Important Note:
Opinions are fun. My friends tell me I am someone with lots of opinions and that's fine since I don't get mad at others when they disagree with me. In this same spirit I am interested in hearing yours views as long as you are able to share your views without boiling over. I look forward to hearing from you. I tend to write in the form of short essays most of the time, but contributions do not need to be in this same format or size. Some of the content here will date itself pretty quickly, other content may be virtually timeless, this is for the reader to judge.
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What is the American Identity?
Posted at: Jun/09/2009 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Watching America,
To me, this is one of the easier questions to respond to. I feel that the primary aspect of our national identity is a “Love of the Underdog”. I know, it sounds more like a theme to a movie. If you look at our own history, the origins of this Love of the Underdog are pretty apparent. From 1754-1763 the French along with their Indian allies waged a war on the then British colonies of North Am.....read more…
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The Illegal Immigration Challenge
Related Category: The Law,
First let me say that I am in favor of immigration. This countries history is built on the hard work and zeal of immigrants looking for the chance to create a better life for them selves. Not allowing the same opportunities to a new generation of immigrants that we have offered to a previous generation is simply not fair. On the other side of this issue is the notion of resources. Many thing.....read more…
The value of talking
Posted at: Jun/01/2009 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: My philosophy,
I think that one of the best things about being a person is interacting with other people. Talking, listening, and general socializing is fun. Unless you are one of those rare “uni-bomber” types, you probably also enjoy the company of others. By our very nature we are social creatures. We communicate to share, we communicate to get affirmation, we communicate to avoid being alone, we communica.....read more…
Let’s talk about lying
Posted at: May/25/2009 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Perspectives,
Is this a strange subject? Actually, I’m pretty proud that I have sat down to write a little on this. I know, we all grew up being told lying is wrong, that is pretty absolute so there should not be much of anything to say. The older I get the less I believe in absolutes. As a parent I am tasked with a variety of roles, supervisor, teacher, mentor, philosopher, disciplinarian, ex.....read more…
Democrat verses Republican?
Posted at: May/23/2009 : Posted by: mel
Democrat verses Republican; how’s that for a question. I bring this up because I am getting frustrated with determining where my personal value and expectations best fit with respect to any one political party. In my arrogance I like to think I am a pretty average American, so it is very likely that others are in truth facing this same dilemma. I guess a little history is in order to bring s.....read more…
California’s water shortage
Related Category: Environment,
So I should begin with some clarity. I believe that the state of California is in the midst of a dire water shortage. There is no great mystery in determining this. I am not a water expert, but the rules are pretty simple. The bulk of California’s water comes currently comes from two distinct sources, the Sierra Mountain snow pack and exported water from the Colorado river. Wi.....read more…
Let’s move past Hybrid cars
Posted at: May/07/2009 : Posted by: mel
I am sure this will offend someone, but hybrid car technology in its current implementation just doesn’t work for me. It is true that modern hybrid automotive technology is cool stuff from a technical side. There is also no doubt that they can get better mileage than their non-hybrid counterparts, but the numbers just don’t work for me. Let’s do the comparison of a Toyota Prius and .....read more…
You’re terrible at writing!
You’re terrible at writing! Is this something you’ve been told? I sure heard it a lot. I still remember my school years and the pain and suffering I went through in English class. Punctuation mystified me, I never could spell, and diagramming a sentence was just plain old punishment. Sometimes I wonder how I ever managed to graduate high school. Math, science, and PE, those were my classes. .....read more…
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What to do about Piracy
Posted at: May/04/2009 : Posted by: mel
Piracy is back and it is in the news. Actually, that is only half right; Piracy is in the news, but it can’t be back because it never really went away. The recent acts of piracy in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia have created quite a bit of news. These acts of piracy aren’t really a resurgence of something lost to the history books, they are actually just the most notable set of piracy.....read more…
Do you believe in luck?
Posted at: Apr/30/2009 : Posted by: mel
I was asked the other day by someone close to me if I believe in “luck”. I can say without a doubt that I do believe in luck. Random happenstance of good things is very real. A little while back I was walking through a parking lot, looked down, and a $20 bill was waiting for me to pick it up. Just as random as the good stuff is the occasional bad break. A few months back through no fault of my own.....read more…
