tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85096886942604303862012-01-24T22:39:26.662-05:00Weekly online column by freelance writer David Matthews 2. <br> <i>"Freedom isn't limited to the dominant opinion or belief. Freedom is the right to say 'No' even when the appropriate answer is 'Yes.'"</i>David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.comBlogger4851100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-36739434369547098002012-01-23T06:00:00.000-05:002012-01-23T09:43:26.946-05:00

It’s The Abuse, Not The Use, That Is The Problem– by David Matthews 2“Nothing in this world is black-and-white,” I was told growing up. Unless you’re involved in politics. Then it seems like the whole world is reduced to those two colors.One of the reasons why the extremist position is so appealing to certain people, especially when it comes to political discourse, is because it is absolute and

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-30035795618845232882011-12-05T06:00:00.000-05:002011-12-05T12:07:28.347-05:00

The 2011 Brutally Honest Awards– by David Matthews 2Yes, it’s time to wrap up things for the year. It’s time to fire up the lists and name the names, honor the best of the best and condemn the worst of the worst, and if it seems like there’s more of the latter and fewer of the former, it’s only because we’re not going after the truly worst of the bunch like we need to.It’s time for the 2011

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-65132946757045449962011-11-28T06:00:00.000-05:002011-11-28T06:00:14.895-05:00

Super-Fail By Design– by David Matthews 2Failure.That’s what the all-mighty “Super-Congress” has been forced to admit and adjourn without doing what it originally said it was supposed to. It was supposed to whip Congress into shape and come up with ways to trim the federal budget, bypassing the usual games played by Senators and Congressmen of secret holds and secretly-inserted “earmarks” and

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-66148206137236396742011-11-21T06:00:00.000-05:002011-11-21T12:58:46.977-05:00

Some Lessons In Life– by David Matthews 2As of the posting of this column, I’ll be 45.Not forty and not fifty; right smack there in the middle. Right at the age for people to send me junk about home mortgages, but not yet old enough to get the junk about reverse-mortgages. I don’t get too many chances to do an actual “birthday column”, so I figured now would be a good time to share with you

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-40691954678912593192011-11-14T06:00:00.000-05:002011-11-14T10:30:57.404-05:00

Capitalism, You Say? The Hell It Is, I Say!– by David Matthews 2In his documentary “Capitalism: A Love Story”, Michael Moore starts off by explaining the myth of “capitalism” and how in the 1950’s it was touted as the end-all-be-all for America. It’s supposedly why the United States is so great in the world. It’s why we won World War II and why we would supposedly win the Cold War against the

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-62924272886701122562011-11-07T06:00:00.000-05:002011-11-07T10:56:48.064-05:00

Some Simple Advice for the GOP White House Wannabes– by David Matthews 2Attention GOP contenders for the White House and their advisers, consultants, spin doctors, and whomever else may be reading this…I’ve been keeping an eye on the White House race for quite a few decades now, and I’ve noticed that there are a few mistakes that are made rather frequently by candidates in these past few

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-68798049186951349452011-10-31T06:00:00.000-04:002011-10-31T07:29:49.950-04:00

Top 5 Reasons Why Comic-Book Obama is Better Than Real-World Obama– by David Matthews 2I had to dig through a comic collection to find it… but there it was…Barack Obama as Superman.No, seriously.DC Comics mini-series “Final Crisis” Issue #7 has the first African-American President wearing the red-and-blue tights and cape of Superman. Writer Grant Morrison even confirmed that this

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-14672327492081636422011-10-24T06:00:00.000-04:002011-10-24T06:00:01.229-04:00

Capitalism’s Piss-Poor Champions– by David Matthews 2One of the things about defending freedoms in America is that the defenders really don’t get to choose their clients. Defending freedoms mean you have to, in all likelihood, defend things that you would rather not, and sometimes people that you would rather not.Do you think the attorneys in the American Civil Liberties Union want to defend a

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-36196028439059047932011-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:002011-10-17T06:00:11.895-04:00

Mormons Versus Morons– by David Matthews 2There’s an old saying that “You can’t fix stupid.” And boy do we seem to have a lot of it.And it probably should be no surprise that “stupid” seems to appear when the subject turns to religion or politics, or usually both. Remember former Governor Jesse Ventura’s line about religion being a crutch for the weak-minded? That gets re-validated every time

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-38966901320485757652011-10-10T06:00:00.000-04:002011-10-10T11:29:14.354-04:00

The Willfully Ignorant Are Willing Idiots– by David Matthews 2“You’re saying words but all I hear is crazy!”No truer statement can be said about the recent social schizophrenia than can be expressed by a couple of reviewers from That-Guy-With-the-Glasses-dot-com.You have a group of people out there protesting the status quo. They’re carrying signs, some of them are wearing costumes, and they

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-9675411045444518742011-10-03T06:00:00.001-04:002011-10-03T06:15:40.905-04:00

ADHDGOP– by David Matthews 2So here we are, still months away from the first primary or caucus, still in that glorified “fantasy league” phase of the over-extended 2012 campaign season, and it seems that the most vocal part of the GOP just can’t seem to figure out who they want to support to take on President Barack Obama.Yes, the field of presidential contenders is pretty thick. A whole bunch

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-42062958918559737382011-09-26T06:00:00.001-04:002011-10-03T06:15:14.326-04:00

