Personal Responsibility

What ever happened to personal responsibility? It's almost like people don't want to take care of their own business anymore, they have to have the government or someone else handle their responsibilities. Letters like this one found in the Meridian Star make me sick:

I am greatly alarmed by the programming on some of the so-called basic cable networks.

A new special report by the Parents Television Council shows just how licentious and depraved some of the programming on basic cable is. I urge you to read the report, which can be found at www.ParentsTV.org. The PTC's report shows that basic cable is rife with some of the most obscene themes and content imaginable, including pornography, masturbation, oral sex, anal sex, threesomes, statutory rape, incest and bestiality. Why should I be forced to bring this sewage into my home in order to watch the Food Network or the Disney channel? Why should parents have to subsidize channels that undermine their core values and beliefs?

I ask you to consider families like mine when you decide on cable choice. By offering me the ability to choose the channels I want, and to pay only for those channels, you put power back in the hands of the consumer and force the producers of indecent or violent programming to fund their own raunch. These raunchy cable networks have been carried on the backs of American consumers long enough. It is time for this extortion to end, and you have the power to stop it.

Ok, lady, if you don't like it then cancel your Comcast subscription. You shouldn't expect Comcast to do something about this because not everyone has the same views as you do, even in the Bible Belt. Whether you like it or not there are people who don't mind that programming; they're paying customers as well so they have just as much right to watch that programming as you have to not watch it.

And that's something else: If you don't like it, don't watch it! You can have the channels blocked from your home Take some responsibility and take action for your own home, don't expect Comcast to simply ban the channels just because YOU don't like them. It's not going to happen. What makes you think your Constitutional rights to free speech are more important than anyone elses? I bet you also think you're not a sinner.

And allow me to point out the fact that the Parents Television Council is an extremeist group that needs to be stopped. J. Brent Bozzil (however you spell his name, honestly I don't care because he isn't worthy of my respect) basically feels that every televisional channel should be banned except for the Trinity Broadcasting Network. Basically he feels that all secular television is sinful and we'll all go to Hell for watching it. This is a man who has resorted to violence to get his views across. Violence: The main thing he rails against on television, yet he doesn't mind resorting to it himself.

Hypocrite much?

How about this one, found as a link on Fark:

NEW YORK - A woman who was sued by American Express over an alleged scam where she posed as a Saudi princess to steal thousands has countersued the company, saying she was mentally incompetent when she opened her account and the company should have known it.

The countersuit was filed by Antoinette Millard, 40, free on $100,000 bail and awaiting trial on attempted grand larceny charges for alleged scams carried out while she posed as a Saudi Arabian princess and a Victoria's Secret model. She was neither.

Millard, a former vice president at the Brown Brothers Harriman investment bank, countersued for $2 million in Manhattan's State Supreme Court after Amex obtained a court order of attachment freezing more than $951,000 of her assets for unpaid charges.

Millard's court papers say that to "induce" her to establish a Centurion account, the account through which Amex customers get the rare and envied Centurion "black" card, the company promised she could make flexible payments.

The court papers say the promise was "false and fraudulent" and "in truth and in fact (American Express) did not allow (Millard) to make flexible payments" on the account.

Millard, her lawsuit says, "was suffering from anorexia, depression, panic attacks, head tumors and by reason of such illnesses was mentally incompetent and unable of executing or making any agreement as alleged" in Amex's complaint.

American Express "knew or should have known that (Millard) was acting impulsively and and irrationally at the time she entered into contract," her court papers say.

The larceny charges against Millard stem from her allegedly trying to steal $262,000 from an insurance company by falsely reporting that her jewelry had been stolen, the Manhattan district attorney's office said.

Prosecutors alleged that Millard, arrested in May at her Manhattan home, had in fact sold the jewelry and then tried to collect insurance on it. She is charged with insurance fraud, attempted grand larceny and possession of a forged instrument.

Millard faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on the insurance fraud charge, the top count.

