One of my favorite comedians is a shrimpy pimp-of-a-man named Katt Williams. His style isn't for everyone I suppose but it suits me to a "T". In one of his stand-up sets he talks about a man who ran for a living and who by some freakish force of nature became a double amputee and still continued to run. I'm posting the clip so you can witness this gem for yourself. Beware, he speaks cuss like it's flavored water.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qlNEmpxQxI
So after struggling quite a bit in MANY areas of my life over the summer, I've determined that it's time I get in touch with my "star player". I fully believe that in order to get over yourself you must set aside a few moments to purge and spew your wicked thoughts and foul feelings about everything that bothers you... And then move on. I'm lucky enough to have one of the greatest bff's in the whole world with whom I can purge. But the time has come for me to SUCK. IT. UP! I've spent so much time this summer bitching and moaning about the heat and humidity and why I can't run in it that if I'd devoted 1/3 of that same effort to actually shutting up and running I'd probably be 10 pounds lighter by now. My right knee has been giving me some trouble but not enough to keep me off my feet, and my ankles are always stiff when I start my runs but seldom enough to make me stop. I have physical struggles (namely my hip and neck) that make some days more difficult than others but I really don't have much right to complain the way I do.
My son came in from school today talking about how much fun he had playing volleyball at P.E. Then he informs me that some of the kids blamed him for losing the game for his team because he missed some of the balls that came in his direction. I must admit that my boy is not the most athletically adept child and he's a bit shaky on his feet sometimes. He moves awkwardly and is more silly than savvy. But he has damn near unshakable confidence. He sings and dances and auditions for every major part in the annual school plays (and gets them too). And by the way, he does neither one very well... He wants to enter EVERY contest he hears about. He wants to be the winner and the best at everything. He came in 2nd in AR points last year and still mopes when he thinks about not winning the trophy. But it hasn't kept him from setting that same goal this year. He'll go back to school Monday and enjoy playing volleyball just as much as he did today because he's in touch with his star player. Michael Gene McCoy has the confidence that carries him through his scrapes and losses with a burning hope for better things to come. He believes in himself because he's never listened to a single soul who told him he "couldn't". What makes him so special is not that he wins or is the best at everything, it's that despite his losses he continues to believe he can be the best. That's the star player I'm talking about! The one that loses and believes she wins because she had a great time giving it all she had. The star player gives a ball it's bounce and a tire it's tread. It gives dirt some flavor ('cause at some point most of us have to eat a little) and it's the bite that holds back the tears when all we want to do is feel sorry for ourselves...
My star player has been patiently waiting for me to arrive. I think I'll get in touch with her and go for a run.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Where do I sign up for "free"?
I have some pretty intense feelings about a hot topic we've dubbed "illegal immigration". I believe a case can be made for just about any side in this argument, however I believe there is only one logical basis for a decision: MONEY
I'm so tired of hearing the wanna be enlightened people say that white settlers were illegal immigrants when they landed in North America. It wasn't an established country, though there were inhabitants.There was a whole war fought that settled our rights as an independent nation (it was called The Revolutionary War). I can't wholey defend the way the white man pushed Indians from their land. It was crappy and even down right sad, but most of us are living in cutesy houses perched on the land our ancestors took from them.
