YeeHawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

   Well, I didn't think it was gonna happen this year, but thanks to my good friend Tiffiny, I got to check out the rodeo this year.  If you've never been to the Houston rodeo, it's one of those things you just have to do.  Even if you don't like animals or the rodeo or carnivals or whatever, it's just impressive to see how far those people go.  From the cookoff (which is an absolute madhouse) to the rodeo itself, it's definitely a site to behold.
   This trip wasn't the full-on day long visit that I usually try to do... I like to check out the animals, see what kind of crazy western stuff they're selling (anyone need a saddle?  They got 'em), and eat a turkey leg or something from the carnival (dining roullete).  Still, we had chute seats, which means you're right up on the action (like literally sitting in a foldout chair in the dirt during the concert), which were pretty awesome.  If you ever get those, a few things to consider: you don't need to eat beforehand becaus they have free food (I recommend the taquitos).  They also have free ice cream (I discovered this very late, but I still managed to eat two drumsticks before they closed it down).  You should try to go to the bathroom before they call you down to the dirt, because it's definitely a long run back up.  Also, if you can, bring a couple of drinks with you to the dirt, and try to keep the lids (there's a lot of dirt flying around down there, gotta keep it clean folks).
   We saw Gary Allan, and while I have no idea who that guy is, I liked his music alright.  And it was also pretty awesome to actually be sitting on the floor at Reliant Stadium.  I tried to picture how it would be during a Texans game, to be a football player out there in the middle of the field (we were seated at about the 40 yard line), looking up and seeing thousands of people watching you wreck people.  How awesome would that be?  Pretty awesome.

You Might Want to Skip This Part...
   I'm sorry guys but I have to get on a soap box for a minute.  Last entry I talked some about how schools are basically wrecking kids for America, but the reality is that there's a lot more going into it than just that.  This might sound apocolyptic or over the top or whatever, but we really are witnessing the downfall of our country.  Seriously.  And that downfall can be attributed to the same thing that was behind the downfall of the worlds only other Superpower: The Soviet Union.  And that downfall can be traced to one word:  Socialism.
   Consider this: America runs on capitalism... yet America is already a good part Socialist.  Before you shrug this off, hear me out.  You hear a lot of "socialist this and that" thrown around right now, I understand that, but it really is happening.  Before we go into detail, let's make sure we're in the right mindset.  When this country was founded, the idea was that the federal government hold very little responsibility.  Maintain an army to protect our borders.  Keep things like highways in good repair and running smoothly.  Hold a few standard laws that carry across the nation.  You get the idea.  The bulk of the specific laws, taxes, etc were to be handled by state governments, which is much easier.  Now of course, the federal government is going to have to grow and change as our country grows and changes, but starting with the Great Depression, our government moved into a whole new world where it just doesn't belong.
   During the depression, the government came up with the idea that to spur the economy, we'll help those in need by throwing some money their direction.  Sure it inflates the dollar a little, but these are hard working honest people, and if we just give them money to spend, they'll spend it.  That should kickstart the economy.  That, with a little help from World War 2, did the trick.  But welfare, which should have ended at that point, stuck around.  Why?  Because people liked it.  It was nice to have that cushion... if you lost your job or fell on hard times, you had a safety net to help get you back on your feet.  Great in concept, but when you factor in human nature, of course it's going to get taken advantage of... and that's just what's happened over the years, culminating in this whole Healthcare mess we're dealing with right now.  But let's set healthcare aside for the moment and go back to the beginning elements:
   Welfare - This is perhaps the biggest socialist move our country ever made.  I'm including any kind of benefit here, like disability or unemployment or even Social Security.  Anything that runs on the idea that those who have stumbled onto hard times deserve a handout from the government.  Like I said before, this safety net sounds great on paper, but the problem is that with Welfare there's no incentive for anyone to return to work.  Just look at "The Dude," a perfect example of someone completely taking advantage of the system.  He makes enough to live on, so he says why should I have to go back to work?  And why should he?  The problem here of course is that we (the people who DO work) are paying for him to be a lazy ass.  That's socialism, and it's not right.  And you ever wonder why poor people or the unemployed often have so many kids?  It's probably because having more kids earns you more money from the government.  I'm sorry for those kids, but that is completely counterintuitive.  The solution?  Put people on TEMPORARY unemployment.  Give them enough to live on for a month, but then cut them off (or at least taper off their benefits).  The goal here is that when you get laid off, you know you have a month to get a new job or else you're gonna be in trouble.  Also, don't provide any more money for families who have children after they've filed for unemployment.  This hurts the kids, who are innocent I agree, but you've got to hope that parents are smart enough to know that when they don't have jobs, they shouldn't be popping out kids.  Finally, get rid of Social Security.  We should not be paying for people to live past retirement.  I think this is the last generation of retirees who deserve unemployment.  They worked hard their entire lives under this system, good for them.  But end it soon, because there's no way (with people living longer and retiring earlier) that we can keep supporting them with this system.  Instead, privatize it.  Set up government 401Ks for anyone who wants to plan for retirement.  Let me pay into my own retirement fund, and then when I'm retired I can live off of what I set aside.  It's my responsibility to make sure me and mine are taken care of.  That responsibility should not fall on anyone else.
