<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>Makin' Things Right</title>
	<atom:link href="http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com</link>
	<description>A Regular Guy's Perspective on Things</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Wed, 23 Feb 2011 00:27:13 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language></language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.com/</generator>
<cloud domain='emcompnut.wordpress.com' port='80' path='/?rsscloud=notify' registerProcedure='' protocol='http-post' />
<image>
		<url>http://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.png</url>
		<title>Makin' Things Right</title>
		<link>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com</link>
	</image>
	<atom:link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/osd.xml" title="Makin&#039; Things Right" />
	<atom:link rel='hub' href='http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/?pushpress=hub'/>
		<item>
		<title>President&#8217;s Day?</title>
		<link>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/presidents-day/</link>
		<comments>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/presidents-day/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Feb 2011 00:27:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ed Martinez</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Human Interest]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/?p=33</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ok, so, we have a &#8220;President&#8217;s Day&#8221; holiday, which supposedly serves to consolidate the birthdays of two of our greatest presidents &#8211; to wit: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Now, let&#8217;s do a quick review of the accomplishments of these two remarkable men: a. George Washington &#8211; a.k.a. &#8220;The Father of our Country&#8221; &#8211; responsible, [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=emcompnut.wordpress.com&amp;blog=64653&amp;post=33&amp;subd=emcompnut&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Ok, so, we have a &#8220;President&#8217;s Day&#8221; holiday, which supposedly serves to consolidate the birthdays of two of our greatest presidents &#8211; to wit: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.</p>
<p>Now, let&#8217;s do a quick review of the accomplishments of these two remarkable men:</p>
<p>a. George Washington &#8211; a.k.a. &#8220;The Father of our Country&#8221; &#8211; responsible, at the highest degree possible, for the birth and subsequent survival of our nation. An honest, hard-working man, who at a time when opposing the King of England meant sure ostracizing, did so anyway &#8211; and he led a good number of his fellow patriots along the same narrow path.</p>
<p>b. Abraham Lincoln &#8211; The man who kept our country united &#8211; essentially, giving our nation a &#8220;re-birth&#8221; if you will. Signed the emancipation proclamation, which signaled the beginning of the end of slavery in the U.S. (at least on paper and in the government&#8217;s eyes). An honest, hard-working man, who at a time when standing up for freedom meant sure ostracizing, did so anyway &#8211; and he became a casualty because of it.</p>
<p>Now, we do NOT have a separate and distinct day of recognition and celebration for each of these men. Instead, we have a &#8220;President&#8217;s Day&#8221; &#8211; replete with 3 and 4-day weekend getaways, and sales of all kinds. Such a wonderful way to show how much we as a nation DO NOT revere anyone anymore &#8211; except that, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gets his own day on the 3rd Monday in January (he was born on January 15th). Now, I will not presume to downplay the importance that Dr. King played in U.S. history, but I do wonder whether or not he is more deserving of his own day vs. Presidents Washington and Lincoln.</p>
<p>George Washington&#8217;s birthday is February 22nd. Abraham Lincoln&#8217;s birthday is February 12th. I don&#8217;t celebrate &#8220;President&#8217;s Day.&#8221; I celebrate February 12th and 22th individually, and respectfully. I may not be able to take those days off from work, but I will certainly show reverence for these two great INDIVIDUALS, both of whom without, there would NOT have been an opportunity for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to accomplish any of the remarkable things he did.</p>
<p>I am going to lead the fight to eliminate President&#8217;s Day. If Monday holidays are what this nation is addicted to, then so be it. I propose that the Monday closest to each of these men&#8217;s birthday, be celebrated INDIVIDUALLY for EACH man.</p>
<p>If you are with me, please let me know. If you aren&#8217;t, please let me know, and why.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading!</p>
<p>Ed Martinez – Regular Guy</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<br />  <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/emcompnut.wordpress.com/33/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/emcompnut.wordpress.com/33/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/emcompnut.wordpress.com/33/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/emcompnut.wordpress.com/33/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/emcompnut.wordpress.com/33/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/emcompnut.wordpress.com/33/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/emcompnut.wordpress.com/33/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/emcompnut.wordpress.com/33/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/emcompnut.wordpress.com/33/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/emcompnut.wordpress.com/33/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/emcompnut.wordpress.com/33/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/emcompnut.wordpress.com/33/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/emcompnut.wordpress.com/33/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/emcompnut.wordpress.com/33/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=emcompnut.wordpress.com&amp;blog=64653&amp;post=33&amp;subd=emcompnut&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/presidents-day/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/c5b3d431c5b9394812ccdb40cf74c59b?s=96&#38;d=identicon&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">emcompnut</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Arizona Immigration Law &#8211; A Common Sense Approach</title>
		<link>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-arizona-immigration-law-a-common-sense-approach/</link>
		<comments>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-arizona-immigration-law-a-common-sense-approach/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Sep 2010 22:40:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ed Martinez</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Political insight]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/?p=24</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Arizona Immigration Law &#8211; A Common Sense Approach. Pretty catchy title, huh? Well, it was meant to be catchy, but not in the sense (or sensationalist way) that most would expect. This is actually going to be my shortest &#8211; and most politically charged &#8211; blog post ever. The bottom line: only those who [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=emcompnut.wordpress.com&amp;blog=64653&amp;post=24&amp;subd=emcompnut&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Arizona Immigration Law &#8211; A Common Sense Approach. Pretty catchy title, huh? Well, it was meant to be catchy, but not in the sense (or sensationalist way) that most would expect.</p>
<p>This is actually going to be my shortest &#8211; and most politically charged &#8211; blog post ever. The bottom line: only those who would prefer that illegal immigrants continue to break U.S. laws are opposed to the new Arizona immigration enforcement law &#8211; SB 1070.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s it! If you want to continue to allow ILLEGAL immigrants to BREAK U.S. immigration laws, then you&#8217;re out there booing and hissing against SB 1070.</p>
