What soap is for the body, tears are for the soul

I have been reading more and more about the rising cost of tuition and I thought I would do a little research on the matter. I was born in 1985 and if my memory is correct, it is currently 2008. I researched what the cost of going to four random schools cost the day I was born versus what tuition cost today. I picked four random colleges that came to mind (Iowa State, University of Minnesota, St. Olaf, and Drake.) Interestingly enough, since 1985 the cost of all four colleges has quadrupled. The four did not go up by three times or five times but all of the colleges quadrupled in cost for tuition. I think looked at wages and I saw that wages have risen by 80% since 1985. Let me do some simple math:

80<400= huh?

The reasoning is actually quite simple. Each year the government gives less and less to colleges and universities so colleges have to do more and more lay-offs and constantly rise the cost of tuition. It is high time we have a president who takes note of the simple math I provided and start adequately funding colleges again. Think of it as a good investment in the future of America. The more and more people have to take on enormous student loans the less they are spending on stuff and fueling the economy. The more stress they are under. The more credit card debt. It goes on and on.

1. I have had a lot of time to myself and I have found myself even reading a bit of poetry. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this poem about erectyle dysfunction from British poet W.B. Yeats: “The Chambermaid’s Second Song":

From pleasure of the bed
Dull as a worm
His rod and its butting head
Limp as a worm
His spirit that has fled
Blind as a worm

Unfortunately, no Viagra for this famous Irish poet.

2. I have decided that quite possibly the catchiest song in years is "flathead" by The Fratellis. I haven't heard a song so catchy since "last night" by The Strokes.

3. I have been all excited to receive my Tax Rebate by the IRS that I have been promised as part of our federal government's new economic stimulus plan. Apparently it won't arrive until June!!!!!

4. I am really upset about something. Barack Obama is coming to Minneapolis this Saturday at 1:30 pm. This was just announced yesterday morning. I was listening to the news and the event is already sold out!!!!! The event will be at the Target Center which is an arena that the Minnesota Timberwolves play in. It holds approximately 16,000 people. The event sold out in less then 24 hours. I was going to reserve my spots today. I'm happy for Obama but I was really excited to hear him speak. If you are wondering where I will be tonight I will be watching the CNN democratic debate. It is the last time the Democrats debates and it is imperative that Obama does well.

I felt sorry for myself because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.

Today has been a great day. As I mentioned in a past note, the Minneapolis market won market of the year at my job. We had this really sweet lunch at a restaurant called Fogo de Chao, which is a Brazilian Steakhouse. I then got a cool plaque and I was even recognized by the Publisher/CEO of the company. It's pretty cool that the CEO knows my name. I guess I must be doing something right.

1. As most of you know, I am a huge Will Ferrrel fan. His new movie is Semi-Pro where he is a minor league basketball coach. His next movie after that due in July sounds even funnier. It will be good to see John C. Reilly and Ferrel matched up again: http://icydk.com/2008/01/28/will-ferrell-and-john-c-reilly-in-step-brothers/?loc=interstitialskip

2. I have spent back to back 12 and 13 hour work days. I plan on doing absolutely nothing productive this weekend.

3. Yesterday I had a meeting at the Mall of America and ate a restaurant called Kokomo's. I loved it! The prices were great, atmosphere was corny but good, service was amazing, and food was good.

4. I am really upset with the Twins trading Johan Santana for four double A prospects for the NY Mets. In the past three years, Minnesota has traded Kevin Garnett, Randy Moss, and now they have traded Johan Santana. There are no more superstars (except maybe Adrian Peterson.)

5. Did you really think I would not talk about politics? To the surprise of no one, the heavy front runner for the Republicans after winning Florida will be John McCain. This is why Republicans are smart. I have had several discussions with close friends of mine who are Republican. Not one of them was a McCain supporter. They all would have preferred other candidates (Huckabee or Thompson mainly) however they all voted/would vote for John McCain. Why do you ask? Because he has the best chance of beating the Democratic nominee. This is why Democrats will continue to lose elections. They will nominate Hillary Clinton, an experienced, qualified leader who would make a great president... but will get her ass kicked by McCain. Republicans know that Hillary would probably beat a Mitt Romney, Giuliani, Thompson, or Mike Huckabee so they will nominate the candidate with the best chance of beating Hillary. I don't know one true Republican who likes John McCain ahead of the other candidates but they all like him as a person. In fact, so do I and that scares me.

