My Recent Letter to the Editor

I would like to take this time to congratulate Congressman Lou Barletta (D-11) or should I say Republican Lou Barletta. He has successfully deceived his constituents for political gain, only a few months into his term. Maybe not all of them, but myself for sure. At a town hall meeting at the Clarion earlier last year, prior to being elected, Mr. Barletta promised if he was elected that he would work in Congress as Lou Barletta for his people, not as a Republican. But by voting for "Cut, Cap, and Balance", he fell right into the rank-in-file politics of Capital Hill. He removed himself from the group of people in 11th District of Pennsylvania, who elected him, and into the Republican club in Washington. I, for one, would appreciate it if he, along with many other politicians used my idea of "Cut, Cap, and Balance" by doing just that. Cutting their outrageous salaries and capping their terms, which would balance out the corruption and politically charged decisions in D.C., its about time our representatives represented us, not their fraternities we call political parties.

Hot In Here

Hello There World!
I haven't blogged in a while and I have no lame excuse, just haven't had any motivation to complain. If anyone has been following the whole debt crisis with our national government or even the Scranton City Council, there is quite enough reason to complain. I can probably go on all day about the budget crisis, but I lack the patience to try and differentiate between the right and the wrong. As usual, the Republicans are right AND the Democrats are right, but that doesn't surprise anyone. My one comment on that situation is that Barack Obama needs to leave his bluffing and betting to online poker and not use it when it comes to working with the Republicans. They are irrational, there is a good chance they'll call his bluff eventually and I refuse to retire at 85 years old. In Scranton, our City Council never seizes to amaze me. I had the pleasure of attending a meeting for a college class a few years ago. I knew what I was going to experience, but the classmates who joined me weren't prepared. They weren't lucky enough to be born in this beautiful city like myself. This was going back to the days of Ray Lyman, when he would get underneath Judy Gatteli's skin so easily, which would cause her to lose her professional front and revert to her natural rude demeanor. Recently, our council took part in an argument with the University of Scranton over zoning issues which led to a laundry list of issues. Just a few weeks ago, one of our Councilman proposed the idea for legislation on attire in public. Don't take a sip of anything until after you read what the attire being regulated is. Ready?....You sure?...Banning saggy pants. Being completely facetious, I am going to support this idea for as long as I can. There are a few positive aspects to banning saggy pants. One, you can also ban what they call "muffin top", which is caused when overweight people wear tight pants. Also, they may be able to ban keeping the sticker on flat brimmed baseball caps, or even ban flat brimmed baseball caps, but to keep from racial profiling (this legislation sounds like it is though, I know) they will have to also ban expensive suits. Maybe even those hawaiin shirts people wear when they travel. This legislation shouldn't even be considered. Its embarassing, plain and simple. The idea behind banning it is because the trend originated in jails, where I assume belts (right behind cigarretes and the opposite sex) aren't easy to attain, and it is somehow linked to theft. If any recent news was correct, I believe there were just two commissioners who went to jail for corruption and other related crimes. I didn't see baggy pants, just raging confidence nearing cockiness in a suit. Does that mean wearing suits should be banned, especially on confused politicians who waste time proposing these lame ideas? To sum up the idea of irrational Republicans, I will finish this blog with a quote from a recent popular movie "The Hangover". With the budget crisis and lack of jobs in this economy, as Alan would say "Pants?! How can anyone think of pants at a time like this?"

Mr. Rager

Happy days in between the St. Paddy's Day Parade and St. Paddy's Day! I don't know if any of you have been watching the news latly, but shit is going down. A tsunami hit Japan after one of the worst earthquakes hit Japan. I am sure all of you know that, so I won't continue on that. Prayers to them from everyone I am sure. Also, the Libyan government is starting to gain ground against the rebels, but they are outnumbered and I am impressed they have made it this far. Keep on, keeping on though Libyan rebels, Americans were outnumbered at one point and we won. Another interesting news update that might have been slipped up due to the international coverage... Republican Representative from Minn. Michele Bachmann (*see below for a good reason how she won) had an interesting slip up when she was giving a speech in New Hampshire. Yes, she needs to retake United States history or geography, either way her PR guy has a hell of a job. She confused Massachusetts and N.H. while trying to rally her crowd about the battle of Lexington and Concord. Sarah Palin must have been pumped after hearing about this and McCain must have asked her to run with her on the next Presidential ticket. This is just a friendly reminder that there is news going on every day and you have got to read a paper, even the Scranton Times, it's all interesting and you can always find a conversation with someone about it. Don't say you hate politics, because politics is shaping our tomorrow. Governor Corbett cut funding to public schools in Pennsylvania, inevitably screwing all teachers and students, these children are our future and we can't let them go undereducated. I hate politics is just another way of saying "*I hate (the legislation that paves the way for our future, which inevitably means a big middle finger to our future generations because i am either electing without any care or not voting at all, so the bigger douche is getting my money and making laws the way the richer people in this country are telling them) politics!" Until tomorrow... Peace my friends!
Calvin Jay!

Solutions!

