Bring on the New Decade!

2009 was a year to remember. Also, the first decade of the 2000s was a decade to remember. Since 2000, the internet has been used more than ever and has become a major source of information, the greatest country in the world (the U.S) was attacked, the world has seen numerous natural disasters, several wars (religious and war on terrorism), three summer Olympic games, two winter Olympic games, numerous sports stars admitting to using performance enhancing drugs, one of the biggest ponzi schemes ever (Bernie Maddoff), one of the worst recessions ever, and two different U.S Presidents. Don’t forget that this has also been ten years of our lives that have been very interesting.

December 31, 1999: do you remember your parents and relatives going to the local grocery store and buying bulk food and water because of the Y2K scare? What a great way to not only start the new millennium but start off the decade. People were seriously afraid everything was going to stop working! Countless people believed that the computers would not be able to handle the change to the year 2000 and technology as we know it was no longer going to work. Mass panic. Obviously, we were all very ignorant because nothing happened and we have now made it to the year 2010. I mean, we do have another big fear coming in the year 2012. However, I will write about that on December 31, 2011.

In November 2000, there was a general election for the Presidency of the United States. The big contenders: George W. Bush and Al Gore. This was an election to remember. The state of Florida had some problems keeping track of the votes and after several times being re-counted, George W. Bush had won the election. To this day, there is still debate over the Florida votes; however, I believe they got it right. Shortly after Bush was sworn in, one of the worst days in American history happened. September 11, 2001 the U.S was attacked by Islamic terrorists and we retaliated by going to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan is also another debatable subject but I will not be getting into that subject (however, where are you anti-war people now that Obama has sent 30,000 more troops!?!). Regardless what your opinions of President Bush, we should respect the office of the President and he did all he could during this time.

Some natural disasters that have struck that we will never forget will be Hurricane Katrina (August 28, 2005) and one of the worst tsunamis to ever hit Indonesia (December 26, 2004). Hurricane Katrina affected the U.S, more specifically the southern states like Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama (however, we only heard about the effects in Louisiana). After Katrina hit Louisiana was devastated (and many people believe this is what really hurt President Bush’s ratings) and FEMA virtually collapsed. This was a virtual collapse between local, state, and Federal levels of government which made the situation in Louisiana worse than it should have been. Most people blame Bush but the real blame should be put on the Governor of Louisiana and the Mayor of New Orleans for their refusal to communicate with the Federal government and make sure what was needed to be done. Once again, I will not be getting into the politics of this.

The last couple of Olympic Games have also been ones to remember. Numerous athletes have been caught cheating (Marion Jones, Maurice Green and countless others). However, the best summer Olympic Games of this decade were in 2008. We learned in 2008 that it is possible for one person to win eight gold medals (Michael Phelps). We also met the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt who smashed the 100 meter and 200 meter world records. It is also debated that Bolt has saved the sport of track and field. A few months after the Olympics, in the World Championships, Bolt continued to dominate as he ran an incredible 9.69 second 100 meter (a new world record). Obviously, 2008-2009 for track was a very impressive year! Even for American distance running this past decade has been special. We lost an incredible runner, Ryan Shay as he collapsed with a heart attack in the Chicago marathon in 2007. However, we had two runners break 13 minutes for a 5k (which has not been accomplished for an American runner in a really long time): Dathan Ritzenhine and Matt Tekenkamp. Ritz had an incredible year and so did Tek. Better yet, in the NYC marathon this year (2009) an American won it and that was the first time since 1985 when Alberto Salazar won: the winner this year was Meb Keflezighi. Many people thought Ryan Hall, another American was going to win, however Meb ran an incredible race. All in all, American distance running is back on the global scene and I am really looking forward to the next decade!

In these past ten years I have grown up. I have gone from middle school all the way up to now, my junior year of undergrad. This past year, 2009, was a really good year. A lot of sweet things have happened to me and I have grown up in one of the best possible times in history. Granted, a lot of things politically and economically are going bad, but it is still a great time to live. 2009, my 20th year of living, I would rate as one of the best years ever.

Here is what I am looking forward to in the next decade:

-The Republicans doing well in the 2010 elections and the 2012 elections
-Either go to grad school to attempt a PhD in political science/history or get a job
- The Kansas City Royals making the playoffs (hopefully, but highly unlikely)
-The Oakland Raiders making the playoffs again
-The Carolina Hurricanes winning another Stanley Cup
-American Distance running hopes of winning a gold medal at the Olympic Games
- The world ending in 2012! (Oh wait, that won’t happen)

Anyways, I hope that everyone reading this had a fantastic Christmas and they have a great New Year. Thanks to everyone who read this all year and a thank you to all who will continue to read this next year!

Happy Chrismanukkahwanzaadan

Do the words “Merry Christmas” offend you? Go ahead and think about that for a minute. Ok. The answer is most likely, “No, those words do not offend me.” Fantastic! So why do you go and tell me that I cannot say that to people? Do we not live in America? Does the First Amendment in the Constitution (thanks to those who catch my careless errors) not guarantee me the freedom of speech? If someone tells me one more time, “Oh you can’t say ‘Merry Christmas because you will offend someone’” I am going to give them some Christmas wrath. Seriously, I will say “Merry Christmas” to whoever I want. Obviously I won’t say that to someone who has a Yakama on so stop getting all hot and bothered about it.

Have you ever met someone that celebrates Kwanza? I doubt it. Kwanza kind of seems like a knock-off of Hanukkah. Really, Kwanza is something that the United States just made up to say “Oh hey, you’re black and you should have your own holiday so try this.” Kwanza was created by Ron Karenga in 1966 and it means “first fruit” (check out Wikipedia). So I think maybe I should make my own holiday and call it K-C Holiday and it has to be during the same time as Christmas just so people that have the initials “K C” can be recognized. This seems ridiculous, kind of like Kwanza.

Everyone wants to be recognized for something and with something. Well guess what! The world isn’t perfect. A lot of people do great things in their lifetime and don’t get recognized. Why can’t we just accept that there are some things like Christmas that is meant for everyone to celebrate despite the religious aspects. Obviously a Jewish family or Muslim family will not celebrate Christmas due to their own religion but they have their own special holiday.

I am really surprised that in the malls they haven’t put a menorah or a Kwanza candle thing in there yet. Better yet, I’m surprised they haven’t taken away Santa Claus because that is only showing one holiday and the malls are not being diverse enough.

