Fear Reading

I have been reading a lot lately. Some fiction and some non-fiction.

But I just picked up a book that I bought the summer of 2000.

It's a very interesting book that you should all pick up and at least skim through.

The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things, by Barry Glassner.

It is pretty much about the facts behind the media's scare tactics.

For instance when you hear about how many people have this or how many times this happens, aren't you curious where they get their numbers?

Glassner basically looks into all of that and tells you about it.

He looks at different things that scare us and than makes reasonable explanations.

Here is an example:

"In 1996, Bob Garfield, a magazine writer, reviewed articles about serious diseases published over the course of a year in the Washington Post, The New York Times, and USA Today. He learned that, in addition to 59 million Americans with heart disease, 53 million with migraines, 25 million with osteoporosis, 16 million with obesity, and 3 million with cancer, many Americans suffer from more obscure ailments such as temporomandibular joint disorders (10 million) and brain injuries (2 million). Adding up the estimates, Garfield determined that 543 million Americans are seriously sick - a shocking number in a nation of 266 million inhabitants. Either as a society we are doomed, or someone is seriously double-dipping, he suggested."


Ridiculous. I bet you never even really thought about the figures you read in newspapers and hear on the news.

All you think about is how bad it sounds.

But you don't consider anything behind it.

Another example:

"Studies of the general population - both men and women - find that large numbers of people who believe they have symptoms of cancer delay going to a doctor, often for several months. When asked why, they report they are terrified about the pain and financial ruin cancer can cause as well as poor prospects for a cure. The irony of course is that early treatment can prevent precisely those horrors they most fear."

People are so sure of their information that they ignore common sense.

Instead of just getting up and going to the doctor they delay because there is no way anything can get better so why go.

Isn't that ridiculous?


I just picked up the book this morning and started reading it again and I read both of those parts today.

The rest of the book should be just as good.

It's something that this country needs to realize....there isn't as much to be afraid of as people think!

Whew

I have noticed that fewer and fewer people are checking out my nice little blog here and am curious as to why.

Is it the political posts?

Is it the lack of posts?

Do people just not like me?

Okay it isn't the last one because I think it is obvious that everyone likes me so it must be one of the first two.

To challenge the first one I won't say anything. I may still post about politics but it isn't a burning desire to do right now so you can come back if that is keeping you away.

The second one is a little harder. I started a new blog/website with Verb called Jumping Offsides. It is all about sports which I love. It also includes a podcast (episode 1 is up, check it out) which takes a lot of time. And if you have noticed I have already posted MANY posts over there.

But I am going to try to post a few times a week here too. Last week I was out of town from Tuesday through Friday so I wasn't available to post much and when I was the new sports site took priority.

I am going to try to stay on a schedule over here but I am not going to divulge my thoughts until I try it for a while because I don't want to let anyone down.

Other than that everything is good here.

The puppies are getting bigger and getting better at listening and whatnot.

I haven't really done much else other than watch football and read for a while now so I hope you are all doing well and while I may not post, I do still read!

In fact my google reader is over 300 and I am slowly catching up.

Come Check It Out

If you are interested in sports at all than you should really come check out my new blog.

Verb and I have started our own blog and will be posting daily about things going on in the sports world.

And soon we will be conducting podcasts and putting them up on the page.

So please come by and check us out.

www.jumpingoffsides.com

self promotion

How do all of you feel about self promotion?

By this I mean how do you feel about proudly sharing your achievements with EVERYONE in the office?

My co-worker recently passed a test to get some letters put after his name.

I am sure it wasn't easy and I am sure he worked and studied really hard to do it.

But when he came in this morning (his first in the office this since he received his passing score) he went around to EVERYONE and told each person that he passed his test.

Now personally I would never do this.

I might go and tell one or two people and then I would let the normal conversation and gossip carry it to everyone else.

But actually I don't think I would tell anyone unless someone asked me about it.

I am not saying I am right or anything but that is what I would do. But I also know that I am a very private person and don't want to have a conversation with anyone about my personal life or accomplishments.

But it does bother me when someone comes around and flaunts their achievements.

And then he sends out an email to more parts of the office telling everyone that he passed. And asking if anyone wanted to go CELEBRATE HIS ACCOMPLISHMENT next week.

Now maybe it is just me but I don't want to have to throw myself a party. But I can see why he would do this.

Now like I said I am not saying that I am right on this. Maybe most of you would do the same thing.

But it does bother me.

Just a Figurehead!

I tried to be as unbiased as possible in the post and (believe it or not) have not decided who I am going to vote for yet. Although I am leaning one way. After writing the post I am even more confident in my (potential) choice than before. I truly feel that this is true:


In my personal opinion the office of President of the USA is little more than a figurehead position.

Meaning they don't make decisions based on their own history, experience, or thoughts. But they take advice from a panel of advisers and then make a decision. Basically they get all the credit for great decisions and all the blame if something goes wrong.

I personally feel that the key to the office is the people they put around themselves. And then it comes down to how well they take advice and how stuck in their ways they are.

