My Inner Scream

The conservative plan for solving our healthcare 'crisis'.

2012-01-27T16:51:00.000-05:00

The conservative plan for solving our healthcare 'crisis'.

I am going to set up an analogy to make it clear the roles fedgov, private enterprise and individuals are. We have a game called football. This game has rules that have been agreed to, rules that were made by 'we the people' . We have teams (represents private enterprises) that play on this field and we have referees (represents fedgov) to ensure all the rules are followed and the game is played fairly. As you can see, this situation is mutually agreed upon and constitutional.

The game is played, and when new rules are warranted, they are added by 'we the people'. When one team or another breaks the rules, the referee steps in and calls a penalty. The game is fair yet the outcome is uncertain for there are no guarantees of success .

But, what happens when the referees suddenly take sides, favoring one team over another? This creates a very unfair situation, regardless of who the referees are favoring. This is exactly the situation that the 'Stimulus' bill does, it favors spending on certain industries (green tech for example), or propping up failing companies (Solyndra for example), or funneling cash to states that otherwise need to fix their own fiscal problems rather than hide them (California for example). This is unfair to well run companies who are playing by the rules, or industries who are providing goods and services that we need and it's unfair to states who do have their fiscal houses in order.

What happens when the referee ALSO fields a team (aka Obamacare)? Who can compete against that? The answer is no one can. The Referee team can pretty much do whatever they please because they are also refereeing the game. Anything goes because there will not be any penalties called on themselves. It is a huge conflict of interest. A private entity has no chance of succeeding against this team/referee combination for 2 huge reasons: 1) The referees aren't going to call any fouls against themselves, yet will call fouls on their opponents for any reason whatsoever to get them out of the game; and 2) The referee team, if they get into a financial bind can print their own money whereas a private entity cannot. What private entity can succeed against that?

When a private entity does wrong, it can be sued and people can go to jail. If fedgov does wrong, it doesn't get sued and people don't go to jail. Why? Because in the case of fedgov performing operational tasks such as Obamacare, the regulatory agency is ALSO fedgov. Fedgov is not going to sue itself.

What is the solution? It's actually quite simple. Fedgov continues in the regulatory function (referee) and 'we the people' set up the parameters of this game thus:

Set up the rules governing minimal coverage that people must have; rules to dealing with changing plans and rules for 'pre-existing' conditions (for which will be moot issue)
Eliminate barriers to competition by eliminating the restrictions of selling policies across state lines. Fedgov has been quashing competition in this way, which drives up costs. Of course there will be consolidations in this industry, but that is all good for competitive reasons.

Allow 'we the people' to set up medical savings accounts (MSA) that employers and individuals can contribute to. (Rules governing these accounts come from fedgov). An MSA is yours to do with and is your to manage, they follow you from job to job, so all you need to do is tell your employer where your MSA is, and they will contribute accordingly, thus there is no break in coverage due to changing jobs. An individual can contribute to an MSA account themselves. For example, if your parent is ill, you can add money into it to help her out. Medicare and Medicaid payments also flow into these accounts. If you know you have an upcoming procedure, you can begin to contribute to it ahead of time.
With an MSA, you can choose your own healthcare insurance policies. You go online, and select the federally (and state) mandated minimum coverage, and then you select whatever options you wish above that. Because there is no more interstate barriers, you will now have hundred's of companies to choose from. The choice is now yours, not your company's. Because there is greater choice, there is greater competition which drive efficiencies and cost savings to you.

With an MSA, you choose your own doctors according to whatever plans they accept. It is your money so it is your choice.

With an MSA, you can choose WHO to cover, and you can pool your MSA with a spouse(married or a legal domestic partnership, depending on the state). Every child must be covered, so when a child is born, you tell your employer what to withhold (just as you do now). Rules need to apply for changing accounts and coverage. You can choose who to cover so you can cover anyone you wish, including a live-in-boyfriend. You just pay the premium for his coverage.

With an MSA, the plan is yours and it follows you from employer to employer. It also is yours when you are unemployed, and you can contribute to it via cobra, or medicaid if need be. Or, your rich uncle can contribute to it. But, because you have the account, you are covered. Thus, eliminating the majority of uninsured people, as well as eliminating the majority of 'pre-existing conditions' issue.

Hospital visitations are done by who is being covered, not by who is married to whom.

Tort reform must be addressed as it is a huge cost driver of healthcare.
Rules surrounding 'pre-existing conditions' must be dealt with. As an analogy, let's say you have no auto insurance, yet you get into an accident. You then call Geico to get insurance. Would it be fair for Geico to give you insurance for the accident that already took place? As you see above, we are trying to eliminate this condition, and with MSA's, we attempt to eliminate them entirely.

As you can see, this plan tackles all of the goals that Obamacare is trying to achieve, but it does so in a way that fedgov still plays referee, but does not field a team. Costs are driven down for an individual because of enhanced competition, and tort reform. Costs are also driven down for employers because they do not need to administer plans anymore. 'Pre-Existing Conditions' is being tackled by attempting to eliminate the issue entirely. Gay spouses can be covered, whereas they are not in most states now.

iOwnTheWorld.com » Blog Archive » America Turning Redder

2011-10-23T22:32:00.000-04:00

iOwnTheWorld.com » Blog Archive » America Turning Redder

» The GOP Pro-Growth, Flat Tax Competition - Big Government

2011-10-22T15:59:00.000-04:00

» The GOP Pro-Growth, Flat Tax Competition - Big Government

Senate rejects big piece of Obama jobs bill

2011-10-22T09:43:00.000-04:00

Senate rejects big piece of Obama jobs bill

USPS in Trouble

2011-09-05T10:49:00.000-04:00

Here is the basicproblem with federal government operating a business. This article is all about the US Post Office, but it highlights clearly the issues. USPS has been losing customers for years due to several factors. One factor is competition from UPS and FedExand another factor is technology that has enabled people and businesses to goGreen by becoming paperless.

The paperlesscompany has the ability to do Electronic Fund Transfers (no more mailingchecks), emails, EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) which allows sales orders,Purchase Orders, Invoices, Shipping Documents etc. all to be electronicallymailed rather then using USPS. USPS hasbeen losing volume for years and will continue to do so. It's not like this was sudden or unexpected.

Competition is stiffamong USPS, UPS and FedEx. Competitionleads to innovations and improvements in services as we see all the time withUPS and FedEx's commercials detailing new, cheaper services. They can make thesechanges to products and services rather easily, and bring these to marketquickly. The USPS cannot. THE USPS needs an act of congress to enablechange (and we all know how fast they can move...not). By design, the USPS cannot be flexible enoughto really compete. So far, they havebeen able to get away with this because no other service delivers mail to thedoor because by law, the USPS has a virtual monopoly on this service.

Labor costs areliterally strangling the USPS.

"At the same time, decades of contractual promises made tounionized workers, including no-layoff clauses, are increasing the postoffice’s costs. Labor represents 80 percent of the agency’s expenses, comparedwith 53 percent at United Parcel Service and 32 percent at FedEx, its twobiggest private competitors. Postal workers also receive more generous healthbenefits than most other federal employees. "

Let me repeat: Labor represents 80% of the expenses. How can the USPS compete or just survive withlabor costs so high, and no ability to make any changes due to contract? (Who in their right mind signs a no-layoffcontract knowing full well the need to lay off workers?) Obviously the labor issue is a political hotpotato. USPS needs to lay off workersfor obvious reasons but unions will not allow it.

So far, I'veattempted to keep partisanship out of this to lay the foundations for thediscussion. Here are the points I wishto make:

How did labor get to be 80% of USPS costs? As the NYT points out, "decades of contractual promises made to unionized workers, including no-layoff clauses, are increasing the post office’s costs." This is what happens when a political party and a Public Sector Union get together in a cozy situation. The unions get great benefits and great contracts and the political party gets untold support in money, organization, protesters, phone banks, gotv etc. to reelect members of that party. It’s a vicious cycle that may benefit unions and the party, but it is extremely costly to 'We The People" who have to pay for it. I know there is a need for Private sector Unions, but not for Public Sector Unions. Like it or not, Scott Walker in Wisconsin fought hard to give the tools needed for districts to save money. The results are clear that he did the right thing.

This is an example of why government should not run an industry. It cannot react fast enough to compete, nor can the business model change without an act of congress. This applies to Obamacare, which is about to destroy the health insurance industry to replace it with Government run healthcare. The very same issues that are happening to USPS will happen to Obamacare, except there will be no competition from the private sector thus reducing any incentive to innovate or improve services. How can a company compete against Obamacare Inc. when Obamacare Inc. can just print more money?

As to what to do about the USPS, perhaps it is time to privatize it. Let it operate as a stand-alone business with some congressional oversight, but allow it to make it's own contracts with unions, allow it to modernize, allow it to operate in a way it can make money again, and lastly, remove some of the restrictions about carrying 1st class mail that perhaps other companies can compete in this arena. This is just a suggestion. One thing is clear, we cannot just print more money to allow this situation to continue. USPS has to get control over its labor costs, and it has to figure out ways to compete. Otherwise, it will not survive, and believe me, I just can't wait for the next delivery of junk mail and bills.

Progress Report -- Week1

2010-12-21T11:25:00.000-05:00

This is the 1st full week on this new program. I kinda feel like I woke up from a very long sleep. Woke up groggy and wondering where the heck am I? I feel like I'm beginning to get my head straight. I opened my eyes just a little further and saw my house. I closed them shut again! But... opened them up reluctantly to see that I have lots of work to do to get the place in order. Its a beginning.

Things are still overwhelming, but I feel much better this past week. I have to rediscover the mental toughness that I had several years ago. It won't happen overnight, but I'm encouraged so far with the progress.

I laughed this weekend. Its a very common experience for most people, but not for me in a very long time. Most people laugh and feel better afterwards. That's why we laugh... to feel better and put aside problems for just a little bit. Yeah, I fake laugh a lot to keep up appearances but it isn't the feel better kind of laugh.

I laughed this weekend because of something my eldest did. She played a practical joke on me that a week before, I would have been very angry. She put a rubber band around the kitchen sink spritzer and made sure it was aimed well. So when I turned on the faucet, I got a blast of water in my face. Of course the entire kitchen was hosed down too before I stopped the water. It was a great joke executed very well! Seeing my eldest's face trying to hold back the mirth... waiting for my reaction to know if she needed to run to the next county... I laughed. And when I was done laughing, I gave her a big hug and some sponges to clean the mess up.

It felt good to laugh. I hope to do it more. Its a beginning.

Back to the program. I am learning lots and I'm losing weight! I have now lost 2 pounds already! My energy levels are very good. I don't feel run down anymore. I hope to start putting the rest of the items together this week so I can start to earn some money from this. More to follow when I know more if this will work or not.

My Inner Scream

2010-12-14T13:04:00.003-05:00

As you can see, my blog is named 'My Inner Scream'. I chose this name for a reason, but when I chose it, I didn't know how apropos the name really was.

Most people have an inner monologue. That voice inside your head that you can debate with, think with, plan with, review past events with etc. It is the sounding board for editing what will eventually come out of your mouth. When working properly, it filters out the improper behaviors or inappropriate responses.

I say most people have this function working properly. Some do not. My youngest does not have an inner monologue, it all comes out of her mouth without any editing at all. There are many clinical names for this and many types of remedies, but that isn't the focus of this discussion. She is a very happy, intelligent person who just needs to fine tune her editing skills.

When something out of the ordinary happens, that inner voice begins screaming "LOOK OUT!". It's what causes the hair at the back of your neck to stand up and to get you to pay close attention to your surroundings and to ensure your speech filters are more tuned than normal. For instance, you are driving your car and your '6th' sense is warning you something is amiss. You look over your shoulder and another car is in your blind spot moving into the lane you are moving into as well. This is your Inner Scream at work.

I suffer from hearing loss in one ear, and due to the specific injury i suffered when I was 5, I constantly have a high pitched ringing called tinnitus. It is always there and there is no cure. All one can do is ignore it, but it is always there. Ive had 40 years of practice at ignoring it and i'm quite good at it.

What if there are so many things going amiss that your Inner Monologue is constantly screaming at you? At the time I created this blog, This was the situation I was in. The job was a hassle, I was going through a divorce, I had financial problems etc. Everything I was doing seamed to be screaming at me. At some point, all one can do is ignore it as if it was tinnitus.

As time went on, I became unemployed again. But this time, it affected me more than I could imagine. Now I am jobless, house in foreclosure etc. The racket cannot be ignored any longer. The din in my head is deafening to a point that it affects everything I do. It is difficult to do the things that needs to be done. In more quiet moments I can look around and see what is happening as it manifests itself in my surroundings. My house is a mess, simple things like paying bills, bathing, getting dressed, laundry or signing up for food stamps etc., aren't taken care of. I look around and the screaming become louder to take care of things!

I have immersed myself in stupid things to keep me from thinking about my problems: political discussions, TV, online games. I used to like to read books. I find that I cannot focus on reading because it is too noisy inside to concentrate.

The image on my blog is a perfect representation of how I feel... hands against my ears and screaming back. At first when I started this blog, the screaming back was in defiance that I CAN and I WILL. I used this blog as an outlet --- to give written voice to that inner scream. As time went on and the inner scream didn't subside no matter what I did including therapy. There was so much screaming that it became overwhelming to write it out. My screaming back became that of anguish that I was losing the battle. Unfortunately, now my screaming back resembles the picture perfectly in that it is a scream of utter despair. I am so overwhelmed by my inner scream. I don't sleep much and when I wake up most every day wishing that I hadn't.

I hate to admit this but I have shut down almost completely. Even the activities that I enjoyed such as woodworking and playing my guitar hold no release, no joy nor distraction from my inner scream. I still go through the motions of searching for work. I've even had some interviews. But i fear my passion for IT has also left me and it shows in my voice. I muster enough enthusiasm when my kids are around, but I just hope I'm not doing them more harm than good.

One of the reasons I got a dog was to distract them from seeing me as I really am, and to distract me from the inner scream. Who can be sad with that extremely cute, shaggy face, floppy-eared waggie-tailed doggie around. When Bella is around, things kinda seem normal. She has saved my life on numerous occasions and continues to do so. I take her almost everywhere I go. She makes everyone smile. She forces me to get outside a few times a day.

There is no doubt I suffer from depression in the clinical sense. If you read this, you will have a glimpse into how depression works on people and how they feel. I had a girlfriend of almost 10 years who suffered from depression and I only caught glimpses of this. I now know exactly what she is going through. I broke up with her because as I was sliding hard into depression, all she could do is empathize. She could not help. Also, I felt unworthy of being loved nor can I return love because I don't even like myself.

I am not writing this to gain sympathy! I don't want it! No depressed person wants anyone's sympathy. It only makes us feel worse. You cannot tell me anything I don't already know and when you try, it makes me feel worse. Don't tell me 'Do it for your kids.' I already know this and it just comes off as condescending. I have alienated several people already by telling them this. I know the people around me who love me hate seeing this and I know you feel powerless to help. I truly am sorry, and believe me, it just adds more fuel to the inner scream. What is a good thing to say is 'I am here for you'...and to be there when we choose to talk about it... but don't respond back with condescending remarks... just listen.

