Tuesday, January 22, 2008

WHEN I am President: Part #1

WHEN I am President:

I got to thinking and today, and I was honestly confused on how hard it could be to serve the people of the United States and lead the government in a manner that would be in the best interest of the citizens. Then I thought of the two biggest road blocks: Congress and Foreign governments. Despite those two obstacles (easily overcome-able with a little work), serving the citizens of the US shouldn’t be too hard as we all have the same basic ideals that get discombobulated in a politician’s mouth.

College:
Standardize the tuition of public colleges and universities across the nation to an average baseline and adjust according to the cost of living.
Eliminate free college education within the US prison system. If Joe Snuffy and his sister have to pay for college, and if our Service Members have to pay for college, so should prisoners.
After 10 years of service in the military, Service Members should have 100% of their tuition to any public college paid for. Under 10 years should maintain the Tuition Assistance program available now.
The Montgomery GI Bill should be transferrable to dependants.

Prison system:
You saw how I feel about education in prisons. I have no problem with OJT for technical skills and ESL courses, but please…law degrees? Whatever!
How much money is pumped into the Federal bureau of prisons? Too much! Tent city in Arizona should be the standard. Cable? No! Gourmet meals? NO! If our school children and Soldiers can eat it, then the prisoners should feel blessed to have it.
Possession with intent to sell or distribution in a school zone should have a 5 year minimum sentence, first offense. Three strikes for possession? 5 years minimum. With the idea of tent city, no cable and no college, the US can afford to house prisoners for the full length of their term.
Death sentence? If criminals think falling asleep to die is cruel and unusual, they should try being sucked apart by a vacuum cleaner. I mean it is ok for babies, why not prisoners? Set a standard, keep the standard.

Health care:
NO universal health care. It isn’t working for our beloved neighbors to the north, why would we think it would work here.
Increase education assistance for nurses, physicians and CNA’s. They will take care of us in the future, let’s make them happy with their career now.

Business:
Major tax credits for US Corporations…..IF:
1> No tax cuts for US based companies that are 55% outsourced or more.2> The full tax cut would go to businesses who were 100% US with no outsourcing3> Companies would receive a cut for exporting 25% more than they import or more
4> Largest cuts would also go to companies who had no imports and solely used US goods





Next time: More on business, military, foriegn policy, taxes, and debt

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

New year

Well, it has been a little bit since I was in here, lots of things on my mind that I have wanted to post here, lots of things going on in my life to keep me from doing that lol.

First: The steroid report that was released about a week and half ago? Total crap. I am sorry, if you don't think a large percentage of athletes are taking enhancing drugs, then you are either out of the loop, or in so much denial to think soap operas and WWE are real.
Me personally? LEGALIZE LEGALIZE LEGALIZE!!! Why? "Roid rage" is a myth. Chris Benoit had massive head injuries form his flying headbutts, not rage form LEGAL ROIDS. Why again? Who does it hurt? SO I want to be stronger, slimmer and healthier? Oh not! The pharmaceutical companies may not make money off of me trying to manage the HUNDREDS of diseases that afflict obese people. Last why? Because it is better for you to legally juice than it is to smoke, drink, drive, fly, swim.........need I continue? More people die every year, probably every day from those activities than who die form 'roids.

New rant: Brittany Spears: Why do I care about her, her life, her drama or her patheticness? I will pray for her, I will especially pray for her kids. Other than that, who cares? or her sister ( what a ' great ' role model ) or any other of those prima donnas who think the world revolves around them and who news agencies continually put as the lead headlines.

Third rant: Presidential elections: Why is Iowa ( go hawkeyes!) and NH so important? Is it because the winner of their primaries won't be President? Who knows, more power to the MILLIONS of dollars spent in advertising instead of doing some real good. I say let there be a $500,000 cap for primaries and $1,000,000 cap for the real election for the candidates to advertise with.
ALSO, don't vote for the lesser of evils, vote for who represents YOU. Don't vote because some non-political movie star, singer, union or someone who doesn't know YOU says so. It is YOUR vote. Use it to represent YOU.

Last rant: The War. There are more Service members who support the war in Iraq now than last year. Why do you ask? Simple, we have lost brothers and sisters in arms and we have a mission. Do not cause us to FAIL by tieing our hands or not supporting what we do where we do it. We were given a mission, for whatever reason, by our Commander in Chief, and by CONGRESS. Leave us alone, give us what we need, give us rules that make sense and LET US WIN.

Ok, that is all, I thank you for the visit. In ending I want to tell my family I Love them and miss them, God Bless America, God Bless the Troops and to urge EVERYONE to hug a Soldier, Sailor, Airmen or Marine. It doesn't matter who they are, they are prepared to enter the gates of hell to make someone, somewhere freer than they were before.

Friday, December 28, 2007

Post Christmas

Weel, my favorite holiday has come and gone again, and once again it was a beautiful time of the year. Whiel I didn't get the gift I wanted most (Brittany coming home) it was still a time of laughs, cheer and love.

