Stop Bitching, Start DOING

 

Folks who bitch about the sad state of affairs in this country, yet continue to vote for the same group of idiots election after election, really piss me off.

Our government was shut down for 16 days while a bunch of rich, childish politicians argued with, threatened, and blamed each other for the shutdown.  They played a game of chicken while holding the entire country hostage to see which side would blink first.  Millions of us common citizens suffered and worried while these detached assholes in Washington played their belligerent childish games.  And at the end of the game, we really don't have any clear and final resolution to the problem, do we?  What do you think we have to look forward to come January?
 
Of course, we all expressed our outrage -while essentially doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about these morons.  If you drank the Republican Kool-Aid, you blamed the President and his allies. If you drank the Democratic Kool-Aid, you blamed the Republicans and their Tea Party Conservatives.  Me? I don't like Kool-Aid. I blame the entire corrupt, dysfunctional, and out-of-date government; starting with the President and including every single member of Congress.  They're all inept, greedy, and ignorant when it comes to addressing and tackling the real problems in this country.  They're all controlled by special interests groups, lobbyists, and multi-billion-dollar corporations and benefactors.  They CLEARLY do not have the common person's best interests or well-being at the top of their agenda.

Sadly, it's been this way for DECADES.  We keep letting the same two corrupt and morally bankrupt parties -The Democrats and Republicans- run this country into the ground.  We're somehow stupid enough to believe that things will change just because we get a new name to elect.  We're WRONG.  And we better all come to this realization collectively or we're all headed to hell in a hand basket by way of the express lane.

NOW is the time to DEMAND change.  Our system of government is antiquated and inept.  In this age of Internet and technology please explain to me why in the HELL we need 535 congressmen to run things!!  I understand why, back in our forefathers' day, this was a plausible idea, but things have changed DRASTICALLY since the 1800s -and yet our system/structure of Government has stayed pretty much the same.  Entire industries have sprung up -while others have died away- thanks to miraculous advances in technology and education.  We've changed and revolutionized the way we communicate, do business, and travel. And yet, NOTHING has changed as far as the way our Government is run.  This two-party choke hold has been in place for a hundred years and we keep letting it be that way.  The entire way we vote is rigged by these two parties and we end up with the same two shitty choices being shoved down our throats every four years: Democrat or Republican -sure the names change... Bush, Obama, Clinton, etc. But are you really that fucking STUPID to think that there is really ANY difference?  These people are just puppets of their party.  And the same two parties keep doing the same dumb shit to this country year after year after year.  They fight with each other over money and power while the rest of us suffer the consequences.

So, for God's Sake, what do you say we DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS NOW?! --Before 2014 rolls around and we're stuck with the same bullshit election laws.  Let's make sure the next General election ISN'T controlled by the Democrats and Republicans. Let's fight for truly OPEN and FAIR elections and let's elect some folks that are true subject matter experts who aren't afraid of revamping the Government and actually FIXING the problems we have.

Start by educating yourself - turn off the news -they're all just recycling soundbites from the two major parties.  Seek out organizations that are trying to effect REAL change in this country and give them your support.  Get involved.  Be the change.  Stop bitching and start doing. Nobody wins in this two-party choke hold.  We all lose. 

Land of Apathetic, Home of the Depraved

The apathy and downright idiocy of the majority of the American population really pisses me off.  How much longer are we all going to sit around and watch a bunch of inept, over-paid, infantile assholes systematically run this country into the ground?  How bad do things have to get before we come to the realization that this two-party pissing contest is corrupt and ineffective and that the time for change is RIGHT NOW.  These so-called elected 'representatives' do not, in fact, represent the will and opinions of the common people.  The entire process which got them elected is, in fact, rigged and controlled by the two parties themselves.  And the two parties are puppets to the corporate Goliaths and billionaires that control the majority of the wealth in this country.  This is no longer the land of the free and the home of the brave.  It's the playground of the rich, inept and greedy who continually make a mockery out of the system of democracy that our forefathers had so painstakingly forged.