   Affirmative Action - I can see where Affirmative Action might have been good, but it needs to stop.  For those of you who don't know what Affirmative Action is, it basically states that companies must hire on an equal basis.  For x number of white employees, there has to be y number of black employees.  For x number of men, there has to be y number of women.  Etc.  Now, back in the old days when there was a lot of discrimination among races and genders, I think this would have been a fantastic law to enact.  But, if you take a snapshot of America's workforce, you see that a lot of that has gone away.  There are plenty of minority and female managers, bosses, ceos, etc, and those numbers are growing.  It's time for America to go back to a "hire based on qualification" system.  Why should I be passed up for a job I'm more qualified for, simply because I'm white or because I'm a man?  Why should a company have to sell itself short just to meet some government quota?  It doesn't make sense, it hampers our economy, and it's socialism in action.
   Income Tax - This is a big one.  Income tax should not be taken away by the federal government.  You work for your money, you should be entitled to every cent of it.  The problem here is that the government depends pretty heavily on your income tax.  The way it's set up right now, the richer you are, the more you pay.  While I personally agree with that, I disagree with how that money is spent.  This is again where the state government comes into play.  The money you earn should wind up helping you, since that's what government's here to do anyway, right?  It shouldn't go to people who don't want to work, it shouldn't go to those who haven't worked as hard as you have to get where you are, and it certainly shouldn't go to a state on the other side of the country from you.  If you're going to do an income tax, it should stay in your city, or at least your state.  The federal government shouldn't have the job of reallocating that money or doing anything with it, but again, it's something they depend on pretty heavily.  Consider how your money is being spent, though.  Ever seen the movie "Dave?"  They did a good job of illustrating just how much money the government wastes on things like PSA ad campaigns and overpaid employees who live a rich life doing almost no work.  There's just no reason the government should be hiring a hollywood production company to do its ad work, and there's no reason a dude whose job it is to survey government buildings should be living in a mansion.
   Policing the World - The US Military has bases all over the world.  Japan, Germany, Poland, Canada, Iraq, the list goes on.  Why?  What business do our soldiers have in other countries?  Can you imagine what would happen if Germany decided they wanted to open a military base on American soil?  It'd be the end of the world!  There's no way America is going to allow anyone to touch us, so what gives us the right to mess with them?  I can understand after World War 2 maybe setting up a TEMPORARY base in Japan and Germany, just to make sure they're not screwing around.  I can understand setting up European bases during the Cold War to make sure the Soviets don't get any ideas.  I can understand setting up a base in Iraq while we're helping them rebuild.  But these are all war or post-war bases.  I don't think Germany's going to attack us, and I don't think Japan's planning building a new empire... it's time for those soldiers to come home.  The benefit here is that by putting our hands into everyone else's cookie jars, we gain leverage.  As long as we're in Iraq, they're going to depend on us to help them, which in turn means we can ask for discounts on their oil and other exports.  Before you know it, they're barely surviving and we're reaping the benefits.  We're like the mafia of the world... we come to your shop (country), break stuff (crush your government), then fix it but on our terms (we get to keep a military presence forever).  If you pay up (give us discounts on your goods) then we'll "protect you," when the reality is we're only protecting you from ourselves.  It's no wonder the people in Afghanistan and Iraq hate us... we're like big bullies.  I don't want to get into an argument about 9/11 here, but I honestly believe if we hadn't been meddling in their business (or helping Israel to do just that) then they might not have gotten angry enough to go nuts and kill a bunch of civillians.  It's too late to ever know if that's true now, but while we're still in the middle east, we need to get out of Germany, Japan, etc and bring our troops home.  You want to secure our borders?  Put those troops down there.  There are so many extra troops we could bring home, we could put one every 50 feet and have complete, solid border protection.
   Government entering the private sector - The government (federal, state, whatever) should never EVER be involved in the private business of America.  This should be as strong or stronger than the separation of Church and State.  It is not government's job to decide which companies should live and which ones don't need to be saved.  Case in point: the GM and bank bailouts.  The government paid out the nose to keep companies like AIG and Chrysler alive, when these companies should have been destroyed.  That's capitalism at work, people.  The companies which provide a better product at a better price, and work on an honest and true system, will survive and thrive.  Those that don't, won't.  Or shouldn't.  Instead, the government has stepped in and used YOUR money to put a bandaid on these failing companies.  Would you ever buy a GM?  If you said no, you should be aware that you just bought one for someone else, because your money is what's keeping those cars on the road right now.  What's really sad is that those companies will still eventually fail, eventually the government will not be able to give them any more money, and because of their stupid practices and miserable products, they'll go under eventually.  Those jobs will still be lost, and the only difference will be that your tax dollars were wasted trying to keep them afloat.  Incidentally, if the government were to take the amount of money they gave to Chrysler, GM, AIG, etc, and instead split it up evenly among all Americans, we'd all be rich!  You want to really kick start the economy?  Put the money in OUR hands... let US decide which companies should live and which ones should die.  THAT'S how capitalism works.
