The Worst Kind of Party

      Parties are usually great. What's not to like? You get to hang out with your good friends. Some people even meet that special someone at a party. For many party goers, the possibility of meeting someone special, someone that can change everything for you, and make all the difference, is mighty powerful, even though conventional wisdom (and likely your mother) tells you this is just not the place to find that person. Even so, we enjoy the good food, good drink, fun activities and of course there's almost always cake. And who doesn't like cake?

At 42 years old, the parties I go to today are usually pretty low key, but still quite enjoyable. They usually involve dinner, some wine, and good conversation. Being married, sometimes I end up going to a party that I'd rather not go to, at the insistence of my sweet wife (who will be reading this). My move, to make such parties tolerable, typically involves making nice with other dudes who have that similar look of forced social interaction on their face, finding the TV, and watching ESPN. You almost always find another dude or two there watching something already and willing to talk about whatever sport is on. And of course ESPN has the power to make any "old guy" party experience okay.

In college, parties were entirely different. There was the loud music, the red plastic cup, too many guys and not enough women, and lots of cheap beer, many times bought with a fake ID. Sure, someone usually ended up drooling on your sofa or peeing in your closet, but hey, we were kids. By the way,  I went to Radford University, where it was rumored that the ratio of girls to guys was 3 to 1. I have to say, however, that some guy had to be walking around with 6, because I never ended up with even one much less three. Even so, the parties were mostly harmless fun. 

But as I think about all of the different kinds of parties, the worst parties of all have to be Political Parties. These parties just plain stink. I'll bet even their cake sucks, and it's pretty tough to screw up cake.

Even good old George Washington thought political parties would suck, as evidenced by the following quote:

"Political parties are just full of a bunch of pretentious, insincere self-serving jackwads and they make me wanna puke"- GW

Okay, I may have paraphrased a little, or just made that last one up entirely. What he actually said is below:

"However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion." -George Washington

That's some pretty accurate predicting on the part of our first President. Right on GW! 

Political parties exist for the purpose of getting people elected to government positions. Their intention is to join people of similar beliefs and opinions on how government should work, and influence that government by getting people from their own party elected. Presumably, these elected officials would then govern in the best interests of the people. It sounds harmless enough. It even sounds like it could be good and productive. The problem I have with them is that these days many of the principals in this type of party are still behaving like a bunch of overactive spoiled college kids with no responsibility.  

To get what they want, they don't mind lying. Much like a teen with a fake ID, some of the principals of these parties are exceptionally good at fooling people into believing that they are something they're not to get what they want: power and money. They'll tell you just about anything to get you into...well, let's say to get your vote, though they don't usually mean it. 

These days many of the people from political parties are committing a lot of party fouls.

You'll find leaders in these parties tweeting pictures of their doodads, having unwanted encounters with 18 yr olds, driving drunk, taking illegal drugs, and other immature, irresponsible behaviors.  

One big difference is that in the case of the college kid, he's damaging his own future and wasting mommy and daddy's money. In the case of these pathetic Political Party members, they are messing with our country's future and wasting tax payer money.    

These politicians seem to have never left adolescence. And anyone would admit that while college parties got a little crazy, they were generally harmless, and no one at those parties was fit to make decisions about the country's collective future. We would all admit that at that age, with the kinds of shenanigans we pulled, none of us should be trusted in such matters.

And so I ask, why then do we trust some of the people we vote for elected positions? The only answer I have is short memories. In the worst parties you can remember, the following things may have happened: someone passes on the floor, a dude ends up drooling on your sofa cushions, you end up cleaning vomit off the floor (sometimes under the dude who passed out), Some of your stuff ends up missing, people pretend to have a good time, there's bad dancing, someone ends up pregnant, someone clogs the toilet, a fight starts, or someone pees in the closet.

  After each of these parties, you might say to yourself, "Wow, that got waaayyy out of hand". And you swear that you're done with THAT kind of partying......until a week later. Somehow through the passage of time, you forget the pee in the closet or the vomit on the floor and you go again believing this next party will be different.

With each election, through the passage of time, memory fades and you go vote for another group from one of the political parties. You think somehow with the same kind of party, "This time it will be different". You forget the tweeting of the doodads, or even worse the time Corporate America showed up uninvited and some of your stuff ended up missing.

