Americans are assholes

I have hated Wal-Mart for a very long time. Although the number one issue fueling this hatred has always been their treatment of employees, the annoying people who shop there come in a close second.

They may have switched places yesterday.

In case you haven't read this yet, a man was killed yesterday at a Wal-Mart in the Long Island area. No, he wasn't robbed and killed in the parking lot, or crushed by a collapsing roof panel, but he was trampled to death by the people rushing in at 5am to do their Christmas shopping. Apparently they could not wait long enough for him to get the doors open and broke through the partially open doors. According to the story, they also trampled other Wal-Mart employees trying to help the dying man. Along with the death, one pregnant woman was trampled, causing her to miscarry.

What for? A cheap TV? A discount XBox? A $9 Hulk DVD? Well, if this video has anything to say about it, people have clearly let their material possessions become more important than the people around them.

Who is to blame for this? Certainly Wal-Mart at some level. They, along with every other store hype the super deals on Black Friday, only to offer a few products at that price. This definitely contributes to the frenzy. The news gets a little piece as well, as they add to the hype of Black Friday shopping. And I guess you have to blame the 2000 idiots lined up at Wal-Mart at 5am.

How do we stop it? Maybe we can't. I guarantee Wal-Mart will get sued a few times for this. The first article says that police are looking to identify the people that trampled the man and 4 other injured customers. Maybe $100 million from Wal-Mart and a couple of 20-year sentences will get people to think a little differently.

Although I highly doubt it. That's why we are assholes.

The numbers of moving

8 incompetent Sears employees that I dealt with.
2 things that the plumber broke while trying to fix something else
4 times paying more than the original estimate
1 new home that I love
1 mortgage that is way more than rent
0 more months throwing money away to rent
12 gallons of paint
2 wax rings for the toilet (one that was the wrong size)
3 times laughing silently when I said the word "caulk"
6 hours letting other people move our stuff for us
29 days of anticipation from closing escrow to moving in
55 things I will do differently next time that I buy
8 people who we will ever be thankful to for helping us paint
4000 dollars worth of new wood flooring
1 patio that will be awesome in the spring
923 times being called "boss" by someone in the service industry
1 father-in-law who bravely climbed onto a jerry-rigged scaffold to paint one foot of wall
10 hours spent trying to take up tile (worst job ever - worse than jizz-mopper)
17 trips to various hardware stores (Home Depot, Ace, Lowe's, OSH)
97 cents in change found in the couch cushions
1 previous owner who clearly took no pride in ownership (which helped our price)
2 great views
countless hours of labor
zero regrets

A couple of things

Two things I want to mention:

First, if you are an opponent to the recently passed California Proposition 8 then I suggest that you tune in tonight to the Fox"News" program Hannity and Colmes. The rector of my church, Ed Bacon, will be on tonight to talk about Prop 8.

Second, I want to congratulate a good friend of mine, Jose Navarro, on being named one of five California State Teachers of the Year. He deserves that award more than anyone I know. He works tirelessly for our students and I've certainly learned a lot from him. It also highlights the impossibility of my job. Every 11th grade student he has moves on to my class in the 12th grade. I have to follow after the state teacher of the year. No pressure there.

Ben Affleck does a pretty good Keith Olbermann:

Wow!

In December 2006 I was traveling to an economics conference in Wichita, Kansas. During my travels, I read Barack Obama's Audacity of Hope. Having read it, I found myself completely sold on ideas that seemed fair, just, and just plain common sense. It was then that I knew that I could support his run for the presidency.

Words can't describe how proud I am to be American today. I can't wait for inauguration day.

"And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand."

My pride in California, however, has taken a huge hit. Let's hope the numbers on Prop 8 change in the next few hours.

funny cartoons

During this last year I have had the pleasure of working with a really fun art teacher at my school. Although she is now a high school art teacher, she was formerly an animator for the Simpsons amongst other well-known cartoons. Her husband continues to direct episodes of Family Guy.

In any case, she turned me on to this really cool animator named Don Hertzfeldt. Below is the first Hertzfeldt cartoon that she showed me. Its simple but awesome.

