In a comment he made following a meeting with Secretary of the Treasury Geithner, Barack Obama said:
“There will be time for them to make profits, and there will be time for them to get bonuses — now is not that time. And that’s a message that I intend to send directly to them.”
Now, in fairness, I must report the context of the comment. Obama was referring to a report that Wall Street executives were still being paid bonuses even as they accept bail-out money from Uncle Sam.
There. Fair and balanced.
However, Obama's comment did not directly speak to that situation alone; he spoke of profit, the reason any business exists and the sole engine of the economic system in America! Without profit, no business has any reason to continue! Does Mr. Obama not understand this? Is he really such a neophyte? Has he been stuck in one public sector job after another so long that he does not understand where the money for such jobs come from? Let me set him straight. Without private industries and private citizens working for profit and then paying a portion of that profit in taxes, THERE IS NO GOVERNMENT, Mr. Obama!
That is, unless you plan on nationalizing everything and following the Red Chinese model!
Uhhh...let me think; Red China, the home of government control and direction of every aspect of life. Red China; the progenitor of stifling repression and forced labor. Red China, the society that must impose stifling censorship on its populace lest they find out what freedom brings. Red China, the bastion of zero pollution control, lead-based children's toys, forced abortions, rigid population control, and zero personal liberty. THAT Red China, Mr. Obama? That's what we aspire to?
You voted for it eyes wide shut, America!
All I can say is this; someone.....ANYONE...please set Obama straight and educate him on how American capitalism works before he completely undermines the whole deal and his little speeches on how "now is not the time for profit" becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Sorry, Pittsburgh!
Well, I guess it’s time to weigh in on the Super Bowl. As usual, there’s plenty of stuff to talk about.
I could talk about former bag-boy Kurt Warner and his Horatio Alger story of rags to riches to rags and then back to riches again, all the while being one of the true nice-guy role models in the sometimes nasty business of the NFL. I could talk about Pittsburgh’s tenacious defense and their seemingly magical ability to disguise blitzes and stifle any semblance of offense by the opposition. I guess I could make a prediction (Pittsburgh 24, Arizona 17) on Monday and then tell everyone that Nostradamus predicted it 400 years ago in a quatrain where Pittsburgh was called “smelly mountain” and Arizona was called “habitual loser.” I could even discuss the relative success of the Pittsburgh model and how they’ve adapted to the age of free agency and the new CBA and still maintained a high level of performance.
I don’t think I’ll talk about any of that. I’m a Browns fan; Pittsburgh sucks!
Seriously, you’ve got to give the devil his due. Pittsburgh is good and they’ve earned what they’ve achieved, but they still suck! Their fans are arrogant in the Dallas mold, and they wave those silly little yellow towels, reminding me more of a mid-major college game than a real, live NFL contest. Pittsburgh’s stadium, Heinz Field (aptly named since playing there can only be described as slogging through a bottle of ketchup), is the worst surface ever. Sitting on the banks of the famous “three rivers,” it’s more akin to playing in a swamp than on a proper playing surface. Kickers can’t kick there with any proficiency, so it’s either touchdowns or punts and not much in between.
Pittsburgh sucks!
Where you’ve got to give them credit is that they KNOW Pittsburgh sucks, so they’ve worked very hard over the years to develop and maintain an effective running game. They know that no one is going to throw for long gains in that muck, so they get receivers who specialize in short routes; pudgy little guys with wide feet and big hands who can cut in that slop and then catch short, efficient little passes to keep the ball moving up the field. They got a quarterback who’s tall, so even if he sinks down 6 or 8 inches, he can still see over rushing linemen. What’s amazing to me is that the NFL allows games to be played at Heinz. It hasn’t been that long ago that the NFL canceled a game in Houston because the playing surface was deemed “dangerous.” Where’s the NFL when it comes to Pittsburgh?
They’re up the distal end of the Rooney family’s alimentary canal, that’s where!
Let’s face it; the NFL wants powerful, stable ownership like they had in the old days; you know, the Wellington Moras of the world. What they’ve got now is a bunch of “profit-first” guys who’re liable to move their franchise at a whim just for an extra nickel or two, fan loyalty be damned! Pittsburgh has such ownership in the Rooneys and it’s just what the NFL wants, so who cares if they play in an oft-times dangerous quagmire?
I do!
The NFL ought to insist that Pittsburgh repair its home field and keep the number of games played there to a minimum so the field is playable on Sundays. Of course, that doesn’t include re-sodding every other day and pretending that new grass that is simply laid on underlying dirt is an acceptable playing surface; it’s not! Loose grass is worse than worn grass, which is only slightly better than the painted dirt that Cleveland used to play on routinely.
So, even if Pittsburgh is good and is going to win it’s sixth Super Bowl on Sunday, they suck!
I could talk about former bag-boy Kurt Warner and his Horatio Alger story of rags to riches to rags and then back to riches again, all the while being one of the true nice-guy role models in the sometimes nasty business of the NFL. I could talk about Pittsburgh’s tenacious defense and their seemingly magical ability to disguise blitzes and stifle any semblance of offense by the opposition. I guess I could make a prediction (Pittsburgh 24, Arizona 17) on Monday and then tell everyone that Nostradamus predicted it 400 years ago in a quatrain where Pittsburgh was called “smelly mountain” and Arizona was called “habitual loser.” I could even discuss the relative success of the Pittsburgh model and how they’ve adapted to the age of free agency and the new CBA and still maintained a high level of performance.