Why am I writing this... why now? Because something may be happening to change all of this. I don't want to get into too many details until I know this will work. I have embarked on a program that hopefully will change the way I think, live and work. This has the potential to repair my body, mind and soul. If this works, I'll describe what happened.

Suffice it to say that I started the program today. I wrote all of this because for the 1st time in a very long time I woke up looking forward to the day. I feel a little better and the screaming inside has subsided enough to write this out. I think the 1st step to repairing myself is to repair my body. I am at 180 pounds and 38 inches around. I will be tracking this all month and I'll post the results here weekly.

Wish me luck!

I beg to differ Mr President

2010-11-05T17:48:00.000-04:00

Via Drudge:

NEW YORK (CBS) — After suffering a “shellacking” in the midterm elections, President Obama acknowledges what many have seen as his chief weakness – failing to sell the importance of several legislative milestones to the American people.
“I think that’s a fair argument. I think that, over the course of two years we were so busy and so focused on getting a bunch of stuff done that, we stopped paying attention to the fact that leadership isn’t just legislation. That it’s a matter of persuading people. And giving them confidence and bringing them together. And setting a tone,” Mr. Obama told 60 Minutes’ Steve Kroft in an exclusive interview set to air Sunday.

Mr. President, I think you were very successful in delivering your message. Your problem is that no one was buying it! No matter how much you sell, wrap up your terrible policies with guilded words read from your teleprompter, 'we the people' are smart enough to see through the lipstick to know that we didnt want what was being sold. Nor do 'we the people' like having bad policies rammed down our throats without debates and without a proper reading of the legislation. Us dumb folks don't like people who say 'we need to pass this so we can know what's in it'.

Even those hayseeds from Kansas know that when you buy a car, you need to know what kind of engine it has. Only a true idiot would purchase something that expensive and not know what they are buying. No Mr. President, those people you talk down to and your colleagues like Pelosi, Reid, Kerry et al. who publicly call us morons have purchased a big box full of shit. Who are the idiots?

The election of 2010 -- Rejecting Liberal Policies

2010-11-03T09:19:00.000-04:00

The election of 2010 was a complete rejection of the Democrat's liberal policies. This rejection wasn't just at the federal level either. State and local elections saw a tidal wave of Republicans being elected. People are now recognizing that government IS the problem, not the solution and have elected those politicians who advocate for a limited, less intrusive government at all levels.

Historic GOP Gains in State Legislatures

• Going into the 2010 election, Democrats held 60 partisan legislative chambers and Republicans held 36, with a couple of ties.

• It looks like the GOP has picked up an astounding 20 chambers, including both houses in Alabama, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Wisconsin and additional chambers in Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

• In total legislative seats, it is possible that after all the results are posted, Republicans will have won a nationwide majority.

• Republicans haven’t enjoyed this much power in state capitals since the 1920s.

This rejection wasn't exactly nationwide, however. There were a few hold-out states --- NY, NJ, CA, MA, WA --- that are so overwhelmingly liberal that this election had virtually no effect. But, races that should have been cake walks for Liberals were much closer than expected. The people of those states need to suffer another 2 years of crushing debt and bad policies before the rising red tide can impact these states as well. NJ has a fighting chance to curb Liberal policies due to Governor Chris Christie who has already made significant gains by taking on unions, special interests and insuring sound fiscal policies.

I believe 'We the People' have woken up to the destructive policies of the left and are saying finally 'enough is enough'. WTP DON’T want to be told what light bulb or toilet bowl to use; we DON'T want to be told what kind of car to drive; we DON'T want to be told what doctor to see; we DON'T want nationalized healthcare; we DON'T want crushing national debt left to our children; and we certainly DON'T want a nameless, faceless Washington bureaucrat telling us how to raise our kids.

Now a note to the GOP--- Remember those that got you where you are; Conservatives. Remember that several squishy Republicans were replaced in the primaries by Conservative Republicans. We are watching you and we will not forget. We are fired up and very active and will remain so for quite some time. 2012 will see a new President and it should see a new Senate leadership as well.

perhaps a better image for my blog?

2010-10-17T10:57:00.002-04:00

Are We are Facing the Greatest Threat to Humanity?

2010-10-16T13:32:00.000-04:00

We are Facing the Greatest Threat to Humanity: Only Fundamental Change Can Save Us | | AlterNet

Here is the money quote: "A 'wild law' is a law to regulate human behaviour in order to protect the integrity of the earth and all species on it".

In order to do this, you need to change all governments to a totalitarian dictatorship in order to attempt to regulate human behavior. You must take away everyone's freedom. You must regulate or take over all industries to a central planning agency.

Time after time, attempts to regulate human behavior has failed. It has NEVER worked and it never will. Humans believe they have a basic right to be free and do not wish to be regulated. China has tried this. They even took people's right to have children away. Russia has tried this and i remember stories of people lining up just to purchase toilet paper. Witness North Korea who can't even afford to keep its lights on at night.

Time after time, each attempt has failed because the attempt always left the country in ruins without the proper resources left to protect its own citizens, let alone the environment. Look at the pollution in China or the nuclear meltdown in Chernobyl as examples of what happens when resources are depleted with communism/socialism/totalitarianism.

It takes resources to protect our environment. The worst thing you can do is to confiscate money from those entities that generate these resources. The USA is the richest country on this earth and this country does more FOR the environment than any other country and we do it of our own free will. Can we do more... sure we can. But when you confiscate wealth, that wealth cannot then be used to generate more wealth and we will become poor, without funds to do what is needed for the environment.

The question: "Are We are Facing the Greatest Threat to Humanity?" can be answered: Yes, and the threat is coming from this author and her ilk who think they can control human behavior, setting trees, animals and bugs above human beings. This is the greatest threat to humanity and our way of life and freedom.

As an side, the author's premise is completely off base. Most of the assertions have been proven false. For example, our overall temperature has not been rising at all over the last 15 years.

Why is there a Tea Party?

2010-10-15T09:45:00.003-04:00

What is so difficult to understand about the tea party? This is not a tail wag dog situation. This is an organic movement by people who are genuinely angry that our fedgov is completely out of control and spending money like drunken sailors. Our fedgov derives its power from 'we the people'... not the other way around.

This movement, just as the Boston Patriots did , decided to DO something about it. It didn’t start off as a state sponsored activity, it started with 'we the people' and it grew from there. Of course money is flowing to the Tea Party... just as money and materials flowed to the patriots in Boston to hold off the British. As opposed to unions confiscating money from its members to support the dems as well as George Soros and other deep pocketed people purchasing true astroturf ops.

We witnessed several very large protest rallies held by the Tea Party than no one was paid to attend. We witnessed the liberal rally where unions had to pay people to attend and teacher unions bused their kids to the rally regardless if the kids wanted to attend. There is another liberal rally upcoming that deep pocketed liberals are paying people to attend. If this was grass-roots, then no one should be paid to attend because if people feel strongly enough about the issues, they'd attend on their own. No, The Tea Party movement is the real deal.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." -- The Declaration of Independence.http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/

How can I say our fedgov is out of control? Our tax code has thousands of IF statements each designed to make us unequal; when fedgov can force you to buy a certain toilet or light bulb; when fedgov endeavors to treat people unequally solely based upon the color of their skin or gender; when fedgov takes over entire industries; when fedgov passes laws to force a citizen to purchase something just so it can be regulated; when a fedgov refuses to even protect our borders and denigrates states who have the audacity to protect it's citizens; when fedgov spends billions on a nebulous concept that has been proven false repeatedly (global warming) etc. This is the tyranny that 'we the people' fought against over 200 years ago and we must fight against it today.

No, I'm not advocating a new way to selecting our congressmen and president. the Tea Party is working within the constitutional framework and removing GOP via primaries and now removing DEMS via the general election. This is true democracy in action and it should be celebrated. Republicans have ceded the debate when they say 'lets not spend as much on federal program' or 'I don't like their big government ideas so lets try our big government ideas'. The debate needs to be brought back to 'Why should fedgov be involved in these things?'. That, first and foremost needs to be debated.

I am not a cold and heartless person. I share the same values that most people do. The problem with our current fedgov is that it IS cold and heartless, no matter how much money and programs it creates. Once you recognize this simple fact, then you'll then come to the conclusion that these programs do not belong at this level but at the state and local level. Our founders recognized this fact and wrote it into the USC. 'The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.' It was this recognition that the values of Massachusetts may not be the same as Virginia. It is the same today as it was back then, that each state has a different set of values . Slavery was an issue that couldn’t be resolved immediately but they understood that eventually the 'all men are created equal' would abolish slavery once and for all.

For example, if California decides it wants to have state run health care then let them. If people feel this is a great thing and want to pay higher taxes for it then move to California. If Alabama wants to allow its residence to choose their healthcare plan thus making it cheaper due to increased competition, then so be it. This is just one of many examples of differences in the approach to achieve the same goals. 'We the People' will decide what is best for themselves and make life decisions accordingly. We have seen over several decades now that people are rejecting the liberal policies of NY, CA, MI, et al. and moving to more business and individual friendly states like AR, TX and FL. We see this in the numbers of congressional seats changing from liberal states to conservative states. This is also the free market at work for people of free will.

I welcome the debate as you can tell. There is a proper role for fedgov, lets debate that first because unless you fully understand our concepts as laid out by the DOI and US Constitution, then what you have left is trying to defend the indefensible.

Mr. Prez, I am frustrated

2010-06-14T11:56:00.000-04:00

Yes, I'm getting frustrated with stories of booms sitting in a Maine warehouse unused, of refusal to get international help, of supplies not getting here because of incorrect paperwork, of Governors requesting things and not getting answers, of knee-jerk reactions stopping all deep-water drilling thus hurting everyone and solving nothing, of saying stupid things like 'boot on the Neck' and 'kick some ass' etc.

No, I have no problems with the prez playing golf or having personal concerts, after all, being prez is stressful. But enough is enough already. Prioritize, Mr. Prez, go to the funerals, not the fundraisers, and take advice from Oil execs, not movie execs.

Mr Prez, After you give a speech at a High School about not finding blame, then go out and blame everyone else, who can take you seriously anymore?

Why isn't Greenpeace, Sierra Club, et al screaming their bloody heads off? Why isn't the press treating this admin like they did after Katrina?

If I was Prez, how I would lead on this Gulf Oil Spill

2010-06-08T21:48:00.005-04:00

I got to thinking about how I would lead if I was President. This came about by a comment on one of my Facebook posts, so I figured I should elaborate.

Meet with BP CEO and keep an open line to make sure BP has whatever they need to be successful to stop the leak. (Without talking to CEO, you can't hold him responsible to his words and actions.)
Put someone in charge to work directly with BP to ensure they have every resource available and to coordinate all military and non-military assets with BP. (This may be the only step actually being done)
Put someone in charge of oil containment -- give them authority to acquire whatever materials are needed and coordination of navy assets to get these materials installed. (Companies can make the booms if asked, some companies are making the booms unasked, but no one is taking them, unacceptable)
Put someone in charge to coordinate state efforts -- Whatever a Governor needs this person ensures they get, give authority to cut thru all red tape to expedite fedgov response (It took LA almost 30 days to get approvals to do what they needed to do, totally unacceptable)
Put someone in charge to accept and coordinate Foreign aid in materials and assets. (Obama/Clinton has refused all foreign ad and materials, how stupid is that?)
Get the best experts into a room and include people who know how to deal with man-made disasters, such as the Iraqi oil well capping. This would mean enlisting the dreaded Haliburton who I'll bet can help. Contact Alaska's experts who have dealt with Exxon Valdez disaster. (James Cameron only shows how unserious this prez is)
Put someone in charge of the environmental issues --Ensure the environmental groups are heard ONLY if they have something constructive to contribute.
Put an accountant on the team just to keep track of the expenses. Whatever it takes now will be paid for later.
Put a lawyer on the team to document the process and hold people accountable AFTER the disaster is over. (lawsuit now only serves to dampen the spirit of cooperation and create an adversarial environment not conducive to solving the problem)
Finally, don't say things like 'boot on the neck' and 'find me some ass to kick', it demeans the office and shows how un-serious, un-engaged, uncooperative and disrespectful to those who are trying to solve this issue in good faith.

All of these 'someones' are cabinet level people who will drop whatever they are doing to focus on this. Daily briefings will happen right after the NIA briefing, and any major roadblocks will be addressed immediately.

As we witness this disaster, little of the above has happened. This is a disaster of leadership.

Pelosi heckled at progressive conference

2010-06-08T12:05:00.001-04:00

44 - Video: Pelosi heckled at progressive conference

What's worse... there is a sign that says 'Stop Funding Israeli Terror' right next to the stage. This is our Progressive, Liberal, Lefty attitude. Helen Thomas retired, but she was just echoing the sentiments of her political allies.

from the hypocrite files

2010-05-29T08:08:00.000-04:00

Hot Air » NRSC web video: “Never Again”

Power Line - Global Warming In One State

2010-02-10T01:28:00.000-05:00

Power Line - Global Warming In One State

Why are the moose leaving Minnesota?

Here's what puzzles me, though: isn't global warming supposed to be--you know--global? That being the case, why are moose populations "burgeoning" in Massachusetts, returning to Wisconsin, "growing" in Michigan, moving into Connecticut, where historically they did not live, "booming" in Oregon, "resurging" in Vermont, "increasing" in Washington, "growing exponentially" in New York, "significantly increas[ing]" in Colorado, and "growing" in Utah?

Perhaps because thats where the moose-jobs are?

Words have meaning, Mr. President

2010-02-10T00:26:00.000-05:00

Ritz-Carlton to close 5-diamond Las Vegas hotel in May

"The whole demonization of luxury meetings and companies' pulling back on having their high-end meetings in luxury hotels -- this has had a tremendous impact on Las Vegas," Deuschl said. "I can't think of another destination that has had to defend itself more against comments from politicians."

350 jobs lost.

What's your point?

2010-02-10T00:20:00.000-05:00

Moscow says U.S. missile shield aimed at Russia | Reuters

Snowstorm squelches climate change protest - Salt Lake Tribune

2010-01-01T08:44:00.001-05:00

This should be a Saturday Night Live Sketch:

A downtown protest of the climate change talks in Copenhagen became a victim of Wednesday's snowstorm.
"Not many people showed up because of the blizzard conditions," said organizer Clea Major, an international studies student at the University of Utah.
It didn't take long for the six friends to pack up a bullhorn and posters they'd planned to use for their "scream-in," an outlet for their frustration about the failure of the Copenhagen climate talks earlier this month to curb the pollution blamed for climate change.
Still, they chatted with a few passers-by during the commuter-hour protest near the Gateway, and explained that, blizzard aside, climate change is expected to bring chaos to the global climate, said Major.
She called Wednesday evening's effort a success and possibly the first in a series. As for the snow, it's not entirely new; a protest she attended last year in Washington, D.C., suffered a similar fate.
"There is always the irony element," Major said.

I guess from Major's perspective it could be ironic, but from mine, its hilarious.

You can't make this stuff up.

2009-12-28T18:06:00.000-05:00

During the day on Sunday, several drives on our ERP server failed. (translation from geek: system is down, no orders, no jobs no shipping no invoicing.. no MONEY). Thankfully we have a 4 hr response support agreement from Hp so we call Hp support to begin the process. After doing the triage, it was discovered that there were 3 drives that failed, so Hp needs to locate compatible drives so we can replace them and get up and running again.