You can't help yourself. You want to find that special someone. You want to find that candidate that can change everything, and make all the difference, even though conventional wisdom (and likely your mother) tells you this is just not the place to find that kind of person.

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What Happens in the Middle East Stays in the Middle East: Facebook Revolution in America?

In the last year we've seen a number of Arab governments taken to their knees by popular uprisings demanding change. Painfully high unemployment, rising costs for goods and housing and abuses of government power and corruption just got to be too much for these populations, so they let their collective voice be heard. Now in each of these countries there is much hard work yet to be done to right the ship, but no one can deny the courage, unity and determination of the people. As an American, I'm envious of their united effort, as an Arab, I am quite proud.

  One of the more intriguing elements in each of these is the role Facebook and Twitter has played in organizing massive demonstrations. In fact, some were calling them Facebook and Twitter revolutions. Literally hundreds of thousands of people in Arab countries organized via Facebook and brought dictators down.

  And so, I wondered, could Americans find the common beliefs among them and coordinate government protests on such a massive scale that literally could change our country's history forever? Could we have our own Facebook or Twitter revolution? Hmmm...

  Now I'm not talking about complete government overhaul, like in these countries. I'm just looking to get corporations and special interests out of our government and put some term limits in place to get rid of these career politicians. I figure a couple of amendments to our constitution would do it. The U.S., even with our difficulties, is still the land of opportunity and is still a great country, but we do have some work to do to eliminate corporate and special interests influence on our government. If done, these changes would have dramatically positive effects on our government's ability to govern with the will of Americans in mind. 

As I thought about the possibility of a Facebook revolution in the U.S., I became a little skeptical. Americans seem a little more distracted than our friends in Tunisia or Egypt, for example. We play Farmville, they farm. We play Mafia Wars, they survive wars. When I think about how things got rolling in Egypt, I'm pretty sure you didn't see a post like this:

"That's it! Mubarak has poked us for the very last time! We must take to the streets, call all of your friends in from Mafia Wars!! This will be no pillow fight!! It's time!!"

Or a post like this:

"Mubarak has abused Egypt. He has used our government dollars as a personal piggy bank, he has run our country into the ground. He is a brutal dictator with no conscience. I think it is time to make our voices heard. If you agree that our voices should be heard and we should remove this evil dictator please re-post. I realize that there are only a few of my friends that are true lovers of Egypt and WILL re-post this. 97% of you will not, but I know who the true Egyptians are."

We seem to like to express our revolution in a much more passive way (to be nice). Our type of revolution has really boiled down to venting on the Internet and blaming the guy next door, or the guy of a different religion, or the guy with no money, or the guy with a lot of money, or the Mexican guy, or the black guy, or the white guy, or the now very popular Arab guy for our troubles.

Maybe we should spend a little more time focusing on our name "The UNITED States of America". Hello!!! United?? Our friends in the political parties have us convinced that the enemy lives next door or just down the street. We've also been convinced that there is but one fate for this enemy and that is defeat. Well, I'm sorry, I don't believe in that kind of America. I believe that the enemy is not down the street. Down the street, I have friends that have different perspectives. For me, that's okay.

What's interesting is that this is exactly how we see each other when catastrophic events occur. When Americans are dealing with devastation from hurricanes, tornadoes, fires and other catastrophic events, we don't care if you're a Tea partier, a donkey or an elephant or simply a partier, we all work together. It's a shame that it requires tragedy for us to act as one. It seems like we should be better than this. 

I guess there is one good thing about a dictator. Given that there has only been one guy in charge for a long time, it is easier for the majority of people to coalesce with common ideas in mind, even if they are limited to getting that pig out of office. And it's much harder to get people passionate about amendments.

Now I realize that many of us will still dwell in Cafe World, but I remain hopeful that someday Americans will be United as Americans for the common good of the people. Until then, thank you for allowing me to share a few Words with Friends.