I don’t think I’ll talk about any of that. I’m a Browns fan; Pittsburgh sucks!
Seriously, you’ve got to give the devil his due. Pittsburgh is good and they’ve earned what they’ve achieved, but they still suck! Their fans are arrogant in the Dallas mold, and they wave those silly little yellow towels, reminding me more of a mid-major college game than a real, live NFL contest. Pittsburgh’s stadium, Heinz Field (aptly named since playing there can only be described as slogging through a bottle of ketchup), is the worst surface ever. Sitting on the banks of the famous “three rivers,” it’s more akin to playing in a swamp than on a proper playing surface. Kickers can’t kick there with any proficiency, so it’s either touchdowns or punts and not much in between.
Pittsburgh sucks!
Where you’ve got to give them credit is that they KNOW Pittsburgh sucks, so they’ve worked very hard over the years to develop and maintain an effective running game. They know that no one is going to throw for long gains in that muck, so they get receivers who specialize in short routes; pudgy little guys with wide feet and big hands who can cut in that slop and then catch short, efficient little passes to keep the ball moving up the field. They got a quarterback who’s tall, so even if he sinks down 6 or 8 inches, he can still see over rushing linemen. What’s amazing to me is that the NFL allows games to be played at Heinz. It hasn’t been that long ago that the NFL canceled a game in Houston because the playing surface was deemed “dangerous.” Where’s the NFL when it comes to Pittsburgh?
They’re up the distal end of the Rooney family’s alimentary canal, that’s where!
Let’s face it; the NFL wants powerful, stable ownership like they had in the old days; you know, the Wellington Moras of the world. What they’ve got now is a bunch of “profit-first” guys who’re liable to move their franchise at a whim just for an extra nickel or two, fan loyalty be damned! Pittsburgh has such ownership in the Rooneys and it’s just what the NFL wants, so who cares if they play in an oft-times dangerous quagmire?
I do!
The NFL ought to insist that Pittsburgh repair its home field and keep the number of games played there to a minimum so the field is playable on Sundays. Of course, that doesn’t include re-sodding every other day and pretending that new grass that is simply laid on underlying dirt is an acceptable playing surface; it’s not! Loose grass is worse than worn grass, which is only slightly better than the painted dirt that Cleveland used to play on routinely.
So, even if Pittsburgh is good and is going to win it’s sixth Super Bowl on Sunday, they suck!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Rush listens!
Recently, our new President, one Barack Hussein Obama, mentioned that people who wish to do business with his administration would be better served to spend no time listening to radio personality Rush Limbaugh. Well, actually what he said was “You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," which I take to mean what I said at the beginning.
There are more than a few problems with that.
First, it is perhaps the least Presidential thing I’ve heard for awhile. How is Obama concerning himself with the people’s business if he’s overly concerned about what a fully-marginalized radio talk show host has to say? I’d say that if he’s that concerned with Limbaugh, it may very well be that what Mr. Limbaugh has to say has merit, Obama knows that what he says has merit, and he’s scared to death of losing his grip on the tender coalition that he helped to create during this most recent election cycle, a la 1994. Perhaps Limbaugh and conservatism isn’t quite as marginalized as he would lead us to believe!
Second, does Mr. Obama have any background in American economics? Surely he recognizes that our economy is based in capitalism. Maybe he’ll read here, who knows? Just in case, here’s a brief lesson. Capitalism involves producing goods or services and then selling them at a rate that is over and above the cost of production (i.e., a “profit”). When businesses make a profit and thrive, they often need additional assistance (i.e., “labor”), so they hire people to assist them in their effort to advance the business and increase the profits of the enterprise. Some very successful businesses manage to hire thousands of people as the demand for their goods or services increase. This brings us to economic forces that determine how much a business can charge for their products; it’s called the Law of Supply and Demand. This principle is called a “Law” because, much like always-true forces of nature like gravity or motion, it’s principles never fail. Basically, it says that when supplies increase beyond normal demand, prices will fall in response and when supplies decrease below normal demand, prices will fall. Conversely, higher prices will cause demand to decrease and lower prices will cause an increase in demand. We saw a really good example recently in the petroleum markets. When gasoline prices rose to nearly $4/gallon, consumers reacted by either driving less or by purchasing more fuel-efficient transportation, the result of which was a marked decrease in demand for gasoline. The market responded by reducing prices and gasoline reached points that were around $1.50/gallon before the recent uptick in prices that were caused by a reduction in supply by oil producing nations. Contrary to what you may believe, Mr. Obama, the only role the government plays in this equation is determining the cost of production. If tax and tariff rates are high, businesses pass that cost of operation on to the consumers which drives prices up. Let’s review, shall we? Higher prices cause a decrease in demand, which means that businesses don’t need as much labor to produce their products. This means lay-offs to those of us who work for a living and a decreased tax base for the government. So, what should government do when a negative business cycle is experienced? Reduce taxes! The last time we saw this principle in action was the Reagan years, when Reagan pushed the largest tax decrease in history through Congress. Naturally, it led to economic prosperity that this country hadn’t seen in the previous twenty years! Kennedy did the same thing in the 60’s, leading to boom times during that period as well. Take a lesson from history, Mr. Obama; lower taxes before it’s too late!
