1861 to Present.

One of the greatest lies children are taught in school is that the American Civil War ended in April of 1865. The Civil War never ended; it just changed fronts. It's not about the color of your skin, the flag you fly, or the way you talk. The war is about one thing -- the evil people up top trying to control everybody else at the bottom.

The Civil War is ongoing and you're living it today. Think about how far you've come in this fight, and yet you're still standing. People are trying to destroy your kids sense of humanity, or worse yet kidnap them. You're taxed to death by a government that doesn't give a crap about you. The car in your driveway is long past its expiration date. The roof needs fixed, your child needs braces, and there's a raging fire just beyond the ridge. Shady people in rooms from countries we'll never see or hear are spying on us all day and night. Our elders rot away over nonsensical rules in dingy hospital beds and nursing homes. Our babies wind up in trash bags like discarded chewing gum.

I'm not sure how much more the People can take, but we've already taken so much... and I bet we can take more. We're strong. We're hard-headed. We're survivors. There's a reason America hasn't yet caved to the twisted clandestine bastards at the top. We're a bunch of stubborn, ornery outcasts that come from Forefathers who simply had enough; from slaves who braved a vast ocean and a life of great uncertainty; from immigrants who didn’t speak a lick of English but wanted a better life for their family. Do you know how much power your ancestors grant you? Through your veins pumps the blood of kings and queens, warriors and valkyries, preachers and prophets, long-distance runners and sea-fairing sailors, farmers and bakers, and especially mothers and fathers.

You are so damn powerful… and you don’t even realize it. You know who does realize this truth, though? Those life-sucking fiends that have been trying to take everything from you since 1861 and beyond. They understand just how powerful the common man and woman are, so they use subversion and trickery to divide and conquer us. I’m not sure if most of the People will ever see through the ruse, but I know a lot of them do already. Until my last breath, I’m not going to stop ringing the alarm bell.

You shouldn’t stop either. Look at how far you’ve already come. The nameless puppet-masters have thrown everything and the kitchen sink at you and me… but we’re still here.

And the Civil War rages on, 1861 to Present.

"Spirit of America" -- Norman Rockwell, 1974

The Specter at Our Door.

While sitting in my office today, a thought occurred to me.

It’s the year 2020…

• A lethal bio-weapon is plaguing mankind thanks to the Chinese government.
• Men can be women and women can be men.
• Mega-corporations are actively spying on us through our phones.
• Governments around the globe are cracking down on free speech and policing our thoughts.
• A sizable portion of the American populace wants to institute communism.
• We’re now eating simulated meat products.
• Being a proud patriot now makes you a bigot.
• The news media are the last people you want to trust for factual news.
• We can talk to our dead relatives in virtual reality.
• Most Americans are overweight or obese.
• Politicians are openly buying votes.
• Post-modernism has rendered objectivity obsolete.
• We don’t have flying cars, matter transporters, or hyperspace drives.
• Men are competing with women in athletic competitions and utterly destroying them.
• Deep-fake technology can recreate any person ever on video, dead or alive, and you can’t tell the difference.

What the hell happened to us?

You would think that we’d be much farther along in our advancement as a species. Instead, we’re collectively staring down the barrel of a shotgun and about to blow our brains out.

The Specter is at our door. Knock… knock… knock… He wants in. He knows we’re about to end it all. Collapse is imminent. We’re preparing to take the big sleep.

How can we ever hope to come back from this dystopian nightmare?

It would be mighty egotistical of me to claim to have all the answers. I don’t believe anyone does. Walking to the proverbial edge of this societal cliff wasn’t done in a day. We’ve been stepping closer and closer to the edge for decades. A step here; a step there. It’s been a gradual state of decay, one mistake at a time. You can’t notice it in the short term; it’s too incremental. When you have decades of life experience, the changes become more noticeable though. We lost ourselves along the way. We gave too much ground to the dissidents, the degenerates, and the detractors.

We stopped having the courage to say “no” when we needed to put our foot down.

If we’re going to turn the Specter away, we must take measures to right the ship. Correcting the missteps we made along the way starts with acknowledgement. If we can’t recognize that we’ve screwed up, then we can’t begin to remedy anything. I believe that’s where we start – with the objective assessment of the damage done in our own lives. I would ask each of us to earnestly consider this topic, then ponder where to go from there. The only way off the edge is for each of us to start stepping in the opposite direction.

Student Loan Debt and Personal Responsibility.

We see a fair amount of discussion in the news as of late concerning federal student loan debt. Justifiably, loans taken out for college educations are a monstrous portion of the outstanding debt presently owed by Americans. I can see why many politicians claim that they’ll work to erase lingering college loans for voters. It sounds enticing to say that college debt can be magically deleted with the wave of Uncle Sam’s hand. Let’s look at the numbers as of 2018:

• Total federal student loan borrowers: 43 Million People
• Total outstanding federal student loan debt: $1.4 Trillion
• Average amount currently owed by a federal student loan borrower: $47,671
• Borrowers actively repaying their loan: 18.6 Million (43%)
• Total number of federal student loan borrowers in some form of default: 11.3 Million (26%)

Let those numbers gestate in your brain for a moment so that you can fully understand their sheer size. The current amount owed in federal student loans is $1,400,000,000,000.00. Wrap your head around that number. It’s a number so large that the human mind can’t fully visualize it. Of the total US population, presently 327 Million citizens, 13% of them possess forty-seven thousand dollars of student loan debt each.