<p>Need I say more? Ok, I&#8217;ll address a few more things:</p>
<p>A. I, for one, am Hispanic, and if I go to Arizona, I will be sure to carry my driver&#8217;s license AND my U.S. Passport with me. End of story. If I get stopped, I will have sufficient documentation to prove I am a LEGAL U.S. citizen. Being stopped and asked does NOT bother me in the least.</p>
<p>B. Why is it that even our President and current administration chose to sue Arizona over a law that simply seeks to enforce federal laws that are on the books! Isn&#8217;t it the <span style="text-decoration:underline;"><strong>Constitutional</strong></span> duty of our Federal government to protect the citizenry?! I haven&#8217;t read anything in the <a title="U.S. Constitution" href="http://www.usconstitution.net/" target="_blank">Constitution</a> &#8211; other than the words, &#8220;to provide for the common welfare&#8221; &#8211; that could possibly indicate that social programs are ahead in importance to protecting U.S. citizens.</p>
<p>If we continue on this path of political appeasement to any ethnic group, then what is left for the majority of us who constitute the taxpaying backbone of our country?</p>
<p>How about the President and his administration, and the Congress begin to work on the things they are Constitutionally SUPPOSED to be working on. If they would put as much emphasis into working under the constitution as they do working AROUND it, the U.S. would be in a lot better shape economically, politically, and socially.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading!</p>
<p>Ed Martinez &#8211; Regular Guy</p>
<br />  <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/emcompnut.wordpress.com/24/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/emcompnut.wordpress.com/24/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/emcompnut.wordpress.com/24/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/emcompnut.wordpress.com/24/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/emcompnut.wordpress.com/24/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/emcompnut.wordpress.com/24/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/emcompnut.wordpress.com/24/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/emcompnut.wordpress.com/24/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/emcompnut.wordpress.com/24/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/emcompnut.wordpress.com/24/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/emcompnut.wordpress.com/24/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/emcompnut.wordpress.com/24/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/emcompnut.wordpress.com/24/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/emcompnut.wordpress.com/24/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=emcompnut.wordpress.com&amp;blog=64653&amp;post=24&amp;subd=emcompnut&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-arizona-immigration-law-a-common-sense-approach/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/c5b3d431c5b9394812ccdb40cf74c59b?s=96&#38;d=identicon&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">emcompnut</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Japanese Adventure</title>
		<link>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/a-japanese-adventure/</link>
		<comments>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/a-japanese-adventure/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 12 Jul 2009 20:58:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ed Martinez</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Human Interest]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/?p=10</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[To say that I am proud of Michelle would sound biased. So be it. I am also proud of the rest of her team - most of whom I have never met.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=emcompnut.wordpress.com&amp;blog=64653&amp;post=10&amp;subd=emcompnut&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>My</strong> most special niece, Michelle Merino, is in Japan. She is a leader in something I think called Campus Crusaders for Christ. Now, I know that whenever some Muslim group comes here and &#8220;shares&#8221; their faith, it&#8217;s big news. The media has NO trouble covering this type of &#8220;activity,&#8221; as they like to call it.</p>
<p>Now, a group of young American kids goes on a trip like this to Japan, armed mostly with their love for Christ, and their ability to bring hope and faith to others, and they are largely ignored &#8211; not even a bleep on the media blogosphere.</p>
<p>For the record, these &#8220;kids&#8221; who have traveled to Japan are NOT kids like when I was a kid &#8211; these young adults &#8211; Women and Men &#8211; are God fearing, responsible people, who have not only the conviction of their faith in Christ, but a love for others that drives them to accomplish things like this trip to Japan.</p>
<p>I can barely remember what I was doing when i was 21 &#8211; besides being a Sergeant in the Army at that time &#8211; that was even remotely as meaningful and with such eternal consequences as what my &#8220;little&#8221; Michelle is up to.</p>
<p>To say that I am proud of Michelle would sound biased. So be it. I am also proud of the rest of her team &#8211; most of whom I have never met.</p>
<div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_B_WSJpRBtkM/SktgFBM8KvI/AAAAAAAAAFg/x2soDgdrgQg/s1600-h/DSCN1625.JPG"><img style="display:block;text-align:center;cursor:pointer;width:320px;height:240px;margin:0 auto 10px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_B_WSJpRBtkM/SktgFBM8KvI/AAAAAAAAAFg/x2soDgdrgQg/s320/DSCN1625.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></div>
<p>These young people are the living embodiment of what makes our country great, and irrespective of anyone&#8217;s &#8220;religious&#8221; beliefs or social standing, this fact cannot be denied. Empirically, these young people are amazing &#8211; not just for doing what they do, but for doing so without taking any credit, and by knowingly giving all the glory and honor to our God, our Christ, Jesus. Amen? Amen!</p>
<p>Ed Martinez &#8211; Regular Guy</p>
<p>PS &#8211; Michelle&#8217;s Blogs can be found at: <a href="http://ajapanesesummer.blogspot.com"> A Japanese Summer</a></p>
<br />  <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/emcompnut.wordpress.com/10/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/emcompnut.wordpress.com/10/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/emcompnut.wordpress.com/10/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/emcompnut.wordpress.com/10/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/emcompnut.wordpress.com/10/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/emcompnut.wordpress.com/10/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/emcompnut.wordpress.com/10/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/emcompnut.wordpress.com/10/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/emcompnut.wordpress.com/10/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/emcompnut.wordpress.com/10/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/emcompnut.wordpress.com/10/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/emcompnut.wordpress.com/10/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/emcompnut.wordpress.com/10/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/emcompnut.wordpress.com/10/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=emcompnut.wordpress.com&amp;blog=64653&amp;post=10&amp;subd=emcompnut&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/a-japanese-adventure/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/c5b3d431c5b9394812ccdb40cf74c59b?s=96&#38;d=identicon&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">emcompnut</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_B_WSJpRBtkM/SktgFBM8KvI/AAAAAAAAAFg/x2soDgdrgQg/s320/DSCN1625.JPG" medium="image" />