Lastly, if Obama is concerned with the validity of his “big-government” principles or conversely, worried that the principles discussed by Rush Limbaugh have greater validity than those he espouses, why does he champion them in the first place? That answer is somewhat sinister and hard to imagine, quite frankly. Democrats know that their principles go against every accepted economic Law, but they push them anyway because they are masters of the nature of humans. Dems know that people are basically like electricity; they will travel the path of least resistance to their lowest state of potential energy whenever the opportunity arises! In other words, people are apt to take the easy way out if that is indeed a viable option. Dems have figured this out, so they tell people not to worry, let the government take care of it and danged if they don’t! Of course, no one really prospers on the largess of government, but you can get by if you know how to work the system. Pretty soon, of course, people forget how to fend for themselves and actually DEPEND on the government for their very existence. In America, where production and resourcefulness are rewarded and sloth is discouraged, this tenet goes against the very grain of American culture and economy! The solution, of course, is not MORE government, but LESS!!!
The sad part is that the poverty pimps LIKE it when people are absolutely dependent on the government for their very survival; it ensures their re-election.
LISTEN to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, et al! They seem to be the only ones who have the best interests of the country at heart these days!
There are more than a few problems with that.
First, it is perhaps the least Presidential thing I’ve heard for awhile. How is Obama concerning himself with the people’s business if he’s overly concerned about what a fully-marginalized radio talk show host has to say? I’d say that if he’s that concerned with Limbaugh, it may very well be that what Mr. Limbaugh has to say has merit, Obama knows that what he says has merit, and he’s scared to death of losing his grip on the tender coalition that he helped to create during this most recent election cycle, a la 1994. Perhaps Limbaugh and conservatism isn’t quite as marginalized as he would lead us to believe!
Second, does Mr. Obama have any background in American economics? Surely he recognizes that our economy is based in capitalism. Maybe he’ll read here, who knows? Just in case, here’s a brief lesson. Capitalism involves producing goods or services and then selling them at a rate that is over and above the cost of production (i.e., a “profit”). When businesses make a profit and thrive, they often need additional assistance (i.e., “labor”), so they hire people to assist them in their effort to advance the business and increase the profits of the enterprise. Some very successful businesses manage to hire thousands of people as the demand for their goods or services increase. This brings us to economic forces that determine how much a business can charge for their products; it’s called the Law of Supply and Demand. This principle is called a “Law” because, much like always-true forces of nature like gravity or motion, it’s principles never fail. Basically, it says that when supplies increase beyond normal demand, prices will fall in response and when supplies decrease below normal demand, prices will fall. Conversely, higher prices will cause demand to decrease and lower prices will cause an increase in demand. We saw a really good example recently in the petroleum markets. When gasoline prices rose to nearly $4/gallon, consumers reacted by either driving less or by purchasing more fuel-efficient transportation, the result of which was a marked decrease in demand for gasoline. The market responded by reducing prices and gasoline reached points that were around $1.50/gallon before the recent uptick in prices that were caused by a reduction in supply by oil producing nations. Contrary to what you may believe, Mr. Obama, the only role the government plays in this equation is determining the cost of production. If tax and tariff rates are high, businesses pass that cost of operation on to the consumers which drives prices up. Let’s review, shall we? Higher prices cause a decrease in demand, which means that businesses don’t need as much labor to produce their products. This means lay-offs to those of us who work for a living and a decreased tax base for the government. So, what should government do when a negative business cycle is experienced? Reduce taxes! The last time we saw this principle in action was the Reagan years, when Reagan pushed the largest tax decrease in history through Congress. Naturally, it led to economic prosperity that this country hadn’t seen in the previous twenty years! Kennedy did the same thing in the 60’s, leading to boom times during that period as well. Take a lesson from history, Mr. Obama; lower taxes before it’s too late!
Lastly, if Obama is concerned with the validity of his “big-government” principles or conversely, worried that the principles discussed by Rush Limbaugh have greater validity than those he espouses, why does he champion them in the first place? That answer is somewhat sinister and hard to imagine, quite frankly. Democrats know that their principles go against every accepted economic Law, but they push them anyway because they are masters of the nature of humans. Dems know that people are basically like electricity; they will travel the path of least resistance to their lowest state of potential energy whenever the opportunity arises! In other words, people are apt to take the easy way out if that is indeed a viable option. Dems have figured this out, so they tell people not to worry, let the government take care of it and danged if they don’t! Of course, no one really prospers on the largess of government, but you can get by if you know how to work the system. Pretty soon, of course, people forget how to fend for themselves and actually DEPEND on the government for their very existence. In America, where production and resourcefulness are rewarded and sloth is discouraged, this tenet goes against the very grain of American culture and economy! The solution, of course, is not MORE government, but LESS!!!
The sad part is that the poverty pimps LIKE it when people are absolutely dependent on the government for their very survival; it ensures their re-election.
LISTEN to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, et al! They seem to be the only ones who have the best interests of the country at heart these days!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
6 cars that probably OUGHT to go away!
According to this article, 6 "beloved" automobiles are about to disappear altogether.
The list includes some that don't really make much sense and a few that make perfect sense and make you wonder why other, similar makes don't disappear as well!