Notes on the Race #7

I was talking with my wife last weekend about why I like Obama's tax plan a lot better than McCain's. In my explanation, I mentioned how often people in the upper tax brackets forget that, although maybe their hard work got them the success that they well deserve, that they need the people below them to fuel that success. In last night's debate, the two candidates got bogged down forever talking about Joe the plumber (who, by the way, is not a licensed plumber). Joe and McCain insisted that Obama's tax plan was going to punish average guys like Joe for being successful. In the actual conversation that Obama had with Joe the (not) Plumber, he said this:

"For folks like me who have worked hard, but frankly also been lucky, I don't mind paying just a little bit more than the waitress that I just met over there who's -- things are slow and she can barely make the rent.

My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody. If you've got a plumbing business, you're going to be better off if you've got a whole bunch of customers who can afford to hire you, and right now everybody's so pinched that business is bad for everybody, and I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

What a novel fucking idea. Look out for the other guy - not just yourself. In the current "What's in it for me" era, we often forget that there are other people around who need help. PEOPLE. HUMANS. Some need help because they never got it from their parents or family. Why not help them a bit? Some got their by making a few mistakes. Why not give them a second chance? That seems like a big teaching of Christianity. What might come of this help for the other guy? Maybe, just maybe, you'll benefit in turn.

As McCain continues to push for privatization of everything and rails against any kind of government help, let's remember that there are some who don't have the knowledge or experience to handle their own retirement. Let's remember that the government saved our economy in the 1930s (and 2008), which is not a bad thing. Maybe we should look into solving our problems together instead of always going it on our own.

Notes on the Race #6

OK, so it has been a while since I said that I would write more after the debates. Here's my less-than-five-sentence review of the VP debates and the TownHall debate with Obama and McCain: Sarah Palin would be a good debater if she knew what she was talking about. Joe Biden did a good job not looking like a sexist while still showing that he knows way more than her. The TownHall debate, my friends, was boring. I hope Wednesday is better.

On to other matters.

1. A bipartisan legislative panel found that Sarah Palin indeed abused her power as governor when she fired the Alaska Public Safety Commissioner. If you haven't read about it before, she pressured the commissioner to fire a trooper that was her former brother-in-law. She not only violated ethics rules, but she also lied about violating ethics rules.

2. The poll numbers really don't look good for McCain. (Note: I still think that national poll numbers don't really show what will happen on election night.) The numbers that I prefer deal with electoral predictions. Those numbers look worse.

3. How does the saying go? You reap what you sew. McCain is finding out what happens when you fan the flames of fear and hate.

Here are some videos of McCain supporters in line to get into one of his rallies:





And one from a rally where the supporter scolds McCain:




Yesterday McCain finally had to deal with the monster he created:



I give McCain some credit for finally telling his own supporters that they are wrong, but this was only after a week of pushing these ideas on them. Once you decide to turn to fear over issues, you have a problem in your campaign. When the Secret Service has to investigate death threats directed towards your opponent coming from your supporters at one of your rallies - you have a really big problem.

4. Finally, in the scariest story of the day, sharks are reproducing asexually. I was sure that the big animal takeover would be led by monkeys, but my fears may have been misdirected. However, an even bigger fear would be a monkey-shark alliance.

Notes on the Race #5

Just a quick on tonight. More after the debates.

1. McCain suspends (but not actually suspends, just says that he does) his campaign to deal with the economic crisis. Two things about this: 1. Nobody's buying this. The poll numbers were down and he needed something to give him a boost. Palin is losing her popularity so he needs a new "hail mary" to get him back in the news. I don' think that worked out for him. 2. Really? Do presidents get to call time out when there are too many crisis to deal with?

2. I am done telling people to vote for Obama. You heard me right. There's nothing more I can say about Obama that the undecided voters don't know. My new focus is to get people to not vote for McCain. My number one argument? Sarah Palin.

Here's my favorite clip from her interview with Katie Couric (who is well known for hard-hitting interviews...right?)