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Alternative Economy: Let the sun shine in

Okay, I will start by telling you that I came up with this plan over coffee. So part of me was likely still trying to wake up. But I believe there is potential here. Also, I welcome all criticism or feedback.
So here's the idea. I propose job creation by the hundreds of thousands while increasing energy independence through solar power and geothermal heating and cooling systems in the U.S. How? Well here it is. Offer homeowners an extremely low interest loan (2% or lower) for the purpose of purchase and installation of a solar power or geothermal system for their home. To make it even more affordable, the loan could be rolled into a cost friendly home refinance. This way the monthly cost of electricity for these homeowners would be under $100 unless their energy use required more. But the good news is that homeowners would largely be insulated from the relentless increases in energy charges from the Dominion Powers (Virginia) of the country because they'll be paying a fixed mortgage type payment for their solar energy.
In many cases a home solar power system or geothermal system would cost $20-25k (Solarcity). Given this figure the U.S. Govt could offer $20 billion a year to homeowners in these low interest loans, resulting in the ability to cover a million homes a year in solar power systems.
This would require literally hundreds of thousands of people to be hired for the production, sales, and installation of these solar panels. Further, the debt, would be in the hands of private citizens and not the U.S. Govt. One stipulation is that all panels purchased with these loans must be U.S. made (the same kind of thing other countries do to create domestic jobs). With this stipulation, you get the jobs.
Further, the energy produced, would offset or eliminate electric bills in many cases leaving a net gain monthly for many homeowners, thereby increasing cash-flow, and increasing the value of their home all in one fell swoop. The resulting cash-flow increase would likely be reinserted into the economy by these consumers or banked. I'd take either result, but would prefer a combination of both.
So with this plan, millions of people go back to work, we kick start alternative energy, we put lots of money back into the economy, and private citizens (not the govt) carry the burden of the loans.
Also, if you're adventurous enough to buy an electric car, you might even be able to stop buying gas at some point.
Now if you want to really get crazy, at 200 billion dollars a year, you cover 10 million homes and could effectively cover over 50% of U.S. homes in 4 years.
Admittedly, this will not eliminate the need for the power companies, nor is it a long term solution, but it is an intermediate step that should be taken to move our country forward.
This is my proposal. Let the bashing begin.
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Political Fantasy...

"The government is owned by special interests!" "They don't care about the will of the people..." "The banks own our government", "I'm tired of career politicians...", "Corporate interests first, Politicians interests next and American people's interests a distant third..." 

These are all things you may have heard people say, said yourself, or even heard me say at one time or another. So...

The following can only be described as my political fantasy, not the Anthony Wiener variety though. As such, I expect some of you reading this will shake your head at my silliness. The following could feasibly occur, however, with the help of course of people more powerful than me. If I were a billionaire, perhaps I could make this happen. But until then, I dream and we collectively languish in a country with a filthy, broken government system.

Politically, I describe myself as an Independent. This basically means that I have no allegiance whatsoever to any political party and frankly, I find them completely detestable. Political parties exist for the simple purpose of getting people elected, often at any cost. Further, I believe one of greatest evils of our time is that the Political Parties have been successful at polarizing the American people through lies, exaggerations, and fear. As a result, most people are unwilling to rationally discuss ideas for improving our country. Instead, they just end up sounding crazy by accusing the other of wanting to kill grandma or some other ridiculous claim. Boogie man politics is king, and boogie man political discussion with people spoon fed talking points is often unproductive at best and often damages relationships and practically ruins some social networking experiences. We've come to a place where, if there's disagreement, we discount the legitimacy of the disagreement and assume the other person is just stupid or has ulterior motives. 

Like many of my friends on both the left and the right, I am at my wits end with how are our government plays political football with decisions, lawmaking, wars, economic policy and the like that deeply affect the lives and deaths of Americans. And yes, I'm talking about ALL of our elected officials. I have no doubt that there are a handful of decent people in there, who actually take their role in governing seriously. But frankly, those guys and gals are fighting a losing battle and eventually lose their office to someone with a slicker campaign, become discredited as a kook, or get swallowed up in the game. There is no excitement for rationality, compromise, or common good for that matter. There seems only to be some excitement in trashing the opponent and winning. Winning, by the way, does not include you winning, though they do try to make you feel that way. It's only in the way that your football team wins and feels good for only about a week.

