For whatever reason most of you out there are not in favor of the government assisting in a bailout of the big 3 automakers.

I guess a country on the verge of absolute pandemonium and a severe depression isn’t enough for you. You’d much rather see that absolute pandemonium and severe depression.

I’ve heard many reasons why the government SHOULDN’T bail out the big 3 ranging from it’s their fault to it’s the ceo’s faults to even one person telling me they just don’t care anymore and they’re waiting for the day we wake up and the whole world as ended. (That’s a pretty dismal outlook :-))

For some reason most folks are stuck on this idea of “punishing” the auto making companies CEO’s. It’s almost as if they truly believe that the entire thing is their fault.
I know better though. I know that the CEO’s of the big 3 are FAR from being the ones who should have to shoulder the blame for the current disgusting mess they’re in.
Frankly, WE…yes, I said it…YOU AND I…are the ones to blame for this mess. Our absolute greed and desire to consistently have more and to keep up with the Jones’ is what has led to this mess NOT THE CEO’S OF THE BIG 3. In fact, the CEO’s of most companies that we’d like to see rot or be punished simply did what any smart business operator should do in a capitalistic society: They maximized their profitability by creating quality products for consumers.
Now because our beloved capitalism is failing us miserably (well, YOU’RE beloved capitalism…I’m not exactly a fan of capitalism) our greed and jealously is now causing us to want to “punish” those who have more than us. Funny how the tables have turned. We’ve gone from wanting to have just as much as them, to now wanting to punish them for having more.

Letting the CEO’s the auto making companies shoulder the blame for this mess is unnecessary and could prove to be a HUGE mistake. We have the opportunity to help and we must take advantage of that opportunity. We need to level out the playing field. Do adjustments need to be made to CEO salaries? Yes, they need to be leveled out, and start sharing some of the wealth that they have made, start doing what small business owners do and contribute some of their earnings to their business in an attempt to save it. They’re giving back plus bailing out the big 3, believe it or not, will help…as long as we give it the opportunity to do so.

Coming up in November along with obviously the presidential election and a whole slew of other offices up for bid my fellow Floridians have the joy of voting on a rather controversial constitutional amendment.

It’s called Amendment 2, and in my opinion it is DANGEROUS. I would suffice to say it is actually going to be far more detrimental to the families of Florida than the group sponsoring the amendment seem to think.

When I initially wrote this entry it was intended to be a balanced report of both sides of this amendment. Then I got to thinking about SEO, and how I need this entry to receive hits because, so far everyone I’ve talked to about this amendment seems to be focused on the fact that it is a gay marriage ban. As a result, as you can tell from the title, this entry will be far from balanced. If that pisses you off, leave.

FLORIDIANS NEED TO KNOW THAT AMENDMENT 2 IS NOT JUST A BAN ON GAY MARRIAGE!

It is actually a ban on any sort of relationship or partnership that is NOT a marriage between a man and a woman.

The exact wording that you will read on your ballet in November is:
“Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.”

What does that mean?

Well quite simply it means that if you are involved in a homosexual relationship you will loose all the rights and benefits currently afforded/awarded to you.

It means that if you are in a heterosexual relationship that is NOT a legally recognized marriage, then you too will loose all the rights and benefits currently afforded/awarded to you.

It means that any benefits (medical, banking, etc) that the partners share between themselves or their children will no longer be recognized in the State of Florida.

It means that the religious ceremony known as marriage that was taken over by the government as a means of profit (because lets face it, why else would the government busy themselves with a religious ceremony) will now be the only recognized form of a relationship or partnership in the state of Florida. Furthermore, it will only be recognized if it is a marriage between a male and a female.

It means a great deal of trouble for the many families in our state that are families through partnership be it heterosexual or homosexual.

It means broken families and a crap load of hurt.

