The FAA’s air traffic control systems are one of the many computer systems built years ago and still in use though there are many more efficient and reliable models and tools available today.  The problem with the FAA’s systems is very much like every other government system in the country.  While the government has no problem spending money on doing research on how much gastrointestinal discomfort a wombat might feel if it eats funny berries, they refuse to find the necessity to make sure the systems that safeguard human lives in a variety of aspects are kept up to date and working to the best of their abilities.

The FAA systems were once upon a time state of the art.  As with everything in technology however, state of the art lasts about as long as it takes to say it, meaning that while the system worked at the time, with the increased load placed upon it now with increases in travel frequency within the country, as well as flights coming in from abroad, means that an upgrade should have been in the works when the last system was implemented.

The problem ultimately resides in the government’s reluctance to spend money on anything it deems able to get by with what it has already.  The alternative is wasting the money on pet projects that serve no purpose other than to appease a very small group of people, usually those who donated to the politician’s campaign.  Its a corrupt system where the “Old Boy’s Club” of friends get to spend a blank check on things they would never have dropped money into themselves, but since the government’s paying, why not?  Instead of focusing on fixing potential problems and keeping the United States at the peak of technological advancement, the money that could be used to fuel progress is instead used to line bird cages and be thrown in fire pits to keep the flames of irrelevance burning strong.

One day, a disaster may happen in which the public outrage will be strong enough to force politicians to get off their self-serving pedestals and do something for the benefit of the nation, but it is unfortunate it takes such a situation to get the action that should have been executed preemptively.

Of course, public opinion plays a large role in these modern day public executions where leadership can’t be allowed to show weakness before those needed to re-elect any politician.  So Scott Janke was fired and given his severance all because he found common ground with a woman who earned a living in the skin business.

Ironically, when politicians are caught in adultery and solicitation, they are left with an option to resign or continue their post against the cries of their peers.  Some even apologize and their sins are forgiven in the eyes of the masses.

In the case of an honest man settling down with a woman in marriage to find happiness for himself and their three teenagers, a town council found him guilty of essentially marrying the wrong person, and threw him out.

The morality of such a thing is hard to comprehend.  We can forgive and accept those who break the law, show terrible character choices and even go so far as to betray those who had placed trust in them and their ideals. Yet in all our “compassion” and “understanding,” there are those who stand to condemn a man simply based on following his heart strings.

The world would be a far better place without those meddling in the business of others.  I understand there are things that do require intervention, such as infringing upon the rights of others and protecting those who can’t protect themselves, but in what way would Scott Janke’s marriage in any way have caused harm to another?  Claiming it would be a distraction and deter him from his duties at his station is a rather weak blanket of smoke to throw over the eyes, hiding prejudice and discrimination.  If Scott Janke had married a McDonald’s employee, bartender, janitor, surfer or even a used car saleswoman, no one would have breathed any ill wind in his direction.

Last I checked, the adult film business is rather well established in this country and has plenty of supporters — whether they openly admit it or not — and by simply discriminating against the woman for being in a specific profession is not only shallow, but a great foundation for legal action.

And so Bubba the Love Sponge, like Howard Stern and later Don Imus, all felt the wrath of people with their panties in a bunch.  

Opinions, last I checked, weren’t considered slander or libel.  It seems that in the process of preaching free thought, free will and free speech, that disclaimers have been attached to each with where they may not go.  It seems ironic that Don Imus can get fired for calling a black female basketball player a “nappy headed ho” and stoke the flames of controversy into a blazing firestorm, yet a church can stand on the street holding signs that say “Thank God for IED’s” and they get away with a finger shaking by the media.

Soccer moms far and wide will get into an uproar about Bubba the Love Sponge or Buckethead, all while they go and buy their teenage kids beers for the party after the big game.  The same soccer mom that will deprive a child of any of life’s experiences in the name of protection, firmly sticking to a warped set of ethics that don’t approve of morally questionable thoughts yet they couldn’t care less about those who love the fact our soldiers are fighting a war across the world, and in some cases, even condone the protests that shame our troops.

