Tony Island Blog - Sane Thoughts for an Insane World

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! The President is holding a Twitter Town Hall as I post this blog - of course, I expected hard hitting questions and honest answers and as sure as the sun sets in the West, I got neither. On a question about why Obama isn't pushing more tech jobs instead of manufacturing jobs, Obama drones on about manufacturing jobs having higher pay, etc. Sure, for lower educated Americans, manufacturing is a great way to lift yourself out of poverty, but there aren't enough of them to employ everyone who needs a job. Of course, the real reason Obama pushes manufacturing jobs is the Unions. Not too many union members in Silicon Valley. We still haven't learned that Unions destroyed GM and Chrysler. He continues to defend the role of government in creating jobs which we know can't happen - government can't create jobs, only destroy them. But he won't acknowledge that. He's a smooth talker. Too bad he's smoothly talking us to Third Wor...

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! Just a short post to wish all my readers A Happy Independence Day! How are you celebrating July 4th? Family, food and fireworks? Whatever you do - think about the reason this day exists and what would have happened had our Founding Fathers lost the war. Thanks for reading Tony Island Blog!

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! I saw this Web article as I was surfing the Web today. I thought it was enlightening. They rank the 10 states that are the least restrictive and the 10 most restrictive on personal freedoms. I knew my state would make the most restrictive list..but I won't tell you which one it is! Anyway, check it here: The Ten States That Restrict Personal Freedom (And Those That Protect It) - 24/7 Wall St. then come back here and let us know your thoughts. If you live in one of the 20 states highlighted in the article, do you agree or disagree with your rank and listing? Have you taken any action to increase (or decrease) personal freedom in your state regardless of the list it's on (if either)? Are we headed to a future filled with nanny-states? Voice your opinion below! Let out some steam! Thanks for reading Tony Island Blog!

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! 30 Days was a short-lived series by Morgan Spurlock, the producer of Super Size Me , which was reviewed here . There were 3 seasons comprised of 6 episodes per season. Each episode took a willing participant and immersed him/her into an alien environment to explore a culture/lifestyle that was the opposite of what he/she knows to see if how it would affect him/her. Basically, it took the old saying "To walk in someone else's shoes" to the test. I've only been through the first season, but I've found the series interesting and enlightening - more so by watching the participants reactions to their new environments than by my own reaction to the events depicted. The topics covered in the first season were living on minimum wage, a Christian living among Muslims, anti-aging, straight man in a gay world, off the grid and binge drinking Mom. Two of the episodes that popped out at me were "Off the Grid" in which two New Yor...

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! You may remember this post I made a while back about Facebook. In re-reading that post, I can see the beginnings of the obsession I find myself in now. It's really not so much Facebook itself (I still don't care that my friends think "It's a beach day!") but the social games - specifically Farmville and Cafe World. I am totally hooked - and while I feel I can walk away any day, I don't! And I don't want to! I dunno what it is about those two games (I've tried at least a dozen Facebook games off and on) that keeps me coming back. Well, they do tend to update them, continually adding more depth which sucks me in even further. A few years ago, I swore to myself I would never " pay to play " yet since then I've sunk in at least $20 of my own money (I know, it's not a lot of dough  but considering I have nothing to show for it except a few fake trees on a fake farm, it's a lot!!) and $20 of gift money.....

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! Just a short post to congratulate the Boston Bruins hockey team on a job well done! They won their sixth Stanley Cup (the last one was in 1972!) by defeating the Vancouver Canucks, 4-0 in Game 7, on the road in Vancouver, on June 15th, 2011! The Bruins accomplished at least one first - they were the first hockey team to win 3 Game 7s in the same playoff season. Boston became the first city to have all four of its major sports teams win a championship in a 7 year period. Sadly, some idiots started rioting over the loss. But, there's no need for Canadians to apologize - the world knows that the houligans that started the rioting would have done the same thing had the Canucks won it all. It was basically an excuse for them to go on a rampage and pillage, loot the city. Canuck fans be proud of your team for all it accomplished this season - don't let the loss or the rioting tarnish an otherwise great season and prou...

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! William Voegeli's Never Enough: America's Limitless Welfare State  takes a look at the welfare state that was basically created during the New Deal era. On the one hand, you have the Liberal Loons (my term, not Voegeli's) who insist that the welfare state must grow larger to help those in need. On the other hand, you have the fiscal conservatives who equally adamantly insist that the Federal government must get smaller, thus lowering taxes and enabling the private sector to expand and create more jobs. This see-saw from large to small and back is examined by Voegeli. He lays some ground work in the first half of the book, comparing the US to other countries in various ways. In the second part of the book, he takes a look at the liberal and conservative viewpoint of how things should be. He basically comes to the conclusion that conservatives have to admit that the welfare state will never go away so it's best to deal with it and manage...