A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

I have written several negative blogs over the last week. If you are a conservative like me, it's hard not to have a pessimistic view of the country at the moment. Heck, I'll say that everybody should at least be fearful of what the current administration is doing. Liberals used to yell that Bush was "stripping away personal liberties", which is laughable at best when you compare Bush to the current yokel in office. Actually, it's hard to call Obama a yokel; he's a very intelligent man, just an intelligent man that likes the idea of power. And our government is quickly gaining way too much power over the people. But I digress.

Chattanooga is an amazing place to live. To me, it represents the perfect combination of "big city" amenities, shopping opportunities, restaurants, things to do, and just overall funness (to coin a word) with a small-town atmosphere. Geez, that sounds like something that could be in a travel brochure. But seriously, it's pretty awesome. So take that awesomeness and combine it with a sunny day, not a single cloud in the sky, and temperatures around 70. Man, talk about a beautiful day. That's exactly what we had today.

For a geographer, Chattanooga is the perfect combination of different landscapes. As I took a drive today I was able to follow a path along the Tennessee River, winding around small inlets and bays and up and down hills. The Bradford pear trees are in full bloom, so that is a nice change from the mostly prevalent bareness on the branches of other trees. As I turned west and headed over to the Soddy-Daisy area, I was able to drive along the base of Mowbray Mountain and Walden's Ridge. More beautiful scenery. Then I looped back east through Red Bank and traveled up and down the narrow residential streets that criss-cross the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. You can literally look eastward from the tops of these ridges and see mountains in North Carolina. That is powerful. It's the kind of view that makes you stop and just thank God that for a small moment in time you were able to gaze at His creations and forget about your daily struggles. That's actually something I recommend that more people do, whether you are looking at mountains or whatever it may be.

I didn't get a chance to take any pictures today. I actually went with my girlfriend and her beautiful daughters as they shopped for Easter dresses. Yes, I'm that domesticated. But I love 'em all and enjoy it. I'll leave you with a picture I took last year about this time, on an equally beautiful day. It shows one of my favorite places to go in Chattanooga, Coolidge Park. I've shown it on the blog before, but it is one of my favorites.

Until next time, y'all...

Franklin Pierce (yes, he was a president) Was Right

I know that Franklin Pierce is not generally regarded as one of our finer presidents - actually, I'm guessing most people couldn't even start to guess what number he was (14th). But I think his comments in an article in this morning's Chattanooga Times-FreePress were rather apropos. Actually, it wasn't so much an article as a slideshow that showed various healthcare bills and proposals that have been passed (or rejected) by Congress over the decades. You can see it here. It's an interesting look at how healthcare has been an issue since even the early 19th century, and has been a platform for both Democrats AND Republicans. Of course, one need only look at Abraham Lincoln to see that not all Republicans are in favor of small government. But Lincoln is a topic for another day.

Back to Pierce. After vetoing a proposed national mental health bill in 1854, he said it would be unconstitutional to regard health as anything but a private matter, and something in which government should not become involved. He then challenged Congress as to where the line would be drawn if the government were to indeed start to meddle in the people's health concerns. "I can not find any authority in the Constitution for making the Federal Government the great almoner of public charity throughout the United States," he wrote in his veto letter. If only we had somebody with his mental capacity - or at the very least, reverence for the Constitution - in the Oval Office today.  

The Constitution, in fact, was written for a collection of states that all had the autonomy to govern their people as they saw fit. It was only through the Civil War that Lincoln succeeded in his (un-Constitutional) goal to centralize the federal government and strip power from the individual states (is it any wonder Obama idolizes the "founder" of the modern Republican party?). On Sunday night, the traditional southern states (plus Kentucky, Missouri, and Oklahoma) left no doubt whether they wanted to bear the burden of this healthcare bill. Of the sixteen, the bill was voted down by their representatives 104 - 44. Under the auspices of the Constitution, we southerners should be able to opt out of the federal bill. Try getting Washington to agree with that though.

Liberals will argue that the Constitution is out-dated, or is a "living" document that is supposed to "change with our times". I'll argue that most liberals are idiots and horse's asses.

Yay for Socialism

Well, for a year and a half we conservatives have been dreading this day. Late last night Obama and his minions/cronies were finally able to push their healthcare bill through the house with a vote of 219-212. All that's left is for the Senate to pass this final version of the bill, which they undoubtedly will. The United States is one step closer to having the health of the people be controlled by the government. A government that, for example, runs the Postal Service, an entity that is bleeding millions of dollars per year. "But oh", say the dimocrats, "that's completely different". Yeah. Sure it is.