Of the 3 drives, only 1 was found in the Philly area, 1 was found in the NYC area and another somewhere else in the country. We determined we can replace the one drive and limp along until the other drives are replaced.

I drive down to Philly with my dog because I have no idea how long this will take and it would be best if she was with me. We arrive to work about midnight to meet the Hp Tech and UPS who is delivering the drive from Philly. To get into the building, there are 2 doors. The outer door is locked with a key (which I have) and the inner door is locked with a swipe card. After struggling with the alarm system, I finally gained access to the building and brought the dog (and her blanket) to my office and settled in to wait for the UPS guy to show up.

As it turns out, my timing was near perfect. I didnt have to wait long for the UPS guy. So my dog and I met him in the vestibule. I needed both hands to sign for the package, so I placed the box between the door with the swipe entry and it's door jam. (now comes the fun part) Right at that moment as I was signing the paper, Bella decided she needed to be inside, and being a clutzy dog, knocked over the box holding the door open. Click. The door is now shut with me in the vestibule and the dog inside the building. I reach into my pocket to get the swipe card... its not there! ya see, as I was struggling with the alarm, i just shoved the card into my jacket pocket.

I was stuck!!!! I couldn't get in the building, I had no phone to call anyone, and the Hp tech was due to arrive very soon to fix the system that neither of us can get to! This was like a scene is a silly movie where the dog is sitting on the other side of the glass door with a mischievous smirk on her face trying to figure out in what order should she cause the most destruction. thankfully, Bella is a very good dog. All she did was go back to my office and curl up for a nap (as far as I know).

I am sure glad there are no hidden cameras to see what happened next. Needless to say there was a whole lot of yelling and screaming going on knowing full well how silly it was to carry on that way, but it felt real good to let it all out. I then made some attempts at going all black-belt on the glass panel. I executed some real nice reverse side kicks (my speciality from my tae kwon do days). Not a scratch. I then remembered that all the windows were replaced with bullet-stopping glass several years back because... well ... it IS Philly after all.

So I sat and waited for the Hp guy, who showed up at 1:15. After explaining my stupidity, he used his cell phone to call my consultant who found an employee's name in the phone book who then called someone local to let us in. We finally got into the building at 2am.

you just can't make this stuff up.

If you can't behave, we'll take your flying priveledges away!

2009-12-27T21:18:00.001-05:00

There are some forms of punishment that are meant to get the peers of the guilty to inflict punishment, or at least to get the peers to pressure themselves to not behave badly again. The armed forces do it... 'if one of you fail, you all do push ups till your arms fall off!' (or something like that). Or, 'If you kids can't share the tv, no one gets to watch it'.

It is now time to do the same for these asshole terrorists: 'If you swarthy middle-eastern looking men attempt to bomb another plane, there will be NO swarthy, middle-eastern men able to fly again'. Oh the outrage we'll here! The righteous indignation, the blasphemy of it all! If these people who will be outraged would spend just 10% of this energy where it belongs -- in loudly denouncing terrorism in deed as well as words -- the world would be a much better place.

But you know what? Some swarthy, middle-eastern men could start their own airline to shuttle other swarthy middle-eastern looking men around... and let them bomb themselves.

Northwest Bomb Plot Planned by al Qaeda in Yemen - ABC News

A Great Day!!!

2009-12-27T09:40:00.003-05:00

I Payed my mortgage today, and I feel great! Why you may ask?

After months of being unable to pay due to a jobless lifestyle... after months of working with the banks to stave off foreclosure (and it came real close)... after months of re-negotiating rates and terms and loan modifications.... notaries and certified checks....I payed the mortgage for the 1st time since April.

Right up until last week, I was still getting notices from the banks lawyers regarding foreclosure procedures, I was getting letters from local lawyers as recently as yesterday saying 'so.. your in foreclosure... use me!'.

My anxiety level was rising to a point of physical pain. The knot in my chest had been growing so slowly that I didn't realize how bad it was until a very close friend noticed and helped to ease it. She didn't say anything that I didn't already know, but the way she said it was a major kick in my ass, and sometimes a person needs a slap in the face to wake them up from the funk that the person has put himself in.

I still didn't realize why it was happening, I thought it was job related. I had some time yesterday driving for 3 hours to think more about it. Although the job is stressful, the thought of losing my house represented a more powerful emotional reaction. Emotions range from being a lousy parent who can't keep a roof over his children's heads, feelings of inadequacy from being unable to meet my obligations, feelings of guilt for making poor decisions in purchasing the house in the 1st place, feelings of shame for procrastinating for not taking care of things in the proper time frame, feelings of dread of what will happen when they take my home away.

I can now understand how all of these emotions can overwhelm and devastate a person to a point of unable to live with it. A great quote from the movie Shawshank Redemption comes to mind.... 'Get busy living, or get busy dying'. I have made a choice: I will get busy living.

So, this morning, i FINALLY went online to gmac to attempt to pay the mortgage thinking that I wouldn't be able to due to the foreclosure notices. I logged in, and it allowed me to pay!!! The knot in my chest eased considerably, and now.. .I just feel stupid for not doing this sooner, and incredibly grateful for having such great friends. The sun is shining, and I think I'll take the kids shopping for some new living room furniture to improve my home.

UPDATE: It figures... A disk drive on my company's production ERP system failed, so I have to go to work today to meet the Hp tech so he/she can fix it. So.. bundle up the kids and drive to Philly. However, the knot didn't get tighter... its still a beautiful day and I'm enjoying being with my kids...no matter where we are and what we are doing.

Lets deal in facts

2009-12-26T07:09:00.000-05:00

ICECAP

Greenhouse gases and their effects are well-known. Here are some of things we know:

• The most effective greenhouse gas is water vapor, comprising approximately 95 percent of the total greenhouse effect.

• Carbon dioxide concentration has been continually rising for nearly 100 years. It continues to rise, but carbon dioxide concentrations at present are near the lowest in geologic history.

• Temperature change correlation with carbon dioxide levels is not statistically significant.

• There are no data that definitively relate carbon dioxide levels to temperature changes.

• The greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide logarithmically declines with increasing concentration. At present levels, any additional carbon dioxide can have very little effect.

We also know a lot about Earth temperature changes:

• Global temperature changes naturally all of the time, in both directions and at many scales of intensity.

• The warmest year in the U.S. in the last century was 1934, not 1998. The U.S. has the best and most extensive temperature records in the world.

• Global temperature peaked in 1998 on the current 60-80 year cycle, and has been episodically declining ever since. This cooling absolutely falsifies claims that human carbon dioxide emissions are a controlling factor in Earth temperature.

• Voluminous historic records demonstrate the Medieval Climate Optimum (MCO) was real and that the “hockey stick” graphic that attempted to deny that fact was at best bad science. The MCO was considerably warmer than the end of the 20th century.

• During the last 100 years, temperature has both risen and fallen, including the present cooling. All the changes in temperature of the last 100 years are in normal historic ranges, both in absolute value and, most importantly, rate of change.

Contrary to many public statements:

• Effects of temperature change are absolutely independent of the cause of the temperature change.

• Global hurricane, cyclonic and major storm activity is near 30-year lows. Any increase in cost of damages by storms is a product of increasing population density in vulnerable areas such as along the shores and property value inflation, not due to any increase in frequency or severity of storms.

• Polar bears have survived and thrived over periods of extreme cold and extreme warmth over hundreds of thousands of years - extremes far in excess of modern temperature changes.

• The 2009 minimum Arctic ice extent was significantly larger than the previous two years. The 2009 Antarctic maximum ice extent was significantly above the 30-year average. There are only 30 years of records.

• Rate and magnitude of sea level changes observed during the last 100 years are within normal historical ranges. Current sea level rise is tiny and, at most, justifies a prediction of perhaps ten centimeters rise in this century.

The present climate debate is a classic conflict between data and computer programs. The computer programs are the source of concern over climate change and global warming, not the data. Data are measurements. Computer programs are artificial constructs.

The Benefits of Global Warming

2009-12-21T08:35:00.000-05:00

I'll bet for every doom and gloom prediction that the Global Warming alarmists think up, there is a beneficial prediction that will cancel it out. Case in point, The Chunnel was shut down with passengers inside the tunnel for 15 hours:

My Way News - Eurostar train services canceled indefinitely

Services have been suspended since late Friday, when a series of glitches stranded five trains inside the Channel Tunnel and trapped more than 2,000 passengers for hours in stuffy and claustrophobic conditions. More than 55,000 passengers overall have been affected.
Some panicked passengers stayed underground for more than 15 hours without food or water, or any clear idea of what was going on - prompting outrage from travelers and a promise from Eurostar that no passenger train would enter the tunnel until the issue had been identified and fixed.

So, if there was global warming, things like this wouldn't happen anymore.... right?

Dont rob my house

2009-12-05T18:46:00.000-05:00

What's the best way to prevent getting your house robbed? Put out a sign on your front yard saying "I will be on vacation starting July 2011". How will this prevent your house being robbed (at least up until July 2011)? Why rob a house when it is occupied when you can wait until it is empty.

Our President just put that sign out in Afghanistan's front yard. Who cares if there is 30k more troops... it may as well be 80k or 1k, it wont make a difference. The enemy, now knowing what we'll be doing, will make the proper adjustments in their strategy. They will hunker down and melt into the countryside, while they recruit and train and prepare for their offensive starting August 2011.

Meanwhile, Obama claims victory because no troops are being killed fighting the enemy because we cant find the enemy. Our troops all come home with much fanfare. In Afghanistan, the Taliban re-asserts itself because we have really accomplished anything. Of course, our press as well as Obama ignores this.

Its no wonder our allies don't like this strategy

Why I'll never visit San Fransisco again

2009-12-05T08:44:00.000-05:00

SF Supervisor Considers Public Gay Sex Tents | Right Wing News

call for investigation on climate change?

2009-11-24T06:33:00.000-05:00

Like that's going to happen.

Ms Chairman: 'Lets begin an investigation into the hoax of climate change. I know I supported it (and still do) and I know this investigation is going to make me and every democrat look stupid, but its in the best interest of the people to know the truth.'

like i said... it could happen.... NOT!

.: U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works :: Minority Page :.

Lieberman Digs In on Public Option - WSJ.com

2009-11-24T06:28:00.000-05:00

What do you call a Democrat with some common sense? There are none because the democrats boot them out of the party!

Lieberman Digs In on Public Option - WSJ.com

Ex-ACORN official gets probation for voter registration plan - Monday, Nov. 23, 2009 | 10:01 a.m. - Las Vegas Sun

2009-11-24T06:25:00.000-05:00

at what point will the national media start covering acorn? When will the national media start to ask tough questions of democrats who support acorn? When will the national media also begin covering all the thuggery and bad behavior of those groups who support democrats at any cost?

Oh yeah... they are all out covering their true enemy... Sarah Palin.

Ex-ACORN official gets probation for voter registration plan - Monday, Nov. 23, 2009 | 10:01 a.m. - Las Vegas Sun

On Sarah Palin

2009-11-24T05:52:00.000-05:00

What is it with Sarah Palin that makes the left hate her so much that not only do they oppose her, they must destroy her? Why is she (and anyone who the left opposes) treated like an enemy rather than an American that just has a differing viewpoint?

If the left had this kind of visceral hate for our true enemies, our troops would already be home from Iraq and Afghanistan-- the Taliban, Al Qaeda and the Iranians would have seen a united America with a common cause to destroy these hateful, evil regimes-- but instead they see the left playing the useful idiots in opposing anything Bush did just because Bush was for it.

What is Religion?

2009-11-21T11:10:00.003-05:00

What do you call it when you have a deep belief in something you cannot physically see, touch or prove its actual existence... yet you pay homage to it daily? Here is Wikipedia's definition of religion:

A religion is a system of human thought which usually includes a set of narratives, symbols, beliefs and practices that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power, deity or deities, or ultimate truth.^[1] Religion is commonly identified by the practitioner's prayer, ritual, meditation, music and art, among other things, but more generally is interwoven with society and politics. It may focus on specific supernatural, metaphysical, and moral claims about reality (the cosmos and human nature) which may yield a set of religious laws, ethics, and a particular lifestyle. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and religious experience.

Well, isn't this the same definition of those who believe in Global Warming? As we keep learning, the 'science' behind AGW is faulty and politically driven. So, what are the believers of AGW left with? What they are left with is the definition of religion above.

Now lets take this one step further. As the left like to point out, there is a separation of Church and State. And since AGW has now joined the ranks of religion, should we now insist on this separation to prevent our government from promoting this religion? Thus, it should now be unconstitutional for any government agency to promote AGW in anyway shape or form.

Obama Dithers... Troops Die!

2009-10-28T21:50:00.000-04:00

Afghan, Pakistan carnage raises heat on Obama

Climate chief Lord Stern: give up meat to save the planet - Times Online

2009-10-26T22:22:00.000-04:00

Are you kidding me? What is this moron's intention... to kill every pig and cow on the earth? Well, newsflash: thats what we are doing, and while we're at it, we are eating the killed pigs and cows. The problem is more Pigs and cows are being born. Its a vicious cycle.

Climate chief Lord Stern: give up meat to save the planet - Times Online

Americans’ Views on Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize

2009-10-24T11:35:00.001-04:00

from the 'Ya think?' department:

Americans’ Views on Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize

Howdy

2009-10-24T07:36:00.005-04:00

Hi. I haven't posted anything here for a while. I couldn't bring myself to a place that I can put myself out there for the public to view. Although I thought about blogging as a therapy to my condition.

I am suffering from depression. I have no idea for how long, but it became extreme when i was laid-off in January from a very good job that I had just landed 3 months earlier. Prior to that, I was unemployed for 8 months. In those 8 months, I woke up with a sense of optimism, and began each day anew looking for a job, or a consulting position or a bartender job.

I landed a nice job in NYC that paid very well. I upgraded my entire wardrobe with new suits, new shoes, new shirts, new ties. I really enjoyed the bus ride to/from the city, and it was a blast being in the most exiting, vibrant place in the world. I was downsized after 3 months (last in/first out).

This was devastating. I now had to start all over with the job search, but with one major difference: I found that my optimism reserves completely drained ... replaced with feelings of being worthless/helpless/hopeless. I couldn't even get out of bed. I ate because I had to, I bathed because I had to. I put on the best face I could in front of my children, but it was difficult at times to hide the tears.

During this period, my inner scream was deafening with terrible thoughts. I feared the kitchen and thankfully i had nothing more powerful than an aspirin in the house.

I had a girlfriend until April. But she too suffers from depression. She could not help me and it became a further downward spiral with her, so I probably did the best thing I could do: I broke up with her.

I read an article somewhere about a guy who was in a similar situation. He had made a decision to get a dog. As he described it, having something around that is an eternal optimist, always happy, and gives you unconditional love is a tremendous gift. So, after always having cats as pets, I shocked everyone (including my kids) and got a dog.

Bella saved me. She gave me a reason to get up in the morning, she got me off the couch. She jump started my attitude. I got her in May from Animal Rescue (this is another story), and she gave me the courage to reach out for help. I began seeing a therapist, but it was Bella who's therapy of her happiness and optimism that really worked.

