The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

I'll be the first to admit that I've been suffering from Facebook Burnout Syndrome (FBS) over the past year or so, and if it weren't for the fact the site allows me to keep in touch with out-of-state friends and family, I would probably have closed my account several months ago. Even before FBS set in, however, there were a number of statuses which annoyed me, and I thought I'd spend some time poking fun at them (I know I'm not alone here...). Here they are: 1) I need some vag-ueh prayers-uh! Can I hear an ame-hen?!? - While I'm not a religious person and don't spend much (any) time praying, I understand a lot of people are religious and do believe in the power of prayer, and that's fine. However, I can't for the life of me understand these statuses which say something along the lines of, "I know someone who's going through some hard times and is need of some prayers! I won't name any names, whether or not they actually exist, what the...

While watching ESPN's Monday Night Countdown last night, I couldn't help but notice the negative trend of comments regarding Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Michael Vick. According to these commentators, Vick's middle name might as well be Mr. Turnover. Cris Carter even called him a "turnover machine." Having researched these numbers previously, I thought I'd re-examine the analysts' claims. Here's what I found... For current starting quarterbacks who have played at least 30 games (including Jay Cutler and Drew Brees, who will be back in the next week or two from injury), here's how their turnover numbers stack up (all stats courtesy of NFL.com ): 1) Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay): 57 INTs, 17 lost fumbles in 113 games = 0.65 to/gm 2) Russell Wilson (Seattle): 28 INTs, 8 lost fumbles in 51 games = 0.71 to/gm 3) Colin Kaepernick (San Francisco): 25 INTs, 12 lost fumbles in 51 games = 0.73 to/gm 4) Tom Brady (New England): 143 INTs, 41 lost fumbl...

A little over a month ago, on August 24th, I posted this blog in reference to my friend, whom had just recently passed ((http://thekind-heartedsmartaleck.blogspot.com/2015/08/rip-my-friend.html): " It's very sad for me to report that I lost a friend over the weekend. As I'm sure is common amongst a majority of people, whenever someone I know passes on, I start reflecting on my own life and life in general. My friend, Gary, led quite a life. Having fun seemed to be easy for him throughout most of his 64 years, but then when he was diagnosed with cancer 7 years ago and given 6 months to live, he proved time and time again he was the ultimate fighter too. Throughout it all, he continued to live life on his terms, much to the dismay of his doctors, for if he was going to die, he was going to die with a smile on his face. While I probably wouldn't advise people with a similar condition to do this, my friend wasn't about following rules; he was about simultaneously...

While it can certainly be difficult engaging in a civilized and productive debate with an individual who has a differing viewpoint from your own, I find that to especially be the case when their argument comes from nothing but a moral perspective. There's absolutely nothing wrong with an individual defending their beliefs of what is right and wrong; however, this is typically accompanied by a black-and-white manner of thinking, which makes it next to impossible to reason with them beyond their limited moral scope. I find that allowing our preconceived notions of morality to determine our opinions limits our willingness to expand our knowledge with regard to such issues, which could result in the evolution of those very opinions. A strong emotional attachment also seems to often times be present to one's moral views, devoid of evidence to support such beliefs. Even if evidence debunks such an individual's opinion, emotion tends to trump facts. This is why I rarely pu...

I've often poked fun of (many) Americans' lack of knowledge concerning the world around them. Geography seems to be like a foreign language to us. Then again, when we look at the story of Christopher Columbus, perhaps we were destined to be ignorant when it comes to world geography: Columbus (after arriving in America): "This is India, right?" Fact-checker: "Close to 8,500 miles away from there..." Columbus: "Very well... I'll call the people here Indians then." Fact-checker: "That would make no sense at all actually..." This brings me to a country which tends to confuse us Americans more than most, and that's saying something. The country I'm referring to is the Netherlands. While Holland comprises two of the twelve provinces in the country, we sometimes refer to the entire country as Holland. Not only that, but I've also heard multiple Americans refer to the country as Amsterdam, which is the most rec...

I would like to thank Reverend Karl Koch for providing me with a hearty chuckle this morning as I read his Columbus Dispatch letter-to-the-editor, entitled, "Cartoon lies about sexual abstinence" (http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2015/09/29/1-cartoon-lies.html). The letter reads as follows: "An editorial cartoon is just that, a cartoon. The cartoon by Pat Bagley in Wednesday’s Dispatch portrayed the 'slogan' about a faith-based, abstinence-only birth-control program producing a pregnant woman. I defy the cartoonist to show me one single case of a pregnancy when the person followed this program. I know of one, Mary, the mother of our Lord. Following this program requires strength, persistence, knowledge of the truth, strength from God and the support of family and of Christian friends. The problem is not within an abstinence program but within our culture, which demeans abstinence, self-responsibility and growth to maturity in order that ...

