Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
“No taxation without representation.”
This well-known phrase epitomizes why English colonists broke away from England and created a new sovereign nation in the American Revolution.
Today, officials elected to office speak for citizens. However, as evidenced through a recent grassroots movement, a portion of Americans do not believe their interests receive representation.
Reminiscent of colonial America, around 30,000 citizens Feb. 27 participated in rallies across the nation based on the Boston Tea Party.
“No taxation without deliberation” adorned a sign held by a stimulus protester at a Tea Party protest in Cleveland.
A rant by CNBC journalist Rick Santelli on the floor of the stock exchange incited the grassroots movement.
The nearly trillion-dollar stimulus bill was hurried through Congress despite a promise the public could view the bill 48 hours before it went to a vote. Members of Congress didn’t even have two days to read through it.
The bill is more than 1,000 pages long, and its final language was posted online around 10 p.m., 10 hours before the scheduled vote. That’s not enough time for anyone to get through that behemoth and give serious consideration to what it entails and its consequences.
Timothy P. Carney, columnist for The Washington Examiner, totaled the cost of Obama’s domestic spending proposals including the stimulus, the second Wall Street bailout, the mortgage bailout and his proposed 2010 fiscal budget among others. Grand total? $7,371,000,000,000.
That’s a lot of zeroes.
And now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wants to give $900 million to Palestine to rebuild the Gaza Strip.
So the government uses our fear of a second depression to ram the stimulus and bailout after bailout through Congress, and then it wants to give our money away to rebuild an area that is still ravaged by rockets on a regular basis?
That is offensive.
Apparently, other Americans agree.
A second round of rallies protesting the government’s fiscal strategy is scheduled for April 15, the last day to file taxes.
If you’re interested in participating in the “Tax Day Tea Party,” go to www.taxdayteaparty.com.
*Published in The Collegian March 11, 2009.
This well-known phrase epitomizes why English colonists broke away from England and created a new sovereign nation in the American Revolution.
Today, officials elected to office speak for citizens. However, as evidenced through a recent grassroots movement, a portion of Americans do not believe their interests receive representation.
Reminiscent of colonial America, around 30,000 citizens Feb. 27 participated in rallies across the nation based on the Boston Tea Party.
“No taxation without deliberation” adorned a sign held by a stimulus protester at a Tea Party protest in Cleveland.
A rant by CNBC journalist Rick Santelli on the floor of the stock exchange incited the grassroots movement.
The nearly trillion-dollar stimulus bill was hurried through Congress despite a promise the public could view the bill 48 hours before it went to a vote. Members of Congress didn’t even have two days to read through it.
The bill is more than 1,000 pages long, and its final language was posted online around 10 p.m., 10 hours before the scheduled vote. That’s not enough time for anyone to get through that behemoth and give serious consideration to what it entails and its consequences.
Timothy P. Carney, columnist for The Washington Examiner, totaled the cost of Obama’s domestic spending proposals including the stimulus, the second Wall Street bailout, the mortgage bailout and his proposed 2010 fiscal budget among others. Grand total? $7,371,000,000,000.
That’s a lot of zeroes.
And now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wants to give $900 million to Palestine to rebuild the Gaza Strip.
So the government uses our fear of a second depression to ram the stimulus and bailout after bailout through Congress, and then it wants to give our money away to rebuild an area that is still ravaged by rockets on a regular basis?
That is offensive.
Apparently, other Americans agree.
A second round of rallies protesting the government’s fiscal strategy is scheduled for April 15, the last day to file taxes.
If you’re interested in participating in the “Tax Day Tea Party,” go to www.taxdayteaparty.com.
*Published in The Collegian March 11, 2009.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Double standards in D.C.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has only recently begun filling in key positions in his department. Key positions that should have already been filled.
Is Obama being arrogant (because he chose him, Geithner must be able to handle the load by himself) or overconfident in Geithner's capabilities that he has allowed him to work solo in the attempt to fix the U.S. economy since January?
At a recent news conference, Robert Gibbs, White House press secretary, told journalists that the reason it was taking so long to appoint Geithner's staff was that the nominees for the positions were undergoing "a very rigorous process." Apparently more rigorous than the process Geithner himself had to go through. After all, his tax fraud seemed to slip through the "rigorous process" of the nomination for treasury secretary.
Double standards are the best!
Is Obama being arrogant (because he chose him, Geithner must be able to handle the load by himself) or overconfident in Geithner's capabilities that he has allowed him to work solo in the attempt to fix the U.S. economy since January?