Let me get this straight: She racked up a HUGE amount on a credit card and she's suing American Express because of it? Saying that they should have known she was mentally unstable? I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that it was a credit card companys' responsibility to diagnose and track mental illness. To me it sounds like a clear-cut case of someone trying to get out of their debts by copping out.

Are you getting the impression that I very much dislike stupid people?

Come on, people, take some responsibility for yourselves. If you don't want your kids to watch "offensive" cable channels, have them blocked from your home or, better yet, monitor what your kids watch. Don't rail to have the programming banned just to suit your tastes. If you know you can't afford a high limit credit card, don't get one and then sue the company after you've ran up a very high bill claiming mental illness. Don't expect the government or a company to "protect" you, take care of yourself. It's because of bullshit like that mentioned above that trial lawyers are having such a hayday and why our legal system is so screwed up.

--Jonathan

It would appear that I'm more traveled than I though (repost)

I posted a map showing the states that I had visited but I deleted it because I missed one. So I'm reposting it here. Happy now, Kristi? :-p

I've been to more places than I realized. Dig it:



create your own personalized map of the USA
or write about it on the open travel guide

Random Musings on Thanksgiving Morning

I don't know why but I've been awake since 7:45. So now I'm watching Jerry Springer (JERRY! JERRY! JERRY!) and writing in here as I wait to get ready to go to Em's.

I had a very strange dream just before I woke up. I dreamed that I was pregnant and I was trying to give birth to a baby! Seriously, it was something like "Junior" (the moving where Ahhnuld had a baby) or that episode of the Cosby Show where they gave birth to strange objects. Only my object was a baby (I think). Actually, I really don't know that because I woke up before the "birth" portion of the dream. I just remember that everytime I'd push all I would do is fart.

I looked out my window a little while ago to find that there was indeed snow on the ground but it wasn't as much as the weather service first said. I think there might be half an inch, an inch at the most. But it's still cool to look at... well, for me anyway. As I've mentioned before, I'm not used to snow. I'm especially not used to seeing snow on Thanksgiving. I know that this is nothing compared to what I'll face later in the winter; instead of inches we'll be talking about feet at some point.

Jerry Springer... gotta love watching Jerry! The show is pretty funny and, honestly, I like it a lot because it reminds me of a lot of people from back home. It's almost like they comb the trailor parks of Mississippi and Alabama to find the trashiest, most messed up people in the world to be on this show. Think about it: Have you ever noticed that 99% of the guests on the show have southern accents? Of course, I often wonder if the show isn't staged. Some of the stories I hear on the show just seem way too made up, like the guys who cheat on their wife with her sister and then sleep with her mother; maybe even throw the wife's brother or uncle in the mix sometimes. Right now the topic of Jerry's show is racist moms. They've had some "members" of the KKK on the show today but I'm not buying it. Trust me, I've seen enough KKK capes to know what the real thing looks like (do you really want to know how many KKK rallies have taken place in Philadelphia, Mississippi?). None of the ones I'm seeing on the show are authentic.

Let me just say (because I know how ceratin people *cough*Conversation With Myself*cough* tend to take things out of context) that I am far from being racist and I would never associate myself with the biggotted, trailor park trash that are the KKK.

Let's talk about what today is: Thanksgiving! The day of turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, football, family, friends and upset stomachs. This is one of my favorite holidays because I get to have the day off, eat until I'm about to pop and I get to spend time with the people that I love. This Thanksgiving will be my first being so far from home and my first without any sort of family around. As I said in my post last night, I'm looking forward to spending the day with Emily and her family but I know it won't be quite the same. Right now at my house my step dad would be in the kitchen putting the bird into the oven and making the other dishes that we would enjoy today (my mom would cook if she were able to). The house would be full of the smells of home cooking and everyone would be sitting around watching TV, visiting, laughing, just having a good time together. In a couple of hours my grandmother, aunt and cousins would come over to eat and visit. Then we'd all sit around and watch football.

