The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Even though approximately 90% of the public support universal background checks, including a large majority of gun owners, many Congressional Republicans are not convinced on the matter. The latest in this seemingly never-ending line of anti-background check Republicans is Utah Senator Mike Lee, who recently said the following on Fox News: "[T]he concern with those is that background checks in and of themselves aren't going to work unless they are accompanied by some sort of registration system. [The American people] are not really comfortable with the idea of the government knowing exactly what firearm they purchase any more than they would be comfortable with the government knowing when or how often they go to church or what they eat for breakfast or what books they are reading from the library." Senator Lee is absolutely right. I mean, what's the difference between a gun and a church, breakfast, or library books anyway? Nothing. I will now prove just how striki...

Remember not too terribly long ago when restaurant chains such as Olive Garden were supposedly "experimenting" (threatening) with decreasing employees' work-hours so that they didn't meet the full-time worker criteria which would have then required the restaurants to provide these employees with health insurance via Obamacare? Those were the days, right? I'm really starting to wonder how many of these restaurant CEOs have even read the Cliff Notes version of Obamacare. Ralph Bower, president of the fast-food chain Popeyes, let his Obamacare fears be known recently, when he told The Huffington Post the following: "Our fear is that some of our employees that are full-time employees will cut back on their hours so that they won't be subject to [the mandate]. My understanding is that if you're working part-time, then you're not mandated to buy the insurance. ... If you're not a full-time employee, then you don't fall under the mandate....

Republican Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe has long been a global-warming denier, going as far as to say it's "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people." Back in February of 2010, when this nation's capital fell victim to record snowfall, Senator Inhofe built an igloo outside the Capitol with his kids, where he planted a sign that read, "Al Gore's Home. Honk If You Like Global Warming." Yes, he did this in the middle of winter following a massive snowstorm. I never said the guy was bright. While he's at it, he should hold up a sign during the summer when record highs are recorded, which reads, "Ice Age? What Ice Age? There Was No Fricking Ice Age!" Inhofe is now front and center once again with regard to the global-warming debate (debate among conspiracists anyway), as he's one of the central targets of a new climate-change documentary entitled, "Greedy Lying B*stards." After hearing this bit of news, Inho...

Prior to the first Sweet 16 college basketball game last night between Miami (Florida) and Marquette, the likes of Greg Gumbel, Greg Anthony, Doug Gottlieb, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley previewed the games in the studio. After Gumbel introduced the crew, Gottlieb, the only Caucasian gentleman of the group, chimed in with the following line: "Cream rising to the crop. I don't know why you guys asked me, I'm just here to bring diversity to the set here. Give the kind of white man's perspective on things from the point guard position." Yes, there was complete and total silence following the sad attempt of a joke, along with the two men to his left and two to his right shaking their heads simultaneously. Perhaps the worst part about the joke wasn't what Gottlieb said, so much as how he said it. The guy looked less comfortable than a mime doing karaoke. What was going on in that guy's mind before and during the telling of the "joke" is anyon...

While I would do anything but describe myself as a Republican, I will give credit where credit is due, regardless of a politician's party affiliation. So, in light of Republican Ohio Senator Rob Portman writing an op-ed in the Columbus Dispatch where he shared his evolutionary thoughts and feelings regarding gay marriage, I sent the senator an e-mail welcoming him to the fight for gay-marriage rights. He just responded with: " Dear Craig,   Thank you for taking the time to contact my office to share your support for my position on recognizing marriages between gay couples.  I appreciate your kind words and encouragement.  My son Will is an amazing young man, and I am very proud of him.    In case you missed it, I wanted to share  my op-ed on this issue, which was published in the Columbus Dispatch on March 15, 2013.   The Freedom to Marry By Rob Portman   I have come to believe that if two people are prepared to mak...

Well, I just thought I'd let readers know that I altered my settings to allow anyone to make comments, even non-members of this site. In doing this, however, I also made it mandatory for all comments to be moderated by me, so if I receive any extremely nasty/explicit ones, those will not be posted. All others will be, however. Well, anyway, I just thought I'd update everyone on the matter. Have fun reading and commenting, or at least reading!

I read a comment earlier today which said, "Your all so stupid..." Indeed. For when one infers that a group of people is stupid when he himself does so by using the incorrect form of the word "your" (you're), he obviously has the authority to label these people as stupid. Rumor has it that on this individual's "Your-All-So-Stupid Tour," he lays down some of the following lines as well: - "Their stupid!" - "Their more stupider then you!" - "Your stupid two, though!"