The curious "disappearances" include a two-seater from Honda (the S2000), the PTCruiser from Chrysler, and a Saturn (but then, the whole Saturn line is going away). These are headscratchers because they're not gas hogs or inordinately expensive vehicles, unlike the others on the list. The other three, a rich man's Lexus, the always ridiculous Hummer H-3 (well, the whole Hummer line is going dinosaur as well, but it's about time, isn't it?), and the equally ostentatious Dodge Viper, make more sense in this day and time.
Much like the current troubles of Toyota and their departure from what they know (small, fuel-efficient cars and trucks), these last three make perfect sense. Corporate CEOs make a lot of money to foresee market trends and respond before their markets dry up, don't they? Well, I'm not Kreskin and I don't make enough money to be a CEO, but I think anyone who buys gas on a regular basis could have predicted that gas hogs would lose favor in the market and done SOMETHING to ease themselves from the production of SUVs and full-sized trucks to smaller vehicles that meet current market demand!
I guess the "head in the sand" and "stick out the hand" plan was more their style.
Uhhhh......it's not mine!
The list includes some that don't really make much sense and a few that make perfect sense and make you wonder why other, similar makes don't disappear as well!
The curious "disappearances" include a two-seater from Honda (the S2000), the PTCruiser from Chrysler, and a Saturn (but then, the whole Saturn line is going away). These are headscratchers because they're not gas hogs or inordinately expensive vehicles, unlike the others on the list. The other three, a rich man's Lexus, the always ridiculous Hummer H-3 (well, the whole Hummer line is going dinosaur as well, but it's about time, isn't it?), and the equally ostentatious Dodge Viper, make more sense in this day and time.
Much like the current troubles of Toyota and their departure from what they know (small, fuel-efficient cars and trucks), these last three make perfect sense. Corporate CEOs make a lot of money to foresee market trends and respond before their markets dry up, don't they? Well, I'm not Kreskin and I don't make enough money to be a CEO, but I think anyone who buys gas on a regular basis could have predicted that gas hogs would lose favor in the market and done SOMETHING to ease themselves from the production of SUVs and full-sized trucks to smaller vehicles that meet current market demand!
I guess the "head in the sand" and "stick out the hand" plan was more their style.
Uhhhh......it's not mine!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Nice Coronation!
Well, wasn't THAT a nice coronation?
I'd call it an inauguration, but that's clearly NOT what it was. Inaugurations don't cost nearly as much as this one did and they're not nearly as full of pomp and circumstance as this one was!
If Obama cared as much about our troubles as he claims he does, wouldn't it have made more sense for him to downplay this event and do what he could to minimize it to save taxpayer money?
That's what I thought!
I'd call it an inauguration, but that's clearly NOT what it was. Inaugurations don't cost nearly as much as this one did and they're not nearly as full of pomp and circumstance as this one was!
If Obama cared as much about our troubles as he claims he does, wouldn't it have made more sense for him to downplay this event and do what he could to minimize it to save taxpayer money?
That's what I thought!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Old Liberals
Did you ever notice that the only old liberals you ever see are politicians or Hollywood elitists? I sure have, and I have a couple of ideas about why that is.
1) Almost EVERYBODY is liberal when they're young. They are full of idealism and hope and genuinely believe that there's plenty to go around for everyone if we'd all just pitch in and share with one another in love. Pretty lofty goal, but it leaves reality in the dust! No one, not conservatives, not liberals, not moderates, no NOBODY, does something for nothing! Everyone does what they do for what they'll get in return, which, in most cases, is monetary gain of some sort. Businesses call it profit; they don't operate so that they can be helpful, they do it for the health of their bottom line. When the young idealistic liberal comes to realize that this is how things work in these United States, they get more and more conservative and eventually wind up voting for those who best allow them to pursue their most profitable pursuits. The BEST proponents of liberal virtue are some of the most conservative people around; Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, etc., who earn billions in the free market and then give it away via charitable foundation or whatever.
2) Even though most young ideologues figure out #1 and are real, live conservatives by their 35th birthday or so, a lot of politicians of a liberal stripe are still ostensibly liberal at a very old age. Why is that? See #1!!!! They've figured out that their way to greater personal gain is via parasitism; they suck the life blood out of those who depend upon them for their very existence and then move on to a new batch of young liberals when the older ones figure it out! These so-called "poverty pimps" depend upon a large underclass of welfare honks who have nothing if it's not for the handouts of big daddy government. Very sad, but very real!
3) The third "class" of liberal in this country is the "Hollywood elite" crowd. They're the ones who make big dollars for acting, singing, writing, or whatever, and then cry long and loud about how insensitive it is for conservatives to insist that the underclass referred to in #2 get off of their lazy butts and go to work when the government should be doing more to help! Uhhh.....look, Mr. Hollywood; I know you pay taxes of some sort from the gross you earn, but you still bring home a lot more that I do. Instead of being so generous with my money, why don't you donate all of the proceeds from all of your films and live on my salary? You know....put your money where your mouth is! That's what I thought; as long as we're talking about someone else's money, it's okay to insist upon higher tax rates and bigger giveaways. When we start talking about YOUR money, it's a different story! Naturally, there's exceptions to this, but they're few and far in between! Paul Newman and Oprah Winfrey come to mind, but, like I said, they're the exception, not the rule! What REALLY riles me about this class of idiots is the sorts of things they say about CEOs or other corporate movers and shakers who earn a lot of money. "Uhhh....Hello, Mr. Pot? This is Mr. Kettle! YOU'RE BLACK!!!" At least when a CEO makes a lot of money, he's doing so in the practice of free market economics and he succeeds or fails at his own peril. If he does a poor job, the stockholders fire him! Frankly, much like his cohorts in Hollywood, who only have the earning power they generate in their own popularity, or the professional athlete, who's merely as good as his last season's statistics, the high-dollar CEO is only as good as the corporate profit he generates or does NOT generate and, frankly, I don't begrudge any of them a nickel of it as long as they shut up and stop telling ME that I'M immoral for not giving up MY whole check every other week!