So I'd like to get to the modern day issues if I may...We have laws in this country that determine how, when and if someone might gain legal entry into our borders. I believe we have enough laws in place to keep things fair, however I believe the enforcement of the laws are a bit bogus. If there was an actual functioning system that handled the applications for visas and citizenship in a timely fashion then people wouldn't feel so pressed to come here illegally in the first place. I think there needs to be a complete overhaul done on the manner in which we deal with the law abiding immigrants. That being said, if you are not a citizen of this country and you hop, skip or jump a border or over stay your visa then you are in fact residing in the United States ILLEGALLY! And if you are here illegally then I don't care what "legal" measures that our law enforcement officials use to move you out of here. I don't care if they use traffic stops, building sweeps, employment stings or a fake sweepstakes. As long as they load you on to a big truck and ship your ass back to the country you legally reside in, I don't care. And the reason that I don't care is rather simple. It's not because I'm a biggot. It's not that I don't believe people have a right to migrate and determine the life they want to live and move and live and work accordingly. It all boils down to money. It's basic economics and if you know how to add and subtract and you're a tax payer then you should really consider getting off of your enlightened high-horse and do some figuring. We'll start with something really simple like education. Each city and county collect taxes that help to support the school systems within their borders. The states then kick in some of it's collected tax revenues to help make up the difference. So we all agree that taxes pay for education. Right? Right! It costs each school district a certain amount of money to educate and feed each student. So if you have more kids going to school than you have tax dollars to pay for them, wouldn't you assume that it would be difficult to educate all of the children because there isn't enough money to do it? Let's say out of a class of 600 students, 70 are undocumented illegal immigrants, and of course you also have a percentage of students whose caregivers don't pay taxes because they do not work or own property and those students are also being educated for "free" essentially. So lets estimate that of these 600 students, there is enough revenue to pay for 490 of them. So the other 110 must still be educated and fed which means that you must spread your resources more thinly in order to accomodate all of them. You get fewer books, supplies and teachers. And then when the illegal immigrants graduate from high school they cannot legally obtain work therefore they do not pay taxes; But if they have children then their children are able to receive benefits like medicaid and food stamps. So the person you educated for free whose caregiver did not pay taxes, now has a child that more tax dollars go to help support because the parents aren't able to obtain work legally and pay into a system that they drain from. And if you work and live and pay taxes then you should be concerned that the people who come here under the guise of seeking a better life are actually exploiting this country, not embracing it. They're getting a better life alright. There are clinics, hospitals and health departments that provide them with health care (via your tax dollars) and we educate and provide abundant resources to their offspring as well (also via the taxpayer). Our family alone pays an approximate, combined total of $16,000 (not including social security and medicare) a year in taxes (property and income) and that doesn't include sales or advelorem taxes. I would like to think that our governement would spend a fraction of those dollars on things that I truly care about. I'd like for teachers, police officers and firemen to earn a decent, living wage. I'd like for the small county I live in to be able to build a new middle and high school. And quite frankly I don't understand what people don't get about the term "illegal". Noone has stated that people shouldn't be able to come to America and start a new life. This debate isn't about a right to immigrate. It's about the working, paying citizen's right to not have to support the immigrant financially. If you're an enlightened illegal immigrant lover and you love the idea of open borders so much then by all means, prove your strong support of the Native Americans and your belief that they were violated when your ancestors came to this country, and allow any illegal inhabitants of this country to come and take over the property you have worked and paid for. Give an illegal your home, your land, your clothing, your child's swing set! Give them whatever you feel might settle the 300 year old Native American score. But something tells me that if someone parked their party of 7 in a tent in your back yard, ate your food, demanded money and medicine, you might just call the police (whose job it is, incidentally, to see to it that people actually obey the law) and want the "immigrants" removed.
Our system is one of checks and balances, some are much more simple than we give them credit for. While the illegal immigrants hold up signs of protest and claim that law enforcement agencies target them for deportation, should they experience an emergency they would call 911 and expect the appropriate tax supported agency to respond to their call for assistance. But they don't feel that they should help support the very agencies they rely on? They should receive health care, education, social security and welfare - free. Now that's the life I want to live! Where do I sign up for that???
I'm so tired of hearing the wanna be enlightened people say that white settlers were illegal immigrants when they landed in North America. It wasn't an established country, though there were inhabitants.There was a whole war fought that settled our rights as an independent nation (it was called The Revolutionary War). I can't wholey defend the way the white man pushed Indians from their land. It was crappy and even down right sad, but most of us are living in cutesy houses perched on the land our ancestors took from them.