Speaking of family, mom's still in the hospital. Her surgery went well for the most part but I was talking to her yesterday and she mentioned something about "problems" just before the opearation began. I'm not sure what she meant by that (and she didn't feel like she could talk about it for whatever reason) but I certainly didn't like hearing about it. She sounded alright, though, all things considered. I hope she's out of the hospital by the time I go down there for Christmas.

Football!! The king of Thanksgiving. There are some good games scheduled for today but, honestly, I'm looking forward to a game on Saturday. The Egg Bowl, baby!! Mississippi State and Ole Miss will tangle again to battle for the Golden Egg Trophey. Here's how it got its name: When the two teams first started playing each other back in the day (over 100 years ago), the coaches wanted to have some sort of trophey for the winner. They had someone make a trophey with a football on top but the "football" ended up looking like a big egg, hence the name "Golden Egg." Neither team is doing very well this season but it wouldn't matter. In this game you might as well throw out all of the stats, the win-loss records, everything. This is a rivalry and it's such a big one that none of that other stuff matters. These teams will play their best games of the season on Saturday night. I'm not sure if the game is going to be on TV (I had heard it was going to be on ESPN 2 but I can't find anything on Mississippi State's website about it) so I'll post the results here. I do know that you can listen to the Mississippi State radio feed through Yahoo and you can get live states on the game here (it also has a link to the Yahoo stream).

One of the things I've been thinking about for the last few weeks is going back to school to get a Bachelors degree in either Communications (emphasis in Public Relations) or Marketing. Obviously I'd probably only be able to go part time but it would be nice to have my degree. I have an A.A.S. already but I would really like to say that I have a Bachelors degree in something. Plus radio is such a strange business. I'm not saying that my job's in any danger (because it's not) but this is the kind of business where you can go into work one day, do your office stuff and/or production, do your air shift and be told that there's a meeting afterward. That either means the PD/OM/GM/whoever all of a sudden decided they needed to talk to the staff or it means that you're getting fired (the "we're moving in a different direction" speech) and it would be nice to have something to fall back on if that ever happened and I had trouble finding another radio gig. I'm looing in to it but I'm not sure what will happen with that.

I hate being sick. I woke up yesterday and my nose was all stopped up and I kindda felt like crud. I feel better today but my nose is still stuffy. It doesn't feel like a cold (oh, trust me, if it were a cold I wouldn't be able to look at this computer monitor) but it still doesn't feel too good. As I always do in these situations, I'll deal.

That's all I have. Of course, I've pretty much written a novel by now. Here's hoping that you and yours have a great Thanksgiving full of great times, great food and, most importantly, fellowship with your family and friends. God bless!

--Jonathan

Gobble-Gobble!!

Happy turkey day! Well, technically since it's only 11:10 on Thanksgiving Eve it's a little early but I figure it'll be Thanksgiving by the time you read this.

And it's snowing! To those from this part of the country that may not be such a big deal. But this southern boy has only seen a little bit of snow and I'm not used to it. It's alright, though, I certainly don't mind. Since moving to Fort Wayne I've experienced several firsts. Add a white Thanksgiving to that list! This will also be the first Thanksgiving that I haven't spent with my family. Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to spending the day with Emily and her family but it'll be different because I won't be home for a major holiday for the first time ever.

Today sucked... SUCKED! As I've said in the past I'm also in charge of doing the music logs for my station. I got in early this morning so I could try and get everything done so I wouldn't have to spend much time at the station tomorrow. I started on tomorrow's music log at 10:30... I finished it at 4:30. Why did it take so long? We kept having power surges in the building through out the day and every time it happened the file for tomorrow's music log got corrupted, which means I had to start all over again. So I finally got it finished and even did the one for Friday. But I was in a foul mood most of the day.

I'm going to bed now. Gotta get up at a decent hour so I can grub my fool head off. Emily, save a leg for me!