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Virginia Tech &#8211; America Pulls Together in Times of Tragedy &#8211; Again!</title>
		<link>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2007/04/18/virginia-tech-america-pulls-together-in-times-of-tragedy-again/</link>
		<comments>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2007/04/18/virginia-tech-america-pulls-together-in-times-of-tragedy-again/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Apr 2007 19:54:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ed Martinez</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Human Interest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2007/04/18/virginia-tech-america-pulls-together-in-times-of-tragedy-again/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As horrendous as it was, the senseless deaths at Virginia Tech serve only to illustrate how much trouble we &#8211; as a society &#8211; are in. I can&#8217;t help but glare at my TV screen and notice (revisit) some of the same type of things that I saw right after 9/11 &#8211; for instance: Incessant [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=emcompnut.wordpress.com&amp;blog=64653&amp;post=9&amp;subd=emcompnut&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As horrendous as it was, the senseless deaths at Virginia Tech serve only to illustrate how much trouble we &#8211; as a society &#8211; are in. I can&#8217;t help but glare at my TV screen and notice (revisit) some of the same type of things that I saw right after 9/11 &#8211; for instance:</p>
<ul>
<li>Incessant news coverage &#8211; they just cannot stop talking about the &#8220;Massacre at Virginia Tech&#8221;</li>
<li>Finger pointing and blame &#8211; someone has to be blamed. No, not the dead guy, we can&#8217;t get anything from him, it has to be someone who&#8217;s alive and we can ream!</li>
<li>The pulling together of our society (globally) &#8211; just as the world came together in support of the U.S. right after 9/11, so have many diverse peoples and cultures both in the U.S. and abroad come together with VT in their grief and time of need</li>
</ul>
<p>So, what is wrong with all or any of the above, you ask? Well, it&#8217;s not that there&#8217;s anything wrong &#8211; it&#8217;s just that we shouldn&#8217;t have to face a crisis or a dilemma of this magnitude in order for us as a nation &#8211; and the rest of the world as members in good standing of the global communiy &#8211; to come together in such a unified manner.</p>
<p>Of course, for every unification, there&#8217;s always something or someone who&#8217;s willing to try to push a wedge and cause separation. Take, for example, Rosie O&#8217;Donnell. Now, I used to be a fan of hers &#8211; up until she railroaded Tom Selleck on her now defunct talk show. After that, her desire to become an activist overwhelmed my acknowledgement of whatever little talent she had in the first place.</p>
<p>When Ms. O&#8217;Donnell starts to banter about gun control &#8211; one of her biggest pet peaves &#8211; I wonder just how much people really know about the subject. The statistics, (which are not readily available nor are they often published by the mainstream media) show that in those states where citizens are allowed to carry weapons (i.e.; Texas and Alaska), crime is much lower &#8211; especially crimes where a handgun or rifle is used &#8211; than in states such as California. When you look, unscientifically speaking, at the disparity of Washington, D.C. vs. Austin, Texas, you begin to understand why gun control policies as we know them don&#8217;t work.</p>
<p>I hate to have to use VT as an example, but for all the best intentions of the College&#8217;s policies with regards to gun control &#8211; specifically, the ban on campus irrespective of the person&#8217;s capacity, license status, or position &#8211; only served to help whom? The shooter and only the shooter, that&#8217;s who! Think about it people &#8211; if YOU are a potential SHOOTER, and you KNOW for a fact that a college campus is a GUN FREE zone, then you also can deduce that if you show up with a gun, there will be NO ONE to STOP you, will there?</p>
<p>The old saying is more true than ever &#8211; in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. Same holds true for the guy (or gal &#8211; let&#8217;s give equal rights here) who shows up with a weapon in an area where weapons are prohibited. Gun control advocates claim that the VT shooter (I refuse to use his name here &#8211; he won&#8217;t get any more fame or infamy from me) purchased his handguns legally. Be that as it may, there are thousands of people who purchase handguns legally on a daily basis, and they do NOT go out on a shooting spree. If the VT shooter would not have been able to purchase his handguns legally, does anyone really think that would have stopped or deterred him if this was his definiteness of purpose?</p>
<p>Come on, let&#8217;s face it, when strong anti-gun laws are enacted, the only people who obey and respect these laws are law-abiding citizens &#8211; not some guy who ultimately plans to shoot his brains out. He&#8217;s not going to have any fear or worries about reprisals under the current gun control laws, is he?</p>
<p>So, there you have it &#8211; another rash of senseless deaths. So many young &#8211; and probably gifted/talented &#8211; individuals, gunned down at the start of their lives. Would it have been any less painful if the killer had used a machete? How about a club? I can see it now &#8211; let&#8217;s ban clubs and machetes because they kill &#8211; not the people wielding the club or machete, oh no, it&#8217;s the actual club or machete that did the killing. I can also picture the NCMA fighting for our constitutional rights &#8211; that&#8217;s the National Club and Machete Association.</p>
<p>I would love to hear from people throughout the country to find out what their local statistics are vs. what type of gun control laws they have to live with. It is sad that we have to experience this situation, and I certainly understand why some people think that gun control would be a good thing &#8211; we all want to make it as difficult as possible for killers to obtain weapons, but unfortunately, greed in our society always seems to trump magnanimity toward the greater good.</p>
<p>As long as there are people, sadly, there will always be killers. If our government were to make all weapons illegal, then the killers would eventually be the only ones left with any.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading!</p>
<p>Ed Martinez &#8211; Regular Guy</p>
<br /><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/categories/emcompnut.wordpress.com/9/" /> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/tags/emcompnut.wordpress.com/9/" /> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/emcompnut.wordpress.com/9/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/emcompnut.wordpress.com/9/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/emcompnut.wordpress.com/9/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/emcompnut.wordpress.com/9/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/emcompnut.wordpress.com/9/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/emcompnut.wordpress.com/9/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/emcompnut.wordpress.com/9/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/emcompnut.wordpress.com/9/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/emcompnut.wordpress.com/9/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/emcompnut.wordpress.com/9/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/emcompnut.wordpress.com/9/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/emcompnut.wordpress.com/9/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/emcompnut.wordpress.com/9/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/emcompnut.wordpress.com/9/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=emcompnut.wordpress.com&amp;blog=64653&amp;post=9&amp;subd=emcompnut&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2007/04/18/virginia-tech-america-pulls-together-in-times-of-tragedy-again/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/c5b3d431c5b9394812ccdb40cf74c59b?s=96&#38;d=identicon&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">emcompnut</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>IMUS In the Mourning</title>
