CHRIS BEDELL
Columnist
Woman after woman lined up and put their heads on the podium and then subsequently lost their heads.
That night when I was back in my bedroom I was restless since the image of the women lining up and then having their heads chopped off still haunted me.
The next morning after my Dad went to work and my Mom went to the market to get groceries, I heard a knock at the front door and I assumed it was Julian.
Boy, was I wrong.
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CHRIS BEDELL
Columnist
Sex outside of marriage just wasn’t frowned upon in Aklava, it was against the law. Hell, it was even punishable by death. Although, teenage girls were sometimes shown mercy. All forms of birth control and abortion were also illegal – usually punished by jail time and sometimes by death when Chieftains wanted to make an example of you.
The sad thing was that even though the law technically applied to everyone, men were usually given a free pass. The double standard against my gender was nervy, although I guess it wasn’t totally surprising.
But where do I, Cecily Jones, fit into this? Well, let’s just say Aklava isn’t the best place for a seventeen year old girl to come of age.
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CHRIS BEDELL
Columnist
While Damien was at the Blue Crest Café out on a date, his mind drifted back to 24 hours earlier when his best friend Andy had called him and told him about the date he had set up for him.
“Hi Damien,” said Andy, while Damien waited for him to get to the point.
“What’s going on?” asked Damien.
“What are you doing tomorrow night?”
“Nothing. Why?”
“Good, because I already told someone that you would show up at 6:00 p.m. at the Blue Crest Café for a date.”
“YOU DID WHAT?”
“You have to go. Besides I already told the person you would be there,” said Andy.
“Dammit Andy! You know how I avoid relationships at all costs.”
Damien drifted back to reality when Eva asked what he was going to order.
“I have no idea. How about you?” asked Andy.
“I’m not sure either,” answered Eva.
Damien glanced at Eva. She was thin, blonde and seemed slightly above average height for a woman. She didn’t seem to have any nervous habits such as biting her nails, which was good. Maybe she wasn’t a psycho, after all. He could only wonder what she thought of him.
They glanced at the menu and both decided to order Fettuccini Alfredo when the waiter came to take their orders. Unfortunately for them, there was an awkward silence while they waited for their food. But after several minutes Damien decided to be brave and talk.
“I have a confession,” said Damien.
“And what’s that?” wondered Eva.
“The only reason I went out on a date with you is because my friend Andy pressured me. I normally don’t like to date. I just prefer to stay focused on my career ambitions and write my novels,” said Damien.
“That’s right! I forgot that Andy said you were a published novelist,” remarked Eva.
“It’s just that I don’t really see the point of dating if you are just going to set yourself up for disappointment. I mean I can accept that I’m not that good looking but that doesn’t mean I have to endure continued rejection.”
“You’re rather frank aren’t you?”
“Well I don’t really see the point in being phony.”
“Did someone hurt you?” asked Eva.
“What do you think?”
“If it makes you feel better, even I have had my fair share of dating blunders. But what separates people like you from me, is that at the end of the end of the day I have moved on from my past relationships.”
“It’s hard to move on if you never get closure.”
“Fair point.”
Once the food arrived the conversation was actually enjoyable. Damien even found out that Eva was trying to become an actress, but had been unable to launch her career yet.
An hour later, the check had been taken care of and they were about to leave the restaurant when Damien glanced at Eva but was unsure if he should say what he was thinking.
“What is it?” inquired Eva as it became obvious that something was clearly on Damien’s mind.
“Nothing, forget it.”
“Just tell me.”
“I was wondering if you want to go out on another date?”
“Yeah, maybe I would. That actually would be nice.”
Half an hour later as Damien was in his bedroom and was about to fall asleep his phone rang.
“Hello?”
“It’s Andy. I just wanted to know how your date went.”
“It was fine.”
“That’s it? You aren’t going to tell me anything else?”
“Eva seemed really nice. Anyway, maybe I am too cynical about love and relationships, but I would appreciate it if in the future you wouldn’t meddle in my life unless I asked you to.”
“Okay, fine.”
“She agreed to a second date!” blurted Damien.
“That’s wonderful,” remarked Andy.
After Damien hung up the phone once he was done talking to Andy, he began to realize that even though he still had his reservations about dating, it was time for him to step out of his shell and take a chance on the fact that he could possibly fall in love with someone.
After all, Damien was getting pretty tired of the fact that his life felt like a tragedy.
CHRIS BEDELL
Columnist
With the impending issue of our nation’s deficit, there are a couple of important aspects related to the budget that people need to be reminded of.
Unfortunately, conservatives just don’t get it.
Getting rid of loopholes and lowering tax rates for corporations and the wealthiest of Americans just isn’t fair.
The Warren Buffett analogy, which has been discussed by the media, holds true. Until Buffett pays a higher tax rate than his secretary, the tax system will never be fair.
Obviously, loopholes for wealthy Americans and corporations might be an issue worth examining, but that doesn’t mean that the tax rates should automatically be lowered once you eliminate most loopholes.
CHRIS BEDELL
Columnist
Over the last few months the Benghazi issue has been blown way out of proportion. The sad thing is that the liberal leaning parts of the media (such as MSNBC, for example) are the only ones to realize that.
What about the Iraq War?
That was a war that didn’t need to happen but it happened anyway. A lot of people just seemed to turn a blind eye to the fact that George W. Bush’s administration lied about weapons of mass destruction.