I've been slightly perplexed since the start of the NCAA Tournament last week. Following the four play-in games last Tuesday and Wednesday, we were down to 64 teams, as has been the case for quite some time. As the games were being played on Thursday and Friday, many college basketball analysts and commentators referred to the games as 2nd round action, and Saturday and Sundays games as 3rd round action. I'm sorry, but until the brackets are expanded further and every team has to play another round of games, I'm not going to refer to these four play-in games as the first round. What, does that mean 60 teams have byes that round? That's quite the playoff system right there! I imagine the genius behind the format was thinking, "Okay, you know how in pro football, each conference has six teams in the playoffs, with the two best teams having byes in the first round? Let's times that by fifteen, where we have eight teams play in the first round and give sixty team...

Just how much does gun violence cost taxpayers? As cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the answer to that question is $37 billion in 2005 (the most recent year where an estimate has been provided) and another $3.7 billion for those whom survive gun violence. So, all-in-all, the cost of gun violence was a combined $40.7 billion in the year of 2005 alone. If we want to make a dent in our healthcare costs, it seems that less gun violence would be a way to do just that. How do we accomplish that goal? Stricter gun laws, like mandatory background checks, more regulation on high-capacity magazines and assault rifles, etc. It all seems to be common sense from my vantage point, but what do I know? More guns and bullets equals less gun violence apparently, just like the more sleep one gets, the less they'll dream or the more educated one becomes, the less they'll actually know. Well, I best be off to the shower, but what good will that really do? The more one bathes...

I recently read an article entitled "Why 'Normal' Is Such A Catch," and it befuddled, yet humored me, so I thought I'd share the experience with readers. Regardless of whether or not I'm dating someone at the time, I find it painfully humorous (yes, there is such a thing) to read articles surrounding dating/love advice. Why? Because they're typically more cliche-ridden than a film released on Valentine's Day by the name of Hallmark Card , and while I typically loathe cliches, I also often times find them to be unintentionally humorous due to how ridiculous they come across, especially if taken from a literal rather than a figurative angle. The author of the before-mentioned article is a "dating coach" and authored a book by the title of Stop Looking for a Husband: Find the Love of Your Life . ...and the award for most horoscope-sounding book title of the year goes to... So, back to the article, where Marina Sbrochi writes the following:...

Far-right die-hards in the media seem to be obsessed with the end of the world. Perhaps it's because they're somewhat suicidal, yet feel they won't go to heaven if they commit such an act, so they hope someone either ends the world so they rise up to heaven or Jesus comes again and takes them away from this God-awful place (how I never understood that phrase...). Perhaps they're tripping acid quite regularly and as a result, are more coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs than Hugh Hefner is disease-ridden and horny. There are a number of possibilities. The reason I bring this up is due to what Fox News contributors Todd Starnes and Erick Erickson had to say recently regarding the Supreme Court's pending gay-marriage rights decision. When speaking on American Family Radio, Starnes said the following: "You know, it's as if we're second-class citizens now (Christians) because we support the traditional, Biblical definition of marriage, or perhaps we are pro-life, an...

Whenever someone starts a sentence by claiming he or she's not racist, sexist, homophobic or the like, and then adds the conjunction "but" following that line, there's a 99.897% chance he or she is going to contradict themselves by uttering something which would be seen by most as racist, sexist, or homophobic. An example of this would be, "I'm not a racist, but that n***er over there better not look over here or else I'll knock him flat on his backside." It's as if these people feel that by preceding their "-ist" commentary claiming they're not an "-ist," it excuses them of the inevitable "-ist" comments they're about to make. I'm sorry, but things don't work that way. That would be like if a guy told his girlfriend, "I'm not going to make out with that girl over there," and then started making out with the lady he said he wasn't going to make out with. Does his preceding the ...

Some Tea Party activists went on a 4-day boycott recently. Whom did they boycott? Fox News. ...and why? For becoming too liberal. No, this is not an article written by someone at The Onion . There are, however, a number of Onion -worthy moments in this very article. So, let's get to know some of these boycotters a little better, shall we? One such Tea Partier - 70-year old Stan Hjerlied - said the following to The Daily Beast regarding the boycott: "Particularly after the election, Fox keeps turning to the left... We are really losing our only conservative network." If Hjerlied means this in a literal sense, perhaps Fox is role-playing as a NASCAR driver. If he means this politically, let's check out what Fox News currently has posted on its website. At this current juncture on FoxNews.com, the following headlines are posted:  - "Greg Gutfeld fires back at Jim Carrey's anti-gun skit" - "ObamaCare forces a good doctor to quit" - ...

