The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

I was born in Nebraska and lived there for 26 of my first 27 years. Throughout my time there, I saw that my political views were at odds with a large majority of the state. Even though I voted there every opportunity I had, there were some years where I thought to myself, "Is there even a point? I know there's probably a better chance of me winning the lottery than of the candidates and proposals I vote for of getting passed," but out of principle, did so anyway. So from an election perspective, I gladly left the state in 2008 in favor of the battleground state Ohio. No matter how contrasting Nebraska's politics have been to mine through the years, though, I have been rather impressed with some of their legislative moves over this past year. In 2014, then Governor Dave Heineman decided to not join the Republican governor voter suppression parade and signed a bill to make voting easier for the state's residents. Following the tragic death of Omaha police office

When recently debating about a bill aimed at adding restrictions to an anti-bullying bill, which would include the LGBT community, the following back-and-forth took place between Iowa State Representatives Greg Heartsill and Chris Hall: Greg Heartsill: "Uh, the Governor's conference on LGBTQ youth." Chris Hall: "And what's that acronym short for?" Heartsill: "Pardon me?" Hall: "Does that acronym stand for something?" Heartsill: "Uh, I believe it does, but I think it varies from one, you know, one group to the next. I don't know what all the... I don't know... do you have the acronym?" Hall: "I do and thank you for responding to my questions." That's right; when debating an LGBTQ issue, Greg Heartsill had no idea what LGBTQ stood for. My guess is the Republican state Representative of Marion County thought LGBTQ stood for one of the following: - Let's Go Back To Quakertown - Love's

I really shouldn't be surprised by poll results anymore, but sadly, I still am at times. The most recent such case is a new Quinnipiac poll, where participants were asked, "Do you think going to war in Iraq in 2003 was the right thing for the United States or the wrong thing?" Here are the results to that very question: Overall: 32% right thing/59% wrong thing (net -27%) Democrats: 16% right thing/78% wrong thing (net -62%) Independents: 26% right thing/65% wrong thing (net -39%) Men: 32% right thing/61% wrong thing (net -29%) Women: 32% right thing/58% wrong thing (net -26%) Where is the surprise in these numbers? Oh, nothing. What came as surprising are these numbers: Republicans: 62% right thing/28% wrong thing (+34%) That's right; while roughly one-third of the public still believes the Iraq War was the right move, in contrast with three-fifths that don't, over three-fifths of Republicans believe the 2003 invasion of Iraq was the right move a

For a number of years now, I've contended that Americans are more liberal than polls have showcased. In poll after poll, when asked whether they considered themselves to be "conservative," "moderate," or "liberal," the percentage of self-described conservatives and moderates far outweighed the self-described liberals, even though these same Americans supported liberal-leaning policies such as: Increasing taxes on the rich, more gun control regulations, legalizing medical marijuana, and perhaps most recently, equal marriage rights for the LGBT community. Regardless of how liberal people's opinions on issues were, however, many such individuals still shied away from labeling themselves as liberal due to the bastardization of the term. Especially after Fox News debuted in the mid-90s and talk radio started being dominated by conservative voices such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, to many, liberal came to mean: Tax and spend, baby-killer, communist

Life can be difficult to explain to oneself at times, let alone to others. Whether one relives an intense or traumatic life experience through a dream, subconsciously thinking it's happening again, or awaking from a vivid dream only to experience what was depicted in it shortly thereafter, life can sometimes feel surreal. That's how this past week has felt for me - surreal. It's ironic in a way, for Memorial Day (weekend) is the day where many people utter the line, "Always remember" or "Never forget," yet this past holiday weekend was one I don't feel I could exactly remember or forget. So many drastic changes occurred around me, I suddenly felt the need to rub my eyes, slap myself across the face, and mumble, "Am I dreaming?" Like in the film Office Space , however, I've yet to fully snap out of this odd hypnosis. Change is inevitable. No matter how much one may despise the concept of change, it will continually rear its head in one

