100 Days

Before we begin to rate our new President, let us not forget the colossal weight on his shoulders.

The following is my updated version of Billy Joel’s song,
“We Didn’t Start the Fire”

Dick Cheney, Condi Rice, Red China, World Trade
The Decider, Don Rumsfeld, Iraq was a no-go

Bin Laden, Taliban, Climate Change, Pakistan
North Korea, South Korea, Flu from Mexico

Detroit broke, vaccine, England's got the same queen
Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Somali Pirates, Mafia

Iran wants The Bomb, Baghdad, Pyongyang
Banks fail, Hunger swells, Poverty in Africa

CHORUS
He didn't start the fire
W. left it burning
with our heads all turning
He didn't start the fire
Obama didn't light it
But he’s trying to fight it

Vlad Putin, Medvedev, Russians still in Georgia
Mogadishu, Failing States, Never-ending Wall Street slide

Foreign debts, Injured Vets, AIDS, Crack, Pricey Jets
Palestine, Israel, Jihadists taking sides

Drug Cartels, Pope Benedict, Bathroom Politician sex
Troop withdrawal, Suicide, China owns the USA

Trading Gap, Afghanistan, Budget Gap, Sudan
Benazir blown away, what else do I have to say!

CHORUS
He didn't start the fire
W. left it burning
with our heads all turning
He didn't start the fire
Obama didn't light it
But he’s trying to fight it

The Addict

As I sit at my work desk,
my body begins twitching.
It does not want to be still,
there is a mental itching.

Quite involuntarily,
random muscles are firing,
They want not to be idle,
knowing what I’m desiring.

The urging is visceral,
to deny is futility
The growing monster within,
he demands utter parity.

I give in to the burning,
and go where no one can see.
All my paperwork can wait,
to the locker room I flee.

I open up my satchel,
and get all that I will need.
I strap music to my arm,
and I eagerly proceed.

It takes several minutes,
for the feeling to kick in.
Then I start to perspire,
and feel quite flushed in my skin.

Biochemicals do their work,
and I start to feel weightless.
My body is powerful,
for my soul is now gateless.

As I begin to come down,
off my endorphin-laced high,
Pain mixed with tranquility,
is my reward and the why.

I can feel a throbbing pulse,
slowly fade behind my eyes,
My escapist drug of choice,
is in fact just exercise.

Farm Subsidies Do More Harm than Good

Farm subsidies are an outdated response to the Great Depression, but in this global recession, the last thing we should do is undermine global trade by over-subsidizing our farmers and giving them an unfair advantage over poorer nations.

Subsidies may help some struggling small farmers, but the vast majority (3/4) of these tax-funded handouts is given to the largest 10% of farms. This program needs to be revamped, scaled back, or just plain cut from the budget. In this recession, demand and production of food will drop, but we fat-assed Americans eat twice as much as we need to be healthy so there is no danger of famine.

Farmers in western desert states are given incentives to grow thirsty crops that require flood irrigation, which is just asinine. Water is becoming our most precious resource and we need to rethink all the wasteful practices in agriculture when in comes to water rights. States are allowed to set their own rules, but perhaps the EPA should step in when states have decades old policies than are detrimental to the global environment.

Last year, $687 million dollars was given to farmers in CA and AZ alone. Through loopholes in the law, some wealthy Americans who don’t even farm or happen to be deceased still collect subsidies. If we intend to make any headway in paying down the national debt and jump starting our economy, maybe we should stop giving the “Haves” more money to hide in offshore accounts and create healthcare-bearing jobs for the “Have-nots”.

Assault Weapons?!

In the wake of the hostage situation in NY and the news of U.S. weapons being used in the Mexican drug wars, I decided to look up current gun laws. I'm sure many of you are aware, but I was shocked to find out that Congress let the assault weapon ban lapse in 2004. What?! They didn't even try to extend it. I remember in 1994 Pres Clinton signed the bill banning semi-automatic "assault style" weapons which have no practical use other than to wage war or commit terrorism. The ban was a good thing, but apparently in was only in effect for 10 years.
This is an issue that needs to be taken up again. It is as if we all got tired of fighting the powerful lobbist of the NRA and just gave up. Now don't get me wrong, because I am not proposing that we ignore the 2nd Amendment.

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

I am suggesting, however, that the words 'Arms' and 'infringed' can be interpreted to benefit the common good. Some things must be regulated and kept out of the hands of private citizens for the safety of us all. No sane person would argue that private citizens should be allowed to own a nuclear weapon. If we can't constitutionally prevent people from owning assault weapons, we should at least stop selling them. People have the right to bear arms, but the government has the right to dictate which weapons should be sold to the public. Just block the selling of guns and ammunition for these extreme weapons which were designed for the sole purpose of killing as many humans as possible.
Responsible people with a clean background check (criminal and mental) should always be allowed to purchase guns for hunting and home defense. However, no one needs to defend his home with an AK-47 or a TEC-9, and hunting with these weapons is just absurd.