While I often times criticize conservative media outlets for appearing to have amnesia with regard to facts and the more nonpartisan media outlets for fearing to be perceived as biased by simply telling the truth void of the opposite (and inaccurate) viewpoint, I also find myself coming after liberal media outlets for their tendency to sometimes overreact. Last week, I wrote a blog with regard to some liberal media outlets overreacting to Stephen Colbert's interview with Donald Trump on The Late Show . No, Colbert's questions weren't quite as hard-hitting as they had been with Ted Cruz the previous night, but they weren't softballs either. In fact, the slowest softball Colbert threw at Trump was a question pertaining to whether or not the GOP front-runner thought President Obama was born in this country, to which Trump refused to respond. Also, let's keep in mind how difficult it would be for an interviewer to bait Donald Trump into saying something most rational-...

It amazes me how gullible people can be. Just last night, the following status was ubiquitous across my Facebook news feed (and many others' it seems): "Now it's official! It has been published in the media. Facebook has just released the entry price: $5.99 to keep the subscription of your status to be set to 'private.' If you paste this message on your page, it will be offered free (paste not share) if not tomorrow, all your posts can become public. Even the messages that have been deleted or the photos not allowed. After all, it does not cost anything for a simple copy and paste." This same claim was debunked by Snopes.com in 2009, again in 2012, and yet again here in 2015. It was a hoax 6 years ago, 3 years ago, and yesterday, so fellow Facebookers, please don't believe everything you read, stop believing this recycled hoax, and pass this information onto your Facebook friends so they stop believing in and posting it as well. http://www.cnn.com/20...

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 27,876 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

Thursday Game: Baltimore at Pittsburgh Prediction: Pittsburgh - I have a hard time seeing a John Harbaugh-coached team starting the year 0-4, but then again, I had a hard time seeing a John Harbaugh-coached team starting 0-3. With Michael Vick now the starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, it's difficult to know what to expect from the team offensively. He's past his prime, but looked good in the preseason and definitely has more weapons to work with in Pittsburgh than he did in New York (Jets). With the Ravens defense playing as poorly as they have, though, and with this game being on the road during a shortened week, I'm going to give the slight edge to Vick and the Steelers. So long as Vick gets adequate protection and doesn't turn the ball over (much), I'll take the Steelers by 4. Result: Baltimore 23 Pittsburgh 20 OT Record: 0-1 Sunday Game: NY Jets at Miami Prediction: NY Jets - Through the first quarter of the season, many have hail...

In Week 3 of the NFL season, I learned... - ...the Atlanta Falcons may soon come out of the closet as an organization, for the team seems to love playing from behind. - ...Odell Beckham must have super glue on the bottom of his hands. - ...Cam Newton and Ed Hochuli are in deep contemplation about what to get one another for Christmas. - ...Miami Dolphins players, coaches, and fans were secretly hoping Ndamukong Suh would stomp on quarterback Ryan Tannehill at some point during their 41-14 loss to Buffalo. - ...San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick suffered a 3-hour mental lapse, as thought he was an Arizona Cardinal on Sunday. - ..., with both Josh and Luke McCown starting on Sunday, it's only a matter of time before Cade McNown makes a comeback. - ...the Chicago Bears performance on Sunday will be used in the future as a guide for all aspiring punters. - ...Joe Flacco may be going to f**king awesome Disneyworld a bit earlier than expected this year. - ...

While football is by far and away my favorite sport, the media's seemingly constant barrage of overreactions throughout the course of the season is enough to drive a sober person drunk. The main reason for this is, in football, teams play one game per week, whereas teams play multiple games every week in baseball, basketball, and hockey. So while a star player or team may have an awful game in baseball, basketball, or hockey, talk and overreactions are typically kept to a minimum, unless that player or team start going into an extended slump. In football, however, if a star player or team has an awful game, it tends to get talked about ad nauseam for a full week. Often times, these comments come across as extreme overreactions, which tend to get debunked a week or two later. Remember the New England Patriots just a year ago? After getting pummeled 41-14 by Kansas City on Monday night football to drop Bill Belichick's team to 2-2 on the season, many ESPN analysts said the Beli...