So, there you have it. Now you know why there are no old liberals other than the ones I've mentioned.
1) Almost EVERYBODY is liberal when they're young. They are full of idealism and hope and genuinely believe that there's plenty to go around for everyone if we'd all just pitch in and share with one another in love. Pretty lofty goal, but it leaves reality in the dust! No one, not conservatives, not liberals, not moderates, no NOBODY, does something for nothing! Everyone does what they do for what they'll get in return, which, in most cases, is monetary gain of some sort. Businesses call it profit; they don't operate so that they can be helpful, they do it for the health of their bottom line. When the young idealistic liberal comes to realize that this is how things work in these United States, they get more and more conservative and eventually wind up voting for those who best allow them to pursue their most profitable pursuits. The BEST proponents of liberal virtue are some of the most conservative people around; Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, etc., who earn billions in the free market and then give it away via charitable foundation or whatever.
2) Even though most young ideologues figure out #1 and are real, live conservatives by their 35th birthday or so, a lot of politicians of a liberal stripe are still ostensibly liberal at a very old age. Why is that? See #1!!!! They've figured out that their way to greater personal gain is via parasitism; they suck the life blood out of those who depend upon them for their very existence and then move on to a new batch of young liberals when the older ones figure it out! These so-called "poverty pimps" depend upon a large underclass of welfare honks who have nothing if it's not for the handouts of big daddy government. Very sad, but very real!
3) The third "class" of liberal in this country is the "Hollywood elite" crowd. They're the ones who make big dollars for acting, singing, writing, or whatever, and then cry long and loud about how insensitive it is for conservatives to insist that the underclass referred to in #2 get off of their lazy butts and go to work when the government should be doing more to help! Uhhh.....look, Mr. Hollywood; I know you pay taxes of some sort from the gross you earn, but you still bring home a lot more that I do. Instead of being so generous with my money, why don't you donate all of the proceeds from all of your films and live on my salary? You know....put your money where your mouth is! That's what I thought; as long as we're talking about someone else's money, it's okay to insist upon higher tax rates and bigger giveaways. When we start talking about YOUR money, it's a different story! Naturally, there's exceptions to this, but they're few and far in between! Paul Newman and Oprah Winfrey come to mind, but, like I said, they're the exception, not the rule! What REALLY riles me about this class of idiots is the sorts of things they say about CEOs or other corporate movers and shakers who earn a lot of money. "Uhhh....Hello, Mr. Pot? This is Mr. Kettle! YOU'RE BLACK!!!" At least when a CEO makes a lot of money, he's doing so in the practice of free market economics and he succeeds or fails at his own peril. If he does a poor job, the stockholders fire him! Frankly, much like his cohorts in Hollywood, who only have the earning power they generate in their own popularity, or the professional athlete, who's merely as good as his last season's statistics, the high-dollar CEO is only as good as the corporate profit he generates or does NOT generate and, frankly, I don't begrudge any of them a nickel of it as long as they shut up and stop telling ME that I'M immoral for not giving up MY whole check every other week!
So, there you have it. Now you know why there are no old liberals other than the ones I've mentioned.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Division
From time to time, I read on several political chat boards and, after having done so for the last several weeks, I've come to one inescapable conclusion; this country is more divided after this past election than at any time I can recall, bar none!
So, what's causing this division?
First, liberals don't know how to win with dignity. When THEY win an election, they spend as much time and effort in gloating and posturing as they do in governing, which is NOT a good thing! Naturally, all that nose-rubbing causes animosity on the right and steels their resolve to NOT cooperate on anything at any time! THAT, of course, is counterproductive and leads to that old foe, gridlock.
You remember gridlock, don't you?
I think that the 'pubs would do what they can to cooperate is it weren't for all that gloating from the left, but, for some reason, they just can't help it. Maybe it's the same psychology that goes on in the sports world. You know; team 'A' which never beats team 'B' finally gets over and then the rhetoric gets ramped up to proportions epic, which merely steels the resolve to team 'B' to kick the crap out of team 'A' for another twenty years. I have a feeling that the current political climate is similar. The dems win the White House so seldom, they don't know what to do or how to act when they finally DO win one, so they engage in counterproductive behavior which sinks their own ship for another eight or twelve years.
Not very smart, is it?
Well, what would you expect from those who espouse a theoretical construct that is devoid of any semblance of common sense or reality?
In America, we have a capitalist economy. It requires several items to be in place to operate efficiently and/or properly. First, private enterprise must have incentive to operate. If some outside entity (i.e., the government) takes away all of that incentive with confiscatory tax policies, then entrepreneurs will take their marbles and go home. If enough of them do it, the government has nothing left to confiscate! Sadly, we're approaching the critical mass of just that scenario and what are we doing about it? Confiscating MORE money from entrepreneurs! NOT smart! Second, you must have an inexpensive source of labor upon which to base your manufacturing and agricultural base. Our inexpensive source of labor has dried up and has been replaced by VERY expensive union labor which, quite predictably, has sent our manufacturing base to a place where cheap labor IS available. Has anyone seen this happening?