6. Speaking of politics, I admire John Edwards for stepping down from running for president. He ran a clean, well organized campaign and he deserves a lot of praise. I would not be surprised to see him once again be the vice president candidate.

7. To paraphrase the great French thinker Edmond de Goncourt, today I begin to understand what love must be, if it exists. When we are parted, we each feel the lack of the other half of ourselves. We are incomplete like a book in two volumes of which the first has been lost. That is what I imagine love to be: incompleteness in absence. I really have spent many a night the past five months examining the concept of love and not until I was reading this Frenchman's theories on love did I start to feel like someone understood. As many of you know I was a Speech major in college and I had to do a lot of studying of the famous Greek philosophers. Maybe I should view love as Plato did, "Love is a serious mental disease." Of course I do not wish to share Plato's views on love. Ironically, if I recall correctly, he died alone, never married, while attending a wedding.

The jokes on us

It is great to be back in Minneapolis but, as strange as this is to say, I really miss Ames. I had a wonderful weekend with some friends from college. We played some basketball, watched the cyclones eek out a victory in Hilton Coliseum, saw some classic comedies and gorged on pizza and Chinese Food. What more could I ask for? I know we are getting old when on Saturday night several of us were asleep by 10:00 pm. The highlight of the weekend was definitely getting to meet Anay's new lady friend, Allie. She likes watching Family Guy and her About Me on Facebook has the words McDonald's and BigMac in its first sentence. Could that be more awesome?!

1. It was really tragic to read all about Heath Ledger's death. I pray for the Ledger family. On a more selfish note, can you imagine the buzz surrounding the new Batman movie coming out this July in which Ledger plays The Joker. I was already excited for the movie.

2. I watched the Democratic debate in South Carolina last night. CNN reported this morning it was the most watched primary debate in American history with over 5 million viewers. It was an interesting debate in terms of strategy. Obama spent his time contrasting the differences between himself and Hillary. Hillary basically ignored Obama and instead kept noting the similarities she had with John Edwards. I think Clinton's strategy makes a lot of sense. There is no doubt that Edwards will drop out in the next three weeks and this type of showing might make a lot of Edwards supporters switch their support to Hillary. It also made me happy to see that Fred Thompson has dropped out for the Republican nomination.

3. Growing up I always wanted a pool table. All those times when my friends and I would just be sitting in my basement doing nothing, I thought of how cool it would be to have a pool table. About four weeks ago, my parents bought one. I have advanced from being absolutely dreadful to considerably below average. For Christmas, my Dad hired a billiards instructor to come out for an hour and teach me the correct form and a few tips. This was one of the coolest gifts I could think of. My Dad is having a billiards tournament in February. Everybody is invited.

4. Speaking of gifts, all you ladies out there watch out. My Grandma just got back from Italy, Greece, and Egypt. While she was in Italy, she stopped in the original Prada store and got me a few things. I really like this chocolate colored tie. However, I'm not sure what color of shirt to wear the tie with...

5. My skin becomes very white in January. This makes me look harrier then normal. I'm not happy.

6. I was listening to the radio and the really sexy, dance hit, "Cry for You" by September came on and I started to dance. I was enjoying myself until I looked in the mirror. It looked like a circus elephant that had just been hit with a tranquilizer. Except I had more snapping. I again reminded myself why I should never been seen in public dancing.

Sugar, Sugar

I start this post with actually a bit of sadness. For the past 14 days, I have been house-sitting at my Grandma's house. I also took care of my Grandma's cat and her dog. The dog is a gorgeous collie named Gavin. The past two weeks was also the first time that I ever lived by myself for more then a night or two. It was really nice when you're alone to have a dog around. I never had a dog growing up and I really enjoyed coming home and I would have a friend that was always excited to see me. He loved walks, wrestling, playing catch, and was really well behaved. He only barked when he saw a real or imaginary animal or person. Anyway, I am back living with the parents now and I miss the puppy.

