A Lesson In Humility
  • Society
  • May10th

    1 Comment

    I hope that you didn’t miss Betty White on SNL.  If so, here is a funny sketch:

  • May5th

    3 Comments

    Well, its Cinco de Mayo, so I knew someone would have to bring out the stereotypes at some point today.  After all, with the big  immigration debate, aren’t Mexicans our favorite people to hate?  Interesting how that discrimination is deemed acceptable by so many in our culture.  Perhaps it makes it easier on some people to justify when we call them illegal “aliens.”  I understand the usage of the word, but it has always bothered me.

    Here are just a few examples of racism and prejudices that I noticed today:

    1. Our friends at Yahoo had the little animation that is shown in this post.  If you haven’t seen it yet, you don’t have much time.  They even spin around and dance.  I’ve spent a considerable amount of time in Mexico and have never seen many people on the streets dressed like that.  I wonder…would it be acceptable to have an animation of African Americans doing some type of tribal dance, dressed as slaves, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day?  Probably not!  Maybe next year Yahoo should add some cacti to the picture, or an old drunken guy on the street passed out from one too many shots of tequila.
    2. On my way home from work tonight I nearly wrecked my car because there was a kid walking down the street with a huge sombrero on celebrating “Cinco de Mayo.”  Even though he looked to be about 1o, maybe next year his parents will add a frozen margarita to his costume.

    Racism aimed at Latinos is one of our last accepted prejudices in this country (along with people from Appalachia).  Use your brains people!

  • May5th

    3 Comments

    It sure has been the hot topic as of late, hasn’t it?  Today I read that two cities in Arizona are suing to block the law from being enforced.  Essentially, they are claiming that this is an unfunded mandate.  After all, isn’t immigration law to be left to the federal government?

    Quite frankly, it is getting a little tiresome turning on CNN and seeing story after story on this topic.  By no means am I stating that this is not of the utmost importance, but what else is going on in the world these days?

    This post won’t be an extensive look into why I do not support this bill, or even my beliefs on immigration law.  Mainly I have a couple of thoughts for us to ponder:

    1. I do believe that we should tighten our border security along both the border with Mexico AND the border with Canada.  It is not, however, my contention that this must be done to keep illegals out, rather it is of paramount importance in terms of fighting terrorism.  If day after day people are coming across our borders, what is to stop a Muslim extremist from doing the same?
    2. If people are so upset about illegal immigration, then stop partaking of the services provided by these people.  Put your money where your mouth is.  Stop eating in restaurants where illegal immigrants are hired.  Don’t hire someone to do construction work because it is cheaper and then look the other way when it is being staffed by illegal immigrants.  Stop using all of these services and patronizing all of these businesses and then tell me that things are better.
    3. Does it not bother people that for the simple fact that our ancestors came illegally to this country to begin with, we are given the privileged of living here?  Why punish a poor child in Mexico from attempting to have a better life just because circumstances dictated that he/she was born to parents living in Mexico.
    4. How about punishing the businesses that hire illegal immigrants?  Would that not stop people from coming here if there were no employers that would hire them?  Of course, this would just make the prices of about everything that you buy and consume more expensive.  But that’s the price you will have to pay.

    There are so many reasons why I do not support our immigration enforcement efforts.  I’m so tired of hearing that they are taxing our welfare systems.  How?  Emergency rooms?  They can’t get welfare.

    These people simply want to come to the United States in search of a better opportunity for their families.  If you were in their situation, would you not do the same?  Would you let your children starve while you look for work day after day?  I hope not!

  • May5th

    No Comments

    Due to the fact that I seem to be working most of my waking hours, I found this article, from the AFP,  about the dangers of getting less than six hours of sleep a night very interesting.  Typically, I sleep about five hours a night.  According to the article:

    “If you sleep little, you can develop diabetes, obesity, hypertension and high cholesterol,” Francesco Cappuccio, who led research on the subject at Britain’s University of Warwick, told AFP.

    The study, conducted with the Federico II University in Naples, Italy, aggregated decade-long studies from around the world involving more than 1.3 million people and found “unequivocal evidence of the direct link” between lack of sleep and premature death.

    “We think that the relation between little sleep and illness is due to a series of hormonal and metabolical mechanisms,” Cappuccio said.

    In the article, it is stated that society is to fault for our lack of sleep.  I just don’t believe that.  Does society force me to work two jobs?  No.  My expenses do that.  Does society make me stay up late watching something on tv or reading a book?  No.  I enjoy those things.

    Will I ever like getting up early to go to work?  No, but I have been doing it for years.

    Who is to blame for our lack of sleep?