Millions of us regular Americans are breaking our backs every day just to try to make ends meet for ourselves and our families. Add to that the hundreds of thousands of our men and women in uniform bravely and selflessly defending our American way of life both here and abroad for a salary that any senator or congressman would consider laughable. The national debt keeps rising while the middle class steadily slides deeper and deeper into poverty while the greedy, filthy rich 1% keep getting richer and keep finding ways to make even more money and profits.

Meanwhile, we all sit by and watch - many of us duped into drinking either the Democratic or Republican Kool-Aid along with the notion that it's the OTHER party's fault we're in the mess we're in.  That's all we really have on Capitol Hill; a bunch of pointing fingers and belligerent screaming children determined to get their way while preventing the opposing group of belligerent children from getting their way.  These rich, stubborn assholes have absolutely NO IDEA what we, the regular folks in America, are going through.  They live in a world that is totally detached from the reality that we all live and breath and suffer through on a daily basis.

The plain and simple fact -- the irrefutable fact -- is that our Government DOESN'T WORK -- the people who have been elected to do a specific job continue, year after year after year, to FAIL MISERABLY at doing that job. Things continue to get worse, and yet we all DO NOTHING besides bitch and moan and look for who to blame.  We're all to blame for letting these assholes to continue to get rich while playing a pissing game where the only losers are the common citizens.

If the Government shuts down tomorrow.  Every single member of Congress and the Senate along with the President of the United States need to be held directly responsible and then FIRED and replaced by people who aren't part of a political machine or puppets of the wealthy.  REAL people. REAL Subject Matter Experts who can come up with a plan and move forward with it quickly.

Top of the Food Chain, Bottom of the Class

Top-of-the-Food-Chain-Asshole-Humans really piss me off. Especially when it comes to all of us assuming all the world’s lesser evolved inhabitants are ours to do with as we please. For centuries now we’ve been trudging all over this earth like a bull in a china shop, killing things, polluting the land and air, and taking whatever the hell we wanted –whether it was a rare species of animal or a precious natural resource. You would think, as time moves forward and our technology and knowledge advances, that we would be able to see the harm we’ve done –and continue to do- and, as an entire race, come together in an effort to halt or even reverse some of the barbaric practices that we consider normal in this day and age. Sadly, that’s not the case though. 

For instance, why do we STILL keep hundreds of thousands of animals in captivity in zoos, amusement parks, and –worst of all- circus shows? Don’t give me that argument about educating people about all the animals and how to ensure all species survive the next hundred years. That’s all bullshit. I’d buy that argument if we were talking a hundred years ago, but in today’s society zoos, animal parks, and circuses serve one main purpose: Entertainment for the Masses. That’s it, plain and simple. I think we know enough about lions and tigers and bears and zebras and every other widely exploited animal species to educate everyone without having to keep these animals in man-made enclosures and living conditions that are, many times, woefully inadequate. You want to work to preserve all species, then start by letting them be FREE. You want to learn about a specific animal, get on the Internet! No need to keep all these living samples just so folks can come and gawk at them. What kind of life is that?! It’s equivalent to me getting put in a jail cell under the guise of saving my life and being able to study me close up. C’mon, folks… we’re WAY past that. 

Every day around the world, people pay big bucks to sit and watch exotic and majestic animals perform stupid tricks in shows simply for our amusement. Dolphins, whales, sea lions, seals, elephants, horses, monkeys, apes… all imprisoned and exploited by humans posing as “animal experts” and “animal lovers” all for the sake of profit. Hey, why not, we’re all at the top of the food chain –we can do whatever the hell we want! It’s horrible the way we treat animals. 

Maybe some animals are content to be pets of humans. I have dogs and a cat and they both seem pretty content. But I really consider these animals members of our family. Can you say the same about a killer whale that you keep in a tiny tank of water at a water park? You think he’s happy about his living conditions? Ordered to do tricks and obey commands like some sort of slave. But yet everyone is shocked and appalled when a trainer or handler gets killed by one of these animals. Well, DUH! 

