Meatstick Opinion: Outdated Equal Opportunity Statements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 I think this phrase is pretty outdated.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!