		<link>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2007/04/16/imus-in-the-mourning/</link>
		<comments>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2007/04/16/imus-in-the-mourning/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Apr 2007 16:42:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ed Martinez</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Social and Politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2007/04/16/imus-in-the-mourning/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Recently, I wrote the following letter to CBS: &#8220;I cannot believe that the &#8220;powers&#8221; at CBS actually fired Imus!!!!!!!!! I personally don&#8217;t care for any of the shock jocks, and I am a conservative &#8211; not a liberal, but I find this action by CBS to be utterly deplorable. Not because I support Imus inasmuch [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=emcompnut.wordpress.com&amp;blog=64653&amp;post=8&amp;subd=emcompnut&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Recently, I wrote the following letter to CBS:</p>
<p style="margin-left:72pt;text-align:justify;"><em>&#8220;I cannot believe that the &#8220;powers&#8221; at CBS actually fired Imus!!!!!!!!!<br />
</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:72pt;text-align:justify;"><em>I personally don&#8217;t care for any of the shock jocks, and I am a conservative &#8211; not a liberal, but I find this action by CBS to be utterly deplorable. Not because I support Imus inasmuch as I cannot believe that CBS caved into the likes of BLACK racists like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, and allowed a much more powerful network like CBS to become the victim of a shakedown! So what next?! Anything these idiots want, who by the way claim leadership among the black community that has NOT been sanctioned by that very community, and we&#8217;re all supposed to just accept that these &#8220;bastions&#8221; of society will henceforth dictate what the rest of us receive from our media. I think NOT! Unless CBS reverses its decision, I will personally begin a grass-roots campaign to ensure that your audiences across-the-board (TV, Radio, etc&#8230;) diminish as much as you&#8217;ve diminished the rest of us by the credibility you&#8217;ve given those two absconders of American truth.&#8221;<br />
</em></p>
<p>Now, I do not like Don Imus, nor do I particularly care for any form or brand of sensationalistic shock jocks, i.e.; Howard Stern. I do however, have to choose between the lesser of two evils, and in this case it is extraordinarily obvious that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson&#8217;s shakedown of CBS and the potential credibility they now seem to have garnered is by far the greater of the evils in this situation.</p>
<p>I cannot reconcile the action by CBS with what I hold to be dear to me – we cannot allow a couple of two-bit, hypocritical, asinine, spotlight coveters determine what we in America can and cannot say over our airwaves. Jackson and Sharpton routinely shake down anyone that doesn&#8217;t conform to the way they believe things ought to be – they are not interested in doing anything that is right or proper. Case in point: when Imus went on the Sharpton show to apologize (stupidly, I might add – look where it got him) – Sharpton simply would not allow Imus to apologize. In my experience, typically, when someone has been <span style="text-decoration:underline;">truthfully</span> offended, all the offended individual wants is a sincere apology. Who are Jesse Jackson and/or Al Sharpton (I REFUSE to refer to either of these black bigots as &#8220;Reverend&#8221;) to dictate if Imus was sincere or otherwise? If either Sharpton or Jackson were a true leader within the black community, the first thing that either of them would have asked of Imus is that he contact the basketball team members directly and make his apology to them.</p>
<p>Again, though, this was not about any apologies, was it? It was about a couple of black bigots who wanted to flex their political (and financial) muscle. The next thing that is going to happen is that everyone from CBS to the former sponsors of the Imus show – to even Imus himself – will receive demands from Jackson, Sharpton, or both, for &#8220;donations&#8221; to help establish some &#8220;awareness&#8221; program/seminar, etc…call it whatever you want. Essentially, it will come down to money – another well-orchestrated shakedown by Jackson and Sharpton.</p>
<p>Since our media fights so heatedly for our first amendment rights, I have difficulty with this issue. Constitutionally speaking, the first amendment protects us from <span style="text-decoration:underline;">government</span> censorship. This is not an implicit definition – this is a literal one. However, when our mainstream media has gone on the offense in the past to protect &#8220;our&#8221; first amendment rights, it hasn&#8217;t really been against any form of government per se. The prowls have been waged against other purveyors of their own brand of truth that eschew rhetoric unacceptable to our mainstream &#8220;defenders.&#8221;</p>
<p>From what I can tell, and If I understand things correctly, the &#8220;defenders of our&#8221; constitutional first amendment rights are only empowered to do so when the Dynamic Duo of Donations (Jackson &amp; Sharpton – the &#8220;DDD&#8221;) are NOT involved. If the DDD are involved, you can forget about any mainstream media protection for &#8220;our&#8221; rights.</p>
<p>The reality is that the first amendment does not apply to our modern day radio broadcasts. People who spit out whatever they want to talk about receive no more or no less protection. Don Imus should not have received any more protection than anyone else on the airwaves – but he also should not have received any less. What Mr. Imus thought was going to be a quick-witted funny racial joke backfired. I don&#8217;t know that it was deplorable in and of itself because so many &#8220;mainstream&#8221; Hip-Hop/Rap artists use far worse derogatory terms – and you can believe that not only did the young women from the Rutgers team hear those so-called lyrics, but also many young boys and girls whose parents apparently have no objection with their children&#8217;s choice of &#8220;music.&#8221; No, Imus&#8217; sin – and only sin – was being white and saying something that is pretty exclusive to the &#8220;gangstas&#8221; and their environment. Who the hell does he think he is anyway, a black man?!</p>
<p>How long is the environment we live in where influential or well-connected black people can say and do pretty much whatever they want in the public forum, but similarly influential whites cannot. Bear in mind that for all their influence and good connections, Sharpton and Jackson have done ZERO – NADA – for their black &#8220;constituents&#8221; or for any poor black community that I know of. If you do, or if you have been positively influenced (I mean tangibly, not &#8220;spiritually&#8221;) by either or both of these men, then please post a comment. I would love to hear. Now, one last thought before I&#8217;m done: I want everyone to understand that I am NOT a white man – I am Hispanic, and a minority. I do not support any of the racist actions that have ever been taken against black people at the hand of white people. I also, however, will NOT support reverse discrimination as a form of payback, nor do I endorse in any way the racism that is evident in many parts of our country today – racism that emanates from blacks towards everyone else, including Whites, Hispanics, Asians, and even those blacks who aren&#8217;t &#8220;black enough&#8221; to be &#8220;real&#8221; blacks. For all the talk of tolerance that I have heard Sharpton and Jackson espouse over the years, the swift trial and execution of Imus&#8217; career serves to clearly demonstrate their &#8220;tolerance&#8221; stand.</p>