I landed a job in September and it is going very well. I feel better about myself but I know that I still suffer from depression. Depression isn't something that can be turned on and off, it can be controlled, but it can't be eliminated. I am now way to busy to focus on that.

With all of that said, I hope to begin blogging again because my inner scream has finally quieted down do a dull roar, and there are lots of things to scream at.

French Military Engagement

2009-02-16T08:29:00.002-05:00

Well the French finally had a military engagement where they DIDN'T surrender.

BRITISH and French nuclear submarines which collided deep under the Atlantic could have sunk or released deadly radioactivity, it emerged last night.

2009-02-13T09:16:00.000-05:00

Amen, brother!

2009-02-10T08:47:00.004-05:00

The silver lining for this 'Jimmy Carter II" administration is that there might be a 'Ronald Reagan II' administration in 4 years.

Even when the economy and the securities markets are sluggish, the Fed's financing of big federal deficits can be inflationary. We learned that in the late 1970s, when the Fed's deficit financing sent the CPI up to an annual rate of almost 15%. That confounded the Keynesian theorists who believed then, as now, that federal spending "stimulus" would restore economic health.

Inflation is the product of the demand for money as well as of the supply. And if the Fed finances federal deficits in a moribund economy, it can create more money than the economy can use. The result is "stagflation," a term coined to describe the 1970s experience. As the global economy slows and Congress relies more on the Fed to finance a huge deficit, there is a very real danger of a return of stagflation. I wonder why no one in Congress or the Obama administration has thought of that as a potential consequence of their stimulus package.

Israel launches air strikes on Gaza...

2008-12-27T08:53:00.001-05:00

...and its about F'n time!

About the Bradley Effect

2008-10-15T11:36:00.003-04:00

Back in 1982, the LA mayor Tom Bradley (who was black) ran for governor. He was ahead in the poles by about 9 points and he lost the election. The problem was that people would tell pollsters that they were voting for Bradley, but then voted for the other guy. Of course racism was blamed, and it was probably true.

This year, there are now concerns that the Bradley Effect may happen. If it happens, a lot of people will begin pointing fingers at who the racists are. I will just say this: Those that say they are voting for McCain probably will. Those that say they are voting for Obama may not vote for him. Those that say they are voting for Obama are predominantly Democrats. Therefore, if the Bradley Effect takes place, the racists are predominantly Democrats.

Now for the fun part: they can utilize the Kerry Effect and say 'well I voted for Obama (in the primary) before I voted against him'.

How's that Global Warming coming along?

2008-10-15T10:21:00.003-04:00

Read this from John Hawkins. Picked from the Drudge Report headlines comes this:

In a few years, when we all begin to realize that the only man-made warming going on is centered around Al Gore's mouth, what will humanity do to heat up the planet again? I mean it will be a calamity when the growing season is cut short due to global cooling, less food means higher prices, more demand on fur coats, overcrowded ski resorts etc.

Should we stop being green and become brown? should we trade in our Prius for Hummers? should we plug back in our old light bulbs and start using aerosol sprays?

Was Robin Hood a Socialist?

2008-10-15T09:37:00.006-04:00

Robin Hood is famous for 'taking from the rich and giving to the poor'. This, to most people is the justification for his greatness. Isn't this exactly what the Democrats are advocating from their tax policies... to tax the rich even more and give it to people who aren't even paying taxes? After all, everyone needs money to survive and everyone needs a fair chance at the American dream... right?

Isn't this exactly what Obama is advocating, when he had this exchange over the weekend?

The fracas over Obama's tax plan broke out Sunday outside Toledo when Joe Wurzelbacher approached the candidate.

Wurzelbacher said he planned to become the owner of a small plumbing business that will take in more than the $250,000 amount at which Obama plans to begin raising tax rates.

"Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?" the blue-collar worker asked.

After Obama responded that it would, Wurzelbacher continued: "I've worked hard . . . I work 10 to 12 hours a day and I'm buying this company and I'm going to continue working that way. I'm getting taxed more and more while fulfilling the American Dream."

"It's not that I want to punish your success," Obama told him. "I want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success, too.

Then, Obama explained his trickle-up theory of economics.

"My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody. I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

Obama just let slip his true colors by living up to the following statement: "from those with means to those with need". This is the central tenant of socialism as stated by Karl Marx. It sounds great with lofty ideals, but the reality is that it punishes those that are succesful and rewards those that are not. This creates a disincentive for those who are the earners, and creates an incentive for those who are not. In the end, there will be fewer and fewer people who are motivated to do well.... to create and grow businesses that hire people only to be taxed more and more as the succeed... to create wealth that will be confiscated to give to people who don't earn it. Just look at European countries with their high unemployment and very expensive governments.

My view is that Robin Hood did NOT steal from the rich to give to the poor. What he did was take back from the tax collectors the punitive taxes leveled on the people, and gave back that money to those that really owned it... the people. Robin Hood was not a socialist, he was against an all powerful government trying to suppress it's people and he led a revolt against that government.

In modern day politics, Obama is not the Robin Hood, he represents the repressive government who will send out his tax collectors. Unfortunately, there is no modern day Robin Hood in American Politics. The GOP and DEM parties are both spending our money like drunken sailors and increasing the size and scope of FEDGOV to a point where they have to confiscate more and more of our earnings.

The Last Robin Hood we had in America was Newt Gingrich who led the GOP into power in 1994 and brought some sanity back to FEDGOV. He led the GOP to cut taxes, eliminate wasteful spending, reduced welfare and balanced the budget. Unfortunatly, that was short lived as the culture of Washington overcame these reformers. In 2006, Conservatives got tired of this and didn't come out to vote figuring that if the GOP was going to act like DEMS, then what's the difference?

The GOP will remain in the wilderness until they can get their 'Robin Hood' soul back.

btw, who is john Galt?

What a frustrating game

2008-10-13T23:28:00.003-04:00

I am a Giants fan. I don't think I have ever yelled at the tv more than I did tonight. Cleveland played a good football game and the Giants were playing cricket.

Not once did Jason Tuck's name get called. Not once did any defense player's name get called. Not once did the Cleveland QB get even touched... no sacks... no knock downs.... no pressure. THERE WAS NO DEFENSE AT ALL! You'd think they would have made some adjustments during halftime.

The Offense wasnt looking much better. Eli wasn't on his game and Burris wasn't on Eli's page.

It's like the Giants didn't prepare for this game. It's like they took the game for granted.

The Giants better get their act together this week or they won't survive Dallas... with or without Romo.

ACORN is the seed...

2008-10-13T10:37:00.003-04:00

ACORN is the seed to this growing financial crisis. via Powerline

As John says "One of the common themes of modern American history is that liberals will create a problem by ill-advised government action, then benefit from it politically by proposing ever more intrusive government action to solve it. That appears to be happening again in connection with today's credit crisis."

Why can't the MSM do their job objectively?

Worst Case Scenario for GOP an Hillary

2008-10-13T09:48:00.003-04:00

I usually agree with the Powerline guys. Their analysis is usually spot on. In this case, while I agree with the conclusion, I don't agree with the premise.

Here is the premise (the bolding is mine):

The worst thing is that the left-wing Dems are poised to take control at a time of apparent economic crisis, or something approaching it. History suggests that under these circumstances, the party that gains control keeps it for longer than normal. FDR's victory in 1932 was the start of 20 years of Democratic control. After Reagan prevailed in 1980, the Republicans occupied the White House for 12 years. Clinton came to power towards the end of a mild recession. But for a quirk in the electoral process, the Dems would have held the White House for at least 12 years thereafter.

Clinton came to power because Ross Perot took about 20% of the vote that otherwise would have gone to George Bush. Clinton may have won in the next election, however we'll never know.

Here is the conclusion that I think is spot-on:

It's not mysterious that canddiates and parties elected in bad times do well in subsequent elections. First, it is natural to give them time to "fix" things. Second, the business cycle, and the underlying strength of our nation, are such that we tend not only to recover fairly quickly from downturns, but to emerge from them stronger than before. Both the law of averages and the laws of economic suggest that our economy will be in significantly better shape in October 2012 than it is today. In that scenario, a President Obama would have a huge advantage over any challenger.

Weighing slightly against this analysis is the fact that voters today are, I believe, much more impatient -- i.e., spoiled -- than in the past. We certainly are not likely to wait five to ten years for a full recovery, as voters did in FDR's day. On the other hand, the gang set to take over power this time seems far more prepared to rely on Chicago-style machine politics, voter fraud, and perhaps additional anti-democratic methods than were their counterparts in 1980 and 1992.

This is why Hillary doesn't want Obama to win. She'll need to wait 8 years before she can get elected. However, she doesn't want a Republican to win either for the same reason outlined above.

Is this the year Capitalism Died?

2008-10-10T12:12:00.002-04:00

20 years from now, when historians are writing the history books about this current time, will they mark 2008 the year capitalism died? When we tell stories to our grandchildren about a time when we individuals had economic freedom, freedom to purchase what we wanted, not just what we needed, a time when we had freedom to work where we wanted, not where society said to work, a time when American ingenuity drove the success of our nation, will we remember how we lost our freedoms? Will we remember the gradual loss of freedom, started by the New Deal and continuing to this day by ever increasing FedGov scope and size? Will we remember when FedGov began confiscating people's wealth and property in the name of a greater society and in the name of environmentalism? Will we remember when Fedgov began taking over companies like AIG, and began controlling Health Care, Insurance, Lending and other industries?

Will we remember who John Galt was?

It Sounded like a good idea at the time

2008-09-29T10:05:00.006-04:00

This financial bailout is a major shit in the way we view America, and what America stands for. I don't think this bailout should be rushed, nor should anyone play politics with the bill.

We stand to lose a great deal of freedom and liberty if this bill is not done correctly. If we lose our ability to fail, we will soon loose our ability to succeed.

After all of the reading about this, and I'm no financial wizard, it seems the root cause is that FedGov, in a time of economic surpluses, wanted to force the 'trickle down' allow home ownership assistance to those who may be in positions to really afford it. Thus, lending institutions were forced to make loans that were that much more risky. It sounded like a good idea at the time.

Freddie and Fannie, being government enterprises, backed these loans. These institutions grew too large and didn't reserve enough cash to ensure these institutions would not fail in worse economic conditions. Now, We the People must make a choice, and it is not a good choice. We need to either spend at least 700 billion (and since when did any fedgov program not cost way more) to shore up the financial market by buying up the bad debt at a discounted price. If this is done right, all of the money will be eventually repaid by selling the assets at a higher price when the market goes up. If this is done wrong, we will not only eat the cost, but transfer so much power to FedGov that we may as well call ourselves the Peoples Republic of America because FedGov will have direct ownership of banks and lending institutions as well as Insurance companies (AIG).

The other option is for Fedgov to do nothing to bail out these institutions. Rather, they should rescind the legislation that was created in the first place that caused this mess. This may cause another stock market crash, and a real recession in the short term. However, the market will correct itself and we will be stronger for it. This is probably the right thing to do, but highly unlikely in an election year. Nor will our congresscritters admit that fedgov is the problem rather than the solution.

We don't hear press reports about the root causes. there is a very good reason for this: the press has an agenda that is to do no harm.... to Democrats. I have linked to video showing the history of the problem, and you see that Bush, GOP leaders and McCain has all said we need to fix the problem before it gets out of hand. Here is another link. Well, it is out of hand now thanks to inaction by the Donkeys.

No matter what congress decides, we are in for tough times.

Watch This!

2008-09-26T10:17:00.002-04:00

If there is one thing you must do today, you must watch this:

PETH-etic

2008-09-25T10:54:00.003-04:00

Holy Cow, Batman!

PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is asking Ben and Jerry's to stop it's use of cow milk and substitute human milk instead.

VERMONT -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow's milk they use in their ice cream products with human breast milk, according to a statement recently released by a PETA spokeswoman."PETA's request comes in the wake of news reports that a Swiss restaurant owner will begin purchasing breast milk from nursing mothers and substituting breast milk for 75 percent of the cow's milk in the food he serves," the statement says.PETA officials say a move to human breast milk would lessen the suffering of dairy cows and their babies on factory farms and benefit human health.

So PETA would rather we stop exploiting cows, which incidentally were put on this earth so us humans can consume them (If god didn't intend us to eat cows, she wouldn't have made them out of steak), and begin to exploit humans.

Just for sake of argument, (like I really need to make one to show what a really stupid idea this is) we begin to milk humans for our daily dairy needs. A cow can produce about 19,500 pounds of milk per year. One human can only produce a tiny fraction of this. For the amount of milk that the world's population needs, it will take almost every human capable of producing milk to be constantly hooked up to a milking machine. What will the National Organization of Women think about this? How can a women perform in the workplace while she is hooked up to a milker? How can title IX survive when a women's soccer team has to stop every so often to milk their players? I can just see it now.... world leaders demanding we produce more girls to raise the overall milk production.

Meanwhile, happy healthy cows are wandering around in perfect bliss because we are not molesting them for their milk nor are we eating them.

For this reason, I am creating a new advocacy group called PETH - People for the Unethical treatment of Humans. We can call this idea pethetic.

Who's to blame?

2008-09-25T08:51:00.002-04:00

Who is to blame for the current financial crisis?

Watch this:

From all accounts, President Bush has been raising this issue from almost his first inaugural. We see Alan Greenspan signaling problems, and we see John McCain sponsoring legislation to place some over site board over Freddie and Fannie. It looks like the Democrats had blinders on to the future of the GSE's.

It is no wonder harry Reid et al has no clue how to resolve this... they are the ones who allowed this mess to happen.

McCain's Gambit

2008-09-25T07:27:00.003-04:00

Here we have a situation where Bush (who has a plan), Democrats (who don't have any plans), Conservatives (who are not fond of bailouts), McCain (who has also put forth a plan) and Obama (uh...if.. uh...uh...If I'm uh needed, I'll uh... come to uh... Washington) are all in desperate need of someone to pull it all together and get it done. What is needed is someone to take a leadership role. Enter John McCain.

McCain will go to Washington and meet with Bush, leaders of both parties and Barrack Obama to hammer out the details. The Conservatives do not want McCain lose the presidentsy, so they will eventually support (albeit reluctantly) whatever Bush and McCain hammer out. Democrats, who want to take action but don't know how, will also go along with the deal but they will try to add silly things to the bill so they can also claim victory. Obama is just window dressing as he has shown that he does not have a real voice of power at the table.

Only McCain can deliver the deal. Harry Reid and the Democrats knows this. If the Democrats then oppose this deal, they will look like obstructionists who will oppose anything the GOP does without offering any viable alternatives (once again...referring to an energy policy).

This is clearly a win-win for McCain, and a lose-lose for Obama. How many more times can Reid, Pelosi get snookered? I don't know, but it seems that it is very seasy to do.

McCain suspends campaign

2008-09-24T16:48:00.003-04:00

John McCain suspended his campaign so he can focus on the upcoming votes for the economic bailout plan. He is also asking to postpone the Friday's debate.

Although this shows us that the country comes first in his mind, he still must realize he is running for president against someone who will destroy this country's economy by his Liberal policies. This should be his number one focus. Also, a President, facing a crisis somewhere in the world, simply cannot suspend his Presidency on all other matters he/she faces. this is not an option for a President.