In response to the Black Lives Matter movement gaining steam across the country, conservative anti-BLM activists have decided to start their own movement, called All Lives Sort Of Matter. Founder of the movement, Billy-Bob Redneck of Hickman, Nebraska, released the following statement on the group's homepage, which can be found at http://www.youmightbeahillbillyif.com: "How dare them colored folk tell the world that their lives matter! What about everyone else? Don't all of our lives sort of matter at times? I mean, the black folk's lives mattered when they were pickin' cotton! Women's lives matter when the house gets messy after another one of those Jeff Foxworthy-used-to-be-funny bashes! Mexican lives matter when I shoot another hole in the roof with one of my twelve unlicensed guns named after the seven dwarfs! Them Indians' lives mattered until we took from them what was rightly ours back in the day - the United States of America! Homo people's li...

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, with his 0% support according to the polls, has decided to end his run to become the next president. He's apparently done this in order to help one of 13 other Republican candidates defeat Donald Trump to become the party's nominee. When asked, Walker elaborated further on the matter by saying this: "While I'm incredibly disappointed with how my campaign fared and wish I was still in the race, with a chance to become the next president, I'm excited to help one of my Republican brothers or sisters defeat Donald Trump to become the party's nominee. Trump is polling at what, 25-30%, with Carson and Fiorina about 10-15 points behind him? I mean, I know my own family didn't even support me as the party's nominee, but I have to have some supporters out there somewhere, right? Even if it's just 1 or 2 votes, I really think I could help Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, or someone else defeat Donald Trump. Let's just do ...

In a move which surprised even God, the Republican Party has guaranteed a victory in the upcoming presidential election, as they declared that an African-American lesbian will be their lone candidate, and due to that, their nominee. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said this about the party's decision:  "We were getting a little fed up with all the talk about our party waging a war against women, being anti-gay, and being unappealing to minorities. So we thought Destiny Beaver would be the perfect nominee to help improve our image among women, African-Americans, and the LGQRWXYZ community, or whatever in the heck that is, and would guarantee us a victory come election day because of that. I mean, just look at it this way: We've always had the white men's vote; now we've also got the women's vote, the blacks' vote, the queers' vote, and maybe some other dark-skinned people's votes too. We can't lose!" McConnell was then aske...

The more I observe former neurosurgeon and Republican candidate Ben Carson, the more inclined I am to believe he's slyer than a fox named Sylvester. Prior to the two (varsity) Republican debates, I had heard some of Carson's extreme views. Here's just a snippet of those views: - "You know, Obamacare is really, I think, the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery. And it is, in a way, it is slavery in a way because it is making all of us subservient to the government." - "They've (ISIS) got the wrong philosophy, but they're willing to die for what they believe, while we're busily giving away every value and every belief for the sake of political correctness." - "Because a lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight and when they come out, they're gay. So, did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question." - "You know, we live in a Gestapo age, people don't ...

Just a couple nights ago, GOP front-runner Donald Trump was the lead guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert . Fairly or unfairly, perhaps due to the previous night's interview with Texas Senator Ted Cruz as well as Colbert's seemingly constant array of jokes at the expense of Mr. Trump, a great deal of hype surrounded this interview. When all was said and done, it seems most liberal media outlets were disappointed with Colbert and felt that Trump got the better of him, whatever that means. The most critical such article I've read to this point was written by Megan Garber of The Atlantic , entitled, "The Colbert Trump: The leading GOP candidate appeared as a guest on The Late Show last night. He beat Colbert at his own game." Ms. Garber's article stars with this paragraph: "Last night, Donald Trump appeared as a guest on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. You could also say that Colbert had Trump as a guest, but that grammar wouldn't be qui...

Ever since he announced his run for the Oval Office, I've wondered if Donald Trump partially did it out of boredom, wanting something new and exciting in his life. Now that he's atop Republican polls, I have a feeling he's taking matters a bit more seriously (well, maybe). Given his demeanor, if he doesn't win the election next November and wants to take on a new venture, I suggest he gives one of the following jobs a gander. Next to each job title, I'll write what I picture Mr. Trump saying if he were to go that route in the future. Walmart greeter : "Hey losers, welcome to Walmart. Hey, you over there with the Superman costume and missing teeth, I was specifically talking to you! Both parts, the welcoming and loser bits. Well, hello, how are you, sugar tits? Welcome to Walmart!" Telemarketer:  "Hey, yeah, so what do you want? What the hell do you need that for? Who does that anymore? I mean, read books? Seriously? Here, I'm like a human, lif...