That's what I thought!
What needs to happen to bring our economy back? We have to create incentives for business to flourish with lower taxes and a source of cheaper labor. THAT means that unions are going to have to swallow their pride and take wage cuts or face their new careers in the fast-food industry.
You want fries with that?
What it does NOT mean is that the government really has no place in any of it EXCEPT lowering taxes so the economy can get going again.
When are they going to learn?
So, what's causing this division?
First, liberals don't know how to win with dignity. When THEY win an election, they spend as much time and effort in gloating and posturing as they do in governing, which is NOT a good thing! Naturally, all that nose-rubbing causes animosity on the right and steels their resolve to NOT cooperate on anything at any time! THAT, of course, is counterproductive and leads to that old foe, gridlock.
You remember gridlock, don't you?
I think that the 'pubs would do what they can to cooperate is it weren't for all that gloating from the left, but, for some reason, they just can't help it. Maybe it's the same psychology that goes on in the sports world. You know; team 'A' which never beats team 'B' finally gets over and then the rhetoric gets ramped up to proportions epic, which merely steels the resolve to team 'B' to kick the crap out of team 'A' for another twenty years. I have a feeling that the current political climate is similar. The dems win the White House so seldom, they don't know what to do or how to act when they finally DO win one, so they engage in counterproductive behavior which sinks their own ship for another eight or twelve years.
Not very smart, is it?
Well, what would you expect from those who espouse a theoretical construct that is devoid of any semblance of common sense or reality?
In America, we have a capitalist economy. It requires several items to be in place to operate efficiently and/or properly. First, private enterprise must have incentive to operate. If some outside entity (i.e., the government) takes away all of that incentive with confiscatory tax policies, then entrepreneurs will take their marbles and go home. If enough of them do it, the government has nothing left to confiscate! Sadly, we're approaching the critical mass of just that scenario and what are we doing about it? Confiscating MORE money from entrepreneurs! NOT smart! Second, you must have an inexpensive source of labor upon which to base your manufacturing and agricultural base. Our inexpensive source of labor has dried up and has been replaced by VERY expensive union labor which, quite predictably, has sent our manufacturing base to a place where cheap labor IS available. Has anyone seen this happening?
That's what I thought!
What needs to happen to bring our economy back? We have to create incentives for business to flourish with lower taxes and a source of cheaper labor. THAT means that unions are going to have to swallow their pride and take wage cuts or face their new careers in the fast-food industry.
You want fries with that?
What it does NOT mean is that the government really has no place in any of it EXCEPT lowering taxes so the economy can get going again.
When are they going to learn?
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Now THIS is the kind of representation we should ALL have!
Our local Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dumb in Houston are Quantrell X, of whom I've spoken before, and the Congresswoman from the most gerrymandered district in the country, Sheila Jackson-Lee, who never misses an opportunity to find racism under every rock and who NEVER met a camera she didn't like.
At a recent news conference designed to lobby for government cash for Houston, Shirley and her crack staff (or staff on crack, whichever rings most true) displayed the signs pictured.
No child left behind?
How about no Congresswoman left behind? Did the spell check on the computer go down? Did anyone on the Congresswoman's staff not realize that one sign or the other MUST be incorrect?
You get what you vote for, I guess! 
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Well, THAT was a short eternity!
I got a pretty good chuckle earlier. It seems that, in Bullhead City, Arizona, eternity isn't nearly as long as it is elsewhere. In November, city officials dedicated a park honoring war veterans and lit an "eternal flame" to honor our war dead.
Mission accomplished!
When they got the gas bill in December, they promptly shut the flame down to save on expenses. It seems a one month supply was nearly $1000!
A really wise man once said that only a fool begins a project without considering the cost.
I think it was Jesus, actually! (Luke 14:28-30)
I pray that my eternity lasts longer than that!
Mission accomplished!
When they got the gas bill in December, they promptly shut the flame down to save on expenses. It seems a one month supply was nearly $1000!
A really wise man once said that only a fool begins a project without considering the cost.
I think it was Jesus, actually! (Luke 14:28-30)
I pray that my eternity lasts longer than that!
Bits and Pieces
Hello, dear blogfans!
Lots of stuff going on! School started back up this week after a two-week vacation with MDB, which was truly wonderful! Two weeks off is nice, but it's nice to get back to work as well. I know....I know.....
W-W-W-W-A-A-A-A-A-A-H-H-H-H-H-H!!!!!
Only two weeks? Why not a month?
It's my cross to bear!
Anyway, part of why it's nice to get back is the resumption of basketball. My A team is underachieving, but my B team got their second win of the year this past Wednesday and they're looking pretty good for the most part. The best part is that we got both wins with our starting center on suspension and we go into our district tournament this week at full strength. If we win on Monday, one more win puts us into the championship game on Thursday; it's the best tournament seeding we've had since I started coaching here!
I sure hope we can put a two-game winning streak together!