If McCain feels it important enough to be apart of the Senate deliberations, that's fine. He should do his duty as a Senator. But, he needs to delegate to the rest of his staff, especially Sarah Palin, his campaign duties until he can focus once again on the campaign.

If I were McCain, I would tell Obama "I must focus on this crisis in the senate. If you feel the same way, please join me in postponing the debate. If you do not feel the same way, I will send Sarah Palin to debate you". That oughta scare the bejeebies out of Obama.

In Fact, all of the Senators should be in DC for the senate deliberations. Palin then would be the only one available to campaign.

SNL Skit by Al Franken

2008-09-21T12:07:00.002-04:00

Apparently Al Franken helped write the opening skit for SNL featuring a spoof on John McCain. I saw the skit, and it wasn't funny, thus I conclude that Al Franken indeed wrote it.

Where are the adults?

2008-09-19T18:45:00.003-04:00

Achmud Imadinnerjacket is probably the most dangerous man in this world. By his own words, he means to destroy a sovereign nation by any means possible. If this madman gets a nuclear device, he will most likely use it against Israel.

This madman deserves to be ridiculed, ostracized and demeaned in any way possible. His stay here in the UN should be made as uncomfortable as possible.

Rightly so, the NJDC is organizing a protest, and in an act of common values as Americans, invited influential people of all political parties to the rally. This should have been a no-brainer to show our united front against terrorism and extremely bad behaviour.

So what happened? As soon as Hillary Clinton found out that Sarah Palin (A sitting Governor, a VP candidate and strong proponent of Israel) would be there, she bagged the event. What a childish thing to do. It should serve to show us that she has absolutely no moral compass when she cannot bring herself to share a stage to show a common American Purpose. For her, it's Party first, and then Country. Actually, Its HRC, Then Party and only then Country.

So, the NJDC reached out to other Democrats, and none of them would attend. Who exactly is making this a political thing? Where are the adults in the Democrat party? They are all acting like badly behaving kindergartners.

Then, to make matters worse, the NJDC rescinded their invitation from Palin saying well if we can't get any Democrats, then we can't have any Republicans. As a Jew, I am ashamed of this group's behaviour. They acted almost as childish as the Democrats.

This should have been an American event... non-political and non-partisan. Instead, the Democrats and this lame Jewish group turned this into a joke. This rally will not get the attention it deserves because they denied national voices to attend. 'It's my ball, and I'm taking it home'. WAAAAAA!

HillaryCare Conspiracy Theory

2008-09-18T09:13:00.003-04:00

ok, I have no proof, nor any links (yet). I just want to put this out there.

Isn't the goal of liberals to have a massive Federal government control our health care and to provide cradle to grave insurance? Wasn't this 'HillaryCare' and is this not what Obama is now pushing?

I would think the only way to accomplish this goal is to have a government run/owned Insurance Company and force everyone into it... or at least those that cannot afford their own health care... which is to say just about everyone.

Now we have the Federal Government owning 80% of one of our nations largest insurance companies, AIG. Is this Step #1 towards their goal? For Hillarycare, this was probably the hardest and most complex part to accomplish in building the infrastructure to provide the products needed. In one fell swoop, this has been dealt with.

Step #2 is perhaps convince the public that we should maximize FEDGOV'S investment by saying something like: 'Now that we have this insurance company, we should use it to insure everyone, especially the children (it's always about the children as if us parents can't raise them ourselves)?'

Step #3 is to pass legislation in the liberal controlled congress and have the liberal president sign it.

In other words, by this time next year, HillaryCare could be a reality, while we all scratch our heads and wonder how this could have happened so fast.

On the Media

2008-09-17T10:14:00.003-04:00

There once was a time that you tuned into the National News programs in the evening, or read a newspaper like the New York Times, and you got the news. There was no Internet, or blogs or other avenues for gathering information about what was going on around our world. The perception of the venerable news sources was that they were trusted and conveyed news without opinion... just the facts.

I used to listen or watch the news for the weather reports. All I really needed to know is what I need to wear for the day... do I need to bring an umbrella... do I need a jacket... can I wear shorts? there was a time the weather man will give you a percent chance of rain. Nowadays, he/she will pinpoint exactly when it will start raining, how heavy the rainfall might be etc. They are usually wrong in that they always try to sensationalize the weather. they will tell you it will potentially dump 5 inches of rain, and flood out major roads when in fact it just drizzled. The reality is that it does not matter how much rain is expected, only that I have to bring my umbrella. They sensationalize the temperature by adding a 'wind chill factor' in the winter and a 'heat index' in the summer. Does it really matter that it is 20 degrees Fahrenheit, but the wind chill (defined as what it feels like being naked, as if I'll be running around naked outside) says 10 below... I'll still need my winter coat, gloves and hat. Does it really matter that it is 90 degrees but the heat index is 110?

I don't listen to the weather man anymore because what they tell us is nonsense.... I get a better weather report by looking out of my window. They don't tell me just the facts anymore.

The news that is presented to us is just like the weather report... they try to sensationalize it as well as try to tell a story. The story is what the editors want us to think about the facts they are presenting. Because the facts are going through this kind of editing, we do not get the overall picture anymore. Since there are now so many avenues of information gathering and presentation due to the Internet and blogs, we can now get a better picture of what is actually happening. There are tons of news sources at our fingertips, and many people sifting through these to find different perspectives on the same set of facts. In a lot of cases, finding facts that were either overlooked, not reported or not found by the Media. This is a problem when editing to tell a story in that you will usually be proven inaccurate and unreliable. If the media just stuck to the facts without editorial comment, they would be a lot better off. If the media was consistent in the treatment facts, they would be a lot better off.

Case in point: The media has dug into Governor Palin's accomplishments, life and family to a much higher degree that they did with Biden or Obama. Granted they have not had as much time to do this digging so it was compressed into a few short weeks. They had about 16 months to dig into Obama's history with William Ayres ( a known terrorist), but they have not. They had enough time to dig into Obama's pastor for 20 years, who weekly lectured to his congregation about racist and Anti-American ideals while Obama and his family sat and listened. It was only until conservative talk radio did the job of the Media that Obama left that pastor. For all the hammering that Palin is getting about being qualified, has the same hammering happened to Obama or Biden?

On Odd Couple quote applies here: 'Do you want speed or accuracy'? The Media has sacrificed accuracy for speed. Remember the 2000 election when they called the election in Florida for Gore an hour before the poles closed in a part of the state? If they hadn't sacrifsed accuracy, there would have been more Bush votes from the more conservative pan-handle, thus there wouldn't have been cause for Gore to try to steal the election.

The bottom line is that the Media, in trying to tell a story, rather than telling us the facts, has lost their direction as to why they are important to us, and they need to get their compass re-aligned. It is no wonder their viewership and readership is declining. It is no wonder alternative media readership is expanding.

I would watch a news program or read a newspaper, even if their articles were a day behind, as long as the facts are accurate and well researched.

Oil Drilling

2008-09-17T09:35:00.004-04:00

I have a few questions for Congress:

1) Why don't we drill where there is oil? It seems to me that setting artificial and arbitrary boundaries limits the effectiveness for obtaining the oil thus increasing the cost of extraction and delivery. For instance, if there is a large oil source that is out of bounds, but smaller ones that are in bounds, it would take more oil rigs to do the extraction, as well as having to lay down that much more piping to get it to shore. The more oil rigs there are, the more potential risk to the environment (this makes no sense in the world of loony liberal logic).

This arbitrary restriction is like saying that we can't build a wind farm in the windiest places in America because it would wreck someone's view, so build wind farms where the wind isn't as good or consistent.

2) Why is this even a Federal issue at all? Each state should govern what happens within their property. Granted, it can get dicey when dealing with state boundaries off-shore, but I think an easy solution can be reached: just draw a line from the state boundary due east (or due west for left coast states). Easy.

Once the boundaries have been drawn, each state can decide what to do with their oil reserves, with the Federal Government acting as a customer. Each state can decide how to lease the land to the oil companies, and each state can decide how to divvy up any royalties paid to the residents of that state. This is basically the Alaskan model set up by Governor Palin. If a state doesn't want to have any drilling, that is their prerogative. When that states residents sees their neighboring states' residents getting tax breaks or reduced prices at the pumps, I'm sure they will put pressure on their state's government to change their minds.

We know the answers to these questions. It is because the Federal Government has grabbed too much power over the states and will not let go, even though what they are doing is constitutionally questionable. We also know that Liberals are more interested in control over our daily lives. I know this is a bold statement, but it is born out by the fact that they do not want us to have money in our pockets by keeping tax rates and energy costs high... and money = freedom, thus less money = less freedom. To a liberal, competition is verboten unless they can control it, thus they do not want states to compete for energy solutions.

Remember, the energy platform of Liberals is BANANAs -- Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything.

Sarah Palin's 'Interview'

2008-09-13T10:54:00.004-04:00

How stupid does ABC think we are? I guess they are banking on the fact that most people will only see what ABC showed us regarding Charlie Gibson's interview of Sarah Palin, and then move on. My guess is that most people think that was the entire interview, uncut and un-edited. Further to this guess, people will not have time or desire to find out if there was more to the interview and if there was, what was in it.

So ABC releases the entire transcript of the interview (via Marklevinshow.com via hotair.com). It is fascinating to see what was not aired. If you have time, read the whole thing, especially the things that were left on the cutting room floor. Here is an example. The bold letters is what is on the floor:

GIBSON: Have you ever met a foreign head of state?

PALIN: There in the state of Alaska, our international trade activities bring in many leaders of other countries.

GIBSON: And all governors deal with trade delegations.

PALIN: Right.

GIBSON: Who act at the behest of their governments.

PALIN: Right, right.

GIBSON: I’m talking about somebody who’s a head of state, who can negotiate for that country. Ever met one?

PALIN: I have not and I think if you go back in history and if you ask that question of many vice presidents, they may have the same answer that I just gave you. But, Charlie, again, we’ve got to remember what the desire is in this nation at this time. It is for no more politics as usual and somebody’s big, fat resume maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment, where, yes, they’ve had opportunities to meet heads of state … these last couple of weeks … it has been overwhelming to me that confirmation of the message that Americans are getting sick and tired of that self-dealing and kind of that closed door, good old boy network that has been the Washington elite.

As you can see from this example, it shows that Palin has experience in negotiating with foreign countries, including Russia. It shows she has a whole lot more practical contact with foreign affairs than Obama ever had. It shows she is way more prepared than both Obama and Biden combined in meeting with and negotiating with foreign dignitaries. She has sat at the table, made the deals and had the authorization to sign the treaties on behalf of her state. Because this does not fit into ABC's portrayal of Palin as a Foreign affairs dolt, it was edited out.

I can understand editing the interview to eliminate non-editorial issues like external noises, Gibson farting or Palin's shirt opening up (thankfully neither happened). But editing the interview to change the meaning and context is unforgivable.

This is the first interview and first real chance for us Americans to hear Sarah Palin speak in an unscripted setting. For ABC to edit her answers (and Charlie's questions) is beyond the pale. It is no wonder the media has very little credibility any more.

September 11

2008-09-11T09:14:00.005-04:00

I was in NYC yesterday for a job interview. The prospective employer is downtown in the Battery. I commuted the best way I knew how.. took the train to Newark and switched to the Path to the WTC station. I live in NJ, not too far away from NYC, but I don't go to the City very much. Although I have been to the City a number of times since 9/11, This was the first time I was downtown. Not that I have been avoiding this, I just never had to occasion.

It has been 7 years since Islamic terrorist assholes attacked us, and life has long since gone back to normal for most people. The event, although never forgotten, was not at the forefront of my mind at the time. I was focusing on the interview, and very little else.

The last time I was downtown, I took the Path to the WTC station. As I remember the trip, once entering the tunnel from the Jersey side, you don't see daylight again until after you exit the train, go up the escalators and walk outside.

My concentration on the interview was completely shattered when the Path train broke out into daylight about 1/4 mile from the station. You can look up into the sky and see buildings, cranes, workers and construction. The Path station itself was partly outdoors. Needless to say, I was deeply moved by this, and as I made my way up to street level, I realized I was feeling the same emotions I felt 7 years ago to almost the same intensity.... sadness for the victims and their families, anger at those assholes who now are cowering in caves like the worms they are... amazed that in this information age that those on flight 93 we instantly alerted ... and finally pride in Americans that those on flight 93 took action like the true heroes they are.

Once I got to street level, I began walking downtown. There were tourists with cameras gawking at the site all over the place. There were a few streets blocked off and stands being erected for 9/11 ceremonies. I don't know if any of them had the same emotions I was feeling. It didn't matter. I hope they take a lot of pictures and show them to a lot of people. I feel that we should be showing pictures of the towers before during and after the attack to make sure we do not forget...ever. Our complacency is our enemy's advantage.

When I was growing up, I watched those towers being built from the treetop in backyard. I would come home from school and climb my tree and count the number of floors. I watched the towers crumble to the ground. If I get this job, I will watch the new buildings built. I hope I get this opportunity.

Update: Unfortunately, I will not have this opportunity.

Barrack is channeling Bobby Riggs

2008-09-08T14:11:00.003-04:00

I remember watching the Bobby Riggs vs. Billy Jean King Tennis match. I was just a kid at the time but what a great show. here we had a guy so pumped up on himself that he was carried into the stadium on a litter with pole bearers reminiscent of a Roman emperor. After all of the pomp, Billy Jean went about whooping his ass playing tennis. It was great theater as well as one of the best things that could have happened to the woman's rights movement at that time.

Now, Barrack Obama, who is struggling to find something he is better at than Sarah Palin, wants to challenge her to a basketball game. (ht to John Hawkins)

ABC News' George Stephanopoulos Reports: The rivalry between the Democratic and Republican tickets for president could shift from the ballot box to the hardwood if Barack Obama has his way.

In an exclusive interview airing this morning on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," the Democratic nominee for president said he would be open to going one-on-one in basketball with Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

"You know, I would play her a game of horse," said Obama. "She looks like she’s got some game."

Palin was a standout high school basketball player whose skills on the court earned her the nickname Sarah Barracuda. But Obama said he doesn’t fear her.

"On the basketball court, I think I’d stand up pretty well," he said.

I would love to see this. It would be great theater, and it will do wonders for Palin's (and McCain's) election.

Palin

2008-08-29T13:50:00.003-04:00

Just a quick note on the presidential candidates and their VP selections: Between Obama, Biden, McCain and Palin, there is exactly 10 years of executive experience, and they ALL belong to Sarah Palin. She served 8 years as a mayor and is now serving as Governor of her state. She is the ONLY one among the 4 people who has ever been in a leadership position.

In my humble opinion, she is the ONLY qualified candidate this year. Unfortunately she is the VP pick, not the top spot.

and in other news, liberals are now realizing the predicament they are in: If Obama wins, then we are against women, and if Obama loses, we are all racists. This is the dangers of identity politics that liberals have created for themselves.

the good news is that no matter who wins, there will be a first, so we'll never have to go through this again.

Olympics Part III

2008-08-21T17:25:00.004-04:00

I don't follow or watch basketball (I'm a short white guy.... can you blame me?). While flipping between NBC channels this morning, I was left with 3 choices.... watch the interviews just after USA won the gold in women's soccer; watch women's basketball or watch rhythmic gymnastics (girls hopping around with jump ropes... this is a sport?) the only reason I didn't turn off the tv was that the Australian women's basketball team was wearing skin tight uniforms rather than the baggy things team's usually wear.