My main point here is if I want to say “Merry Christmas” when I go shop during the holiday time don’t give me attitude and tell me I might offend someone. I think if people that are working want to say “Merry Christmas” to customers they should be allowed to if that is what they celebrate. If the employee celebrates Hanukkah, Boxing Day, or K-C holiday, they should be able to say “have a happy/merry/nice…” without anyone getting offended. Life would be so much simpler if people wouldn’t get offended about stupid little things or trying to be politically correct. We should start teaching this in schools: don’t get offended, people celebrate other holidays but it is okay for you to say what you want to. Of course that won’t happen because everyone wants to appease everyone. Well I am sick of it!
Have a freaking Merry Christmas!

I didn't realize that Golfers got the ladies. I need to change my sport!

I have decided to throw my two cents into the wide world of the web about Tiger Woods. This is an absolutely hilarious story because nobody would have thought that Tiger Woods of all famous sports stars would have been in on a sex scandal. Kudos to you Tiger.

Let me first point this out, I strongly believe that America is really the only country in the world that is obsessed with celebrities or the next crazy fad or story. Just a few months ago we were all talking about Balloon Boy and his parents that have an IQ of an eighth-grader. I feel to make this blog post exciting we should go over some pretty huge scandals or stories that we all know about.

So I know I am too young to remember JFK’s affair but oh man, the President of the United States having an affair should be a HUGE story. JFK of course was real classy. Come on, Marilyn Monroe was good looking in her day. Of course there are rumors of JFK having more affairs. Well we can move up to a more recent time that I was around for. Do you remember classy President Bill Clinton? Though I was younger I do remember most of what happened however, I am not sure how much coverage this got but I am guessing it got a lot of coverage. Well we all know Bill had some “sexual relations” with Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office. Monica was just an intern at the time, but does anyone know what happened to her? I haven’t seen or heard of her for several years. All that I am going to say is that I think Bill could have done much better.

Do you remember Kobe Bryant’s alleged affair when he was in Colorado? That crazy girl took him all the way to court and he had to pay her to shut up. Obviously Tiger didn’t remember what happened to Kobe. Obviously Kobe even forgot what happened a few years ago because there are rumors once again that he is at it with someone new! Hey Kobe, stay classy. How about just last year in 2008 in New York? Do you remember what I am talking about? Remember Governor Elliot Spitzer and his hot affair? Good old Elliot paid $4,300 for a night of fun, he’s a bigger spender. I think Elliot should have tried to get something for free instead; it probably would have made him look a little better. However, he did pick a really good looking girl.

Of course all of those people that had affairs were eventually forgiven. Something new probably came up and their stories were old news. America wasted so much time on all of those stories hoping that something new would come up but nothing did. Eventually, there was a new story or fad that happened and everyone changed their attention to that. So Tiger, don’t worry about your alleged 9 mistresses (possibly more), everyone will forget soon! Even if people don’t forget I do not think that this will bother Tiger when he is out there trying to win some major golf tournament. Obviously, Kobe had no problem ignoring his affair while he was out there playing and trust me, basketball gets more coverage than golf!

It is only a matter of time that we will no longer be talking about Tiger Woods. Maybe some other dumbass will try to get publicity and send their kid up in a balloon just to get Tiger off the hook. I will leave on this question: Does it really matter what someone does on their free time? I know that he is kind of a scumbag because he had a wife and a kid but let’s be honest, this does not affect anyone reading this blog post. We do not know Tiger personally and the majority of America doesn’t either. I think we should leave the man alone and let him figure it out. If this ever happened to you are me we would not get this much coverage but our significant other would sure as hell be pissed and probably less forgiving because we don’t make as much money as the super stars.

Time for some REAL "change"... GOP win critical races!

As most of you know, or at least should have known, last Tuesday, the 4th was Election Day. It was an off-election year, meaning it was mostly just local elections. However, there were two gubernational elections and one semi-national (semi-important election). Of course I am talking about the Virginia and New Jersey’s Governors race and New York’s 23rd Congressional district race. Also, in Maine, there was a vote to approve of gay marriage; however, the voters turned it down and gay marriage is still illegal in Maine (I will not get into the details in this blog post). There were also elections in all of the other states too but I feel like these were the most important issues that came about.

Contrary to popular belief, the two Governors’ races actually mean a lot for the upcoming elections in 2010 and 2012. Both of these races were won by Republicans (I will get into the details momentarily) which could potentially be a good sign come 2010 and 2012 for the GOP in national races.

Starting with New York’s 23rd Congressional district, which stretches from Oswego County all the way up north to Clinton County. This election was a special election because the former Congressman, John M. McHugh (Republican) resigned to become the United States Secretary of the Army on September 21, 2009. Our Governor David Patterson declared that there must be a special election to fill the vacancy. There were no primary elections for the candidates. The candidates are as followed: Bill Owens (Democrat), Doug Hoffman (Conservative) and Driedre Scozzafava (Republican). Three days before the election, Scozzafava dropped out of the race and supported Owens. However, even with her dropping out of the race, she still got 5.5% of the vote which if the voters of that district did not vote for her, Mr. Hoffman would have won because he got 45.2% of the vote. So, Bill Owens is now the Congressman for the 23rd Congressional district of New York. I have yet to look into any of his ideas or plans but his win was a real shock to the district because Republicans have controlled that district since 1873.

One of the most highly anticipated elections of 2009 was the race for Virginia Governor. Current Governor, Tim Kane (Democrat) was not able to run for re-election due to term limits established by the Virginia Constitution. The two candidates for this contested race were: Creigh Deeds (Democrat) and Bob McDonnell (Republican). Mr. McDonnell won the race with 58.65% of the vote. As a note, Bob McDonnell was the former United States Attorney General. Mr. McDonnell’s campaign was focused on economic, transportation, and public safety. One big proposal that Mr. McDonnell hopes to see come about is the job incentives, which is in hopes to boost tourism in Virginia. He is also pro-life and is supportive of drilling off-shore for oil. Also, one really interesting thing about Mr. McDonnell his thesis in 1989 at Regents University was titled The Republican Party’s Vision for the Family: The Compelling Issue of the Decade. If you wish to learn more about Bob McDonnell check out his website (where I got the information): http://www.bobmcdonnell.com/