Other than seeing my family and step family, there was one instance i want to talk about today:

We are opening gifts, and my brother gets a hendrick hat from his oldest daughter, Rachael. this is somewhat a sore spot with my brother as he is a die hard Earnhardt fan, my neice is a Jimmy Johnson fan and her husband is a (gag) Jeff Gordan fan. Since Dale Jr will drive for Hendrick in '08, he took it with a grin.

His next gift was tickets to the 50th running of the Daytona 500. He opened it, looked at it, looked at her, looked at it, looked at her and said are you kidding?

She said no, they are real and then he cried, she cried, I knew about and cried, Jenn cried......I even think mom n dad may have shed a tear.

Between this, and having a white Christmas, there wasn't much missing.

I want to welcome my parents and my two youngest neices to viewers of my blog, as well as all of my new friends and viewers from World Class Bodybuilding.

Be sure to check out my friends and pages elsewhere! www.myspace.com/from12bto91c

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Countdown to Christmas

Well, Christmas is just down the road form now, my yard looks like is belongs to the Griswald family, my gifts are all still unwrapped, I am working on a 12 day stint at work with 11-14 hour days everyday, and you know what? I am still happier now than I had been since about this time last year.....

In 2000, I last saw my second oldest niece, Brittany Bone, when my wife and I got married. She has been in contact with my mom, her sister and some others in the family, but I haven't seen her. Brit was my mini, female version of me in a lot of ways, smart as hell, athletic, energetic, adn personable....everyone liked her. This year....all I want is to see all four of my nieces, 3 of whom will be at our Christmas celebration this weekend.

Flash forward to 2003, CPT Christopher Soelzer and SGT Benjamin Biskie died in a VBIED attack north of Baghdad, Iraq. These two were my battle buddies when I was in the 5th Engineers. From eatign dinner with Ben and his family, to feeding Chris and sharign a beer with them all, losing them on Christmas Eve was one of the two hardest moments in my life.

In 2004, SGT Roy Harrison and his wife Anita joined families with me and Jennifer to host our New Soldiers, and this is the year I started acting like a Griswald. In 2005, we adopted families for the holidays again, only this year I dressed up as Santa, delivering gifts to Soldiers working on Ft Bragg, NC on Christmas Day. In 2006 I moved to MO, kept things low key, but still decorating like a mad man. Now this year, I played Santa, will visit the family, decorate like a maniac and who knows what else.

Wow, what a summary of the past 5 Christmas' plus more. I'm not sure when I will post again so if I am not back I want to close with this message:

No matter what religion you follow, if any, it doesn't matter if you are Conservative or Liberal, Christmas is a time of love, of sharing, of family and of giving. Remember that as we enter the Holiday Season, and live that all throughout the year. Don't be offended for someone wishing you a Merry Christmas.....it is a federal holiday after all :D

Friday, December 14, 2007

I am a steroid ---- from Basskiller

I am a steroid, and I am mad.
Why have I become such a bad word in this country when I do so much good in this world?
Why has my honorable name been soiled just because a few dishonorable athletes have abused me?
Renowned doctors worldwide have called me a wonder drug, but I am being portrayed nationally as the dirty little secret of the hulked-up, bulked-up juicers in Major League Baseball. I am actually being painted by grandstanding politicians as a death sentence for the youth of America.
Let me tell you something. My job is to rescue kids, not kill them. I have saved thousands upon thousands of premature babies who are injected with me to help their little lungs develop quickly so they can breath, so they can live. Without me, these babies, some of whom don't even weigh 1 pound, would be killed by something called "Respiratory Distress Syndrome" -- a sometimes fatal disorder where the air sacs collapse in their underdeveloped lungs. "There's no question that steroids have saved the lives of many babies," says Dr. David Auerbach, the director of the neonatal intensive care unit at the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. "They've had an incredible impact. There are times when they are the difference between life and death."