All of the candidates promise multiple things like tax cuts, health care, or education.

But what everyone has to remember is that they can't do any of those things without Congress.

Everything they are proposing has to be agreed upon by so many people that it will never happen.

What will end up happening is that no matter what is promised it will be watered down and will barely make an impact when it is finally accepted and made official.


On top of that, all Presidents have a bunch of advisers for everything they need to know. There are speech writers/advisers, combat advisers, scheduling advisers, and everything else.

So the real key to a successful President is one that is open-minded (as much as politician's can be) and one that chooses the right people around them.

And I am not referring to the VP position because that is even more useless than the President position and is really only there in case something happens to the President.

The best Presidents take the information that they are given from their advisers and take the interest of the American people and decide on the best course of action.

This is the reason why I don't blame Bush for the war in Iraq. I am pretty sure that everyone in his circle wanted to go into Iraq and get Saddam out of there. So he took every one's opinion and decided that they all couldn't be wrong. But they were!

And I think any President would have done the same thing unless they refuse to fight in which case they shouldn't be in office.

Even most of the American people wanted Bush to respond with military action. And yes maybe a lot of us didn't think Iraq was the right way to go but we didn't have access to the reports and information that was being given to Bush and his staff.

But Bush isn't a very open-minded President in my opinion. I think he has a plan in his head and he is following it completely. He is not straying from it and won't.

I think the first George Bush and Bill Clinton were much more open-minded and weren't set in their ways or ideas.


But this year I think we have a candidate that is perfect for doing what he needs to do. And that is Obama.

I think he will always listen to his advisers BECAUSE of his lack of experience. Where as McCain is very stubborn and stuck in his way. Just look at how he is handling the Iraq war issue! He will not waver in his theory and decision.

And a person like that can NOT run this country right now.


But it really all depends on who is appointed to adviser positions.

Does the new President put in people along party lines or do they branch out and create a diverse staff.

I think a diverse staff that crosses party lines is KEY to the Presidency.

And I have more faith in Obama to appoint the advisers necessary than McCain.


I read somewhere that people are confused by the "Change and Hope" campaign by Obama. They don't understand what that means.

I think it means exactly what I am saying.

Instead of the same thing from the same people like the last 8 years we are going to get a different perspective on things from here on.

He is going to be more open to listening to other opinions and take everything into account prior to making a decision.

And that is what we need right now. Someone that we can trust!

The first political post

Okay, I have read numerous political posts in the past couple of weeks with regards to the candidates for this year.

I am going to tell you right now that I intend to and will be posting my thoughts and views on what is going on.

I am not going to tell you who to vote for. And I am not going to exaggerate or make stuff up about someone to sway your opinion.

All I want to do is argue some things that are coming out and argue people's reasoning in their arguments.

Everyone needs to take a step back and look at the candidates and their interests before making a decision.

This will not turn into a political blog or anything close to it.

The only reason I am saying all of this is because most of the other political posts I have read have begun with someone saying that this is only a one time thing or something like it.

And I don't agree with it. This is the one most influential and important elections ever. Think about it......a black man for President and now a woman for Vice President!!!

I never thought I would see it in my lifetime and I am very excited about it.



The reason I bring this up today is that there have been serious debates in my office lately about the candidates.

And today's really bothered me.

A guy I work with said he likes Palin and that he thinks McCain is going to win in the elections. And that Obama is going to get crushed in any debate they have.

Okay, so I asked him, "did you watch any of the debates prior to the primaries?"

His response....."no, but Obama is only good reading from a teleprompter, he can't come up with things off the top of his head."

Oh really. Interesting opinion considering YOU DIDN'T WATCH THE DEBATES!

I did watch them. I actually recorded one cause I wasn't going to be able to watch it live.

I am not going to say that Obama is better than McCain at debates cause the two haven't faced off against each other yet.

But I remember listening to McCain and watching him back himself into a corner time and time again because he speaks to freely about his ideas and interests. Is that bad? No, I like that he is willing to put himself out there. But by putting yourself out there you are setting yourself up for IMMEDIATE ridicule if your opponent is competent.

The best politicians do one thing better than anything else.....they say a lot while saying NOTHING!!

And Obama is much better at that than McCain. McCain is a lot of times saying something meaningful. He is telling you what his intentions are and how he would do it.

The problem with that is that people instantly form opinions based on what you said and if someone doesn't understand what you meant than you may lose a supporter.

But Obama says very little but he talks all the time. And that is a huge advantage in debates in my opinion. He offers his ideas and interests without getting too deep into the planning of them.

Now like I said before I think McCain should be respected and admired for stating his intentions whenever he is asked.

But if you think McCain is going to destroy Obama in a debate than you obviously haven't watched them debate.



If anyone wishes to comment or debate, please do!!

here you go

I said I would post pictures of the puppies so here you go.

These are the few that have been removed from the camera already.

This one is of Ash sleeping in our living room

This is Simi laying on the floor by the front door

This is the two of them in the breeder's living room when we picked them up

here is Simi looking out from under the chair at the breeder's house

They are very cute and are learning everything very quickly.