In New Jersey, there was a much more highly contested election than in Virginia. There were three main candidates: Chris Christie (Republican), Jon Corzine (Democrat and Incumbent), and Chris Daggett (Independent). Much to the surprise of most people, Chris Christie won the election with 49.1% of the vote. Christie is the first Republican elected statewide in twelve year and he is the former United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. He has received high praise for his convictions while being a lawyer of public corruption. The most notable conviction of he was a part of was the 2006 charges against former New Jersey Senate President John A. Lynch, Jr. which was about mail fraud and tax evasion. Christie is pro-life, opposes New Jersey’s proposal of medical marijuana bill, pro-gun, strong supporter of state granting tax credits to parents who send their children to private schools, anti-illegal immigration, and is in favor of low taxes. To learn more about Governor-elect Chris Christie and to see where I got my information, check out: http://www.christiefornj.com/home.html

With the two gubernational elections this past Tuesday, the Republican Party is hoping for some of that “change” in their favor in 2010 and 2012. It is clear that Virginia and New Jersey were quick to change their stances from the previous elections where they elected Democrats. It might also be clear that the majority of Americans are finally realizing that “hope” and “change” sound nice but there has actually been little to none shown. The GOP can and will hope that President Obama and the rest of his cronies continue to go back on promises. Unfortunately, this also means that this country will continue to pile on the debt until 2010 or 2012 when the GOP starts to regain what was lost. 2009 is a good indicator to what will happen in the upcoming elections, and President Obama should be nervous if he would like another term.

As for the two new Governors, I hope they stick to the Republican cause and I wish them the best of luck. Personally, I feel that Bob McDonnell is one of the best Republicans and one of the only true Republicans we have left.

No matter what he says, it is called "racism.' How about it is reverse-racism now!

Want to know how messed up this country is getting? Well I will tell you. When someone who has the money to purchase a professional football team and become partial owner is denied because some people do not like his views is completely ridiculous. Of course I am talking about how several people including Commissioner of the NFL Roger Goodell, Al Sharpton, and Jesse Jackson made it impossible for Rush Limbaugh to not be able to make the purchase of the St. Louis Rams. These people, along with several others think that Rush has a “racist” view-point; therefore it would hamper the improvements that the NFL has been making.

My friends, this is what we call reverse-racism. Of course there will be some who disagree, but hear my point out. The reasons some people claim why Rush should not be an owner or even involved in the NFL is because they believe he has made “racist statements.” Here are some of the statements Rush has made: while speaking about Donovan McNabb, Rush said, “I think what we’ve had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well.” Where is the racism sentiment in that statement? Rush also said “What is happening to the National Football League, what is about to happen to it, has already happened to Wall Street, has already happened to the automobile business.”

Rush believes there is so much hatred in the sports world pertaining to him that he said, “Believe me, the hatred that exists in this is found in the sports-writer community, it’s found in the new business, it’s found in the race hustler business.” There is not one instance that Rush has made a “racist” statement towards anyone in the NFL. Rush Limbaugh actually love the game of football and it pretty furious that some people will not allow him to purchase a team.

A classic example of some true racism is when Al Sharpton opened his mouth and said, “It’s remarkable in that he (Rush Limbaugh) was denied by other powerful whites. At the end of the day, his own peers said, ‘You are a liability.’ Even the rich and powerful do not want to identify with racism.” Well Mr. Sharpton, what you said there is true racism towards whites. Your hatred towards Mr. Limbaugh is clearly evident which, if I am not mistaken would be called “racism” if it were the other way around.

I will agree with one thing: most of the owners and the league in general do think that Rush might hurt profits because of his views. However, I think that denying someone the chance of a lifetime, who has the money to purchase a team, is truly un-American. If there was a fear of racism, I am sure that the NFLPA would have stepped in because they sure did help deny Rush for getting the team. Maybe the NFL will look back at this and realize Rush could have actually helped out the league with promotion through his radio show!

What should Rush do now? Well, Rush should continue to attack those who call him racist. He should also not give up his fight for trying to get the Rams or any other team. However, he has said he has lost nothing is not getting the team because it was not the most important thing to him. Rush Limbaugh has been wronged one too many times now. It is time for people to realize that Rush Limbaugh really is not the enemy.

I hate people that say, "Run Forrest, Run!"

Have you ever gone on a run out on a road? If so, have you ever been honked at or yelled at, or even almost hit? Has someone ever yelled at you, “Run Forrest, run!”? If this has ever happened to you, I am almost certain that it annoys you. This is going be my thoughts on those jerks that like to yell things at us runners, try to hit us and barely miss, and honk their horns at us.

Being a runner who wears running shorts I have heard absolutely everything from the quote above to, “who wears short shorts!?” Some runners, not myself, run with music just so they won’t hear these obscenities and “jokes.” But it is about time that someone takes a stance against these people who are trying to impress their friends, or think they are the best thing since sliced bread by yelling at the runner on the road or honking at them.

Let me first state that if you have a problem with runners or people out for some exercise, yelling out the window or honking the horn does not actually make us annoyed because we have heard it before. Instead of annoying us, it actually starts to make us mad. I understand if maybe you are trying to get our attention because you know who we are, but most likely, you’re just being an ass.

Do you want to know why we run? Well, most of us run because we actually enjoy it! I know, crazy concept. Some of us like to get up wicked early and get a nice little run in. And you want to know what else; it makes us feel pretty damn good about ourselves. While you are sleeping or sitting on the couch we are doing something beneficial for our body. Do you ever wonder why runners tend to be so thin? It’s because we run! So, if you are unhappy with yourself and make yourself feel better by sitting on the couch, or every time you see a runner while you’re driving you yell or honk at them, go ahead, we are actually happy with ourselves.

Are runners crazy? This really depends on who you ask. Any person that does not run on a regular basis might truly believe that runners are 100% crazy. However, most are not crazy; we are just dedicated and really enjoy what we do. I am not saying that all runners are crazy because some really are. I would like to describe us as living on the brink of insanity. Honestly, who gets up at 6 a.m. to go for a morning run and then later in the day goes for another five or six miles?

I am also sure that if you have ever talked to a dedicated/serious runner, you are probably totally confused about running terminology. We use terms like: Fartlick, VO2 max, tempo, threshold, and my personal favorite, intervals. Again, this kind of talk gets people to think we are truly crazy. However, when we talk about running and use these words we give each other high-fives and talk about what we want to do for our next workout. Sometimes, we even talk about crazy new techniques or workouts, or we talk about whom the best runners in the world are and what their PR’s are. It’s crazy that we can rattle off the world records of the 100 meter but we could care less about what the latest football score is.