Elections seem to never end as decisions in congress are made by our government along party lines and not on the merit of legislation. Politicians are usually more concerned with how their vote on legislation looks and how it might affect their huge campaign donors and as a result their re-election bid, rather than how it will affect the American people. Since re-election is so important to them, they then find themselves making decisions often with the very heavy hand of corporate and special interest campaign contributors guiding them.

How much did you contribute last year? I'm sure for most of you it wasn't very much at all, if anything, and why should you? You couldn't compete with the Dominion Resources, GE's, Pfizer's, Bank of America's and Exxon's of the world, and believe me, you're interests are not as important to them as their corporate cash cows. However, when you do invest in someone's campaign, while the money usually isn't that significant in comparison, it's extremely valuable for them for a couple of reasons. First, now you're financially invested. Now you feel a sense of ownership in the campaign. Secondly, you become more emotionally involved. It's this kind of emotional involvement that now has you more easily believing all of the excuses and lies that will follow as to why their campaign promises couldn't be realized. In some cases, you're so bought in that you might even find yourself defending someone from your party who has obviously lied, cheated the system, shown great moral failings, or stolen. This happens often because people are so caught up in the game that they no longer are guided by principles, but rather by the need to win (again the kind of win that feels good for only about a week). 

Elections require lots and lots of money. The 2008 campaign was the costliest in history, with a record-shattering $5.3 billion in spending by candidates, political parties and interest groups on the congressional and presidential races (Source, Politico.com). Seriously now, that's a lot of cash for a government to be so bad. Now where does all of this money come from? It comes from special interests, corporations, Wall Street, the pharmaceutical industry, foreign lobbyists, etc. There are alot of groups out there that don't care one iota about your well-being that have the government at their disposal.

So you see, the two primary concerns for politicians are re-election and funding of re-election and election campaigns. As long as huge sums money are a need for elected officials to fund campaigns, they will focus on the needs of those supplying the huge sums of money funding their campaigns. 

We need a Constitutional Amendment that makes it illegal for politicians to directly or indirectly receive funds or gifts from pacs, corporations, etc. while campaigning, during terms, and up to 24 months after their term ends. The theory here is that with the distraction of special interests and re-election out of the way, politicians would have no excuse but to focus on the business of the people (fingers crossed).

So at this point, you might be saying "..great, genius idea, but people have talked about this kind of stuff forever.."

Yes, you're right, they have.

However, the climate now is perfect to actually make it happen. According to a Fox News poll, more than 70% of Americans favor limiting terms for legislators.  Further, Americans have little trust in people running for office. In October of 2010, one poll showed that 76% of Americans showed little to no trust in the government. Important note, this number was not party specific and government trust has been deteriorating for the past 50 years. 

With these in mind, my belief is that an aging billionaire, who has interest in legacy, could mobilize Americans of all parties to push for a Constitutional Convention to amend the U.S. Constitution to include single 6 year terms for both the House and the Senate. Further, add an Amendment specifically governing campaigns, campaign finance, truth in campaigning and outlawing government officials from receiving gifts of any kind for corporations, foreign governments, special interests, etc.

We would definitely still have very different ideas on government, but these ideas could be debated properly without the influence of folks making a buck helping decide the outcomes. 

The reason we need a billionaire to get it rolling is that it would take lots of money to get the message out. A campaign for Americans by Americans would need to be funded. However, the same energy and passion that mobilized people to elect Barack Obama would likely be two-fold, since most Americans, regardless of Party affiliation, favor term limits and the elimination of corporate influence on our government. You would have people united as Americans, regardless of Party affiliation, to regain the lion's share of influence on government. The way to do it is the same way our current President got elected. Begin with people on the ground in all fifty states. Advertise the vision and organize initial volunteer meetings. The movement begins.

Seriously, the good folks in Egypt made their government change. I know we can. We've got the people to get it started, too. With 9+% unemployment, I'm sure alot of those folks might have something to say, besides, they've got nothing else to do. 

My billionaire of choice is Warren Buffet. A successful bid to change our constitution and our country's future for the better would place Mr. Buffet among the most highly regarded figures in American History. A movement like this would fundamentally change our country forever, in a way that, our children and their children will benefit from dramatically. So, if you know Mr. Buffet, pass this on. What do you say sir? Let's make things right.
Go now to www.getmoneyout.com

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