The only reason women's beach volleyball is so popular is because they wear those skimpy bikinis while performing extraordinary feats of athleticism bringing out the best voyeurism in all us guys. When May/Walsh won the gold, they were very exited (in more ways than one). It was good tv.

So, I watched the Australian women trounce the Chinese in basketball for the simple reason of what they were wearing. If the WNBA wants more butts in the seats and more viewers, they should look up the uniform designers from Australia. Near the end f the game, the Aussies were up by almost 30 points. they kept on pouring it on by not letting up nor were they trying to run the clock out. In any other circumstance I would have thought this in poor sportsmanship and I would have lost a great deal of respect for them... but for the fact they were playing the Chinese who deserved this treatment due to their overall hubris during these games.

So (back to sports and to my next point) the Aussies won sending them to the gold medal round with America, and China will face Russia for the bronze. The question is (and not that I really care) who should I root against more fervently to lose the bronze?

Olympics Part II

2008-08-18T07:41:00.004-04:00

In track and field, There was a time when all of the athletes were introduced. They had a cameraman walking down the line so we can see the faces of the men and women who were about to race. It was interesting to see the countries who qualified for these races. This time has apparently passed.

Last night, the women's 100 meter qualifier races were on (as an example). NBC only introduced those athletes who would eventually qualify. If you were blind, you wouldn't know there were 6 other athletes in the race. What was worse, there was one heat that they introduced the Jamaican and the American, but the Russian won. You never once heard the Russian's name mentioned. Not once. Again, if you were blind, you would not know who actually qualified to move to the next round. At the end of each race, I had to say 'Gee, what a surprise' because the winners were the only ones NBC mentioned (except if there was an American in the race).

I realize these races took place at least 12 hours prior to it being aired, so NBC has plenty of time to produce and edit what they will show us. I just wish they'd play it straight and show us the races.

Why I haven't watched much of the olympics

2008-08-17T11:01:00.001-04:00

I don't usually watch a lot of TV (except football) and am a habitual surfer when I do watch. I was excited to watch the olympics. I remember as a kid watching Mark Spitz win his golds, watching that big russian weghtlifter (Vasily Alexiev??) make lifting look easy Bruce Jenner and watching the obscure sports (Walk racing anyone?). So, as I have been surfing around the channels, NBC almost always has a commercial or athlete profile when I tune in. I watched some good boxing on MSNBC and saw some volleyball on one of the spanish stations but when I tune to NBC...commercial. Where are the sports?

ESPN has all of the highlights so why do I even need to put up with NBC

No big deal, I think Ice Road Truckers is on tonight.

Olympics

2008-08-15T09:26:00.002-04:00

Soccer is like watching the grass grow for 89.5 minutes, with the other 30 seconds of actual excitement. the problem with soccer is that you have to watch the 89.5 to pick out the 30 seconds.

I dislike judged events. It is too subjective to be useful as a sport. There are amazing athletes involved in gymnastics, diving and other judged competitions, and they deserve a lot of credit and a fair competition. But the bottom line is which team has paid off enough judges. The Russian judge always scores the Americans lower, and visa versa.

One would think there are only 2 teams competing based upon the coverage: America and China. I know there are other teams, but we will never see them.

Beach Volleyball (especially the women) is an awesome sport. How these athletes can cover so much area on very soft ground is amazing.

Bumper sticker

2008-07-18T12:24:00.003-04:00

I saw a bumper sticker that said 'War is not an Answer'.

Let's roll with this for a minute.

I can only assume that because the car was registered in America, more specifically, in NJ, that the driver is not saying 'G-d Save the Queen'. Thus I guess they approved of the American Revolution.

I didn't see any slaves driving the car, nor was there anyone in chains in the backseat. I guess they approve of the Civil War.

Because the bumper sticker was in English, not German, I guess that they approve of World War I and II.

Because they are alive because we have not had a terrorist attack, nor where they wearing Muslim garb means they approve of the current GWOT.

The utter hypocrisy of the owner of the car with this bumper sticker is staggering.

The Arrogance of Boston area Police and Firefighter Unions

2008-07-14T22:17:00.008-04:00

Even though unions are dying throughout the country, they are alive and well here in Eastern MA. These 2 items were in today's paper.

The Union representing the Framingham MA police department is angry because they were denied a 1.2% pay increase by the city council. The reason for the increase? To settle a grievance filed by the union because police officers are now required to file all police reports on the computer. The raise was to compensate the union members for being "forced" to use the computer. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/07/10/saying_police_stipend_doesnt_compute_voters_scuttle_framingham_settlement/
A Boston Firefighter suffered a back injury in March and was requesting disability retirement (a tax free benefit for firefighters in MA). A few months later, he finished 8th in a national bodybuilding competition. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/07/14/on_injury_leave_firefighter_stood_out_as_bodybuilder/

It takes some really big balls to to rip off the tax payers like this, especially with the current economy.

You gotta find them first!

2008-07-10T11:57:00.002-04:00

Jesse Jackson said:

In a shocking blast at Brrack Obama that was caught on tape, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said, "I wanna cut his nuts out."

Jesse, You gotta Find them first!

Whacko Vs. Whacko

2008-07-05T18:14:00.005-04:00

I find this idea simply breathtakingly silly:

Here is why I find this silly (oh... where to begin)

1st off, there is no reason to build these things because the global warming myth is just that... a myth. The world has already begun cooling down as it has cycled from hot to cool for millions and millions of years.

Secondly, Who would want to live on these huge ships with virtually no way of getting on/off? Keep in mind that these things are supposed to just float around in the ocean's currents. There are no engines to propel these things and if there was, imagine the power it would need just to keep it stationary. This power requirement alone would defeat the entire purpose of reducing the carbon footprint that these things are supposed to reduce. If these things are not powered in some way, won't they eventually crash land against land? what then? Perhaps it will be anchored to the sea bottom... but won't this destroy the ecology underneath this huge thing?

Thirdly, Has anyone actually rode out a hurricane in the the ocean? I thought those global warming scare mongers keep saying there will be more hurricanes and other natural extreme weather. If this is the case, they are in for a real rough ride, no matter how big these things are, they will be affected by rough seas. I hope they will pack enough barf bags.

Fourthly, How many people can survive in one of these things? Will there be mandatory birth control to maintain a certain population level? Who gets to decide who can have kids and who cannot? Not only that, it seems that everyone will be given a job to perform, much like a kibutz. While there is nothing wrong with this form of socialism when practiced by a willing but small community, it becomes overbearing and too controlling over people's lives when there are more than just a small community. For instance, on one of these ships, someone has an aptitude to be a dentist, yet there are already too many dentists, thus that person becomes the garbage collector.

And lastly (and there are so many other points) these things will never, ever get built even if everyone agrees it is the only thing that will save mankind. Why? Because there are environmental whackos who will argue that it will irreparably damage the echo system , cause extinction of (fill in the lifeform here) and pollute the air by having so many humans concentrated in a confined space. Jeez, we cannot even drill a small hole in a barren wasteland in Alaska to make us more energy independent. where will this thing get built? Keep in mind that these whacko's philosophy is 'BANANA': Build absolutely Nothing Any Where Near Anything.

Thus, it will be Whacko Vs. Whacko debating how and where these things should be built. the rest of us will be watching and laughing our asses off as if we are reading Spy Vs. Spy comic strips where the black spy is always at odd with the white spy found in Mad Magazine.

To George Carlin

2008-06-23T18:26:00.000-04:00

Here’s a toast to George Carlin. I first heard a George Carlin album when I was about 10. We used to hang out at a friends house and his older brother had “Class Clown”. As an impressionable youth, I was immediately hooked. That set me on my quest to be a stand-up comic (see my Monty Python post a few weeks ago). It was great being a 5th grader who could recite “The 7 Words you can’t Say on Television”. …s$#@, p(&&, f^%$ , c&$%, c(*&s*&^%$#, mother%$#&^% and T(*&. The heavy seven, the ones that will infect your soul, curve your spine, and keep the country from winning the war”

Since you haven’t seen the HBO Special “The Amazing Jimbo”, it’s safe to say I never made it as a comedian. But that doesn’t keep me from trying. I figure if I tell enough jokes, sooner or later, one of them has to be funny based on the Laws of Probability (sorry Eldridge).

Here’s to you, George.

Economic lesson 101 (again)

2008-06-20T08:54:00.002-04:00

If we want to reduce the price of gas, we must do one of the 2 following things: Increase supply or reduce consumption. These are our only choices. Since we don't have control over China's, India's or any other country's consumption, we are left with exactly one choice: increase supply.

(for you liberals, was this lesson slow enough for you to understand?)

Let me see if I can get through to you with this example of basic economic supply vs demand principle.

You run a lemonade stand. It is outside and operates 365 days per year.

On a hot summer day, there is a line to purchase your product. You can increase your price and people will still pay for a cup (High demand, unlimited supply).
On a cold winter day, there is no one lined up, even though you have reduced your price to almost cost and you fear that your ingredients will spoil (low demand, unlimited supply).
On a hot summer day, you find your supplies running out. Your customers begin bidding up the price to get a cup. (High Demand, limited supply)

This is how it works, like it or not. At the moment, the oil industry is experiencing a hot day with limited supplies.

Sue Opec?

2008-06-19T14:45:00.002-04:00

Thomas Evans writes in the New York Times that suing OPEC would be a good idea. the idea is that OPEC has broken the US anti-trust laws and therefore can and should be sued.

THE president of the United States has the power to attack, and perhaps destroy, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the illegal cartel that has driven the price of oil over $130 per barrel. This can be accomplished without invasion or bombing. No special legislation is needed. The president need simply allow the states to seek relief in the Supreme Court under our antitrust laws.

ooookaaay... Lets go with this. Let's sue them. After all, it must be a good idea to bite the hand that supplies us with the majority of our oil. And win or lose this lawsuit, we will succeed.... succeed in pissing off the oil producers so much so that the global oil prices will be reduced. How? Because when America's share of the oil is redistributed to the other countries that have NOT pissed them off, there then will be ample supply for everyone else, just not Americans.

Let me give Mr. Evans an analogy, I will sue Tavern on the Green because their prices are too much for me to afford. During my lawsuit, I get a bonus and now want to take my significant other to the best restaurant in the city, so we go to Tavern on the Green who recognizes me as the jerk who is suing them. Should I expect good service? Should I expect any service at all?

Bottom line, suing OPEC will not create one more drop of oil. It will not reduce the price of gas. It will not solve our energy problem. In fact, it will do just the opposite. It will decrease our supply of oil because OPEC doesn't have to sell oil to us. Thus, it will drastically increase the price of gas and further exacerbate the problem.

On so many levels, suing OPEC would be extremely stupid. But for loony liberal logic, I guess it makes sense.

Geeky Engineering Stuff

2008-06-19T14:31:00.000-04:00

My fellow “Reality Distillates” should have known that would only be a matter of time before I threw in some engineering geek stuff. Here is a wonderful book that I recommend. There is a lot more to ceramics than making birdbaths and bathroom sinks.

The Magic of Ceramics
David W. Richerson, Bonnie J. Dunbar (Foreword by)
ISBN: 978-1-57498-050-9
Hardcover
302 pages
February 2000

Description
What do the following things have in common: the space shuttle, cosmetics, color TVs, concrete, and kayaks? Ceramics! All these items are made of or include ceramics, the most common and diverse of all materials - yet most of us would be surprised at its variety of uses. You will be amazed by how ceramics make possible such diverse products as cellular phones, many of your favorite sporting goods, radio, television, and lasers. You will be surprised by how ceramics are used in medicine for cancer treatments and restoring hearing, in our cars, and even in some cosmetics. This book introduces readers to the many exciting applications of ceramics. By using simplified technical explanations, it answers the question: How do ceramics improve your everyday life? It describes how the ceramic material functions, and why it is superior to other materials, while teaching key scientific concepts like atomic structure, color, and the electromagnetic spectrum.

Table of Contents
Our Constant Companions.
From Pottery to the Space Shuttle.
The Beauty of Ceramics.
Ceramics and Light.
Amazing Strength and Stability.
Ceramics and the Electronics Age.
Piezo Power.
Medical Miracles.
Ceramics and the Modern Automobile.
Heat Beaters.
The Hardest Materials in the Universe.
Energy and Pollution Control.

On sale at Amazon for only $38.65. It is currently #1,711,433 on the Amazon Best Seller list

Celtics win

2008-06-18T09:03:00.002-04:00

Stayed up too to watch the Celtics. It was nice to see a unselfish teamwork for a change in the NBA. Maybe NBA teams will realize that hard work and team play win championships (Celtics, Spurs, Lakers, Pistons), not hyped-up, thug culture ball (Nuggets)

Hope and Change

2008-06-08T08:49:00.001-04:00

"Hope and Change" - Another Barack Obama Campaign Slogan. Translation: 'I hope I have some change leftover when Obama Leaves Office".

Change We Can Believe In

2008-06-08T08:41:00.004-04:00

"Change We Can Believe In" is Barak Obama's catch phrase. The only change I can believe in is what is jingling in my pocket and my in my change jars. If Obama is elected, this will be the only change I'll have left.

Monty Python Ramblings

2008-06-05T23:20:00.003-04:00

I was warped at an early age by Monty Python. When I was about 12 or 13, one of the older kids in the neighborhood said that there was show on PBS called Monty Python's Flying Circus and it sometimes showed topless women!!! When you were young back in the "old days" (before the internet or even HBO), catching a short glance at something on a 19" TV was as close to heaven as you could get.

Well, Monty Python did show an occasional quick shot of a topless model, but they were few and far between. While endlessly waiting for them to show some naughty bits, I started to enjoy the humor. The next summer, our cable system started offering HBO and had a free preview for about a month. One of the movies playing that month was Monty Python and The Holy Grail. My friends and I must have watched about 10 times. The killer rabbit and "bring out your dead" had me hooked.

No need to repeat the lines. It's getting late and I have to work tomorrow. But here are some links that may be of interest

http://pythonline.com/daily

This link has the Script to The Holy Grail. Now you can impress your friends by quoting the exact phrases from your favorite scene.
http://www.mwscomp.com/movies/grail/grail.htm

Some more movie scrpt links to Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life. Not all of the links work but there is lots of interesting stuff if you fish around
http://www.mwscomp.com/movies/brian/b-script.htm

Now it's time for an extended rest after writing this prolonged squawk.

Hooked on Real Reality Shows

2008-06-04T12:23:00.000-04:00

Two years ago, I got hooked on the Discovery Channel series “Deadliest Catch”. That’s the show that films the crab fisherman in the Alaska. I have no idea why I find it interesting, but I do. The first part of the new season was a little boring but last night’s episode was better. They are now fishing in the winter in the Bearing Sea. The nice thing about networks like the Discovery Channel and the History Channel is that they repeat the show a couple of times during the week, so if you miss the original air date, it will be on again.

There are 2 similar shows on the History Channel that I also enjoy, Ice Road Truckers and Axe Men. They have the same script; follow people around as they do difficult jobs.
Ax Men is finishing up its season and Ice Road Truckers starts a new run of shows next week.

