Over Simplification?

I have a few friends that like to email stuff from time to time. I’ll tease them a bit here because they often like to blind carbon copy (bcc) everyone and don’t often coordinate their efforts. This means I get the same email two or three times from the people that I know.

But some of them are good and informative. Here is one that I got recently. It was apparently written by a guy named Charley Reese. I have not been able to confirm this, though it seems plausible given Reese’s background.


BY CHARLEY REESE

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code. Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy. Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices - 545 human beings out of the 300 million - are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one single thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common confidence conspiracy regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a SPEAKER, who stood up and criticized G.W. Bush ALONE for creating deficits.

The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.

Who is the speaker of the House? She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto.

REPLACE THE SCOUNDRELS

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts - of incompetence and irresponsibility.

I cannot think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it is because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it is because they want it in the red. If the Marines are in IRAQ, it's because they want them in IRAQ.

There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exist disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation" or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses - provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees. We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess.

It’s an interesting synopsis and to a large extent it’s right on the money. But alas, it may be just an over simplification of the way things work. In any organization, business, or government you have a few people that control and represent (if they choose) the people of that entity. In our case, this comes down to 545 people representing about 330 MILLION people. That’s 0.00017% of the population that tries to appease the rest of us and run the country.

And let’s face it, we know they don’t all get along or believe in the same things just as the 330 million citizens don’t. We also didn’t get here overnight. Some of the laws, codes, and practices are things that were put on the book in previous administrations that may have been good for the time, but are no longer applicable.

We also have a very difficult time changing things once they are put into place. So while it would be easy to take the above writing and simply say “fix it” it would be much harder to execute if you could even get the 545 people to agree on anything.

The one thing that is absolutely true about this article is that it is those 545 people that are responsible for where we are going and have the authority and opportunity to change things. But they are not alone. They are not solely responsible for the actions of the rest of us in the U.S. Not all problems are a direct result of the government being involved or not involved as the case may be. As a citizen you bear some of that responsibility. By your actions or inactions you also allow situations to develop and arise and then what do you do? Blame it solely on the 545 people in office?

But please don't misunderstand me, I pretty much agree with what he has to say.

A Brief Lesson In Politics and Definitions

The debates are heating up and it looks more and more like Obama has a very solid chance of winning, but it’s not over yet. One rumor I am hearing is that we could see a Clinton / Obama ticket. The best of both worlds? Perhaps if you are democratic liberal. It’s a nightmare if you are a republican conservative. Which are you?

I’ve often used the term “socialist” in reference to Clinton and Obama. I’ve also been refuted or told that “socialist” is the wrong word to use. But I’d like to draw from a few definitions (all taken from dictionary.com):

so·cial·ist /ˈsoʊ ʃə lɪst/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[soh-shuh-list] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. an advocate or supporter of socialism.

2. (initial capital letter ) a member of the U.S. Socialist party.
–adjective
3. socialistic.


If we look at this definition we can pretty much derive that someone is a socialist if they advocate or support socialism. Many people confuse socialism with communism. They are oh, so very close, but not quite the same thing. So, the next definition is socialism:

so·cial·ism /ˈsoʊ ʃəˌlɪz əm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[soh-shuh-liz-uh m] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.

3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.

Note that on definition #1 the ownership and control is usually an organization such as the government. What this effectively means is that the government becomes responsible for the production and allocation of wealth or services as it sees fit. Clinton is a supporter of socialized medicine. It was her thesis in college and she tried to push it while her husband was in office. At this time I won’t argue the benefits or detriment of socialized medicine though I will say that I believe some type of reformation is necessary. She still supports socialized medicine. She also has repeatedly stated that she wants to take the profits of businesses and individuals to support government programs (i.e. redistribution). Obama and Clinton also support other similar systems and the further taxation of the American people. They are socialist by the very definition of the terms.

The next question you should be asking is if this is good or bad. I suppose that depends on what your beliefs are with regards to governmental and financial systems. Most fiscally conservative people see this as a bad thing. I tend to agree with it. Our country was built and founded on principles of capitalism, not socialism. I see this as Anti-American, but I suppose America is defined by what it is and not what it was supposed to be.