Time to End Tunnel Vision Politics– by David Matthews 2My father has a problem sometimes when he’s driving. It’s not just that he’s getting old. It’s that sometimes he gets fixated on an idea when he’s driving and he shuts himself out of everything else.For instance, he could be on the highway and he finds himself behind a car that isn’t moving as fast as he would like it to. If he’s doing

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-21475788614831087922011-09-19T06:00:00.002-04:002011-09-19T11:42:43.256-04:00

“Will Lie About Jobs”– by David Matthews 2You’ve probably seen them along the road… people who carry signs that say “Will Work For Food”.These are people that are supposedly so desperate that they’ll beg motorists along the side of the road for work, and not in exchange for money, but rather in exchange for food. After all, who can’t afford to give up an extra can of beans or a loaf of bread?The

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-37253692300489197362011-09-12T06:00:00.000-04:002011-09-12T08:06:32.459-04:00

“Busy Ness” and Her Games– by David Matthews 2Once upon a time there was an “exotic” dancer named Ness who danced her nights away at the Free Market Gentlemen’s Club. Folks called her “Busy Ness” because that was what she claimed she always was, busy, busy, busy. Ness was the most popular of the dancers in the club, and for good reason. It’s not because of her figure, which wasn’t as “small”

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-27953571661980841542011-09-05T06:00:00.000-04:002011-09-05T09:31:20.343-04:00

Honor Workers With A Real Jobs Program – by David Matthews 2Have you ever looked up the origins of the American holiday known as Labor Day?It’s not a happy story. There’s actually a lot of guilt involved.Labor Day was created as a federal holiday in 1894 following a bloody massacre committed by US Marshalls and members of the US Army under orders from President Grover Cleveland. The victims were

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-84567585057373739972011-08-29T06:00:00.000-04:002011-08-29T10:08:31.307-04:00

How To Destroy A Person – by David Matthews 2This is going to sound very depressing, and I apologize in advance for making it so, but there are things that need to be said and they need to be said now and not later when most people would be asking. There are things going on right now that follow a certain pattern. That pattern needs to be recognized now so that others can try to do whatever

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-56436161523706459862011-08-22T06:00:00.000-04:002011-08-22T06:00:04.697-04:00

The Repeat That Isn’t – by David Matthews 2Imagine you’re on a boat with your friends in the middle of the ocean and suddenly you realize that the engine has stalled and the boat is starting to sink.“We’ve sprung a leak!” someone exclaims.So everyone stops what they’re doing and they see a hole at the bottom of the boat full of water and it has waterlogged the engine. Everyone gets out buckets

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-72284471180772307002011-08-15T06:00:00.000-04:002011-08-15T09:15:26.859-04:00

If They Gave A Dollar – by David Matthews 2“If I had a nickel…”I was thinking about that little statement when the subject came up to the tired arguments being made by members of the GOP. If I had a nickel for every time someone said something over and over again… I could afford a latte at Starbucks.Maybe it would be better if we updated that old saying. We gotta take inflation into account,

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-4083393968922493322011-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:002011-08-08T08:40:49.794-04:00

Meanwhile In An Alternate Universe… – by David Matthews 2In the world that is Joe Blue’s America, everything is beautiful.There is no debt to worry about in Joe Blue’s America. Everything is fully-financed, paid for though generous tax contributions from the business community, who are more than eager to give their fair share and then some. Businesses work hand-in-hand with government agencies

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-38440650531568934752011-08-01T06:00:00.000-04:002011-08-01T06:00:10.538-04:00

Maybe We Should Pull The Trigger– by David Matthews 2Once upon a time the nail-biting story in the movie would always involve a last-minute save. No matter how bleak things seemed, no matter how harrowing the stakes, somehow the hero would come in right at the last minute to make the save.James Bond used to stop every doomsday plan with “007” seconds left. The bomb would be diffused with maybe

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-85736146024945486592011-07-25T06:00:00.000-04:002011-07-25T06:00:11.116-04:00

Whither MSNBC?15 Years Later, “Phase One” Fails– by David Matthews 2It was a little over fifteen years ago this month that something called “Phase One” was launched.“Phase one” was supposed to be the “next generation” of news, providing cutting-edge technology with the resources of an established national news service. A joint venture between the biggest technology company of the time, Microsoft

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-55740981149222945702011-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:002011-07-18T08:42:36.493-04:00

Atlanta’s Education Disgrace– by David Matthews 2There’s an old joke about a company CEO who wanted to see how smart his people were, so he went through the various departments to ask them what two plus two equaled. Every department, in their own unique way, would each say “four”. Then he went to the accountant, who closed the blinds, locked the door, turned off the recording devices, and then

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-33170585894190844892011-07-11T06:00:00.000-04:002011-07-11T06:00:03.339-04:00

Mala Ultionis: Trading Justice for Revenge– by David Matthews 2According to my old college and high school education, there are two kinds of crimes in society.The first is called “mala en se”, which is Latin for “wrong by itself”. Crimes like murder, rape, theft, and fraud are pretty much self-explanatory. Anyone with a thinking brain will know that these kinds of activities are wrong.The

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-6620381057319156662011-07-04T06:00:00.000-04:002011-07-04T07:28:13.821-04:00

The American Delusion– by David Matthews 2The late George Carlin once said it best when it came to the “American Dream”… he said it was called that “because you have to be asleep to believe it”.I know that there are many that bristle when they hear that kind of talk. To them, the American Dream isn’t just a goal… it’s a cult-object. It’s yet another pseudo-religious symbol for them to prop up

