Sunday, December 15, 2013

The worst 4-letter word of them all...compromise


Perhaps it as a few letters more than four, but you'd never know it given the last several years of how the U.S. government has functioned.  To me it's refreshing to see some of our lawmakers finding a way to reach some bit of common ground even if it is a very small step in the grand scheme of things.  I'm torn on my feelings to many of the ultra-conservative groups that have sprung up over the last couple of years.  While I do agree with many of their core principles, I generally don't agree with their tactics of using anger, gridlock, and fear mongering to get their points across.  Conservatives would be much better served if they focused more on finding a way to bring liberals to the table by allowing bipartisan groups more latitude in finding ways to compromise.  What the polarized public generally doesn't understand and lawmakers should understand, is that true negotiations should end with neither party being truly happy.  That's one of the basic principles in negotiations because what that means is that both sides got some of what they wanted, and both of them got some what they didn't want. 

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Rotten Apple??

(Justin Sullivan, Getty Images /October 22, 2013)
Despite continuing to use an iPhone, I must admit that' I'm still an old-school Apple hater.  So today Apple released information on their latest refresh of the iPad and touting it as being 2 millimeters thinner and two thirds as heavy.  For that to be one of the main selling points is just plain ridiculous.  Nevertheless, they'll probably sell like crazy because that's what Apple products do whether they're worth it or not.  And then of course the typical Apple fanboy article extols the "wonderful" features of the Mac OSX while criticizing Microsoft.  Yes Apple charges much less for it's OS upgrades, but they've had nearly 10 OS updates in about as many years.  At least Microsoft releases service packs for it's operating system's instead of releasing brand new versions every year or two.  Make no mistake Apple does make quality products, but they're not an innovator so much as a perfector of other's ideas.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Pokedon't do it!!


Another day and another new Pokemon game(s) that I probably shouldn't buy, but probably will.  I know that this is a long running game series that has evolved at a glacial pace over the years and yet that is what makes this series so great.  It never totally forgets its roots, but each iteration seems to be able to advance a better story, add tons of new Pokemon, and does improve upon it's predecessor's graphics.  Again, these changes take place very slowly, but you don't have the issues you currently due with some series like Final Fantasy where the solution seems to be making each game radically different from the last and at the same time making multiple sequels to each new entry in the series.  What you end up with is a series that fans don't even recognize anymore with an increasingly watered down, convoluted story and no real connection to the other games.  I don't want to hate on Square Enix too much as I'm currently engrossed in FFXIV, but I'd say it's a fluke compared to the last couple of main entries into the series.  Back to Pokemon though- I still haven't beat Pokemon Black 2, but as soon as I do Pokemon X/Y is on my radar:)

Yay, we have a compromise....and another short term deadline!

Video Source: Wall Street Journal

So the government is funded for another couple of months before we are again looking over the edge of the seemingly bottomless abyss.  Nothing dire happened as I predicted might happen, but I did expect that if there was a compromise that it would be very short term and that's exactly what we got.  Running a country three months at a time is no way to put individuals or the markets minds at ease.  The market did react positively, but is this something that we should have to experience every couple of months?  Of course the answer is NO, but perhaps this is the new norm?

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Apocalypse How?

Source: www.americapictures.net

So there are two things happening on Thursday- my birthday and the deadline for congress passing a debt limit deal (and a looming Apocalypse as the media would constantly have us believe).  At that point, I am going to find out what omen my birthday might portend.  No, I don't believe I have any special ability to sway the future one way or the other, but it's fun to speculate nonetheless.  So why exactly are we at this crossroads to begin with?  Is there any logic behind these reasons?  Where do we go from here?  The reasons are several, the logic-possibly non-existent, and the path forward as I see it is uncertain.  My thoughts after the jump...

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

What Foreign Policy?


It's been quite sometime since I last posted I know, but I have returned from hiatus and will attempt to get back to at least a 2 or 3 a week posting schedule again (I hope).  Now, on to the subject of the day...

