The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

The Pew Research Center just released some poll results which were rather troubling, but sadly unsurprising. In this survey, 2,000 people were asked how they felt about different institutions and whether they had a positive or negative effect on the country. Here's how the results turned out: Churches, religious organizations Republicans: 73% positive/14% negative (net +59%) Democrats: 50/36 (+14%) Banks/Financial institutions Republicans: 46/37 (+9%) Democrats: 33/54 (-21%) Labor unions Republicans: 33/46 (-13%) Democrats: 59/22 (+37%) The national news media Republicans: 10/85 (-75%) Democrats: 44/46 (-2%) Colleges and universities Republicans: 36/58 (-22%) Democrats: 72/19 (+53%) The two sets of numbers which stand out the most are with regard to the GOP's views on college and the media. In my opinion, the Democrats' numbers with regard to the media are rather understandable. If someone were to ask me what I felt the effects were of the national new...

As I pointed out in a blog yesterday, multiple parties deserve at least some of the blame for the escalated tension and violence at Donald Trump rallies, including: The media (5% of the blame), the protesters (10% of the blame), and Trump supporters (10% of the blame). However, no matter what the current GOP frontrunner wants to believe, a large majority of the blame is with him and his rhetoric (75% of the blame). Based on Trump's commentary following recent protests at his rallies, which have resulted in one cancellation and potential multiple criminal charges (on both Trump supporters and protesters), he appears to be quite confused on the concept of cause and effect. He has yet to bear any responsibility for the escalated tension, anger, and violence at his rallies, instead fully blaming the protesters. Just from a chronological standpoint, how does that work exactly? According to Donald Trump Cause: Protesters respond to his angry rhetoric Effect: His angry rhetoric whi...

Alright, I'm getting a little tired of hearing about the Riley Cooper story. I absolutely loathe the word he used, how he handled that situation at the Kenny Chesney concert, and think he definitely has some growing up to do. However, the kid is 25-years old, appears to have given a very sincere apology to his teammates, and the guy has been welcomed back to the team. The story may have been big news for a couple days, but believe me - the Philadelphia Eagles have far more important things on their minds than a 25-year old kid making a much publicized mistake during a heated moment at a concert. Now there's even a report of Tim Tebow getting into the discussion and saying that he's "praying" for Cooper. The start of the NFL regular season is almost exactly a month away. Here are the questions the Eagles and those covering them should be thinking about: - Will Chip Kelly's offense translate well to the NFL? - Who will be the starting quarterback? - With...

Once again, as I predicted with regard to Mitt Romney's "47%" comments, he's found himself at an even steeper uphill climb than prior to the video's release. Two polls came out today to illustrate that - from Gallup and Reuters. In the Gallup poll, by nearly a two to one ratio, respondents stated they were now less likely to vote for Romney in the November election due to the video - 36% saying they were less likely, while 20% said they were more likely to vote for the Republican candidate. The ratio was even closer to two to one when it came to Independents - 29% saying they were less likely to vote for Romney and 15% saying they were more likely to vote for him.  The numbers were even more striking in the Reuters poll, where it showed that 43% of registered voters have a less favorable view of Mitt Romney following the video's release. Another 59% said the Republican candidate was being unfair to the 47% of Americans he made remarks about in the video...

So, I got into an interesting discussion recently. A radio show host just recently tried asking President Obama the following question - "I recently spent time asking African Americans about your policies and over 90% couldn't even name one. Do you believe its (sic) right that the black community votes for you strictly because you're part black?" This isn't the first time I've heard such a declaration. Following Barack Obama's victory in the 2008 Presidential Election, many far-right conservatives made the claim that he won due to the black vote, as he won 95% of it. Some went as far to say that African-Americans were being racist with their votes, because according to them - they were voting for Obama simply because of the color of his skin. Since almost 100% of blacks voted for President Obama, well, it seems pretty obvious that they were just voting for him for that very reason, right? Sorry to burst these people's bubble, but I'm not thinking...

In recent months, I've learned of a woman whom I rejected, becoming, for lack of a better word, a slut. From about May of '09 to September of '10 (16 months), I was talking to one gal, we'll call her Medusa, fairly regularly. When I flew to Omaha in July and again in August of 2010, she and I spent quite a bit of time together. She claimed to have wanted to start a relationship with me and at one point, while drunk, she asked me to go grab some condoms from her purse. No, she wasn't strange and wanted to snack on some latex, but yes, she had a fetish for removing her clothing and spreading her legs as I soon discovered. She and I weren't dating and in the grand scheme of things, hadn't hung out very much, so that moment made me rather uncomfortable. I rejected her easy-access request and asked that she sober up and take me home, because of course, she was my ride and that was the only riding she was going to do that night. After that very evening, she ...

Is it all in our head? A buzz after one drinks alcohol? Love? Misery? Seizures? Highs? Depression? Is everything controllable? What is possible and not possible is dependent upon our thoughts and beliefs? If one believes they can beat depression, can they automatically flip the negative thoughts to positive ones and go from misery to joy? If one battles seizures, can they beat and overcome the seizures through outwitting them? Is everything a choice? Can we ultimately decide everything that will or won't occur in our lifetimes and how these events will affect us? Some would like to believe this. I wish I could believe it. But there are some things in life that we cannot help. I didn't have a choice as to what gender I'd be, whom my parents would be, what language I'd be born into, where I'd be born, what skin color I'd have, what orientation I'd be, what religion I'd be born into, what political leanings I'd be surrounded by, what health issues I...