Christopher Stanlane - a 34-year old resident of Fairmont, North Carolina - accidentally shot and killed his 10-year old son while cleaning his shotgun on Sunday afternoon. The father was said to be cleaning his shotgun while on the couch and his son was in front of him watching television when the gun went off and struck the boy in his head, which killed him instantly. With the investigation ongoing, no charges have been filed to this point. I have so many questions for the father upon reading this story. First off, why in the world would he not check to make sure his gun wasn't loaded before cleaning it? Next, why wouldn't he make sure to point the gun away from anyone, regardless of whether or not it was loaded? Lastly, why would he not go about this in a different room than where his 10-year old son resided? This guy obviously didn't have proper training and at this point in his life, was much too careless and uneducated to be owning a firearm. This is one reason wh...

Wanna hear a silly argument? Look no further than yours truly and my girlfriend. Granted, I think this seemingly never-ending debate is/has been conducted in a joking kind of manner. In any case, the more I think about it, the sillier it appears to me. It also reminds me of a similar debate my parents have engaged in for years and in a similar kind of tone. While I was born on February 28th of 1981, my girlfriend was born on March 19th of 1980. It is my belief that she was, is, and always will be older than I am - by about 11 months. It is my girlfriend's claim that between February 28th and March 18th of every year, we're the same age, yet she's older between March 19th and February 27th. Why is this? Because I'm measuring age with specifics and she's just using years to do so. This is reminiscent of my mother and father. While my mother was born on December 24th of 1954, my father was born on March 29th of 1952. Every December 24th, my father claims that the two...

It's been about three years since President Obama's healthcare law passed Congress and was signed by the president himself. Sadly, three years later, the public is just about as uninformed now on the healthcare law as it was right when it passed. A Kaiser poll was just released regarding the public's knowledge on the healthcare reform law, and the numbers were quite disturbing. When poll participants were asked if the healthcare law included the following components, more answered the questions incorrectly than correctly: - "Cut benefits for people in Medicare" - 43% correctly answered that the law does not do this and 44% incorrectly answered that it does do this, with 14% responding that they aren't sure. - "Establish a government panel to make decisions about end-of-life care for people on Medicare" - 39% correctly answered that the law does not do this and 40% incorrectly answered that it does do this, with 21% responding that they aren...

A West Virginia newspaper - the Lincoln Journal - just recently published the following comments from a reader in response to the Lincoln County Board of Education firing lesbian teacher Kelli Burns due to her accusation that board officials forced students to write complaints about her trying to "turn them gay": "We were really glad to hear that School Board is getting rid of them queers. The next thing is we need to get rid of all the n****rs, the spics, the kikes and the wops. You know even them Catholics, they are wrong as baby eaters. We need to clear them people out and have good, white, God fearing Christians and everybody else needs to be put to death for their abominations. We'll keep Lincoln County white and right. Thank you." First off, it's quite ignorant to blame a minority of a population for a majority of problems within that population in any context, but that's especially the case here. If Lincoln County is anything, it's white....

Word broke a couple days ago that head coach Ben Howland was going to be fired from UCLA men's basketball team following the team's disappointing first-round loss to Minnesota in the NCAA Tournament Friday night. Minnesota fell last night in the 2nd-round to 3-seed Florida and have since fired head coach Tubby Smith as a result. In my opinion, both are bonehead moves. Let's first look at Ben Howland. The guy has been at UCLA for 10 years, has reached the NCAA Tournament in 7 of those 10 years - going as far as the Final Four twice (2006-2007 and 2007-2008) and the Championship Game once (2005-2006). His Bruins finished 1st in the Pac-12 this year with a 13-5 conference record and 25-9 record overall. His overall record at the school is 118-58 in conference play (.671) and 230-105 overall (.687). Under Howland, UCLA has been crowned the conference regular season champion four times (2005-2006, 2006-2007, 2007-2008, and 2012-2013). The team won the Pac-12 conference tourname...