It's been about 4 years since Barrack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Price "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".  Strangely enough this was awarded to him after being in office for less than a year.  Besides giving a few high profile speeches and trying to pin all of our nation's previous problems on his predecessor, there really wasn't anything in particular that the President did to significantly strengthen anything.  I will admit that President Bush was very much in the "go it alone" camp of acting on the world stage, but at least you knew where he stood.  What President Obama has done, particularly over the last couple of months, on the international stage is make apologies, set red lines then back off of them, then again make bold threats after red lines were again crossed, then another day or so later back off and throw the ball to Congress.

Monday, March 25, 2013

To Piers, or not to Piers...


Image: Courtesy of The Sun 
 "To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them..." This famous quote opens what is arguably Bill Shakespeare's greatest play- Hamlet. Never have these words rang truer than they do today. When discussing politics, or even just the issues of the day, sometimes people just throw their arms up in despair and take what's given them. Others stand and fight even though the battles they face in life are insurmountable or seemingly so. So it seems to be increasingly with the United State's unique right to "bear arms" and the war against that right.. That discussion is more for another night though...

Sunday, March 10, 2013

The Bush Trilogy


The third movie in any trilogy is always the best, right?  Well there used to be semi-defined rules, but now that most of yesteryear's trilogies have become quadrilogies, hexalogies, sextologies, septologies, and so on as the rules have changed somewhat.  Before I get any more off topic (or make up any other questionable titles for movie series), the trilogy I refer to is one that we may soon see played out by the Bush family.  The potential third Bush president I'm speaking of is Florida's own former governor John Ellis Bush (otherwise known as Jeb). 

Give me macaroni or give me death...



Some mom bloggers (and over 60,000 petitioners) have apparently deemed that Kraft must remove artificial coloring from Macaroni & Cheese because yellow #'s 5 & 6 can potentially increase the chances of getting cancer. While I do champion the push for getting foods back to a point where they're made of primarily natural substances rather than the opposite, the constant tendency of parents to blame these products for everything from migraines and hyperactivity to allergies and asthma is just getting ridiculous.  In some cases there are legitimate concerns, but forcing food producers to change their entire product lineup for what is often relatively low numbers of people that exhibit problems related to their products is ludicrous.  We don't ask Jiffy to stop producing peanut butter or dairy farmers to stop producing milk even though peanut and dairy allergies are pretty common do we?  On the issue of hyperactivity, many parents will blame anyone or anything instead of looking at their own parental failings or the fact that maybe their child really is different and just needs to be handled in a special way.  And finally, while organic and all-natural foods are, in many cases, prohibitively more costly at least there are options for those who seek to stop using processed foods.  

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Chavez gone, but Castro keeps on keeping on


Yesterday saw the passing of Venezuela's controversial leader, Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias.  Not being a big fan of him personally, I hadn't originally planned on posting anything until I saw an article on the  Wall Street Journal detailing some of the tweets posted on his behalf:

The tweets ranged from the slightly heartless:
To the out of touch and, frankly, a little bit scary:

  1. Hugo Chavez was a leader that understood the needs of the poor. He was committed to empowering the powerless. R.I.P. Mr. President.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013




This is 100% not political, but for the gaming enthusiast out there Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty is on sale today for $20.  Blizzard is running this sale through next week's release (3/12) of the sequel titled Heart of the Swarm.  If you haven't had a chance to play this game yet, do so now and thank me later.  There's a reason Blizzard takes over a decade to release most of their numbered sequels.

Source: (Blizzard)

Immigration & the land of opportunity

One thing that amazes me over the immigration debate, is how often conservatives come across as close-minded and racist.  I think there may be elements of truth to that in certain corners of the Republican party, but I think this characterizations points more to a successful election strategy by the Democratic party to paint them in such a light.  More than anything the concerns that conservatives have over this issue are that we have porous borders, a large number of people living here illegally, and that we have a difficult time meeting our country's financial obligations as it is these days without trying to figure out how to provide things like basic services and health care to a large undocumented population.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Birth of The Resolute Centrist...

And so I've finally decided to start my own blog.  I tried once before, but it was too broadly focused to mean much of anything.  With this blog I hope to create a forum for discussing many topics with a focus on having reasoned political conversations.  While the discussions may initially be focused on U.S. domestic politics, I very much hope to see the discourse expand outwards   My views are unashamedly conservative, but don't pretend to understand my views quite yet...