--Jonathan

Reflections at the Bowling Alley

I remember a few years ago when my family was really gung-ho about bowling. My mom and step dad even bought their own bowling balls, shoes, the whole bit. I would go with them a good bit to bowl and I even got somewhat good at it. I think the best game I've ever bowled is in the 150 range. Granted, that's not really "good" on most bowlers' standards but for a guy who had never picked up a bowling ball until then, I don't think it was too bad.

The last few days have reminded me that it's been years since I've bowled.

Last night and today I went with Emily to bowl. I think I've mentioned before that Emily is a pretty good bowler and she helps coach the girls bowling team at Elmhurst. Anyway, she kicked my ass badly. One game today she bowled a 200... the highest I bowled today was 50-something. Last night I didn't do too badly. I rolled two strikes and a few spares, as opposed to today where I rolled one strike and maybe two spares. I also bowled a game of over 100 last night. I know I could do better if bowled on a regular basis but I just don't have the time. Although Emily's wanting me to be in a league with her next summer; I suppose I could get better if I did that.

Speaking of Emily, things are still going very well for us. I know I've said it before but it's true: I never thought I could be so happy. But I've been proven wrong yet again: I can be this happy and I'm loving every moment of it. Tuesday will be one month for us. I can't believe it! It's already been a month and it all feels like it happened yesterday. I guess the old saying is true: "Time flys when you're having fun." As much as I'm looking forward to going home for a few days (that's happening the week of Christmas) it's going to suck being away from Em. But I know that it will only make me appreciate her more in the long run ("absence makes the heart grow fonder").

Mom's having surgery tomorrow. While the surgery may seem minor to most (she's having her teeth removed), it really isn't. They're putting her under for it and with her health that is a fairly dangerious thing. Needless to say I'm fairly worried and I'll be on pins and needles until I hear from my step dad. If you could please say a prayer for her and my family. Also, please remember my sister... as I blogged about recently, she's going through a tough time with her husband and all of that is still a big mess.

That's all for now. I'll try to post the results of my mom's surgery tomorrow night.

--Jonathan

Sk8r Boi Go Boom

I was going to post random thoughts about today but I must now go a different route. I've been watching the news and it's time for Jonathan to get opinionated.

The City of Fort Wayne built and opened a skateboard park in Lawton Park recently and it has stayed fairly busy ever since. I don't have a problem with skateboarding and I'm glad that those that wish to skate now have a place to do so without getting arrested. A young man had an accident in the skate park and was in a coma. Had he been wearing a helmet his head injuries would not have been so severe.

In other words, his injuries were his own fault.

Yeah, I said it and I meant it.

Now an Indiana Congessman (a Democrat, surprise surprise) is now saying that the skate park may have to be closed. Ok, this is STUPID! It's called "personal responsibility," people. Here's an idea: Instead of closing down the park (and punishing everyone for one idiots misfortune), how about enacting some helmet laws. How about making the people who use the park take some responsibility and wear a freakin' helmet.

If someone has a motorcycle accident and has gray matter all over the road because he wasn't wearing a helmet would they be talking about banning Harleys? Of course not. Why should this be any different?

And let's not forget the parents. Make them liable for any fines their kids might get for breaking a helmet law. I bet they'd make sure their kid was wearing a lid then.

Get some common sense, people. Please. This world's fucked enough.

--Jonathan

News From Home

Normally I love getting news from home. Like, hearing that my younger sister and brother are doing well in school or anything else like that. It seems lately that I haven't been so fortunate. Oh, sure, my sister and brother are doing well in school and in life but it's other things that aren't so good.

Last week my mom went in the hospital. Really it's not for anything "serious" but I still don't like it. She's been having some problems with her teeth so they're going to pull them and give her dentures (it all goes back to the health problems my mom has had the last few years--I think I've posted about that before). They're also running some tests on her because they think she may have suffered further brain damage. We'll know more about that soon. All I know is, lately when I've talked to her online her typing has been worse than normal and the last time I talked to her on the phone she didn't sound good at all. I know there isn't much I can do about it but it still sucks. I worry about her a lot sometimes.