I’ve seen first-hand how the majority of race horses are treated. It’s sad. They’re just vehicles. Once they’ve served their purpose, a lot of them are discarded like an old sweater. You want to race? Get off your fat ass and RUN then… don’t make animals do the work for you. Do I even have to mention greyhounds? Same thing there. Profit and our own entertainment always seem to come before the freedom and rights of all livings things. Maybe one day we will become wiser... or just become the victims of our own stupidity.

On the Cover of the Rolling Stone

Seeing the new cover of Rolling Stone magazine featuring Boston bomber Dzhokar Tsarnaev reminded me of the outrage I felt that day.  But it was directed at folks other than the two moron terrorists so I guess the title of this blog is a little bit misleading.  But I got your attention, right?

The Boston bombing was yet another needless tragedy caused by individuals who undoubtedly have a very flawed and misguided way of thinking and an absence of love in their heart.  It continually saddens me every time something like this happens.  I'm sad for all the innocent wounded and dead that get caught up in these senseless acts of hatred, violence, and terrorism.  And then I get even more sad when I realize this isn't the last time any of us will see something like this happen. 

My famous fall-back phrase is: "We are surrounded by idiots." -it's true.  Terrorists, psychopaths, and just plain stupid people are among our population every day and there's no 100%-effective way to stop one of these weirdos from detonating a bomb or going on a shooting or stabbing spree or driving their truck down the sidewalk of a busy city street, plowing down pedestrians.  This is the world we live in today.  And the best we can do is protect ourselves as best we can and learn to live in the shadow of this impending danger. 

Every time one of these senseless acts of violence occurs, everyone from common citizens to politicians to terrorism and security experts are quick to offer their best ideas and opinions on how to stop this from happening again.  I think it's our way of coping -fooling ourselves into a false sense of security.  Granted, we're probably a whole lot safer from radical Islamic terrorist today than we were 10 years ago, but there's no guarantee something on the scale of 9/11 won't ever happen again.  This world is too big and there's just too many people out there who are capable of and predisposed to doing evil.  But rather than viewing this as a hopeless situation, I'm going to try to view as just the way things are.  I can't waste a whole lot of time rearranging major aspects of my life worrying about whether I or my family will the the next victim of a senseless act of violence.  If it's one thing to take away from all this it's that life is fleeting and precious.  Don't spend too much time looking ahead... live in the now and cherish and enjoy every moment.  Because, if we learned anything from the past few tragedies it's that we're not 100% safe anywhere... not the grocery store, not at school, not at church, and not running a marathon in Boston.  That's why these things are almost always referred to as senseless acts.  They don't make any sense.

I purposely AVOIDED the majority of media coverage surrounding this tragedy while everyone was busy speculating over who was responsible for such a barbaric act.  Then, when police did have suspects identified, there was another news media frenzy.  Because, let's face it, we like -need- to have someone or something to blame when things like this happen so we, as Americans, can take action and get revenge or put measures in place to guarantee it never happens again.  We end up with a lot of knee-jerk accusations and reactions from a whole lot of people. And we all end up paying for these barbaric acts of others. We indirectly get punished by having more restrictions placed upon our daily lives while giving the police and government more authority and leeway when it comes to searches and investigations.

I guess what really pisses me off is there are some obvious people to blame for the increase in the number of senseless terrorist-type attacks occurring on American soil perpetrated by both foreign and domestic evil-doers.  But no one seems to really direct much outrage towards these folks.  Who are they?

1. The American News Media. Rather than just reporting the news and the facts, the TV news stations have morphed into a form of variety talk show and whenever anything like this happens, you get around-the-clock coverage which goes well above and beyond reporting the news and the facts.  Instead, you get to hear every conceivable back-story and theory about who, why, how, and when.  You get to hear from a parade of subject matter experts giving their opinions and thoeries.  And you get to hear, over and over again in agonizing detail, the same basic facts of the incident.  So, basically, every time something like this happens, it becomes a nationally televised events for days and weeks.  Once the culprits were identified, every aspect of their life was discected and splashed across the news, making them a sort of media star.  And now we have one of them gracing the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.  Wow.  All this does is inspire others to commit similar senseless acts because they know if they succeed, it will become a nationally televised event -and they, or their cause, will be in the national spot light for a while.  Thanks American News Media!  The blood of thousands of Americans is on your collective hands.  Just shut the fuck up and report the news, the facts, and any important updates as they become available. Stop with the around-the-clock coverage... you're not after the truth, you're after the RATINGS!