The other thing I find ironic about all this is that pretty much all democrats as well as some republicans and independents are upset with Bush and Cheney because they have managed to expand the reach and power of the government.

I agree with people when they say that they see this as a bad thing. I personally believe that the government should stay out of business and private lives with the exception of regulations for safety. This is an idealistic approach and is obviously not feasible. That does not mean that I support Bush and Cheney’s approach to expanding the power of government.

But let’s take the argument from a liberal / democratic approach. They don’t like Bush and Cheney for this reason, yet at the same time they are supporting candidates that want to dramatically expand the power of the government through socialistic systems! That’s pretty hypocritical in my opinion. If you follow logic and reason one should not criticize Bush and Cheney and at the same time support Obama or Hillary.

But I’ve often said that politics is like religion. If you talk to religious zealots (ok, even your plain-Jane religious folks) you will find that they are very adept at dismissing logic and reason when it fits their cause. The same thing is true of politics.

Bush and Cheney are often referred to as “fascists.” For definition sake, and since this entry contains definitions I’ve included the definition of a fascist here.

fas·cist /ˈfæʃ ɪst/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[fash-ist] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. a person who believes in or sympathizes with fascism.

2. (often initial capital letter ) a member of a fascist movement or party.

3. a person who is dictatorial or has extreme right-wing views.
–adjective

4. Also, fa·scis·tic /fəˈʃɪs tɪk/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[fuh-shis-tik] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation. of or like fascism or fascists.

It is also necessary to define fascism to conclude one is a fascist:

fas·cism /ˈfæʃ ɪz əm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[fash-iz-uh m] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. (sometimes initial capital letter ) a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.

2. (sometimes initial capital letter ) the philosophy, principles, or methods of fascism.

3. (initial capital letter ) a fascist movement, esp. the one established by Mussolini in Italy 1922–43.

This becomes interesting because to a large extent, fascism tends to support socialism and vice-versa. This is true of Mussolini, Stalin, Hitler, etc. These people were fascists. The closest you can come to Bush being a fascists is by the 4th definition which states:
“a person who is dictatorial or has extreme right-wing views.” One might argue that by expansion of governmental power that he could be classified as a fascist, but I’d say that’s stretching it. I would be more likely to say that democratic politicians are closer to fascism than republican candidates, but I suppose that is arguable depending on which politician you pick and chose from.

I wonder if it’s through misinterpretation that our language evolves and changes. The definitions of liberals and conservatives has certainly changed over time. It would be interesting to have an English scholar comment on this one as I certainly do not have the education and knowledge to address it empirically.

My bottom line – I hope that you have a better understanding of the actual definitions of the words and what they mean. I do not support socialism and I do not support fascism, but I think they have both been misinterpreted or misused.

A Quick Scare

Through an interesting set of co incidents I had brief scare that I was a victim of identity theft.

I’ve always tried to be fairly conscious of my personal information, but you might recall that not too long ago my wallet was “lost” and I never got anything back. The only thing that was ever returned was my driver’s license, which showed up in the mail about two months later. Kind of odd.

Over the last week I was in California. Most of it was business, but since I had to be there on Tuesday I flew in on Friday and went snowboarding with one of my co-workers.
We headed up to Dodge Ridge near the Tahoe area and got some nice fresh powder in due to the storms rolling in off the Pacific.

About 2 days ago while still in California I get a call from someone at Tejas De Brazil on my cell phone. They wanted to let me know that I had left my credit card up there, but that they had locked it up in their safe.

I immediately called them back and spoke to the manager. They asked if I was Mr. “Smith” and of course I said I was. They said they had my credit card. I explained to them that I was in California and that was not possible. Again, they confirmed that I was Mr. “Smith.” And had I ever dined there before. I explained that I had, but it had been years and I was in California and there was no way that was me. It bothered me that they called me on my cell phone and so I asked how they got the number. They told me that the person left that number when making the reservations – for a party of NINE! This place goes for about $50 a plate, so figure the bill was somewhere around $500 not including any alcohol.

I politely asked for the name on the credit card. Surprisingly enough it was almost identical to my legal name. The only real difference being that the first name on the card was close to my middle name (which I go by), and the middle initial was the same as my legal first name. You can imagine that with a name like “Smith” that it could easily be a coincidence if you excluded the fact that they called ME on my cell phone.