As you can see, the federal student loan debt crisis is frightening. This doesn’t even consider the number of private student loans, nor loans taken against personal lines of credit. It’s a gargantuan figure, not one to soon be erased. And you know what?

It’s your own fault.

I can’t muster even an ounce of pity for someone with student loan debt.

Taking out a loan for college is a personal choice. Just like buying a car, or mortgaging a house, or picking a dog at the local animal shelter – getting a student loan is your responsibility. You made that decision to borrow an average of forty-seven thousand dollars. You have neglected to repay that loan. You have chosen to default on the credit extended to you, an amount fully funded by your fellow Americans’ tax dollars.

I can’t state this any more plainly. Your student loan debt is your personal responsibility to repay.

When I hear a politician promise to erase the student loan debt of voters, what I really hear them saying is “I want to buy your vote.” Such promises are cheap, hollow, and desperately short-sighted. Carry this process to its logical conclusion. What happens if someone’s federal student loan debt is erased? Well, that debt doesn’t just disappear; the borrower’s responsibility to repay their loan has simply been forgiven. The money they borrowed is still outstanding to the US Treasury. If the buyer doesn’t repay it, then the federal government takes a loss on the loan.

Can you imagine what would happen if the Federal Government took a $1.4 Trillion loss? That’s $1.4 Trillion flushed down the drain, with no hope of that money ever being collected. It’s a loan fully funded by federal tax dollars that’s simply pissed away, never to be seen again.

What would happen if you simply failed to repay your auto loan? How about your mortgage? You know precisely what would happen. Your automobile would be repossessed, and your home would be foreclosed upon by your lender. Debt doesn’t just go away. Monies owed are always owed, up to the point that they have been paid in full and satisfied. If a politician promises to erase student debt, then they’re completely ignoring the damage that would do to our country. It’s gross negligence of the highest caliber.

The federal student loan crisis is the next fiscal bubble waiting to pop. Consider what the mortgage crisis did to our economy in 2008-2009. The massive amount of mortgage lending debt, coupled with the reckless gambling undertaken by the financial sector, sent our economy into a tailspin the likes of which we’ve never seen before. Ultimately, the US Treasury spent $439 Billion salvaging the banking and auto industries from certain collapse. Thankfully, the treasury’s efforts to assist the economy eventually resulted in a net profit of $3 Billion. Do you understand how scary the federal student loan crisis is in comparison to the 2008 financial crisis? The erasure of merely half of the outstanding federal student loan debt, with no hope of it ever being repaid, would make the 2008 economic downturn look like a field trip to Disneyland. The student loan bubble will eventually pop, and we’re collectively in for a rude awakening when it does. It's just a matter of time.

Beyond the numbers, the repayment of federal student loan debt is a reflection of individual accountability. When you sign a promissory note to repay a student loan, you’re wagering your personal reputation against your ability to securely repay the American People. If your obligation to repay what you promised is eliminated, then what good is your reputation? Your word would be worthless. Anything you further promised would be as feckless as the lies spoken by politicians to buy your vote. Your name, your reputation; they mean something in this world. You not only owe it to your fellow Americans to repay your debt to them, but you also owe it to yourself to be an honorable human being. At the end of the day, all you have is your good name. Consider the millions of Americans that have repaid their student loan debt. They worked tirelessly to satisfy their loans and followed through on their promises. How do you think those people would feel if the borrowers whom neglected to repay their debt got a proverbial 'Get Out of Jail Free' card? The subsequent discord that would erupt would not be repairable, I suspect. Even worse, what of the politicians that promise to forgive student loan debt -- will they be repaying all of the trustworthy individuals that previously satisfied their loans? What's to be said of the decent American? Not a lot, apparently.

You have to ask yourself the follow question.

Do you want to be remembered as a patriot… or as a phony?

In Defense of the American Nuclear Family.

I recently read an article in the latest issue of The Atlantic entitled ‘The Nuclear Family Was a Mistake’ that left me feeling deeply incensed. The author describes how the ideal of an American Nuclear Family is a false premise predicated upon classism, racism, and American Exceptionalism. Essentially, having a father and mother in the same home with their children is not the default; normal, healthy families are a blended mix of single parents, extended family, and potentially a revolving door of multiple partners that come in and out of a child’s life. A nuclear family is unhealthy because it provides a child with a limited set of adults from which wisdom can be drawn. As such, only wealthy White people have nuclear families because it is affordable to them.

I’d love to see a precise definition of what makes someone white, but I digress.