2. The United States Government.  If you go around whacking enough bee hives with your big stick -no matter how big and bad and protected you think you are- eventually you're gonna get stung.  That, my friends, is what is happening now.  We barged into Afghanistan and Iraq, waving the flag and claiming we were protecting our way of life by erradicating terrorism from the globe.  Yeah... sure. First of all, you can't irradicate terrorism.  There's always going to be one or two BILLION people in the world that don't agree with you.  Hell, a lot of them may actually hate you.  You can't beat or bomb these people into your way of thinking and if you try to do so, all you're going to do is piss off more people in the process.  This is fucking common sense and it's been going on for decades.  We've lost hundreds of thousands of our soldiers fighting wars in Korea, Viet Nam, Afghanistan, and Iraq -wars that we really had NO BUSINESS sticking our nose in.  And yet we never seem to learn the lesson. 

Why don't we just get the hell out of the Middle East?!  Stop sending all our money to our so-called friends and allies in that part of the world who will turn on a dime and rally against us.  You don't like us? Fine! We don't like you either.  You stay on your side of the world and we'll stay on ours.  We've got enough shit to fix right here in our own country without worrying how Pakistan or Egypt are doing or whether the whole Middle East will be taken over by radical Muslims. Fine!  It's about time we stopped making a few hundred oil executives filthy rich and seriously switch to cleaner, more sustainable energy sources anyway.  Screw the entire Middle East and all their oil. They need us just as much as we need their oil.  There's obviously a very large chasm between our way of thinking and theirs.  Let's just accept that for what it is and stop trying to fix the entire world while our own country is spiralling downward into a massive shitball of poverty, debt, and human crisis.

Please put your race card back in your pocket.

The tendancy for Americans to immediately throw down the race card really pisses me off!  And, again, I place a large portion of the blame squarely on the US news media for continually stirring the pot and fueling the fire. 

We're a constantly evolving, progressive society of mixed races and ethnicities so how about we stop playing the race card every time a black person gets injured or killed by someone who has a different skin color.  Better yet, how about we do away with the "black" and the "white" labels that we Americans like to try to squeeze everyone into. Slavery was abolished here in 1865. Between 1955 and 1970, there were great strides forward in the advancement of equality for all in this country and, even though racism and bigotry can still be encountered in a percentage of the less-evolved, refined, and educated members of our society, a majority of us get the whole concept of equal rights, tolerance, and understanding.  Most of us, anyway.

We need to remain vigilant against those members of our society that subscribe to the notion that any skin color, race, religion, or ethnicity is superior or inferior to any other.  To this day we have measures in place (affirmative action) to guard against such notions.  And we teach our children about tolerance and equality based on the hard and sometimes horrible lessons that history has taught us.  We've come a long way as a nation -and even as a civilization.  But here in this country, for as much as everyone is supposedly against racism, it is ALWAYS the first thing that comes up whenever a crime occurs involving different skin colors - especially if it involves a "black" person and a "white" person.  Black and white... where the hell did we ever come up with two such incredibly insufficient and misleading terms?! I am neither color -and I can't say that I've ever met a truly white or black person in all my years on this earth.  I guess we humans like to label everything so we can place it in a nice neat category... Black, white, yellow, Republican, Democrat, straight, gay, blue collar, white collar, liberal, conservative, progressive. As far as I'm concerned, I don't want any labels attached to me -and I think we'd all be a whole lot better off as a society if we did away with all these labels or at least stopped analyzing everything based on them. "Black people are 35% more likely to..." or "50% of white voters..." - Until we stop using colors and labels to group everyone in our society, we're doomed to keep falling back on the race card that is so easily played whenever something goes wrong in this country.

