Mark's Tumbling

May 17 2012 ∞
Can he, can’t he be President?  It appears that the nonpartisan people at Breitbart News have uncovered an old bio of President Obama.  It says: Barack Obama, the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, was born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii. The Drudge Report is running with the story, and this is bound to revive fresh debate as to his eligibility to become the President of the United States. Personally, I don’t care where President Obama was born he is absolutely eligible to be President; I originally wrote about it HERE. In sum here is what I said back then: So my argument is centered around US Birthright law.  There are two ways to get a citizenship automatically upon being born. Jus Soli: This is where if you are born in the United States, you are automatically given citizenship, and therefore you are completely eligible to run for President of the United States.  Even if both your parents were foreigners (legal or not), you are instantly given citizenship to the US because you were physically born here. Jus sanguini: This is where one of your Parents, in this case President Obama’s mother, is a US Citizen and you are born outside of the US or one of its territories.  Because Obama was born to a female US Citizen, he was instantly given US Citizenship. Particularly, my argument centers around 8 U.S.C. Section 1409 paragraph (c) and 32 CFR 584.5 which says (summary) if a female ‘natural born US Citizen’ has a child that was born out of the United States, to a foreigner, and out of wedlock, that child would receive the same “nationality status of his mother”.  Thus, if Obama’s mother was a natural born citizen, Obama would inherit that trait as his citizenship and should be considered a natural born citizen. Its time to end this debate, sorry.  However, I have wondered - what if it was determined that President Obama wasn’t eligible to be the President - what exactly would that mean?  Would everything he ever signed now be void?  That would be crazy. 

Can he, can’t he be President? 

It appears that the nonpartisan people at Breitbart News have uncovered an old bio of President Obama.  It says:

Barack Obama, the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, was born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii.

The Drudge Report is running with the story, and this is bound to revive fresh debate as to his eligibility to become the President of the United States.

Personally, I don’t care where President Obama was born he is absolutely eligible to be President; I originally wrote about it HERE.

In sum here is what I said back then:

So my argument is centered around US Birthright law.  There are two ways to get a citizenship automatically upon being born.

Jus Soli: This is where if you are born in the United States, you are automatically given citizenship, and therefore you are completely eligible to run for President of the United States.  Even if both your parents were foreigners (legal or not), you are instantly given citizenship to the US because you were physically born here.

Jus sanguini: This is where one of your Parents, in this case President Obama’s mother, is a US Citizen and you are born outside of the US or one of its territories.  Because Obama was born to a female US Citizen, he was instantly given US Citizenship.

Particularly, my argument centers around 8 U.S.C. Section 1409 paragraph (c) and 32 CFR 584.5 which says (summary) if a female ‘natural born US Citizen’ has a child that was born out of the United States, to a foreigner, and out of wedlock, that child would receive the same “nationality status of his mother”.  Thus, if Obama’s mother was a natural born citizen, Obama would inherit that trait as his citizenship and should be considered a natural born citizen.

Its time to end this debate, sorry.  However, I have wondered - what if it was determined that President Obama wasn’t eligible to be the President - what exactly would that mean?  Would everything he ever signed now be void?  That would be crazy. 

May 28 2011 ∞

Time to Start Dieting!!

So I was reading the other day that cars are getting a new label that’s going to show better gas milage and green house information.  I was impressed with this change, I thought finally, I’ll have the ability to buy a car with good gas milage – and better green house emission standards!!!

I mean let’s face it, when I go buy a brand new car – what do I look for?  Not the style, not the maker, not the model, not the color – nope, none of that.  What I look at is gas milage baby and now for the cherry on top, I get green house emission standards too!!

All of this excitement has caused quite a bit of confusion – you see, what about a car that gets 30mpg and is bad for green house standards; while on the other hand a car that gets 35mpg and is really really bad for green house emission standards: Which one should I choose?