At a recent news conference, Robert Gibbs, White House press secretary, told journalists that the reason it was taking so long to appoint Geithner's staff was that the nominees for the positions were undergoing "a very rigorous process." Apparently more rigorous than the process Geithner himself had to go through. After all, his tax fraud seemed to slip through the "rigorous process" of the nomination for treasury secretary.
Double standards are the best!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Texas Tea Parties
So far, six tea parties are planned in Texas for the April 15 "Tax Day Tea Party," including one in Austin!! Unless someone organizes one for Fort Worth, I'm planning on going to the one in Dallas. No location yet, but it will take place 6-9 p.m. I'll have my camera with me and have lots of photos to post!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Honor Killing Hits Close to Home
Honor killing is a disgusting social practice that has received media attention recently with the murder of a mother of four, Aasiya Z. Hassan, Feb. 12 in New York.
She only sought a divorce from her husband, Muzzammil Hassan. To defend what he saw as a stain on his honor, he beheaded her.
Honor killing is predominant in the Muslim, Hindu and Sikh cultures. Thousands of women fall victim to this practice every year overseas, but it even happens in the U.S.
Last year, Amina Said, 18, and her 17-year-old sister Sarah were shot to death by their father because they were becoming too “Westernized.”
They lived in Irving.
Honor killing is classified as domestic violence, but this classification is incorrect. They stem from perceived slights on family honor, and victims fall into a fairly specific category.
Some reasons for a woman to fall victim to honor killing include refusing to cover her hair, face or body; dating; being too independent; wearing makeup or Western clothing or trying to get a college education.
“Analysis of more than 50 reported honor killings shows they differ significantly from more common domestic violence,” said Phyllis Chesler in a recent article in Middle East Quarterly.
The victims are usually teenage daughters or young women. In domestic violence, the victim is usually an adult female spouse or intimate partner.
In honor killing, the victim may be warned over and over again that she will be killed for dishonoring her family, and the killings themselves are carefully planned. In domestic violence, the murder is often spontaneous.
Another significant difference: Only honor killings involve multiple family members as the perpetrators. Fathers, brothers, uncles and cousins may all actively participate in the murder, and mothers and sisters may encourage the act.
In the West, if it is discovered that a man beats his wife or child, he then bears a social stigma that others look down on. However, in the cultures where honor killing is prolific, the perpetrators have no such stigma.
It should not be assumed that all Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs condone this practice — they don’t. However, a portion of people who originate from the Middle East do.
Honor killings show other characteristics that distinguish them from domestic violence. It is wrong to classify this phenomenon as domestic violence.
It is nothing more than cold-blooded murder.
*Published in The Collegian March 4, 2009
She only sought a divorce from her husband, Muzzammil Hassan. To defend what he saw as a stain on his honor, he beheaded her.
Honor killing is predominant in the Muslim, Hindu and Sikh cultures. Thousands of women fall victim to this practice every year overseas, but it even happens in the U.S.
Last year, Amina Said, 18, and her 17-year-old sister Sarah were shot to death by their father because they were becoming too “Westernized.”
They lived in Irving.
Honor killing is classified as domestic violence, but this classification is incorrect. They stem from perceived slights on family honor, and victims fall into a fairly specific category.
Some reasons for a woman to fall victim to honor killing include refusing to cover her hair, face or body; dating; being too independent; wearing makeup or Western clothing or trying to get a college education.
“Analysis of more than 50 reported honor killings shows they differ significantly from more common domestic violence,” said Phyllis Chesler in a recent article in Middle East Quarterly.
The victims are usually teenage daughters or young women. In domestic violence, the victim is usually an adult female spouse or intimate partner.
In honor killing, the victim may be warned over and over again that she will be killed for dishonoring her family, and the killings themselves are carefully planned. In domestic violence, the murder is often spontaneous.
Another significant difference: Only honor killings involve multiple family members as the perpetrators. Fathers, brothers, uncles and cousins may all actively participate in the murder, and mothers and sisters may encourage the act.
In the West, if it is discovered that a man beats his wife or child, he then bears a social stigma that others look down on. However, in the cultures where honor killing is prolific, the perpetrators have no such stigma.
It should not be assumed that all Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs condone this practice — they don’t. However, a portion of people who originate from the Middle East do.
Honor killings show other characteristics that distinguish them from domestic violence. It is wrong to classify this phenomenon as domestic violence.
It is nothing more than cold-blooded murder.
*Published in The Collegian March 4, 2009
Intoxication, Six Flags Don't Mix
Six Flags Over Texas proposed last year to bring alcohol to its Arlington location — a bad idea.