I get that some folks' ancestors were slaves -and others slave owners- in this country but I had nothing to do with that.  I learned all about it in school and determined right away that that was very wrong. Every day I run into people of every size and color that are WAY different than me but I try to at least tolerate them all -even if I don't understand why they are the way they are.  It's a challenge sometimes, sure.  But I know there's people looking at me with the same puzzled look and I'd hope they'd give me the same equal opportunity to coexist with them.

It all boils down to tolerance and understanding.  We have way too little of those two things in our society.  Instead, we fall back on fear and accusations.  Instead of trying to understand our differences, we fear them and, instead of tolerating each other and our differences, we accuse.  We're all so quick to judge and so quick to accuse.  It seems we're relying less on common sense, logic, compassion, and understanding as we quickly jump from conclusion to conclusion.

I don't expect us all to share the same opinions or views, but rather than vehemently fight against each other, can we find a way to Compromise?  It seems everything has to be black or white, yes or no, this way or that way ... there's never any movement toward a common ground.  Instead, we seem to be heading away in the wrong direction.  For all our technological advances and claims of highly advanced human intelligence we're still pretty dumb when it comes to being duped by the media and being sucked into this very unproductive "herd mentality".

Our New Judicial System: THE MEDIA

The news media really pisses me off.  And the fact that all of us seem to be content to draw our conclusions based on what we see and hear in the news really -REALLY- pisses me off.   It seems we don't really need a criminal justice system any more.  Why pay a judge and lawyers to gather facts and argue a case when we can just have a bunch of reporters gather hearsay and dubious facts about a case and twist them into 10-second sensationalized sound bites?  Suddenly we all know ALL the facts based on what we've been seeing and hearing the media.  Who needs a jury?  What do THEY know?!  We've got the media to give us unbiased and completely accurate facts.  Right?!

People, George Zimmerman was found INNOCENT in a court of law -after a lengthy trial where facts, information, and numerous people's testimony was presented by professionally trained lawyers.  Then a meticulously selected group of jurors who were all given specific guidelines and instructions on how to do their job were entrusted to decide -based on all the REAL evidence and ACTUAL testimony that all of us didn't have access to (but we somehow think we did thanks to the media!)- whether Mr. Zimmerman's actions were criminal. 

George Zimmerman was found INNOCENT -after all that.  Obviously all of Trayvon Martin's family and friends feel that justice was not served.  I can understand that.  But what about the rest of us?!  Why is everyone saying they're going to boycott Florida -that this was a serious miscarriage of justice.  How the HELL do YOU know this was a bad verdict?!  YOU weren't there the night that Zimmerman shot Martin and YOU weren't in court every day, YOU didn't hear actual testimony and see actual evidence and listen to expert testimony.  YOU didn't deliberate with 11 other people to come up with a verdict.  All YOU have to go on is what you heard and saw in the media -and the media's SOLE purpose is to get ratings and sell newspapers.  They purposely stir up controversy and public debate by putting out half-ass information and recycled sensationalized tag lines.  And now, suddenly, we're all experts on what happened that night.  Wow.  There's only two witnesses to what really happened that night -and one of them is dead. That's really, REALLY unfortunate and terrible and sad and frustrating.  But because that's the way things ended up, it's the job of the police (who initially obviously felt that there was NO crime committed since they didn't charge Zimmerman until 5 or 6 weeks later) and the DA and the jury to sort the whole thing out.  Which is what just happened, by the way.

Our judicial system is FAR from perfect.  Innocent people get locked away for years (or put to death in some cases) and guilty people get set free.  It's smart and prudent for us to analyze and question decisions like this.  But in order to make an informed decision on things like this, we need all of the complete facts -NOT- just what we get from the media. 

The case is closed now, so move on.  Stop watching whatever that is disguised as "news" these days and start educating yourself on the real problems facing this country - things that everyone should be ENRAGED about, but no one is.  Our spiraling national debt, a crooked and fixed political system, and companies like Monsanto (with help from the USDA), attempting to control the world's food supply.  Leave George Zimmerman alone.