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-72781902550651630062011-06-27T06:00:00.000-04:002011-06-27T09:03:12.088-04:00

Are We Finally Ready For The Question?– by David Matthews 2Despite the pronouncement as seen in the Declaration of Independence that “All men are created equal”, it’s not always simple to match the words with the deeds.The very idea of freedom is scary for some people. They can’t stand the idea that someone could have a different train of thought, a different standard, or a different means to an

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-54413614328982439192011-06-20T06:00:00.000-04:002011-06-20T06:00:10.315-04:00

The Runaway Opportunist– by David Matthews 2This past Father’s Day weekend was supposed to be a very special one for a certain magazine legend. Hugh Hefner, the man who epitomized the “Playboy lifestyle”, was supposed to be married to his latest “Number One”, Playmate Crystal Harris. Ms. Harris was the latest of Hef’s “girlfriends”, following the departure of the highly-publicized “Hefmates” of

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-67404930658254037442011-06-13T06:00:00.000-04:002011-06-13T06:00:06.475-04:00

Don’t Feed The Political Egos– by David Matthews 2“Don’t Feed The Animals.”That’s a sign you’ve probably seen in a zoo, and there are various reasons why you’re asked to not do that.Maybe the zoo officials are afraid that you’ll give the animals something that would poison them. Maybe it wouldn’t be intentional. Some animals have a delicate stomach. Maybe they’re afraid that you might give the

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-1065394539804329032011-06-06T06:00:00.001-04:002011-06-06T06:00:11.642-04:00

Obama Must Own This Albatross– by David Matthews 2News Flash: The economy sucks!Okay, that’s not really a news flash for most people…unless you live and work in Pennsylvania Avenue.For most people, the announcement that the economy sucks isn’t really news. For us, the news is this:The economy STILL sucks!There is no “double-dip recession”. This is the SAME recession from 2008! It never ended.

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-49251145169583243192011-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:002011-05-30T06:00:01.269-04:00

Make the Memories Count– by David Matthews 2In the satirical science fiction movie “Mars Attacks”, a trailer park family mourns the loss of their oldest son; a soldier who was killed by Martians. They watched it happen as it was broadcast nationwide, and later they transformed their mobile home into a shrine and demanded that he be honored as a war hero… the greatest soldier that ever lived.

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-83187356340940783812011-05-23T06:00:00.000-04:002011-05-24T12:27:44.917-04:00

(Due to circumstances beyond David's control, there is no article for this week.)

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-72304637538334268802011-05-16T06:00:00.000-04:002011-05-16T09:13:34.294-04:00

The Politics of Hypocrisy (2011 Edition)– by David Matthews 2Didjahear? Didjahear?Didjahear what they found at Osama Bin Laden’s hideaway mansion in Pakistan when they killed him? Oh you won’t believe it! You just wouldn’t believe it…POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORN!Yeah, they found POOOOOOOOOOORN in Bin Laden’s compound! Bin Laden had POOOOOOOOOORNNNNNNN! The leader of the biggest Islamic terrorist

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-81201409766403692942011-05-09T06:00:00.002-04:002011-05-09T10:18:23.463-04:00

Fear Incorporated– by David Matthews 2Welcome to FEAR INCORPORATED, where FEAR is our FORTUNE!Whatever it is you need to sell, we’ll help you sell it! Whatever it is you want passed, we’ll get it passed! We ARE the number one salesmen for the media, government, and religion, and we didn’t get there by accident!We have CENTURIES of experience to help you get whatever you want done. There’s only

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-867874397836293412011-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:002011-05-02T06:16:38.365-04:00

Conveniently Broke– by David Matthews 2“We’re broke!”There are two reasons why someone would say that.The first is that you really ARE broke, as in there is no more money and you don’t know how you’re going to be able to pay for the things that are due now.Sadly, there are way too many people in this country that are being FORCED to say this version. They would rather not, but they don’t have a

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-58076332931957428202011-04-25T06:00:00.000-04:002011-04-25T10:07:38.567-04:00

Where’s Johnny?– by David Matthews 2Remember when it was all about “Johnny”?You know, “Johnny”… as in “Johnny can’t read”. Sure it was the title of Don Hedley’s song from 1982, but it was also a cry for help from an education system that somehow stopped doing what it was supposed to in the first place. You had kids going through all twelve grades, get a diploma, and yet not be able to read a

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-79924053063369662402011-04-18T06:00:00.000-04:002011-04-18T09:51:33.872-04:00

Libertarianism vs. Corporate Capitalism– by David Matthews 2“I really don’t see any daylight between libertarians and conservatives,” according to one online user I came across in Facebook. “Libertarians want to turn everything over to corporations.”Sadly, I couldn’t come up with a response right away on that charge.Not that the poster was right, because he or she wasn’t, but that it was hard

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-17640672439300798542011-04-11T06:00:00.000-04:002011-04-11T07:59:09.652-04:00

There’s Still Work To Do? No, Sir, You Haven’t Started Yet!– by David Matthews 2Once upon a time a college group decided to sell boxes of candy bars to raise money for a trip. Everyone in the group was asked to pledge to sell at least one box of candy to help raise money, but most people pledged two or three boxes. Barry, however, pledged to sell ten boxes of candy, more than anyone in the

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-67019145422954489582011-04-04T06:00:00.000-04:002011-04-04T10:01:04.810-04:00