But to get back to my main argument, the people who are an ass to runners and people who are trying to get a little exercise in just do not realize how dedicated or how much we love what we do. May I add, we do more in the 45 minutes (or however long we are out there) than you will do all day, which makes us a better person in the long run (not morally or ethically, just better fit).

Now to get to the best part, some classic stories of you jerks and me running. My favorite drives in the whole world are old ladies, you know, the ones that can’t see over the steering wheel. I was running down a road, on the sidewalk, and there are side-streets. Well, at this one side street a little old lady was pulling up to the stop sign but I am more than sure she saw me because we made eye contact and she waved me on. So I went, but just as I got into the road to cross she starts going and almost hits me. Shocked and a bit scared, I slammed my hands on the hood of her car and yelled at her because she almost killed me (I may have exaggerated the killing thing). Let’s just say, she was not happy that I slammed on her car.

Another good running story from this summer; I was down a fairly busy road, again on the sidewalk, and there are these teenage girls with those stupid huge sunglasses. Well of course they thought they were funny and started honking the horn at me and yelling at me out the window about my short shorts. I was having a rough day as it was and I was not happy about these girls because they almost killed me as I was crossing a street when the cross-walk said “walk.” They passed me and I caught up to them at a traffic light. I slammed my fist on their window and they rolled it down to my surprise. I proceeded to tell them both that they were fat and they should go out for a run sometime. Again, they weren’t happy but they deserved it.

I have numerous stories about running incidents and this post could go on for a really long time. However, due to space I will call it quits. But, if you would like to hear more stories I will be more than happy to share them with you! Just remember, if you see me running, don’t try to make me mad because if I catch you at a light, I will hit your car!

If I promised people money, I would become President too.

One of the biggest organizations in the country that supports lower and moderate income people is called ACORN. According to their website, “ACORN helps those who have historically been locked out become powerful players in our democratic system.” Also, “ACORN members across the country work to raise the minimum wage or enact living wage policies; eliminating predatory financial practices by mortgage lenders, payday lenders, and tax preparation companies… improve the quality of and funding for urban public schools; rebuild New Orleans; and pass a federal and state ACORN Working Families Agenda, including paid sick leave for all full time workers.” Including all of this, ACORN also helps register thousands of people to vote.

Essentially, this organization is supposed to be very helpful to those in need. Am I opposed to this, not at all. However, in recent news there has been many allegations against ACORN on election frauds, and filing fraudulent forms to federal and state regulatory agencies. With these allegations, the House and congress have been thinking about cutting federal funds to ACORN. Obviously, ACORN is not too happy about this, go check their website.

One may be wondering why I am taking the time to write about this situation. Personally, I feel that a lobbyist organization should not be funded by the American tax payer. Therefore, funds from the federal government should be taken away from this group. Secondly, there have been many accusations about fraudulent voter registration. ACORN has repeatedly denied these allegations but refuses to allow any governmental agency to review their record books. If that is not sketchy, then I am not sure what is.

Another problem is ACORN is their persistence on getting the minimum wage raised. Since when is a lobby group so influential to get a federally mandate thing such as minimum wage, raised? Raising minimum wage sounds fantastic to college age and part-time workers. However, when the minimum wage raises people tend to forget that the amount of hours that one works gets cut and the chances of getting a promotion are slimmer. Better yet, the raising of minimum wage means the taxes also gets raised so more money comes out of your pay check.

There are numerous things wrong with this organization. Because of the recent allegations, several employees have lost their jobs because they have “wronged” the company. Stealing from the government and using fraudulent voting registrations is a good way to get shut down. There are other organizations that like to help the lower and middle income people that do not lie, cheat, and steal. Someone in this organization needs to step up and really explain what is going on. As for the House and Congress, please stop using my tax payer dollars to fund these crooks.

*GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE: www.acron.org

Also, if you are interested in seeing videos of the allegations or getting more in depth about this topic, do not hesitate to ask and I will post them!

What if an athlete is not 100% male or female: the Caster Semenya debate.

Caster Semenya: a name most of you may or may not know. For those of you who have no idea who this is I will enlighten you. Caster is a world class track athlete from South Africa. The reason I do not say if Caster is a man or a women is the simple fact that she is neither. That’s right, she is a hermaphrodite.

One may be wondering why I would bother with such a topic? Well, to answer this, those of you that are not familiar with Caster and what has happened in the track world I feel like there is a legitimate reason for writing about this issue. During the World Championships in Berlin in August, Caster Semenya ran in the women’s 800 meter race. Caster won the race with ease which got her the gold medal. Getting a gold medal at the World Championships is the next best thing to a gold medal at the Olympics. As fast as Caster ran the 800 meter race, news about “her” not having all female parts spread like wild fire. The debate of whether or not Caster was a female or not began, and whether or not she should be allowed to retain the gold medal.

The definition of a hermaphrodite is: something that is a combination of disparate or contradictory parts. Simply put, something has parts that is should not have and in Caster’s problem, having male and female parts would qualify as being a hermaphrodite. Now I must state here that I have absolutely no problem with hermaphrodites when it was a biological problem and not a choice. In Caster’s case, it was a biological problem.

How does an organization such as the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federation) go about a situation such as Caster Semenya. First off, I think the IAAF should have already had an official, clear rule saying that all athletes must be 100% male or female at birth. Why should this be a rule? Well, would it be fair for a really talented male athlete that isn’t quite good enough to win on the big stage to decide to get a sex change and win on the female side? Most likely not, because as we have seen, not that this is an anti-female argument, most male athletes can run, throw, jump, or whatever more than females (at the professional level). In Caster’s case, there was found to be more testosterone then estrogen in Caster’s body which makes her more like a male on the playing field (even though there were female attributes).

Now, since there was no such rule and Caster was allowed to run in the female race, the next question is: is Caster Semenya allowed to keep the gold medal? I feel really bad for Caster because this is not an easy question to answer. Regardless of being male or female, to get to that level of competition, it takes time and dedication (and occasionally some good drugs). However, I feel that since there is this un-written rule about being 100% male or female in whichever side one is on, Caster should be stripped of her gold medal. My reasoning is simple, she is not 100% female and she was racing against females that are 100% female and it is not fair to them because they put in the hard work to get there too only to be cheated out of a medal.