I got some other news from home that isn't good at all. I don't really want to get into it right now because it's a really sensitive issue. Really sensitive. I just can't believe that this happened and someone better be glad that I'm not down there for another month. I'll explain as soon as I can but I can't right now. Sorry.

Otherwise, I can't really complain. As implied above, my time off request got approved so I can go home for a few days around Chistmas. Emily and I are doing well, really well. My feelings for her continue to grow everyday and I look forward to spending time with her more than anything else in the world. Last weekend was awesome. Friday we went to the Komets game and had a great time. Not only was it a great game (it went to a shoot out, which the Komets won) but there were also a couple of good fights! Saturday night we went to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and I can honesly say that that was the best concert I have ever been to. Being in radio, I've seen my share of concerts and it would take a good bit to top some of the shows I've been to. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra did just that! Sunday it was off to IPFW to see a tribute to Bill Evans that was really good. One of the good things about being with Emily is that I'm able to continue to explore different genres of music and that's just one thing I love about our relationship. This Friday we're going to another performance at IPFW by a pianist that Em really wants to see. Trust me, I don't mind. I'm a lover of all music so I'm looking forward to it.

Work's going well. We're getting to the end of the book and I, for one, will be glad it's over because I know I need a break. I've kindda been feeling tired lately, like my creative juices are starting to get low. No matter what some jocks may say, it happens to all of us and usually after a break we're fine and ready to go again. I haven't had a vacation in a very long time so I'm to that point that I need some time off to clear my head. I'm planning on being down south December 23-27 (I'll return to work on the 29th) so that'll give me a nice little break.

Well, it's time for bed.

--Jonathan

Random Stuffens and Stuff

I have a message for the dumbass rednecks where I'm from that call hockey a "pussy, yankee sport for rich kids":

Don't knock it until you try it.

Last night I went to my first Fort Wayne Komets game with Em and we both had a blast! I got really lucky because I managed to score rink side seats right next to the visitor's bench. Aww yeah! Needless to say there was some smack talking going on and just generally a good time. There were a few times when there were checks in the boards right in front of us and a fight even happened close by. The Komets lost but they really shouldn't have. Shields, the usual goalie, didn't start for some reason so Kansas City got about five really cheap goals (including one on an open net toward the end of the game after the Komets coach pulled the goalie--oh yeah, that takes a lot of talent!). Had it not been for that we would have won. We had nearly twice as many shots on goal and the goals we scored were hard earned. The score should have been 4-2 Komets. But what's done is done. It was still a really good time.

As for the rest of my day yesterday, it was really good. I slept in a little (as I did today) then I met up with Emily early in the afternoon. She went with me to look for some new furniture for my apartment (believe me, I could use some) and then we went to the mall for a bit before we went to the game. After the game we came here and chilled for a little bit. I love spending time with her more than anything in the world. I truly am in my best mood when she is around. I'm planning on going home the week of Christmas and I know that I'm going to miss her like mad while I'm gone. But, thankfully, the thing called the telephone will make that week pass by a little quicker. :-)

As I said last time, I've got some things that I'm thinking about, options I'm weighing, decisions I'm trying to make, etc. I don't really want to get into everything right now (no, mom, it's probably not what you're thinking) but depending on what I decide my life will be changed. Basically I've come to some realizations, things that I've known for a long time but just didn't want to admit. Rest assured that I'll share my ponderings in due time... now's just now the time.

I'm off to the station to do some work. This evening I'm going with Em to a spaghetti dinner at Bishop Dwenger. Free food rules.

--Jonathan

The Bush is Planted!

I love getting emails with witty sayings in them. Well, most of the time anyway. I got one that had something like this: "Save the environment: Plant a Bush in Texas!" Well, I'd say the Bush has been firmly planted... in Washington, DC for another four years! w00t!