Some Simple Truths That Go Unheeded– by David Matthews 2“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. That they are empowered by their creator with certain unalienable rights, and that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”That’s from the Declaration of Independence. It was a great document written by a bunch of very enlightened people

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-40763495036954161252011-03-28T06:00:00.000-04:002011-03-28T06:00:07.932-04:00

Fractured Fairy Tale: The Prophet-Who-Wasn’t– by David Matthews 2Once upon a time there was a man who saw himself as a Prophet-Who-Wasn’t. He was a bit of a clown, a bit of a showman, and he knew how to get his message across to a huge audience. He’d call himself harmless, but everyone knew that to be a lie. He knew that he controlled the masses that he enthralled by his words of witticism and

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-24212365256816914172011-03-21T06:00:00.001-04:002011-03-21T06:59:27.122-04:00

Libya: Here We Go Again– by David Matthews 2Here we go again, boys and girls…The dropping of bombs, the gnashing of teeth, the fists-pumping delusions of a tin-plated “military officer” and his Islamic rhetoric, and of course FoxNews cheerfully prodding us into something we should be tired of already…Yes, it’s WAR TIME AGAIN!Our chosen country: Libya.Our token bad guy… all the way back from the

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-30299886445092581192011-03-14T06:00:00.000-04:002011-03-14T09:23:07.191-04:00

Gas Prices: The “Bigs” Strike Again– by David Matthews 2Here we go again…Apparently Wall Street and Big Corporate have decided that America hasn’t suffered enough at their hands. It was bad enough that we tossed them a few trillion of money that we don’t have. Add to that our inept Department of Justice refusing to bring criminal charges against the perpetrators of our misery. Then add to that

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-10895918906797607882011-03-07T06:00:00.000-05:002011-03-07T11:11:30.843-05:00

The Drug Nobody Wants To Treat– by David Matthews 2Quick: what do professional athletes, career politicians, cable news personalities, Hollywood actors, pop singers, and Wall Street Masters of the Universe all have in common?They’re all susceptible to one of the most potent drugs in human history.We’re talking a drug that has not only ruined lives, ruined marriages, and ruined careers, but also

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-63014643366805599232011-02-28T06:00:00.001-05:002011-02-28T08:08:04.136-05:00

Flakes-N-Funds– by David Matthews 2Isn’t it funny how politicians can whine and moan about spending except when it comes to THEIR pet projects?Politicians will nickel-and-dime a project and complain endlessly about how much is being spent on it and ask why it is being spent and why some private group (preferably one of their campaign sponsors) can’t pick up the tab on it. They will make it their

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-17275485434847991302011-02-21T06:00:00.000-05:002011-02-21T10:28:41.845-05:00

The Union Problem– by David Matthews 2A very rich man was once troubled by what he called a “serious security problem”. Strangers would just waltz into his wealthy home uninvited and steal things. All sorts of animals and insects would come in. He would spend endless amounts of money on exterminators and security consultants to come up with ways to keep the “undesirables” from ruining his home

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-74445401876370203322011-02-14T06:00:00.000-05:002011-02-14T08:47:06.721-05:00

How Fast They Flash Out– by David Matthews 2My, oh my, how quickly they forget…Not even one month holding the reigns of power in the U.S. House of Representatives and already the “unstoppable party” is starting to unravel.GOP Congressional darling Chris Lee (not to be confused with veteran horror actor Christopher Lee) out of the blue (or should that be “red”?) announces his resignation after

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-32620335734175869512011-02-07T06:00:00.001-05:002011-02-07T12:15:21.103-05:00

2012? NO! Not Yet!– by David Matthews 2I didn’t want to hear it.I really didn’t.Just the thought of it brings up feelings of utter revulsion. I have to fight the urge to do something very primal and very instinctive.But it’s too late.It’s already been brought up.Names are already being floated. People are already thinking it. The machinery is already primed to go.It’s… the 2012 Presidential

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-6666883808689313842011-01-31T06:00:00.000-05:002011-01-31T06:00:16.514-05:00

Ethics or Politics? Choose!– by David Matthews 2Imagine someone coming up to you and just handing you an envelope full of hundred-dollar bills. Doesn’t explain why, just that it’s “a gift”. The following month, you get another envelope just like it. And again, and again, and again.Eventually you get to know this strange benefactor. You know his name, but he doesn’t really explain why he’s

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-51384383475134435792011-01-24T06:00:00.000-05:002011-01-24T08:39:08.380-05:00

Think Benito Not Adolph!– by David Matthews 2It is called either “Reducto Ad Hitlerum” or - quite erroneously - “Godwin’s Law”.It is invoking or referencing Nazi Germany or Adolph Hitler or any of his minions.Hitler is considered to be the worst, the most despicably evil person that could ever exist. Nazi Germany is supposed to be the worst form of government that could ever exist… even worse

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-33121517954625381612011-01-17T06:00:00.001-05:002011-01-17T06:00:06.454-05:00

When “Good Enough” Isn’t Enough– by David Matthews 2In the 1996 movie “Jingle All The Way”, the ever-busy father Howard went out on December 24th to find his son Jaime a “Turbo Man” action figure. He searches all of the stores and finds, much to his disappointment, that this is THE most requested toy in commercial history, and that hardly anyone has it in stock. Hilarity ensues, of course, when

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-30664788570440374702010-12-13T06:00:00.000-05:002010-12-13T12:57:51.645-05:00