And here's Jack Cafferty's take on Palin (with another clip from the interview)



It should be easy to tell why Jack Cafferty is a hero in the Austin/Kimball household.

How can you watch those clips and honestly vote for McCain knowing that: (a) he chose her, (b) she could easily become president, and (b) she's even too dangerous as vice-president? I really, really, really need to talk to a full-on Republican that can tell me why McCain is still the best choice.

Great dancers

You need to stick around for this one, but I feel that its worth it.



This one, however, is short and to the point. And funny.

Notes on the Race #4

1. How is it possible that people still consider McCain a good candidate while we are facing this tremendous economic crisis? People - he admitted not knowing much about economics!

2. Weird article about Sarah Palin's husband Todd. No, its not about his personal life, but how he more or less inserted himself into the Alaska state government through his wife.

3. The news keeps showing us national presidential polls despite the fact that the national vote doesn't matter. Its called the electoral college. Look it up.

4. Want to know more legitimate election numbers? This is a good site.

5. Michigan Republicans may look to block many people from voting because they lost their homes to foreclosure, thus ending their residency at those addresses. Nice.

6. Sarah Palin bought a tanning bed with her own money to use in the Alaskan Governor's mansion. How is that news?

Tina Fey as Sarah Palin

We all knew it would be awesome. Check it out.

Notes on the Race #3

First, I enjoyed these Obama pics. Amanda actually had the idea for the first one early in the primaries. Yes, they are corny, but I like them.




Second, in case you wanted some real numbers on comparing the Obama tax plan with the McCain tax plan, then check out this article. It has this easy-to-read graph. The short version is rich people aren't going to benefit from Obama, but how many of them were going to vote Democrat anyways?



Finally, I can't believe the hub-bub over the pig/lipstick comment. How often does McCain want to show his desperation?

Remember to vote.

Notes on the Race #2

OK, so Amanda and I were watching McCain give his acceptance/attack/no details speech the other night and she asked what the building in the picture behind him was. I said that I thought it was one of his seven giant houses. Here's the picture:



They did a similar thing with Giuliani having the New York skyline behind him. I thought that it was weird that they would put this giant mansion behind him when they have been trying to paint Obama as the elitist. However, once again I was wrong. It was supposed to be Walter Reed Medical Center. I say "supposed to be" because it was actually Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood. Good job.

Numbers. I also saw an article that talks about voter registration numbers in the last 3-8 months. In all but one of the states that he could find information for, the Democrats got more new registrants than the Republicans. In some cases, it was WAY more. The only state with more new Republicans? Alaska. The New York Times confirms this trend going back a few years.

John McCain likes women enough to marry one and to choose one as his running mate, but not enough to vote for equal-pay legislation. Let me explain. I was outraged earlier this year by the Supreme Court's decision in the case of Ledbetter vs. Goodyear in which 5 of the 9 justices ruled against Lilly Ledbetter. She was suing Goodyear Tire Company because she found out that for 19 years they had paid her significantly less then every other person in her position - she was the only female. Although she was awarded $3 million in the original lawsuit, Goodyear won on appeal because she sued after the 180-day waiting period. Here's the deal: you have to sue within 180 days of the specific act of discrimination. According to the law, she could have sued within 180 days of every paycheck. However, she didn't find out within that 180-day period. So the bastards at Goodyear win. And McCain doesn't want to fix it. He didn't even show up to vote. The bill passed the House, but Republicans in the Senate vowed to filibuster and the Democrats didn't have enough votes to stop them. McCain has stated that he would have voted against the bill.

What do Franki Valli, Orleans, Heart, Jackson Browne, and Van Halen all have in common? John McCain is illegally using their music during campaign events and has been asked to stop.

Notes on the race #1

I feel like I've had a lot of thoughts about the presidential race lately, so I'm going to regularly post them. Here are some for tonight:

- 134 U.S. troops stationed abroad have donated a total of $60, 642 to the Obama campaign. 26 have donated a total of $10,665 to McCain. Not huge numbers considering the $50 million plus Obama has pulled in each of the last couple of months, but those are some huge differences. Oh, and Ron Paul got over $45,000 from just short of 100 troops.