Now I am thinking that someone is trying to pull a fast one. I get as much information as I could and call up “Rip-U Bank,” which is the bank on the card that Tejas De Brazil had. Coincidentally my credit card is always with a “Rip-U Bank.” At first I got a little bent out of shape because they wanted MY account information. I asked what would happen if I didn’t have an account with “Rip-U?” Did that mean that they wouldn’t explore the possibility of identity theft? No no no…of course not! Then the security guy asks how long I’ve had my cell phone and I explained it was at least seven years old.

Now the guy hypothesizes that someone with a nearly identical name as mine just happened to transpose a couple of numbers for his cell phone and that they accidentally called me. I asked if he was serious or kidding and that I’d have better odds of hitting the lotto. He did not find me very amusing, but I wasn’t laughing, either.

After being assured a call back I took his name and manager’s name. They indicated they would note it on my account and return my call.

The next day, no call. Imagine that, eh? I called them today and got a different guy on the phone. This guy was very helpful. He called the merchant while I was on hold and got all of the account information for the card that was the restaurant. He looked up that account and then cross-referenced it to mine. NOTHING matched. That’s good! It just means that we have nearly identical names.

So the big mystery is how they called me on my cell phone. The “Rip-U” bank guy figured this one out after talking to Tejas for a while. Well, as it turns out if you ever go to Tejas De Brazil and make a reservation they stick your number into a database. When the guy left his credit card they looked up MY name instead of his and called me. That made much more sense.

It was a bit of a frightening experience, but all is well in the end. “Rip-U” bank even put a security hold on my credit cards until we straightened this out. The only thing that really irks me is that the first guy just didn’t seem to take this very seriously.

Bent Over Illegal Aliens

I think people don’t understand why I get so bent out of shape with regards to illegal aliens. I also think people make the mistake that I am against immigration. First off, I am not against immigration. I am against illegal immigration. I’ve said that before and it is all over this blog. I don’t care what your color is and I don’t care what country you hail from. I do care if you are in this country illegally.

So why do I get so bent out of shape about it? Ultimately, I attritubute most of the problems that we face with overpopulation. Not just of the United States, but the entire world. Now, you might argue that there is plenty of room for more people and I agree with you. But, if you are concerned about things like environmental impact, economic impact, and so-forth then you should recognize that most of these issues are directly related to the number of people that are on this planet and inside the U.S.

Somewhere on here I posted statistics about the number of illegal aliens in California and what percentage of the population they represented. It was a fairly high number, somewhere around 30% or more. Now, just taking that one statistic alone should give you a fairly good idea about the utilization of resources. They require land. This drives up real estate. They require water, this drives up the cost of water and reduces the amount of water available (CA doesn’t have a lot of water and gets most of it from the Colorado River). This should give you a vague picture of where I am going with all of this.

The other day, I got this chain email and unlike a lot of chain emails I was able to verify some (but not all) of the information contained herein. This email only touches on the direct economic impact and not on the indirect impact that I was emphasizing in the above paragraph.

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year. http://tinyurl.com/zob77

2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens. http://ww w.cis. org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens. http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English! http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html

5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare and Social Services by the American taxpayers.
http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html

9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two-and-a-half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html

11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border. Homeland Security Report. http://tinyurl.com/t9sht

12. The National Policy Institute, "estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period." http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf

13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin. http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm

14. "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States". http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml

Total cost is a whooping... $338.3 BILLION A YEAR!!!

Bear in mind that the $338.3 isn't exactly an accurate number, but that’s still money that could be utilized to give people access to medical resources, feed the homeless, protect our natural resources, funding for education, funding for public servants, etc. I think you get the idea.

Guitar Hero, I am Not!

I’ve seen the game. I’ve heard people talk about the game. It’s all over the place and I’m sure they are making a bazillion dollars on it.

Several people I know have said I should play it. You’ll love it. It’s a way of life. (obscure Frank Zappa refernce for those of you that don’t know). They all said I would be great at it.

I’m good at video games….especially ones that require good hand-eye coordination and fast reflexes.