Now, let it be known that I am not in favor of any ban on any sort of relationship. Yes, for all my Christian readers out there…even homosexual marriages (or as the media likes to refer to them “gay marriages”). However, the point that Yes2Marriage, the group that has sponsored the amendment is trying to make is that gay marriage should be banned. Now they’ll tell you that “A yes vote on 2 will do one thing and one thing only – protect the definition of marriage between a man and a woman.” They’ll have you believe based on the wording on the ballet that you are doing nothing more than banning gay marriage. What they won’t tell you is that you are actually banning any form of relationship within the State of Florida that ISN’T a marriage between one man and one woman. I say if it’s a gay marriage ban they want, then write an anti-gay marriage amendment. Don’t write an amendment that ruins the lives of many already fully-functioning happy Floridians involved in relationships that aren’t a marriage. Another thing that Yes2Marriage isn’t telling you is that Florida already has multiple laws banning same-sex marriage.

Look, the groups sponsoring Amendment 2 have every right to pursue their ideals and philosophies. However, in this case those ideals, those “morals” are going to have drastic affects on an entire states population.

So do yourself a favor visit Yes2Marriage’s website. Educate yourself on the amendment. Then head over to Say No to 2’s website and educate yourself on the consequences the State of Florida faces if this amendment is passed in November.

Amendment 2 is dangerous and is threatening the healthy, fully-functioning relationships and lives of many Floridians.

Vote NO on 2!

I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaack! Sorry for the delay in posting a new episode. I’ve been getting some stuff straightened out, but (and I always say this) things are good now!
Episode 15 of the Will Young show on the Unobjective Intelligence podcast is now live.

This week:

• I’ll tell you why I think that the legal age of consent in the US should be lowered.
• Lowering the age of consent is a great segway into why I believe that we should start educating about sex and the body at a much younger age than we currently do.
• Finally, for all my Floridians out there I’ll talk about the (un)Constitutional Amendment 2 that we’ll be voting on in November.

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Links I mentioned during the show:
Florida Department of State: Division of Elections Initiative information
Yes to Marriage (The folks sponsoring the Amendment)
SayNo2
Vote No on 2
Yahoo! Search results for Amendment 2

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If there is something you’d like to hear on an upcoming episode of the Will Young show please shoot me an e-mail.

You can download the UI podcast by using iTunes with the link on the right, or for those who don’t use itunes, simply click the button that says ‘RSS Podcast’ and download the latest episode to your computer to play in whatever MP3 player it is you use. You can also listen to it using the player located directly above this paragraph.

Enjoy!

So apparently WiLD 98.7 disabled the Put On (Bay to the Bottom Remix) mp3 link that I had in my previous post. So for your listening pleasure here is the you tube version:

Look, if you’re from Tampa or Miami you can’t help but be proud of this track. It represents something big and I’m glad to see the Tampa/South Florida scene sparking off like it is.

Episode 14 of the Will Young show on the Unobjective Intelligence podcast is now live.

This week:

• I’m explaining exactly what “innocent until proved guilty” means.
• I also dive into why politics in the USA are a joke and why I’ve had enough of it!
• And, I debunk the myth that says you’re not responsible for the problems in your community.

If there is something you’d like to hear on an upcoming episode of the Will Young show please shoot me an e-mail.

You can download the UI podcast by using iTunes with the link on the right, or for those who don’t use itunes, simply click the button that says ‘RSS Podcast’ and download the latest episode to your computer to play in whatever MP3 player it is you use. Sometimes it will show up in a player on this post. If it does, feel free to listen to it there.

If you know anything about the whereabouts of Caylee Anthony please call 1-800-423-8477 or visit Helpfindcaylee.com

I’ve received a couple e-mails and even 1 public comment asking me to follow up on a post I wrote a couple weeks ago about the Casey Anthony case.

I don’t have a whole lot to say as my position hasn’t changed too dramatically. I said this in the last entry and I believe it is getting worse: WE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHT TO PASS JUDGMENT ON THIS GIRL! period…end of story.

Remember folks, she is innocent until proved guilty!
I’m having a hard time understanding why it is that Americans do not understand this concept? We allow the mass media to rot our minds and convince us that our laws are pointless. Casey Anthony has not been charged with any crime related to the alleged death of her daughter, a death, by the way that the general public and lets face it, the media has made up!