<p>Thank you for reading!</p>
<p>Ed Martinez – Regular Guy</p>
<br /><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/categories/emcompnut.wordpress.com/8/" /> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/tags/emcompnut.wordpress.com/8/" /> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/emcompnut.wordpress.com/8/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/emcompnut.wordpress.com/8/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/emcompnut.wordpress.com/8/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/emcompnut.wordpress.com/8/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/emcompnut.wordpress.com/8/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/emcompnut.wordpress.com/8/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/emcompnut.wordpress.com/8/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/emcompnut.wordpress.com/8/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/emcompnut.wordpress.com/8/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/emcompnut.wordpress.com/8/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/emcompnut.wordpress.com/8/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/emcompnut.wordpress.com/8/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/emcompnut.wordpress.com/8/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/emcompnut.wordpress.com/8/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=emcompnut.wordpress.com&amp;blog=64653&amp;post=8&amp;subd=emcompnut&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2007/04/16/imus-in-the-mourning/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/c5b3d431c5b9394812ccdb40cf74c59b?s=96&#38;d=identicon&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">emcompnut</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Shakespearean State of Mind &#8211; Regarding our Ports</title>
		<link>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2006/02/24/a-shakespearean-state-of-mind-regarding-our-ports/</link>
		<comments>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2006/02/24/a-shakespearean-state-of-mind-regarding-our-ports/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Feb 2006 19:53:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ed Martinez</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Political insight]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2006/02/24/a-shakespearean-state-of-mind-regarding-our-ports/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the best Shakespeare plays in my opinion is Much A Do About Nothing &#8211; the Bard really outdoes himself showing us that we often (REALLY, quite often) make a mountain out of a molehill. Why am I writing about William Shakespeare and where is the leading? The now infamous port takeover deal, of [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=emcompnut.wordpress.com&amp;blog=64653&amp;post=6&amp;subd=emcompnut&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One of the best Shakespeare plays in my opinion is Much A Do About Nothing &#8211; the Bard really outdoes himself showing us that we often (REALLY, quite often) make a mountain out of a molehill. Why am I writing about William Shakespeare and where is the leading? The now infamous port takeover deal, of course.</p>
<p>Look, I&#8217;m just an average guy, I don&#8217;t have a ton of name-brand degrees, and I have to work hard just like everyone else to bring home a paycheck so we can pay our bills and eat &#8211; never mind the obscene cost of fuel. I&#8217;m no expert in geopolitics, but I&#8217;ve read a lot in my day, and I spend quite a bit of my free time analyzing our country. Why, you ask, does a &#8220;regular guy&#8221; spend so much time analyzing the state of his country? Because like most of you, I&#8217;m tired of getting hosed at the pump, and I&#8217;m double-checking on my elected officials &#8211; so when the next election comes along &#8211; be it local, state, or national &#8211; I will be armed and ready to make an informed electoral decision.</p>
<p>Now, that said, the reality of what I&#8217;m confronted with during my analysis is a far cry from what I originally believed to be true. When I first heard about Dubai taking over the East coast ports, my initial reaction was astonishment. I was flabbergasted that our administration would secretively try to pass this deal through &#8211; to a bunch of potential terrorists! Again, that was my first reaction.</p>
<p>Let me tell you that I started to do my research so that I could write a scathing blog again the current administration &#8211; I was going to make sure that everyone who reads this blog knew to pass along what a bunch of morons are running our country.</p>
<p>Well, after extensive research on the subject (by today&#8217;s standards, that about 4-5 hours on the Web, and another 2-3 hours in the library), I must confess that I am a much more regular guy than I thought. I was completely wrong about the situation, and now realize that I bought into what the mainstream media was saying &#8211; hook, line, and sinker. Boy, do I feel like a dunce. Why, you may ask, did I have such a 360 degrees change of heart?</p>
<p>Ok, here&#8217;s a small crash course on geopolitics. First, the ports have already been contracted &#8211; bear in mind that the word &#8220;contracted&#8221; is extremely key to this argument, which is something the media has not acknowledged &#8211; to a British concern, Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation that entered the U.S. ports market in 1994 in both California and Nevada. The U.A.E. government owns two affiliated companies: DCI (Dubai Customs International), and DPA (Dubai Ports Authority), with DPA becoming DP World upon the completion of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation acquisition.</p>
<p>So, the same British company that&#8217;s been operating the ports on the East coast will continue to run operations EXACTLY as before. Ok, so you may wonder what the benefit is for America to have any foreign corporations running sensitive operations such as our ports &#8211; I wondered too. Here&#8217;s what I found out: of course, the U.K. is a huge American ally &#8211; it&#8217;s almost inconceivable that we fought them so hard for our independence because they are one of our staunchest &#8211; if not the most &#8211; of our allies. The British have proven themselves to be our Brethren in the most difficult of times for over 100 years of our modern history and even beyond that.</p>
<p>Ok, so we&#8217;ve established that providing a global deal to a British company is not a bad thing because they are in our camp. So, what about the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.)? Well, for one thing, they&#8217;ve been allies of the administration dating way back since the days of the Iran Hostages. They&#8217;ve been extraordinarily cooperative with the U.S. Military for decades, and they even contributed &#8211; not pledged &#8211; but actually transferred to our government $100 Million to aid with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. We actually got that money from them, and this was way before they even made the offer to buy Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation.</p>
<p>Ok, so what about the comments that the U.A.E. might have ties with 9/11 terrorists and even Osama Bin Laden himself? Well, there&#8217;s no denying that Dubai, being a huge banking center in the Middle East, is going to have a tremendous number of transactions that occur from many different individuals originating from any number of countries. Prior to 9/11, it&#8217;s not only conceivable, but expected that Al-Qaeda and any number of dubious organizations could have had ties with the banking system in Dubai &#8211; they hadn&#8217;t done anything so egregious yet as to put a red flag out there for anyone to notice.</p>
