After my last entry about anything political, I got to thinking about this shirt I wanted. It would be a bright orange shirt, similar to those worn by inmates, with the word "TERRORIST" on the back in big, bold lettering.

Tonight I came across one of those "make your own shirt" sites, and they had the color t-shirt I was looking for, so I got busy. The product is this:



This shirt is intended to express my frustration for those in the Republican party who are very passionate about their beliefs, being labeled by the passionate Democrats as "Terrorists".

I believe that this should be tolerated under that whole "freedom of speech" and "equal rights" tag that the liberals are so concerned about right now. However, I would really fear for my own safety in wearing such a shirt. Is that sad?

This rant is an exercise of free speech. If you have a problem with it, leave.

Our country inaugurated its 44th president today: Barack Obama. The name, as its stereotypes imply, is that of a black man. Yes, the country populated by the racist rednecks have put a non-white in office.

I'm not racist. I've stated this many times before. I have absolutely no beef against anyone who holds legal citizenship of the country they occupy. I did rant a couple years ago about the influx of illegal Mexican immigrants to my home town, where they filled many jobs that were promised to the unemployed residents of the community. That was an entirely different agenda though.

I attempted to watch the inauguration speech today, and I was quite annoyed about mid-way through it, when the new president began making statements with very strong anti-racism overtones, and was whining about the history of the black man.

A friend of mine made a rant on his Facebook notes about the benediction that was offered by Reverend Joseph Lowery. This benediction hammered on racial equality, which in the current day and age is meaningless. Why? Because there is no "minority" anymore.

Sure, the census data shows that the white man holds a very strong market share in the population of the country. What it doesn't show though is how strongly concentrated these supposed minorities are in the urban areas. It doesn't show that probably 60-70% of my neighbors are Hispanic; It doesn't show that the pharmacist I saw yesterday was a black woman. In these areas, there is absolutely nothing indicating that a particular race is being oppressed, that one race is greater than another.

Being a white man, it's easy for me to make this rant. But why, 46 years after Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic "I have a dream" speech, do we continue to overemphasize the rights of the non-whites? Are they still being forced to take their laundry elsewhere? Are they still not allowed to sit in the same theater as the white man? Are they not hired for a job because their skin color is not white?

We have laws to protect these people. These laws are very reasonable, and as far as I know are being followed everywhere. Why does the first impression we get of our new president have to be that of a man who feels as though he and his people still aren't being treated fairly?

...and for the record, I don't fear the Democratic party. I just have no good impressions of McCain, Palin, Obama, or Biden. The only possible outcome of this election was fail, and that is exactly what has happened in my book.

My preliminary opinions may be proven as wrong in the coming months. I don't claim to be the one to decide how something goes before it goes. I'm just sharing my opinions and thoughts of the whole matter. If in a year this country is running better than it ever has, I'll eat my words. In the meantime though, I stand by my opinions.

Even though I didn't want either candidate to obtain a seat in office, I just wanted to (sarcastically) thank everyone who voted for Obama. I'll be enjoying my freedom while it lasts. :(

I've had a "Fantasy Stock Exchange" account for the last 10 months or so, and I just decided to have a read over the user-submitted comments. This one is a classic:

IMO F is worse off than GM.

If they don't receive any help from the Fed. they should probably merge or re-structure.

If you're not familiar with your acronyms or ticket symbols, IMO means "In my opinion", "F" is Ford Motor Company, and "GM" is General Motors.

While restructuring may not be as huge of a deal, for these two companies to merge would mean a major shakeup in the automotive industry, and would likely not happen.

Warning: This entry may contain some content bound to stir up various opposing views. I don't intend for this topic to spark any discussion - I just need to vent - but if you feel the need to comment, please do so in a civil manner. I reserve the right to disable new comments or posted comments at any point in time.

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So tonight I went to Wal-Mart to get some groceries. I walked up to the checkout and stood in line behind a hispanic couple. After about 90 seconds of standing there, I noticed something: They split their order up and were paying for certain parts with food stamps. The cashier found that one of the items was not listed on the "allowed" list, and attempted to instruct the man accordingly. After she got it across to him that he had to pick a different item, the man went and exchanged the item while his wife stood in line and took care of the remaining 3 orders, signing the food stamps accordingly.

As the man came back, the last order was being scanned. When it came time to pay for this final order, he removed his swollen wallet from his pocket and paid with a $50 bill. As I was standing there waiting, I noticed that his wallet was full of 50's.

This made me so incredibly angry for several reasons, not the least of which being he was fully capable of paying for his orders, mine, and the 2 people with overflowing carts behind me, without the need for food stamps. So why in the world am I paying taxes to cover the other two-thirds of his order, when he is clearly earning enough cash somehow to pay for it himself?

Okay, okay... You're thinking now that this is probably an atypical case, and that he was just paying with his tax refund check, yadda yadda. I'll grant you that. However, this isn't the first time I have seen this; I have also worked with these hispanics, and I know how they're paid. It's a matter of the boss pulling a wad of cash out of the drawer, handing it to the worker, and marking it in the books as a "miscellaneous expense".

Why do we allow this? Am I the only one worked up by it? What right do these immigrants have to collect food stamps and feed off our hard work to be able to eat? Why can't they take their own earnings and live like most everyone else, from paycheck to paycheck and making sacrifices? Do they not know better? Is there not a system in place to check up on them after they get situated and employed?

It's just so frustrating to me, that I have to pay another $100 on my taxes, yet these people are exploiting the system in such a manner.

I now have a stereotypical blog category: Politics.

I've never really been one to pay much attention to anything in the news, but here in the last couple of years, certain things have piqued my interest. As such, I've created this category.

My first entry is going to be about Iran.

I don't know if anyone has been paying much attention to them, or to the news articles about Iran, but they have begun "war games". These tests have been dubbed "The Great Prophet 2", and have been intended to flex the Iranian muscle for the western world.

Think of it in terms of "rice rockets". You're rolling down the highway in your family car, and a riced-out Civic with an Erector-Set-Wing on the trunk lid zooms past. As the acne-ridden teenager whips around you, he drops the car into neutral and revs the engine. He then drops the car back down into gear, hits the N_OS button, and is gone in a flash. A little while later, he's seen driving 10mph in the 55mph zone, forcing you to slow down to his speed, then again leaves your car in the dust.

Normally, such a maneuver would be considered a challenge: "Show me what your Chrysler's got," is essentially what's being said.

Iran is driving the Civic. Do you suppose they're aware that the US is driving a 8.2L Tahoe?