1. My Dad and I watched the gophers steal defeat from the jaws of victory last night. The gophers played great the whole game against #10 ranked Indiana University at Williams Arena (aka The Barn.) They were up by two with one minute left and ended up losing by five. To cheer myself up, I turned on the radio and my Mom had been listening to Kool 108 and the song "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies came on. This put an enormous smile on my face as this was a song that Nimit used to serenade Jim with.

2. Speaking of Jimit, I am excited to see all of the guys. I haven't been in Ames in two or three months and it will be good to get back there. A little basketball, a little football, a lot of story telling... It should be a lot of fun.

3. Yesterday was the first time I have seen Conan O'Brien since the writer's strike. I watched the whole episode. Conan is just so brilliant. He glided down from the top of the office when he went "back in time" and knocked out John Wilkes Booth before he killed Abraham Lincoln. It was so funny.

4. Speaking of funny, comedian Jim Gaffigan is filming another hour long comedy central special that will air later this month. I am excited! He will be on David Letterman tonight if anybody has any interest in watching.

5. I don't think my sister appreciated very much when I serenaded her yesterday with Neil Diamond's "play me". Little does she know that last night was not a mirage but yet, a sign, of more brilliant Fidler renditions.

6. I legitimately do not find it funny making fun of Britney Spears anymore. I really think she has a mental disorder. She is now dating some weird paparazzi dude named Ardad and they went on a date where she wore her old wedding dress the whole weekend and they just went into stores and made weird sounds. She is clearly doing some hard drug stuff and needs some serious help. I really wish the press would just leave her alone for the sake of her kids' future.

7. I know this doesn't interest any of you, but there are 17 markets for the company I work at and we just won the 2007 market of the year. It's actually a really big deal and the publisher and president of the company is coming and giving a speech and there is a big party and it is great that all of our hard work has paid off. I can't believe I have been with USAT since May of 2006. Wow!

100th post

I never thought I could do it, but this is my 100th post as a blogger. It is Monday and that means I have much on mind in which to write about.

1. Not that I watch a lot of The Golf Channel, but I am familiar with the recent controversy regarding Golf Channel analyst, Kelly Tilghman. In case you aren't aware, Ms. Tilghman recently "joked" that the other golfers on the PGA should take Tiger Woods and "lynch him in a back alley." HAHAHAHA!!! That is so funny. Anyway, she received a slap on the wrist from the national media and the Golf Channel. Why do you ask? Because she is a woman. How is that any different or less racist then when Don Imus in early 2007 joked that the Rutgers women's basketball team looks like nappy headed Ho's? Why, because Don Imus is a man. Joking around that you should lynch a black man would be equivalent to Ms. Tilghman saying that they should take a Jewish man out to a back alley and gas him. Or they should take an American Indian golfer and scalp him? We all are aware of the racist undertones of the word lynch. I do applaud Tiger Woods for casually brushing it off and not demanding protests or organizing a protest with Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. This was a class act on the part of Mr. Woods. Shame on you Golf Channel for not firing Ms. Tilghman.

2. I saw two movies this weekend. Balls of Fury was absolutely terrible. Please save yourself from two hours of your life I will never get back. I also saw Castaway. The 1996 Tom Hanks hit. It was good but really long. I'm glad I saw it though.

3. Oh Great! I really am not excited for the Packers to make the Superbowl vs. the Patriots and have the national analysts spend two weeks drooling over Tom Brady and Favre.

Al Michaels: "Oh Gosh, John, I just love that Tom Brady. He's so accurate and he looks great in those football pants."
John Madden: "He sure does Al. But I've never gotten over my first love, Brett Favre. #4 will be #1 in my heart."

I think I'm going to be sick.