<p>We know and acknowledge that the U.A.E. doesn’t allow the people in their country to change or choose their government or leaders, nor do they allow freedom of speech or of the press. But, come on, we can’t expect the entire world to be the U.S., can we? I don’t particularly cherish their track record on human rights, but at the same time, they’re not trying to impose their Emirate ways on us either – so, we push.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s important to note that after 9/11, no other country in the Middle East with the exception of Israel, has been more helpful to the efforts of the war on terror than the U.A.E. &#8211; no messing around &#8211; these guys have gone all out to ensure that their relationship with the U.S. remains solid, and they have been just that, a SOLID Middle East ally. So I suppose my question goes back to what is the benefit to America for a company like DP World to manage our port OPERATIONS &#8211; not SECURITY &#8211; just OPERTATIONS?</p>
<p>Geopolitically speaking, I now firmly believe that there are only two classes of individuals that would oppose the deal:</p>
<p>1. Those who are ignorant of the facts (or refuse to accept them), or</p>
<p>2. Those who are diametrically opposed politically to the current administration and have attempted to seize this opportunity to distract us from their political shortcomings, but trying to lay blame on our current administration for a security threat that is non-existent.</p>
<p>As I mentioned above, I am no expert, but I certainly know that if you don&#8217;t take care of your friends, you won&#8217;t have friends for long.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading!</p>
<p>Ed Martinez &#8211; Regular Guy</p>
<p>
<br /><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/categories/emcompnut.wordpress.com/6/" /> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/tags/emcompnut.wordpress.com/6/" /> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/emcompnut.wordpress.com/6/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/emcompnut.wordpress.com/6/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/emcompnut.wordpress.com/6/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/emcompnut.wordpress.com/6/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/emcompnut.wordpress.com/6/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/emcompnut.wordpress.com/6/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/emcompnut.wordpress.com/6/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/emcompnut.wordpress.com/6/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/emcompnut.wordpress.com/6/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/emcompnut.wordpress.com/6/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/emcompnut.wordpress.com/6/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/emcompnut.wordpress.com/6/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/emcompnut.wordpress.com/6/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/emcompnut.wordpress.com/6/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=emcompnut.wordpress.com&amp;blog=64653&amp;post=6&amp;subd=emcompnut&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2006/02/24/a-shakespearean-state-of-mind-regarding-our-ports/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/c5b3d431c5b9394812ccdb40cf74c59b?s=96&#38;d=identicon&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">emcompnut</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Political Entertainment &#8211; Why?</title>
		<link>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2006/02/15/political-entertainment-why/</link>
		<comments>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2006/02/15/political-entertainment-why/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 Feb 2006 19:52:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ed Martinez</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Social and Politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2006/02/15/political-entertainment-why/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I often wonder who is behind the many religious and political statements that many in the entertainment world feel compelled to bestow upon the rest of us. Just what gives many of these individuals the right to proselytize us on their specific views? For me, watching a TV show, or going to a movie that [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=emcompnut.wordpress.com&amp;blog=64653&amp;post=5&amp;subd=emcompnut&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I often wonder who is behind the many religious and political statements that many in the entertainment world feel compelled to bestow upon the rest of us. Just what gives many of these individuals the right to proselytize us on their specific views?</p>
<p>For me, watching a TV show, or going to a movie that has no agenda is a rare pleasure. Once in a while you get one, but these are getting farther and fewer in between. My biggest pet peeve, though, is when aTV show starts out one way, then makes a detour toward another direction – not sharply, mind you, but very subtly.</p>
<p>One such show is Boston Legal, a very well written, witty albeit not entirely credible legal dramedy, with a very good ensemble cast. This show started out as a satirical legal comedy-drama, a spin-off from another legal series that also began one way and ended up in another direction. The most appealing aspect of Boston Legal was its ability to engage us in day-to-day human nuances, and the offbeat nature of some of its key protagonists.</p>
<p>With its sexual overtones slowly, but surely diminishing – although not completely gone – the show’s most overt directional change has been the addition of another high-dollar cast member known for her political stance, which I can only describe as apathetic to our current government’s administration. Needless to say, the increasing amount of entendres slung at our present government are nothing new, but I don’t usually expect to get these from a comedy-drama that I tune to in order to <u>forget</u> today’s current affairs. When I am ready for that, I will tune to the news, thank you very much.</p>
<p>Now, I’m not suggesting that in the spirit of realism, some political jabs – especially in a legal firm – aren’t in order. But let’s face it, the nature of Hollywood-produced entertainment almost dictates that some unwritten rule on bashing someone politically, is a prerequisite to getting your show off the ground. Take for example, that the only conservatives being portrayed on the show are one who is for all intents and purposes “Mad,” or journeying ever-so-slowly into the oblivion that is Alzheimer’s Disease. The other is an overblown boy scout who can’t seem to fit into the normal professional way of doing things – even though he is a war veteran, and a good-looking straight guy who for some reason can’t get a date. In both cases, these two characters have been shown to behave in radical manner and sometimes engage in extreme situations and behaviors to which most normal indivduals simply do not allow themselves to be drawn.<br />
Again, I’m not opposed to creative license in any of the above areas, but it seems to me that whenever Hollywood is opposed to a specific genre or category of individuals, they are usually portrayed in a less than flattering manner on shows and movies. Let me qualify that by using the following example: Christians are often portrayed as lunatics or people who are so hypocritical, it has got to be impossible to follow their religious beliefs for fear that we may become just like them. I’ve yet to see a conservative or republican portrayed as a decent, hard-working man or woman, instead of a member of the far right-wing conspiracy.</p>
<p>Yes, we all form stereotypes as we go through life, but it seems to me that the present generation is getting way more help on this than is needed. When I was growing up, the only commentaries on TV were during the news hour or when a special commentator came on to address a specific issue of the day. When I went to the movies, the only agenda being promoted was that we needed to get the bad guys, and we had to end up with the girl.</p>
<p>Now, it’s a free-for-all, and I don’t know that this is necessarily the wisest use of the power that is the media.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading!</p>