Anyway, I hope you could read the sarcasm in my above writings.  Moral of the story is a majority of people could care less about milage and green house standards.  And if they did?  Then they could find plenty of information on the internet or at the dealer.  A majority of people who buy cars aren’t sticker shopping based of MPG – sorry to break this too you.

That is all,

Mar 19 2011 ∞
Health Food to Live By You know there is a lot of talk about what is healthy and what is not healthy and all of that.  I used to be a believer in things that were healthy – you know like whole wheat bread is somehow healthier than white bread.  Well no more, I don’t buy into any of that and I’m no longer going to say that something is unhealthy. For example, the pizza to the right, that’s not an unhealthy pizza is it?  No, no, I know exactly what your thinking “Oh yes it is!”.  But let’s look at the pizza – its nourishing right?  So what makes it so unhealthy then?  The high amount of calories or fat?  If that’s the case, let me ask you this – if there was a 1 inch by 1 inch square piece of pizza there would you think: “Wow, that’s one unhealthy piece of pizza there!”?  Or would you think “That’s a pretty small piece of pizza, and not all that unhealthy.” For me, I would most likely say the second “That’s a pretty small piece of pizza….” Then I would most likely, without thinking about the health consequences , pick it up and eat it.  Eating that small piece of pizza hasn’t deteriorated my health in anyway has it? So let’s be clear about something – food isn’t unhealthy – its the proportion of food you eat.  If you ate the entire pizza above, that’s clearly not healthy – that’s over 5,000 calories!!! Likewise with salad – if you ate 5,000 calories of salad – that’s not healthy either and I would argue it is just as unhealthy as eating the entire pizza above. You see my Dr. once told me that ANY diet in the whole world will work.  As long as you burn more calories in one day than what you consume.  And that is absolutely true.  I’ve done several diets: Atkins – worked amazingly for me!  I lost close to 60 pounds on Adkins – and before you start saying that’s not a healthy diet – it is, my cholesterol shot way down, as did my blood pressure and everything else.  However, Atkin’s isn’t realistic to live on for ever – sorry, it just doesn’t seem possible. Weight Watchers – another great diet, it taught me a lot about proportions.  After coming off of Adkins – I had no clue how much food I was allowed to eat – so Weight Watchers really taught me a lot there. MGPoE – This is my own diet – I eat whatever I want, but I don’t go crazy like I used too.  Don’t get me wrong, I stick with lower calorie foods because you get more “Bang for the Buck” not because they are healthier. I’m Mark Graham and I’m a recovering foodaholic.  I used to weigh in at 368 pounds – since then I’ve lost over 140 pounds – so I like to think I’m a self proclaimed expert on this matter.  For anyone that is trying to lose a lot of weight, understand that food is absolutely an addiction – and it is something that I battle everyday, and will for the rest of my life.  Sadly, I’ll never not struggle with food, this will always be a hard journey for me.  But knowing that simple fact is half the battle, the other half is the willpower to say ‘no’ to eating too much – regardless of how “healthy” it is.

Health Food to Live By

You know there is a lot of talk about what is healthy and what is not healthy and all of that.  I used to be a believer in things that were healthy – you know like whole wheat bread is somehow healthier than white bread.  Well no more, I don’t buy into any of that and I’m no longer going to say that something is unhealthy.

For example, the pizza to the right, that’s not an unhealthy pizza is it?  No, no, I know exactly what your thinking “Oh yes it is!”.  But let’s look at the pizza – its nourishing right?  So what makes it so unhealthy then?  The high amount of calories or fat?  If that’s the case, let me ask you this – if there was a 1 inch by 1 inch square piece of pizza there would you think: “Wow, that’s one unhealthy piece of pizza there!”?  Or would you think “That’s a pretty small piece of pizza, and not all that unhealthy.”

For me, I would most likely say the second “That’s a pretty small piece of pizza….” Then I would most likely, without thinking about the health consequences , pick it up and eat it.  Eating that small piece of pizza hasn’t deteriorated my health in anyway has it?