The final question is: Should Caster or other hermaphrodites be allowed to participate at the highest level of competition? The IAAF has a real problem on their hands because the side that would want hermaphrodites to compete would say, “at least they are not taking performance enhancing drugs.” They have a case, however, as I have stated before, female athletes at the world class level would not want to be facing males at the world class level, that got a sex change, or females that have mostly male qualities. Therefore, to play it safe, the IAAF should now make a rule saying there needs to be proof that the athletes are 100% either male or female at birth. I am glad that they have stepped up their game on the performance enhancing drugs, now it is time to take a stance here. Of course there are going to be people unhappy with the decision, but to ensure good, fair competition, this is the way it needs to be.

If you are interested in reading more about the Caster Semenya case check this out: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_News&set_id=1&click_id=79&art_id=vn20090914040154714C773187

Put your hand down, it's a lecture!

With it being so early in the semester, one would think I would have patience for the new students (freshman). We were all freshman at one point- nervous, anxious, and annoying- but that does not mean I should be forgiving of some things that are said or done during class. Granted, this can go to anyone that is annoying in lectures.

As most of you know, my major is political science and history. With that being said, I have to take World Politics. This is my kind of stuff and I really am enjoying the class. However, this is a lower-level class (because I decided to wait and take it) and there are freshman in the class and people who just need the extra credit hours. I usually do not have a problem when someone is active in the class, simply meaning, I do not mind when other people besides myself answer questions. Now being the only political science major in the world politics class I would consider myself as the go-to-guy for answers and participation. I don’t mind this label and I also enjoy when others participate.

The one thing that really bothers me in lectures is when people speak out of turn and think they answer a question but rather just argue something off topic. There is this one girl in my class who is a freshman who does just that. I have no beef with her but as soon as there is a question she attempts to answer it but does not give a real answer. Even better, because she is now in college she was probably taught that she is really smart therefore, she deserves her chance to speak. Well freshman, I have news for you: you are not supposed to interrupt lectures unless you have a serious question or you have a real answer to the question the professor asks. You may not realize this, but you really annoy the rest of the class when you are trying to get the professors attention or when you are trying to speak over him. So do us all a favor, shut up and stop waving your hand around like you are in elementary school.

I will admit, I was once this annoying freshman except I tried not to be noticed. I answered questions with real answers but sometimes I would answer the question with a question. I thought that freshman were supposed to be timid and scared not rude and obnoxious. Personally, I feel like there is a bit of a generational gap between my class and the freshman class of 2013. To ensure that this gap does not get any bigger I believe fundamental values need to be taught again starting with manners (I am not talking about being a goody-goody either). If this was taught at a younger age, the gap would not be so bad and the freshman would have my respect. Again, I am not saying I am perfect but I feel like I had better manners at that age. I could also get into the debate of television harming the younger generation; however, that is a topic for another time.

Just remember, shut up in lectures!

The Lion of the Senate: A reflection of Ted Kenndy's life.

A few days ago, America lost a man of high importance: Ted Kennedy. The Democrat Senator from Massachusetts was a Senator for 47 long years. The reason I am writing about him to pay my respects and discuss some of the things he has done for our great country.

In the 16th United States Senate (1969-1971), Mr. Kennedy held the Majority Whip position. In both the House and Senate both the majority and minority parties get to select their go to man, or woman, which is the Whip. In 1980, Mr. Kennedy attempted to run for President but lost the Democrat nomination to incumbent Jimmy Carter, who in turn lost the Presidency to Ronald Reagan. However, he decided to continue to run for his Senate position and became known as the “Lion of the Senate.” Close to 300 bills that he and his people worked on were enacted (passed), and we will now move to some of his more important legislation.

One of the first things Kennedy worked on was the Economic Opportunity Act (1964). This acted was signed into law on August 20, 1964 and it basically made programs to directly help poor communities with maximum participation. The next year, Ted worked on his first major bill which was the Immigration Act of 1965. This was a huge turning point in immigration policy and civil rights policies because it ended discriminatory immigration quotas. In 1978, Senator Kennedy put his effort towards airline reform. He wanted airline companies to create competitive rates so consumers could afford the trip. In 1986, he sponsored the Employment Opportunities for Disabled Americans Act (he also did more for those with disabilities previously and until he passed away).

Getting into the time period of which I was born in, Senator Kennedy spent a lot of time focusing on Civil Rights; mainly that of women. In 1994, the Family Medical Leave Act and the School-to-Work Opportunities Act provided local communities with money for schools and businesses alike. Also, the Reauthorization Act of 1994 was part of the Head Start Program and helped pregnant women get ready for motherhood and helps the families with lower incomes. In 2001, Kennedy worked with President Bush on the infamous No Child Left Behind Act.

Throughout his 47 years of service, it is obvious the Ted Kennedy was a true “Lion of the Senate.” He did so much for many of the Civil Rights we have today. Along with his efforts for Civil Rights, he was a strong advocate for Education for all and did a lot for the disabled Americans. Though I do not agree with a lot of what Mr. Kennedy stood for, I do respect him as a true American Hero. Devoting one’s life to the better the country is something that I truly respect. With Ted’s passing, there are only a few more Kennedy’s left. America will miss the service of Ted and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

Clunkers for Cash... Oh Wait, that's Cash for Clunkers.

Detroit, Michigan: the home of Ford and General Motors is virtually bankrupt as of right now. If we recall, in 1929 the worst depression in American history hit and banks, companies, and people were bankrupt. Henry Ford, the founder of Ford motor company experienced the Great Depression and I believe he would think today’s economic situation was essentially the same as in 1929.

There are two main differences of today’s situation; 1) in 1929 it was actually a depression and 2) the government in 1929 and throughout the depression, did not decide to run Ford motor company. As of today, tax payers own 60% of Ford and General Motors because the government believes these companies are too big to fail. With owning 60% of a company one would think that we could get a pretty good deal on cars, or even better yet, we could get an employee discount. However, that is not the way it works. Instead, our wonderful government that likes to tell us what we can and cannot do, decided on this program called cash for clunkers.