Super-conservative Republicans such as Rush Limbaugh love to accuse Obama of being a fascist or a communist but the fact is that Bush was the one who had a cult of followers with personality mentality – the reason it took so long for people to speak up against the war.
That’s sad that a fair amount of people just blindly accepted what George W. Bush’s administration did and also the fact that if you were against the war you were un-American, which is totally untrue.
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CHRIS BEDELL
Staff Writer
The upcoming fiscal cliff problem is clear.
The poor and middle class should not have to make any more sacrifices.
The fact is that the average American has been paying for the mistakes of the rich while the rich get by unscathed (economic meltdown).
And say what you want about Bill Clinton’s personal life, but at least America was prosperous during those years. He wasn’t the president that ruined our country while some people turned a blind eye.
Reforming the tax code and bringing down rates on the rich is just not enough. Until Warren Buffett’s secretary pays less taxes/lower tax rate than he does the tax system will never be fair.
It is immoral to go after the Big Three (Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid). You cannot call Social Security and Medicare entitlements if people pay into those programs.
So it isn’t more free welfare despite what the Republicans think.
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CHRIS BEDELL
Staff Writer
It was really a relief to see that the American people made the right choice on Election Day and re-elected Barack Obama. After several debates Mitt Romney failed to improve his image and continued on about the same old nonsense. He failed to offer the American people any clear specifics.
On Election Day it really hit me, though: Romney didn’t deserve the American people’s support on the simple fact that he didn’t feel that he owed it to the public to tell them where he stood on the issues. And, if he can’t even do something as basic as that, he has no business running for President of the United States.
One of the highlights of the election was something that Al Sharpton pointed out in one of his commercials for his “Politics Nation” show on MSNBC: “this election is not about Obama, it’s about your mama.”
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CHRIS BEDELL
Staff Writer
With the election just around the corner it is inevitable that swing states will start getting more attention. But, while they might be unsure of whom to vote for, the choice is clear. They should vote for Obama.
In all honesty I’m just not that impressed with the Romney/Ryan ticket. It’s really sad how Romney is such a phony. For example, one of Mitt Romney’s comments at the second debate was a joke.
He actually brought up the fact that Republicans focus too much on big business. It really is impossible, though, to see him as anything but an advocate for big business and the wealthy.
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CHRIS BEDELL
Staff Writer
Despite what some people might be saying about the first presidential debate, President Obama did not lose.
Obama might not have had the best comebacks against Mitt Romney, but at least Obama made it clear that fighting for Americans who are struggling the most is a must, in addition to continuing to advocate for the middle class.
Romney’s main problem clearly echoed throughout the debate. I still don’t know anything new about what Romney’s policies are and what their impact would be for America. Instead, he was his usual vague self.
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CHRIS BEDELL
Contributor
Mitt Romney’s latest blunder is just outrageous. How dare he insult 47 percent of Americans.
That’s pretty condescending of him to criticize the fact that people who are struggling to stay afloat occasionally need government help. What is supposed to happen? Are struggling people just supposed to struggle all by themselves?
I don’t think so. People ultimately need to be self-sufficient but sometimes you can do everything you can and that still isn’t enough – so there’s nothing wrong with the government helping people.
The Republicans need to stop their stereotyping tactics and realize that just because some people are struggling to find jobs, does not mean that they are lazy. If Mitt Romney and the Republicans had it their way, people who are struggling would just wither away.
The most sickening aspect, though, is that letting people who are struggling fail and sink while the wealthiest Americans continue to prosper off the backs of the poor and middle is almost comparable to Social Darwinism.
Last time I checked, though, this is America and we do not live in a dictatorship.
The bottom line is by Romney’s 47 percent comment this is just more proof of how he is out of touch with the poor and middle class, meaning that he does not even care if he cannot connect with that demographic.
He is also not helping his own campaign by blatantly admitting that there is a substantial percent of the electorate that’s out of his grasp.
The most laughable aspect about his comment, though, is that he also tried to play the other side of the coin at one point.
For example, during the campaign Romney mentioned how he wasn’t worried for people who were struggling since there are programs to help them. He must have been pretty desperate to pander to the left in that instance. Yet at the same time he criticizes Barack Obama for government spending.
Romney cannot have it both ways. Either he thinks that it is okay for the government to have a role in people’s lives or he believes that the role of government needs to be reduced. Of course Mitt Romney will never make up his mind.
He seems to change his opinion based on which way the wind is blowing. America does not need a President who will simply do what’s best politically.
This is by no means Romney’s first flip-flop, though. He was pro-choice before he was more pro-life. Not to mention he was also more favorable towards gay marriage before he moved to the right on that issue.
And you cannot forget what MSNBC revealed in the last few weeks: he had four different positions on Libya.
Having four stances on an issue is impressive even for Mitt Romney.
America is also still waiting for Mitt Romney to explain how Bain Capital shipping jobs overseas helped the American economy let alone makes him qualified to be President.
All of the evidence of him being wishy-washy points to his bigger problem of how he has not come out with enough specific plans about what he would do when he’s president.
People talk about how there are smoke and mirrors with politics, well, his campaign definitely qualifies as smoke and mirrors if he doesn’t want any transparency.
Romney’s nose will probably grow another few feet before the election, though. Just as in the fairytale how it is obvious when Pinocchio is lying, it is also obvious when Romney is lying.
I guess people love a good fairytale, though. Hopefully America will see through his facade and realize how Mitt Romney loves to act like Pinocchio.