waking up to a new day

So I started toying with this idea after new years.  Thinking that if i started using this blog that I started to talk about things that are on my mind, maybe they wouldn't stay on my mine.  I hadn't bothered to actually do anything about it until today.  Today, for some reason, I started thinking about it again and decided that I would do something to help get the things in my head out.

This probably won't be the greatest thing you've ever read, and I won't promise to be the least controversial thing you've ever seen before either.  There is a reason why i chose the name "Stating the Obvious" so many moons ago.  This is going to be a way for me to express the things that are on my mind, good, bad or ugly.  If you don't like that, then please don't continue reading.  I am going to use this disclaimer at the beginning of every post i make in the coming year to remind people that, while i'm not opposed to hearing your opinion, i'm not going to change things just because they might possibly offend someone.  I kinda have the opinion that people need to be offended every once in a while... it keeps them on their toes and helps them see how over sensitive they are in most cases.  Also, this is a blog, on the internet, so guess what? there are going to be spelling and grammar error.  I am not an english professor, so don't waste time pointing them out.  I already know they are there, its just not as important to me to fix them as it is to get things off my chest.

I am going to link this to my Facebook, so that people can read, but please don't start debates on my facebook wall about the contents of this blog.  That is NOT why i am doing it.

Finally,  I am probably going to have some inane posts that make no sense.  I know that and I am okay with it.  Knowing that, I welcome everyone to read, and comment and discuss.  I might not like what you have to say, but that street will go both ways, I promise.  I am making a commitment to myself to post something on this blog at least twice a week, hopefully more.

Cheers to 2013 and the year ahead.  May it bring us all much joy and happiness.

Three hours; one saturday; making a difference......

Did you know that cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of all Americans? In fact, someone dies from CVD every 38 seconds! Heart disease also kills more women than all forms of cancer combined.  And congenital cardiovascular defects are the most common cause of infant death from birth defects.

These are some pretty powerful reasons to do something about working to prevent heart disease i guess.  Unfortunately, its not really very effective to list these reasons out to people.  Most people think it cannot happen to them, or think that they are really healthy because they eat healthy or go to the gym.  The fact is, sometimes, you can be at risk and not even know it.

Which brings us to today.  As most of you are aware, I am a pretty healthy guy.  I do not smoke, I eat healthy, low fat meals.  I go to the gym, maybe not as regularly as I should, but i do go.  Imagine my surprise when at a recent physical I was diagnosed with high cholesterol.  Then a year later when I discovered my cholesterol had actually gone up to borderline high.  

Why isn't the tea party bitching about this????

I started thinking the other day about this ridiculous budget negotiation crisis crap that is occupying the nation's capital and I got to thinking.....  I know people hear that and immediately go uh oh, Skoogzilla thinking is never a good thing, ha but this is what I started thinking about.

Democrats are refusing to move from their position and Republicans are doing the same, both screaming about stuff and complaining while ignoring the will of the majority of the nation who believe that taxes on the rich should be raised to raise revenues and that spending on military and defense should be cut.

Well what about coming up with some revenue straight from the congressional pockets?

Did you know that rank and file members of congress and senate make $174,000?
431 rank and file congressional members times $174k = $74,994,000....
46 rank and file Senate members time $174k = $8,004,000....

The Leadership of the congress and Senate makes even more - $193,400
2 Majority leaders, one house, one senate times $193,400 = 388,800....
2 Minority Leaders, one house, one senate times $193,400 = 388,800

Finally the Speaker of the House, who at this moment is ignoring the american public's opinion makes an obscene $223,500
1 speaker of the house time $223,500 =  $223,500

All this together adds up to an astounding $83,999,100 per year, and this is only for the representatives of the people....  

Additionally, based on the average salary of congressional staff based on title for the year 2009 we are spending another $281,989,768.02...  So basically, for the governing body of the US, that isn't doing a damn thing except sitting on their collective ass slowly running the country into the ground through inaction we are spending $365,988,868.02 per year in tax payers dollars.

So basically, I want to know, why isn't the tea party bitching about this? over 365,000,000 per year in wasted money?  You want to get rid of career politicians, get rid of this pay scale!  174k a year is over 3 times the median income of the average american household, for people who work on average 130 days per year.

This is bullshit.. and thats just how it is.

And this is me, just stating the obvious.  Wonder why more people aren't talking about it....

The Battle is Not Yet Won

So to start off, Congratulations New Yorkers, your state made history.... a few times, with one legislative act.  First, the one and only republican controlled legislature to pass a gay marriage amendment. What an achievement.  Second, a campaign financed by former republican operatives helped make it possible. Who'd have thought that would ever happen?  Finally, doubling the number of eligible gay population who are in states where they can legally get married. YEAH for us........

These things give me great happiness and provide me with hope that we are crossing the line in the fight to be recognized for who we are, that we are not second class citizens and that our love is just as 'real' as some one who is straight.  But it also gives me a daunting perspective; The fear that I won't be around to see the end of the fight; The sadness to know that there might be a gay child born today, who still 20 years from now will be barred from marring the person they love.  

It is with dubious cheer that I celebrate gay pride month with my brothers and sisters from across the country.   Congratulations to us for a battle hard fought and won.  Strength be with us as we soldier on.  Our fight is not yet done; We cannot sit back and wait for the fight to be brought to us.  Even as New Yorkers celebrate their victory over hate and fear, Minnesota prepares to once again let people vote on civil rights.  North Carolina republicans are exploring putting our rights to a vote as early as 2012.  One has to question the timing of this.... coinciding with a presidential election year where republican have vowed to do nothing less then everything they possibly can to keep the President Obama from being reelected (but that is a different topic for a different day)

We have a duty as Americans, to not let discrimination stand in any way of equal treatment under the law.  It is un-American to stand aside and let people's rights be taken away because it doesn't directly impact you.  America is the land of the free.  It is not the land of the free with an asterisk to exclude certain groups.  

To show the republicans that we will not be stopped.  To show people like Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown of NOM that their chicken-shit attempts to suppress our freedoms will not keep us from winning in the end.  To take it to the Karl Roves of the world and show them that elections cannot be bought with a super PAC.  To let the supreme court know that we will not stand for corruption and subversion of the judicial process by letting corporations control our government.  We must fight as we have never fought before and do what we have failed to do in 31 states so far.  WIN.

The First Post

So, I started this blog in May and haven't posted a damn thing to it.  I have spent a couple months pondering..... what exactly should I blog about?  

You see, I have some friends who told me, "You know you really should be a blogger.  You always have the something to say, you should put it out there where people can see it."

Now that its out here where people can see it, I seem to have lost my voice and have become worried about whether or not what I have to say will live up to the expectations that I feel like people will have.  Today I decided that I really don't care about expectations that I am not really sure exist, and that I do have a voice and I do have things to say that people probably won't care about anyways, so it doesn't really matter what I post as long as I am happy with it.

With that being said, I hope that you my friends will find my future blog writing amusing and worth reading.  I am going to start making it a point to post at least one thing a week for people to read and comment and share and hope that I can make you laugh at least once or make some kind of impact with my words.

So in the words of my friends recommendation, this is Skoogzilla, Stating the Obvious.  Keep an eye out for me!

RAWR