Hello! I am always complaining about life and politics, but never suggest a way to fix anything, so here we go. This is all my own opinion, so if you don't agree comment or start your own god damn blog. Today I am going to tackle health care! I think it is too expensive, hence the need for "ObamaCare". The issue isn't health care though, it's the price doctors and hospitals charge for everything. In my opinion, health care costs wouldn't even be an issue if we had tort reform. Doctors are afraid to make mistakes in surgery or with diagnosing injuries/illnesses and the prices reflect it. Again, in my opinion, the prices are high because if there are 10 surgeries and 9 go well, the expense covers the extremely large price the doctor is getting sued for, even with their own malpractice insurance. I'm really big when it comes to the American Way idea and we need to stop screwing eachother (not physically, we still need babies). Everyone makes mistakes, and that means everyone. It is about time we put our rational thinking caps on and realize it is going to hurt us in the long run if we keep suing and suing. The big issue with tort reform is the profession who gains the most from it: lawyers. That issue is extended by the profession that makes up the majority of Congress: lawyers. How can we expect any type of reform to be passed when lawyers dominate our government and they gain the most from malpractice? That issue is one I'm afraid I can't tackle. If anyone has suggestions, leave a comment. Referenda maybe? Thanks for your intellect!

Capitalism Over Realism?

Hello readers!
I blog to you tonight after experiencing a great weekend. A weekend filled with family, friends, more family, liquids, reading, talking, and education! If that doesn't sound like a party to you then I can't ever take you out, clearly. Anyway, the education came from a few of my friends and netflix. First off, I want to clarify that the person I am about to mention doesn't have control over my thoughts, he just influences the hamster wheel to turn. He is a master of manipulation because he uses "facts", people love "facts", but these "facts" are only half-stories. That person is Michael Moore and I was watching Capitalism: a Love Story, thanks to Oliver Roberts for having a complicated cable set-up. This movie sparked a motivation to question the idea of Capitalism (GASP! How un-American!) and the fairness of this economic system. I am no economist nor do I know the difference between Wall Street or Canal Street (Kidding ladies!), but I can do simple math and know the simple preschool rules of fair practices! The system is in dire need of a shift towards the middle. The American way has become the idea of the way of freedom and opportunity, but that's just about it, an idea. Ask a person from each of the two classes in America about the "American Way" and you'll hear two very different answers. Ask a wealthy CEO from New York City and recently laid off factory worker from Detroit. American Capitalism continues to help the rich while striking down the poor (get used to hearing that, campaign season is coming). The middle class is what built the United States and the current political agenda is eliminating it. This generations version of the "American Way" and Capitalism is murky and altered because of greed. This blog wasn't meant to cure this ailment, but just a way for me to complain about the system. Americans need to start looking at the big picture, A.K.A. the future of America, and realize that legislators are put in their position to help America, not just their warchests. Capitalism is a good system when utilized and optimized, not manipulated by those who are staying at the top. It's about time realism alters the "Capitalism" going on. Oh, and shout out to the Egyptian people who went against my advice in my prior blog, I hope the best for you guys and congratulations, I will have a drink for every one of you.

Hello World

I haven't blogged for a while, since before Christmas to be exact, and the world has experienced a lot of changes since. For starters, the new Congressman were sworn in to start the process of repealing "Obamacare", Obama mentioned Scranton in the State of the Union, Tunisia and Egypt are going through massive revolutions, and the Packers have beaten the Steelers in the Super Bowl (equal in importance? not at all but keeping people reading helps!). Before the SB, Obama was interviewed by Bill O'Reily (great man! not.) and he said something that I have been thinking for a while. He said "I don't want to spend the next two years working to repeal what they spent the previous two years working towards, which will then force the term after this to work towards it again. I think picking apart the current Health Care plan would be better than to remove it all together. Why rebuild the building instead of remodel it? Although we are Americans and we continue to build new developments rather than remodel the vacant houses that are rotting away, lets be un-American this time. Take time and fix it up, the idea of the great 50's American way, lets not spend useless time and money by rebuilding a new one. Now to Africa, North Africa to be exact. Egypt is one of the most historical countries in the entire world. When one thinks of Egypt, they think of desert and Pyramids, which is partly true, but they are also a pretty "democratic" nation. They have a recent history of reign under Hosni Mubarak and the people of Egypt are not pleased with him anymore. There is chaos in Egypt and has been for weeks, but removing Mubarak, although seems the best idea, isn't the best idea. The best way to turn revolution into anarchy is to remove power and start from the bottom. The people do not understand the problem of allowing mob mentality to take over their movement and remove the government. There are militants that are dangerous that could take power. African countries have a history of removing power through revolution and causing havoc throughout the nation, which then leads to more unrest and removal of power. There is no definite answer to the situation in Egypt, just like other problems in the world, but mob mentality taking over and removing Mubarak isn't the productive answer. We must sit and watch and wait. As Jack Johnson sings "I was sittin, waiting, wishing" and that is exactly what the world will be doing. Hopefully, for the progress of International Relations and not the progress of terrorism. I will write more soon, that is a promise. Enjoy your night world and ?? Go Packers ??