I had the opportunity to attend the local Raleigh, North Carolina “tea party” protest during a break in my busy schedule. While I am highly supportive of smaller government, less taxes, fiscal responsibility, and all that jazz, I was more interested in seeing what level of turn-out there really was (without the possibility of any inaccuracies in counts provided by the local or national media). A lot of people there had the right idea — doing something practical to make a real change. A few folks, though were a bit mislead. The most was a person who screamed something to the effect of “Thank God for Fox News!” at the end of the event. For this person, I recommend watching the following video, Outfoxed, with an open mind: 

In addition to the claims brought up by this documentary, I could mention others that have rubbed me the wrong way in the past. 

I know a lot of people will find something offensive about “Outfoxed.” I know, since I’ve been told that I hate America, spit on veterans, and that I am a secret member of the left-wing because I believe in getting to the truth of the matter rather than walking a party line or taking the easy way out by blindly accepting things based on appearances alone. And, more often than not, those making these ridicuouls claims were “informed” by hours-upon-hours of watching Fox News.

Anyway, there’s no requirement that people be open-minded, feel comfortable enough with their own deeply-held beliefs to question their own assumptions, etc. Apparently, a lot of folks who’ve drank the Fox Kool-Aid claim Fox News and their associated properties to be an “alternative” media outlet. Just remember, news is a biz and the goal of businesses is profit. Moreso now-a-days, news is becoming wrapped in slick marketing and public relations techniques specifically designed to drive you to a particular point-of-view.

But if it makes you feel better, you can believe whatever you want to believe. Who am I to change your reality? Hmmm, but then again, who is Fox News, and who are they to change your reality?

H/T: Daily Paul

I felt pretty good when I woke up this morning, but as the morning went on, I starting feeling lousy. Achey joints and muscles, really tired, killer headache, extreme nausea — really, really lousy. I know what everyone’s thinking, but it’s just a run-of-the-mill illness, meaning there is no reason to panic. When I oink incessantly, start craving slop, and wallowing around in the mud, then panic is a perfectly acceptable reaction.

Anyway, since I had a big day planned and I wanted to try my best at making a go of it, I showered, put on my around-town clothes, got back into bed, started on heavy doses of saltines and 7-Up, and hoped. While hope is sometimes necessary in life, it didn’t do much for me this time. So after a couple of hours of trying to visualize my body being bathed in a white light of perfect health, I decided that resistance was futile, put on my comfy-sleeping clothes, and prescribed myself bed rest for the remainder of the day. 

There were two events that I was really excited about attending today. Unfortunately, I’ll have to make YouTubes of similar events do.

The first event that I wanted to attend was Clark Howard’s trip to Durham, North Carolina. For those who don’t know, Clark Howard is a money expert that’s a staple on talk radio and he also recently got a TV show on the HLN cable channel (formerly Headline News). I don’t know what he talked about, although I’m sure it’s similar to what he talked about in this YouTube of an appearance in Dayton, Ohio:

I’ve seen him so much on TV and heard him so much on radio that I suspect I could out-Clark Clark Howard. I don’t know that I would have learned anything new today, but still disappointing none-the-less.

The second event that I wanted to attend is an event is the annual marijuana march and concert held in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina on the first Saturday in May every year. Here’s a video from last year’s event (with a special starring role at about the 6:40 mark):

This year’s event was probably abuzz with discussion of a possible medical marijuana bill being considered in North Carolina. This is an idea that I would have rolled my eyes at ten years ago, but I now believe the time has come. We’ll see if my fellow North Carolinians (and their representatives) agree.

All-in-all, a day lived vicariously from the confines of my bed, all thanks to YouTube. Still I wish I could’ve been out in the sun, having a good time, instead of making my slow march toward metamorphosis into a were-pig via otherwise normal flu-like symptoms. I guess that’ll teach me to get sick…

Hillary Clinton blamed Americans this week for the drug violence in Mexico. Because Americans are consuming so many drugs, Mexicans are getting killed. Brush aside the fact that her husband, former President Clinton, smoked marijuana. Nobel Prize winning former Vice President Al Gore also smoked weed. Governor Arnold of California even appeared on film smoking a jay before his political career began. I would comment on Michael Bloomberg’s use of “the gateway drug,” but I’m quickly running out of drug terms, at least in the case of marijuana usage. I could talk about former President Bush’s alleged heavy cocaine use and current President Obama’s admitted use of “blow.” And there’s a lot of other folks I could mention here as well. So, yeah, Senator Clinton’s absolutely right. The people responsible for Mexicans getting killed in drug violence are Americans — American politicians.