The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

As I've written about previously, while I disagree with GOP front-runner Donald Trump 99% of the time, I do agree with him that the election system is severely flawed, if not outright rigged. That's not all that's rigged in this country, though. As Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has stated on multiple occasions, the economy is rigged. The wealthiest individuals can afford to hire accountants to find tax loopholes in order to pay less on tax day. Some can even go so far as to not pay any federal income taxes. If in any legal trouble, these same individuals can buy the best legal help in order to get the best deal possible. Not only that, but to start it all, odds have it they were born into a wealthy family and afforded some of the best education in the country. As Senator Warren said earlier this year: "There are two legal systems, one for the rich and powerful, and one for everyone else. It's not equal justice when a kid gets thrown in jail for stealin...

While I proudly call myself progressive and tend to lean Democratic as far as party affiliation goes, I still can't stand the political system in this country. More than two parties should be able to have a legitimate chance at winning on election day. Voting should be encouraged and made easier, so that every eligible voice can be heard and counted. A national holiday should be implemented so more people are able to take election day seriously and make certain to go and vote. Corporations should not be able to donate unlimited dollars to certain candidates. Misleading ads should not be permitted. Every candidate should have a voice during debates. "News" personalities should not be able to persuade the public through lies (if they do, it should be made mandatory that the program is referred to as opinion and not "news"). Fact-checkers should be given more time after debates (and speeches) to sort through the questionable comments, as opposed to party representa...

While, due to some problems with the game, I recently switched to Ruzzle, I still have a handful of long-time opponents I play in Scramble With Friends. While I've made mention of a power-up called a mega-freeze, which players can pay actual money for and provides them an extra minute in a round, it appears a new such option has become available for players. At the end of each and every round now, a pop-up appears on the screen, which says, "Get 20 seconds of extra play," for, you guessed it, money. This is one reason I made the switch to Ruzzle. The game doesn't ask for money to give me or my opponent an unfair advantage. The game is void of power-ups, which can also give one player a significant advantage over the other. It also tends to play much smoother than its Zynga counterpart as well. It would really be quite something to see competitive games played in the manner Zynga offers. In baseball, a team would be afforded a 4th out in an inning if they paid some e...

In my opinion, many people make a bigger deal about a pitcher's record than they should when it comes to evaluating that pitcher's level of effectiveness and overall success in Major League Baseball. As I see it, a pitcher's record is not solely reflective of his level of effectiveness, but reflective of the entire team's level of effectiveness when he starts. A pitcher can be nearly flawless for a game, yet if the defense slips up a time or two and/or the offense doesn't generate any runs, it will be impossible for him to notch a win by his name. The following ten pitchers have a combined record this year of 44-48 (.478): Clayton Kershaw (5-4), Stephen Strasburg (3-5), Anibal Sanchez (5-4), Travis Wood (5-4), Chris Sale (5-4), James Shields (2-6), Scott Feldman (5-4), Hiroki Kuroda (6-5), Kris Medlen (3-6), and Ervin Santana (4-5). The worst ERA among these ten pitchers is Ervin Santana's 2.99 earned run average. All ten of these pitchers currently have sub-3...

I love dogs. I've owned 3 in my 31 years and all have made for great pets. I had a cockapoo for 17 years (Rocky) and two huskies. One (Tasha) had to be put down last November, unfortunately and the other - Tara - is 11, but still acts like a puppy. Keeping that in mind, I really wish my neighbors (generalizing here) would keep a closer eye on their dogs. Now, Tara is as friendly as a dog can get. She's never snapped at anyone or anything before and I honestly can't see her every doing that. She's nothing but love (and weirdness). When someone does something to her she doesn't care for (like brush her, wash her, etc.), she licks them, as if to say, "Please stop. Please..." A year or two ago, as I was walking both she and Tasha around the neighborhood, a dog from two houses down came charging at her. Tasha was the bigger of the two - kind of the mommy figure - and stepped right in front of Tara and barked. The dog backed off a little bit. Tara, meanwhile, ...