<p>Ed Martinez – Regular Guy</p>
<br /><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/categories/emcompnut.wordpress.com/5/" /> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/tags/emcompnut.wordpress.com/5/" /> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/emcompnut.wordpress.com/5/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/emcompnut.wordpress.com/5/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/emcompnut.wordpress.com/5/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/emcompnut.wordpress.com/5/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/emcompnut.wordpress.com/5/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/emcompnut.wordpress.com/5/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/emcompnut.wordpress.com/5/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/emcompnut.wordpress.com/5/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/emcompnut.wordpress.com/5/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/emcompnut.wordpress.com/5/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/emcompnut.wordpress.com/5/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/emcompnut.wordpress.com/5/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/emcompnut.wordpress.com/5/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/emcompnut.wordpress.com/5/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=emcompnut.wordpress.com&amp;blog=64653&amp;post=5&amp;subd=emcompnut&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2006/02/15/political-entertainment-why/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/c5b3d431c5b9394812ccdb40cf74c59b?s=96&#38;d=identicon&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">emcompnut</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why do we Verbally Flog Nominees?</title>
		<link>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2006/01/12/why-do-we-verbally-flog-nominees/</link>
		<comments>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2006/01/12/why-do-we-verbally-flog-nominees/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Jan 2006 17:28:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ed Martinez</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Social and Politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2006/01/12/why-do-we-verbally-flog-nominees/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When Judge Samuel Alito was nominated to the highest court of the land, the U.S. Supreme Court, he joined a unique and solitary list &#8211; Republican appointed or nominated judges/justices that never seem to &#8220;breeze&#8221; through a confirmation hearing. The closest we&#8217;ve come to breezing through a Senate confirmation hearing in recent memory was that [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=emcompnut.wordpress.com&amp;blog=64653&amp;post=4&amp;subd=emcompnut&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>When Judge Samuel Alito was nominated to the highest court of the land, the U.S. Supreme Court, he joined a unique and solitary list &#8211; Republican appointed or nominated judges/justices that never seem to &#8220;breeze&#8221; through a confirmation hearing. The closest we&#8217;ve come to breezing through a Senate confirmation hearing in recent memory was that of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Even so, the questions asked by the Senators generally amount to pre-rulings on their pet peeves by the nominees.</p>
<p>This all started back with Judge Robert Bork, and the travesty that was his confirmation hearing. It is noteworthy, though, that Democratic Presidential nominees, such as Ruth Bader Ginsberg, did not have to go through the amount or level of scrutiny of Republican Presidential nominees do. Is it just me who&#8217;s noticed this, or does everyone else simply ignore this fact?</p>
<p>My simple-minded question is, well, simply this: why do partisan politics have to invade every facet of not just our daily lives, but with Supreme Court nominees, our future and the future of our children and their children? When will the men and women &#8211; black, hispanic, or white &#8211; that are nominated to our highest court be treated with the respect and dignity to which their nomination ought to entitle them?</p>
<p>I think I know the answer to the questions above, but let&#8217;s be real here. There is a growing battle between two very distinct nations within one physical boundary of land known as the U.S.A. &#8211; the two factions are Right-Wing and Left-Wing. The Right-Wing has just about all of the conservatives, and the religious groups in their camp, while the Left-Wing has all of the secular humanists and a lot of media in theirs. Truth be told, this battle for the hearts and minds of our future generations (and the money they will be earning) has forgotten one very large but sleeping segment of our country: the centrists (otherwise known as libertarians).</p>
<p>I really think it would be wise for our politicians to wake up and stop trying to put people in positions of lifetime authority just because it suits the political agenda of the day. How about putting what is good for the MAJORITY of the country at the top of the list for a change? Besides, some nominees have turned out to be the opposite of what they were nominated for. I say, let an individual be confirmed or turned down on the basis of what they are as an individual and their legal understanding of how our Constitution ought to be interpreted &#8211; or, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said so eloquently, &#8220;by the content of their character.&#8221;</p>
<p>Thanks for reading!</p>
<p>Ed Martinez &#8211; Regular Guy</p>
<br /><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/categories/emcompnut.wordpress.com/4/" /> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/tags/emcompnut.wordpress.com/4/" /> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/emcompnut.wordpress.com/4/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/emcompnut.wordpress.com/4/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/emcompnut.wordpress.com/4/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/emcompnut.wordpress.com/4/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/emcompnut.wordpress.com/4/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/emcompnut.wordpress.com/4/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/emcompnut.wordpress.com/4/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/emcompnut.wordpress.com/4/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/emcompnut.wordpress.com/4/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/emcompnut.wordpress.com/4/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/emcompnut.wordpress.com/4/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/emcompnut.wordpress.com/4/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/emcompnut.wordpress.com/4/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/emcompnut.wordpress.com/4/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=emcompnut.wordpress.com&amp;blog=64653&amp;post=4&amp;subd=emcompnut&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2006/01/12/why-do-we-verbally-flog-nominees/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/c5b3d431c5b9394812ccdb40cf74c59b?s=96&#38;d=identicon&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">emcompnut</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Are We Fed Up with Political Correctness Yet?</title>
		<link>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2006/01/10/are-we-fed-up-with-political-correctness-yet/</link>