Cash for clunkers actually sounds like a pretty good idea. In fact, it was such a popular idea Congress had to vote on extending the program which required putting more money into the system (this program was supposed to last until November 1, 2009 but, the funds have been exhausted both times and it officially ended August 24). So what was this program supposed to do? The main objective of this program was to get people to have faith in the economy again and purchase new cars that are more “fuel efficient.” But wait, you could not trade in any old car, the car needs to qualify and here are some qualifications:
· The vehicle must be less than 25 years old.
· The trade-in vehicle needs to get 18 or less MPG.
· The trade-in vehicle must be scrapped once trade is complete.
These qualifications are not too bad and seem alright (however, doesn’t scrapping a vehicle sound a lot like waste in landfills?). What I have not mentioned yet is this: the dealer will give you $4,500 for the trade-in and if it qualifies, the government will step in and give you an additional $4,500. How can you go wrong with $9,000? This deal seems almost too good to be true, but it actually got people to get do the cash for clunkers program! By this point I am sure that one might wonder why I have a problem with this program.
To explain of why I do not approve 100% for this program I give you several answers. Firstly, the amount of money the government spent on this program, which happened to be our hard earned money that the government has taken away via tax increase. Why should I have to virtually pay for someone else that wants to buy a car!? Secondly, the cash for clunkers did nothing for the economy in the sense of the long-run. For short-term, of course it did because it gave the consumers a little hope in the economy. Next, I do not agree with the government taking over a company. If a company is failing it is obvious that consumers do not have faith in the company, or in the case of the auto industry, American automobiles are not the best therefore people buy foreign cars (not that I agree with buying foreign). Finally, I have to argue against you global warming people with cash for clunkers. If the government was truly concerned or believed in global warming, they would not agree to scrap these “clunkers” because these cars end up sitting in landfills because they are not supposed to be put back out into the market. Can you say hypocrites of no waste.

What I do not understand is that GM is about to launch a new series of cars, like the next model. Well, if there is no more cash for clunkers program, how are people going to afford new cars? But GM is backing up its decision to come out with the next model because they are going to be hiring a few hundred, possibly thousand people to get these newer cars out on the market. Once again, there will be a surplus of cars and they will be just sitting in the dealer’s lot because nobody can afford them. If that happens, once again, GM is going to have to let go of the people they just hired and the general public will be again unhappy. So why is GM going to release these new line of cars when they know down the line consumers will not buy them because they cannot afford them.
You can disagree with my views, which I know many do but if you stop to think about this, how in the world does this stimulate the economy? Where are the promised 750,000 jobs? If the government wants to intrude on everything why not create jobs instead of giving hand-outs? Give people an incentive to work or find a job (granted, I know there are plenty of people out there looking). Obviously promising such a great number of jobs was a bad thing because nobody sees them. This administration is too concerned with making sure Ford and GM don’t fail rather than keeping promises about producing jobs. I would rather see this administration, instead of giving out jobs and money, provide incentives to work. Giving incentives to work in turn stimulates the economy which gives the consumer faith to buy, sell, and trade.

*The bullet points I retrieved from: http://www.cars.gov
Give credit where credit is due!

But it's PRACTICE!

When athletes are at practice, most work hard. However, there are those athletes who show up to practice to socialize and put forth minimum effort. This does not happen in every sport or with every athlete but when it does, the rest of the team feels the affects of that lazy athlete.

The sport of cross country is unlike any sport out there. Coaches cannot watch over their athletes at all times, unless they are doing a track workout where everyone is at the same spot. Now these cross country coaches give their athletes a great deal of leeway in where they go for runs. On runs, coaches expect the athletes to actually run for the entire practice and not skip out on the workout. Granted there have been numerous times that I chose to wait around and not run until five minutes left of the practice. However, those times were limited and I always felt bad about doing it.

So what is wrong with skipping out on a few runs? In cross country, or any sport for that matter, what you put in, you get out of it. Simply meaning, if you work hard, by the end of the season you should see real improvements. The way I see it, in cross country there tends to be more athletes at practices to socialize and hang out with friends than any other sport. There is nothing wrong with that at all, on teams friendships are bound to happen, you’re a family. When it comes down to it, at practices athletes should forget about their friends on the team for the time and just work hard to better themselves. Coaches may not catch you cheating in the practices but they will find out when it comes to the races or the games.

If you’re an athlete and you are there for the social aspect of the sport keep this in mind: you are only hurting the team in the long run. Cross country is a unique sport and these athletes should not break the trust of their coaches and work hard when coaches are not looking. If you do not want to work hard, then why would you put yourself through the practices and the games/races, the sweat, blood, and tears? Do yourself a favor and quit; better yet, do the team a favor and quit. I know everyone is at different abilities but on a team the athletes should work hard to get better.

Are dogs more important than humans? The debate over Michael Vick.

Michael Vick is now a Philadelphia Eagle after being in prison for two years. If you have been living under a rock for the past couple of days, or even the last two years, then I will explain why Vick was in jail. Vick was running an illegal dog fighting ring at some of his properties. Finally, the FBI caught on and what they found was awful, dead dogs everywhere (sorry for the picture with words). Through the legal system, Vick was found guilty and was sentenced for two years in jail. Along with the jail time, he also had to do community service and join animal rights organizations.

The real debate here is should the commissioner of the NFL have reinstated Michael Vick. Personally, I believe that Vick has already served his time through the federal system and has done community service so he should be allowed back into the NFL. There have been plenty of other players that have done far worse things and I will give the names. Marshawn Lynch of the Buffalo Bills last year was part of a hit and run and he ended up speeding away. He only got a slap on the wrist but better yet, a little bit later, in February, he was arrested for a concealed loaded firearm. If there is a guy that should not be reinstated to the NFL Marshawn Lynch should not be. Next is a player from the Browns, Donte Stallworth. Stallworth actually murdered somebody. There has been no legal action, yet, but the commissioner has laid down his law and suspended Stallworth for the season. What the commissioner should have done is suspended him for life and we can only hope the legal system throws him in jail for a long, long time.

There are plenty of players in the league who have done far worse than dog fighting. I am not saying that dog fighting is a good thing, and I am glad that Vick got thrown in jail for his actions, but compared to killing a human, dog fighting is nowhere near as bad. If Vick was not reinstated I would not have cared at all but since people like Lynch did not face any consequences, Vick should be given the same treatment. I hope the fans of the Eagles forget that Vick killed dogs and remember how good of a football player he was. If football fans want to be mad at someone, be mad at guys like Lynch and Stallworth. However, the debate remains open and we will see what will happen with time.