So let’s be clear about something – food isn’t unhealthy – its the proportion of food you eat.  If you ate the entire pizza above, that’s clearly not healthy – that’s over 5,000 calories!!! Likewise with salad – if you ate 5,000 calories of salad – that’s not healthy either and I would argue it is just as unhealthy as eating the entire pizza above.

You see my Dr. once told me that ANY diet in the whole world will work.  As long as you burn more calories in one day than what you consume.  And that is absolutely true.  I’ve done several diets:

Atkins – worked amazingly for me!  I lost close to 60 pounds on Adkins – and before you start saying that’s not a healthy diet – it is, my cholesterol shot way down, as did my blood pressure and everything else.  However, Atkin’s isn’t realistic to live on for ever – sorry, it just doesn’t seem possible.

Weight Watchers – another great diet, it taught me a lot about proportions.  After coming off of Adkins – I had no clue how much food I was allowed to eat – so Weight Watchers really taught me a lot there.

MGPoE – This is my own diet – I eat whatever I want, but I don’t go crazy like I used too.  Don’t get me wrong, I stick with lower calorie foods because you get more “Bang for the Buck” not because they are healthier.

I’m Mark Graham and I’m a recovering foodaholic.  I used to weigh in at 368 pounds – since then I’ve lost over 140 pounds – so I like to think I’m a self proclaimed expert on this matter.  For anyone that is trying to lose a lot of weight, understand that food is absolutely an addiction – and it is something that I battle everyday, and will for the rest of my life.  Sadly, I’ll never not struggle with food, this will always be a hard journey for me.  But knowing that simple fact is half the battle, the other half is the willpower to say ‘no’ to eating too much – regardless of how “healthy” it is.

Feb 03 2011 ∞

Where’s the money?

So as I sit here and watch the OSU versus Michigan (go Bucks) I start to wonder, where is the money?

Why can’t these athletes get paid?  Is it because college is somehow held to a higher moral standard than professional sports?  I don’t think so – millions are made by athletic programs around the country.  The NCAA has to make a TON off of college sports, let alone everyone else.  In fact, college sports are one of the most ‘sellout’ sports ever.  They have a bowl game called the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl – really? Why is it everyone makes money here, except the athletes?

Anyway, before I continue too much on my rant, I do sort of get why they can’t be paid by colleges – believe it or not.  If athletes were paid by the school, wouldn’t they just be a minor league team?  What about all the smaller colleges that can’t afford the best athletes, their programs would suffer dramatically.

So what’s the Mark Graham Plan of Excellence suggest?  Well, it suggests allowing the students to make money.  Not by the school, but by sponsorships.  If Nike wants to sponsor a Terrelle Pryor – why can’t they?  Because the NCAA wants to keep as much money as possible, that’s why.  Is it any wonder why the NCAA allowed Pryor and others to play in the sugar bowl game after they ‘broke’ the rules by sellingtheir stuff?  Because the NCAA wouldn’t have made near as much money had they not played.

Why did I put quotes around the word broke you ask?  There is no question in my mind that those players broke the rules, but that doesn’t mean the rule is right.  And no rule is ever going to get changed unless it is challenged first.  I think it is a stupid rule, and it needs to be challenged and eventually done away with.

So I say let them make as much money as the market will bear!

P.S. Basketball players have to be the worlds best actors.  Its amazing how a light touch will send a player skirting across the floor.

Jan 30 2011 ∞

Walking the Unemployment Line

With unemployment currently around 9.1 percent, I think we need to start taking a look at where the problem lies. The Mark Graham Plan of Excellence suggests that the problem really lies with the government paying people to not be employed. Can you believe it? The government will actually pay you while you are not employed. With a deal like that, why ever get a job? Oh, wait a second…. I think I’m on to something here.

Personally, I’m not for unemployment compensation – I think it is too burdensome on businesses, and generally I think people need to be prepared in life for anything that might happen. Is it any wonder why we run our credit limits to the max? We always have a nice cushy pillow to fall back on – unemployment, social security, Medicare/Medicaid, and the list continues. Anyway, even though I’m not for it, I realize we can’t just totally end this job killing social program. So I’ve come up with a Mark Graham Plan of Excellence program to help this situation.