Meanwhile, I can't believe how blessed I am to be married to the most wonderful woman on the planet! She's so supportive, sweet, and understanding! She came to our game on Wednesday and then met me for dinner afterward. It was awesome and, even though I was bummed about the most one-sided call I've experienced in a very long time, being with her calmed me down and soothed my angst like nothing else can. God, I love this woman!
We had my kids over for Christmas during the holidays and my boys told me to start up a Facebook account to help us stay in touch, so I did. I've got all of 6 friends, I think, including my two boys. Meanwhile, MDB started one up, too, and now she's got about 40 friends or so.
It's SO not fair!
Just goes to show, though; EVERYBODY loves MDB! I'm just blessed that nobody loves her as much as I do and she loves no one else as much as she loves me!
She's at the Boat Show working for the second weekend in a row, so I'm holding down the home front, doing laundry and such and watching football. Pretty good game so far....7 to 7 with 12:05 to go in the half.
I wonder how many people are actually buying the "only government can fix it" line that Obama dropped the other day? Have we really sunk that low? Have we become so helpless and so completely dependent on the largess of our government that we simply cannot see any other way out? You know, back in WWII, we really dug ourselves out. The government got more involved that it ever had been before, starting all sorts of public works projects and handing out money on the dole at an unprecedented level and yet, we really didn't get out of it until the industrial might and resourcefulness of the American people kicked in and we started producing war material for WWII.
Anyone see a common denominator here?
We need to swallow our collective pride, take pay cuts where necessary, take jobs we would normally consider "beneath" us, and start producing goods, especially manufactured goods, again. Only when we manufacture do we prosper! We have gone from a manufacturing economy to a service economy. The dirty little secret is that, when our manufacturing base suffers, people can't afford to pay for the services that employ others and don't buy them!
You listening, Obama?
We need tax breaks for almost every aspect of the manufacturing sector, not a bunch of make-work projects that simply take money from one sector and redistribute it to another! We need to PRODUCE wealth, not steal it from one faction and give it to another!
It's going to be a long four years!
Lots of stuff going on! School started back up this week after a two-week vacation with MDB, which was truly wonderful! Two weeks off is nice, but it's nice to get back to work as well. I know....I know.....
W-W-W-W-A-A-A-A-A-A-H-H-H-H-H-H!!!!!
Only two weeks? Why not a month?
It's my cross to bear!
Anyway, part of why it's nice to get back is the resumption of basketball. My A team is underachieving, but my B team got their second win of the year this past Wednesday and they're looking pretty good for the most part. The best part is that we got both wins with our starting center on suspension and we go into our district tournament this week at full strength. If we win on Monday, one more win puts us into the championship game on Thursday; it's the best tournament seeding we've had since I started coaching here!
I sure hope we can put a two-game winning streak together!
Meanwhile, I can't believe how blessed I am to be married to the most wonderful woman on the planet! She's so supportive, sweet, and understanding! She came to our game on Wednesday and then met me for dinner afterward. It was awesome and, even though I was bummed about the most one-sided call I've experienced in a very long time, being with her calmed me down and soothed my angst like nothing else can. God, I love this woman!
We had my kids over for Christmas during the holidays and my boys told me to start up a Facebook account to help us stay in touch, so I did. I've got all of 6 friends, I think, including my two boys. Meanwhile, MDB started one up, too, and now she's got about 40 friends or so.
It's SO not fair!
Just goes to show, though; EVERYBODY loves MDB! I'm just blessed that nobody loves her as much as I do and she loves no one else as much as she loves me!
She's at the Boat Show working for the second weekend in a row, so I'm holding down the home front, doing laundry and such and watching football. Pretty good game so far....7 to 7 with 12:05 to go in the half.
I wonder how many people are actually buying the "only government can fix it" line that Obama dropped the other day? Have we really sunk that low? Have we become so helpless and so completely dependent on the largess of our government that we simply cannot see any other way out? You know, back in WWII, we really dug ourselves out. The government got more involved that it ever had been before, starting all sorts of public works projects and handing out money on the dole at an unprecedented level and yet, we really didn't get out of it until the industrial might and resourcefulness of the American people kicked in and we started producing war material for WWII.
Anyone see a common denominator here?
We need to swallow our collective pride, take pay cuts where necessary, take jobs we would normally consider "beneath" us, and start producing goods, especially manufactured goods, again. Only when we manufacture do we prosper! We have gone from a manufacturing economy to a service economy. The dirty little secret is that, when our manufacturing base suffers, people can't afford to pay for the services that employ others and don't buy them!
You listening, Obama?
We need tax breaks for almost every aspect of the manufacturing sector, not a bunch of make-work projects that simply take money from one sector and redistribute it to another! We need to PRODUCE wealth, not steal it from one faction and give it to another!
It's going to be a long four years!
Friday, January 02, 2009
In Obama we trust
The day before yesterday, I saw the above image on the back of a car in front of me from a distance. Frankly, I thought it was some sort of Catholic saint image or something until I got close enough to see that it was in fact an image of our President-elect, Barack Obama.
Look, I understand the euphoria that goes with the "Finally! Our guy won!" sentiment. I even understand the hope that change brings, especially if you're one of the unfortunate people who've lost large amounts of your personal wealth in the stock market. I can even understand the hopeful anticipation that goes with the "I made a dumb choice and lost my house; I hope Obama's able to bail me out!" sentiment (even if it turns my stomach to think that MY tax dollars are going to save some irresponsible moron's house!).