Getting Deeper in the Red. What the National Health Care Reform will do.

Did you know that in 1919 post WWI, the United States was a creditor nation? That simply means we were loaning money and exporting more than we took in. Did you know that the United States is now a debtor nation? America is in the red; we owe more than we are making and we owe other countries such as China a ton of money for the loans they have supplied.

What has happened to the days that we had money and people weren’t scared? During the 1920’s just before the stock market crashed America was living the good life after the war. Instead of worrying about spending money we wanted countries like France and Great Britain to pay us back for all we did for them during the war. President Coolidge wanted to focus on raising tariffs to make the country even more Pro-American. With the raising the tariffs, taxes were lowered and ridiculous spending was not seen.

President Reagan did the same thing; he ended the Cold War with the Pro-American mentality. Now with President Obama the country is going through an awful recession (not as bad as the recession in 1980) which economists say started back in 2007. Instead of lowering taxes and not spending, which is a proven method, President Obama has spent more money in his first couple of months than any other President has done in the past.

With that being said, the health care issue is the next step in the President’s administration. Many people, around 53% of Americans (so says the AP poll), do not want this health care reform bill as of right now. The reason we see many Independents, some Democrats, and most Republicans turning away from the current health care reform bill is because they are scared it is just mass spending like the stimulus package that has not worked but put the country in more debt. Now before you get mad, stay with me for a bit longer.

Here are several reasons why I am against this certain bill. I am all about patient’s rights and want patients to get the best possible coverage. President Obama has promised that people who have nothing will now be eligible to receive health care coverage, regardless; that is the public option. He has also promised that if you already have health insurance you can either keep what you have or change over to the public option. That seems fair, you can choose between the coverage you already have or, have the public option. People that already have nothing look at this health care reform and it looks pretty good, but to those who already have health insurance this looks a little sketchy.

I will admit that nobody really likes insurance companies anyways, mainly because insurance companies run as a business and we all know how that works. The reason this looks a bit sketchy to some people that already have health insurance is the point that they will have to pay more taxes on it. People do not want their taxes to raise more than they already are but if this bill passes, the people that already have health insurance will have to pay more taxes on this to pay for the nationalized health care. This sucks but that is the only way the national health care will be paid for.

I also have a personal story of why I am not in favor of the health care reform bill. My mother’s cousin’father in-law that lives in Canada. Well he had a life/death situation where he needed surgery. Canada has national health care so there should have been no problem right? Wrong. The doctors told him that he has 14 months to live if he did not get the surgery but he could not get the surgery because the waiting line was 18 months to have the surgery. Now how is someone supposed to wait 18 months when they have 14 months to live? So, Mary’s father in-law came to America and got the surgery done and paid $250,000 for the health care. Now he is going to live the rest of his life, however long it may be, and did not force our country to pay for his bills. So with national health care there is the potential of waiting too long for a serious medical problem.

My final concern is how it will be paid for. Like I have stated before taxes will be the main way it will be paid for. The money that we borrow from other countries will also be a major factor too. This week alone, America will borrow circa $75 billion. When we borrow that much money a week how are we supposed to pay it back? How are we supposed to pay for this health care system? Do we keep on borrowing money or do we tax our citizens more?
These are all questions to ponder and I will leave you with this: when the budget for 2009 comes out in September, it is projected that America will be $2 trillion in debt. We can only hope that our elected officials read and understand what they are actually voting for. It would be nice for a change that the people in Washington thought about the average American.

A right step for MLB, too bad it was not soon enough.

America’s past time: baseball. It is a game of inches, hand-eye coordination, running 90 feet, and lately, steroids. The big names that everyone knows right now have been accused of taking steroids and found out. Here are a few just in case you are not too familiar: Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, and so many more. Why do some players get beat up real bad by the media, fans and critics while others get a slap on the wrist? What will happen to these guys when it becomes their turn to get a chance to be Hall of Famers? Will they get in or not? Will there be an asterisk next to their names or nothing at all?

Pete Rose, former player and manager for the Cincinnati Reds has the statistics to be in the Hall of Fame. But because he bet on the game while being the manager, he was banned from baseball; meaning he is not eligible to be enshrined. Is gambling a bad enough crime to ban a player/manager who was simply amazing on his own from the Hall? According to MLB it is, but how can they say that breaking records with the assistance of performance enhancers is not a crime and these players are allowed into the Hall?

Records are made to be broken. In every sport there are incredible records such as Cal Ripken Jr’s. record of most consecutive games played, and Barry Bonds’ home run record*. One thing for sure is Cal’s record will not be broken. But as for the home run record, Barry stole that record from Hank Aaron by using performance enhancers.

As of late, more and more athletes are getting caught using performance enhancers, granted, some of these performance enhancers were not illegal in MLB when they were being used. But why were Manny, Barry, and Sammy pretty beat up by the media when they were found out that they tested positive for performance enhancers? One explanation could be that these guys were supposed to be role models and players that broke/break records fairly. Another explanation (I lean more towards this explanation) could be these guys were already hated players throughout the league by other players, teams and fans.

That still does not justify why A-Rod did not receive the same treatment! A-Roid here is have an amazing season; for example, a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 15th against the Red Sox’s . In 2003, it was reported that A-Rod tested positive for performance enhancers. He came out and apologized for his actions just like all of the other players have and did but that was the end of it. Is it because he is in a Yankee’s uniform that people suddenly forget that he is a cheat!? Last time I checked, everyone deserves the same treatment regardless if what he took was not illegal in 2003, he should be ridiculed the same way. When it comes to Hall of Fame voting he should get the same treatment as the rest of the cheaters. Most likely though, this will not happen because he is a Yankee. I still will not take away his numbers and statistics but there needs to be an asterisk next to his name just like Barry Bonds’ name.

Should these cheaters be allowed into the Hall of Fame? So far none of them have been on the ballot because they have either not been out of the league long enough or they are still playing. Only time will tell if they get in or not. But we as fans need to look at how it is stealing records from the guys who were legit non-cheaters. If MLB decides these guys are allowed in the Hall, I think MLB needs to reinstate Pete Rose because he did not hurt the game.