Listen folks, I want this baby found just as bad as anyone else. I would like Casey Anthony to start talking so that we can figure out if Caylee is indeed dead or alive somewhere. The reality though is that Casey Anthony, in my opinion, is a deeply disturb young lady who needs a great deal of counseling and our endless banter about her being a “baby killer” and a “murderer” is NOT AT ALL HELPING THE SITUATION!
Now we’ve learned that she has been arrested on check fraud charges and is back in jail on $3,000 bond. Unfortunately, due more than likely in large part to the public outcry the bondsmen that posted her ridiculously insane $500,000 bond for her Child neglect charge rescinded it and so even if she can come up with the $3,000 bond she’ll remain in jail if she can’t post the other. What a load of horse shit. I think that we all need to be ashamed of ourselves for the outrageous torment we have put this family through. Casey’s father George had a scuffle with some protesters who wouldn’t leave his family alone the other day, people are driving by the Anthony’s home screaming “baby killer”, “murderer” and are protesting while holding up signs that read: “Who is the bigger liar? Cindy Anthony or Killer Casey? May God have mercy on you. God knows the truth and so does detectives. Baby killer!”

I just want to vomit truthfully, the entire thing makes me sick. I know I’m that last person to talk about being judgmental, but LEAVE THIS FAMILY ALONE! Let the detectives do their job, and media outlets how about you report the facts as they come along. Stop camping outside their home! And citizens of Central Florida (or anywhere else they’re coming from) stop driving around down with “Rot in Jail Casey Anthony” painted on your windows!

GET A FREAKING LIFE FOLKS.

And most importantly, remember that Casey Anthony is innocent until the detectives in Orange County can find a way to prove otherwise.

**NOTE** I feel that the media and public’s handling of this case has gotten WAY out of hand. As a result I will no longer be replying to the e-mails or posting anything else related to the case until a final outcome is met. Whether that be Caylee being found and returned to her family, or her body being found and SOMEONE being charged with her murder.

All images courtesy of The Orlando Sentinel

So out of Orlando, FL (about an 1 east of where I live) the local, national, internet and blogging media has been going crazy over the Casey Anthony case.

If you’re not familiar with, or haven’t heard about the case then I encourage you to head over to yahoo news and get caught up. Long story short Ms. Anthony allegedly dropped her daughter, Caylee off at the babysitters house. The story gets long and dramatic here, which is why I encourage you to check out the various news articles related to it. Anyway, apparently the baby disappears, and Casey fails to report it for well over a month. The baby was apparently last seen on or around June 15th and Casey’s mother did not report the incident until like July 15th. Casey has also allegedly been uncooperative with the Orange County Sheriff’s office who are investigating the disappearance of her daughter. She was placed in jail for Child Neglect charges, tampering with an investigation and a couple other charges, none of which convict her of any crime related to the disappearance of her child, outside of the the neglect of not reporting her disappearance. The judge set her bail at a record high $ 500,000 dollars of which a bounty hunter and bailsbond man from California finally posted for her. She is now out of jail with one of those ankle monitors.

I have no affiliation with the family, I have absolutely no idea who Casey Anthony is. I’ve never met any of the Anthony family and probably never will. I don’t know the intricate details of the case, all I know is what the media has chosen to tell us.

I believe though, in my gut, and I have absolutely no idea why, that Casey Anthony has not committed any crime as it relates to the disappearance of her daughter. For some reason, I feel like while the media and most of the general public has already convicted her of murder, that this baby girl is alive somewhere. Something tells me that this mother is truly afraid of whoever it is that has her kid and this is why she has acted in the manner that we’ve been told she’s acted in. I do believe that she has been somewhat irresponsible in how she has handled this situation, but I think that we have been VERY quick to blame her for the death of her baby and that we are wrong for doing so.

I could be completely wrong, I certainly hope I’m not.
The point of the post is this: I do not, nor does anyone not related to the family or the case have any idea what has happened, what is happening or what did happen. WE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHT WHAT-SO-EVER TO PLACE A GUILTY VERDICT ON CASEY ANTHONY. I hope that we soon find out what has happened to Caylee, I hope that if she has indeed been kidnapped that the people who have tortured this family come forward quickly and are brought to justice just as swiftly as we have seemingly tried to bring Casey Anthony to justice. I also hope that Casey receives some sort of counseling. I’m not sure what is going through her head, but clearly something is making her act in a manner that isn’t necessarily responsible and it it causing a tremendous shadow of doubt to be cast upon her.