   Now, capitalism does have a dark side, and I think we've all seen plenty of that with these executives giving themselves bonuses while their companies wither and die.  A perfect example of how capitalism can get nasty is with the insurance companies.  You pay insurance companies a premium for 20 years, then your house burns down.  Sure insurance covers it, but then they either jack up your rate or drop you altogether.  Then other insurance companies will turn you away because you're not a "smart investment."  Insurance companies have huge profit margins, and they're an industry that shouldn't have hardly any.  You pay them to protect you, yet when you need them, you're screwed.  That doesn't make sense... they completely contradict their sole purpose.  Government, if it's going to get involved in this stuff at all, should only be there to make sure that corporations aren't taking advantage of you, the little guy.  You don't solve this by forcing every person to have insurance.  This gives all the power to the insurance companies.  If people don't want to have insurance, they shouldn't have to have it.  Though (especially in the case of driver's insurance) they should then be held responsible when there's an accident.  There shouldn't be any handouts for them, they made their choice, now they have to live with it.  You also don't solve this by having the government take over those same insurance companies.  And that's exactly what's going on with healthcare.
   Universal Healthcare (which really should be called Socialized Healthcare) might sound nice on paper: everyone gets insured, medical bills drop considerably, everyone wins... but in reality it's opening the door for huge problems.  You've heard about long lines at emergency rooms, medication shortages, etc... but all of that is already happening under the current system.  You've also heard about the financial nightmare that will come from socializing healthcare... I work hard to make my money, and I get good insurance because of that.  Why does Jimmy, who works at a fast food chain and has no aspirations to do anything else with his life, deserve that same level of care?  And what's more, why should I have to pay so that he gets that level of care?  That doesn't make sense, why should I bust my ass to help those who won't do the same?  But what really scares me about socialized medicine is that down the road, the insurance companies will go away, and you'll be in the government's pocket for medical expenses.  Those "death panels" everyone freaks out about?  That's a reality.  The government could potentially set an age limit for how long they'll take care of you, and after that you're not worth it.  They can also set rules like everyone must take "x" medication or else you won't be treated anymore.  Sure insurance companies can set those kinds of limitations now, but because of capitalism you have a choice to go to another insurance provider or take it on without insurance altogether.  When the government is in control, you have nowhere else to go.  It's their way or the highway.  Now the government promises this transition to universal healthcare will be slow and gradual, but you better never forget that it would be a transition.  Your right to explore your options, to get a second opinion, to go in for elective surgery, etc... it's all going to be taken away and put into the government's hands.
   Now, I'm not asking you to vote Libertarian (even though that's what I'm preaching here... read about it if you like).  I'm not asking you to do anything except consider what I've brought up here.  Do some research on your own... don't listen to me, or Brit Hume, or Wolf Blitzer, or Sean Hannity, or Rush Limbaugh, or Anderson Cooper... listen to yourself.  Look up what this healthcare bill really means for YOU, and then make your decision.  Think about where your money's going (did you get an income tax return?  Congrats, it's not even half of what you SHOULD have gotten) and decide whether that's something you really agree with or not.  I for one believe that now is the time when we tell the government enough is enough.  They've gotten too big for their own britches, and it's time for them to go back to what they're supposed to do: protect us from invasion, make sure the highways stay pretty, and otherwise leave us the hell alone.  Alright that's enough...

Adventureland
   College graduate guy discovers the only way he's going to get into the grad school he wants is to stay home for the summer and get a job.  But because he's a loser and hasn't had to work a day in his life, he sucks at looking for work and no one wants to hire him.  Eventually he breaks down and gets a job at Adventureland, the local theme park and the one job he never, ever wants to have.  However, while he's there he meets great new friends and a girl he likes, and now we've got ourselves a movie.
   When the credits rolled on "Adventureland," I felt tricked.  It was a good movie, but it wasn't the comedy that the trailers suggested.  I saw Bill Hader and Ryan Reynolds telling jokes, acting stupid, and being slap-stick-y... but the movie's atmosphere is completely different.  Think of it like a "Nick and Norah" meets "Superbad," set in the 80s.  Good call on setting it in the 80s, by the way.  Great music, great hair, and people acting stupid.  Works for the timeframe.  The thing about this movie is that it's actually pretty serious.  Sure there's some subdued humor, but we're tackling some very grown-up after school special issues here.  I will say that it was believable, and all the characters made sense in a real-life situation... but it just wasn't what I expected.
   If you've ever had a shitty job where you made great friends, then you will definitely appreciate this movie.  You'll relate to the characters who are all so miserable that they cling to each other, even if in a normal setting they might not.  You'll have a few laughs and you might even feel bad for a few people, but if you're going to watch it don't go in expecting a comedy.  This movie is much more and much less than that.  OOOOOH DEEP!

   Alright folks, Houston Cougars are in March Madness... I'm sure you'll all be watching that.  Go Coogs.  Talk to you later...