I don't quite know why, but it seems that I want to help people I don't even know with things you would think were apparent, but might not be to everyone. I kind of wish that I had something like this when I was younger so I wouldn't make mistakes that wasted time or money and that I later began to regret.
I surf the internet occasionally looking for whatever. (I found out that Lady Gaga was going to be in Richmond later in September by finding a link on a friend's facebook page for another song by another artist. I told you before that my mind wanders in a jumble and I hope blogging can somehow control it). Anyhow, this morning in my wanderings I stumbled upon a page that I wanted to share with younger gay guys about some swimwear.
I'm all for a company making a profit - that's the reason companies are in business. But when it comes to ripping people off or taking advantage of them, I am compelled to share and denounce it and show better alternatives. Hey, I have no ties whatsoever to any company that I advertise on my blog (a long discussion on how ads are rotated on the site for later). I have no investment in any company I discuss on my blog - whether to expose what seems to be a rip-off, or a company I do business with. Understand that upfront - no financial agenda for me here.
I was surfing for swimwear (an admitted fetish) when I came upon getbutch.com. Again, not against a company making a profit - without a profit, there's no incentive to sell anything. But the advertising plays to guys who like this style of swimwear. My problem is the cost. Hey, if you have the money and it's no object, buy what you want wherever you want. But if your looking for real clothing at REAL prices - this isn't the place to do it.
A pair of swimming trunks - $68.00!!!! They look good but, I could spend $30 at aussiebum.com and get similar and get two for that price.
A cut off t-shirt (looks great on the model) for only $38.00. Please, get smart, don't buy into it. Plenty of other options out there. In reality, by the time you hit your mid-40s, you are likely not going to look that good in them anyhow. And honestly, if you invested that $38 today at age 20 and had it pay out when you were 45 - even at today's paltry interest rates, you'd make $11.88. That shirt isn't going to last you past three years.
I'm not your father, I'm not anyone except someone who sees where our priorities are falling behind where we need to be. Time to wake up. I tend to find that kids coming fresh from high school are not being educated properly except for what needs to be known for an SOL test. Someone needs to be there to teach you the value of money, and that isn't likely to be in school.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
I know she doesn't need anyone to speak for her, she certainly won't be speaking for anyone else - especially her husband. But this week's trip to the Congo, she let loose, so to speak, on a student asking what Mr. Clinton's opinion was about Chinese loans. There hasn't been a followup from the State Department on the issue. And the incident was downplayed with some watered down rationale like the translator made a mistake and meant Mr. Obama.
The fact still remains that this woman was nearly our candidate for the President of the United States. The fact still remains that this isn't (and I'm going to bet money here) the last time she will open her mouth and say something uncivil (uncouth, arrogant, etc. etc.) In my estimation, the Secretary of State needs a more level head when dealing with folks abroad. I mean diplomacy is her job!
We all can go into the excusing and rationalizing we want to go into, and it still shows that we have a rouge employee of the President representing our country abroad with the simple skills taught to most of us in kindergarten - be nice to everyone. Certainly as First Lady, she had to learn some basic skills in diplomacy. As a good lawyer, your client's case must be presented factually and with diplomacy. The bottom line here is she acted irrationally and without apparent good cause. If she is still stinging from Bill's past, the loss of the Presidential nomination, those are things she should discuss with her therapist.
No one has ever asked her to "channel" for her husband. And I have to applaud her efforts in going from First Lady to Senator to presidential candidate, to Secretary of State. I even want her to do well - and that's uncharacteristic for me. I want to see her move ahead and become what she is meant to become - whatever that may be - and do it with great skill and apply her experience that I am certain she has. But honestly, every time she has one of these "incidents", there's no one - no one at all - to blame for them but the person she looks at in the mirror every morning.
If you happened to have missed the outburst - check it out here.
The fact still remains that this woman was nearly our candidate for the President of the United States. The fact still remains that this isn't (and I'm going to bet money here) the last time she will open her mouth and say something uncivil (uncouth, arrogant, etc. etc.) In my estimation, the Secretary of State needs a more level head when dealing with folks abroad. I mean diplomacy is her job!
We all can go into the excusing and rationalizing we want to go into, and it still shows that we have a rouge employee of the President representing our country abroad with the simple skills taught to most of us in kindergarten - be nice to everyone. Certainly as First Lady, she had to learn some basic skills in diplomacy. As a good lawyer, your client's case must be presented factually and with diplomacy. The bottom line here is she acted irrationally and without apparent good cause. If she is still stinging from Bill's past, the loss of the Presidential nomination, those are things she should discuss with her therapist.
No one has ever asked her to "channel" for her husband. And I have to applaud her efforts in going from First Lady to Senator to presidential candidate, to Secretary of State. I even want her to do well - and that's uncharacteristic for me. I want to see her move ahead and become what she is meant to become - whatever that may be - and do it with great skill and apply her experience that I am certain she has. But honestly, every time she has one of these "incidents", there's no one - no one at all - to blame for them but the person she looks at in the mirror every morning.
