Words Mean Things

I remember hearing the phrase "words mean things" years ago on the radio. I had to look up who said it and it was Rush Limbaugh! I used to listen to Rush all the time as I drove around Las Vegas in a delivery van and later as a salesman. I liked most of what Rush said, and apparently some of it has stuck with me.

Getting back to "words mean things", I recently had this phrase come back to mind as I was contemplating the new law in Arizona. As most people in the United States know, Arizona recently passed SB1070 ( http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070s.pdf ) which states basically that it is illegal to break the law. More specifically, if you entered the United States from another country without the proper documentation, you are subject to jail, deportation, etc...

There are those in this country that think this law will somehow infringe on the "civil liberties" of illegal immigrants. By definition "Civil Liberties" are rights and freedoms that protect an individual from the state. Civil liberties set limits on the government so that its agents cannot abuse their power and interfere unduly with the lives of private citizens. So the problem I have is that if a person is in this country illegally, they are not a citizen and therefore do not possess the same rights as me or any other citizen.

And that brings me to my point that words mean things. I have read on the internet many places and heard on the main-stream news that people that defend this law are "anti-immigrant". The one word that is missing is "illegal"... I am anti-ILLEGAL-immigrant. My ancestors came here from other countries but they came legally. That one little word really changes the meaning of the sentence, doesn't it?

Another recent topic in the news that is causing an uproar is the proposed mosque to be built near "Ground Zero" in New York. From my understanding it is proposed to be built about two blocks from where the World Trade Center towers once stood. Once again the media reports that those opposed to building the mosque in that location are infringing on the rights of Muslims to practice religious freedom. In reality I have yet to hear ANYONE say they do not have the right to build a mosque and they do not have the right to build a mosque at that location.

What I have heard many times and from from many people is that they should not build a mosque THERE. It's a simple word... there, but in this case it holds great meaning. Just build the mosque a few miles away from the site where approximately 2,700 people were killed by muslim extremists.

It's that simple: Words Mean Things. I am not anti-immirant, I am anti-ILLEGAL-immigrant. It's not that I don't think Muslims should build a mosque in New York City, I just don't think the mosque should be built THERE (the propose site - two blocks from Ground Zero).

Yes, words mean things, even words that aren't spoken.

Pet Peeves

We all have them, and now it's my turn to share some of mine! Dictionary.com defines pet peeve as: "a particular and often continual annoyance". Man, I could fill volumes with things that cause me "continual annoyance"! Here are a couple that have been on my mind recently.

This one showed itself again the other morning while I was watching one of those "home fix it" shows. The hosts were fixing up an animal rescue facility. One of the hosts looked right at the camera and said: "This place is literally bursting at the seams." I have news for him, it may be overcrowded, but it is not LITERALLY bursting at the seams. It seems that people sometimes don't understand what literally means. Again from Dictionary.com: "actually; without exaggeration or inaccuracy". So, since the building wasn't actually bursting, was the host describing the situation "without exaggeration or inaccuracy"? I'd say he did not.

Amazing: “causing great surprise or sudden wonder”. I hear the word amazing used almost daily to describe such things as a car, someone’s new haircut or what they had for lunch that day. I have a difficult time thinking that a corned beef sandwich on rye bread caused someone great surprise or sudden wonder. It’s not that I mind the word itself, but it’s the overuse of amazing that bothers me.


I listen to a certain podcast on a regular basis. The podcast originates from Southern California and apparently just about EVERYTHING in So Cal is “amazing”. On a recent episode of the podcast I counted the use of the word amazing nine times in the first ten minutes. I stopped counting after that. The female host had gone to a restaurant over the weekend that was “amazing”. The food at that restaurant was “amazing”. The male host went on a date and his sandwich was “amazing” then played lazer tag and it was... amazing!

I have one word for those that think everything is AMAZING: Thesaurus. Here a few words I got from the thesaurus you might want to try in place of amazing: astounding, bewildering, breathtaking, extraordinary, impressive, marvelous, miraculous, spectacular, staggering, startling, striking, stunning, stupefying, stupendous, wonderful, wondrous.

It's literally amazing how much better I feel now that I got that off my chest!

New Blog

Obviously. That's the response I expect from anyone reading this, my first attempt at "blogging". If this goes as most new things I try, this will also be my last blog. I'm not the best at following up.

I want to thank a good friend, Rob (last name withheld) for the name of this blog. This was a saying I heard him say many times while I was young, and it stuck with me. In reality I don't expect that EVERY blog I post will be correct, that is to say I'm sure there will some opinions that I post that will change over time, but since they are MY opinions, they will be "correct".

So, with that, I will end this first post and begin to think of what I want to post next... I bet you can't wait!