As I've written about previously, Republican Ohio Senator Rob Portman made news not long ago after writing an op-ed in the Columbus Dispatch sharing his support for gay marriage rights, largely due to his son Will coming out of the closet. While some liberals have not been very forgiving of Senator Portman due to his previous anti-gay marriage rights commentary, I've tried to welcome the man to the ever expanding circle fighting for gay rights. Also, while some liberals have not been very welcoming of Senator Portman's evolved views on the issue of gay rights, it has appeared as if most die-hard conservatives have been even less welcoming of them. Following the release of Senator Portman's op-ed, right-wing blog Government Is Not God gave warning to the senator that homosexuality "may eventually kill his son from AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases, or oral cancer." I know - isn't that sweet? I have a feeling I know what the writers over at Gov...

Last year, the state of Louisiana passed an amendment which made the right to bear arms a "fundamental right" in the state. In light of this, New Orleans District Judge Darryl Derbigny ruled that it's unconstitutional to outlaw felons from purchasing and possessing firearms. That's right - while felons are unable to vote in Louisiana, they're able to purchase and carry around firearms. That makes sense. If a person commits a felony involving a gun, he or she will have their voting rights stripped from them, but the right to own a gun which prompted the felony in the first place? Ah, they can hold on to that one. It reminds me of a fictional dialogue between two friends I'm about to concoct: Jerome Buckwheat: "Who are you voting for?" Bobby Babblebreath: "I didn't register in time, unfortunately. How about you?" Buckwheat: "I can't, remember? All those gun crimes. I just got out of jail not long ago." Babblebreath: ...

I understand this is probably more common than I realize, but one major pet peeve of mine is when my parents still treat me like a 6-year old child. This goes for my mother, in particular. Granted, I don't have any kids of my own, so it's difficult for me to fully relate to them and since I will never be a mother, I find it especially difficult to relate to my mother on this front. However, it still blows my mind that at 32 years of age, I am still sometimes seen as a little boy by them (her). Just the other night, we were having dinner together, and out of nowhere, my mother says, "Just for future reference, it's seen as uncouth to eat before everyone else has sat down and are ready to eat as well. ...just in case you ever have dinner with her family or whatnot (her meaning my girlfriend, I'm guessing)." I was speechless at first, especially since she had started eating before me. The other reason I was speechless was because I'm 32 years old. I pause...

Judging by what I read, CPAC should no longer stand for Conservative Political Action Committee. It should stand for Crazy People Are Coming. This could be seen as a double-entendre, for it could be referring to the people speaking at this gathering or how these people see everyone else. Last Friday, audience member Scott Terry - a 30-year old from North Carolina - had a few interesting bits of commentary to share with the other audience members, as well as speakers. After presenter K. Carl Smith of the Frederick Douglass Republicans referenced a letter written by Douglass, where he forgave his former master, Terry blurted out, "For what? For feeding him and housing him?" Sadly, this comment was met with applause and cheers. Following this back-and-forth, Terry was heard saying, "Why can't we just have segregation?" Terry wasn't done there. He also said that whites have been "systematically disenfranchised" by the federal government. When...

In the 1st-round of the NIT, last year's national champion - Kentucky - fell to Robert Morris by the final score of 59-57 last night, and it's being hailed by some talking heads in the media as one of the biggest upsets in the history of college basketball. I'm sorry, but that's absurd. For those that don't know about the NIT, many jokingly say it stands for the Not Invited Tournament. The NCAA Tournament selects the 68 best teams to play in a single-elimination tournament. There are four play-in-type games to condense the field to 64 teams when the tournament really gets underway. The next "best" batch of 32 teams play in a similar-style single-elimination tournament by the name of the NIT. So, teams ranked between 69 and 100 play in the NIT. These are teams whom showcased they were better-than-average, but not good enough to get invited to the NCAA Tournament. Given that, Kentucky's loss to Robert Morris last night, while sure, it was an upset, w...

In light of Ohio Senator Rob Portman standing up for gay-marriage rights, many other Republicans in Congress have been approached about the issue. House Speaker John Boehner was one such individual. On ABC's This Week , Boehner engaged in the following back-and-forth with host Martha Raddatz: Raddatz: "Can you imagine yourself in a situation where you reversed your decision as Portman has on gay marriage if a child of yours or someone you love told you they were gay?" Boehner: "Listen, I believe marriage is a union between one man and one woman. It's what I grew up with, it's what I believe, it's what my church teaches me and I can't imagine that position would ever change." What Boehner and other Congressional Republicans need to learn is unless their party changes positions with regard to social and economic issues, their position isn't going to change on election day - the position of loser. http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/03/...