A lot of the steroid and performance enhancer usage is due to the fact the fans want to see the long ball hit and big guys. Honestly, who likes seeing little guys that weigh 150 pounds only hit line drives and ground balls? Nobody likes that. Most people love seeing the ball fly out of the park and the ball being pitched over 100mph (not that the average person can actually see the ball when it is thrown that fast). I am glad that MLB has taken the right steps to prevent performance enhancing with drugs. Manny was made a great example of what will continue to happen to players if they choose to cheat. The commissioner and the players association are doing a good job on its reforming. It is too bad that records have been broken by cheaters and now it is too late to take those away. The only thing that can be done is an asterisk.

Is the GOP hurting itself?

As the title asks, I would like to really question the GOP. Sometimes in life, people need to accept that they have lost, and in this case, the election. The best thing for this country is to have a two party system for gains in any way. When one side takes over, the other tries it's hardest to bring it down. In 2008, the Democrats did just that; they brought the GOP down and hence Obama was elected.

Now, how does one side bring down the other? The real answer to that is they appeal to the voters. The Obama camp during the election did a great job of appealing to the country and the "undecided" voters. Post-election there have been people in the GOP or even just a voter that have made it real hard on our cause. There are a lot of Obama haters between the voters and leaders in the party but just hating the President is not the way to go.

There are thinghs that should be done and things that should not be done. For example, there has been a lot of alligations of where exactly President Obama was born. Is this a serious issue, not really. It is an issue but as of right now there are bigger fish to fry. What the GOP needs to do instead of attacking personal issues and lowering themselves to the left's standards, the GOP should attack on national issues. Calling Judge Sotomayor a racist is not a good thing to do because it is unattractive to the voters and turns the general public off. Now there needs to be someone in the GOP to step up and attack the national issues just like the Democrats did during the Bush years.

Now here are three big suggestions that I think the GOP should attack along with answers in my view (these are in no particular order). Obviously, there are more but for starters this should work.

1) Bailouts for companies. We live in America and the last time I looked, we live in a Capitalist society. No buisness is too big to fail, therefore these companies that got bailouts from our tax-payer money should give us back our money and fend for themselves.

2) Stimulus package. This package is around $787 billion. Where did all this money come from, tax payers again. Did President Obama promise not to raise taxes? Well how is this stimulus package being paid for? Oh wait, our tax payer money. Next, more than half of this money has not even been spent yet! We have learned that spend spend spend does not work, only tax cuts work!

3) National health car. Nobody is going to say "no" that they do not want free health coverage. What the Democrats do not tell us is that is will not be free, it has to be paid for by someone, and that someone happens to be tax-payers. Look at Canada and Great Britian's health care. It is not working because people that need coverage have to wait a lot longer than needed if they had their own plan. Go ahead and ask someone that lives there if they would rather come to our country for health coverage.

In the first six months of his presidency, President Obama's approval ratings are dropping fast. The GOP needs to act on this not by attacking personal issues but attacking national issues. Once the GOP starts to step up and do this eyes will be opened and the GOP will come back and they should act fast because the 2010 elections are coming up fast. Until the GOP does this, the Democrats will continue to win and attacking personal issues the, the Democrats will only use that to claim that the GOP are crazy radicals. Do not try to win with ideology but win with hard straight facts! Historically, the GOP has not been good at fighting ideologically but they have been rather good at fighting with hard facts.

Life

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you'll get." That quote by Forrest Gump is most likely the most famous quote about life. Then there are questions about life for example, "what is the meaning of life?" As everyone grows up and gets older, life brings new challengs and most people question the meaning of life or even quote Forrest. With that, I bring you funny experiences of life and some things not to do with life.

If you have siblings like I do you might understand that most funny things in life happen when you are younger before life gets "complicated." For instance, my youngest brother (Kalving) used to enjoy biting people, mostly his older his older brothers. When the three of us were outside one day playing and runing around, for some reason my youngest brother got angry and bit my other brother right in his butt! Well the one who got bit in the butt turned around and punched him in the face and I thought it was the funniest thing I have ever seen. The lesson there is, don't bit someone in the butt because it will come around and hit you in the face later.

Getting a little older comes more life lessons and funny expirences. We turn our attention away from my youngest brother and look at the middle brother (Kory). Sometimes Kory gets pretty angry, which happens to most "miss-understood" teenagers. For some reason one day he got really mad, more mad than usual and wanted to hit something. Instead of hitting someone, he hit the computer chair's arm. What do you think happened? Well he almost broke his wrist and it was really swollen. Word of advice, don't hit computer chairs because you may break your wrist! But Kory has an even better story. This still deals with anger but this time, my mother was involved (no, he did not hit her). The argument they were in was intense but funny to me. Kory got so mad that he turned around and punched the door leading to the basement. That door now has a hole in it and for laughs I attempt to remind he any chance I get.

What else should you not do in life. Well, I have a close friend named Ben (last name is not important). My friend refs soccer games and one night after he got back home he sends a text message to me and says "I made a 11 year old girl cry tonight." I hope you felt like a bigger person Ben, but that is still funny.

Now on to experiences with me that you should not repeat. My family and I went to a Chinese resturant for dinner one night. I forget what I ordered but that is not the point. On my plate there was this red chili pepper. I love spicy food but my father told me not to eat this red chili pepper. As the dillusional teen I was, I ate it. It was the worst mistake of my life, I'm pretty sure I drank 3 full pitchers of water by myself just to cool my mouth down. Well years later, but just recently, my dad suggested that I take an umbrella with me to the concert because it was supposed to rain. I told him there was no need for that because I was going to be in the tent away from the rain. What I didn't realize was that I had to stand in line outside the tent for a good 45 minutes before I could stay dry. It was a miserable concert because I was so cold and wet. The lesson here is, most of the time, parents are right sadly.

Here is what I suggest for you not to do in your life, and these are in no specific order:

1) Do NOT honk your horn at runners or bikers especially if they are in a group because if they catch you at a light be prepared to have your windows knocked on!
2) Don't make 11 year old girls cry when their parents are near.
3) Do not change in a room before checking if the window or blinds are shut!
4) Do not poop on somebody's door.
5) Don't punch chairs.
6) Don't take the stuff in a basket in bathrooms that are for everyone.
7) Do not take a laxative before running.
8) Do not get put in "time-out" by a professor.
9) Do not fart in front of a fan, the scent carries.
10) Do not try to be "funny" to a cop, you still get the ticket.