If Six Flags geared toward adults only, selling alcohol would be great, but it’s a family-oriented park. Most of its rides have a height requirement, for Pete ’s sake.
Six Flags proposes to serve alcohol in six monitored areas: All American Café, Casa de la Banderas, Dry Hole Charlie’s, Gator McGee’s Mountain Grill, Johnny Rockets and Papa John ’s.
It will evict patrons who take their alcoholic beverages out of those areas.
Children can still eat at these locations. Six Flags will rely on video cameras and its employees to monitor the areas.
It’s good that the company has a plan to monitor, but what happens when people sneak their alcohol out?
Six Flags cannot keep alcohol from affecting its child patrons.
Adults could buy alcohol for their underage friends. A curious child could experiment with imbibing a mostly empty beer cup he or she fished out of the trash.
Parents, trying to get cool points, could let their kids try a beer.
What happens when a child’s parents drink a few beers before the park closes and drive home?
Maybe parents are fine after two beers and make it home without incident, but that chance should not be taken.
Forget about underage drinking for a minute.
Let’s say, on a slim-to-none chance, Six Flags has a flawless monitoring system and no minor ever gets his or her hands on alcohol. What about the adults who are drinking?
People drink and fight at bars all the time. Now they can drink and fight at an amusement park densely crowded with children.
Now let’s say only pacifists will consume the illicit beverage and never start a fight. Who will stop patrons from getting rip-roaring drunk?
Not only does drinking alcohol set an awful example to the kids populating the park, but it places everyone on the road in danger when these people attempt to get their sloshed selves home.
Will the park assign employees to drive these people home?
Texas had one of the highest percentages in the country of alcohol-related traffic fatalities in 2007 with 1,292 deaths.
Now consider the ick factor. Bar patrons frequently drink more than their limit and end up puking in the bathroom. An increase in vomiting at the park is not appealing.
Six Flags may create a potentially dangerous situation, and the proposal nears approval.
As of Feb. 25, TABC administrator Alan Steen and administrative law judge Tanya Cooper have both signed off on the idea.
Citizens have 20 days from that date to file a motion for another hearing with the TABC commissioner.
*Published in The Collegian March 4, 2009
If Six Flags geared toward adults only, selling alcohol would be great, but it’s a family-oriented park. Most of its rides have a height requirement, for Pete ’s sake.
Six Flags proposes to serve alcohol in six monitored areas: All American Café, Casa de la Banderas, Dry Hole Charlie’s, Gator McGee’s Mountain Grill, Johnny Rockets and Papa John ’s.
It will evict patrons who take their alcoholic beverages out of those areas.
Children can still eat at these locations. Six Flags will rely on video cameras and its employees to monitor the areas.
It’s good that the company has a plan to monitor, but what happens when people sneak their alcohol out?
Six Flags cannot keep alcohol from affecting its child patrons.
Adults could buy alcohol for their underage friends. A curious child could experiment with imbibing a mostly empty beer cup he or she fished out of the trash.
Parents, trying to get cool points, could let their kids try a beer.
What happens when a child’s parents drink a few beers before the park closes and drive home?
Maybe parents are fine after two beers and make it home without incident, but that chance should not be taken.
Forget about underage drinking for a minute.
Let’s say, on a slim-to-none chance, Six Flags has a flawless monitoring system and no minor ever gets his or her hands on alcohol. What about the adults who are drinking?
People drink and fight at bars all the time. Now they can drink and fight at an amusement park densely crowded with children.
Now let’s say only pacifists will consume the illicit beverage and never start a fight. Who will stop patrons from getting rip-roaring drunk?
Not only does drinking alcohol set an awful example to the kids populating the park, but it places everyone on the road in danger when these people attempt to get their sloshed selves home.
Will the park assign employees to drive these people home?
Texas had one of the highest percentages in the country of alcohol-related traffic fatalities in 2007 with 1,292 deaths.
Now consider the ick factor. Bar patrons frequently drink more than their limit and end up puking in the bathroom. An increase in vomiting at the park is not appealing.
Six Flags may create a potentially dangerous situation, and the proposal nears approval.
As of Feb. 25, TABC administrator Alan Steen and administrative law judge Tanya Cooper have both signed off on the idea.
Citizens have 20 days from that date to file a motion for another hearing with the TABC commissioner.
*Published in The Collegian March 4, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Whispers of the Coming Revolution
I finally got to see the rant that incited the Tea Party Movement and wanted to share. I wonder if one day Rick Santelli's name will be synonymous with Jefferson and Franklin for starting the 2nd Revolution? =)
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