Episode 14 is up and running

After much delay, we finally got episode 14 up and running. We will be preparing to get another one up in a few days. Until then, enjoy.

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Bob Barr’s alternate solution to participating in the presidential debateBob Barr Particpates in The Presidential Debates

Bob Barr as you know wasn’t allowed to participate in the Presidential debate on September 26, 2008.  However, he decided to debate both McCain and Obama’s stances on the issues with a live studio audience seeing the debate in the studio of Reason magazine.  Embeded here are the video clips of this debate. Enjoy.

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Episode 13 Is Up And In Record Time

Got to record this week’s episode this afternoon and get it posted and running in a matter of hours.  This is definitely the most expeditious fashion that I’ve done it in. I just hope the quality is as good as our previous episodes.  So this week, Claudia and I discussed the 700 billion dollar bailout and our thoughts on the Presidential debate that occurred this past Friday.  Enjoy.

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Economics and Annoying Smart Guys

This is a nice explanation in laymen terms about how we should approach economics and voting.

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At Long Last, Episode 10 Is Up

Sorry for the delay but you know how life can get.  I’ll try to be more diligent in the upcoming Guatemalan-themed episode.  Until then, please accept that I’m just human

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Barack Obama for President!!!

Well it’s settled, Barack Obama has won the Presidential nomination for the Democratic party. Now its a race to the White House. Of course we can expect more distractions, PR spins and possibly more bashing from Clinton loyalists. But that’s ok, a new dawn is here and we’re one step closer to a hopeful and brighter future. Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

Here is video footage when MSNBC made the announcement and interrupted McCain’s long-winded purposeless speech:

Here’s wonderful analysis of McCain’s dreadful speech:

And now how a speech should be done by yours truly, Barack Obama:

What is real Patriotism?

“…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it… Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security…” -Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence

I thought I got the ABC debate off my chest but this argument of Patriotism keeps leaving a bad aftertaste in my mouth. When Nash McCabe, the “random” Pennsylvanian citizen, was cued to ask Barack Obama if he believed in the American Flag, I couldn’t stop screaming at the television. Here is a concerned politician, who wants to sincerely speak about important issues that are affecting this country and about his possible solutions which we can assess, but is instead being scrutinized for something as trivial as a shiny little brass object that is missing from his attire. The irony of this situation is that this woman fits the mold of “bitter ” Americans that Barack Obama talks about.

Nash McCabe lives in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, which was formally a coal and steel center but is now just another small town with massive unemployment. So because she doesn’t have anything of real substance to hold on to, she instead grasps unto a distorted view of Patriotism. What about the American troops over in Iraq? Aren’t they showing true patriotism by fighting to protect the country they believe in? Is our government showing patriotism in kind?

At one point in time, the original GI bill that veterans received allowed US soldiers to get a free college education, retention of their former jobs when they were civilians and other great benefits. Nowadays veterans still have to take out student loans to go to college, their previous jobs are no longer available when they return from their tour of duty, and consequently a lot of them become homeless. Not only that, but those vets that come back with post-war traumatic syndrome aren’t getting the psychological treatment that they sorely need. Currently, the Senate is trying to pass a new GI bill that can restore it to its former glory and “patriots,” like John McCain, are rejecting this bill because they feel that this new bill would be too enticing to retain our troops to service. Based on this fact, what’s more patriotic? Wearing a flag pin or supporting our troops for protecting our lives?

Late this past week, one of the news stories that isn’t getting much attention is the one regarding the Hubbard family. According to the military’s “Sole Survivor” policy, if all but one sibling of an entire family dies during the tour of duty, the sole survivor is immediately taken out of the field of action and given an honorable discharge. However, when Jason Hubbard was discharged, the military decided that he didn’t qualified for his benefits. Adding insult to injury, the military also demanded that Jason return his $6,000.00 enlistment bonus back to them. Does this lapel-wearing institution sound very patriotic? Because of this heinous action, the Hubbard family immediately called their congressman Devin Nunes and they’re now trying to pass “The Hubbard Act” which should, if it passes legislation, prevent this atrocity from happening in the future.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Patriotism is, “love for or devotion to one’s country”. Our Founding Fathers created this country under a simple core set of beliefs, for equality of all. They believed in always fighting for those core rights and not for accepting the status quo if it impeded our rights. They also believed that if things became insufferable, we should create a new system to make things right again. We are now hitting the crux of this state. Recession is setting in and tensions are rising. Let’s show real Patriotism and try to fix up the mess that our society is currently in, instead of continuing the farce that Patriotism is nothing more than a brand of flag lapel pins that are made in China.

Here is a video clip regarding McCain’s reluctance on new G.I. Bill

Here is a video clip of Fox News denying the true plight of our U.S. Veterans

This is another news article that talks about McCain’s horrible history of supporting veterans

Was the ABC debate a singular incident or a symptom of something greater?

I’m sure I wasn’t the only American citizen who wasn’t able to stomach the disaster that was the Democratic Debate on ABC last Wednesday night. Of all the debates that were held, this was by far the least informative and most slanted against the Democrats and particularly against Barack Obama. I felt like I was watching something out of the Fox News Network which always reports the least facts and the most opinions of Right-Wing Conservatives. Well it pleased me greatly to find the Fox Attacks website, which links all the bullet points from the “mainstream media” and how the original source is in fact Fox News; which claims to not be mainstream. Riddle me this, if you’re the network that is influencing what is supposed to be mainstream media, aren’t you then THE MAINSTREAM? Just something to think about. Here is a video clip that shows this link between all the media and the Fox News Network: