Jack's Forum Revisited

Well, I've laid off of posting here for a long time. I don't have any one set reason why, but I had. I think I was getting burned out and I didn't want to post meaningless drivel so I just kind of faded away..... It's apparently paid off because I feel like I have tons to talk about. I'd love to catch up on everything that has happened lately.

Well, I am still with my fitness routine... I have taken sabbaticals here and therewith that too, but for the most part I'm still as dedicated as I was when I was here last. I feel like I'm starting to look better, but I'm not getting to where I want to be. I have switched my routine from three sets of 10 reps on everything to burnouts - starting with the heaviest I can do until failure and dropping in steady incriments of weight until I'm basically doing whatever exercise with no weights whatsoever. It's an effort to shock my muscles into further growth and trim some of the lingering fat from key areas. So far, it seems to be working. However, I'm willing to bet that it won't be long before I have to change it up yet again. I still haven't moved significantly in weight since I was here last, which doesn't shock me. So basically, no major changes there.

I have been keeping somewhat vigilant on the political scene. Obama has been elected and so far, nothing's changed. I know it's only barely been 6 months, but I'm not hearing about what's really going to be done about the problems plaguing this country. I'll breifly explain what I mean:

The economy - Banks have been given billions of dollars to stay afloat because evidently, we can't afford as a country to let these banks and companies such as AIG fail. These banks and other companies have since found out how incredibly easy it is to bilk money out of the Federal government and now a new monster has been created within the old monster. Fiscal irresponsibility has been rewarded and now has morphed into fiscal government dependance. Most of the entirely-too-wealthy CEOs and COOs of these companies are Conservatives who think Obama is out to socialize things like medicine...... But it's OK for them to take tax money that we haven't had in 6 years and have their company bailed out because without it, thered be no way to fulfill the promised retention bonuses needed in order to keep the hacks that have caused this mess on staff. That's not socialism at all. These banks and businesses are still rolling over private citizens with predatory lending and other immoral practices and having to answer to no one. It just figures. I'll be sure and pay the massive tax bill I'll get next tax season because the gap between what I owed on the house that was foreclosed on and what that same bank sold that house for will be revisiting me as "taxable income".... We'll see about that. At this rate, I'm sure my credit can't get any worse so what do I care?

Gay Marriage..... Well if your a homophobe or otherwise too conservative to realize that gays are people too, you might want to click the red box in the upper right hand corner of your screen. You know, the one with the 'X' in it. You won't like what I have to say. Why can't these people have what they're after? Who is it hurting? Is it taking money out of your paycheck or keeping you from getting as large a tax return? Guess what - gays are out there and they want to get married. They don't want to marry YOU. They just want to get married. Explain to me how it lessens or cheapens anybody else's heterosexual marriage and I'll jump on the same bandwagon as you, but I'm not worried about having to do that. Know why? Because you CAN'T. It DOESN'T affect your marriage, your pocketbook or your lifestyle, not one iota. They're people who have their own churches and their own businesses and their own lives, most of which is carried out behind closed doors. What do all three of those examples have in common? Gays and lesbians have each of those for themselves because you won't let them into yours. Why does anyone care enough to stop gays and lesbians from getting married? Those of you that feel the need to stop gay marriage are a travesty to the human race and might as well go back to hating blacks because they're black and want to vote and work where you work for equal pay.

Healthcare reform - Don't mess with my coverage, I like it fine the way it is. Ever notice that not all, but some of the people who went to medical school for all that time probably planned on making a ton more money than you do? I don't think health care should be a run-away industry in the way of profit and without insurance companies, it wouldn't be. I know of another way to ensure health care coverage - opt not to pay for your employer-based health coverage and just put the money you would ordinarily have contributed into an interest bearing account. I think that health insurance companies and the medical insurance branches of any other insurance companies need to be completely dismantled. People in the health insurance industry don't know medicine. They know accounting but they're making decisions on what you need and don't need medically. I hope you're comfortable with that. You want to talk about flexible spending accounts typically tied to health insurance? you could borrow against the money you've saved for whatever reason you wanted without having to explain yourself to anyone and what you borrow will be at your own peril if the money's not there when you need it. I'm telling you - take the business away from the insurance companies by essentially being your own and see how reasonable they get with you when they need you back...

The economy - So bad, I have to say something twice. If salaries don't rise, neither should inflation. I fail to see why the prices are rising on things such as gas when our salaries are completely stagnant. Now, I know that gas is derived from petroleum found in the ground and there's scientists that have stated that the earth is running out of resources to produce heating oil and gasoline. I call bullshit on that. Why? Because fossils and other organic life that decompose to form petroleum are still decpomposing at the same rate it was 200 years ago so it's not a cyclical production, it's constant. Why then should I have to pay any more than a dollar a gallon for gas? Same thing with houses. Last I checked, they're still made of wood. The ground they're built on is still made of dirt. The meat I eat is still made of beef and chicken and the vegetables I eat are still grown out of the same plants they've always come from. If I'm still making the same annual income in 2009 that I was in 2004, then I don't expect there to be any inflation. After all, why do houses, gas and food get raises when I'm the one with a job and if I do get a raise, why is mine only 3% when gas, food and housing get a 12-15% raise?

I'm not afraid to admit that I voted for Obama, but I'm a little disappointed in the results so far. I'm very much a proponent of the government having no control in my life, especially when they're unwilling to help me when I need them the most. I'm sensing no urgency with the economy and I'm sensing no relief for the victims of this economic downturn that has now spanned nearly 24 months. Too much attention paid to the wrong things and not enough to the right ones. What ever happened to a government of the people by the people and for the people? With all the talk in recent years of how trampled the Constitution has become, I see nothing being done to defend it from our elected officials. The left is every bit as dangerous as the right in this country. We are trying to live under a government which was never designed to operate on a two-party system which has become more polarized than it was ever meant to be. The polarization of the two-party system has leaked from Capitol Hill and bled into the American infrastructure and polarized its people. Hopefully one day, enough people that care enough to try to lead this country will realize that we were only meant to be so advanced and so upwardly mobile. I fail to see how it is that this country is going in the 'right direction' at this point.

I hope that this country wakes up and realizes that 'going across the middle' is the way to go. We don't need to be run by limousine liberals who think that big government is the answer nor republicans whose social agenda is so selective, it's nauseating. My suggestion?

1. Take religion out of politics and confine it to church and the home.
2. Take social agendas out of genuine political agendas.
3. Eliminate lobbyists or whomever the lobbyists represent such as insurance companies.
4. Stop looking at candidates for office as though they're applying for sainthood and look at what they're actually willing to do for you. You know, that whole "criminals make the best cops" thing...
5. Send the people in office who orchestrate wars to war. I'm sure their outlook would be quite different.
6. When the citizenry has to scale back their standards of living to pay for deficits such as the one we have, so must our elected officials. Lead by example or don't lead at all. After all, you're just one of us, aren't you?

So there you have it. I'm sure if I were to think any harder, I'd be able to come up with more. Like Obama said, we DO need change but now that we've figured that out we need to impliment that change. I understand the theory that no one cog can change the machine but perhaps if Obama took just one page out of the Bush/Cheney playbook, it's be the page where you push your agenda through with ruthless abandon. As I write this, I think the Obama agenda needs to be more closely examined and modified. We need more centrist ideas and in the wake of this economy, we need to be set back on our feet and left alone from there. I'm just wondering if there's anyone or any one group of people who can set this country right again. I hope so because if not, then we're going to be in a much bigger mess than what we're in now.