The 2010 Brutally Honest Awards– by David Matthews 2Well folks here it is, the end of another year. And as has been tradition for all of these years, it’s time to wrap up the year with a look back at the best and worst… and mostly worst.The Biggest FAILURE in 2010: President Barack Obama and the Democrat-run Congress – I know this is going to be a shock to some folks, but let’s get brutally

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-8027426428863227682010-12-06T06:00:00.000-05:002010-12-06T10:03:50.001-05:00

If Dictionaries Were Bipartisan…– by David Matthews 2It is said that history is written by the conqueror. That probably explains why people like Glenn Beck are hell-bent on re-writing it. No doubt if they had their way, school children would eventually be reading about how the Conservative Pilgrims (formerly the Puritans) sailed to North America in gold-plated battleships to “save” the “godless

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-62965144584034578992010-11-29T06:00:00.003-05:002010-11-29T10:03:53.051-05:00

Why NOT Thank A Human?– by David Matthews 2My friend RJ Evans is more than just a fellow libertarian and my boss for ShockNet Radio. He is also an unashamed atheist. This past week on our weekly Friday show, RJ gave his editorial about the things and people he was thankful for this past Thanksgiving. I wasn’t listed by name (and I won’t hold it against him), but I paid more attention to

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-5724628506579691452010-11-22T06:00:00.001-05:002010-11-22T06:00:10.571-05:00

Airport Of The Future?– by David Matthews 2Welcome To YOUR Local USA Airport!For speedy processing, please observe the following rules and requirements.By going beyond this point, you voluntarily forfeit any and all protections provided under the United States Constitution for the duration of your time within any and all USA Airport branches. Any rights or privileges provided during time within

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-52130607662839882952010-11-15T06:00:00.000-05:002010-11-15T10:22:20.075-05:00

The New Holiday Monster– by David Matthews 2When it comes to the holiday season, there are two well-known monsters.The first monster is Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge was the protagonist of the classic tale “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. He started out as a miserly old coot who hated Christmas and everything connected to it. He was a child of business. He was abandoned by everyone that he

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-8870108647082713082010-11-08T06:00:00.000-05:002010-11-08T06:50:08.270-05:00

Too Big For Jail Too?– by David Matthews 2Adlantus Newton was the victim of auto theft.The Tacoma mother had just worked to pay off the loan she had on her 1999 Chrysler LHS and had gotten the title to the car back from the bank when her car was stolen from her.It wasn’t hard to find her car or the people who stole it from her. In fact they were pretty blatant about stealing the car and were

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-10695105261475714622010-11-01T06:00:00.000-04:002010-11-01T08:04:26.309-04:00

Just Focus On The One– by David Matthews 2Every year at election time I hear the same old tired mantras from the statists in the political world when it comes to alternatives to their usual zero-sum “lesser of two evils” argument. That “they’re spoilers”, that “they take votes away from the other candidates” (boy, talk about an ENTITLEMENT program), and of course the most pompous of pompous

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-49705674264346831902010-10-25T06:00:00.000-04:002010-10-25T07:01:17.325-04:00

It’s Sewer Time!– by David Matthews 2There’s a foul stench in the air.It’s a repugnant odor that is emanating everywhere. It’s in everything we see and everything we hear. It fouls our meals, our mail, our polite conversations with friends and family, even our places of work and places of prayer.It pervades into our phone lines, harassing us endlessly with its foul prefabricated noise, making

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-82740205678979532092010-10-18T06:00:00.000-04:002010-10-18T06:00:05.337-04:00

One Versus The World– by David Matthews 2Let’s start things off with a simple statement…Two plus two equals four.Simple enough, right?It’s easy to figure out if you didn’t understand it. You just put two items in front of you and then two more items and then count the ones you have and come up with four.It’s PAINFULLY simple, isn’t it? Something that pretty much everyone with a working brain

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-9977294745548417332010-10-11T06:00:00.000-04:002010-10-11T07:43:25.053-04:00

The Perverse Fixation on Unions– by David Matthews 2Have you ever heard of the White Elephant trick? It’s a doozy!If I were to tell you to not think about a white elephant, you will. No matter how hard you try, you’ll think of a white elephant. In fact, the harder you try, the more times you’ll THINK of a white elephant.Apparently conservatives, neo-conservatives, and even some libertarians

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-89324089736669412112010-10-04T06:00:00.000-04:002010-10-04T06:00:08.655-04:00

The Company They Keep– by David Matthews 2There are times when I defer to the folks at the Reason Foundation for their sound words of advice regarding freedom. The folks there often have a better understanding of freedom than the vast majority of so-called “experts” who falsely claim to support the Constitution or fraudulently pretend to channel America’s “founding fathers”. (You listening,

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-41237550782462151862010-09-27T06:00:00.000-04:002010-09-27T06:00:08.487-04:00

Memo To Government: You Can Stop Lying Now– by David Matthews 2I have a really simple message to the federal government in regards to our economy.Stop.Just stop.Stop the lies. Stop telling us that it’s raining when all that you’re doing is peeing on our legs.This past week the “OFFICIAL” word from the National Bureau of Economic Research is that there really WAS a recession. It “started” in

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-71650003779956042002010-09-20T06:00:00.000-04:002010-09-20T06:00:01.121-04:00

