Friday, February 01, 2013

Take Your 18-20 Year Old To The Bar Day

I was listening to a discussion with Colorado Senator Greg Brophy and Jerry Doyle.  I researched Doyle and found that he was an actor on Babylon 5 who I really liked.  His voice did not sound familiar at all, but it was an interesting surprise.

My admiration of Doyle's acting aside, the topic he and Brophy were discussing was weird.  Apparently Brophy has introduced legislation that would allow parents to buy alcohol for their 18- to 20-year-old children in Colorado bars and restaurants.

Both Doyle and Brophy used the argument of 18-20 years can vote and be drafted, so they should be allowed to drink.  I would propose that perhaps they shouldn't have the right to drink and also should maybe wait until 21 to join the army and vote as well.  I haven't thought that out completely, but when they started talking about taking your kids to the bar during sporting events to teach them about how to drink I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Doyle proposed not only that, but also that once the parent and child had too much to drink the parent could have a conversation with the child about how they are both too drunk to drive and assess the options on how to get home.  There are so many holes in that theory.

First, how about teach them to drink responsibly, if there is such a thing, and not get too inebriated to drive.

Second, a bar is a place to teach people how to behave?

Third, people's behavior while watching a football game in a bar does not teach people how to behave responsibly.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Grammar Nazis

There seem to be people out there that are very touchy about having their grammar corrected.  I see them constantly posting on Facebook making fun of Grammar Nazis and complaining about people correcting their grammar.  In other of their posts I see them complaining about people that say "ax" instead of "ask" or "ideal" instead of "idea" or "pacific" instead of "specific" or "libary" instead of "library".

While bad grammar and bad pronunciation can get under my skin too, but this practice of in one post giving people hassle for their pronunciation and in the next complaining about people giving you hassle about the way you speak is more so.

If you are going to be bothered by the way someone speaks, then take your lumps quietly when someone doesn't like the way you speak.

Wednesday, January 02, 2013

Keep It Simple Stupid

I keep hearing President Obama say the wealthiest Americans need to pay more and the middle class needs to feel relief.  Then I hear that people who make between $30,000 and $100,000 per year are going to have their taxes go up this year.  The wealthiest Americans now starts at $30,000 per year?

I also keep hearing about all the pork that is being shoved into this plan to reduce the deficit.  Not balance the budget, but just reduce the deficit.  A deficit should never be allowed.  There should be law in place that if there is not a balanced budget then every program shuts down until there is one.  That is how it is for American families.  You can only spend yourself in the hole so long before they come and shut your family down.

It seems that everyone and their brother is coming and sticking junk that has nothing to do with balancing the budget into this law.  Things to further their political career with their constituents and not balance the budget.  It sounds like bribery to me.  Both the one who paid the bribe and the one that took the bribe should both go to jail.  Isn't bribing a US Senator or Representative a crime just like bribing a judge or police officer?

A bill submitted to congress, in my opinion, needs to stay on topic and be protected from scope creep.  When a bill is submitted on a topic, then material not directly pertaining to that topic need to disallowed from being included in that bill.

Bills and the resulting laws passed from them, should be short and to the point.  They should also be readable by the average American.  Not the upper or lower level American, but the average American.