Let’s face it; unemployment stands to only encourage people not to work. It’s simple economics – if you reward someone for doing something, they will continue to do it. In this case, the reward is the money they receive for not working. Now how can we fix this issue? Well, the MGPoE suggests we change the system completely around and give incentives (in this case rewards) for going back to work. The MGPoE prescribes two ways to handle this issue:

Lump Sum Payment – Let’s say the average unemployment claim, for the entire time the person is unemployed, averages around $10,000. Now the MGPoE’s recommendation would be to take 85% of that amount and pay it out to the newly unemployed filer. You get no more, and you get no less. Thus the faster the unemployed finds a job, the more of the $8,500 says in their pocket.

The other option is similar, but the unemployed person would continue to receive their weekly unemployment compensation. For this situation, lets say the average unemployment claim per week is $416. So if the unemployed finds a job in the first month they would get a nice big check for $6,000. If they find a job in the second month, they get a check for $4,500. Third month they would get $3,000, fourth month they would get $1,500, and nothing after that. All unemployment benefits would run out, period, after the 6th month.

Now I don’t think that everyone is lazy when it comes to trying to find another job. But I do believe that as long as people are getting paid for not working, they will not settle for anything less than what they were getting before (at least until their benefits run out). So let’s say you make $50,000/year and you lose your job. A few weeks later a potential employer offers you $42,000/year to come work for them. Under the current unemployment compensation program most people wouldn’t consider this as an option. However, under the MGPoE unemployment compensation program these kinds of offers would be a lot more tempting – because you get to keep a lot more of your lump sum payout.

Obviously a lot of market research would need to go into these options, but this would be an excellent way to save money on unemployment, and give incentives for people to increase their effort into finding a new job. There would also need to be some rules placed on the above programs to ensure they aren’t scammed like today’s unemployment program. For example, a rule that would be required is how often can one file for unemployment compensation? I would argue it should only be once ever 4 or 5 years.

Jan 26 2011 ∞

So can he be President or Not?

You know, there is a lot of speculation as to the nationality of President Barack Obama.  President Obama’s argument is that he was born in Hawaii, which would automatically give him US Citizenship, and therefore, eligible to run for the President of the United States.  The, what I’ll call, conspiracy theories suggest that President Obama was born in Kenya, and therefore not eligible to become President.

Now comes the Mark Graham Plan of Excellence Argument: It doesn’t matter, either way he is eligible to become President of the United States.

Now before you go on a rant suggesting that I’m a huge liberal, I can assure you I am not.  I’m quite conservative, but I take a realistic approach to issues and review them and create a solution or answer.  Thus the Mark Graham Plan of Excellence.

So let’s dive into this a little more shall we?  Who is eligible to become President?  The constitution is fairly straight forward with this, or perhaps not.  It says the following:

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

Ok, so you have to be a natural born Citizen, you must be at least 35 years old, and have to be a resident of the United States for 14 years.

Where everyone is getting hung up is the term natural born citizen.  Unfortunately, that is where the ambiguity starts.  There isn’t a real definition of the term ‘Natural Born Citizen’ – likewise, there is a lot of ambiguity of the requirement of being a 14 year resident – does that mean if you left the country for a day in the last 14 years you are not eligible to become President?  Of course not but I digress.

So my argument is centered around US Birthright law.  There are two ways to get a citizenship automatically upon being born.

Jus Soli: This is where if you are born in the United States, you are automatically given citizenship, and therefore you are completely eligible to run for President of the United States.  Even if both your parents were foreigners (legal or not), you are instantly given citizenship to the US because you were physically born here.

Jus sanguini: This is where one of your Parents, in this case President Obama’s mother, is a US Citizen and you are born outside of the US or one of its territories.  Because Obama was born to a female US Citizen, he was instantly given US Citizenship.