		<comments>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2006/01/10/are-we-fed-up-with-political-correctness-yet/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Jan 2006 23:51:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ed Martinez</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Social and Politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2006/01/10/are-we-fed-up-with-political-correctness-yet/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Some of you who are reading this know me – my name is Ed Martinez and I am just an average person – probably like most of you reading this, and some of you don’t know me. If, however, you agree with what I’ve written below, will you please pass this on? I think it [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=emcompnut.wordpress.com&amp;blog=64653&amp;post=3&amp;subd=emcompnut&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Some of you who are reading this know me – my name is Ed Martinez and I am just an average person – probably like most of you reading this, and some of you don’t know me. If, however, you agree with what I’ve written below, will you please pass this on? I think it is high time that we started using the power of email and/or BLOGS to “round up the troops” if you will, instead of just using it to promote garbage like pornography, celebrity gossip, or the latest Internet Folklore.</p>
<p>One example of what I am referring to is the unannounced yet very real war by the liberal elite (who happen to control the so-called mainstream media) being waged on Christmas and all values with a Judeo-Christian heritage. I am not just referring to here in the United States but world-wide.</p>
<p>Further examples are the growing trend to “mainstreamify” homosexuality, and the ongoing movement to remove God from every facet of life.</p>
<p>Here in America we have always prided ourselves with living and letting live – “keep quiet and mind your own business.” This seemingly harmless and unobtrusive behavior has led to some unexpected results:</p>
<ol>
<li>Child molestations and the proliferation of child predators</li>
<li>Proliferation of aberrant behavior and the abrogation traditional family values</li>
<li>Legislation by the judiciary</li>
<li>De-sensitizing of our collective social moral compass</li>
</ol>
<p>A generation ago, Christmas was not only acceptable, but eagerly awaited by all as a celebration of many things. The progressive seculars fought long and hard to commercialize Christmas, thus minimizing the true spiritual foundation of this beloved holiday. This, however, is insufficient – now Christmas is supposedly “offensive” to a segment of the population.</p>
<p>Let us bear in mind that none of these so-called political correctness watchdogs have cared to address the fact that many more people in this world are truly OFFENDED by the forced promulgation of homosexuality that those who claim to be offended by Christmas or by prayer in school – including the teaching of creationism/intelligent design.</p>
<p>Just take a look at any PG-13 movie or more than half of the so-called family TV shows – which all attempt to depict homosexuality as a normal part of life. I am not saying that homosexuals should not be acknowledged or paid attention to – of course they do – they need help. Years ago they were ridiculed and looked down upon, which I totally disagree with. Jesus Christ didn’t look down upon sinners – He embraced them; so should we all who believe in following Christ and living a godly life.</p>
<p>Even homosexuals unwittingly convicted themselves when they proclaimed some years back that they were “born this way” – a mantra that is loosely based on unproven scientific research. They went on to exclaim “why would I want to be this way instead of being normal?” Now, if that isn’t an indictment in their own words expressing what we’ve always known to be true – that homosexuality is NOT normal – then what is?</p>
<p>Speaking of unproven science taken as fact, then what is Darwin’s Theory of Evolution? Some school districts are court ordered to not use the words “Evolution is not fact” in their facilities – even though DARWIN’S RESEARCH IS STILL FORMALLY REFERRED TO IN THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY AS A THEORY – NOT A FACT!!!</p>
<p>So, those of us who are offended by other so-called holidays can’t register our offense; nor can we complain about the bombardment of the homosexual assault on our senses and sense of right and wrong – and lastly, we cannot have a voice in teaching our children as a society, any alternative to the progressive-secular agenda, which is to say, teach about God, lest we incur the ire of those elitists in power.</p>
<p>I just want to point out that the elitists who are making all of the rules and shoving all of this down our collective throats do not even come close to reflecting the large-scale demographics they so abruptly affect with every decision in their favor. They have contempt for our President because he is not an elitist in their camp; they show disdain for him because he is supposedly circumventing the courts while eavesdropping on those who would kill innocent people without a second thought. I suppose their overuse of the courts for the furthering of their unscrupulous purposes have made them confident that whenever those of us who believe in righteousness (like our President) try to go through the courts, we will certainly meet with defeat – thus, they prefer that we don’t circumvent their most powerful venue.</p>
<p>Look, I’m not a scholar, nor am I a politician. I am an everyday working stiff who is just getting tired of having to work as hard as I do to pay taxes that all of these special interest groups keep snatching up to shove something I don’t believe in down my throat. As I recall it, we elected the President to his second term by the largest majority ever – this must obviously mean that we want what HE stands for and NOT what a liberal like John Kerry believes in.</p>
<p>When do we “little people” get to have what we voted for? I would just be happy for now to NOT have my grandchildren subjected to an onslaught of homosexuality, or the reneging of our right to have God as part of our daily lives enforced by the courts, and to just be able to celebrate a good old-fashioned Christmas – nativity scenes and all. They are taking as much of our money as they can get their hands on; I say that’s enough – they can’t have the next generation’s moral pulse too. Let’s get together and tell them that we’re not taking this anymore. Write back to me if you agree – and if you disagree with me I am also willing to listen to you – something the progressive-liberals would never dream of doing under any circumstance.</p>
<p>Thank you for reading !</p>
<p>Ed Martinez – Regular Guy</p>
<br /><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/categories/emcompnut.wordpress.com/3/" /> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/tags/emcompnut.wordpress.com/3/" /> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/emcompnut.wordpress.com/3/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/emcompnut.wordpress.com/3/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/emcompnut.wordpress.com/3/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/emcompnut.wordpress.com/3/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/emcompnut.wordpress.com/3/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/emcompnut.wordpress.com/3/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/emcompnut.wordpress.com/3/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/emcompnut.wordpress.com/3/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/emcompnut.wordpress.com/3/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/emcompnut.wordpress.com/3/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/emcompnut.wordpress.com/3/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/emcompnut.wordpress.com/3/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/emcompnut.wordpress.com/3/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/emcompnut.wordpress.com/3/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=emcompnut.wordpress.com&amp;blog=64653&amp;post=3&amp;subd=emcompnut&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://emcompnut.wordpress.com/2006/01/10/are-we-fed-up-with-political-correctness-yet/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/c5b3d431c5b9394812ccdb40cf74c59b?s=96&#38;d=identicon&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">emcompnut</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