4. There is an artsy, hangout place in Ames called The Boheme. It recently closed but it looks like there might be some talks of it finding a new buyer... That would be great!
http://media.www.iowastatedaily.com/media/storage/paper818/news/2008/01/14/Fyi/Boheme.Bistro.May.Have.Potential.Buyer-3150411.shtml

5. The big talking points in Minnesota these days revolves around my Eden Prairie. EP high school is the biggest in the state and is a national powerhouse in several sports, including football, basketball, hockey, and baseball. Recently some star athletes had pictures of them at a party with alcohol in their hands put up on facebook. Well, some rat in the school printed out these pictures and sent them to the principal. As stated in the athletic handout, students caught with alcohol face very strict punishment. Anyway, several students got suspended and this may or may not lead to a loss of scholarships or potential scholarships. The students were furious at the administration and staged a protest and walk-out. This made the cover of the Star Tribune. One, you're in idiot student if you think pictures of yourself on Facebook drinking are a good idea. You are all aware of the consequences. On the other hand, EP administration, it is pretty low that you are suspending students based on the fact that some rat student screwed his fellow students by turning these pictures in. I played sports in high school and I may have had a drink or two in high school. Thank goodness, Facebook wasn't around to get me suspended. That would have been very humiliating!

The Flat Tax

Yes, I understand most times when I blog I am just stating my opinion on random stuff. On this entry, I would actually like a phone call or an email with your opinions.

I don’t know one person in America who truly understands the tax system. What’s a W2? Okay… Then what is a W4? What does it mean we say roll back the Bush tax cuts? My point is, when it comes to the tax system, I am completely confused. That is why when it comes to economic policy, of all the candidates, I think Mike Huckabee’s platform makes the most sense. You might be thinking that I am crazy agreeing with an Evangelical, right wing conservative. Well, not when his economic policies make the most amount of sense. Huckabee supports the fair tax. I do too.

The fair tax, aka, the flat tax, aka, the no income tax is the new economic model that I support. In the simplest of terms, it means that the whole American system would be thrown away and replaced by a flat, income tax. Huckabee is proposing a 23% flat tax. The flat tax model was made famous by billionaire Steve Forbes and conservative radio host, Neal Boortz. With the flat tax, according to CNN, You wouldn't pay income tax, Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes, the alternative minimum tax, a capital gains tax or estate tax. No more IRS. No more complex tax returns to fill out, either. Instead, everyone would pay a flat sales tax on almost everything they buy: Food, clothes, new cars, diapers, even health care and financial services. When I first head the idea, I was amazed that this was not a liberal idea. I thought, okay, well the rich people buy more then the poor people so they should have to pay more taxes. This will help the poor because they could just not buy as much. It was only after conversations with friends of mine who have great economic minds, that I realized why conservatives like the idea. Let’s say, a hedge fund manager has a great year makes 100 million dollars a year. Even if he is very loose with the checkbook, at most, he will spend 20 million dollars a year, or 20% of his income. If someone is dirt poor, they will likely spend 80% of their income because they still need gas, food, diapers, just as rich people do. Plus, rich people would save a fortune not paying income taxes, and they could leave more money to their kids in estate taxes. Which is why if a flat tax were to work, there would have to be exceptions made to protect the poor. There should be no taxes on the necessities: Food being the main item. Other necessities would have to be debated. Another thing I would like about this is all of the corporate fat cats that have their “headquarters” in the Cayman Islands and all of these other tax loopholes would vanish. This of course would help the poor since they are not aware of all the loop holes that the rich know about. Just imagine not having to figure out those complicated fax forms anymore.
However, you might be wondering why a program like this hasn’t worked. Here are a couple of reasons I have complied:

1. The IRS would be eliminated. Well, the IRS employs more then 100,000 employees who would be royally pissed off if they lost their job.
2. You better believe that companies like Turbo Tax, and all of the accountants and tax attorneys who specialize in decoding the American tax system have more lobbyists then you could imagine who will not be too happy if they lose their jobs. The more complicated the tax system, the more these wealthy tax attorneys can charge. And don’t think they are afraid to bribe any politician who crosses their path.
3. The politicians themselves will lose. Nobody is more aware of the tax loopholes then the politicians themselves. After all, they wrote the tax laws! If all of these off-shore, borderline illegal accounts were lost due to the flat tax. The politicians would lose millions. Even if there are some benevolent statesmen out there would view the flat tax as necessary, he or she would never amount a campaign strong enough to get enough votes to throw away the archaic tax system that is in place.
4. There will be thousands of companies that will be unhappy about the flat tax. For instance, take a Toyota Camry. On the lot, a Camry might be listed at $25,000, but once you buy it, you find out that you actually have to pay $30,750. Maybe you don’t buy the car anymore. Or a $100 pair of jeans would now be $123. You better believe that all of these companies have a lot of lobbyists and politicians who love their campaign donation as long as they promise to vote against the flat tax.

Basically, I would never vote for Mike Huckabee but I very much respect his chutzpah for at least trying to get the conversation about a flat tax going.

What do you think?

A trip to Ames!!

One might think after spending three years in the very center of Iowa, a future weekend trip to Ames would not sound fun. Au Contraire! The boys and I are heading to Ames in two weeks for fun times, a little college basketball, and a bit of debauchery. There is a permanent indent from how many times I have slept on Anay's coach. I will resume my normal sleeping spot there unless objections arise. Here are a few things I find interesting:

1. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert return with new episodes tonight. With the writer's strike having no end in sight, I warmly welcome the fresh comedy.

2. I will watch the college football national championship game tonight but I'm not all that excited for it.

3. I was really read to learn that this weekend, Marty Crandell of the Shins thought it would be a good idea to get intoxicated and "allegedly" beat up his girlfriend. http://www.nme.com/news/the-shins/33473. I have certainly been angry with women before. I have raised my voice. But the idea of raising a fist and striking a woman seems so barbaric and disgusting. I love the Shins but if this is true then lock this bastard up.

4. It looks like John McCain will win the New Hampshire primary. This scares me. I think McCain is a brilliant politician, he has loads of experience, and he is likeable. This scares me because I think he has a good chance of beating the democrats in the 2008 election. A much better chance then Thompson, Huckabee, Giuliani, or Romney. People like my parents love McCain. But just because he's likeable, does not mean he is not very conservative. He has always been pro invading Iraq, he's very socially conservative, and he's 72 years old. This wouldn't be a problem except young people don't get out and vote, old people do. We'll see though. We are long way from knowing who will get the nomination for both parties.

5. I rediscovered Ben Folds' Rockin the Suburbs CD this weekend. I seem to get more joy from rediscovering old CDs then I do from any new CD I have bought in the past year.

6. The American Heart Association rated Minnesota as having the healthiest hearts in the country. They just barely beat Hawaii and Alaska. This is good news.

7. Does Iran have a death sentence. The Pentagon is reporting the Iranian navy "seriously provoked" three U.S. Navy vessels. I know Iran is cocky, and America is down right now but do they know that America has by far the most superior Navy in the world. According to the Pentagon, Iran threatened to "blow up" the vessels. http://www.startribune.com/nation/13497761.html

"Americans would rather vote for someone who they would work with, not someone who would lay them off."

The quote from the title of this blog entry was used by Iowa Republican Caucus winner, Mike Huckabee. Before entering politics and eventually becoming governor, Huckabee became a born again Christian and a baptist minister. Huckabee is clearly a brilliant orator and a man, unlike Mitt Romney and others, is a candidate that Republicans are so brilliant in finding. Study after study has shown that most voters in America don't care all that much about experience, or knowledge of the constitution or world affairs, what they most care about is the likeability factor. I forget which magazine, I think Rolling Stone, polls America close to the election and asks America, "Which candidate would you rather get a beer with?" The winner of that poll generally wins the election. George W. Bush is more likeable then Al Gore and John Kerry. Bill Clinton is more likeable then Bob Dole or Bush Sr. But Bush Sr. was more likeable then Dukakis. Reagan was more likeable then Mondale. I think you get my point. Mitt Romney outspent Mike Huckabee by a 15-1 margin. He had better organization. He was a former CEO of a fortune 500 company. He's good looking. He is a family man and has been married to his wife for nearly 30 years. He was an accomplished mayor of Massachusetts.