Here's the URL to my Facebook business page. I update it fairly regularly, but still haven't put forth a great deal of effort yet in researching matters and attempting to make the most out of it. In any case, it can be perused here: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCraigRozniecki?ref=hl Up next is my Twitter page. I'm still not 100% certain what I'm doing on there yet, but feel I'm gradually getting the hang of it and am up to 22,640 followers. I update it daily with many of my own tweets, but also by retweeting some others'. It can be found here: https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki Lastly, here's my Tumblr page, which I've neglected quite a bit recently, but if you're at all curious, you can find it at the following link: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/rozzy81

For new readers (and regular ones, I suppose), here's some information pertaining to my books. All twelve of my books can be purchased in paperback form at the following site (and others): http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?type=&keyWords=craig+rozniecki&x=7&y=5&sitesearch=lulu.com&q= The ten books I've written and released in the past 4 years (yes, I've been on a roll) can be purchased for much cheaper in Kindle form at the following link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_22?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=craig%20rozniecki%20kindle&sprefix=craig+rozniecki+kindle%2Caps%2C228&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acraig%20rozniecki%20kindle

Over the past couple of years, I've often times found myself disagreeing with ESPN writers and analysts regarding large contract extensions for young NFL quarterbacks. While quarterbacks tend to be the "face" of the franchise, a lot more goes into running a successful program and making a Super Bowl run than just a good quarterback. Like in baseball where the best pitching staffs often find themselves in the playoffs, the same is true in football with the top defenses. This is also true with regard to the top offensive lines in the league. A great offensive line can make average quarterbacks and tailbacks look like Pro Bowlers, and on the other end of things, a bad offensive line can make Pro Bowl-worthy quarterbacks and running backs appear average. Over the past couple of years, the following three quarterbacks received big contract extensions, and while 95% of ESPN felt these were good moves, I pulled a Lee Corso and said, "Not so fast my friend!": Joe Flac

It seems that Republican politicians, those running for president in particular, are suffering from a serious case of selective Alzheimer's regarding the Iraq War. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has gone back and forth on the matter more than a dance instructor tripping on acid. Florida Senator Marco Rubio has done similarly, only without the occasional hearing lapse. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has gone the denial route and attempted to paint the war in a positive light without actually answering what he would have done if he had known then what he knows now with regard to Iraq. That brings us to Texas Congressman and man voted most likely to be turned in by his own wife to an insane asylum - Louie Gohmert - who recently said this on a radio talk show regarding the matter: "Everybody else wants to ask that question of, 'Gee, would you have gone into Iraq if you'd known what you know now?' If President Bush had known that he would have a total incompetent f

In response to Congressional Democrats' sarcastic suggestion of legally handing out drivers licenses without the requirement of passing written, visual, or driving tests when discussing their opposition to handing out gun permits without any required testing, Republicans have (un)surprisingly taken the sarcasm seriously and are set to pass such legislation in the House. If the bill passes, it would permit anyone over the age of 16 to start driving a car without having passed any written, visual, or driving tests. When we caught up with House Republicans regarding the controversial measure, here's what a few of the representatives had to say: - "Cars don't kill people; people kill people - sometimes in cars!" - Louie Gohmert (Texas) - "Criminals will always find a way to break the law, so why should we take cars away from law-abiding citizens, even blind ones?" - Steve King (Iowa) - "Who the hell cares? It's like walking; it doesn't t

Here's the URL to my Facebook business page. I update it fairly regularly, but still haven't put forth a great deal of effort yet in researching matters and attempting to make the most out of it. In any case, it can be perused here: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCraigRozniecki?ref=hl Up next is my Twitter page. I'm still not 100% certain what I'm doing on there yet, but feel I'm gradually getting the hang of it and am up to 22,480 followers. I update it daily with many of my own tweets, but also by retweeting some others'. It can be found here: https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki Lastly, here's my Tumblr page, which I've neglected quite a bit recently, but if you're at all curious, you can find it at the following link: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/rozzy81

For new readers (and regular ones, I suppose), here's some information pertaining to my books. All twelve of my books can be purchased in paperback form at the following site (and others): http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?type=&keyWords=craig+rozniecki&x=7&y=5&sitesearch=lulu.com&q= The ten books I've written and released in the past 4 years (yes, I've been on a roll) can be purchased for much cheaper in Kindle form at the following link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_22?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=craig%20rozniecki%20kindle&sprefix=craig+rozniecki+kindle%2Caps%2C228&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acraig%20rozniecki%20kindle