Not long ago, I wrote a bit about Republican Ohio Senator Rob Portman, giving him kudos for writing an op-ed in the Columbus Dispatch , where he came out in support of gay-marriage rights - the first Republican Senator to fully support these rights. Not much time lapsed before other members of the party made me shake my head in disbelief. Perhaps it shouldn't have come as much of a surprise, but following Portman's op-ed, he received his fair share of criticism from members of his own party at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference). Kansas Representative Tim Huelskamp was one such member. On Friday, Huelskamp said the following with regard to Portman: "Here's a senator who couldn't deliver his own home state in the presidential election. ...somehow, we're supposed to believe that if we abandon traditional marriage, that liberals are going to flock to us." When asked how he would react if his son announced he was gay, like Portman's son...

While I sometimes wish I didn't, I love Facebook. It has helped keep me in regular contact with friends and family all across the country. Whether they live 20 minutes or 1500 miles away, we're able to regularly chat, e-mail back and forth, joke around, and catch up with one another. However, while I make Facebook sound almost perfect, it's anything but that. One of the major reasons why people stray away from social networking sites such as Facebook is privacy concerns. Granted, there are options on the site which allow for people to tinker with their privacy controls some, however, so long as they have an account, there is a risk for lack of privacy. Politicians, judges, lawyers, and employers have yet to really discover the true boundary between what information should be left alone on a person's Facebook account and what information they should have the legal authority to use against that person. Some employees have gotten fired for posting critical messages r...

I think it can be made official - the groundhog is full of crap. How I was looking forward to an early spring. While I've experienced worse winters, this winter just won't seem to go away. It has been like one of those lingering headaches that never reach migraine status, yet seem to continue making their presence felt for hours and days at a time. So, what is the forecast for the first day of spring here in central Ohio? A high of 35, low of 21, with strong winds, and a chance of flurries. The forecasts for the following week don't have high temperatures exceeding 45 degrees, with a chance of snow showers on Monday, the 25th. I know I shouldn't put any stock in the groundhog's prediction, as he/she/its been right just 36-37% of the time. However, I was hopeful. My mother even told me she saw birds which signified that the groundhog was right. Of course, those were vultures, not robins she was seeing, but still... http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/Delaware...

In a fairly recent Quinnipiac poll, the following results were shown: - 92% of people support mandatory background checks for guns, even with regard to private or online sales - 56% support a total ban of assault weapons - 56% support a ban on the sale of high-capacity magazines - 46% believe the NRA (National Rifle Association) better reflects their views on guns, whereas 43% believe President Obama better reflects their views of guns So, let me get this straight... Both the public and President Obama support background checks, banning assault weapons, and banning the sale of high-capacity magazines. The NRA doesn't fully support any of these measures. YET, the NRA is more reflective of the country's views on guns than President Obama? How does that work exactly? This reminds me of a make-believe conversation I got into with an imaginary person named Winnie near election time this past November: Me: "So, who do you side with on the tax issue?" Winni...

It appears as if the Democratic Governor of Colorado - John Hickenlooper - is about to sign two gun control laws - one which would require background checks, even in the cases of private or online sales, and also one which would limit most ammunition magazines to 15 rounds. What does the Republican Party have to say about these likely signings? Colorado State Senator Greg Brophy responded with this: "If he signs these bills, I have come to the conclusion that he's more interested in his national prospects than he is in his legacy here in Colorado. These are not moderate. These are extreme, and just really unpopular." It appears that Mr. Brophy is celebrating his own personal opposite day. How would you describe these gun control laws again, Mr. Brophy? "...just really unpopular..." That's what I thought I read. Well, according to a recent Quinnipiac poll, 92% of the American public believes in mandatory background checks, even for private or on...

I wonder when the last time was that the #1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament went to the dance with six losses. That's what we have this year with #1 Louisville of the Big East. That provides the perfect illustration of this year's college basketball season. It has been one of chaos, one where the #1 teams have played musical chairs more often than Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl star in awful movies, and one where it's difficult to see a favorite to win the championship. Once the brackets were announced on Sunday night, I began feeling a migraine coming on, and once I actually sat down to look at the brackets, that migraine was in full-effect. How crazy are the brackets? Let me tell you... - The Pittsburgh Panthers of the Big East, after finishing the year ranked #20 in the AP poll, were rewarded with an 8-seed, and will face 9-seed Wichita State in the West region. Eight-seeds would tend to go to teams ranked between 29 and 32, so Pitt's #20 ranking got do...