Meatstick Opinion: Outdated Equal Opportunity Statements

I was looking at a Washington State Park guide. It's basically a little brochure that tells about all the great things the park has to offer. I noticed on the back of the pamphlet the following statement in small, italic lettering:

All Washington state parks are developed and maintained
for the enjoyment of all people, regardless of age, sex,
creed, ethnic origin or physical limitation.

At first this phrase seems pretty inconspicuous mainly because it is a pretty common phrase seen at different places in our daily routines. The more I looked at it though, the more it didn't seem right to me. I think this phrase is pretty outdated. The phrase is actually counterproductive because it reminds people that they are different even if they aren't discriminated against. Unfortunately, there was a time in the not too distant past in America that this phrase would have needed to have been displayed in order for certain ethnic and races of people know that they were welcome somewhere, in this case into a Washington State Park. I'm not saying that we live in a perfect world with no discrimination. The private golf memberships at places like Augusta National are a prime example that some forms of segregation still exist. What I am saying is that we should remove the above generic phrase for all places that no longer discriminate and force places that do discrimate to be embarrased and shamed by having to make a disclaimer of their own. For example, a proper statement upon entering Augusta National might read something like this:

The old, white men that run Augusta National would
like you to know that we do not accept
women members and we also will do everything
humanly possible to keep our black membership around
2% of our overall membership

Meatstick Run: Orcas Island Fat Ass 25k

I did the Orcas Island Fat Ass 25k this weekend out at Moran State Park. The park is located on Orcas Island, which is part of the beautiful San Juan Island chain just to the west of Bellingham, WA (NW of Seattle). See the maps below for more details.

Jayron and I left on Friday afternoon to take the Anacortes car ferry to Orcas. It was about an hour long ride and a 25 minute drive to get to our hotel.

The race was pretty challenging with about 4,000 feet of elevation gain. Unfortunately it was stormy out and at the top of the mountain it was blustery and slightly snowy so there weren't any decent views to be had. You can get a glimpse of what the runners had to deal with from this picture I took in the hotel room before the race. The storm clouds are moving in on the mountain we ran up, seen on the left:

Overall, it was a great event and I give a lot of credit to the organizers who did a great job, especially with the food and keg after the race.

Meatstick Thank You: Great Britain

I would like to thank Great Britain for the following:

1. 
   

1. Ireland's partial independence (some is better than none)
2. Oasis
3. English Breakfast Tea
4. The Beatles
5. Winston Churchill
6. The Office
7. George Orwell
8. Roger Bannister
9. My language
10. The 2012 Olympics (London)
11. National Lampoons European Vacation
    

And Last but defintely not least:
12. Deciding to remove 1,600 troops from Iraq in the upcoming weeks and another 500 by the end of the summer

As an educational side note did you know that the flag of the United Kingdom is just a mix between the traditional flags of St. George, the flag of Scotland, and the cross of St. Patrick of Ireland:

Meatstick Activity: Run for Obama

I guess it's no suprise that my blog has gravitated towards the two things that concern me the most these days, my running and politics (specifically the Iraq war).
Running gives me the opportunity each day to clear my head for 40 minutes and relieve some stress. It also gives me the chance to to process all the information about politics that I allow myself to be bombarded with throughout the day from sources such as; 24 hour news, Sirius Left (channel 146 for all you subscribers), and the newspaper. It is during my daily runs that I mostly formulate my opinions and think about the best way to express my opinions to others. I realize that it is ridiculous to discuss politics with others b/c you are either talking with somebody that already agress with you or you are talking to somebody that will never agree with you. I think discussing politics should be the new Einstein's revised definition of insanity.

Anyway, I recently found a great way to combine my two passions and share them with others thanks to Barack Obama and his clever web designers. I was recently directed to www.barackobama.com by a friend who thought that I might find it pretty interesting. Barack's web desingers have set up his website like myspace (or facebook for you hot shot college kids who think myspace is for 12 year olds) so that you can create an account and join different interest groups, all with the intent of creating interest for Mr. Obama.

I immediately found the "Runners for Obama" group and signed up. So far there are only a handful of people in the group, but they all seem to be motivated types and are already talking about forming a national "Run for Obama" day. Stay tuned...

Only 626 days, 2 hours, 59 minutes until the election!

Meatstick Opinion: Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY)

Over the last 200 years the United States Military Academy at West Point has produced some of our nations greatest leaders. Some examples include: Presidents Grant and Eisenhower, Generals Patton, MacArthur, and Bradley, Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Coach Mike Krzyzewski, and of course 2004 Apprectince winner Kelly Perdew
For a full list of notable graduates click here.

One man who is beginning to distinguish himself as a notable graduate for bad reasons is 1981 graduate Geoff Davis, Republican Representative from Kentucky. In Mr. Davis' ten years in the Army as a helicopter pilot he must have been able to accomplish something that nobody has been able to do since the times of Hitler. That is, speak on behalf of an entire Army of soldiers. In opposition to the House of Representatives resolution against the troop escalation Mr. Davis had this gem of a quote that was featured in the Washington Post:
"This nonbinding resolution serves no purpose other than pacifying the Democrats' politcal base and lowering morale in our military."