For whatever reason, I awoke from a deep slumber the other night with the Bad Company song, "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy" stuck in my head. I then thought I'd alter the lyrics to that song to form my own, entitled, "Right Wing Fantasy." Here we go (and yes, feel free to sing along at home)... Yeah, no, yeah, Here come the guns, one, two, three, It's all part of my fantasy, I love the Jesus and I'd love to see Him shooting things in heaven with me, yeah, Here come the fibs one by one, Fact-checkers calling me out but they are dumb I hope you keep listening to Rush and Fox News, So that like me, you'll be stupid too It's all part of my right wing fantasy, yeah. It's all part of my right wing dream, no. It's all part of my right wing fantasy. It's all part of my right wing dream. Keep out the voters one and all And let us freedom fighters take control The BS so thick we can't think straight But hey, at least w

I recently wrote a bit about the new "dad bod" wave and briefly talked about how it seems to set a double-standard as far as men and women are concerned. While, in the eyes of the media, men can often times get away with having a few extra pounds, women are unfairly criticized if they possess this additional weight, even after giving birth to children. After posting that blog yesterday, I decided to do some more research on the matter, and discovered, as often seems to be the case, most people have misconstrued what the initial message was with this so-called "movement." Oddly enough, this new "dad bod" wave was started by Clemson Sophomore Mackenzie Phillips writing a piece for The Odyssey , entitled, "Why Girls Love The Dad Bod." She started her article by writing this: "In case you haven't noticed lately, girls are all about that dad bod. I hadn't heard about this body type until my roommate mentioned it... ...The dad bod is

Now out of office, former Florida Congressman Allen West is at it again, making it clearly known to everyone in the world that two-and-a-half years after his failed reelection bid, he's as crazy as ever. The former congressman, who loves conspiracies more than dogs love sniffing butts, recently wrote about the following Walmart experience on his blog: "There was a young man doing the checkout and another Walmart employee came over and put up a sign, 'No alcohol products in this lane.' So being the inquisitive fella I am, I used my additional set of eyes - glasses - to see the young checkout man's name. Let me just say it was NOT 'Steve.' I pointed the sign out to [my daughter] Aubrey and her response was a simple question, how is it that this Muslim employee could refuse service to customers based on his religious beliefs, but Christians are being forced to participate in specific events contrary to their religious beliefs?" Not long after West

A new Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey was released earlier today, which showed the following findings I felt the need to share: - 32% of Republicans believe "the government is trying to take over Texas" (40% do not) - 50% of Tea Partiers believe this - 76% of Rick-Perry-for-president supporters believe this - 56% of Ted-Cruz-for-president supporters believe this So, in other words, 44% of Republican respondents believe in the Jade Helm conspiracy theory (56% do not), 68% of Tea Party respondents believe in this conspiracy (32% do not), 82% of Rick Perry-supporter respondents believe in it (18% do not), and 73% of Ted Cruz-supporter respondents believe in this theory (27% do not). This conspiracy theory is so ridiculous, even Arizona Senator John McCain has spoken out on the matter, saying the following to the Dallas Morning News : "It's bizarre. We have been having military exercises in the southwest for a couple of hundred years." "Bizarre

If there's one thing sports writers and analysts can agree upon when it comes to the NFL's punishment of the New England Patriots and Tom Brady, it's that they can't agree. I've heard opinions range from, "Tom Brady should be suspended for the entire season" to "Tom Brady should just receive a fine without any suspension." I've heard anything from, "The New England Patriots should receive a minimal fine and not lose any draft picks" to "The Patriots should be fined the maximum amount and lose multiple draft picks." I've read headlines which said, "Tom Brady and the New England Patriots got what they deserved," and yet others that said, "The NFL was flat out wrong with their punishment of Tom Brady and the Patriots." Like I said, one thing these writers and analysts could probably agree on is that they can't agree with one another regarding the matter. As for me, I'm torn on what the NFL sh

I personally don't care whether a majority of women find "dad bods" sexy or not, but I do care about the apparent societal double-standard regarding the matter. The term "dad bods" has been trending the past couple of weeks or so. According to my translation, it can be defined as "a man who isn't obese, but doesn't take care of himself a great deal either. He may do five sit-ups daily, lift 1-lb. dumbbells (remote controls) off and on for weeks at a time, and knows when to cut back from drinking ten beers to five beers in a sitting, but besides that, he's pretty much a lazy bum, and his beer-belly shows it." Ever since this started trending, guys have been celebrating, saying, "This is great news for us! We can be slobs and women will find us attractive for it!" Honestly, though, I'm not going to place much faith in the trend until I read such numbers from a reputable polling firm. Whether the trend has any validity or not

While I tend to like Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and don't care for the secrecy behind the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) trade deal, I found the Ohio senator's recent attack on President Obama to be nothing short of ridiculous. After Senate Democrats placed a temporary halt to the bill yesterday, Senator Brown accused President Obama of being sexist when he referred to Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren as "Elizabeth." President Obama's full quote in question was this: "The truth of the matter is that Elizabeth is, you know, a politician like everybody else. And you know, she's got a voice that she wants to get out there. And I understand that. And on most issues, she and I deeply agree. On this one, though, her arguments don't stand the test of fact and scrutiny." Here was Senator Brown's response: "I think the president was disrespectful to her by the way he did that. I think that the president has made this more personal

Here's the URL to my Facebook business page. I update it fairly regularly, but still haven't put forth a great deal of effort yet in researching matters and attempting to make the most out of it. In any case, it can be perused here: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCraigRozniecki?ref=hl Up next is my Twitter page. I'm still not 100% certain what I'm doing on there yet, but feel I'm gradually getting the hang of it and am up to 22,221 followers. I update it daily with many of my own tweets, but also by retweeting some others'. It can be found here: https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki Lastly, here's my Tumblr page, which I've neglected quite a bit recently, but if you're at all curious, you can find it at the following link: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/rozzy81

For new readers (and regular ones, I suppose), here's some information pertaining to my books. All twelve of my books can be purchased in paperback form at the following site (and others): http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?type=&keyWords=craig+rozniecki&x=7&y=5&sitesearch=lulu.com&q= The ten books I've written and released in the past 4 years (yes, I've been on a roll) can be purchased for much cheaper in Kindle form at the following link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_22?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=craig%20rozniecki%20kindle&sprefix=craig+rozniecki+kindle%2Caps%2C228&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acraig%20rozniecki%20kindle

For as much as I enjoy sports, there are times I'll be watching a game, hear a call made by a referee, and think to myself, "Well, that rule's stupid. Who came up with that in the first place and why's it still around?" On that note, here are the top five rule changes I'd like to see in the four major sports (in random order): 5) Hockey: Offsides - I still think approximately 50% of hockey players don't yet understand this rule. What's the point of it really? If a team is offsides, does it significantly improve their odds of scoring a goal? Does it place the defense at a great disadvantage? Or is it just one of those pointless rules that's been around for so many years, no one thinks to say, "WTF is this rule anyway? Let's do away with it!"? I'm guessing it's that third and final option. If one team is always offsides, then they'll be at a disadvantage defensively when their opponent has the puck, so again, what's th

A week ago tomorrow was Cinco de Mayo, which has become, like The Nightly Show host Larry Wilmore put it, "The Mexican version of St. Paddy's Day." I joined my mother at a Mexican restaurant where we both consumed one margarita a piece (I know, we were getting crazy). Afterward, I discussed the restaurant and holiday with someone, whom responded by saying, "Aren't margaritas girly drinks?" I kind of laughed at this question at first, because when thinking back to everyone ordering margaritas at the restaurant, I thought to myself, "I saw anyone and everyone, from 21-year-old college girls to 80-year-old men, from women under 5 feet tall to men close to 7 feet tall and 350 lbs. drinking these things." Not really caring what people thought of men drinking margaritas, but still curious on if they were commonly thought of as "girly" drinks, I did some research on the matter and sadly discovered that a number of people do believe such a thing.