What does this mean for the average Joe Schmoe, like you and I? Well I try to always be positive about things, I really do. I like to say that things are never as bad (or as good) as they seem to be on the surface. If (and this is a really big if) this plan somehow improves healthcare in America over the next decade, I'll gladly eat my words. No, seriously. Save a link to this post somewhere in your e-filing cabinet, and throw it in my face in ten years. I'm pretty confident that you won't have to.

I found an excellent commentary that scratches the surface on what you can expect from this bill: http://boortz.com/nealz_nuze/index.html.

Basically, it's like this. Anybody that doesn't currently have insurance will be forced to buy some, or pay a penalty when tax time rolls around. What's that, all you dims thought that you would be "given" free healthcare. LOLZ. Guess again. But of course, we all know that the illegal immigrants and current welfare-recipients won't be paying for insurance OR the fines, either way. More on that in a moment.

Insurance companies will be forced to provide insurance to people, regardless of pre-existing conditions. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, necessarily; everybody needs access to SOMETHING. But let's be honest. The fact is, the insurance companies will have to shell out a ton of money to new insurees. Who do you think will bear that burden? Those of us that already have policies. Our premiums will sky-rocket, and if you don't believe that, you have your head up Nancy Pelosi's ass.


So when the public begins to cry out to Washington AGAIN, because of insurance premiums that they can't afford, what do you think the dimocrats will do? By George, they'll put in that public option. That's right. Everybody WILL have "free" healthcare then - or as I like to call it, socialized healthcare. But it won't be free. Those that still have a job - small businesses will be severely penalized by this healthcare bill, so there goes a large segment of available jobs - will be forced to bear the (ever-increasing) tax burden. There will be an ever-widening gap between the upper class and the lower class. The middle class will be all but gone, forced to bear the toughest burden of taxes to pay for the nation's healthcare.


Once the government is completely in control of your health, just think of all the taxes they'll impose. Let's see... sodas, candy, chocolate, etc.? They're all sugary foods that make people fat and increase healthcare costs. We'll tax those to keep people from buying them. Going to XYZ country may be a potential health risk, as statistics show diseases are a higher risk there? Why, we'll simply forbid you from going there (or you'll have to pay a stiff penalty if you do). Some lab somewhere develops a new medicinal supplement that "increases resistance to disease"? It won't be an option - you'll be forced to take it. The government will literally be able to inject you with anything they desire. If you think this feels very science-fictiony, you're right. But if you think it's out of the realm of possibility (somewhere down the line), refer to the above statement about Nancy Pelosi's derriere.

The thing that chaps me the most? Unless it was removed at some point that I'm unaware of, there is a provision to using taxpayer money to fund abortion. That's right, I will now get to pay for a process I consider to be murder. Lovely.

And if the American people somehow wake up to what's going on, and fiercely demand change in Washington? The dimocrats will just go and implement immigration reform, where they can literally declare millions of illegals to be US citizens so they can have their votes.

If you are still on the Obama bandwagon, that's fine. I doubt at this point anything I can say will change your mind. But I do hope this somehow wakens the American people to the liberties that are slowly being taken away from us. This is a small step towards the government controlling every aspect of our lives. And some of you may be alright with that. If so, you have a hell of a lot more confidence in the people we send to Washington (both dimocrat and Republican) than I do. I will never trust the government.

And now, having written this, if I disappear in a few days you'll all know why. It was nice knowing you.

Back in the "Swing of Things"

I'll admit that I am notoriously bad at updating this blog. It's been over three months since I had the hankerin' to do a new post. I don't suffer from a lack of things to talk about, by any means. I'm just lazy. But anyway, I'm back today, and as the title implies, I really do hope to get back to updating this thing semi-regularly. Today I present a series of thoughts and opinions that I currently have on the state of the world. Without further adieu...

1.) Current Events: Well right now you have natural disasters and our boob of a president dominating the news. The earthquake in Haiti was, well... bad. The earthquake in Chile, at least according to the Richter Scale, was badder. So bad, in fact, that it moved cities. Look, I feel bad for any and all people affected by these disasters. But at the same time, from a geographer's standpoint, the effects these earthquakes had on our planet are just really freakin' cool. A local GIS guy here in Chattanooga had some interesting thoughts on the subject that sort of sum up mine. I invite you to check out his thoughts (and his entire blog) right here.