No Time for Parties

While a lot of you continue to tow your party's line and throw up ads and charts and statistics as ammo to blame either the Republicans and the Democrats (Obama included) on the current state of the union, I just sit back in amazement at the immense level of stupidity that surrounds me every day.

The bottom line here is that we've got 535 members of Congress along with a President and all his cabinet members and advisors all of which are FAILING to effectively manage this country's economy. They're not only failing, they're making things worse.  And it's not just this administration or session of congress; this same mismanagement has been going on for DECADES! Why? Because we're all REALLY STUPID - we keep voting for the same BULLSHIT every election!  And then we join in with the idiots on Capitol Hill by blaming the other party for everything.  So, all you have is two sides shifting the blame back and forth -over and over and over again. Guess what - that doesn't actually ACCOMPLISH anything!  The only way things are going to change is if the entire system changes! Quit blowing your Republican or Democratic horn long enough to realize that YOU are part of the problem.  Because you keep on swallowing the same bullshit from your party year after year after year.

Here's what you do instead:

Fire Congress. Right now!  The whole lot of them.  They're each making $174,000 a year (the leadership, slightly more) -- that's over $93Million each year, not including the salaries of all the support staff.  For WHAT?!  NOTHING.  ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.  The current approval rating for Congress is 14% - that means 86% of the population -the people who voted for these idiots in the first place- DON'T APPROVE of the way Congress is doing things.  Now, if you or I had a meager 14% approval rating on our yearly review at work, do you think we'd still be employed?!  Why is it different for Congress?

And while you're at, go ahead and fire the President too.  He's pretty much a puppet of his party.  Hasn't had any "REAL" power in over a hundred years.

There! Now we start fresh and hold open and FAIR debates and elections to choose some real leaders and visionaries.  No more Two-Party choke hold on debates and elections.  No more Two-Party choke hold on THE COUNTRY. We get to hear all voices and all ideas and we make our choices based on facts, not spinned up hype or dirty tricks. Congress should be made up of multiple parties; Green, Libertarian, Constitution, Independents... matter of fact, let's just take party affiliation out of the entire equation.  I don't care if you're a member of the alien alliance party -if you've got the skills, ideas, and INTEGRITY to get this country turned around, YOU'RE HIRED!

And once you're hired, you either produced or you get fired. Screw these 2- or 6-year 'terms' - your job is now PERFORMANCE-based and you can be voted out after your first year. 

Tell me, seriously, how could that NOT work?!  It's obvious that what we have now is NOT working.  It's time to try something new.

NFL Rant

I love watching NFL football games. My favorite team is the Washington Redskins and this year, they actually gave us fans something to cheer about. I detest the Ravens -well, not so much the team, but more so the fans... the stupid ones (which there seems to be a high percentage of) - I call them "Baltimorons". So, you can imagine my agony this year after the Ravens won the Super Bowl. I watched all the fans going nuts in the streets as if they had all just won the lottery. Hell, it would've been a similar scene in D.C. if the Redskins had won the Super Bowl. Every city has a big party for their NFL team if they win.

But it all got me to thinking what suckers all us fans really are. I mean, what do WE, the fans, actually gain from our NFL team winning the Super Bowl? Bragging rights. Nothing more (unless you placed a little side bet on the Super Bowl). Meanwhile, all the players on the winning team get a nice ring and an extra $88,000 in their pocket - now that's in addition to their regular salary, performance bonuses, and any side endorsement deals. Sure, Baltimore as a city will benefit financially from having a Super Bowl champion team, but I'm talking about the average fan. I know guys who make a lot less money than I do, but yet they have season tickets or manage to get to several games each year to root on their team. They have multiple "official team jerseys" and all kinds of officially NFL-license gear to show their support for their team. And all for what? I think it's cool to root on your home team, but it kinda pisses me off when I stop and think about how much frickin' money the NFL and all the teams are pulling in -all of which is support by us, the stupid fans who buy tickets and merchandise to make hundreds of millionaires in the NFL even richer. And what do we get out of the deal? Bragging rights. Wow. We're pretty stupid.