So I'd like to get to the modern day issues if I may...We have laws in this country that determine how, when and if someone might gain legal entry into our borders. I believe we have enough laws in place to keep things fair, however I believe the enforcement of the laws are a bit bogus. If there was an actual functioning system that handled the applications for visas and citizenship in a timely fashion then people wouldn't feel so pressed to come here illegally in the first place. I think there needs to be a complete overhaul done on the manner in which we deal with the law abiding immigrants. That being said, if you are not a citizen of this country and you hop, skip or jump a border or over stay your visa then you are in fact residing in the United States ILLEGALLY! And if you are here illegally then I don't care what "legal" measures that our law enforcement officials use to move you out of here. I don't care if they use traffic stops, building sweeps, employment stings or a fake sweepstakes. As long as they load you on to a big truck and ship your ass back to the country you legally reside in, I don't care. And the reason that I don't care is rather simple. It's not because I'm a biggot. It's not that I don't believe people have a right to migrate and determine the life they want to live and move and live and work accordingly. It all boils down to money. It's basic economics and if you know how to add and subtract and you're a tax payer then you should really consider getting off of your enlightened high-horse and do some figuring. We'll start with something really simple like education. Each city and county collect taxes that help to support the school systems within their borders. The states then kick in some of it's collected tax revenues to help make up the difference. So we all agree that taxes pay for education. Right? Right! It costs each school district a certain amount of money to educate and feed each student. So if you have more kids going to school than you have tax dollars to pay for them, wouldn't you assume that it would be difficult to educate all of the children because there isn't enough money to do it? Let's say out of a class of 600 students, 70 are undocumented illegal immigrants, and of course you also have a percentage of students whose caregivers don't pay taxes because they do not work or own property and those students are also being educated for "free" essentially. So lets estimate that of these 600 students, there is enough revenue to pay for 490 of them. So the other 110 must still be educated and fed which means that you must spread your resources more thinly in order to accomodate all of them. You get fewer books, supplies and teachers. And then when the illegal immigrants graduate from high school they cannot legally obtain work therefore they do not pay taxes; But if they have children then their children are able to receive benefits like medicaid and food stamps. So the person you educated for free whose caregiver did not pay taxes, now has a child that more tax dollars go to help support because the parents aren't able to obtain work legally and pay into a system that they drain from. And if you work and live and pay taxes then you should be concerned that the people who come here under the guise of seeking a better life are actually exploiting this country, not embracing it. They're getting a better life alright. There are clinics, hospitals and health departments that provide them with health care (via your tax dollars) and we educate and provide abundant resources to their offspring as well (also via the taxpayer). Our family alone pays an approximate, combined total of $16,000 (not including social security and medicare) a year in taxes (property and income) and that doesn't include sales or advelorem taxes. I would like to think that our governement would spend a fraction of those dollars on things that I truly care about. I'd like for teachers, police officers and firemen to earn a decent, living wage. I'd like for the small county I live in to be able to build a new middle and high school. And quite frankly I don't understand what people don't get about the term "illegal". Noone has stated that people shouldn't be able to come to America and start a new life. This debate isn't about a right to immigrate. It's about the working, paying citizen's right to not have to support the immigrant financially. If you're an enlightened illegal immigrant lover and you love the idea of open borders so much then by all means, prove your strong support of the Native Americans and your belief that they were violated when your ancestors came to this country, and allow any illegal inhabitants of this country to come and take over the property you have worked and paid for. Give an illegal your home, your land, your clothing, your child's swing set! Give them whatever you feel might settle the 300 year old Native American score. But something tells me that if someone parked their party of 7 in a tent in your back yard, ate your food, demanded money and medicine, you might just call the police (whose job it is, incidentally, to see to it that people actually obey the law) and want the "immigrants" removed.
Our system is one of checks and balances, some are much more simple than we give them credit for. While the illegal immigrants hold up signs of protest and claim that law enforcement agencies target them for deportation, should they experience an emergency they would call 911 and expect the appropriate tax supported agency to respond to their call for assistance. But they don't feel that they should help support the very agencies they rely on? They should receive health care, education, social security and welfare - free. Now that's the life I want to live! Where do I sign up for that???
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