Particularly, my argument centers around 8 U.S.C. Section 1409 paragraph (c) and 32 CFR 584.5 which says (summary) if a female ‘natural born US Citizen’ has a child that was born out of the United States, to a foreigner, and out of wedlock, that child would receive the same “nationality status of his mother”.  Thus, if Obama’s mother was a natural born citizen, Obama would inherit that trait as his citizenship and should be considered a natural born citizen.

So why is there this big conspiracy?  Because courts have yet to rule on people running for President with citizenship by Jus sanguini. Given a proper challenge in court, I think the courts would decide that anyone with a Jus sanguini citizenship would be eligible for Presidency, given the spirit of the law.

I mean how far are we going to take this ‘natural born citizen’ thing?  What about a child that wasn’t born naturally – lets say a US Mother and US Father have a child, in the United States, by In Vitro Fertilization?  That certainly isn’t natural, so should the child be eligible for the Presidency?  Give me a break!

Oct 23 2009 ∞

Frontier Airlines, all hype no delivery!

So really Frontier airlines wasn’t THAT bad, they were, in fact, pretty good.  But there is one thing that really set me off about them.  So I payed for the ‘Classic Ticket’, you know where you get two free checked bags, AND you get to choose your own seat!

The main reason I decided to pay for the upgraded ticket was so I could choose my own seat.  I can’t STAND sitting in the middle row, so I like to always ensure that I have a good seat on the plane.  So I picked my seats 5C & 6C for the first flight, when I check in and get to the gate I noticed my seat was 23E on both flights.  So before I decided to complain, I thought I’d seatguru.com and see if it was a bad seat.  Needless to say, they were the WORST possible seats.  It was a middle seat and all the way at the very back of the aircraft.  Seatguru said these seats did not recline, foot traffic, due to the lavatories, would be bothersome, and there is limited leg room due to an equipment box.

Great I thought, so I went to the counter to complain and see if I could get my seats moved.  Which they did, they moved me to the 7th row, but still a middle seat.  Like I said above, I only really bought the upgraded ticket because I wanted to avoid a middle seat at ALL costs.

Anyway, no biggie I thought, first time glitch, right?  Wrong.  So as soon as I checked into the hotel I reviewed my online itinerary to see that my trip home seats were exactly as I had picked them (up front, and aisle seats, both flights).  Being paranoid, 12 hours before my flight I check them again, and they were the same seats that I had originally picked when I bought the ticket.  I thought great, perfect, everything was in order…. Until I go to check in, and the gentleman at the counter said “Oh wow, they have you sitting all the way at the back of the aircraft”.  Extremely annoyed, I explained that this was the second time that it happened, and asked him why I even bought the upgraded ticket.  Being an excellent customer service agent he said let me see what we can do for you.  And he was able to put me in seat 11D which seatguru.com says these were pretty much the best seats on the plane.

Anyway, I’m still annoyed because I paid extra money to choose my seats and on a whim they just kick you out of the seat you choose and put you in the worst possible seat.  Of all the times that I’ve flown, I have NEVER had my seats changed from when I picked them online.  Hopefully this isn’t normal, but still annoys me.  END RANT

Oct 09 2009 ∞

Wow, talk about a cloudy foggy day today.

Jul 17 2009 ∞

Wow, been a while eh?

Yeah, so it’s been a while…. Hmm, not much to say!

Apr 19 2009 ∞

You know, I don’t normally get on my Political Soap Box

But here goes… So I have a friend who owns his own electrical company. Anyway, he decided to branch out and take on some public jobs. Two government jobs, in fact. At any rate he is now getting sued by two separate unions (both represented by the same attorney) for not paying himself enough money!@!@.

Yeah, basically if you do any public work, you have to pay at (what is called) prevailing wage. Prevailing wage is essentially union wages. And he wasn’t paying himself prevailing wage or greater (why, because he takes home all the profit at the end of the day, who cares what he makes per-hour right?)

