Take credit

Dare to be strong enough to take credit for what you accomplish. Those who do not need to be accepted and loved by imaginary things are people who have real strength and power. People have the tendency to thank god when things go well, but blame themselves when they go bad. Maybe we should flip that and blame god for doing nothing when something needs to be dine and then thank ourselves for having the strength and fortitude to get through it. Or maybe we should just forget about the deity factor altogether and simply take responsibility for all of our actions, and hold other accountable for theirs as well.

Possessions

When it comes to possessions, one must find a balance between wants and needs. If a person has more than is necessary, then that person should, without reservation, share what he has with others. This is not to insinuate that one should freely give away everything; instead one should give in a manner that will enrich the lives of everyone involved, for if both the giver and receiver do not mutually benefit, then the gift is pointless.

Ignorance

One of the great things about the Internet is that is is helping to democratize the dissemination of information. As a result, everyone with access to this information can read and leave comments about almost anything in the news. Unfortunately, most people who have the time to leave comments are too stupid to have any clear understanding of what they have read. The more I see this, the more I want to eradicate this type of ignorance. But one cannot simply force out ignorance, and I am honestly in no position to try to fix it until I've had my coffee.

Education cuts

Any politician who advocates cutting school budgets is either too stupid to be running our government or is fearful of an educated population. Either way, those people should be quickly and summarily dismissed from their duties by the voters.

There is no 110%

I really get annoyed when people say they gave 110%. There is no such thing when it comes to effort, there is only 100%. When you give 100% you know it because you are completely spent when you are finished; there is nothing left to give, so you can only recover.
Most of us seldom get close to this point, so please stop using such idioti phrases.

The Sky Isn't Falling

Whenever I scan readers' comments on some article in the paper I am constantly astonished by the absolute lack of some people's ability to think. They ramble on and on about how some decision or act is going to be the ruin of us all, that some statement will damage civilization for generations to come unless we do exactly what that one particular respondent desires. But here's the truth o the matter: we, as a species and as a civilization, generally do okay in the end. We right our wrongs, we change course as new situations arise, and we find new uses for old things that have fallen out of favor. When we do things right, they last. When we get things wrong, they eventually change. This isn't to state that change comes quick enough or happens in a way that satisfies everyone, but it happens. Maybe you need to push for change, but it happens. Maybe the other side needs to listen a little more, but it happens. Maybe we all need to remember that the sky isn't falling despite your pessimism.

Subjegation

No one can throw off the burden of oppression without first recognizing what they ALLOW to burden them in the first place. Once you stop allowing yourself to be placed behind something or someone else, then more options will become more readily available. But if you allow yourself to be subjugated, then there is little that anyone can do for you.

Cringe

I cringe every time I hear someone say that their faith in god helped them through some situation. What they should be saying is, "I was strong enough and smart enough, and I was helped along the way by many other strong, intelligent, and patient people." That would make sense.

4th of July

Who is more patriotic, the person lighting fireworks from China or the person who understands the irony of it?

American Reality

Hundreds of years from now other nations will look at the United States of America and see a near utopian society. That society, however, only exists on paper. From the outside looking in, we have free public education, welfare programs for the poor, and we even give prisoners access to libraries, including law libraries. The reality is that our schools system is run by corporations who want money for testing and textbooks, over zealous conservatives hate that idea of helping the poor, and both corporations and conservatives heard out prisoners into cell blocks designed to make money. This is not the American ideal, but it is what we have become.