Stand With Me

B-Readers, today I write with a heavy heart and perhaps, an eye to the future. Yesterday afternoon, the jail sentence for former Penn State football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was handed down. In a Pennsylvania court room, Judge John Cleland all but ensured that the 68-year-old Sandusky would spend the rest of his life in prison, by sentencing the convicted child molester to a minimum of 30 years behind bars. Sandusky has been found guilty of 45 o the 48 charges levied against him including 10 counts of corruption with minors, 10 counts of endangering the welfare of the 10-15 year old boys with whom he had heinously inappropriate interactions. These 45 counts carry a maximum of 442 years in prison, and there are still thoughts and hopes that Sandusky will face even more punishment for his involvement in the Penn State sex abuse scandal.

Sandusky being led into a Pennsylvania courtroom

Make no mistake B-Readers, what happened is absolutely disgusting, and simply cannot be overlooked. However, there can be a silver lining that comes out of this situation. The entire situation must not be looked  at merely as the societal and moral collapse that it was, but of a group of individuals who were not afraid to take on something that was bigger than all of them put together. Each of the victims has issued their own statement, but it is their unwritten message that rings the loudest. By coming together, these brave men have shown that they will not back down in the face of intimidation, tyranny, and societal pressure. Their work has helped to bring down more than just the statue of a man. The bravery, camaraderie and perseverance shown by these men has helped to expose men like Jerry Sandusky for the monsters that they were and are. In this case, silence is just as bad, if not worse than the crime itself. The decision not to remain silent was undoubtedly a difficult one, and the efforts have been well-placed.

 
As a generation on the verge of entering the work-force and the real world, there must be something from this terrible ordeal that we can take to heart. That is, never be afraid to blow the whistle! Do not be bullied into keeping silent, if something is happening to you, or to a friend, do not allow it to go unnoticed! Most importantly, do not allow those in a position of authority to use their position to unfairly gain an advantage over those who may work without a title. There is nothing but my highest praise and regard for those individuals who made the decision to not remain silent. By speaking out, they have shown the solidarity that we all must recognize. Until next time B-Readers.

The Best Four Years of Your Life

We were told for all of high school that it would be the best four years of our lives and that we should savor every moment.  When we got to college we received the same wise words.  It seems like every four years we get promised the next set will most certainly be the best yet.  Now as much as you might start developing trust issues with someone who keeps changing their mind what the best four years of your life will be, I certainly will not be the guy who doubts a supreme theory that tells us we will perpetually have the best four years of our lives.  So that brings me to my point.  What exactly makes these four years the best of our lives?  While we are at it, lets try to come up with an interesting meaning for life itself.  And hell, can someone please tell me why the best years of our lives always comes in groups of four?

Ok, so maybe its not an exact science.

For starters, lets try to tackle the general meaning of life and then we can try to solve what makes these four years so special.  If you ask the all knowing powers that be, aka Siri, you will receive one of two answers.  You will either be told the popular answer of 42, or you will be told the meaning of life is chocolate.  Now I do not know about you but I am not satisfied with either of these answers.  Quite frankly if we are put on this earth simply to 42, whatever that is supposed to mean, or eat chocolate, well then shoot, I have been doing it wrong all these years.  Now from my understanding, Siri did not go to Binghamton, so I am banking that she cannot really be trusted.

Honestly, what is she good for?

Now let us shift to a much more legit source, one we can trust a whole lot more: Me!  As someone that is in the middle of that shifting process between those high school "best four years of your life" and the college "best four years of your life" I am trying to figure it out just as much as any of you.  However, as someone that thinks to himself way more than is probably good for mental health I am going to try to offer a few points of wisdom.  In the span of two months my whole life has been flipped on its head.  Now that should terrify a person but, quite frankly, so far its been kind of fun.  For me, the best way to experience life is to experience it full force.  In simpler terms, Go Hard or Go Home.  What makes high school the best four years of our lives and these college years the best four again are the constant new obstacles.  New opportunities provide new experiences.  If you want any four years to mean anything in your life you need to go at them like they are the best four.  It is just like Herb Brooks says in the movie Miracle, "Great moments are born from great opportunity.  That's what you earned here tonight boys."

So B-Readers, that is what you earned here this week.  The best four years of your lives.  I do not know about all of you, but for me this has been one very long week.  So go out there this weekend and make these four years the best for yourselves.  Try something new, do something crazy, make a new friend.  You never know what can make your next four years.  And hey, if you screw up with the whole "do something crazy" thing this weekend do not worry, chances are you probably won't remember anyway.  Besides, you have the next four years ahead of you.  Remember, they are going to be the best of your life.  And the next four and the next four.  So buckle up for a long and awesome road.  Cannot wait to be part of the ride.  As always, till next time faithful B-Readers.

Where Is The Love (And Money)?

     “Rule #1: Never lose money. Rule #2: Never forget rule #1.” Warren Buffet was definitely on to something when he espoused this advice to the American public. Today we hear both President Obama and former Governor Romney talk about the budget, and how, especially on the Republican side, our country has “no money” and that we are running a deficit. Well, to tell you the truth, neither side is wrong, so let’s try to make some sense of this budget issue. When former Arkansas Governor and President Bill Clinton took office in 1993, he was welcomed by a roughly $290,000,000,000 budget deficit. However, with some tax raising and belt tightening, Clinton was able to leave the country with a roughly $46,000,000,000 surplus by the time he left office. This means that Clinton managed to run our country relatively smoothly, and acquire a net gain of roughly $336 billion dollars. If these numbers sound ridiculous to you, just hold on. After eight years of former President George W. Bush’s administration, two wars, four years of an Obama administration, and countless bailouts, our budget has exploded, and exploded again, to $16,000,000,000,000. 

     So you’re probably thinking, how do we get out of this debt? That’s a very good question, and anyone with a plausible answer should contact 1600 Pennsylvania ASAP. Well, our country needs money in order to operate, there’s no doubt about that. However, we also need another country to buy the debt from us. There are only a few countries who are endowed with a functioning government, and the means to absorb all this debt. In the case of the United States, this country happens to be China. China essentially acts as the United States’ credit card, alleviating the debt and subsequently allowing the American government to conduct its day to day business. In return, the United States gives China certain rights, mostly diplomatic, but it also allows, and sometimes even encourages American businesses to set up their factories and manufacturing plants in China. This explains why the American Olympic uniforms were not made in America, but in China. Ridiculous, but I’m not joking, I promise...(http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-07-16/made-in-china-olympic-uniforms-are-a-win-for-the-u-dot-s-dot). 

     Undoubtedly, this issue has taken its place in the 2012 Presidential election with both Romney and Obama having already reiterated their views on the issue. In a nutshell, the Republican ticket of Ryan/Romney have taken staunch positions against raising taxes and have advocated a smaller government budget as well as a smaller government in general. President Obama and Vice President Biden have advocated for a continuation of our current budget situation, while not raising taxes, at least not in the near future. 

     Simply put, there’s no easy answer to this debt problem, and it’s one that will have to be tackled head on by the next administration, and lowered by any means possible. For further reading and enjoyment, here’s the live running national debt clock (http://www.usdebtclock.org) and another article explaining the national debt situation (http://abcnews.go.com/Business/national-debt/story?id=17159803). Until next time B-Readers!!