However...

He's not as likeable as Huckabee. Huckabee was featured in Men's Health a few years ago for losing 120 pounds. Huckabee didn't come from any money like Romney did. Huckabee came from a small town in Arkansas named Hope. (Same town that Bill Clinton was born in.) He's witty with brilliant one liners. He rocked out the Bass Guitar with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show. If there is one thing Republicans are brilliant for, it is nominating candidates who will win. To me, McCain is likeable and Huckabee are likeable. Fred Thompson is a prick, Giuliani's poll numbers are dropping like a rock, Romney isn't likeable, and Ron Paul's views are too out of the mainstream for him to win.

This is why I like Barack Obama.

He's likeable. I still think that the Democrats will nominateHillary Clinton for no other reason then they have a rich tradition of nominating educated, experienced candidates (Gore, Kerry) who the people don't like and don't win elections. But winning the Caucus in Iowa is a good start. The pundits said Obama can't win Iowa. "It's too white." "The young people won't come out and vote." "He's not experienced enough." Well, I'm on the Obama bandwagon and hopefully the last stop is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

1. I recently saw the movie Juno. I thought the acting was brilliant. The writing was brilliant. I enjoyed the obscure jokes that only a Minnesotan could enjoy (the writer, Diablo Cody, is a Minnesotan.) Plus, how could you go wrong with a movie starring Michael Cera and Jason Bateman of Arrested Development.

2. For the readers who enjoy politics and/or history, please go see Charlie Wilson's War. I really enjoyed it. It is the true story of a little known congressman from Texas who almost single handedly defeated the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It has many fascinating insights on Afghanistan and how it transferred from a beautiful, flourishing democracy, to the country it became, and how America contributed to its downfall and the eventual downfall and military coup with the Taliban. I have many many thoughts on the movie so please call me if you have seen it.

New Year's Peeved

I hope everyone had a successful 2007 and here is an early toast to 2008. In general I am not a big fan of New Year's resolutions that will be quickly ingnored. I guess I just wish for continued good health, wisdom, and happiness for my friends and me.

1. Why must J.K. Rowling tease us about wizard books: http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=5&id=46830

2. While watching SportsCenter the other day, I heard some people mention the Boston Celtics' head coach, Doc Rivers, as a possible coach of the year. This just reminded me that head coaches/managers in most professional teams are not the most important position and really don't have that much influence. The most important position is the General Manager, or President who puts the team together. Last year, Doc Rivers coached the Celtics to the second worst record in the league. Now, the Celtics are 24-4 and have the best record. Is it because Rivers went to a lot of coaching clinics and is now a tactical genius or is it because there is a lot more talent on the team when the General Manager added Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen? Phil Jackson has been coaching an average Lakers team the past few years. Has he lost his touch or was it because there is not as much talent on the team without Shaq? College coaches are a little different since they kind of run the show, decide the assistant coaches, recruit, et cetera. But pro-coaches are not even close to being the deciding factors between the best and the worst teams.

3. I wish there was some rule that bowls cannot happen in the same state as one of the two teams playing. I think it is really unfair that Hawaii played the Sugar Bowl against Georgia at Georgia. Michigan played Florida in Florida. USC played Illinois in LA. Penn State played Texas A&M in San Antonio. Ohio State is playing LSU in Louisiana. The list goes on. Basically, the system favors southern teams.

4. In case anybody didn't notice, the Iowa Caucus is tomorrow. I'm cheering for Obama and he might even win Iowa or New Hampshire but I still would be shocked if Hillary doesn't easily win the nomination.

5. According to the Star Tribune, Minneapolis will reach forty degrees this weekend. It is about time. The weather has been terrible recently and it was -2 degress driving to work this morning. That is unbearably cold.