The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

The Koch-funded anti-Obamacare group Generation Opportunity just started airing a couple of new ads which put the term "creepy" to shame. Both ads can be seen here -  http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/09/19/2649001/anti-obamacare-college-ads/  (and elsewhere). I'll wait a couple minutes for you to view them. ::waiting while listening to the final 1/3 of "Stairway to Heaven":: Welcome back. As you saw, one ad showcased a woman going to her OB/GYN for an exam and another showed a man going to a doctor for a prostate exam. When the doctors leave the room, creepy circus music then begins to play and a perverted-looking Uncle Sam pops up between the woman's legs and next to the guy who just took off his pants. At the end of the ads, a message then appears, which says, "Don't let government play doctor. Opt out of Obamacare." Evan Feinberg - president of Generation Opportunity - had this to say about the ads: "What we're trying to...

Thinking about taking a debate or critical thinking course at some point? If so, you may bump into a recent article written by ESPN's Rick Reilly, where the teacher will tell you, "Ladies and gentlemen - this is the finest example I could come up with to show you of how not to argue a point." The article is entitled, "Have the people spoken?," and is a defense of the Washington Redskins team nickname. Reilly mentions that his father-in-law is a Blackeet Indian and isn't bothered much by the team's nickname. He then talks about three high schools whom possess the same nickname, and that Native Americans in the area aren't at all offended by it. Due to this, it seems obvious to Reilly the nickname is not at all offensive, is in fact honorary, and that we shouldn't even be discussing the matter, saying, "White America has spoken. You (Native Americans) aren't offends, so we'll be offended for you." Yes, because due to a few...

Some Congressional Republicans are threatening a government shutdown if Obamacare isn't defunded. The only problem with that is, no matter how tough their talk, it will be impossible to defund most of the healthcare bill. In other words, some GOP members are threatening a government shutdown to simply look tough and rile their supporters. Melissa Seeley of the Health Affairs blog explained the matter as follows: "The pillars of the law's health insurance expansion strategy-increased eligibility for Medicaid and the new premium and cost-sharing subsidies for private health insurance - are exempt from the annual appropriations process. These so-called 'mandatory' or 'entitlement' programs are permanent and have permanent funding authority. Furthermore, the Department of Health and Human Services has the ability to fund related provisions without seeking additional appropriations from Congress. For example, Federal grants to states to plan and build the ne...

Last night, I read a Facebook post which included a link to an article titled, "If conservatives are racist why are over 20 Black Republicans running for office in 2013-1014?" Yes, there should have been a comma after the word "racist," "black" shouldn't be capitalized, and I believe these Republicans are running for office in 2013-2014, but I could be mistaken. The brief article, written by Joshua Riddle of Young Conservatives , reads as follows: "Oh, look!!! The racist Republicans are up to their racist shenanigans again. They already have over '20' Black Republicans running for public office in 2013-1014...and that's just the ones who announced. How can this happen? The Party is racist? Right? I'm sure the media won't be reporting this." First of all, it would be wrong for one to state that all Republicans are racist. A majority of them are not. However, I do know many more racist individuals whom identify with th...

An ultra-conservative acquaintance of mine posted a status on Facebook the other day which really had me shaking my head. On Monday, it was planned for President Obama to give a speech revolving around the 5-year anniversary of when the country's economic meltdown started. Then came the mass shooting in this nation's capital. Instead of postponing the speech, the president added more to it. He began the speech talking about the tragedy which occurred earlier in the day, transitioned to the situation in Syria, and then to the economy - what all we faced five years ago, how much progress we've made since that point, and what all needs to be done to complete the rebound. Having read all that, this acquaintance of mine then said Monday's speech by President Obama was far worse than former President Bush's mission accomplished banner, due to the tragedy which occurred earlier in the day. He insinuated that the president didn't mention this tragedy in the speech at ...

The slippery slope is a fairly popular fallacy used by far-right conservatives when attempting to delegitimize the concept of gay marriage. It usually goes something like this: "Marriage should be between one man and one woman. If we allow gay people to marry, then what? Why not make marrying more than one person at a time legal? Why not make marrying an animal legal? If gay marriage becomes legal, pretty soon polygamy and bestiality will be legal!" Well, GOPers may now want to exclude that bestiality bit from their fallacy, because as a recent story suggests, bestiality doesn't follow gay marriage's lead at all - quite the opposite. Allow me to introduce Ruben Chance James Fox and his wife, Amber Nicole Fox. The fact their last name is the same as that of an animal is merely a coincidence. They're both 23 years old and living in North Carolina. So, what does the young couple like to do in their spare time? Apparently, Ruben enjoys recording his wife having ...