To quote the author of the article, David Brooks:

“Conservatives have nothing to say to the kid whose dad has split, whose mom has had three other kids with different dads; “go live in a nuclear family” is really not relevant advice. If only a minority of households are traditional nuclear families, that means the majority are something else: single parents, never-married parents, blended families, grandparent-headed families, serial partnerships, and so on. Conservative ideas have not caught up with this reality.”

Therein exists the fault in the author’s assertion, though. He expects ideals and principles to follow degenerate behavior, thereby reinforcing and justifying the degeneracy. It’s essentially the equivalent of sticking your finger in a light socket and proclaiming, “Getting electrocuted is normal, everybody is doing it. If you’re not doing it, then you’re the weirdo!”

Leftist ideologues like Mr. Brooks revel in explaining away their harmful values as realistic and suited to the norms of modern society. Many families don’t have both parents in the home and that’s how it should be, as Mr. Brooks would lead you to believe. It’s not normal for children to have a mother and a father, so it must not be correct. More and more families are lacking one of the parents in the home, so that means it’s okay… right? The defamation of the nuclear family is an intellectual shrug; a relinquishment of accountability in the face of mounting societal collapse.

That’s the funny thing about objective truth, though; it remains true whether you believe it or not.

Objectively, children do better when they have their father and mother living together in the same home. Their chances of graduating high school and going on to earning a higher education spike dramatically. Accordingly, their ability to break through the poverty barrier and become self-sufficient adults also sharply rises. Single parents earn less and are less likely to have finished high school; they’re also more likely to live in poverty. Even worse, most single-parent homes are led by the mother. An absent father has a frighteningly negative impact upon a child. Fathers imbue a certain measure of masculine knowledge that both sons and daughters need to become independent, well-rounded adults. This isn’t to say that women can’t teach children valuable life lessons; they absolutely can and do. The difference is that fathers and mothers teach different lessons that neither can completely encompass alone. Without one parent, the other is left to manage the best way they can; invariably, some masculine or feminine standards and lessons are missed.

Here’s the point that I want to make – just because someone else is screwing up, that doesn’t mean you should purposefully screw up too. Don’t let the behavior of others justify your abandonment of principles and decency. Instead of having children with multiple partners and being a single parent, act responsibly and be more selective of your sexual partners. I’m not even bringing religion into this argument, either; this is far more rudimentary than lofty questions related to God, the afterlife, and spiritual morality. This is a question of common sense. Do you want your potential children to live with their father and mother? You absolutely should. Demonizing the ideal of a nuclear family doesn’t miraculously make the anti-nuclear family warranted. The nuclear family living next door isn’t to blame for your lack of personal responsibility.

I can’t help but mordantly chuckle at the sadness of this whole situation. Honestly, the lack of personal responsibility is a pervasive blight upon all corners of the American landscape; that’s a whole other book-sized can of worms I could write about.

I should also be clear -- extended family is a wonderful thing. I want every child to know and learn from their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and so forth. The nuclear family should be at the core of a child’s existence, though; that’s a habitual fact which must be applied whenever and however possible.

As I was researching data for this article, it became glaringly apparent that the leftists at The Atlantic aren’t the only deceitful maligners pushing this anti-nuclear family agenda. All my Google web searches produced alarming headlines that took priority in the results provided.

• Do children in two-parent families do better?
• The myth of the nuclear family.
• Single moms get it done!
• Minorities should blame Whites for their dad’s being locked up.

Regrettably, this is an active agenda to divide the American populace and deconstruct the traditional family unit. Why? Because the globalist puppeteers wielding left-leaning media outlets like sabers want to bring down America. How do you do that? By imploding where the American spirit is born and cultivated – within the home. The quickest way to defeat our remarkable republic is to smother the proverbial hearth of the American family. Once the family is made obsolete, then the individual can be further eroded, too. Before long, you wind up with a dystopian society that values the state over the individual.

In essence, the reinforcement of the American Nuclear Family is a defense of liberty itself.

5 Tips For Being A Real American!

There sure are a lot of wimps out in the world today. I look around and wonder... what happened to my 'Murica?! Rest assured, I've got it all figured out. Immigrants aren't the problem. The media isn't the problem. Hell, politicians aren't even the problem. So what is the problem?

We've gotten too damn soft.

As such, here's a quick tutorial on how to be a real American!

Tip #1: Always wear a tank top. This applies to chicks just as much as dudes. Show your guns as much as virtually possible. Big guns. Little guns. Guns with crappy tribal tattoos. Guns with droopy armpit fat. SHOW 'EM! Bonus GI Joe points for accompanying side-boob or wicked scars. Bonus Bonus points for actually carrying a gun with your guns.

Tip #2: Use exclamation points at the end of every sentence! Doesn't matter what you're talking about! Grandma's dying of tuberculosis! You lost your foot in a freak lawnmower accident! You scored an 80 on your math final and passed the class with relative ease! It burns when I pee! You're an American, so everything you say is obviously important! Ex!clam!!!!atio!!ns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tip #3: Break the rules. See what I just did there? I broke my own rule from the previous tip. Rules are for sheep willing to do whatever they're told. Don't be a sheep. Wait, screw that... be a sheep. Breaking the rules is cool.