2.) Current Events, Part II: Like I mentioned above, I guess the other big story capturing the headlines is the ongoing debate over the Democrats' healthcare reform proposals. Anybody that knows me knows that I am a pretty conservative guy. I am an avid supporter of smaller government (and yes, I know the fact that I work for the government is ironic). I could go on a several-thousand-word rant about this subject. The topic is talked about so much now, that I am starting to just not care anymore. I've lost the will to fight it. And maybe that was the Democrats' plan all along, I don't know. What I do know: our country is bleeding money by the millions. China is inching closer to owning us, in a very literal sense. We have the highest unemployment since, what, 1984? And yet, President Obama doesn't know how to talk about anything other than healthcare reform. Does healthcare in America need change (har har)? I certain areas, I'm sure it does (though I'm far from an expert on the subject). It just seems to me that there are more pressing concerns in our country right now. Like, oh I don't know... the economy (more on that in a moment). If the Democrats had tried to push through reform over the course of a few years, I think they could have been a lot more successful. Hopefully this all-or-nothing attempt will ultimately fail and they will be forced to go back to the drawing board. If it doesn't? I'll try to forget about it and go on with my life. I can't let politics dominate my day-to-day life and how I feel when I wake up in the morning. You shouldn't either.

3.) Economics (or Current Events, Part III): Hey, did you notice the price of gas is creeping back up again? Buying groceries is now outrageously expensive? That, kiddos, is what we call the beginnings of inflation. I'm no economics major, and I would be lying if I sat here and tried to explain the processes of inflation (or stagflation) or whatever it may be that's happening. But I can understand that when the government is giving away billion-dollar stimulus packages left and right, expanding government services whenever possible, and running the printing presses double-time to produce all this extra cash... it can't be good. The value of the dollar will naturally drop. When you couple that with that fact that most businesses (or in my case, a county government) can't afford to give their employees raises... uh oh. Can I rewind about five years and choose a different major? One that doesn't leave me hovering near the poverty line? Crap.

4.) Entertainment: Oh well, on to happier subjects. Like television, our escape from reality. Well, unless all you watch is reality shows (personally I hate them all). My recommendation for what to watch currently centers around the CBS network. Specifically, Monday through Wednesday is full of all kinds of win. My personal favorites at the moment: How I Met Your Mother. Two and a Half Men. Big Bang Theory. CSI Miami. NCIS. NCIS: Los Angeles. Criminal Minds. All of those shows are worth your time, in my opinion. At the movie theater, the last flick I caught was Sherlock Holmes, though I admit that was two months ago. Holmes gets two big thumbs up from me, and is worth checking out on DVD here soon. Just a note: I neither saw Avatar, nor have any desire whatsoever to do so in the near or distant future. It just LOOKS stupid. Call me crazy (or worse), but sometimes, I simply base decisions that I make in life on the "stupid test". Does it look, sound, or appear to be stupid? If so, I probably won't do it.

5.) Sports: Finally, let's take a look at the sports world. Since I last wrote, our beloved Crimson Tide of Alabama won the 2010 BCS National Championship. To see I was happy about that was a bit of an understatement. The basketball team was far from replicating that same success, but hey, I'm trusting Coach Grant to get things turned around eventually. The NCAA tournament is now upon us - a time of the year that gamblers everywhere look forward to like Christmas morning. Baseball is next up, with spring training having already started. While I usually get bored with it by the time August (and football) gets here, I'm usually excited this time of the year. I'll try to get my look at the 2010 Atlanta Braves up within a few days.

Finally, I'll leave you with a few things that I am diggin' right now, and a few other final, random thoughts...

• I'm diggin' Thai food. The spicier, the better. I'll blame my not knowing about this until my 26th year to the fact that Florence is a culinary wasteland when it comes to anything outside of Applebee's, Chili's, or various local catfish restaurants.
• I'm diggin' this blog. It's called "UniWatch", and is one guy's look at all things uniform-related when it comes to sports. It may sound cheesy or boring at first, but I promise, it's got some really cool stuff. Paul is an interesting writer, even though he is a damned Yankee that gives way too much love to hockey and curling, of all things.
• I'm diggin' The Sims 3. Geeky? Sure. But man, is it an easy way to kill an hour or five.
• Random thought: Florence is boring, unless you have kids. I've learned that children love Deibert Park, and to a lesser extent, River Heritage Park. Watching them have fun can bring you joy. But when a 27 year old male goes to Florence alone and tries to find something to pass the time? Oy. Good luck. There's only so much fun to be squeezed out of going to Regency Square or, gulp... Wal-Mart (shudder at the memories).
• Random thought: There is a new thang called "Moblogging", which is basically, updating your blog via your mobile phone. I might be giving this a shot, since my attention span (being that of a monkey on crack) rarely allows me time to update the site.
• Random, final thought: Geotagging, or the art of assigning a geographic location to a blog post, tweet, Facebook status update, etc.... it's really cook. 'Specially for a geo-geek like me. 