What I CAN'T understand, and what I will never understand, is the out and out WORSHIP of this guy! Uhhh.....he's just a MAN, people! I haven't seen a red "S" on his chest! I haven't seen the nail-scarred hands! I didn't see a halo last time I looked! He's not a saint; he's not a god; he's not even an accomplished politician at this point! Well....he's obviously a SUCCESSFUL politician....but what has he ever DONE to deserve all of this praise?
Only time will tell. He may well accomplish some good, at which point I'll say, "You know what? Obama actually DID some good things! I sure am glad I was wrong about him!"
Until he does....I'll reserve my judgement and continue to wonder what on earth people see in this guy that's worthy of worship!
By the way, I worship the one true God who manifests Himself to us in three persons, the Father, the Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit!
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Happy 2009!
Happy New Year, blogfans!
Unfortunately, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
In Illinois, that bastion of political righteousness, soon to be ex governor Blagojevich nominated Roland Burris, an African-American, to fill the vacated senate seat of Barack Obama.
Now, this opens so many questions, I don't even know where to begin!
First, I was unaware that one of the two senate seats from Illinois had been designated "black only." When did that happen? Second, does governor Blago...ch have a brain in his head? He's all but impeached, convicted, and removed from office. Does he really think this nomination will just be agreed and forgotten to smooth transition? Obviously, Burris doesn't think so; he's asked the courts to step in and certify the nomination before the ink's even dry! Does anyone (not living there) really take Illinois politics seriously? Finally, why is it that only African-American reporters are allowed to report this story? Perhaps there's no formal restriction there, but I haven't seen any non-black journalists reporting on this story! Even guest comments on it are coming only from AA commentators. I thought this was 2009? I thought we were past all of this "black only" or "white only" stuff!
The more things change, the more they stay the same!
On another note, the NCAA is apparently turning a blind eye to bowl participant perks, causing questions to arise from some watchdogs in the sports world. One commentator said something along these lines; "Let's drop the pretense; NCAA athletics is professional athletics and we should just accept it and treat these athletes for what they are and pay them in the open for their services."
Anyone price a college education lately? I thought a full ride scholarship WAS remuneration for their services? Let's not pretend like that little detail is insignificant; it's not! After all, for every NCAA athlete who is able to enter the NBA, the NFL, or some other major league sports organization and get paid to be a professional athlete, there's at least 200 who do not! That scholarship is their ticket to a bright future! It IS remuneration for services rendered!
Why the outrage over Israel retaliating in Gaza? Didn't Hamas start this squabble? Didn't they fire their little rockets into Israel, aimed at no one in particular? That's what I thought! So, when you poke the tiger, how can you feign surprise when he turns around and bites back?
Maybe everyone wants peace there ("everyone" being every non-Arab in the world at large), but there will never be peace there, at least not until the Arab world accepts that Israel is there to stay and stop all of this ridiculous effort to eliminate them.
If the antichrist won't even be able to get it done, how are your little rockets going to make it happen, Hamas?
May 2009 be a year of peace, prosperity, and love.
It's not starting out that way!
Unfortunately, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
In Illinois, that bastion of political righteousness, soon to be ex governor Blagojevich nominated Roland Burris, an African-American, to fill the vacated senate seat of Barack Obama.
Now, this opens so many questions, I don't even know where to begin!
First, I was unaware that one of the two senate seats from Illinois had been designated "black only." When did that happen? Second, does governor Blago...ch have a brain in his head? He's all but impeached, convicted, and removed from office. Does he really think this nomination will just be agreed and forgotten to smooth transition? Obviously, Burris doesn't think so; he's asked the courts to step in and certify the nomination before the ink's even dry! Does anyone (not living there) really take Illinois politics seriously? Finally, why is it that only African-American reporters are allowed to report this story? Perhaps there's no formal restriction there, but I haven't seen any non-black journalists reporting on this story! Even guest comments on it are coming only from AA commentators. I thought this was 2009? I thought we were past all of this "black only" or "white only" stuff!
The more things change, the more they stay the same!
On another note, the NCAA is apparently turning a blind eye to bowl participant perks, causing questions to arise from some watchdogs in the sports world. One commentator said something along these lines; "Let's drop the pretense; NCAA athletics is professional athletics and we should just accept it and treat these athletes for what they are and pay them in the open for their services."
Anyone price a college education lately? I thought a full ride scholarship WAS remuneration for their services? Let's not pretend like that little detail is insignificant; it's not! After all, for every NCAA athlete who is able to enter the NBA, the NFL, or some other major league sports organization and get paid to be a professional athlete, there's at least 200 who do not! That scholarship is their ticket to a bright future! It IS remuneration for services rendered!
Why the outrage over Israel retaliating in Gaza? Didn't Hamas start this squabble? Didn't they fire their little rockets into Israel, aimed at no one in particular? That's what I thought! So, when you poke the tiger, how can you feign surprise when he turns around and bites back?
Maybe everyone wants peace there ("everyone" being every non-Arab in the world at large), but there will never be peace there, at least not until the Arab world accepts that Israel is there to stay and stop all of this ridiculous effort to eliminate them.
If the antichrist won't even be able to get it done, how are your little rockets going to make it happen, Hamas?
May 2009 be a year of peace, prosperity, and love.
It's not starting out that way!
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