Tip #4: Everything is better with hot sauce. Quit letting your tongue be a limp coward. Put hot sauce on your eggs, tacos and fish. Douse it over your mashed potatoes and broccoli. Hell, you're not even livin' if you haven't placed a fat ol' drop of hot sauce in your favorite cocktail. Burn that mother up! See that baby up there drinking the hot sauce straight? Yeah, 100% commander-in-chief material. I'm gonna write in 'Bad Ass Toddler' for President.

Tip #5: Condoms are for foreigners. You've got the blood of Uncle Sam pulsating through every pore in your body. As such, you need to spread your freedom-lovin' genetics as much as virtually possible. Making babies is quintessentially American. You get a fetus! You get a fetus! You get a fetus! Point, aim and fire your flag-flyin' baby maker at every womb or flesh salami that'll allow you to. Sure, you might catch the HIV (rhymes with give) or some other disgusting case of crotch rot, but that's the price you pay to live in the greatest god damn country on Earth. Your genitals might fall off, but your patriotism will live on forever!

Brown Sugar Pie - The Fattest Recipe Ever?

Americans are fat as hell... and recipes like this are why.

I found this recipe for a Brown Sugar Pie in my local newspaper today. Take a look at those ingredients and let it all soak in.

• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon of hot water
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 1/2 pound of light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla

My immediate response was "Where is the pie?" This is an entire dessert essentially filled with sugar and butter. No pecans. No walnuts. No cinnamon or cloves. No fruit of any kind.

Sugar. 

Just to prove to you how terrible this recipe is, here is the nutritional data.

(Click to enlarge)

Mindblowing, right?! Brown Sugar Pie has a total of 1321 calories and 227 carbs (all of which come directly from sugar). You might as well stick your face in a sugar bowl and lick it out, because that would produce the same result. If you cut this "pie" into six slices, you'd be eating 37.8 carbs in one sitting. Keep in mind that you shouldn't eat more than 50 carbs in a day. By the time you swallow a slice down with a glass of milk, well... you've gone over your carb limit plus some. Most people would probably cut this dish into four slices.

Oh, who am I kidding; this is America. They'd just eat the whole damn thing!

Notice I left the pie shell out of the nutritional data. Why? Because there was no point. The pie shell just adds more carbs and more calories. I think you get the picture.

Crappy recipes like this, passed off as 'good southern cooking', are why we're bursting at the seems with fat. Instead of eating some terrible slop like Brown Sugar Pie, why not bake an apple pie or some pumpkin pie? Sure, no pie is outright good for you, but at least other options are somewhat better for you. This, though? It's just a pie pan filled with sugar. Yuck.

The Origin Of The Foot Long Hot Dog.

Let's face it. Everybody loves a tasty wiener.

Even better... a juicy hot dog that's much larger than your normal size. Traditionally, a regular-length hot dog measures six inches, per industry standards. And yet, what about a frankfurter that measures upwards of twelve inches in length? That's a massive amount of sausage at twice the delight of well... EVERYONE!

Hot dogs are clearly a guilty pleasure food. They're synonymous with America; as patriotic as apple pie and baseball. Whereas the standard hot dog has been made for centuries (as early as the 13th Century in Germany), the foot long dog has roots right here in the USA. And yet, their origin is a sad one.

In the 1930's, America faced the Great Depression. Proven to be the worst economic downturn our fair nation has ever faced, millions of Americans struggled against poverty and starvation. A man named George Schmidt, whom operated an amusement park in Chicago, took notice of the hungry visitors that came to his park, but couldn't afford to eat in his restaurants. Realizing that these very same people typically ate the cost-effective hot dogs sold in the park (sometimes sharing one dog between three or four people), he created a longer hot dog that would serve as a cheap meal. Visitors enjoyed the larger hot dogs, which didn't cost much more than the standard length original version. It was an immediate success, with sausage packing plants the nation over beginning to produce foot longs to meet demand.

There's an old saying about necessity being the mother of invention. In this case, it gave birth to a perennial American classic, the foot long.

How To Make Homemade Eggnog.

One of the most delightful (and fattening) treats of the holiday season has to be eggnog. Coming to America in the 18th Century from England, eggnog originally used brandy as the alcoholic component of the beverage. Though, because of heavy taxation, Americans turned to using much cheaper rum from the Caribbean. As the American Revolution kicked into full swing, the supply of rum entering the British Colonies dwindled. In turn, this caused another change with the recipe. Instead of rum, Americans started mixing bourbon with their eggnog.

In honor of a truly American holiday drink, here's a wonderful homemade eggnog recipe that you can create in your own kitchen. Remember, though... eggnog should be consumed in moderation.

Ingredients

• 4 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
• 1 pint whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 ounces bourbon
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 4 egg whites

Begin by beating the egg yolks thoroughly with a mixer. Add the sugar until dissolved. Finally, mix in the bourbon, nutmeg, milk and cream. Set this mixture aside.