Just in case you've been under a rock for the last 12 hours, Senator Kerry conceded the election to President Bush, which means George W. Bush is our President for another four years. Yes, this is a good thing. Whether people want to admit it or not, good things have happened under Bush's administration and I for one want to see it continue. The economy was in a slump... it's bouncing back. We had a terrorist attack on 9/11/01... we're now more secure. A country (Iraq) was under the rule of a mad tyrant... we liberated them. Need I continue?

A few of the people I work with were not thrilled at all about Dubbya's victory; one even made the statement (talking to another co worker) "I hope you and all the other toothless rednecks who voted for Bush are happy." Excuse me? Maybe I take my southern roots too seriously but I would have been seriously offended by that statement had she made it in my presence (trust me, she wasn't being sarcastic). I know Democratic supporters take their views seriously (as do I) but being hateful like that is exactly what they claim to not stand for. Compassion? Feh, that's a laugh. But, of course, I see that behavior out of a lot of the extreme liberals that I come into contact with. Thankfully not all libs and Democrats act so childish (Kristi, one of my good friends, is a Democrat) but it's the ones who do, such as my co worker, that really leave a bad taste in my mouth.

I love how some of the libs have talked about our loss of freedom since 9/11. I am, of course, refering to the Patriot Act. I don't know about them but I haven't lose any freedoms. There are no FBI agents storming houses at random, there are no thought police, nothing like that... but that's not what some libs would have you think. Just because it's tougher to commit crime doesn't mean we're losing freedom. I hate to tell them but since 9/11 things have changed. We have to do things as a nation that we never had to do before. We have to have tougher security measures to protect our country. I know we're not used to it but it's the way things are. And, you have to admit, these measures have worked. Have we had another attack since 9/11? I think the answer to that is obvious. And I'm sure that there have been many attacks stopped because of measures that have been implimented; we just don't hear about them (Top Secret stuff).

Come on, folks, use your noodle.

Anyway, enough politics for now.

Personally, things are awesome. Emily... I can't say enough about her. Obviously we've been spending a good bit of time together and I've really enjoyed it. I can't believe that I met someone who makes me so happy, makes me feel so complete. It's a great feeling to know that someone cares about me so much and it's great to know that I make her happy. Feeling loved and needed is a wonderful feeling. As I've said in the past I really love where things are going with us. I've had some unusual things enter my mind, things that I've never thought about before, or at least seriously. I've got some things I'm praying about. I would appreciate the same from you if you pray. I need some guidence.

I think I'm going to call it a night.

--Jonathan

Vote or Die!

I know that it's been over a week since I blogged. Well, I've been busy. So to my two regular readers, I apologize. But, as evidenced by my last few posts, life is simply peachy! I can not complain about any aspect of my life, not one. Work's going well and then there's Emily. Thngs with us are going so great, I can't even begin to describe how happy I am. She truly has made me happier than I could have ever imagine being. :-)

Tomorrow is Election Day and I certainly plan to go to the polls and cast my vote. What about you? Did you get registered? As I said on the air this afternoon, there's absolutely no reason for you to not vote if you're registered. Contrary to popular belief, every vote does count. What if every person believed that their vote didn't count? Then there would be no voters. So get to the polls and vote! There's just no reason not to if you're a registered voter.

Now, you know that I have my beliefs and opinions on politics. You didn't really think I'd have a political post and not give my opinion, did you?

This presidential election is one of the most important ever. I know it seems like that's said every election but this is the truth. You basically have two choices: A giant douche bag or a turd sandwich. Let me explain. Both candidates have their good points and their bad points.; you just have to choose the candidate that you feel can do the best job. As for me, I'm voting for Bush because he has seen this country through a very tough time, he has kept the economy strong (no matter what CNN might say about it) and because the country is now safe. Yes, my friends, this country is secure. You think Gore would have been able to secure this country after 9/11? No. Our military would have been so crippled, it wouldn't have been able to respond. You do the math.

I could have gone into more detail on that but I honestly don't have the mental strength right now. Get out and vote. Make your voice be heard.

--Jonathan