So after a day of crunching data and writing experimental reports as a process development engineer, these shows offer a nice change of pace (and they sure are a lot better than American Idol).

Kids grow up too fast

2008-06-03T13:49:00.000-04:00

Recently, I had my kids for the weekend and we in the car. The kids wanted to listen to some music so I pulled out a ZZ Top CD. I asked my daughter, who was sitting in the front, to put the case back in the glove box. She was looking at the cover and said “That’s gross. How can someone go out dressed like that?” I looked at the cover and noticed that there was a 1980’s vintage, big hair girl in the background. I asked her what was wrong with it and she said that the girl hardly had anything on.

As soon as she said that, my 8 year old son chimed in from the back seat, “Can I see?”

The Fallacy of Raising the Gas Tax

2008-06-03T12:22:00.000-04:00

More and more, I hear people saying that the government should raise the gas tax to help wean the country off foreign oil. Not only is this coming from the environmentalist side but now it’s starting to make its way into the realm of the conservatives. The logic is simple, use the tax revenue to provide funding for alternative energy research. How can anyone be against that? All we need to do is provide some funding for someone to figure out how to do it.

We live in the greatest country civilization has ever seen. Generations of Americans have used the capitalistic ideals of good ideas and a strong work ethic to improve their lives and the lives of others. Today, however, new technology is expensive so a little capital to jump start the process can’t hurt, right?

In theory, it’s hard to argue with this approach. But as with any good idea, the devil is in the details. And we have one great, big devil (so to speak) in the details of this plan. It’s called Government.

Can anyone name a program run by the Government that is efficient and cost effective? Yeah, I thought so. Let’s look at the track record. Welfare? I guess it helps a few who really need, but how many people fall into the “lifestyle”. Whether it is the inner city or rural America, there are numerous 3rd generation welfare trash sitting on their @$$, pumping out kids, and feeling entitled to your taxes. Social Security? Pork Barrel entitlements from Congress? You get the point.

Can you really expect the Government to efficiently manage a program flush with cash? And can we trust them? Back in the 1980’s, when Mario Cuomo controlled NY, he raised the gas tax to cover the cost of road repairs. The increase was supposed to go into a special fund specifically for roads repair and improvement. Being a naïve conservative, I actually thought this was a good idea. After all, I drove on the roads, and they could use some repairs, so I didn’t have a problem with paying to help keep them up. Two years later, the NY state legislature voted to put the special fund road repair money in with the general fund. Their reasoning was that road repairs came from the general fund so why not put all of it there. But the general fund also paid the rest of the bills so there was no way be certain that the extra gas tax revenues were actually going to road repair or some other mismanaged program. So the tax went up, the roads didn’t get fixed , and NY state drivers are still paying extra.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that we absolutely have to find a way to develop alternative energy. As a country, how can we protect ourselves when we have to rely on an energy source controlled by despots and barbarians, all the while competing with China and India for the resources? Here is a better idea. Let’s use tax breaks to encourage businesses and entrepreneurs to invest in alternative energy. Allow the capitalist system to work. Americans have always been good at innovation, government has not. Let’s streamline the process for building wind farms by not subjecting companies to frivolous lawsuits because it may hurt a subspecies of bat that is nearly identical to other bat populations or it may be ruin the view of the Kennedy’s and other rich socialites when it id placed 20 miles off the coast of Nantucket. Let’s build some more nuclear plants. If the French can manage a national system of nuclear power without screwing it up we should be able to. But whatever we do, don’t give the government more money.

Thats a Nice Candidate You Got There

2008-05-24T22:35:00.005-04:00

You know you're in trouble when someone comes up to you and says something like: "Thats a nice restaurant you got there, it would be a shame if it burnt down." Because you know the next line goes like this: "I can make sure that doesn't happen, if the price is right".

Hillary Clinton did exactly that the other day by recalling assassinations and other maladies during this primary. She essentially said: 'Thats a nice candidate you got there, it would be a shame if something happened to him'. The question is, what is her price?

Just for the record....

2008-05-21T11:51:00.001-04:00

Al Gore lost the presidential election. Not because he lost Florida, but because he lost his home state of Tennessee. If he won his homestate, it would not have mattered what happened in Florida.

Ironic Politics

2008-05-20T08:38:00.002-04:00

This is probably old news to a lot of people but I just heard this so I thought I'd share it.

West Virginia Senator, Robert Byrd, a former member of the KKK, is supporting Barack Obama for President. Just goes to show you how bad Hillary is.

Jesse Helms must be rolling over in his grave.

I Can!

2008-05-19T08:00:00.004-04:00

The last I checked, this is America. This country was founded by people who didn't know the word Can't. The pilgrims came here because the could. Our Founding fathers, Washington, Jefferson, Adams, etc. fought the British for our freedom because they could. It is the 'I Can' attitude that Americans have that make this country the greatest.

It is the 'You can't' attitude of governments that is the hallmark of Socialism, Marxism and every 2-bit tinpot dictator that suppresses their people from achieving greatness.

The last time an American Politician told us 'we can't' was Jimmy Carter. he was soundly defeated by a man who said ' We can'.

Now candidate Obama is telling us 'we can't'. From AFP via Drudge comes Obama's quote:

"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK," Obama said.
"That's not leadership. That's not going to happen," he added.

Obama expects us to freeze ourselves in the winter, and pack our large families into tiny unsafe vehicles. He will dictate to us Americans what we cannot do. This is not leadership... this is dictatorship. this is not the American way, it is the Russian or Chinese way. It is the path towards socialism that us Americans WILL NOT TOLERATE.

If Obama (or any other politician) wants a truly 'I can' society, then allow us Americans to solve our own energy crisis. We can, if only the fedgov will get the F%^) out of our way. We have solutions already, but fedgov will not allow them to be implemented. For instance, when was the last time a refinery was built? (Answer: over 30 years ago.) Why can we not drill safely and environmentally friendly in Alaska? Why can we not drill offshore to tap huge amounts of oil? Why can we not build wind farms 100 miles offshore? Why can we not build nuclear plants? The answer is that the fedgov's energy policy is 'BANANA's: Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything.

And another thing, who gives a rat's ass what other people think of us? We are the greatest country in the world because we made it. Us American's should not feel guilty about the possessions we have. We work hard for them and if the rest of the world don't like it, it is because they are jealous of us. I am not willing to succumb to this attitude of guilt. If they want what we have, then they need to dump their socialistic governments and become more like us by working hard for it by adopting the'I can' attitude that is being suppressed in most other countries.

On so many levels, Obama should not be elected. In fact, no liberal should be elected. It is the fastest way down the path of self distruction for this country and the world. He is the next Jimmy Carter, only worse. At least Jimmy Carter had executive experience as governor prior to being elected.

Random Thoughts and Useless Information

2008-05-18T12:20:00.003-04:00

Started jogging again and have had some time to allow collect my thoughts. To quote Harvey Korman as Hedley LaMarr in Blazing Saddles; "My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives."

The Boston Globe had 3 main articles on the front page today. The most print went to the hospitalization of Teddy Kennedy. The second largest was an article on how the how the Gay community in California was rejoicing over their State Court's reversal of their gay marriage ban and how they are looking to Massuchusetts for help. No Front page on the Chinese Earthquake that has killed tens of thousands, nothing on huge humanitarian tradgedy in Myanmar. Not even any Obama kissing or Hillary bashing.
The Globe did have a nice article the Clinton past is catching up with Hillary.
I've taken an interest in Hockey now that the Penguins are close to making it to the Stanley Cup. Yes, I guess I'm a bandwagon fan, but it's the Hockey Bandwagon, not just the Penguins. I would be hard pressed to name more than 1 winners of the last 10 Stanley Cups (Didn't the Buffalo Sabers lose to Dallas a few years ago?)
It is the middle of May and the Pirates aren't mired in last place. In fact, they are 1 game under .500 and have a better record than the Yankees.
Speaking of the Pirates, I'm taking my kids (10 year old twins and and 8 year old) to their 1st major league game over memorial day weekend. We will be in Pittsburgh and go see the Pirates with my brother and his family (no child abuse jokes, please).
I've come to the conclusion that I don't hate the Patriots as much as I hate Bill Belicheck. The guy comes off as an arrogant @$$hole and I hope spygate continues to black cloud over his head. In a few years, the Patriots will fall back into mediocrity and we'll see how many true New England fans there really are.
I always liked the Boston Celtics (no NBA in Pittsburgh). It's great to see them doing well I guess you can have a good sports teams without a bunch of trash talking, look at me, thugs. A lot of NBA and NFL players should take a look at how well Garnett, Pierce and Allen play together.

Do you prefer a good Lager to a fancy Pinot or Chardonnay? Like discussing the finer points of a Belgium White or Hefeweizen? When you pour a glass and smell the fruity bouquet, it is more likely the Hops from a pale ale than some grape? Prefer Brew pubs to wineries? Then here is a great site.

http://beeradvocate.com/

These guys know what there talikng about (even if they did give the Boston Beer Works wild blueberry lager a decent rating. Blueberries and beer?? Don't think so)

Stupid Liberals

2008-05-03T08:59:00.005-04:00

q: How stupid are liberals?
a: Very

q: How stupid do liberals think we are?
a: Very

the reason for this pop quiz is the article I just read concerning how Obama wants to have a 'windfall profit tax' on 'big oil found here. The following is the jist of the article:

The plan would target profit from the biggest oil companies by taxing each barrel of oil costing more than $80, according to a fact sheet on the proposal. The tax would help pay for a $1,000 tax cut for working families, an expansion of the earned- income tax credit and assistance for people who can't afford their energy bills.

``The profits right now are so remarkable that one could trim them 10 percent or so, which would turn out to be somewhere in the $15 billion range,'' said Jason Grumet, an adviser to the Obama campaign.

Liberals think this is a good idea. Here is why it is stupid (I'll try to use small words so even liberals can understand basic economics):

Every company is entitled to make money. This is why they are in business. Each company has an earnings target. This is why they have investors. If you raise taxes on a company, they raise prices accordingly. The company will make the same amount of money while the rest of us who consume the product will pay a higher price. All liberals will succeed in doing is create a bigger problem. This concept is fundamental economics that liberals do not understand.

Here is a dirty secret liberals don't want you to know: the oil companies make about 10 cents on each gallon, yet fedgov takes about 18 cents per gallon. Who is ripping off the consumers?

Also, the oil companies are earning roughly 7% in profits. this is in line (and in some cases lower) with other industries. The computer industry makes about 12%. will liberals also tax these profits? Fedgov makes about 25%, shouldn't this be reduce this as well?

One more economic lesson for stupid liberals: there are only 2 ways to reduce the price of oil:

Increase supply
reduce demand

Since liberals have no interest in increasing supply by tapping America's natural resources by drilling in Alaska or offshore or building new refineries (the youngest is over 30 years old), we are left with reducing demand. We have no way to reduce demand because the new demands are from china and India's new economies.

In conclusion, liberals are actually creating this problem and they do not even realize it. They are stupid.

Stop Loss a loser... what a surprise

2008-03-29T12:17:00.004-04:00

Hollywood just doesn't get it. I know Hollywood is in California, which means it is on American soil, thus the inhabitants are American. But what makes them think making yet another movie about the American troops or Americans in general being the bad guys will be compelling enough that Americans will want to see it? Us Americans want to see movies that allow us to escape our everyday lives and we are willing to pay for this escapism. But a movie about a couple whiners who were asked to fulfill their obligations that they themselves willingly volunteered for doesnt make any sense.

Here is a clip from Nikki Fink's Deadline Hollywood (via Drudge)

Although the drama from MTV Films was the best-reviewed movie opening this weekend, Paramount wasn't expecting much because no Iraq war-themed movie has yet to perform at the box office. "It's not looking good," a studio source told me before the weekend. "No one wants to see Iraq war movies. No matter what we put out there in terms of great cast or trailers, people were completely turned off. It's a function of the marketplace not being ready to address this conflict in a dramatic way because the war itself is something that's unresolved yet. It's a shame because it's a good movie that's just ahead of its time."

If Paramount wasn't expecting too much, why did they make the movie in the first place? Because they live in Hollywood and they believe everyone is entitled to their opinion regardless of the cost. this and other movies coming out of Hollywood about the war are just examples of how completely out of touch with reality they are. During WWII, there was plenty of movies from Hollywood that were big hits simply because it showed America fighting the good fight and winning. Iraq is the good fight and we are winning, but Hollywood doesn't see this, thus they are producing garbage.

If Paramount was serious about making money (which any good business should do) then they would make movies that people would actually want to see. I have an idea: Why don't they make a movie about American Soldiers as hero's? there are plenty of examples they could use, just ask Micheal Yon.

Holding back the tide

2008-03-28T14:12:00.007-04:00

There are two lines of thought I am going to pursue and try to equate somewhere down the road. these are 'global warming' and the 'Oil Crisis'. I have these in quotes because both of these topics have been topics of many news articles. I have come to believe that both are man-made contrivances.

Those who think a few million grains of sand can hold back the tides can also believe that man has caused our world to 'heat up'. There is no question that the average temperature has risen in the last few decades, but this has happened in the past as well... about every 1,500 years. The fact that the Sun goes through relative warm and cold periods (like summer and winter) has the ultimate impact on Earth's weather. There may also be a correlation between sunspots to our temperature. There was a period of time in the 1600's when there was virtually no sunspots. at the same time, there was a 'little ice age' happening on earth. At the moment, we are nearing the end of the 'summer' period. In fact, the Earth's average temperature has DECREASED over the last few years according to NASA's Aqua satellite data. Why don't we hear any of this? It doesn't fit with the media's doom and gloom nor does it fit with the socialistic views of environmentalists who want to confiscate wealth to save the planet (that doesn't need saving).

As for the oil crisis, I'm going to speculate a bit, with no factual backup. In other words, I'm going to use Al Gore's methods for defining a problem. Why is the price of oil high? There is the laws of supply and demand, and at the moment, the demand is very high due to the emerging markets of China and India consuming more oil than ever before. There is also a constant threat to the supply because of where in the world the oil riches are. Our world's oil supply is controlled by those with 15th century thoughts and societies. They reap the rewards of the oil riches and don't share it among their populations. The richest countries in the world have the poorest people. I'm talking about the Middle East Arab and Persian countries. To get their populations from revolt and bringing their countries into the 21st century, they foster a deep seeded hatred of the Western Culture.

Anyway, I don't believe this is why the price of oil is so high. Let's back up for a moment. In 2003/2004, there was a very rich person trying to influence the Presidential election. George Soros believed that given enough money, he can influence the population into electing Democrats through direct funding and funding groups like moveon.org. He failed for one major reason: the economy was doing fine despite all of the hardships against it (War, Natural disasters, and other events).

What if there was someone that had enough money to influence the American economy? How would someone go about doing this? The answer is actually quite simple. The oil prices are set not so much based upon supply/demand in the present but on speculation in the futures market. If I had enough money to burn, I could buy barrels of oil for $120 if I wanted to, and that would be the price. I would do this by raising prices gradually over a period of time so as not to raise too much suspicion.

As a result, the prices of everything associated to oil prices would rise, and in America, that is just about everything from fuel to plastics etc. If gas prices goes up, so do delivery charges which ultimately get passed on to the consumer. This alone will cause inflation because now prices on everything including bread, milk and eggs are going to rise. this will cause everyone to notice that their pocketbook is getting emptier, and when this happens, they'll look for someone to blame. The media has been beating this drum now for a very long time with the help of democrats to ensure the blame is squarely on the republicans.