I also have been playing guitar for more years than I can count.

But the other night, I finally got my moment in the sun. My opportunity to shine and show them that I am a bad ass motherfucker!!! At least until my ass was kicked by a ten-year-old.

He hands me a “guitar” and takes one for himself. Now these guitars don’t have any strings. There are five buttons with colors on them for the left hand. Then there is some funky wedge thing where you would normally pick. It seems to respond to some basic pressure, but it’s nothing like really picking.

So the kid fires it up on “easy” mode….beginner mode…. I’ve never played this mode…. They should have had ‘Tard Mode because that’s what I felt like.

The game kicks it off with Foghat’s “Slow Ride.” Let me preface that I can play that song on the guitar for real. The game apparently didn’t think I could play it at all. I kept trying, but I’d hit the buttons and it would say I didn’t hit them, or that I hit them too early or too late. I was told I wasn’t supposed to be “picking” in ‘Tard Mode, but I couldn’t help it. Maybe that’s why it didn’t think I was doing it right. Maybe it was the Jager Bombs, but I still think I was at least close to hitting some of the notes.

I’ll have to try it again sometime. At the time, I just had to tuck my tail between my legs and praise the ten-year-old for kicking my ass.

The Secret Life of Boston?

Here is a picture of the famous rock group, Boston from their debut album.

And here is a picture from a Bay Area (CA) band named Vio-Lence.

you be the judge....

Delta Flight 002....

I was listening to the radio yesterday and there was a guy on that had a pretty funny idea. He thought all flight numbers should be incremental, and when there is an accident that the airlines must reset their flight numbers to zero.

That way if you are chilling at the airport and you see your flight number suddenly changed to “002” you know they just had a major accident. The flip side to this is that statistically speaking flight number “002” should be pretty safe, no matter where it’s going.

Get up to about flight number “10,312” though and things might get a little sketchy…..

No Oil Shortage?

Here is a link to some videos of Lindsey Williams talking about the oil-shortage, which doesn't exist. In a previous life I've posted a few entries about this. If you really believe that there is an oil crisis and that we have no other options than to buy oil from the Middle East, please take a few moments to watch the video(s).

It's interesting that the republicans blame the liberal democrats for not allowing our oil resources to be tapped and utilized. In the video Williams clearly implicates the government, which happens to be the existing Bush administration as the reason we aren't allowed to touch the oil.

I'm sure there is some truth to both arguments given the way our government work. It's another example of bi-partisan politics causing us more harm than good.

One for Bling!

Here is a political satire cartoon that was forwarded to me. I think it's fairly amusing from the perspective that its a fairly controversial and heavily debated issue and yet you have some of the same people that will do exactly what is happening here.

And btw, it's FOR Bling, not about Bling! I thought he might appreciate the humor.

How Apropos....

You might have to click on the picture to enlarge it....

2007 – The Warmest Year on Record

At least that was the predictions cited by the following media:
Reuters
AP & Foxnews
IHT
BBC
MSNBC
CBS
USA Today
The New York Times
The New York Sun
The Washington Post
National Geographic
CBC
The Guardian
The Independent
China People Daily
ABC Australia
Discovery Channel
Science Daily
Met Office

Most of the other global warming pundits jumped on the bandwagon and told us it would be the hottest year on record as well.

But a strange thing happened. I suppose it could be a real bonafide miracle! A sign that the second coming is near, or maybe it’s just because I forgot to let the cat out. In 2006 not a single hurricane made landfall (another prediction that failed), and then 2007 came sweeping around the corner. A few notable results (Thank you Washington Times):

South America had one of it’s coldest winters in decades and produced snow in Buenos Aires – the first time since 1918.

In Peru, 200 people died from cold weather and the Peruvian government declared a state of emergency.

Johannesburg, South Africa, had the first significant snowfall in 26 years.

Australia experienced the coldest June ever (it’s their winter).

In northeastern Australia, the city of Townsville underwent the longest period of continuously cold weather since 1941.

In New Zealand, the weather turned so cold that vineyards were endangered.

A five-day freeze destroyed 1.42-Billion dollars worth of crops in California, shortly after The Governator signed a bill to help cool the climate. Other crops around the country suffered as well.