Much has been made about Nebraska head football coach Bo Pelini's recently reported tirade where he uttered the f-bomb more within one minute than actors in a Quentin Tarantino film called  Saying F**k A Lot . Given that, here is what I imagine Mr. Pelini would say in the following situations: Situation: Ordering a pizza Pelini: "Yeah, I'd like a f**king delivery, please." Situation: Getting pulled over by a cop Cop: "Have you been drinking tonight, sir?" Pelini: "F**k no!" Situation: Parent-teacher conference Pelini: "So, I see my kid has a f**kin' 'C' - is that right?" Situation: On his kids' birthdays Pelini: "Happy f**kin' birthday, sweetie." Situation: At the end of a prayer at church Pelini: "A-f**king-men" Situation: Singing the National Anthem prior to a game Pelini: "...Some f**kin' bombs in the air..." Situation: Just prior to eating Thanksgi...

I find it so odd that alleged germaphobes can also be nymphomaniacs (male or female, even though I know the term is technically used for females). I know some people whom won't drink out of the same glass as another, will wash their hands more than they utter words throughout the course of a day, get freaked out about food and silverware at restaurants, yet when it comes to sex, they sleep around more than Gene Simmons of Kiss did during the prime of his career. Hand-holding? Gross. Penal-vaginal penetration? Yes, please. When thinking about such individuals, I picture the following dialogue occurring between they and another at some point in time: Setting: Two friends having dinner at Hooter's ::Germy Nympho's friend takes a fry off her plate:: Germy Nympho: "Ooh, that's gross! Did you wash your hands?" Friend: "Before I came here, yeah" Germy Nympho: "Oh my God! That's so sick! I can't eat any of these no...

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 3,108 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 eight 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 six books I've written and released in the past 2+ 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 As always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask me by either commenting on this blog or e-mailing me at CRozniecki@gmail.com. Unless I'm out of town, I'm typically very good at responding rather quickly.

Heard of the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, where people try to connect an actor with Kevin Bacon in six or fewer steps? It appears as if Fox News has been playing a condensed version of that game with regard to President Obama and Benghazi. I call it the Three Degrees of Benghazi. Here are just a few examples: Starting point: "Syria may have used chemical weapons against its own people." Fox News' next move: "Obama is looking very weak as a leader during this whole thing." Fox News' closer: "He's obviously doing this so people forget about his weak leadership during Benghazi!" Starting point: "A shooting rampage occurred in Washington, D.C. earlier today." Fox News' next move: "At last check, 12 people were killed." Fox News' closer: " That is only eight more than were killed in the most brutal attack on American non-American soil - Benghazi!" Starting point: "It's another record...

In response to Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini's tirade directed at a local columnist as well as Huskers fans, I've read many Huskers fans defending Bo, saying, "We're with you, Bo!" Here's how this strange make-believe conversation between the two parties plays out in my mind: Pelini: "F**k you guys! F**k all of you! F**k the fans! F**k every single one of you!" Nebraska fan: "Exactly! F**k us! We love you, Bo!" Pelini: "F**k you!" Nebraska fan: "I love you!" Pelini: "Did you not f**king hear me, dipsh*t? I said f**k you!" Nebraska fan: "I know! I love you!" Pelini: "What the f**k? I'm getting the f**k out of here! You people are f**kin' crazy! F**k!" Nebraska fan: "Don't leave! I love you!" Hmm... Perhaps some die-hard fans are masochists.

Thursday Game: Kansas City at Philadelphia  Pick: Philadelphia - Coming off a nail-biting victory at home against Dallas, Andy Reid's Kansas City Chiefs will likely have great difficulty in preparing for the high-tempo, explosive Eagles offense on the road in such a short week. The only question is, will the Eagles defense be able to stop the Chiefs offense? With the return of a starting cornerback, I think they should be able to do so - just enough anyway. Result: Kansas City 26 Philadelphia 16 Record: 0-1 Sunday Game: Green Bay at Cincinnati Pick: Green Bay - While I like the Bengals to win the AFC North, I don't think their offense will be able to counter Aaron Rodgers and the Packers' high-scoring offense. Cincy should be able to limit the Packers offense more than Washington did this past weekend, but that's not saying a whole lot. I like the Packers by a touchdown. Result: Cincinnati 34 Green Bay 30 Record: 0-2 Game: St. Louis at Dallas Pick:...

- Style points may not matter when a team is winning football games in the NFL, but for as awful as the 2-0 New England Patriots have looked through two weeks, they better start looking better or else they'll start racking up L's to the point where Tom Brady will lose his voice and have to communicate with his team via sign language. - Chip Kelly may want to remember that the goal in NFL football games isn't to score as many points as possible in 20 minutes. It's to win over 60 minutes. Sure, scoring 30 points in 20 minutes is impressive, but not as impressive as scoring 33 in 40 minutes when the opposing team only scored 30 in 20 minutes. - Betting against Seattle at home is like betting against a drunk guy singing "Don't Stop Believin'" at a bar's weekly Friday night karaoke bash. - Peyton Manning has his little brother's number - both figuratively and literally. - No matter how much talent or money they have, the Dallas Cowboys can...