Once a democrat is elected President, the prices of oil will miraculously drop to normal levels and prices will fall somewhat, but not all the way back to levels from 2006. This is the conspiracy that is much easier to pull off that the Global Warming scam.

finding work

2008-03-18T20:01:00.003-04:00

Finding a new job is about as much effort as it is to actually have a job! For about 2 weeks, I couldn't use my voice much due to surgery. But it's not like the phone is ringing off the hook.

I'm in the process of re-doing my resume for the 4rth time now. this time, Ive hired a professional. depending on the results, I'll hold off on giving myself the 'v-8' head slap.

Im not a vegetable!

2008-03-05T21:12:00.003-05:00

The surgery was a success. This was the fist time on anesthetics, and t was really weird. The guy put a mask over my face... and 30 seconds later (as far as I could tell) I was being roused awake by a cute nurse, with a pain in my throat. I was then moved upstairs into recovery where they hooked me into a bunch of machines. It was about 4:30 already, and I hadn't eaten since 10pm the night before. I was loopy, but hungry. they finally gave me some ice cream, Italian ices, jello and ice cubes to go along with the morphine.

the night shift started about 8pm, and I still had no desire to pee. they were getting worried. the night nurse was about the cutest Indian chick I have ever seen. So, just for her, I gave peeing the ole college try. I had to stand next to the bed and piss into a jug because I was plugged into the machines. It was hard enough with all of the wires, but she kept on interrupting every 30 seconds. I finally bullied her to go away. I squirted out a few thimble fulls, just enough to ease the pressure. It was all I could do with her interrupting.

About an hour later, they gave me another shot of morphine and soon after, I had to pee. I knew the drill, so I again bullied her to go away. I then overheard a conversation between her and another nurse that went something like this:

Other Nurse: 'What is he doing?'
My cute nurse: 'He is trying to pee?'
Other nurse; 'didn't he just get morphine?'
My cute Nurse: 'Yes'
Other nurse: ' He is going to piss all over the room!'

Needless to say, both nurses came running in and interrupted a very weak start. (So much for attempt #2). But this time, I noticed that the room had a head tucked away under the sink. I told the nurse to just let me sit on the head; this will resolve several issues as well as their concern about hosing down the room. So they unplugged me from the contraptions and left me alone for 10 minutes. What a relief! This became the drill every other hour for the rest of the night.

There was an older guy in the room next to mine. He was moaning and carrying on and from where I sat (being on morphine, remember) he was either in a great deal of pain, or was having some fun with a nurse. Between him carrying on, and my peeing, I got very little sleep.

I got home today about noon after stopping at the pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions. Percoset in a liquid form that I need to take every four hours.

It hurts to swallow, otherwise I'm fine. I just won't operate any heavy machinery for the next few days.

Surgery Today

2008-03-04T07:57:00.002-05:00

today, for the first time in my life, I'm going to a hospital to be a patient. (I won't count the time I had to get a fish hook removed, but that is another story) I'm getting my tonsils out. surgery is at 1:30 today, and I'll be knocked out for the procedure.

I've never been knocked out before and I really didn't think much of it until the hospital put a living will document in front of me. then I got to thinking about 'what if', as in 'what if I don't wake up' or 'what if I'm somehow allergic to the anesthesia?'

So with careful thought, I filled out the living will to basically say if a cucumber has a higher IQ than me, then pull the plug. I know this a bit blaze, but I can't worry about all of the 'what ifs'. that is how people can go insane.

The decision to pull the plug will be made by my significant other. She and I discussed it so she understands my intentions. Also, she understands horticulture and the nature of plants so she is the best person I know who can quantify the relative IQ of any vegetable. Plus, there is no financial impact one way or the other for her as my kids will inherit everything. (I really need to formalize a will, I'll do this soon as I still feel I'm immortal)

If all goes well (and there is no reason to believe otherwise), I'll be home tomorrow eating Italian Ices and drinking my meals for the next week.

Not Screaming

2008-02-29T14:36:00.004-05:00

It is implied, based upon the name of this blog, that I would talk about most anything that bothers me each day. Even to talk about those things that should only be written in a diary kept secure under your pillow. It is obvious that I don't do this as well as the obvious that there is a lot going on in my life to really scream about.

Blogging is actually very scary. It really puts yourself out there for the entire computerized world to potentially see. It also has the potential for people who are close to me to get the wrong idea of why I'm writing certain things. For this reason, I don't write about personal relationships or business relationships.

As stated before I have a lot to scream about (I've lost my job, my house is for sale, and my divorce is winding it's way through the court system). Just looking at the previous sentence makes me scream as well as get a 'woe is me' attitude.

However, I am not feeling miserable about the way things are. I actually feel pretty good and here is why: the job was a crappy job working for a crappy company, the future ex-wife was a crappy wife, (who did 2 really great things in delivering my 2 wonderful kids). I'll miss the house if I have to move, but there will be other places to keep the rain off of my head. I believe I have good marketable skills and will not be out of work for long. I only hope I can find a job so I don't have to sell the house.

But most importantly, I have someone in my life to share everything with, and she is my source of strength (as well as some aggravation, but that goes with the territory) as well as some really good friends and of course my family.

I know all will be well, thus there is no need to scream, nor panic. I've been in worse places, such as drifting onto Rikers Island (NYC Prison in the middle of the East river) without engine nor sail to keep us away with prison guards aiming rifles at us. I didn't panic then either, but there was a certain amount of yelling.

Linked In

2008-02-27T10:05:00.003-05:00

The other day, my sister sent me an invite to a site called Linked In. I have to admit that I didn't think too much of the idea at first, but since I've got some extra time on my hands, I tried it out.

Once I set it up, with my information, job history etc., I went in search of other people. I was extremely surprised at the results. I found colleagues from companies past that I am now linked with as well as my first recruiter! I also found my best friend from high school who we've lost contact with each other about 20 years ago! I'm now in touch with other recruiters, collage buddies and old friends.

I have an interview as a result of Linked In in about 40 minutes.

I called my sister a few minutes ago to apologize for the attitude as well as to thank her for the introduction to the site. Thanks again Sis!

Anyway, I'll be putting an icon on this blog shortly so you can all see my profile.

Sleep Study Results

2008-02-25T14:37:00.003-05:00

I had an appointment with the ENT Doctor this morning to review the results of the sleep studies that I did. let me recap for a moment: I snore very loudly and it effects not only the way I sleep, but everyone else within a 20 yard radius. So I went to an ENT doctor to see what can be done. Before anything else, I had to do a sleep study. The first sleep study was done, but I didn't sleep enough to do the CPAP test, so I had to go again and wear the masks.

The results are in: I have a mild case of apnea, but not enough to use the CPAP masks effectively. The study shows that I spend about 52% of the time in stages I and II which is light sleep. The bottom line is that I'm not getting enough deep sleep which causes me to be tired, sluggish and forgetful. The Doc says that there is too much stuff in my throat and not enough space for air to pass due to the tonsils and pallet constricting my 'snore box'. When this happens the apnea index is about 7 times an hour which wakes me up.

So we are now down to 2 options: surgery or wearing a mouthpiece every night. The mouthpiece is designed to hold out the lower jaw (kind of like Bill Cower when he gets mad) so there is more room in the 'snore box'.

After some careful consideration keeping in mind that I don't have any pressing engagements at the moment, I decided to take my ex-employees up and actually use the medical benefits I still have until the end of March and do the surgery. (consider this my last act of passive aggression)

I'm getting my tonsils removed and my pallet scraped next Tuesday. I'll be staying one night in the hospital and then I'll be home for recovery, and then it's a liquid diet for the next 7 days.

I am really looking forward to sleeping better and I'm sure everyone else near me is as well.

On pins and Needles

2008-02-16T11:56:00.006-05:00

I'm new to this blogging thing, so I haven't yet gotten into a decent rhythm. I also need to work on my writing skills a bit more to present an argument more fully. I have now a greater regard for those who do this daily and for a long while. The point of saying this is that I am not yet to a point that I can apologize for the light posting lately.

I have been distracted by events at work (I know, I shouldn't let a thing like work get in the way of blogging...). Our workforce needs to downsize for various reasons. It is not a well kept secret at all and coupled with the visibility of the CEO, VP of HR and CFO being huddled behind various closed doors, has made the rest of us very worried for our futures. My company also has a problem in that we cannot execute a plan very well. things tend to drag out too long.

All of us are on pins and needles waiting for the ax to drop, and it will soon. Morale is extremely bad and has made everyone very tense. Ive noticed that people are taking different attitudes:

'Duck and Cover' -- these people keep there heads down, do what they are told even if they are told to do something they know is stupid.
'wtf' -- these people figure since they are sure to get a pink slip, they will make life even more difficult for everyone else by being uncooperative by saying something like '... do it yourself, I have my own job to do'.
'Who cares' -- these people think it wouldn't make that much difference if they worked here or not working at all. They feel very put upon already, so being laid off would be a relief. These people spend more time on Monster.com and Dice.com than actually getting their job done.
'I want to keep my job' -- these people are now, all of a sudden, the model employee, unlike what they were doing previous. They can be seen sucking up to everyone who may have some influence over the decision. (I don't want to speculate how a select few women are behaving)
'The Axe? What Axe?' -- These people are too naive or too stupid to know what is going on. fortunately, there aren't too many in this category.

As for me? I'm a combo of 'wtf' and 'who cares' with a judicious use of 'Duck and Cover'.

Update 2/19/2008: Well, Thats a relief. The axe fell today. I wasn't around long enough to find out who else was 're-organized' out of the company. It is just as well. The company is dying a painful death. If it survives the year, I will be shocked. The brands will survive and probably be sold off to various major companies, but the current company will disintegrate.

More on this later. for now, I'm going to do what any self respecting person who is 're-organized' should do: get drunk, get laid and get some well deserved sleep. (perhaps I can get 're-organized' tomorrow as well..heehee)

Pease Please

2008-02-13T10:25:00.003-05:00

I saw a bumper sticker today that says 'Peace Please' with the peace symbol in between the two words. I saw another bumper sticker the other day that says 'coexist' written out in religious symbols from each major religion.

I think this is a great sentiment. I share their desire to have world peace. It would be great if we all could 'just get along'.

Id like to meet the owner of the stickers and prove a point. I'll bring along a 'neutral' party (you'll see why in a moment) for this meeting.

here is how this will go:

Slap peacenick in the face
Referee says to peacenick 'Peace Please'
Repeat steps 1-2 for as long as it takes for the peacenick to walk (or run) away
Follow Peacenick and continue from step 1
Repeat steps 1-4 until peacenick finally asks 'why are you doing this?'
Answer: 'Because you are not Muslim, will you convert?'
Repeat steps 1-6 until peacenick answers 'yes'

This is exactly what has happened to America. We were getting slapped in the face all throughout to 90's, but we did nothing. We finally hit back to break this cycle and are still at war with those who have hit us. We will stop waging this war when they stop their war against us.

It is these radical-islamofascists who need to coexist with us. from all the evidence at hand, they are unwilling to do so. It is their stated goal to make the entire world Muslim. If you are not a Muslim, you are an enemy of theirs. Unless you are willing to convert, you will never have peace with them nor will you be able to coexist with them.

Their complete intolerance of everything not of their liking, such as those cartoons of Muhammad and the 'outrage' that ensued, makes it very difficult to 'co-exist' with them.

So for those with the bumper stickers, don't tell me about their desire to have peace, go tell it to our enemies. They are the ones responsible for this war and they are the ones who can end it by either surrendering (and coexisting with us) or dying. It is their choice.

As for us, we have a choice as well. We can either surrender (and convert), or fight on.

Update: Since I will NOT convert, I am already a target and an enemy of these radical-islamofascists. I have been waiting for an opportunity to post the following cartoon, and Captain Ed has given me this. Thanks Cap'n!

Rattling the Windows

2008-02-12T16:02:00.000-05:00

I went to an Ears/Nose/Throat doctor last week to find out if there is anything that can be done for my neighbors. You see, ever since I moved into my new house, my township has been puzzling over the question of seismic activity in Central New Jersey. I snore. Apparently, I snore loudly.

Tonight, I go to a Sleep therapist to determine if my snoring is life threatening (not to the local wildlife as my township fears). I had to fill out a sleep survey and one of the questions was 'what wakes you up at night?' Knees, elbows and pokes wasn't one of the answers. They'll strap me in to a thousand wires and hopefully they will wear ear plugs (They've done this thousands of times so I'm not too concerned for them).

From this analysis, there may be a host of options. I'll describe these when I know more. The point is that I'm finally going to know if there is a way to stop snoring. My house can't take much more rattling.

Update: Well That sucked! They hooked me up to dozens of wires, each with either glue or tape, and as each went on, I knew that each would have to be pulled off. To top it off, I don't think I slept at all, and it didn't seem that I gave their windows the 'full treatment'. Now I'm very tired with sore patches all over. Now I wait (2-3 weeks) for the results.

Update II: I got the results back the other day. As it turns out, I did sleep for a bit, but not enough to do the CPAP test. So I had to go back. (How embarrassing, a test I've studied for literally all of my life, and I had to re-take the test) So not only did I have to where 2 dozen wires taped to me (OUCH x2), I had to wear a mask that forces air into me. The fun part is opening your mouth because the air pumps from nose to mouth. You can whistle without breathing! ( I think with practice, you can sustain a whistle forever and breath at the same time.)

At first, I used something like this:

Just shove this up your nose and breath against the stream of air while keeping the wires from strangling you. I challenge anyone to sleep under these conditions. I slept for about 2 hours and woke up with such a sore nose, so I had to switch masks for this:

This was way more comfy. I went back to sleep only to wake up gasping for air! My nose clogged up as it always does and breathing through the mouth is difficult with the CPAP. With assistance, I blew my nose, disentangled wires and went back to sleep.

Anyway, I'll get the results of this study in a few weeks. For now, I've got sore spots, residual glue and a lack of sleep. Good Night!

Vote for Me!

2008-02-06T09:31:00.000-05:00

Each candidate has a theme, and a strategy to get elected. Speech after speech you'll hear the same things over and over again, but for each candidate, when you strip out all of the gobblygook and similar policies, when you acknowledge that none of them have any executive experiences and all of them are sitting US Senators, it all boils down to the following sentences:

Clinton: Vote for me because I'm a woman.
Obama: Vote for me because I'm black.
McCain: Vote for me because I'm not a democrat (really, I'm not .... trust me)

I feel sorry for ....

2008-02-05T08:36:00.000-05:00

I'm feeling sorry for Democratic black women in America during this election cycle. They have a very pleasant, but difficult choice to make during this primary season. They can vote for:

An African-American
A Woman

I am a white male, so I won't presume to offer any advise, but it seems to me the decision should be:

3. The most qualified to be President

I'm not suggesting that they should select a Republican(even though it's in their best interest to do so). I'm suggesting that all people should evaluate what the person is and does, not if the person has tits or is darker then the rest of us.

After all, who said that we should 'not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character'? oh yeah... Martin Luther King Jr.

I'm not saying.... just saying.