Charlotte, NC, Denver, CO and several other cities also reported new records of the coldest temperatures ever.

As it turns out in 2007 was “only” the 9th warmest year on record and the coolest year of this century. RSS MSU satellite data released by remss.com showed that December was -0.046 Celsius, compared to -0.014 Celsius in November. November had previously been cited as the coldest month since January of 2000. Now the subtle differences in temperature may not seem like much, but keep in mind that global warming advocates cite that as little as ½-of a degree can have a major impact.

Here are two graphs showing the cooling trend as collected by satellite temperature readings (far more accurate than traditional thermometers hanging outside, but still lacking exacting protocols for measurements).

And the interesting thing is, people are still predicting that 2008 will be one of the hottest years on record. Maybe, but something tells me that won’t happen. You can draw your own conclusions.

Personally, I’m enjoying the cooler weather in the summer. I’m a wuss when it comes to the heat and after living up north for a couple of years I wasn’t looking forward to 90 days of drought and 100+ degree weather.

Hillary and The Crying Game?

By now you have probably heard or read that Hillary was sobbing on camera right before the next round of voting.




Now, I watched this and I wouldn’t exactly say she started bawling right there on camera. She got a little choked up is all.

The problem is I wouldn’t put it past her to make a very calculated move to help win the vote. This is the same woman that got a cat to make her look more compassionate. Whatever happened to Fluffy, anyway?

On the other hand, you would have to think it’s pretty weak of her to almost break down at this point in the campaign. When some people say that they don’t think the country is ready for a woman president due to them (women) being emotional, etc., I dismissed it as being sexist. Then, Hillary goes and pulls this crap. What is going to happen when there is something really extreme, or dramatic that happens? But something tells me it was far more of a calculated move than it was a truly emotional moment welling up inside of her.

So now we have one for Obama, and one for Hillary. I have some friends that really like Obama. I can’t say that I care for him too much. Mostly, though, I tend to agree with the folks that believe he just doesn’t have enough experience, yet. Hillary is frightening to me, but she has been in the game longer and has more experience. Obama is charismatic and well spoken, but I’m not sure he’s ready to be president, yet.

Welfare Drug Testing

Someone sent me this email which I thought was kind of interesting:

Like a lot of folks in this state, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit. In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test with which I have no problem. What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test. Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them?

Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sitting on their BUTT, doing drugs, while I work. . .

Can you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check? Pass this along if you agree or simply delete if you don't. Hope you all will pass it along, though . . . Something has to change in this country -- and soon!


I really like the gist of the email, but like many of these types of editorial email I feel that they don’t really address the problem or consider the consequences and long term impact or the proposed solution. In this example, it’s mandating drug testing for welfare recipients.

I looked it up and the cost for drug testing could range anywhere from $25.00 to $90 per-test (depending on volume). That also doesn’t include the collection fee, which can cost upwards of another $20 per test.

According to a government site I hit, approximately 5,760,476 people received welfare in the month of September, 2000. Trying to find more recent number proved challenging, but there was a notable decline in welfare recipients since that time period. It looks like it could be as low as 2,000,000 people in the last few years.

BTW – This is strictly welfare and does not include any other types of aid.

For the sake of argument, I’m going to round that number up a tad to 2.5 million people. I think 2.5 million people certainly qualifies for a “bulk discount” on drug testing. So do we do this when they come to get their checks, once a quarter, or once a year?

According to statistics a fair number of people don’t stay on welfare more than a year, so you would probably have to do it once a month.

Now, if we take the low end of the cost for drug testing (about $45 by the time you collect and test) that is a simple equation of $45 x 2,500,000 or $112,500,000 a month, or a total of 1,350,000,000 per year. That’s in the billions, folks. And just who do you think is going to have to pay for that?

And I’m not even considering all the additional paperwork and employees needed to keep track of all this. Then, there is the ultimate issue of addressing whether or not we are really helping these people.

If welfare is created to assist people that have come upon hard times, are we really going to tell them “sorry, you smoked a joint so we can’t cut you a check” and send them back onto the street or wherever else without ANY money or recourse? That’s just inviting crime and poverty – exactly the opposite intention of welfare.

Wii Insurance Scam?