Next, beat the egg whites with a mixer until soft. Then, mix in the tablespoon of sugar until the whites firm up slightly.

Finally, whisk your egg whites into your already prepared egg yolk mixture. Chill the entire batch until the eggnog is nice and cold, then serve.

If you want to try one of the older versions of eggnog, use brandy or rum instead of bourbon!

Remember, there is a slight salmonella risk from uncooked eggs. Only use clean, pasteurized eggs with unbroken shells. The risk is small, but it's best to be cautious.

What Does The Destruction of hitchBot Say About America?

Leave it to us Americans to screw up something wholesome and innocent.

The sad news broke this week about hitchBot, a roving talking robot, being destroyed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Created by two Canadian University academics named Frauke Zeller and David Smith, hitchBot was designed to travel by hitchhiking and perform as a friendly companion to drivers. It began its journey in Halifax, Nova Scotia and successfully hitchhiked all the way to Victoria, British Columbia -- over 6,200 miles in all. Travelers would pick hitchBot up alongside the road, whom would then proceed to talk with the drivers. hitchBot did not have functioning limbs, so strangers were required to literally pick him up. Thankfully, hitchBot was made from a small electronic dome head attached to a bucket, with swimming noodles for arms and legs -- he was fairly light. For a face, hitchBot employed a simple LED screen that would smile and wink. It had a somewhat complex conversational vocabulary and could discuss all sorts of things. The robot would also snap a photo every so often to record its trip.

Using the hashtag #hitchBot, those whom picked him up could share their adventures for all the world to see on the internet. hitchBot attended a wedding, went to a dance and even had its portrait painted. After traveling across the entire breadth of Canada, it then hitchhiked successfully through a large swathe of Europe without incident. The amount of miles hitchBot logged without encountering a problem is astounding -- this speaks to the inherent good nature of most Canadians and Europeans.

hitchBot survived a measly two weeks in the United States.

The talkative robot launched its trip in Massachusetts on July 17, 2015. It saw a baseball game and made a swing through New York City. By August 1, it had arrived in Philadelphia. There, it was vandalized and left in a ditch to proverbially die by an unknown assailant.

I realize this was just a social experiment to see how humans will respond to a hapless, innocent robot, but I fear this reflects how vicious many Americans truly are. An object with no means of defense traveled a long ways without being vandalized, only to be destroyed within a few weeks here in the good ol' US of A. What does this say about Americans? Are we barbaric? Dangerous? Not to be trusted?

First the murder of Cecil the Lion, and now hitchBot... all in the span of a week. If the obliteration of hitchBot proves anything, it's that Americans are masters of death and destruction.

We're #1?

If Morons Want The Confederate Flag, Let Them Have It.

Good grief... it's amazing how much difference a few days can make in the modern digital age.

Pick one. Either you're an American, or you're a Confederate.

On Sunday, I reported on the recent Charleston Mass Shooting. In that article, I made clear my thoughts on the Confederate Flag. To reiterate my comments -- neither the federal government nor any state government should fly the Confederate Flag on public land. The only national flag that should be flown on government and public property is the American Flag. The Confederate Flag represents a sovereignty, the Confederate States of America, that has not existed since 1865. Hence, its flag should not fly on US Government property. It's simply a matter of formality, honor and common sense.

Leap ahead from Sunday to today. The Confederate Flag has become all but outlawed in the public arena.

Every time I read or watch the news, I see yet another example of the Confederate Flag being banned from sale or display. Retail giants like eBay, Amazon and Walmart have pulled items from their marketplace that bear the Rebel Flag. Apple has gone so far as to remove games that feature the flag, even though those games are historical Civil War simulations.

What worries me most about this knee-jerk reaction is that it doesn't actually fix the problem of racism. I'm disappointed, but not surprised, at how this Rebel Flag kerfuffle has unfolded over the past few days. Though I do not want the Rebel Flag to fly over public and government property, I don't want it to be banned outright, either. If someone wants to own a piece of property that bears the Confederate Flag, that is their right. Let me be clear -- I have no interest in the Confederate Flag at all. While I think the Rebel Flag is for the most part trashy and obscene, that doesn't mean I get to be the thought police. You'll never catch me driving a car with a Rebel Flag bumper sticker, nor trotting down the beach in a pair of Rebel Flag swimming trunks. It's just... tawdry. But, what someone chooses to like or dislike is their business -- as long as it isn't causing anyone else harm.

The South will not rise again.

Just so we're clear...

Rebel Flag on government property? Not okay.
Rebel Flag on private property? That your business.

If you want to stamp out racism, then it has to begin in the home. Children must be made aware of the outside world. They should have equal access to a broad education. Parents must change their outdated views on race, facing the challenges of a cohesive global society head on. Most importantly, we must teach children not to live a life based upon fear. Fear gives birth to racism.