- 2,380 delegates at the RNC. 36 African-Americans (1.5%) The Democrats had 24.5% African-American delegates. How can they still keep a straight face when they call themselves the "Party of Lincoln"?

- I was so (pardon the language) mother-fucking angry last night watching the parade of attacks.

- I take back the mean things I've said about Cindy "dead behind the eyes" McCain. She seems OK. However, estimates say that her outfit last night at the RNC cost over $300,000 - including 3 carat diamond earrings. Obama's the elitist?

- I you haven't seen Jon Stewart talking about Sarah Palin you need to. Its about the funniest thing I've seen all week. Here it is:

Anger

I got more than a little angry tonight listening to Republicans. Mostly Giuliani. However, I want to throw two quotes out there for you to think about in light of recent hot topics in the presidential race.

"Drill baby drill" - Rudy Giuliani, prompted by chants at the RNC convention tonight.

"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father." John McCain in 1998 about a then 17 year-old Chelsea Clinton.

Do I need to say anything else?

A slew of things

Where does the time go? I'm not going to say that I feel guilty for not posting. It probably means that I have a life. Here are some tidbits about said life:

We had a movie night at Pete and Lauri's to watch The Last Dragon. The following Tuesday, Julius Carrey, who plays Sho' Nuff/Shogun of Harlem died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 56.

So a black guy is officially nominated for President of the U.S. However corny you may think it is, I'm feeling a little more American pride today.

McCain's nominee is pretty hot. She also has a sketchy background that may include lying about opposing the "bridge to nowhere" funding, trying to get her sister's ex-husband fired by using her influence as governor, and possibly covering up her teenage daughter's pregnancy by claiming the child as hers. OK, the last one is still pretty sketchy, but it has been mentioned on DrudgeReport. We'll see where this goes.

I changed my wine tracking software to CellarTracker, which is better than Cork'd. Cork'd was supposed to be renovated, but nothing has happened in over a year. If you click on my list is is completely updated including purchases from my wine-tasting day in Paso Robles.

Speaking of trips, we took two short trips in the last 10 days. First, we went "camping" with my brother, his wife, and my niece. I put it in quotes because my brother has a 20-foot trailer. Amanda and I slept in the tent, but it didn't feel quite right since no meals were prepared outdoors. It was still nice to sit by a campfire and drink beers. Plus, my niece is super-cute and she was wildly entertaining. However, we were constantly being harassed by a band of six marauding geese. I also went fishing, which was everything I hoped it would be minus the catching of fish.

The second trip was a three-nighter in Cambria. Don't ever go there. I only say that because I don't want you to make it more crowded. It is one of my favorite trips ever. I got to do a day of tasting in Paso. Went to Hug, Lone Madrone, L'Aventure, Linne Calodo, and Denner. Paso is better than Napa. Yes, I said it. Cambria never got hotter than 73 or so and there was a regular dry fog. We did a lot of reading, ate a lot of great food, hiked, saw elephant seals, and even watched the Cambria PineDorado parade while eating breakfast. Amanda got to pet a horse and we saw a hawk fly off with a squirrel in its talons. Its a great place.

School starts Wednesday. Back to work. I'm actually excited. I like my job and I'm excited about teaching AP World History. Things will be crazy, but I'm thinking that this could be a good year.

Galaxy are still struggling. Winless since June. Liverpool are looking pretty good, but there are 35 more games to go. Michigan lost its opener again, but I'm caring less and less about the pointy-ball these days.

Did you watch the Olympics? I did. They sucked. Michael Phelps did pretty good, trampoline is retarded, only Nigeria brought a table-tennis team without a member of Chinese descent, gymnastics proved to be a farce again (nothing is a sport if it involves judges giving you scores), Jamaicans run fast, race-walking may be lamer than trampoline, Argentina killed Brazil in soccer and the U.S. women took the gold after a great final against Brazil. There was a lot of diving on TV, which the Chinese are really good at. I credit their flat asses. American chicks have too much junk in the trunk.