Nebraska head football coach Bo Pelini has never been known as a smooth-talker and has not been very coy about screaming obscenities while on the sidelines during games. Even with this almost drunken sailor-esque reputation, however, Pelini's recently reported tirade surprised me, and in light of it and the team's defensive woes, I think I'd be equally as surprised to see him last past this season as the Huskers' head coach. Following a comeback victory against Ohio State in Lincoln on October 8th of 2011, and just preceding an interview with Greg Sharpe of the Husker Sports Network , Pelini was recorded saying the following: "F**k him, too ( World-Herald  columnist Tom Shatel). F**k him. That's what I'm going to tell him. He wants to walk out after my press conference? I'm gonna say, 'Get the f**k away from me. I'm done with you, motherf**ker. I'm done with him." and "It took everything in my power to not say, 'F**k yo...

During a speech made at the conservative Napa Institute Conference on August 2nd, Catholic Archbishop John C. Niendstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis said this: "Today, many evil forces have set their sights on the dissolution of marriage and the debasing of family life. Sodomy, abortion, contraception, pornography, the redefinition of marriage, and the denial of objective truth are just some of the forces threatening the stability of our civilization. The source of these machinations is none other than the Father of Lies. Satan knows all too well the value that the family contributes to the fabric of a good solid society, as well as the future of God's work on earth." So, let me get this straight - Satan is behind the "evils" of: Sodomy, abortion, contraception, pornography, the redefinition of marriage, and the denial of objective truth? He has his sights set on these "evils" to try and tear apart marriages and families? First of all, it appears...

I've heard a lot of ridiculous anti-gay arguments from the religious community, but now we can add one from the science community to the ever-growing list. Well, I should probably re-phrase that and refer to it as the wannabe-science community. Chibuihem Amalaha - a postgraduate student at the University of Lagos (Nigeria) - told Nigeria's This Day   Live  that gay marriage is "eating deep into the fabric of our human nature all over the world." He then talked about his scientific findings based on experiments he conducted, which he believes showcase homosexuality to be wrong, saying: "A bar magnet is a horizontal magnet that has the North Pole and the South Pole and when you bring two bar magnets and you bring the North Pole together you find that the two North Poles will not attract. They will repel, that is, they will push away themselves showing that a man should not attract a man. If you bring two South Poles together you find that the two South Poles ...

Last night, Nina Davuluri was crowned the winner of the 2014 Miss America Pageant. She's an Indian-American woman who was born in Syracuse, New York, and is believed to practice Hinduism. What did some lovely commentators have to say about this via Twitter? Oh, just the following: - "9/11 was 4 days ago and she gets miss America?" - Luke Brasili What does an Indian-American woman winning a Miss America Pageant have to do with the 9/11 terrorist attacks? Anything? Anything? Bueller? - "I am literarily soo mad right now a ARAB won #MissAmerica" - Dallas Robinson I'm "literally" so mad that Mr. Robinson can't correctly spell the before-mentioned word. - "How the f**k does a foreigner win miss America? She is a Arab! #idiots" - John Amick I'm quite happy Mr. Amick included the hashtag of idiots, because that's exactly what he is. True or false, Mr. Amick - is the state of New York a state in the United States? I'...

Chip Kelly and his Philadelphia Eagles were quickly booted from their six-day high after losing their home opener to the San Diego Chargers today by the final score of 33-30. Chargers kicker Nick Novak kicked the game-winning field goal with under ten seconds left on the clock to put his team up for good. While all the talk has been on the Eagles new up-tempo offense, this game was more about their defense than offense. The offense was very effective when they had the ball, but those occasions seemed to be few and far between. Philadelphia only ran 58 plays on offense compared to 79 for San Diego. The Eagles held the ball for only 19 minutes 43 seconds while the Chargers held onto it for 40 minutes 17 seconds. Like I said, the Eagles offense was great, but the defense was anything but. Eagles quarterback Michael Vick threw for a career best 428 yards, as he completed 23 of 36 pass attempts and also threw for a pair of touchdowns (11.9 per attempt and 18.6 per completion). In additi...

In what is being hailed as the most comprehensive study on the topic, Michael Siegel, Craig S. Ross, and Charles King III concluded the following when they looked at the relationship between gun ownership and firearm homicide rates in the U.S. from the years of 1981 to 2010: "We observed a robust correlation between higher levels of gun ownership and higher firearm homicide rates. Although we could not determine causation, we found that states with higher rates of gun ownership had disproportionately large numbers of deaths from firearm-related homicides." Here we have yet another study which suggests that if we want to save lives, Congress should start passing stricter gun laws. How many more lives must be lost before Congress finally starts taking these lives and studies seriously enough to do something about it? "A gun doesn't shoot someone; a person does." No, a person with a gun shoots someone. The next time the NRA sees a person's finger shooti...