Much of this negative response has actually lead to the erasure of the Confederate Flag in a purely historical context. Unfortunately, you can't change the past. What happened can not be rewritten. For five years, Americans were split based upon slavery, personal ideals and commerce. Some states chose to band together as the Confederate States of America and start their own country. The Confederacy was represented by the Rebel Flag. That's fact. No matter how wrong the Confederates were in their positions, we can not make that dark aspect of our national past just disappear. To treat the Confederate Flag as if it doesn't exist devalues the courage of the men and women whom fought to rejoin our nation. It also discredits the enslaved Africans whom died trying to survive in a climate of hatred and dehumanization.

The Confederate Flag can be shown in a historical context without glorifying what it represents. This holds true for the flags of all murderous regimes, despots and dictators.

We can't surgically remove the Nazi Flag from existence. Nor can we make the Flags of North Korea or Lenin-era Soviet Union vanish. The Confederate Flag symbolizes another open wound in the long and tumultuous history of humanity. Yet, as long as the Rebel Flag is withheld from public property, then let the People do with it as they wish in their own homes. It's just a matter of personal liberty. Certainly, I wouldn't advise anyone to fly a Rebel Flag on their property, but I nor anyone else has much say in the matter. Your property and your personal preferences are your business.

If these morons want to waive their Rebel Flags, that's their problem.

Look at it this way -- allowing people to sport their Rebel Flag makes it a whole lot easier to identify actual racists. Not all who love the Confederate Flag are racists, but all racists sure do seem to love the Confederate Flag.

As if the white robes didn't make these racist assholes easy enough to see, 'X'  literally marks the spot!

I'm Lovin' It? Not Really.

I have a simple test for you to complete. It involves one challenge. I want you to guess the ingredients in McDonald's french fries. Do it without using an internet search engine. Just go off your gut instincts. How many ingredients are in a french fry from McDonald's?

If you guessed one, two or even three, then you are DEAD WRONG!

Thanks to new industry-wide labeling regulations from the Food and Drug Administration, all restaurants and businesses which serve food at twenty or more locations will have to start making visible the amount of calories in their menu items. These new regulations also require that ingredients in food be made readily available to customers. By the end of 2015, these new regulations will be in full effect all across the country. If you've been to a fast-food restaurant like McDonald's recently, then you've noticed that the way in which they present their menu choices may have changed. This is directly related to the oncoming new FDA regulations -- don't let them fool you. Restaurants like McDonald's simply decided to get ahead of the curve and attempt to put a positive spin on the mandated changes. As such, this is fantastic news for the American consumer.

Now... back to those french fries.

Shockingly, there are SEVENTEEN ingredients in McDonald's french fries. Here they are:

1. Potatoes - At least part of the fries are real food.
2. Canola Oil - This is the chief bonding agent in the fries which makes them hold their shape.
3. Hydrogenated Soybean Oil - Highly saturated and one of the worst things you can ever consume.
4. Safflower Oil - One of the healthiest of cooking oils on its own, but unfortunately McDonald's heats it to such a high temperature that it alters the compound of the oil, thereby turning it into an inflammatory chemical. Ever had bad gas or digestive pain after eating at McDonald's? This is why.
5. "Natural" Flavor - A secret mixture of proprietary flavors protected by copyright law. Essentially - they're not going to tell you because the law can't make them. Based upon previous chemical analysis performed by third party research groups, it's suspected that monosodium glutamate (MSG) is one of the key components.
6. Dextrose - Sugar... because french fries apparently needed that.
7. Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate - Used for "coloring" the fries. Most chemical industry standards regulate it as a toxic substance not recommended for consumption.
8. Citric Acid - A preservative to maintain freshness.
9. Dimethylpolysiloxane - An anti-foaming agent that's also regularly used in bathroom caulk as a bonding agent.
10. Vegetable Oil Blend - This is actually another proprietary blend of seven different ingredients, of which there are various other oils and the nearly-unpronounceable chemical tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ). The scary thing about TBHQ is that it's been definitively linked to asthma, hormone malfunction, various skin diseases and cancer.

Apparently, french fries need to be a deadly chemical cocktail before they can be served to you. Who knew?!

Be on the lookout for menu changes at your favorite dining establishment. Hopefully, this will influence how often people consume fast food. Though, considering how lazy and pathetic most Americans are... I doubt it. Personally, I'm eager for people to finally see how many calories they're consuming at Starbucks. You're just drinking syrup folks.

Dude, You Hit My Car! Part II

Oh happy day...

Some of you with a good memory may recall that my vehicle was damaged by a thankless moron in a Harris Teeter parking lot in 2012. While inside shopping for groceries, a callous driver backed into my front bumper. In the process, they tore it from the driver-side fender and put a large dent in it (most likely from a hitch). That driver left the scene without so much as a note.

No "Sorry." No "Oops, my bad!" No "Kiss my ass." NOTHING.

My insurance ended up covering the damage -- after a $500 deductible and a new bumper, everything was as good as new.

It seems history has a funny way of repeating itself.

I went shopping at a local Food Lion today for a handful of items. I was inside shopping for less then fifteen minutes. Upon returning to my vehicle, I discovered this (click image for higher resolution).

Alas, my bumper is damaged once again -- in almost the exact same spot. At the time of my arrival, I parked in a spot without anyone in front of nor to the left of me. Had I of not been getting groceries, I'd have pulled through. But, I knew I'd need to get in my hatch area to store groceries, so I stayed put. From the looks of things, it seems someone decided to park in front of me. Upon leaving, they heavily scraped my car with the front left corner of their bumper while pulling away. I can tell this by the direction of the scuffing. Instead of just backing up (at least part of the way), they instead zipped right on by my vehicle and scratched the hell out of it in the process. The photo doesn't show it well, but there's black bumper residue from their car, much like what can be found on older vehicles.

And yet again... they failed to leave any sort of note. At this point, I'd even take a "sorry bro, but I've not got any cash to fix it." Just own up to your mistake and do the honorable thing. Even if you can't afford to repair it, I'd at least like the culprit to admit their wrong doing. But no... that's apparently just too much for them to handle.

Nope - I'm surrounded by dishonorable schmucks. I should expect nothing more, right? This is what it is to live in modern America. Most of you (even some of you reading this) are assholes.

Whomever you are that did this, I hope you're smeared with peanut butter and lowered slowly feet-first into a cage filled with rabid, flesh-eating hamsters.

Your Diamond is Worthless.

If you're a married lady, or are engaged, odds are that a diamond ring is on your hand. For countless decades, diamonds have been considered the go-to gift when a man proposes to a woman.

And it's completely and utterly ridiculous.

Why, you are surely asking?

Because diamonds are a crafty marketing ploy to separate you from your money. I'll explain.

Up until 1870, diamonds were indeed rare and precious. Only the wealthiest sultans and kings owned them. Suddenly, a series of massive diamond mines were found in South Africa. This discovery made diamonds extremely plentiful, thereby sending the price of diamonds down to almost nothing. To counter this massive financial loss, a man named Cecil Rhodes purchased all of the diamond mines in South Africa. He had conquered the market by 1888. By monopolizing the diamond mine market, Rhodes was able to artificially control the output of diamonds, thereby sending their value back up. One of the biggest mining companies Rhodes purchased was owned by the DeBeers Brothers. As the conglomerate of diamond mining companies grew, Rhodes' organization took on the DeBeers name. DeBeers continued to grow larger and larger as more diamond mines were uncovered around the world. The company absorbed these new mines as they popped up. Because they could control the number of virtually all the diamonds mined in the world, DeBeers could set the price of diamonds at any level.

Throughout the Twentieth Century and into the Twenty-First, DeBeers has operated the Central Selling Organization. This is the "marketplace" where diamonds are sold at wholesale to purchasers for jewelry production.

You heard that right -- not only does DeBeers control nearly all global diamond mining activity, but they also operate the supply chain which puts diamonds in the hands of jewelers. This still holds true to this day, even though DeBeers was forced to settle an anti-trust lawsuit with the US Government in 2000. Why? Because of their successful world-wide marketing strategy.

And this, my friends, is where the plot thickens...

By the time of the Great Depression, demand for diamonds had fallen dramatically in the United States. The reason why is obvious -- people were broke. Most Europeans hadn't caught on to the idea of owning a diamond, either (because most citizens there were wise to the DeBeers scam). To increase their profits once more in the commercial sector, DeBeers turned to the marketing firm of N.W. Ayer and Son. They're famous for creating the Morton Salt Girl and the catchy "Be All You Can Be" Army slogan, amongst a slew of others. In the 1930's, the marketing firm's president was Gerold M. Lauck. Once hired, Lauck completed an extensive research study about diamond engagement rings. His results weren't surprising -- to sell diamond rings, you have to attract men. Lauck keenly realized that to increase profits for DeBeers, he needed to craft diamonds as the ultimate symbol of love. Accordingly, Lauck also determined that women needed to desire diamond rings, in so much as to expect them when being asked for their hand in marriage.

Immediately, Lauck implemented a dastardly marketing campaign that encompassed nearly all aspects of public and social life. He paid for diamond rings to appear in movies and in magazines. Fashion designers were "encouraged" to feature diamonds on their models. Radio and television programs had placement advertising, which reinforced how owning a diamond ring was a lofty status symbol. Men were told that giving your fiancee the biggest diamond you could afford was the proper thing to do. Women were told that they deserved a large diamond ring because they were special. Lauck was a pure genius. With DeBeers' money, he created one of the most successful marketing campaigns this world has ever known. It was during this campaign that the famous slogan "A Diamond is Forever" was born. Within only a few months, Lauck's campaign strategy increased American diamond sales over fifty percent! To this day, the Lauck campaign is still in full effect. And to think... a commercial-grade diamond has nearly ZERO intrinsic value.

One of the most common DeBeers advertisements.

Consider a report published by The Atlantic magazine in 1982. They studied the history of diamonds, as well as how much a diamond is really worth. Within this widely lauded report, it revealed that the Ayer marketing firm constantly stayed on top of their marketing strategy and made adjustments when and where necessary. Because so many diamonds were in the hands of the public by the 1950's, they were forced to address the massive diamond supply that could potentially be resold, thereby sending prices down. To do this, Ayer created new marketing tactics which encouraged women to value their diamonds more than anything else in their possession. Concurrently, they promoted the notion that diamonds should never be resold. Their marketing strategy again worked -- to this day, it is nearly impossible to find a person that will resell a diamond (either gifted or inherited).