As far as I can tell Mr. Davis never served in a war and the fact that he is trying to use his military experience to bully others in Congress makes me sick. The truth is he has no idea what effect this resolution has on the morale of the military because every member of the military is different. Contrary to what he and alot of his poltical counterparts might think, the members of the military are not just robots without brains that follow orders like lemmings. To state that this resolution lowers the morale of the entire US military is completely ridiculous and shows how low this man will go to use the military for his own personal politcal gains. So, Mr. Davis, as a fellow graduate of West Point I just want to let you know that I think you are a disgrace to the Academy.
But, I'm not one to just piss and moan. I would like to point Mr. Davis to an issue that might really have some effect on the military's morale. The main military hospital that wounded Iraq/Afghanistan veterans are taken to here in the states is Walter Reed Army Medical Center. In a report released today by the Washington Post you will see that the place is literally falling apart and is not set up to receive the amount of patients that are coming through its doors. Here are a few quotes from the article:
"...But 5 1/2 years of sustained combat have transformed the venerable 113-acre institution into something else entirely -- a holding ground for physically and psychologically damaged outpatients. Almost 700 of them -- the majority soldiers, with some Marines -- have been released from hospital beds but still need treatment or are awaiting bureaucratic decisions before being discharged or returned to active duty."

"Behind the door of Army Spec. Jeremy Duncan's room, part of the wall is torn and hangs in the air, weighted down with black mold. When the wounded combat engineer stands in his shower and looks up, he can see the bathtub on the floor above through a rotted hole. The entire building, constructed between the world wars, often smells like greasy carry-out. Signs of neglect are everywhere: mouse droppings, belly-up cockroaches, stained carpets, cheap mattresses."

If you aren't going to vote to help bring the troops home then I ask you, Mr. Davis, to at least stop using your military experience to give little political quotes speaking on behalf of the entire US Military. Please start using your experience in a more constructive manner, like helping our wounded veterans.

Meatstick News: Keith Olbermann 4 More Years

Keith announced on his show last night that he has been signed to 4 more years at MSNBC. To him that means he will receive a reported $1 million / year; to us that means he will continue to host the only news show on TV that is worth a damn.

Although he still falls short of the 2 million nutjobs that watch Bill Orally every night (Keith averages over 600,000), Keith has put MSNBC on the map. His ratings have gone up over 80% in just one year and because of him MSNBC has been able to battle with CNN each night.

Keith is on at 8pm EST and 5pm PST each night on MSNBC.

Meatstick Presidential Fun Fact: July 4th

Everyone knows that the Declaration was adopted on July 4th, 1776.

But...did you know that only 2 Presidents signed the Declaration? They are:

1. John Adams (2nd)
   
2. Thomas Jefferson (3rd)
   

That isn't really all that interesting...but what is interesting is that both Adams and Jefferson died on JULY 4th, 1826!

Meatstick Quiz: Who Said This?

I give you a quote, you try to tell me who said it:

"The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield.

Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose difference, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose."

You are probably thinking...it has to be either Al Gore, John Edwards, Nancy Pelosi, or Barack Obama.

Well, those are all wrong. Those words came from President Dwight Eisenhower during his farewell address on Jan 17th, 1961. Yes, that same retired 5 star general and Republican President.

This is why you study history.

Meatstick Race: Valentine's 5k - Love 'em or Leave 'em.

The sun broke through just long enough to shine on the 1,400 people gathered at Greenlake in Seattle today for the 2nd annual Love 'em or Leave 'em 5k.
This is an interesting race b/c they hold it on Sunday morning at one of the most overcrowded parks the Jet City has to offer. Greenlake is the mecca for every jogger, walker, yuppie, and babysitter on their weekly workout hajj. There are more iPods, cell phones, and Nike Zooms at this place than in New York City at Christmas. This makes it interesting for the runners as you attempt to navigate your way around the 3 mile lake on the narrow path that encircles the lake. You get around the lady with the stroller and the two King Charles Cavaliers not on leashes and you think you have some daylight , only to run smack into the line of people formed by the guy selling mocha choca lattes at a converted hot dog stand.

I ended up running 1:20 faster than I did last year (17:20 down from 18:40) so I was pretty happy with the actual results of the race (15th out of about 1,400). Another stat that former competitve runners, like myself, like to use is "how many girls beat me?" Three females beat me last year and only 1 beat me this year so I also improved in this ever important category! Next year I'm hoping the lady that beat me puts on some weight and gets up to about 88 pounds so that she slows down and I can blow by her, and sleep better at night.

Meatstick Opinion: Why are we still in Iraq?

I tried to come up with a simple explanation as to why we are still in Iraq.
Bear with me here for a minute.
Here is my hypothesis: We are still in Iraq b/c the general public doesn't care enough to pressure the administration and their elected officials to get us out of Iraq.