If you happened to have missed the outburst - check it out here.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
This Week's News Makers
Corazon Aquino
The big news that hit the world Sunday was the death of Corazon Aquino. She is from a nice trip down memory lane. I remember when she took over from the Marcos regime in the mid 1980s. Truly this woman was a remarkable leader. She was asked to "challenge the dictatorship [Ferdinand Marcos]" and she "obliged." Self described as plain housewife, she became more than that - restored democracy to the nation and her administration wrote and passed a new constitution.
In an area of the world where corruption abounds, Corazon Aquino passed power to her democratically elected successor. It would have been easy for her to stay on and extend her term, just as Marcos did and another president in 2001, Estrada tried to do. This is a clear example of leadership and patriotism. Not necessarily an unwilling participant in the political process, she realized that her term was up and that it would appear incongruent to extend it.
Which begs the question -- term limits in the United States at all levels of government. In Virginia, for example, a governor can only serve one term. There has been talk about the President of the United States and Congress working on a bill that would remove the term limits. Here are a few articles on the internet about removing those term limits:
America's Independent Party National Committee
Govtrack.us
Obviously, there are valid points to both sides of this discussion. If you have a genuine leader and the country is running well, it would be great to see the person who made it right stay in power, after all, he or she probably worked hard to make it right. Then again, our first President, George Washington was correct that a democracy doesn't work (the democracy that we fought for and show as an example to the rest of the world) when the country is ruled by a "king" or worse yet, a despot.
The big news that hit the world Sunday was the death of Corazon Aquino. She is from a nice trip down memory lane. I remember when she took over from the Marcos regime in the mid 1980s. Truly this woman was a remarkable leader. She was asked to "challenge the dictatorship [Ferdinand Marcos]" and she "obliged." Self described as plain housewife, she became more than that - restored democracy to the nation and her administration wrote and passed a new constitution.
In an area of the world where corruption abounds, Corazon Aquino passed power to her democratically elected successor. It would have been easy for her to stay on and extend her term, just as Marcos did and another president in 2001, Estrada tried to do. This is a clear example of leadership and patriotism. Not necessarily an unwilling participant in the political process, she realized that her term was up and that it would appear incongruent to extend it.
Which begs the question -- term limits in the United States at all levels of government. In Virginia, for example, a governor can only serve one term. There has been talk about the President of the United States and Congress working on a bill that would remove the term limits. Here are a few articles on the internet about removing those term limits:
America's Independent Party National Committee
Govtrack.us
Obviously, there are valid points to both sides of this discussion. If you have a genuine leader and the country is running well, it would be great to see the person who made it right stay in power, after all, he or she probably worked hard to make it right. Then again, our first President, George Washington was correct that a democracy doesn't work (the democracy that we fought for and show as an example to the rest of the world) when the country is ruled by a "king" or worse yet, a despot.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Welcome!
I've been thinking for sometime whether or not there is enough random thoughts going on in my brain to make blogging worthwhile. Those thoughts come and go but I keep coming back to a few key items that cause me to believe there are a number of people in this world who share some creative and intelligent thoughts.
A little about me: I'm gay, in a relationship with a partner, and legally separated from my wife. I have one child from my marriage. I own a small but fairly successful restaurant in a small rural town in Southeast Virginia. I've worked in restaurants or companies that have served restaurants since I was 13.
I have no political aspirations but I feel compelled to somehow involve myself in helping others make a better life for themselves, politically, or otherwise. I probably have too much time on my hands since I decided to start this blog. I'm always up for spirited (but intelligent) debate on a lot of issues. My initial thoughts are to present a topic for discussion and wait for the bots to send it out over google and see what kind of hits I get. I'm also inviting a group of email acquaintances and friends to chime in and post. The more the merrier! I'll probably give you more information about myself through posts and I want to hear from you. The most successful blogs are usually a good cross section of folks just taking time to learn more about others and in the process, learn more about themselves.
A little about me: I'm gay, in a relationship with a partner, and legally separated from my wife. I have one child from my marriage. I own a small but fairly successful restaurant in a small rural town in Southeast Virginia. I've worked in restaurants or companies that have served restaurants since I was 13.
I have no political aspirations but I feel compelled to somehow involve myself in helping others make a better life for themselves, politically, or otherwise. I probably have too much time on my hands since I decided to start this blog. I'm always up for spirited (but intelligent) debate on a lot of issues. My initial thoughts are to present a topic for discussion and wait for the bots to send it out over google and see what kind of hits I get. I'm also inviting a group of email acquaintances and friends to chime in and post. The more the merrier! I'll probably give you more information about myself through posts and I want to hear from you. The most successful blogs are usually a good cross section of folks just taking time to learn more about others and in the process, learn more about themselves.
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