America as a whole has become fat and content with a way of life filled with selfish ideals and corruption.  Anyone with an opinion that falls outside their strict line of thought is looked at with daggers and if they even so much as plant the seed of doubt into a child about the so called values these slave driver parents have beaten into their minds, all hell breaks loose.

Sorry soccer moms of the world. The world is not as you wish it would be, and denying a child the right to experience things for himself or herself is only going to ensure that they won’t be prepared to make any decisions, or the right ones, when the time comes.

Shielding is not parenting.  Guiding is.

Essentially, Godless: The Church of Liberalism, is one giant argument against the concept of “American liberalism,” something Coulter considers without any scientific or factual basis whatsoever, and even goes so far as to call it a “primitive religion.” She bases this idea on how she sees liberalism in America possessing many characteristics that define religions around the world. She says that it has “its own cosmology, its own miracles, its own beliefs in the supernatural, its own churches, its own high priests, its own saints…” and so on. Basically, Coulter sees this “faith” as something like nature being god and men being apes, or monkeys.

In my opinion, a lot of what she has to say, what she uses to back up her argument here, makes sense.

Coulter’s main points center around the following: creation “myths” (evolutionary theory); sacraments (Coulter compares abortion to the “virgin sacrifice”); Holy Writ (Roe v. Wade); martyrs (like Alger Hiss and Mumia Abu Jamal); clergy (public school teachers), churches (public schools where prayer is banned and condoms are passed out); doctrine of infallibility, and cosmology (Big Bang, where humankind simply appeared suddenly and from out of nowhere; essentially, the human race is just a big accident).

These bullet points are the supporting structures of Coulter’s argument, which basically says that liberalism constitutes a religion based completely on faith, not fact, and simply has no god or higher power.

As I agree with most of what Coulter argues in her book, there are some portions I found to be weak. One such section includes this excerpt, one of her descriptions that compare her religion (Christianity and all of its forms) to the religion of liberalism: “Our religion says that human progress proceeds from the spark of divinity in the human soul; their religion holds that human progress is achieved through sex and death.”

The remaining four of her descriptions like this one are similar, but didn’t stand out to me as much as this one. Of course, each is a generalization based on what really could be defined as a stereotype on liberal people. Generalizations, of course, are never fully founded in truth.

Another example, a generalization like this one, is: “Even after the complete failure of liberal policies on crime in the sixties and seventies, and the success of conservative policies on crime beginning in the eighties, liberals are itching to start springing criminals again. Attempts to rehabilitate liberals on this are futile. It’s in their DNA.”

As these specific examples demonstrate, Coulter has a tendency to base her arguments on weak generalizations, although fancy and witty as they are read. As much as the first portion of the first example I included here is true for Christianity, the second portion of that statement, I do not believe holds true for the majority of liberal people. As for the second example, one cannot state as fact that criminal rehabilitation is impossible because “it’s in their DNA.” We all know this is not true, as it has been done in the past, though statistics do fall heavy on the side of criminals not being able to be rehabilitated.

Overall, I simply find this a weak string in Coulter’s argumentative ability in this book, as there are several examples like this one throughout.

Then again, other uses of generalization I think work well for Coulter, such as with the following examples:
“Liberals say: ‘We’re the only modern democracy with the death penalty.’ ” Where Coulter retorts with: “I think this should be treated as a selling point: ‘Come to the United States for the economic opportunity, stay because we fry our Ted Bundys! Among our many other unique characteristics are these: We’re the only modern democracy founded on a belief that all men are created equal; we’re the only…the fought a revolution to redeem that idea and a civil war to prove it; we’re the only…that nearly single-handedly smashed Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia…”

And: “Liberals say: ‘Capital punishment should be suspended until the exact same percentages of blacks and whites are executed.” I think the argument against this one is obvious, so I won’t include Coulter’s retort here.

My point in bringing these examples to this analysis is to demonstrate Coulter’s brilliant argumentative abilities, on some points. With both of these points, Coulter highlighted two generalized liberal viewpoints and obliterated them with words. This is why she has such a large conservative following.

As for the attention she also carries, we’re all well-aware of the reason for that. She’s simply one of the most outspoken political speakers in the country. She has the gull, she’s brash, she’s brilliant, she’s witty and she’s fearless when it comes to presenting her perspectives on the world and politics.

