is a complete waste of time and money as it is extremely unlikely that the military will change its mind or that a base will close any time in the near future (the local bases survived the last round of base closures). Why can’t the airport authority understand that no means no?

The members of the airport authority are all appointed and those that favor continued exploration of military installations should not only be fired, but also forced to pay for the studies conducted about joint use of military bases after the military said no (which the military has done a number of times already).

Personally, I like the size of the airport. In addition, another article in the paper showed a decrease in population in San Diego; granted it was pretty minor, but it shows that the grow of population has not only slowed, but reversed. Do we really need a larger airport? I’ve been to a number of airports in the country and San Diego’s Lindbergh field is one of the easiest airports to navigate and use. I hope it stays that way.

I tend to use the phrase “my tax dollars hard at work” when describing wasteful spending of tax dollars. Today’s paper gave me another opportunity to say this. San Diego is looking to build a bigger airport and has selected some military sites (currently in use) as options where they would be dual use (military and civilian). They have done this despite the fact that the military has said absolutely no. The airport authority has paid a consultant to come up with ways that the airport could be dual use. If the military said no, is there any chance it will happen?

Personally I don’t want a larger airport; I like our airport as it is convenient and easy to use. In addition, one of the top sites is Miramar Marine Corps Air Station which is much closer to my house; this could increase flight noise near my house, but will definitely increase traffic. During the annual Miramar air show, traffic was backed up to my exit on the freeway which is about 10 miles from the entrance to Miramar. This was on a weekend without the normal commuting traffic. I can’t imagine what it would be like to get to the proposed airport during the week.

I wish someone would pay me a lot of money to come up with completely unrealistic ideas for a new airport.

Today’s paper had an article about the Boy Scouts in court again over lease agreements with the city of San Diego claiming that the Boy Scouts are a religious organization. This is the biggest bunch of bull I’ve ever heard. Just because the 12th point of the Scout Law is “Reverent” and the Scout Oath has “do my duty to God and my country”, it doesn’t mean that it is a religious organization. US currency has the word God on it; the Oath of Office for various top positions in the government end with “So help me God.”. Does this make the government a religious organization? While I completely respect people’s views in whatever religion they may have, I see nothing wrong with the Scout Law and Scout Oath as they are today. I agree with the Boy Scouts of America on this point, I completely disagree with them on their stance on gays as leaders. Being gay doesn’t mean that someone is morally wrong, does it? It isn’t my choice, but why should I care what others choose? It also doesn’t mean that a leader will act inappropriately around the scouts.

I am a huge fan of the Boy Scouts and believe that being a Scout and earning the rank of Eagle Scout has made a big impact on my life. However, I think that it needs to re-think some of its views (particularly its stance on gays) so that it doesn’t become associated with highly conservative religious views which could have a very negative affect on the organization.

The news reports today say that the Bush administration is asking for more money to fund the war in Iraq bringing the total to over $400 billion. Where does this money come from? Our tax dollars surely can’t pay for all this. Then to top it off, officials are asking for more money to rebuild from Hurricane Katrina bringing the total for that over $100 billion. This is an excellent way to increase the national debt and make sure that many generations to come are saddled with this burden. Cutting a few billion here and there on programs is nothing compared to this whopper. I’m sure Bush will ask Congress for more money for the war that will never end.