In taco truck news, L.A. Superior Court Judge Dennis Aichroth ruled against the county's anti-taco truck law. He went as far to say that it was "arbitrary and not based upon any rational, intrinsic or natural basis". The main part of his argument was that it was an illegal restraint on trade. I'm guessing that the county will appeal, so the fight goes on. I propose a taco truck night in the next week or so in honor of free competition. Salva las trocas.

Ten years ago I was starting my last year of college. Man, I'm old. In fact, I turned 31 last Saturday. Pete, however, is older by 363 days. My dad is even older than that.

Welcome September.

after a month's absence...

...no excuses for not posting. Just a few notes.

After essentially no time off since December, I finally get to relax a bit. I closed out the year at my regular school, started summer school after the weekend, finished summer school, had one free Saturday, then did a week-long conference in Claremont. Two days in a conference next week, then back to work at the beginning of September. FYI, most teachers who care about their jobs do a crapload of work during the summer even though school is not in session.

I'm trying to get amped for the upcoming elections, but I don't think the campaigns are in full swing yet. Granted, McCain has come up with some doosies comparing Obama to Brittney Spears and Paris Hilton and by making a mountain from a molehill from Obama's suggestion that people keep watch on their tire pressure as a way to save gas (which works by the way), but there still seems to be little urgency - which I think is just fine. Once we get through the party conventions things will get rolling.

Soccer? The Galaxy are not doing so well right now. No wins since June 14th. Dropped from 1st to 4th. Heads are gonna roll soon. Players? Maybe. Management? For Sure. Liverpool, on the other hand, are looking good. We picked up another serious striker in Robbie Keane and are poised to pick up an absolutely outstanding left midfielder in Gareth Barry. We are looking good for our August 16th opener against Sunderland. Pub anyone?

I want to end this on a serious and sad note. First, my family lost a very dear friend, Dalton Vick, on Saturday. "Donk" was a serious good-ol' boy from Texas with only a few teeth left from his days of chewing. He loved people, life, and Coors Light. If you can imagine an 80+ year-old version of Boomhauer from King of the Hill, that was Dalt. A great guy that loved his family and, although I could only understand half of what he said, I know that it was all said to bring fun and entertainment. A great character in my life story.

Second, my "weekend family" from March to November, the L.A. Riot Squad, lost a dear friend. Jair Garcia was serving our country in Afghanistan on Friday when the vehicle he was in hit a roadside bomb and he was killed. Most of us knew him from his activities in the first picture - playing soccer and supporting the Galaxy. The rest of the world now knows him as one of the 4,000+ that has given their lives in our "war on terror". I won't get into my political views on this subject, but I will say that it hits home a little more when someone you knew is on that list. Jair leaves behind a 9 year-old son and wife.




Both of them will be missed.

America...love it or leave it

That's maybe my favorite lame catch phrase used in uber-conservative arguments. It might be second to "God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve". Either way, if you use these slogans you are a moron. In any case, here are some thoughts for your 4th of July.

In the story of the year, a school in New Jersey went into lockdown for 30 minutes because a student saw a ninja in the woods. There are two problems with this story. First, you would never see the ninja sneaking up on you. Second, a locked school door would never stop a ninja.

A great American hero, Jesse Helms, died this morning. Of course, he was only a great American hero to racists, homophobes, and the tobacco industry - but whose counting?

Spain deservedly won Euro 2004. I placed 66th out of what appears to be about 70,000 people who entered ESPN's Euro Pick 'em competition. I'm awesome.

Maybe they found the big chink in Obama's armor: FISA. I'm not terribly happy about this. On a positive note, I don't think McCain can say much about it.

How do you rescue 16 hostages from a guerrilla army that has been fighting the government for 40 years? You tell them that you are one of them, land a helicopter, and take the hostages to freedom. Sounds pretty lame, but it worked in Colombia. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall at the FARC meeting when these idiots had to explain the story to their leader.

The American Family Association is telling people to boycott McDonald's because they promote the gay agenda. No joke.