“Just Sayin’…”– by David Matthews 2I really hate it when people invent loopholes to justify saying what they really want to say.In the South, we have a little phrase that older Southern women who are heavily religious use when they normally “aren’t supposed” to speak ill of others. Any time they want to void the rules they just add in “bless his/her heart”. As in…“Oh, you know Mary

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-22254588627371344652010-09-13T06:00:00.001-04:002010-09-13T06:00:01.762-04:00

The REAL Stimulus - Employment – by David Matthews 2It should come to no big surprise that the economy isn’t faring too well. The so-called “recovery”, as so proclaimed by Wall Street and the White House, is just another house of cards falling back down.And the so-called “experts” are all scratching their heads and wondering why this is so. After all, we gave over ONE TRILLION DOLLARS to Wall

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-5560861953081753642010-09-06T06:00:00.000-04:002010-09-06T06:00:07.909-04:00

No More 3-D!– by David Matthews 2I have a really simple request to make…Can we PLEASE get rid of this whole “3-D” junk?I’m serious. It seems like the whole multimedia world is on this “3-D” kick.Hollywood has really hyped the “3-D” gimmick, especially with computer animated and with the new “Resident Evil” movie. Magazine publishers now want in on the “3-D” scam. Playboy Magazine already did

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-18230213244328717742010-08-30T06:00:00.000-04:002010-08-30T06:00:04.937-04:00

The Mad Prophet Returns– by David Matthews 2The other day I had this idea that I pitched to a friend-of-a-friend who knew someone in Hollywood.I told him that since Hollywood has been on a kick on recycling and remaking old classics like “Star Trek” and “Friday the 13th”, that maybe it was time to remake one of the most memorably satirical movies around…“Network,” I said.“Huh?” he asked as he

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-77750525645843882302010-08-23T06:00:00.000-04:002010-08-23T10:27:35.754-04:00

The Wall Street Job– by David Matthews 2If you have never seen TNT’s original cable series “Leverage” before, you really need to.The series stars Academy-Award winner Timothy Hutton as a former insurance investigator who brings together some of the best criminals in the world and has them doing good deeds. Each of the people he brings in are the best in their particular specialty, from hacking

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-32145960858660110252010-08-16T06:00:00.000-04:002010-08-16T08:19:40.342-04:00

WikiLeaks versus “No Snitching”– by David Matthews 2There comes a point in a story about evil where someone’s conscience gets the better of them and they have to tell SOMEONE of the great evil going on. The great conspiracy, the great catastrophe, the great master scheme or plan being carried out… In the movie “JFK”, based on the accounts of New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (played by

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-64498804923636720112010-08-09T06:00:00.000-04:002010-08-09T08:01:05.319-04:00

The GOP’s Greatest Enemy: The GOP– by David Matthews 2I hate cheaters. I despise cheaters. It really goes back to when I was a kid and the other kids would cheat to get their way.The only thing that I hate worse than cheaters are the cheaters that are allowed to get away with their games.Cheating is anarchy in its purest form. It is the complete and utter voiding of the rules that the rest of

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-4612395449237430852010-08-01T09:28:00.001-04:002010-08-01T09:29:40.933-04:00

Goodbye My Friend– by David Matthews 2This past weekend I had to do something that all pet owners dread.I had to have my cat put to sleep.Boris had been with me for sixteen years. He was my friend and companion since he was a kitten. He had been with me through three different homes, through the best and worst times of my life.Cat owners love to joke about how their cats really own them, but in

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-74830960346545930962010-07-26T06:00:00.002-04:002010-07-26T06:00:07.054-04:00

Support Your Local (Consumer) Sheriff– by David Matthews 2In the movie “Boiler Room”, a young college dropout is introduced to a pump-and-dump trading company, and one of the key questions asked was “Is this legal?” He is then directed to a guy sitting in a closed-off room with a window and is told that the man is the watchdog for the Securities and Exchange Commission, there to make sure that

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-840170750360204042010-07-19T06:00:00.000-04:002010-07-19T06:00:02.208-04:00

Obama’s Worst Enemy: His Own Achievements– by David Matthews 2It’s sort of strange that comic book heroes can save the day by beating down the bad guy in the middle of downtown Main Street, and then, despite all of the damage done in the battle, there’s no talk about the after-effects. How about the people that had their homes destroyed? Their workplaces demolished? Their belongings ruined?

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-12950206062342133132010-07-12T06:00:00.000-04:002010-07-12T06:00:04.069-04:00

Steele-Proof?– by David Matthews 2It must be good to be Michael Steele.The chairman of the GOP is either extremely delusional, or else he knows something about the nature of the party that allows him to stay where he is.A year ago, Steele was seen as being nothing more than a token leader of the party. He was elected within the party not necessarily because of his leadership skills but more as a

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-30393902887748906742010-07-05T06:00:00.001-04:002010-07-05T06:41:07.403-04:00

Hope Is Not Enough!– by David Matthews 2Hope.Hope is…One of the spirits in Pandora’s Box that was considered “too evil to be let loose”.A comic book character that is supposed to be the salvation of the mutant race.A soap opera character on “Days of Our Lives” that used to be a part of a hot super-couple and now has a split personality.A political party in Slovakia.A programming language from the

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-21175583290023500342010-06-28T06:00:00.000-04:002010-06-28T09:24:22.669-04:00