So, let me get this straight, he owns the company, and is now getting sued by unions for not paying himself enough money? That’s crazy right?

At one job, the lawyer is correct, he didn’t pay himself enough money; the other job, the lawyer is incorrect, he did pay himself enough money. So now he has two lawsuits, what amount to a witch hunt, and he’ll have to end up paying around 10k to settle both lawsuits.. For not paying himself enough money?

Anyway, i think I understand why unions suck. Here they are trying to shut this company down for not paying himself enough money. Is that really the union way? I guess so, they’d rather see people out of work, than they would see people with work. I guess it figures.

Anyway, I’ll remove myself from my box.

Apr 13 2009 ∞
Seriously? I mean I’ve seen staged photos before. But did you guys REALLY have to cross the phone’s for that extra dramatic look?  Give me a break.

Seriously? I mean I’ve seen staged photos before. But did you guys REALLY have to cross the phone’s for that extra dramatic look?  Give me a break.

Mar 17 2009 ∞
And let me tell you, that’s exactly how it happened. Started at 8:00am and pretty much drank until about 1:30 when the rest of my fellow St. Patty’s day partiers decided to split. It was a great time, we really didn’t go to any Irish place, just sorta bar hopped. Played some pool, lost badly - as I always do. Anyway, happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

And let me tell you, that’s exactly how it happened. Started at 8:00am and pretty much drank until about 1:30 when the rest of my fellow St. Patty’s day partiers decided to split. It was a great time, we really didn’t go to any Irish place, just sorta bar hopped. Played some pool, lost badly - as I always do.

Anyway, happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

Mar 16 2009 ∞
Yeah, from my understanding that was a real cake from Walmart. Am I surprised? No I guess I’m not. I think it comes down to taking pride into one’s work. Seriously, no one reviewed this cake? No one asked any questions about it? When it was given to the buyer, they didn’t notice it? Of course, it could all be a joke too, but some how this just seems all too believe when it comes to Walmart doesn’t it?

Yeah, from my understanding that was a real cake from Walmart. Am I surprised? No I guess I’m not. I think it comes down to taking pride into one’s work. Seriously, no one reviewed this cake? No one asked any questions about it? When it was given to the buyer, they didn’t notice it?

Of course, it could all be a joke too, but some how this just seems all too believe when it comes to Walmart doesn’t it?

Mar 13 2009 ∞
Ok, I think we have reached a new low when it comes to warning signs. To make a sign about the sign is just crazy. Granted, I don’t really think this sign is real, at least I hope it isn’t. However, it doesn’t seem too far off from reality with all the warning signs you see for things anymore. Try reading them sometime, they are pretty humorous to think that someone prolly actually tried that at one point in time, which is why the warning is there. For example, McDonald’s Coffee now says ‘Contents inside are extremely hot’. I hope so, that’s why I buy coffee right, I don’t want cold coffee. Anyway, i digress as per usual.

Ok, I think we have reached a new low when it comes to warning signs. To make a sign about the sign is just crazy. Granted, I don’t really think this sign is real, at least I hope it isn’t. However, it doesn’t seem too far off from reality with all the warning signs you see for things anymore. Try reading them sometime, they are pretty humorous to think that someone prolly actually tried that at one point in time, which is why the warning is there.

For example, McDonald’s Coffee now says ‘Contents inside are extremely hot’. I hope so, that’s why I buy coffee right, I don’t want cold coffee.

Anyway, i digress as per usual.

Mar 12 2009 ∞
You know, I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know ANYTHING about fashion. BUT SERIOUSLY? This is fashionable? GIVE ME A BREAK! This is just down right scary, if you ask me. I mean… It is right? I’m not too far off base here am I? I sure hope not, else there is no hope for me (not that there is now).

You know, I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know ANYTHING about fashion. BUT SERIOUSLY? This is fashionable? GIVE ME A BREAK! This is just down right scary, if you ask me. I mean… It is right? I’m not too far off base here am I? I sure hope not, else there is no hope for me (not that there is now).

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