That’s just my 35 cents.

Well, it appears that Florida has it’s first potential hurricane of the 08′ season to deal with.

That’s right folks, mother nature does not take a break because school is returning to session in most of Florida on Monday the 18th. She certainly could care less about the Olympics (I mean after all they’re in China for the love of pete!).

What she does care about is the fact that most of Florida…well West-Central Florida has pretty much become the main character in a boy-who-cried-wolf story over the last several years. We have had many storms suppose to hit us that did not hit us. We’ve had even more that have caused extreme levels of devastation all around us and it really hasn’t woke us up too much.

This one I think is different.
Grant it, it looks like it’ll only hit as a Category 1, and perhaps not even a strong ‘cat 1,’ but I was quite surprised while I was picking up some odds and ends at Wal-Mart tonight to replenish (well, actually to create) my hurricane survival kit how many people DIDN’T EVEN KNOW THERE WAS A STORM OUT THERE, much less that it currently has a high probability of hitting the metro Tampa Bay area.

Luckily, I beat the crowds. I have a feeling pandemonium will ensue starting late tomorrow night and in to Tuesday. I could be wrong, we’ll see.

If you have not started preparing for the storm season (like me) then now would probably be a good time to do so. It lasts until November, and who knows what is in store.

For information on what you should prepare for your ‘hurricane kit’ I recommend heading over to Winn-Dixie’s site, they have a great hurricane essentials check-list that you can use.

For up-to-date information on Tropical (Hurricane) Fay, check out National Hurricane Centers website.

Stay safe, and HAVE A PLAN!

Episode 12 of the Unobjective Intelligence podcast (The Will Young show) is here!

This week:

• I’m stepping up and calling out the parents out there who are letting there kids try to kill people, steel cars and commit crimes. I’m telling you why myspace, the internet, video games, hip hop and all the other crap that everyone blames for our kids problems are NOT the problem.
• We’ll talk about why the “cool train” is a load of crap.
• Finally, I’ll let you in on a little secret about business owners profit margins.

If there is something you’d like to hear on an upcoming episode of the Will Young show please shoot me an e-mail.

You can download the UI podcast by using iTunes with the link on the right, or for those who don’t use itunes, simply click the button that says ‘RSS Podcast’ and download the latest episode to your computer to play in whatever MP3 player it is you use. Sometimes it will show up in a player on this post. If it does, feel free to listen to it there.

It’s no secret that I am a bit of a hip-hop nut.

Yeah..yeah…shut up…I’m a redneck, white boy from the country who is in to hip-hop. GET OVER IT.

Anyway, Tampa has been quite lucky to be home to some insane talent in the hip-hop world. We’re also home to one of the number one hip-hop radio stations in the COUNTRY (WLLD 98.7 FM “WiLD 98.7″) no lie folks WILD is home to some of the biggest names in the industry, Orlando (the program director) being one of them and DJ CHRISTION being another. The two of them just released a mix tape called “Voice of the City: Volume 1.” I have not personally got my hands on it…yet, I will be though.

The last track on the mix tape is a remix of Put On by Young Jeezy featuring Kanye West. Which is one of Jeezy’s best singles yet. The Bay to the Bottom remix, features Orlando (from WiLD), DJ Christion, DJ Khaled, Plies, 2 Pistols, Acafool, Ace Hood, & Tom G all of which are from the 813 (Tampa) and the 305 (Miami) - hints the whole Bay to the Bottom thing.

I’ve got to say, every time I hear this cut I have no choice but to push my piece of crap stereo system to it’s limit and blaze it like nothing I’ve ever blazed before. It also sends chills down my spine every time I hear it. Tampa is coming up in the world of hip-hop and this track proves it. Plus, truthfully, it’s probably one of the best remixes I’ve ever heard…and that’s real.

Head over to WiLD to hear Put On - The Bay to the Bottom Remix. (Look, if you are the type of person who hears hip-hop and says “That music is runing our children.” Please don’t listen to this track so you can send me an e-mail or leave a comment about why hip-hop is ruining the world, because you’re wrong, and quite frankly I don’t feel like hearing your ridiculous explanations. :-)) Otherwise…ENJOY!