I was talking to a friend of mine and while they were at a party there was another Wii accident. Not, that’s not wee accident, but Wii accident. As in the Nintendo Wii. For those of you that are completely under a rock (I am close) the Wii is a game console that connects to your television like the XBox, XBox360, Playstation, etc.

The thing that really differentiates a Wii is that it has a wireless controller with motion sensor technology that senses your movements as you move the remote. So, rather than just pushing a little stick, pad, or buttons you are literally moving the remote to interact with the games. Play tennis, and you’ll find yourself swinging the remote like a “real” racket to hit the ball.

As a side note I’ve read a few articles that compare playing Wii to a workout. Not so surprising some of the Wii games burned more calories than a typical cardio workout. Maybe Fat Bastard Little Johnny will finally lose some weight even if he’s not going outside to play with the other kiddies. When I was a kid I had to actually go outside to play and interact with other kids. There was none of this hiding behind my XBox internet gaming console to play war. We really shot at each other with BB guns and slingshots!

Anyway, I digress. The Wii remote has a little wrist-strap that you are supposed to put around your wrist in case you accidentally let go of the remote. Either because the strap breaks, or more likely, people aren’t using it there is a high number of Wii remotes that go flying around the house breaking things….most notably, televisions!

So my friend’s friend put a Wii remote right through the host’s $3000 plasma television. This is about the fourth incident I have personally heard of. But then I got to thinking.
I’d really like to have a new 56” plasma television. I could go out and buy a Wii. Then I could fling the remote into my current TV and destroy it. File it under my insurance and go buy a new TV.

Wii – about $250 (more if you can’t wait!)
Insurance deductible – about $1000

So for somewhere around $1300 I could get a brand new 56” Plasma television and have a Wii console. Not a bad idea…..

Marketing Genius!

Vacation Time!!!

I’ve had a lot of time off lately and haven’t been around a whole lot. That’s part of the reason that there has been a lack of posting.

I spent a week up in Montana skiing and visiting with friends. I caught some sick powder up at Bridger Bowl. They had almost a foot of snow over night and then it continued to pound snow all day long while we were up there. It was one of those “epic” days you don’t get too often. I was boarding in some 3 to 4 feet of powder off the blacks. It’s a little surreal to not be able to see anything from your waist down.

After that it was Christmas time back here in Texas-land. We had a pretty good one and I was really glad that my dad was able to be there. He’s recovering quite well from his surgery, but he still gets tired out quickly. Every day is better.

Then, to follow it all up we spent the New Year’s weekend in Vegas. We had a fairly large group that went so it was a lot of fun hanging out and taking over the entire blackjack table for hours at a time.
At one point, we spent 11 hours straight of gambling!!! Many people have asked me if I was up or down and I looked at it like this:

I flew first class to Vegas
I stayed in an $1800 suite on the 39th floor
I spent 4 days and three nights there
I had more beverages than I could count
I had some good meals
And ultimately I had a really good time.

When I got done, I was out just a little over $200. I don’t think you can beat that!

We decended upon The Strip for the 2008 count-down!

WTF?

another WTF?

I suppose I am ready to get back to work!!!

I am not a Republican

…but I am not a democrat, either. The more I think about it the more it seems that I am pretty much a centrist.

I tend to favor democratic moral and social issues, while favoring republican fiscal issues. At the same time, I favor some libertarian issues that don’t agree with either party. I guess that ultimately, I’m still an independent.

It is too bad that I don’t like ANY of the candidates. I don’t like the favored democratic candidates, and I don’t like the republican candidates. I guess I am not too worried about the republican candidates as I don’t think they have a chance this year. I think we are about to see a democratically controlled house, senate, and white house for a little while. As my friend says, the pendulum is swinging the other way.

At least Hillary got her ass kicked in Iowa. Obama came in first, with Edwards nipping on his heels.

Who is the least scary of the three? Hard to say. I guess it depends on what you want. I think Hillary is the scariest because she would do the most damage. I am not convinced that Obama knows where his loyalties lie. And there are at least some people that feel that Edwards got rich off of suing people to the point that he virtually spawned the practice of suing OB/GYNs off the planet.