Let's throw out some numbers:

The average NFL player's Salary is currently around $1.9 Million. That's average. Some make less - (bare minimum salary is $225,000/yr.)- and many make more. MUCH more. Take for instance:

Adrian Peterson (RB Vikings) ― $11,150,000/yr.

Matt Ryan (QB Falcons)― $12,990,000/yr.

Larry Fitzgerald (WR Cardinals) ― $13,250,000/yr.

Trent Williams (OT Redskins) ― $14,000,000/yr.

Peyton Manning (QB Broncos) ― $18,000,000/yr.

Dwight Freeney ― (DE Colts) $19,035,000/yr.

Wow. Now throw in the money from endorsement deals for some of the standout players. For instance, Peyton Manning made $15 Million last year just in endorsement deals... so that's $33 Million he made last year. Not bad. For playing a game.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell didn't have to PLAY the game - he just served as top dog. How much did he earn? Well, he nearly tripled his compensation in 2011, earning just under $30 million.

For the 2011/12 season, the Redskins had a annual salary budget of $104,305,244 with which to pay all the coaches (Mike Shanahan makes $7Million/yr., by the way), support staff, and players.

Let that sink in. The team's budget was over ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR MILLION DOLLARS!!!

Now let this sink in: As a whole, revenue in the NFL reached an estimated $9.5 billion in 2011-12. That is up $500 million (5.6%) from the year before. That's BILLION -with a "B".

Where does all this money come from?! The STUPID FANS.

On average, a fan will pay $78 for a ticket to a game and another $27 to park the damn car. If you're lucky, you can get a fountain soda and a hotdog for around $10 or, if you want a beer, you can cough up at least $7 for 16-oz. draft.  Bottom line, the average cost for a family of four to attend a game is around $450. That's why you don't see me and my family at any games - because I have way better things to spend $450 on -especially when I can watch the game at home in the comfort of my own living room. Last year, I got a pair of pre-season tickets for $50 each and free parking pass and I still came away feeling as if I got screwed on the deal. By the time I bought a pizza, a soda, and a beer, I was out almost $30. That is insane!

Let's do some quick, simplified math. Let's just say, for the sake of argument, that every fan pays an average of $100 to attend a game at FedEx Field, home of the Redskins. Let's say they pack the place (79,000 people is the capacity)... That comes out to $7,900,000 in just ticket revenue. Now let's say everone spends only $10 on food and drink... $790,000. So that's a total of $8,690,000 revenue for ONE GAME. OK, so that example was overly simplied, but I'll bet it is coming in on the conservative side of what is actually raked in at each home Redskins game. We're stupid. And the NFL is laughing their collective asses off at us while they skip happily to the bank.

But wait! It gets better!

You may not know it, but the National Football League is a NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION. I'm sure it seems a little crazy that a collection of teams that generated at least $9 billion in revenue last season would be given tax-exempt status, but the NFL is technically classified as a 501(c)6 organization. Here’s how the IRS describes 501(c)6 tax-exempt status:

Section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code provides for the exemption of business leagues, chambers of commerce, real estate boards, boards of trade and professional football leagues, which are not organized for profit and no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.

Wow. You know what that means, right? Yeah, just like every other insanely rich corporation, bank, or person in this country, the NFL has come up with a way to get around paying their fair share of taxes.

Look, I'm not trying to say the NFL is evil or that I'm not ever going to root for the Redskins again, I'm simply pointing out one example (among thousands of others) of how far out of whack our priorities are. Why does the NFL exist and prosper? Because it can. There are thousands and thousands of people who believe that it's OK to get paid $18Million/year to play football games for 5 or 6 months out of the year. Yeah. Sure! Even though a large percentage of fans will earn nowhere close to $18Million in their entire lifetime. Doesn't matter. We like to root for our team, dammit! Whether it's baseball, football, hockey, or basketball... there seems to be something programmed within us that makes us enjoy rooting for professional athletes and teams and spend our hard-earned money making them richer.   I don't get it. I can understand supporting high school and college teams so fanatically -after all, those players aren't making millions of dollars. They're playing for the love of the game. But you don't see them receiving celebrations and parades anywhere near the magnitude of professional sports. Why?