President Says Law Doesn't Matter, For Now

In another astonishing move, President Obama has mandated that employers with under 100 employees (actually, a very large amount of businesses) won't have to provide health insurance until 2016, even though the law says otherwise.  Hence the fines, cancelled policies, and political blow back are saved for another day.

It just so happens that the day happens to be after the midterm elections.  Just a coincidence, certainly...

A couple of thoughts on this:

• We're now in dangerous territory, where the executive branch can mandate law, based solely on how they and they alone choose to enforce it.  The precedent that this sets is downright frightening
• Republicans could sue the administration to actually honor the law that they'd passed in attempt to hold the President in check.  Unfortunately, the cost of doing so would be to have the magnitude of Obamacare hitting the economy in all of its girth, and the risks to our fragile economic existence are just too high to do so.

One thing we know is that political winds change.  And when they do start blowing to the backs of conservatives, the pathway Obama has set for ignoring the law and making things up as he goes along will be something that will eventually make liberals howl.

But right now, nobody cares.  All that matters is keeping as much Democratic power through the next election as possible.  So the liberal media machine turns its head, looking so forward to consuming their political sausage, but content as hell of ignoring how it is made.

Delta Airlines 80's In-Flight Safety Video

As one that travels frequently on Delta (35,000+ miles per year), I've seen a lot of their pre-fight safety videos.  In fact, it sometimes gets to the point where I feel I could perform the video myself from memory.

So imagine my surprise to recently see this 80's version of their safety video.

While there are some inside jokes that will only resonate with those that have seen their standard video countless times before, there is still ample entertainment for all that lived through the 80's are are still here to tell the tale:

Favorite Meal

I was recently asked what was my favorite meal.

How does one answer that?  As one that loves food, there are just too many choices.  Too many tastes, combinations, and experiences from which to choose.  It's kind of like being asked what your favorite song is - there is far too much choice.  It's imminently easier to answer something like "What's your favorite Beatles song?"  (It's A Day in the Life, for those of you scoring at home).

But, in thinking about it, I think I came up with the answer of what is my favorite meal:  It is any meal, lovingly prepared and accompanied with ample time, fine drink, and people that I love.  Give me that situation, serve me hot dog soup, and color me the happiest man alive.  

That's easily my favorite meal.

If Conference Calls Were In Person

I do about a half dozen of these every week, and this video nails perfectly what happens.  I'm not sure they presented an example that I haven't encountered.

And the barking dog happens WAY too frequently...

Coke's Super Bowl Ad - Awesome or Awful?

When I first saw the controversial Coke ad during the Super Bowl, my first thought was "This is really PC for Coke," as Coke is a brand that I consider more "conservative," especially when compared to its rival Pepsi (remember how Pepsi leveraged Obama's election in this campaign?)  So as the commercial progressed, I became interested in how they'd treat the "God shed His grace on thee," part.  Would they actually say, "God?"  If they did, would it be sung in a language that was recognizable?

See what happens:


"OK," I thought, "Coke put themselves out there with that one.  Good for them."

As the video continued, I got into the message.  Our strength as a nation has always been the melting pot, and indeed, given demographics, our continued strength will be to continue to grow our population while others implode.  

So when Coke got to the punchline at the end, they had me a little choked up.  Indeed, we are a mosaic.  But it is a beautiful mosaic.  One that shares a common theme: a love of freedom, family, religion.  Even a love of Coke.  We are far more similar as Americans than we are different.  

Thus, when my cousin went on a rant on Facebook on all this, I felt he represented the defense of Coke's position well.  Here's his guest editorial:

I finally saw this controversial coca cola commercial. I understand both viewpoints but I totally get the message. America is a culturally diverse land. I thought the commercial wasnt anti patriotic in any way. fairly tasteful. I have friends that are Asian decent, middle eastern, European, Latin, african, gentile and jew and that doesn't make them any less American. I try to hold on to my Irish catholic roots. If I knew Gaelic I'd sing it. Does that make me any less American. I guess the only way to know is if the poop hits the fan. I can tell u Muslims, Asians, africans, Jews, latino's and European aryans have all died for this country. Cokes commercial didn't tarnish their legacy and contribution to America. In fact it embraced our cultural diversity. Btw if you think banning coke will make a difference you are wrong. They have much more of a market share over seas and they only strengthened their intl brand. Plus in business any publicity good or bad is better then no publicity. Now what is funny is in 20 years people will be mad when the song is sung in English instead of Spanish (the American language) lol.

America the beautiful, indeed.

Progressivism is Hard...

Bruno Mars - The Best Superbowl Halftime Show Ever?

Yeah, it was a bad football game, and the commercials this year were less than notable.  However, Burno Mars turned in a supremely entertaining halftime show.

From his drumming skills (that caught me off guard), to the dancing (moves that would make James Brown proud), to the ease of how he shared the stage with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, to his singing live (what a concept!), it was a home run performance.




The guy is massively talented.  Multiple genres covered, monster charisma, and confidence to actually sing his songs live.  He's a hell of an entertainer.

And he put up arguably the best Super Bowl Halftime show since U2 turned in this gem: 



Bad game?  Yeah.  But it was a great halftime show, and well worth the watch.

10k Runner

My entire life, I've found it damned difficult to run distances.  Since my days in grade school where we performed the 600 yard walk/run for the President's Council on Physical Fitness test, to distance running we needed to perform for football, I hated it.  I was bad at it, and I've continued to be bad at it my whole life.  Perhaps it is because I'm far more of a fast twitch person, or perhaps I was just weak and/or lazy, but my distance running experience and performance has been scant.

But as I've moved to get myself in better shape, one thing seemed universal - those in truly great shape ran.  Certainly there are exceptions to this, but to me it certainly seemed the rule.  Hence, I needed to get off of my life long aversion to running and figure out a way to do it.

The first place I needed to start was with a goal, and it seemed that a good goal would be to participate in a run.  Since my company is a major sponsor of the Bellin Run (a famous 10k in the Green Bay area) and since the run was a 10k (a distance that felt achievable), it seemed to be a good goal to have.  Pus, since it would be conducted in June, it would give me the time I'd need to be able to get into shape to run the 6+ miles.

But where to start?  And that's where the 10k Runner app comes in.  Downloaded for my iPhone, the app is a 14 week process that takes a runner from the couch to a 10k by combining running and walking to build strength and stamina.  

Thus far, I'm in week 7 - about half way through the process.  And I've found the following:

• The slow, stair step process has been a wonder.  When I started, the app had me walking a minute then running a minute over and over again.  And, slowly, the amount of time spent running has increased, and the amount of time walking has decreased.
• I'm now running 25 minutes straight.  I'm not fast, mind you, but this was something I could not have done just a couple of months ago.
• I'm running over 2 miles a session right now.  Prior to 10k Runner, the most I ever ran in my life was a mile.  And that was in High School.
• My body has totally changed, and it is most noticeable in my legs, which are substantially thinner and much more toned that when I started this process.

I have a long way to go to get to a 10k.  But I feel like I'm on a good path, and my confidence as it applies to running has never been this high.   

I strongly endorse this app for someone wanting to train for a 10k, especially if they are a non-runner to begin with.