The GOP: The Real Party of Lenin– by David Matthews 2I’m sure this is going to make some old Cold War fighters blanche when they read this… but it seems that the GOP, formerly the Party of Abraham Lincoln, the Party of Ronald Reagan, and the Party of the Bush Family, apparently has a new patron figure, and they have been quick to adopt his tactics.I’m sure some of you might think that their new

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-12736815171785063232010-06-21T06:00:00.000-04:002010-06-21T06:00:07.181-04:00

Open Letter To Billionaires Looking For “Charity”– by David Matthews 2Dear Billionaires With Money To Spend,Somewhere in between the overhyped nonsense about World Cup Soccer, some tattoo freak “actress” who thinks she’s beautiful and promoting her new film, and of course the ongoing misery in the Gulf of Mexico, I heard that two of the richest men on the planet are looking for other billionaires

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-24856208912020759922010-06-14T06:00:00.000-04:002010-06-14T06:00:06.524-04:00

Birth of the Corporate-State– by David Matthews 2Here’s something that should make you shiver…At some point in the near future, someone will OWN Greece.I don’t mean that metaphorically. I don’t mean through political corruption or military intimidation. I mean someone will literally OWN Greece. Lock, stock, and barrel. The whole nation, its government, everything. Some private entity will at

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-74603353568029098922010-06-07T06:00:00.000-04:002010-06-07T06:00:04.090-04:00

Short-Term Solutions - Long-Term FAIL– by David Matthews 2In honor of Dennis Hopper, who died recently…Pop Quiz, hotshot: Your friend got a deep and nasty cut on his upper leg in one of the major arteries and blood is shooting out. From the blood-soaked pant-leg and the puddle on the floor you can guess he’s been gushing blood for a few minutes now. He’s already starting to pass out and he’s

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-74842449736590538852010-05-31T06:00:00.000-04:002010-05-31T06:00:03.989-04:00

Is It Finally Time For Rahm To Go?– by David Matthews 2In the 1920’s Al Capone thought he was untouchable.He controlled the liquor business in Chicago. He owned the police. He owned the prosecutors. He owned the judges. His competition was quickly eliminated. He was even liked by the public. Local boy does good. Besides, he offered the masses what was - at that time - illegal. Of course

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-46806015368385890882010-05-24T06:00:00.001-04:002010-05-24T06:00:00.929-04:00

Where are the REAL Reformers?– by David Matthews 2I have a simple question…Whatever happened to REAL reform in America?Seriously, where is it? Where are the reformers?The so-called Tea Party crowd continually whines about wanting “their country back”, but they don’t really know what that was or how to get it back other than they don’t like the people in government right now and they want THAT to

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-19595407149518246062010-05-17T06:00:00.000-04:002010-05-17T06:00:09.747-04:00

The New Witch Accusers– by David Matthews 2A great crime was committed against society.Dozens of people were accused of crimes they could not commit. They were tortured, humiliated, degraded, convicted based on lies and hysteria, and summarily executed. Spurned on by evangelical self-righteous power-mongers, they sought new victims to torment, believing that what they were doing was not only

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-88992168884226402552010-05-10T06:00:00.000-04:002010-05-10T07:11:53.463-04:00

Time For Justice For Big Corporate– by David Matthews 2A mine collapses.An oil rig explodes.Banks continue to collapse.Wall Street mechanizations have lead to the foreclosure and bankruptcy of millions and still endanger millions more.One by one, the various private institutions that we are told that we have to put our trust and faith in are collapsing. Lives have been lost. Millions more have

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-51032077584650705472010-05-03T06:00:00.000-04:002010-05-03T06:00:00.401-04:00

The Disjointed States Of America– by David Matthews 2Did you hear the shocking news? It’s BIG! It’s EARTH-SHATTERING!Sandra Bullock has a son! In fact she’s had him for THREE MONTHS now!Well, no, she didn’t get pregnant and conceal the nine months and then have the baby and keep everything a deep, dark secret for three months. That would be next-to-impossible given her status as a

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-29059733800528903832010-04-26T06:00:00.000-04:002010-04-26T06:06:40.670-04:00

Selective Reality– by David Matthews 2Imagine telling your friend that the Earth is flat, that the Moon is made of green cheese, and that you can run across a deep chasm if you just run really, really fast and don’t EVER look down!Your friend would probably think you were full of it. Maybe a little tipsy. Or maybe just being silly, right?How about if you started sending that friend some email

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-39529552570452789592010-04-19T06:00:00.001-04:002010-04-19T06:00:10.004-04:00

Washington: Stop Stringing Us Along!– by David Matthews 2There is nothing more infuriating than a relationship that is based on some distorted concept of “kindness”.Take, for instance, a relationship between a socially-awkward lonely guy and a beautiful woman. For the lonely guy, this is the relationship that he’s always dreamed of. But for her it is a relationship of convenience… and only at

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-35241483864896270742010-04-12T06:00:00.000-04:002010-04-12T06:00:04.249-04:00

The Sheep-Herder– by David Matthews 2This is a story about lost sheep.Now let’s get brutally honest here… this is really about people, not sheep, but in way too many situations we allow ourselves to be treated AS sheep, so the best way to get this message across is to use that which we sometimes behave as. Well, that and it’s easier to use the sheep analogy than to talk about lemmings… because

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-43393295866596267122010-04-05T06:00:00.000-04:002010-04-05T06:00:05.126-04:00

