Wednesday, August 27, 2003

I was online when there came a flash-crack, lightning - followed by darkness when my power went out for maybe one full second. Everything came back on - the clocks flashing their mesmerizing 12:00, the computer rebooting. I had started to respond to a comment on another post. So now I need to redo that.

In the meantime, I watched the NBC Nightly News while waiting for the worst of the storm to pass. I haven’t watched network news in a long time, and I’m reminded why I stopped in the first place - man are they biased.

First, let me say that Brian Williams has spent way too much time in the tanning bed (that can’t be a real tan) - the whites of his eyes were spooky against the bronze skin of his face. Or maybe that was his makeup. Whatever, it looks terrible.

Second, the story of the Alabama 10 Commandments thing. There are a ton of reasons I haven’t brought up this story - the main one being that Christians will never look good on this one. The guy in the plaid shirt yelling that they had “removed God” really irked me. They didn’t remove God, they removed a marble slab depicting the 10 Commandments. It’s a memorial monument. Do I think it should remain? I don’t see the harm in the memorial being there, but the judge lost his case. He took an oath to obey (and rule on) the law, he needs to do so. Take that as you want.

Third, on the way home it was reported that Bush is planning to cut the pay raise to federal employees next year (I can’t find a link to a story). The talk show host then asked if that irked federal employees in light of the news earlier today that Paul Bremer is saying that rebuilding Iraq will cost up to the $100 Billion range. He has a problem with the US funding that.

I don’t. And I don’t have a problem with the cut in my pay raise next year. For goodness sake, it wasn’t going to be that big in the first place - it’s going from about 3-4% to 1-2%. Please, that 1 or 2% isn’t going to break me financially. We’re not getting a pay cut nor are any employees going to be laid off. So for those who have a problem with it, I say get over it.

On the money to Iraq - I believe we have an obligation to see that the country that we liberated is stable before we leave it on it’s own. Yes, we have our own budget woes, the economy is improving but slowly. I strongly believe in tax cuts. I also strongly believe that Congress and the President need to cut spending. They’re still spending way too much money on things that don’t need to be funded federally. But everyone has their pet project, so I am willing to help the cause for freedom in Iraq by living with a 1-2% pay raise next year instead of a 3-4% raise.

Enough from my soapbox - I’m now going to explain “meme” to Jared at the other post.

UPDATE (Thurs 9:44am): Beth kindly provided a link for the federal government pay raise cut story. Thanks!