Here is my data and assumptions:
1st Point:

• The average daily circulation of the newspapers in America is 45.4 million/day.
• That means that 45.4 million are printed and either delivered to homes, bought at various locations, or go unsold and never read.
• I am making an assumption that of those 45.4 million, only 30 million are actually read. The rest go unsold or delivered to a home and not read.
  
• Last Tuesday 33.7 million people watched American Idol

Based on my data and assumption above, 3.7 million more people watched American Idol than read a newspaper last Tuesday. It follows that the majority of Americans are uneducated; therefore, they have no idea what is going on in Iraq.

2nd Point:
Educated Americans see what is going on in Iraq but b/c it doesn't directly effect them, their outrage over the war only goes so far. As evidenced by Vietnam, if there was a draft, the outrage would grow in numbers and intensity.

Summary:
Uneducated Americans + No Draft = Continuation of the war in Iraq

Meatstick Idea: Ostracizing

America is only 229 years old. In that short amount of time we have been able to create one of the greatest forms of goverment the world has ever seen. When planning our new nation the Founding Fathers had a few major advantages on their side that allowed them to create the wonderful system (for the most part) that we enjoy today. First, they were able to start from scratch. An opportunity to form a government from scratch does not happen very often in the history of the world and the few times that it has things have usually worked out pretty well (I don't count Iraq or Afghanistan b/c those revolutions didn't come from within). France seems to be enjoying their ruling ways after they beheaded their king during the French Revolution and although Russia picked the wrong type of government after they overthrew their tsar in 1917, they at least managed to have an interesting run for over 65 years with communism.
Secondly, our Founding Fathers had the benefit of knowing what type of governments they liked and which types they think worked well. As such, they borrowed different aspects of many forms of goverments (mainly from Greece, Rome, and England) to come up with the ingenious three branch system and balance of power. They also decided it should be a democracy and allowed the people to vote for their chosen leaders to represent them in the Executive and Legislative branches.

With all the great ideas they had, I'm sorry to say that there is one idea that they completely missed out on. The idea I am talking about is something the Greeks came up with called OSTRACIZING. This word is used in our vocabulary today but it got its origin from an ancient Greek practice known as ostrakizein, meaning "to banish by voting with potsherds." This practice was done in order to remove somebody that they felt had too much power. The leaders simply got together and placed their vote on a piece of pottery known as the ostrakon. Whoever received the most votes was then legally banished from Greece, normally for up to ten years and most of them never came back (see: Themosticles).

You can take what you want from this, but man those Greeks were really onto something!

Meatstick Book Review: Big Box Swindle

Big Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for Americas Independent Businesses
by Stacy Mitchell

Stacy Mitchell hates Wal-Mart. But she doesn't stop there, she also hates: Starbucks, Target, Costco, Lowe's, Home Depot, Best Buy, Circuit City, Borders, Barnes and Noble, Hollywood Video, Blockbuster, and pretty much every other chain that has 9 stores off of every highway exit in America. Her main premise is that big box stores are bad for any town b/c they are actually worse for a town than any benefit they may bring. Her arguments include the fact that city councils often give these big box stores huge tax breaks to build in their city but the city never really sees the benefit of the store b/c the majority of the money the store makes gets shipped back to corporate headquarters and is never recycled in the community among the local mom and pop stores. Also, the big box stores are promised tax breaks that are not afforded the local, small businesses which creates uneven competition that the local stores can't keep up with. She also has plenty of examples of how the big box stores are terrible for the environment; whether it be in the form of air pollution from the store and the thousands of cars that drive to them every day or by building 15 acre parking lots on top of wetlands and other environmentally sensitive areas. The other beef she has with big box stores are the common thing that most people see on a daily basis; like terrible customer service, horrible return policies, and a general lack of knowledge from the workers about the products they are selling.
What I really liked about the book is that she doesn't just bitch and moan about big box stores and not give the reader any hope or suggestions of her own. She actually spends the last 25% of the book explaining how small towns have risen up and beaten the big box stores using a variety of methods.
I really liked the book and have begun to make a concious effort to support local businesses whenever I can. It's really hard for people to get away from the big box stores but it can be done if you are willing to pay a little bit more (not much though, you would be suprised how much big box stores make you think you are paying a lot less when most of the time you aren't) and search out the local businesses in your area. I know I feel kind of dirty when I go into big box stores from now on.
Two ironic experiences I had when buying this book: 1) I bought it at a big box Barnes and Noble and 2) The guy at the store said the author was in that very Barnes and Noble a week before giving a lecture about the book and the impacts big boxes are having in America (see EDIT at bottom). I thought it was funny Barnes and Noble was dumb enough to have the lady come in and basically bash their way of doing business. Which also proves her point that the big box stores have no idea what they are selling.

EDIT: Stacy Mitchell, the author, left me a comment to let me know that she has never been part of an author appearance at a Barnes and Noble as I stated at the end of my post. I could have sworn the guy at the store told me she was there but I am obviously taking her word over his! I would like to thank Stacy for pointing this out and I look forward to reading any books she writes in the future. Also, I bought two books this week. I purchased both of them at the local, independent Elliot Bay Book Company here in Seattle. Check them out, they deliver! Elliot Bay Book Company