End The Financial Lottery Game– by David Matthews 2There’s an old joke about the farmer who supposedly gets a message from God to sell his farm and all his belongings and fly on out to Las Vegas. God then tells the farmer to go to a specific casino, to a specific roulette table, and to bet everything he has on a specific square. He does everything as requested, except the ball lands on a

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-34730630240782367242010-03-29T06:00:00.000-04:002010-03-29T06:00:08.791-04:00

The Ugly Truth On The Cry For Third Parties– by David Matthews 2At the climax of the movie “A Few Good Men”, Jack Nicholson’s character began his evangelical explanation of how the ends justifying his means by proclaiming that the lawyers handling the court-martial case cannot handle “The Truth”. “The Truth”, of course, being that anything that he did, anything that he ordered, was done for the

David 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12138208895799312312noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509688694260430386.post-33626242801887497082010-03-22T06:00:00.001-04:002010-03-22T06:00:07.987-04:00

The Slow Death of America– by David Matthews 2It was a glorious empire… stretching across much of the continent… providing marvels in architectural design, warfare, commerce, language, and government organization that would last for centuries.I am talking, of course, about the Roman Empire.There are many theories as to why this once-great empire fell, but most of them agree that Rome had simply

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The Myth of Success– by David Matthews 2Once upon a time, a recently widowed man moved into a new town in one of the more affluent communities. He came in with a new BMW, with designer suits, and a wide variety of work experiences.It wasn’t long before people started to ask him how he managed to become so successful, and he really didn’t have an answer for them. He said that he had no idea how

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A Leap of Stupidity over Healthcare– by David Matthews 2One of the continual claims made by conservative and neo-conservative talk show hosts is that they present logical and rational and reasonable claims. Of course their assertion has about as much weight as a certain media outlet claiming to be “fair and balanced”.Logical and rational and reasonable arguments require a clearly-understood path

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When Stupidity IS a Choice– by David Matthews 2Is it possible to be stupid by choice? I think so.Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of people who lack intelligence, either through biology or accident or through ignorance. I don’t want to knock those who would fit the definition of “stupid” that have no choice.But I also think there are plenty of people that have the intellectual capacity that

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The Futility of Boycotts– by David Matthews 2The premise is simple: stop doing business and the business will change to adapt.If you have bad service at a restaurant, then you stop going there. If enough people do that, then the restaurant will figure out what’s wrong and will strive to fix it. If a store doesn’t have a certain product, you go to the store that does, and eventually the store

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Where Have I Heard All This Before?– by David Matthews 2This is an open letter to the Tea Party crowd… a friendly word of advice from an actual Independent/Third Party supporter who has been in the political desert a LOT longer than many of you have.But in order to give this friendly piece of advice, I’m going to have to first engage in a little bit of imagination. I’m going to have to PRETEND.I

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The Repeated Meme and the Echo Chamber– by David Matthews 2In the satirical animated series “Family Guy”, shrill housewife Lois Griffin decides to run for mayor. During her first (and only) debate, she finds that the audience doesn’t respond to complicated explanations of how one would be a better steward of the public trust. Instead, they start cheering when she uses quick sound bites,

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Of Bayou-Gate and Gotchas– by David Matthews 2It was likened to a “prank”, according to the person caught trying to pull it.He said he wanted to “catch” the person in question of doing something they denied.Except that he was the one that got caught, along with his associates.James O’Keefe III is supposedly compared to liberal filmmaker Michael Moore. He is best known for showing up at certain

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The Last Big Ultimate Mega-Crisis– by David Matthews 2It was a cloudy day in world of Directly Marvelous Comics. Even though the skies were blue and the sun was shining, storm clouds had been building all day for this once-great publishing empire.“Thank you all for coming,” said the Editor-In-Chief. “As you all know, things have not been easy for our big DM brand ever since we were purchased by

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Harry’s Ugly Date– by David Matthews 2Once upon a time on the campus of America University… there was a college student name Harry.Harry was the president of the Alpha Delta Ka-Ch’ing fraternity. It wasn’t exactly a position that he earned, though. Like most things in his life, Harry sort of “fell into” this position. It gave him something to do, and it wasn’t like his frat brothers were too

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The 2009 Brutally Honest Awards– by David Matthews 2It’s hard to imagine that another year has already passed, and yet here it is December already.Lot of stuff to go over, so let’s get to it…The Daniel Shays Award for 2009: Glenn “Blood Shooting From My Teary Eyes” Beck - Glenn Beck is probably the biggest fraud you can imagine. Limbaugh, Hannity, Dobbs, Savage… they won’t put on an act like he

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Draft WHO?- by David Matthews 2 One of the really, REALLY, annoying things about politics of late is this perpetual drive to finish one campaign and begin work on the NEXT campaign, even if it is several years away. After the 2006 Mid-term Election, the political machines were busy churning up candidates for the 2008 Election, and you had “destiny” candidates spinning up the hype that this would

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Life Is NOT A Privilege– by David Matthews 2Do you know what’s really repulsive? Someone who is intentionally arrogant and pompous.It’s one thing to be that way unintentionally. To come off as arrogant and not know it. But when you’re that way and you know it, that’s when there’s trouble.One of the reasons why the French Revolution was as violent as it was partly had to do with the pompous,

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The Armageddon Gambit– by David Matthews 2(Writer’s warning: the following article is done completely in jest, and it is best approached as such. Do not presume that any of the suggestions being made should be seriously considered.)For years liberals have tried to come up with various ways to get rich and powerful people to give up their monies. Often they use a combination of arrogance and the

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