Final, final thought/shameless plug... if you aren't already, please follow me on Twitter (@chrisholder) and Google Buzz (chrisholder262@gmail.nospam.com), removing the "nospam" in that Gmail address there. Thanks, and until next time, my friends...

The De-Stupifying of College Football, Part 1

So, the 2009 college football season has brought upon us what every black-rimmed glasses-wearing, sweater vest wearing, pointy-headed geek that created the BCS system always feared: not one undefeated team... not two undefeated teams... not even three, or four. There are FIVE undefeated Division 1A (I refuse to use the term "FBS") schools and room for only two of them in the BCS title game. Oh man, what a dilemma. What ever should we do?

Let's start with the facts. Alabama was the SEC champion, defeating several ranked teams along the way, including a thrashing of the previous AP/BCS #1 team and defending national champions. Bama finished the season undefeated in a conference that has produced the last three BCS national champions. To say that Bama doesn't deserve to go to Pasadena would be laughable at best. I know I'm biased, but the SEC has proven itself time and time again to be the toughest/best conference in college football. Alabama is no fluke of a team, and deserves its shot.

What about Texas? As an undefeated team and champions of the Big XII, they make a hard sell for their inclusion in the title game. Interestingly, the Big XII has only produced one previous BCS champion (compared to five for the SEC): Texas, in 2005. They have lost four other attempts. Still, the merits of past teams should not necessarily be weighted when determining if the 2009 Longhorns are championship material. So far, they have done everything their schedule asked of them. Yes, they've had a few close calls... but what team hasn't?

Oh, you might mention that that other team from Texas dominated all their games. Hmm, did they? Let's look at the schedules. Now of course, we know that TCU plays in the Mountain West Conference. A team shouldn't necessarily be penalized for what conference they play in, I get that. And for the conference games TCU played, their average margin of victory was 43 - 12. That would be impressive for anybody. But look, the so-called "mid-major teams" know going into the season that they have to produce impressive victories to get their chance. This includes in their out-of-conference schedules. TCU played two "major" conference schools: Virginia and Clemson. While a 30 - 14 victory over a rather bad UVa team looks good, a 14 - 10 win over Clemson - who, though they made the ACC title game, also lost to South Carolina and is ultimately a Music City Bowl-level opponent - just simply does not impress. A hard-fought 20 - 17 win over Air Force is also not the stuff of champions. Look, I know that a win is a win. But these teams know that they have to do more than just win, they have to completely dominate and annihilate every opponent to get the shot. The facts are that TCU did not. Hey, I'm not saying that they aren't deserving of Pasadena or that they are worse than Texas. I think there's a good shot they'd beat Texas. For the system that we have in place though, and the pre-defined "rules" that exist in the BCS system, TCU did not do what it takes to make the title game. Twist it any way you want to... that's still the truth. Maybe they should petition the PAC-10 or Big 10 for a spot in a big boy conference.

Apply everything I just said to Boise State. Yeah yeah, the 19 - 8 win over Oregon looks good. They then spent the rest of the year not playing a single team from the six so-called BCS conferences. They also struggled to beat Tulsa. You have to be more impressive than that, Broncos.

So then there's Cincinnati. BCS conference? Check. Undefeated season? Check. So why are they excluded? The reputation of the Big East, for one reason. Since the departures of Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College, the conference has had its BCS credibility attacked from all angles. Cincy was champs in 2008, and promptly got beaten 20 - 7 by a rather average Virginia Tech team. That's not a good way to impress people of the strength of your conference. The "new" Big East has yet to regain its credibility and needs a BCS bowl victory by one of its teams to get back over the hump. If the Bearcats can beat Florida in the Sugar Bowl, things could change for the future. But in 2009, with the standards, preconceptions, and notions that are in place relative (TM, Nick Saban) to the BCS process... Cincinnati had no chance.

To argue for a playoff between these five teams is ludicrous, in my not-so-humble opinion. What do you do, add a sixth team and give two teams bye weeks? How do you determine who gets the byes? And do you realize, there is only one one-loss team in Division 1A? That's Florida, which got thumped by Bama. To give them another shot at a championship is ridiculous. What next, expand the playoff to eight teams? What two two-loss teams do you give a chance? There are plenty of those to choose from. Don't even get me started on doing a sixteen-team playoff. Does anybody really think West Virginia deserves a chance to "get hot" and somehow fluke its way into a national championship? Really?

Whether anybody likes it or not, Alabama vs. Texas is the only logical matchup this year for the system we have in place. Am I saying it's perfect? Of course not. The BCS is inherently flawed, and always will be. But that doesn't mean that college football has to always suffer for it. I think there are ways to make the game better, without having to resort to a ho-hum, us too system of an eight or sixteen team playoff. Controversy is the lifeblood of college football; it makes the games, the rivalries, the trash-talking, all of it, even better. So what's my solution to "fix" the game? We only need to look to the past. My answer will be in Part 2.

Grilling

This one will be short and sweet... or should I say, grilled. If it's one thing I love about summer, it's grilling food. Any kind of meat is good... steaks, chicken, pork chops, ribs, the list goes on. Even some vegetables.



Just look at that, you can almost smell it now. This was just one part of our menu today, but I thought it turned out really well. For the chicken, I used a recipe that I saw in the Chattanooga Times-Free Press. It goes something like this:

Apple-Smoked Chicken Thighs

2 cups apple juice

2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

4 large bone-in chicken thighs or thigh/leg combination), rinsed and patted dry

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 cup wood chips, soaked in apple juice and drained

For apple spray: Put juice and sugar in stainless-steel saucepan over medium heat, and simmer until sugar is dissolved. Cool to room temperature and pour into a plastic spray bottle.

Sprinkle the chicken with pepper and salt; set aside while you prepare the grill. When coals are ready, spread them evenly across half the grill; scatter wood chips over hot coals. Place chicken over indirect-heat side of grill (not directly over coals) and spray with apple juice. When smoke starts to rise, close the lid. Place a candy thermometer in the grill vent. Smoke chicken at 225 F to 250 F for 1 hour, spraying chicken every 20 minutes. After 1 hour, spray chicken again, then transfer to direct heat over hot coals for 2 minutes, turning as necessary, or until the skin has crisped all over.

For the record, I substituted chicken breasts for thighs, since... what can I say?... I'm a breast man. But seriously, these turned out to be very tasty. Juicy, with a definite apple flavor. I recommend giving it a shot sometime.

Hate to run, but I think I'm up for a second helping now...

Crazy Dreams

I can dream almost any time I fall asleep. If I hit "snooze" on the alarm in the morning, and drift back to sleep in that nine minute period, I can usually have another dream. I've been told that this means I am not getting a very restful sleep, though I seem to be doing okay. Nevertheless, my mind usually tells some interesting stories during the night. I just thought I would share some of last night's.

It starts with my parents and I riding around Chattanooga (if you are in Nooga or familiar with the area, we were apparently on Amnicola Hwy). Somehow I take a wrong turn before I get to Dupont Pkwy, and end up in an area near the river that I had never even been to. This area had all sorts of shopping establishments and restaurants, including a mall that I didn't even know existed.

So, we go in this mall and start looking around. Before we know it I look at my watch and notice it's almost 2:00 in the morning. This security guard comes up to us about this time and tells us the mall is about to close (I wonder exactly what kind of shops were in this mall to be closing at 2?). When we step outside, the sun is up and it's bright as day outside. Naturally, I'm freaking out. We start driving down the road, just wondering what the heck is going on. Suddenly the "sun" starts moving across the sky. We realize that this is not our sun, but actually a comet. A few moments later, it apparently explodes somewhere in the earth's atmosphere. We heard the explosion, but apparently it didn't do any damage around us. Still, scary stuff.

Apparently I woke up after the comet explosion, but went back to sleep. That is when the second dream took place. In this dream I was being released from jail (!) and the year seems to be 2012. Strangely, I get out wearing a dress shirt and slacks, and I am desperately searching for a necktie. I find myself in an old, rundown factory where I must have had some items stored while I was incarcerated. Unfortunately my items are not there. Of all people, Larry the frickin' Cable Guy (I'm not a big fan) was there to tell me that while I was locked up, the country had completely fallen apart (I could make a political rant here, but I'll spare you all). Cities had been burned and communism had apparently taken over. At this point, I don't know what to do.

I somehow find a phone, and now call my parents for help. My mom answers and I tell her that I have been released from jail, and want to come home. She is hesitant, though. Apparently I was locked up for "supposedly" killing somebody (!), though I know that I was innocent. My own mother isn't sure though. She doesn't know if she wants me to come home. However, in the next instant I am back in Florence at my parents' house. My brother begins to tell me what all has changed in the three years I was in prison. For some reason, instead of telling me how the country became full-on communist, he is more concerned with updating me on TV storylines. I was happy to learn that my current favorite show, Two and a Half Men, is still on the air in 2012.

So there you have it. I believe there were a few other parts of my dream world last night - I recall being in the backyard of my childhood home, looking over the fence at a pool party happening next door. But this "story" is very hazy. Unfortunately I tend to forget my dreams almost as soon as I wake up, unless I write them down. Hopefully you have enjoyed the parts I did remember.