You see, it was always my intention to help the many sick people who need me, not the few sickos who exploit me. It was never my desire to help Barry Bonds grow muscles. It was always my mission to shrink tumors in cancer patients. That's right, I have become one of the major medical combatants in the fight against cancer. I help patients overcome the nauseous effects of chemotherapy. I simultaneously help build up their strength while tearing down the disease. And sometimes, when all is lost, I am prescribed in the advanced stages of terminal cancer to help victims cope -- to increase their appetite, to make them feel better. "There are some steroids that will literally destroy cancer," says Dr. Clarence Brown, the president of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center here in town. "There are many patients who are alive and well because of steroids. I don't think any doctor would argue that steroids have saved a lot of lives -- many more lives than they have cost."
Actually, I'm not so sure that I've been directly responsible for taking a single life. Everybody always brings up the name Lyle Alzado -- the former Oakland Raider steroid abuser who died in 1992. Has anybody bothered to check out Alzado's cause of death? Everybody just assumes it was me. But doctors say he died of complications from brain cancer, and there is absolutely no medical evidence that I cause brain cancer. Much has been made by self-indulgent politicians about how I'm becoming an epidemic among America's teenagers. This was the contrived reason they gave for holding a congressional hearing last week on baseball players who use me. Really, it was just so these politicians could see themselves on SportsCenter. The fact is that less than 1 percent of college and high school students have ever taken me recreationally. Compare that with the nearly 25 percent who have smoked cigarettes, 30 percent who have used marijuana and 80 percent who have consumed alcohol.
Considering the number of teenagers who die every year as the result of drunk driving, I suggest our federal government forget about me and hold a congressional hearing on the hard liquor ads NASCAR allows on the sides of its racecars. And considering the number of teenagers who pollute their lungs with nicotine, maybe we should hold a congressional hearing on why the PGA Tour still allows its "athletes" to smoke cigarettes during competition. Unlike these other drugs, I save people and benefit society. I help breathe life into new babies and comfort old people who are taking their last breaths. Everywhere you look, there is somebody I've cured or strengthened. In fact, the writer of this column has a daughter who, while still in the womb, was given steroids to help her survive. Jessica is now a healthy, beautiful and intelligent 5-year-old who some believe will become the first woman president of the United States. And the editor of this column was seriously ill five years ago and was given steroids to successfully reduce swelling in his liver due to a chronic condition. He continues to be a loud, obnoxious Bostonian who has lived long enough to finally see his Red Sox win a World Series. I am a steroid, and I am a good drug. So just leave me alone and let me do my job

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Another day, Another Dollar

Well, after a wonderful two days of working the floor in the Intensive Care Unit, I got to visit my office and do some of my wardmaster duties. You want to talk about miserable! lol
I was pretty well finished with everything I wanted to accomplish today by 3pm, but I was leading the physical fitness training that did not begin until 5pm. At least when that came around life was looking pretty good.

I realized that when I blog, I probably should mention something about current events, something somewhat controversial, or how I feel about random topics.

Today, I have steroids on my mind. Not more than about 5 weeks ago, the Federal government, of whom I am employed, conducted an operation known as "operation gear grinder." This operation was to eliminate a train of raw steroids that were coming from overseas form China and then being distributed in America.

So this fits into the need of controversy and current events, as well as something I feel strongly about. Steroids are banned under the controlled substance act and are labeled as a Cat II drug, placing them in the same category of such drugs as cocaine, LSD and other medically insignificant drugs. The problem with this is because steroids ARE MEDICALLY SIGNIFICANT! Wasting diseases such as AIDS, burn patients, little kids and respiratory patients are all in need of steroid treatment to get better.

Here is my gripe: Marijuana is less toxic than cigarettes, alcohol kills more people than marijuana and Ecstasy combined. LSD, coke, meth are all addictive and cause violent behaviors in accordance with that physical addiction. Steroids on the other hand, despite the "truth " of 'roid rage, do not psychological change a person, are not physically addictive, and when taken properly and under the care of a physician, are not harmful to the average person.

Then there are the benefits which I will sum up very lightly: increase in strength, increase in muscle mass, decrease in fat, and an overall better sense of self and a better sense of health.

Now that I have ranted, I promise to the readers out there that I will provide more detailed information about these things I say, I will provide research, and I will refer people to sources to learn more for themselves.

Rember, if you have questions, feel free to post them so I can research them!
That is all for now, until next time!

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Holiday Spirit

4 years ago, this Christmas, I spent my first Christmas away from loved ones. This was the year I was deployed to Iraq as a member of OIF I. It wasn't as bad as what I thought it would be. Honestly, there were a lot of similarities between living in Baghdad and living in Mexico City. That is, of course, not counting the near-daily mortar attacks.

That Christmas Eve, I lost 2 good friends in an IED attack, one I didn't know the details of until the day after Christmas. I was fortunate to have another good friend in theatre at the same time, who was as close as I was to these 2. Ever since, I have been emotionally distant during the holidays, able to be happy, without feeling happy. Able to spread joy, without feeling joy.

Yesterday, my wife, my youngest stepdaughter, and one of the nurses I work with went to Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO for their Christmas celebration. It was a good time, with a lot of laughs, lots of good food, and a sense of peace that I had forgotten about. Lieing at the base of the 30 or so foot Christmas tree was what I was in need of, speaking in the sense of short term. The music, the love, the peace all reminded me there was hope.

I know I am seriously jacked up in the head. I'll get more into that this week. Maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel. Lord knows after 15 or so years of working emergency medicine, I need to see that tunnel end for a bit.

I am keeping today short , I will ramble if I don't, but to any of my brothers and sisters in arms, comrades in Fire Fighting or EMS, and anyone who has been through severe emotional trauma, know that there is hope in healing PTSD. See you all soon.

-cb