These are the reasons why I will continue to read her books and continue to follow her in the news. In my opinion, Ann Coulter represents one of the strongest examples of free speech this country will ever see. Sure, she’s completely biased to the right, but that’s what this country is all about. Freedom. If one takes anything away from this book, as they should with reading any of her books, that’s it right there. Take Coulter’s works for the fact that they’re such great examples of personal freedom and one’s ability to express and push its limitations.

Not to mention, I believe any time one puts themselves into a situation that will challenge his or her beliefs is a good thing. It’s never a bad idea to challenge oneself, to push oneself to research and look up the facts. This book is a great chance to do all of the above.

Food can make or break any get-together. I can’t really help you if you think you’ll mess up the hamburgers or grilled chicken. Meat is not my thing. But, there are some incredible summertime recipes that will go great with whatever you’re making for your Fourth of July meal.

Here are a few of the best recipes that I’ve picked up along the way. They’ll go great with hamburgers, hot dogs, barbecue or soy burgers. Enjoy!!

1. Simple Baked Beans – Sure, the baked beans in a can taste pretty good, but they could use some doctoring up. This is a recipe sure to give you great beans every time. (Hint: If you have a Publix nearby, they have Bush’s Baked Beans and Sweet Baby Rays on sale, buy one get one, this week.)

What you’ll need:

What you’ll do:

2. Homemade Potato Salad – This is a family recipe passed down from generations. It does take a decent amount of preparation but it sure beats any store bought potato salad.

What you’ll need:

What you’ll do:

3. Mandarin Orange Dessert – This is a quick, easy dessert! It’s light and (pretty) healthy too.

What you’ll need:

What you’ll do:

Think back to 2006, when eighth-grader, Megan Meier, committed suicide after receiving harassing MySpace messages from, who she thought was, a peer. This case brought cyber bullying to a new level. Meier’s ex-friend’s mother, Lori Drew, created a MySpace page pretending to be a 16-year-old boy who lived nearby named Josh Evans. Meier quickly became friends with “Evans,” and the two would talk online daily.

After a few weeks of talking back and forth, Meier received an e-mail from “Evans” saying, “‘I don’t know if I want to be friends with you any longer because I hear you’re not nice to your friends.”

Meier’s mother recalls the entire situation. She told ABC News that she recalls her daughter telling her about MySpace bulletins being posted saying things like “Megan Meier is a slut” and “Megan Meier is fat.”

Then, on October 16 2006, Mrs. Meier found her 13-year-old daughter hanging from a belt in a bedroom closet, dead. This, reportedly, after she received a message from “Evans” saying, “the world would be better off without you.”

Yes, Meier had a history of emotional instability. Tell me, what 13-year-old girl doesn’t have emotional problems associated with being self-conscious? It could be argued that this suicide had been coming for a long time. Yet, it’s hard to believe that the threatening, demeaning messages didn’t push her over the edge.

Weeks later, the Meier family found out that Lori Drew was behind all of the mayhem. Drew had told other mothers in the area that she had created and continued to monitor Josh Evan’s MySpace page.

She had been caught.

Obviously, the Meierses pressed charges against Drew. Lori Drew was convicted and charged with three misdemeanor counts of illegally accessing a protected computer, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The family has been working for years to bring justice concerning the loss of their daughter’s life. On Thursday, their heartbreak returned.

According to the Los Angeles Times, U.S. District Judge George H. Wu decided to dismiss the case on the basis that “if Drew was found guilty of violating the terms of service in using MySpace, anyone who violated the terms could be convicted of a crime.”

As if that’s a bad thing!

As far as I knew, terms and conditions were designed to lay out what you shouldn’t do. And any violation of those would, in fact, be a crime.

Hopefully, there will be some controversy surrounding this and perhaps an appeal because it’s outrageous. The only condolence that Meier family could have in this is knowing that cyber bulling is now something that’s in the forefront of America’s mind. With no federal anti-cyber bullying law, this may be the time to enact one.

What do you think?

Well, apparently they can.

Take, for example, the beloved cure-all Zicam. On Tuesday, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) told Zicam to stop marketing two of its products. The reason behind the demand is that hundreds of people have filed lawsuits claiming that these products have caused them to lose their sense of smell.