It's been estimated that a child is born every 8 seconds in the United States, and in recent days, a similar statistic could likely be used to estimate the number of Republicans entering the 2016 presidential race. From Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina, to Mike Huckabee and Rand Paul, to Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, to likely candidates Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, Chris Christie, and beyond, "Which Republicans aren't running for president in 2016?" may soon become an easier question to answer than, "Which Republicans are running for president in 2016?" That'll especially be the case now that five new Republican hopefuls have announced they too will be running for president in the 2016 election: John McClane; Jack Bauer; Rambo; Elmer Fudd; and Walker, Texas Ranger (AKA Cordell Walker). The five presidential hopefuls made their announcements earlier today, in front of dozens of supporters, aired on Fox News. While it'd be impossible to

After defeating Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night, boxing great Floyd Mayweather said that after his boxing career comes to a close, he's going to become a dance instructor. "If there's one thing I like more than punching people in the face, it's dancing," said the 38-year-old Mayweather, adding, "Whether it's in the ring, with the press, or elsewhere, there's one thing I've always excelled at, and that's dancing." When asked what type of dancing Mayweather would teach, he said this: "There isn't really a specific name for my kind of dancing. It's different from any other kind of dancing. With the dancing I'm gonna teach, guys all over the world will start taking their ladies out on the dance-floor, with their fists raised up, moving their heads side to side, and trying to keep as far away from these women as possible. Every now and again, perhaps toward the mid portions of songs, guys will reach out for their dance

As the 2016 presidential election begins to dominate the 24-hour cable news cycles, multiple Republican candidates have come forward in saying their decision to run for president was sparked by God calling on them to do so. In light of this, I asked TrippingAcid.com 's own Rafael Reefer to catch up with God and ask him about these claims. "Yeah, I called on them to run for president, all of them as a matter of fact. Actually, I've been calling on any and every Republican candidate to run for president since the year 2000," admitted God. When asked by Reefer why this was the case, the all-mighty invisible creator responded:  "Look, I like comedy just as much as the next person, and frankly I've been getting sick and tired of what passes for comedy nowadays. I mean, Dane Cook? People worship my boy to be saved for all eternity and that's exactly how long one of his jokes seems to last! Adam Sandler? I've even heard stories where fetuses screa

Here's the URL to my Facebook business page. I update it fairly regularly, but still haven't put forth a great deal of effort yet in researching matters and attempting to make the most out of it. In any case, it can be perused here: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCraigRozniecki?ref=hl Up next is my Twitter page. I'm still not 100% certain what I'm doing on there yet, but feel I'm gradually getting the hang of it and am up to 21,943 followers. I update it daily with many of my own tweets, but also by retweeting some others'. It can be found here: https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki Lastly, here's my Tumblr page, which I've neglected quite a bit recently, but if you're at all curious, you can find it at the following link: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/rozzy81

For new readers (and regular ones, I suppose), here's some information pertaining to my books. All twelve of my books can be purchased in paperback form at the following site (and others): http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?type=&keyWords=craig+rozniecki&x=7&y=5&sitesearch=lulu.com&q= The ten books I've written and released in the past 4 years (yes, I've been on a roll) can be purchased for much cheaper in Kindle form at the following link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_22?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=craig%20rozniecki%20kindle&sprefix=craig+rozniecki+kindle%2Caps%2C228&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acraig%20rozniecki%20kindle

Former George W. Bush Press Secretary and current co-host of the Fox News show, The Five , Dana Perino, joined fellow guests Lewis Black and Brad Garrett on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore this past Thursday, where she uttered something I'm still scratching my head about three days later. When the three guests were discussing the Supreme Court's pending gay marriage decision and conservatives' comments to it, Wilmore noted that some conservatives blamed gay marriage for Hurricane Sandy, the mass killing of animals, 9/11, Sodom and Gomorrah, and 900,000 abortions over the next 30 years. He, Lewis Black, and Brad Garrett all laughed at the notion and poked fun of it along the way. Dana Perino then said, "Some people have blamed climate change for the same kinds of stuff." Hmm... Let's look at that comment a bit more closely. When's the last time someone blamed climate change for Sodom and Gomorrah? Never. When's the last time someone blamed cli