Just yesterday, I read an article by MSNBC's Steve Benen, titled, "The public has no idea the deficit is shrinking." In a December 2014  Bloomberg Politics Poll , it found that 73% of the public believes the deficit to be getting bigger; 21% believe it to be getting smaller; and 6% are uncertain about the matter. While the deficit increased substantially from 2008 to 2009, largely due to the Great Recession, it decreased slightly in 2010, stayed roughly the same in 2011, and has been steadily decreasing in 2012, 2013, and 2014, to the point where the deficit is near its 2008 level before the Great Recession truly made its impact felt. In the same poll, people were also asked, "On immigration, do you think the Obama administration has sent more or fewer undocumented immigrants back to their home countries compared to ten years ago?" While only 29% said more, 53% said fewer, and 18% said they weren't sure. Once again, the opposite is true. Sadly, I find ...

The late George Carlin was by far and away my favorite stand-up comedian of all time. I was fortunate enough to see him perform live once, where, about halfway through his performance, I felt pain in my chest and tears stream down my face from laughing so hard. One famous routine he did was called "Al Sleet, the Hippy Dippy weatherman," where he'd say something like this (in a high-as-all-hell type of voice): "Hey, que pasa? What's happenin'? I mean, que pasa? What's happenin'? I'm Al Sleet, your hippy dippy weatherman, with your hippy dippy forecast, man. Tonight... dark, light in the morning, and the weather will be changing on and off for a very long period of time." I bring this up because, when he appeared on the Hugh Hewitt radio show, Donald Trump said the following about global warming: "I'm not a believer in global warming. And I'm not a believer in man-made global warming. It could be warming, and it's going t...

After receiving some criticism from both the left and the right regarding his anti-Muslim comments, Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson went on the Fox News show, Hannity , to try and elaborate on his previous statements. On the program, Carson and host Sean Hannity engaged in the following back-and-forth: Sean Hannity: "Was that what you were thinking in your mind when you were answering the question, in other words, the way Muslim theocracies currently operate?" Ben Carson: "That's correct. I mean, they currently do not tend to operate the same way that our system does. Now, if someone has a Muslim background and they're willing to reject those tenets and to accept the way of life that we have, and clearly will swear to place our Constitution above their religion, then, of course, they will be considered infidels and heretics, but at least I would then be quite willing to support them." Hannity: "All right, so what I hear in your statem...

I suppose I won't truly know how I feel until I see it first-hand, but upon first hearing about the coming "dislike" button on Facebook, I'm not finding myself to be nearly as enthusiastic about it as some seem to be, yet I don't completely hate the idea either. On one hand, I admit it does feel incredibly odd to "like" certain posts due how negative in tone and/or content they are, and it'd feel much more appropriate to click a "dislike" button instead. On the other hand, it would get a tad old seeing so many "dislikes" regarding a post or story which meant a great deal to me personally. So, while I can understand the rationale for a "dislike" button on Facebook, I just hope it's used more for the purpose Mark Zuckerberg intended - that being a show of empathy, rather than as a means for a troll army to make their opinions known regarding a political issue. Without a "dislike" button, most such indivi...

I've been troubled by a couple of recent  Huff Post columns I read regarding celebrities, homosexuality, and privacy. Not long ago, actor Tom Hardy, star of the soon-to-be-released film,  Legend ,   was offended when being asked about his sexual orientation by a journalist. In response,  Huff Post blogger Noah Michelson wrote a piece defending the journalist, saying, "There is nothing offensive about asking a public figure about his or her sexual orientation." After Michelson received a great deal of criticism for his post, fellow Huff Post contributor, Michelangelo Signorile, defended his colleague, Noah Michelson, ending his article regarding the matter with the following paragraph: "It's not the media's job to cover up for public figures. And it's certainly not the media's job to send the mixed message to young people that, though they can now get married in any state if they're gay, heterosexuality is glamorous and exciting -- and report...

For as big of a fan of Stephen Colbert's comedy as I am, even I'll admit his new show had a few hiccups during its first week. However, the show seems to get better on each successive night, not only on the comedic front, but also the interview front. That trend certainly held true last night, especially when Colbert interviewed Texas Republican Senator and one of 492 GOP candidates running for president, Ted Cruz. One thing I've always enjoyed about Colbert's shows is how, unlike many cable news networks (sadly enough), he doesn't let his guests get away with BS. While CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC may have a tendency to not fact-check their guests on the spot (unless, in Fox News' and MSNBC's case, their opinion drastically differs from that of their guest), Stephen Colbert does, and it's quite refreshing. Last night, when Ted Cruz decided to misuse Ronald Reagan's name, like 99.9% of Republicans do nowadays, Colbert actually called him out on it, s...