The two products in question are Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel and Nasal Swabs. According to the Associated Press (AP), the FDA plans to test the safety of these two drugs before they’re allowed back on the market… if they’re ever allowed back on the market.

The interesting thing about homeopathic remedies is that they’re not required to undergo federal checks to see if they’re effective or even healthy at all. Another surprising fact about homeopathic drugs is that many contain an alarming amount of alcohol. The FDA limits traditional medicines to only 5 percent or less. Some homeopathic medicines have up to 10 percent alcohol and people are more likely to give the “natural” medicine to their children over the traditional.

The AP quoted Jerry Avorn, an expert in pharmaceutical safety at Harvard Medical School saying, “The therapeutic effect is no greater or less than a martini.”

Perhaps we would just be better having a martini than turning to homeopathic remedies.

David Richardson thinks so. He is one of the people who says that Zicam took away his sense of smell. It’s the traditional dramatic story. He told the AP that he tried the nasal gel “only once” after his mother suggested it to him. (Richardson is 46, by the way.) After the squirt, he “immediately felt a burning sensation.” After he did some research online, he found that other people were having trouble smelling after they sniffed some Zicam.

“It finally feels good to feel like we’re being heard,” he told the AP.

Now I, like many of you, have some kind of Zicam product in my medicine cabinet: Zicam Cold Remedy (the tablets. Shooting anything up my nose is not appealing to me even if I thought it would magically heal my cold.) The bottle tells me that it’s homeopathic and contains vitamin C and citrus. Those are two good things to “Get over your cold faster.”

The two active ingredients are zincum aceticum and zincum gluconicum. Ingredient names that rhyme are never bad… right?

I found little reliable information on what exactly “zincum aceticum” and “zincum gluconicum” are on the Internet. Many just assume that because zinc is thought to help you get over a cold quickly that any derivative must do the same. It appears that may not be entirely true.

As we await the results from the FDA, if you get a cold, perhaps you should avoid Zicam and maybe other homeopathic options. Even if you think that homeopathic is the only way to go, there’s no way to ignore the fact that these have not been tested by the FDA while other “traditional” options have.

Or I could say if Zicam and you battle, you may not be able to smell your defeat.

If this isn’t enough reason for you to book your tickets right away, let me tell you more. You thought that the U.S. had a free, democratic government? Well, we don’t have it in our name like the DPRK does. As we have all learned before names of countries with the words “democratic” and “people’s republic” makes them instantly legitimately safe and intelligent.

Just don’t forget to get in touch with the DPRK’s tourism organization, called “Ryohaengsa” because it will get you set up with one or two permanent tour guides. (That is, as long as you’re not from the U.S. or South Korea, because if you are, you won’t be permitted to enter the country.)

Once there, here is a tourism guide of things not to miss.

1) Make sure not to miss out on seeing American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee who will be imprisoned in a North Korean labor camp for the next twelve months. Perhaps while you are there you can remind North Korea that the U.S. Congress “sharply condemns” them for doing so and that President Obama is very disappointed in them.

2) God forbid you take a trip to North Korea and don’t get to see a “weapon of mass destruction.” All you have to do to see one is to pull someone who looks important aside and ask nicely. You can remind them George W. Bush is no longer president and that you won’t tell anyone if you’re allowed to see one….just one. Also, as a note, be sure to Facebook friend request the guy who lets you see it so you can tag him in the picture when you post it later.

3) Tell every North Korean you meet to get excited about Al Gore possibly coming over to talk their fearless leader into releasing our journalists. Be sure to tell them what Gore did for America in terms of the “green revolution.” You may even want to encourage them to get on the “green” train.

4) Bring President Kim Jong Il a salad. Gently remind him that he should be watching his weight considering he is the only fat man in his country. Just remind him that all the rest of North Korea is trying to catch up with him in weight and that he’s giving an unrealistic goal.

5) The most important thing to do in North Korea is take pictures of everything, including people. North Koreans are explicitly told to pose with tourists and welcome you with a smile when you ask for a picture with them.

With that checklist in mind, all I can say is good luck.