Here's the damning part, though. That same Atlantic report also proved that diamonds depreciate dramatically the moment they leave a jewelry store. The markup on a diamond can be upwards of 200%! As such, a jeweler will not typically buy a diamond back from a customer. Why? Because they have little incentive to do so, even though they could flip the diamond for a small profit. Even if the jeweler did want to repurchase the "used" diamond, their offer would be extremely low. As such, they'll avoid the situation altogether because making a low offer would illustrate how invaluable a diamond really is. If the public truly knew diamonds were not valuable, then they'd stop paying such high prices for them. Essentially, refusing to repurchase the diamond keeps the myth going.

Remember that slick Ayer marketing strategy I mentioned before? One such tactic was to present diamonds in movies as objects which thieves often wanted to steal. In reality, high-level thieves and burglars will rarely, if ever, steal diamonds. They know that it's next to impossible to resell them. Why risk being apprehended for little to no profit? Yet, to this day, heist movies will still show crooks swiping diamonds.

And there you have it my friends. Diamonds are absolutely worthless. Over ninety percent of all profit made from diamonds goes to the DeBeers Cartel. They control the supply. They control the demand. They control your thoughts, even.

Ladies... take a look at that shiny rock on your hand. Understand this -- it is not really valuable. The man (or woman) whom gave that diamond to you was fooled into thinking it was a prized possession. What you have is a very common, mildly lustrous stone. Many generations of Americans before you were tricked into thinking diamonds were important. Their children were taught the same thing, and so on and so forth. You now continue to prop up the diamond myth. You're just the latest victim in a long string of parlor tricks and misinformation, all thanks to greedy tycoons and one of the most brilliant marketing tactics ever devised.

The Importance of Christmas Cards.

A very old Christmas card featuring Santa Claus in a make-shift zeppelin.

If it's not already abundantly clear, I like to write. Writing is therapeutic, as well serving as exercise for my brain. It keeps my noggin loose as a goose, you know what I'm saying? When it comes to your mind... if you don't use it, you lose it.

One of my most favorite things to write are holiday cards. Between Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, I probably mail out a couple dozen greeting cards to family and friends. Odds are you've probably received one from me at some point (or you're about to). I write and send holiday cards because I want the recipient to know how important they are to me. Though many miles and difficult schedules may keep us apart, I am thinking of you.

But where did holiday cards come from?

The world's first Christmas card.

The origin of the Christmas card goes back to London in the year 1843. Sir Henry Cole commissioned over two-thousand cards to be printed with an illustration by John Callcott Horsley. Henry Cole was already notable in his day for inventing the Penny Post, which was a cheap and effective means of sending a letter for only one penny. Horsley was a well-respected academic painter and illustrator in England. These two men could not have known the phenomenon they were about to unleash upon the world. Ever since, Christmas cards have been in constant production (which also spread to other holidays on the calendar throughout the year).

Jump ahead to the year 1873. Christmas cards were not yet a ritual in the United States. Prang and Mayer, a lithograph company located in Boston, Massachusetts, began to sell greetings cards for Europeans, which they then followed up with the first commercially available Christmas cards for Americans in 1874. Louis Prang, the owner of the company, is known as the "Father of the American Christmas card". If you're an artist, the Prang name should sound familiar to you. Louis Prang was an outspoken art education advocate, to which he developed and sold art supplies and educational materials through is company. His name graces the Prang brand of art supplies, which include colored pencils, watercolors and crayons! Every time you use a Prang watercolor set, you can thank Mr. Prang in due part for creating the American Christmas card!

For over a hundred years, Christmas and holiday cards remained a common seen item in folks' mailboxes. Though, in the advent of the modern technology age, Christmas cards have take a back seat to emails and virtual greetings. Such electronic messages are fine and dandy... but they just can't replace the warmth that comes from receiving an actual card in the mail. To know that someone took the time to write a card, put your address on it, affix a stamp and take it to the post office... that shows initiative, authenticity and purpose. A recent study by the Heritage Foundation was not promising, though. In 2013, they confirmed via the US Postal Service that the volume of greetings cards mailed had shrunk over fifty percent since 1987. Even worse, the volume shrinkage between 2010 and 2013 was ten percent! As evidenced, the rate at which people are not mailing cards is rapidly sinking.

All is not lost, though. You can take part in sending a personal holiday message of love and affection. Grab a pen, get a holiday card from your local pharmacy or department store, slap a stamp on it and put it in the mail! Write your mom, your brother, your best friend from high school! I promise you this - a card filled with warm wishes and season's greetings will mean much more than any e-mail ever can.

Want to get on my greeting card mailing list, but don't believe you're already on it? Send me a message (Facebook, text, email, etc.) and let me know your address. I want to mail you a holiday card!