Sorry, no time to rant on ‘em. Go find some other blogs, I am sure there are plenty of them that will give you the skinny (the good and the bad) on any of them.

Don’t Forget the Troops!!!

I admit it. I’ve been wrapped up in my own world quite a bit lately. I had a stellar vacation up in Montana in which I got some very nice time in on the slopes and spent time with my friends I don’t get to see too often. My dad is still recovering, but appears to be in the clear for which I am thankful. I got to spend time with my family on Christmas, and I’ve been playing catch up with work.

But…. Yesterday I was listening to the radio on my way to my folks house. They were talking about women who are involved with soldiers that are deployed to Iraq. It ran the gambit from women that were loyal and dedicated to those that were cheating on them (deplorable).

One argument the host presented is that if these people really loved their spouse / girlfriend / boyfriend / whatever, is that they wouldn’t have enlisted and went off to Iraq. I have to admit, I can listen to most of this stuff on the radio and it never phases me but I got pretty bent over this and had to turn it off.

Ultimately, though, I got to thinking about our men, women, boys and girls over seas. You may not agree with the war. You may not support the war. But please, support the troops over there that don’t exactly have a choice. Many of us have friends and family over there that we cannot be with this time of the year. Take some time while you are sipping on your eggnog and playing with your kid’s new Wii to give pause and just think about them for a moment and be thankful that you are able to get your buzz on without having to worry about being shot at.

A Christmas Omen

I was making my first beverage of Christmas day. I grabbed one of my standard tumblers from my cabinets and proceeded to the ice dispenser of the refrigerator. As the ice was making it’s way into my glass, and I anticipated the taste of rum and coke, the ice broke the glass and it came apart in my hands!!

No, there were no cuts, and glass didn’t go all over the floor. I was just very surprised as I’ve never had that happen before – ever. I figured it must be some kind of omen. Based on that, I made my beverage a double.

Merry Christmas!!

…and the Little Drummer Bastard beats his drum. Sorry, that is a Foamy reference.

But, hey! It’s Christmas morning. No snow on the ground, here. It’s about 45, here and we might get up to 60 today. I should be out riding the bike!!! Last week I was boarding in about four-feet of fresh “cold smoke” powder. The highs were in the 20’s. Here I am outside in shorts and a t-shirt, but at least I’ll get to see my family.

I’ve never been a big Christmas fan. Every since I learned that Santa wasn’t real and the true “meaning” of Christmas I felt that it’s always been completely over commercialized. Then there is the pressure of giving. You have to give to everyone. Christmas cards, cakes, cookies, presents, emails, phone calls, IM’s, etc. It’s never enough. I can’t remember to send something to everyone. If I forgot you this year, I apologize. I certainly didn’t mean to. You just got lost in the mix!!!

And then there are the crowds and throngs of people all fighting to get the latest toy for their kids. Don’t hesitate too long in the grocery isle or as you reach for that last can of chicken broth you will be knocked senseless by some lady wielding a 20lb butter-ball turkey!! Hey man! I just wanted some soup!

Yes, I have no food in the house. I was on vacation for a week and my room mate pretty much scarfed down what was left while I was gone. That’s fine, and I don’t have a problem with it. But I go to the store and the fookers are parked out into the street. Really? You couldn’t have planned ahead just a little better than this? Now I have to starve or eat fast food because I sure as hell am not going in there.

I also seem to associate Christmas with relatives that have passed away either because they died right around Christmas, or that’s just when I really miss them.

So yeah, I guess I am a bit of a scrooge….but what I’d really like is just to get together with family and friends, have a bottle of wine or two, some dinner, and just be thankful that we are able to see each other without all the gift exchange hoopla. Oh…wait, that’s Thanksgiving.

I'm a Bastard!

For those of you who have been waiting to see how my father is doing, I apologize. Last week was kind of hectic between work, and making sure he and my mom were OK.

As of today, he’s at home and doing just fine. He’s still not quite eating as much as we’d like him to, but he says everything still doesn’t quite taste right. That will probably go away in time.

He also walked around the block yesterday and appears to be getting around just fine, though he is restricted from doing some every day things due to his breast bone having to heal up.

I’ve actually gotten up to Montana to have some vacation time! I wouldn’t have come up here if my dad wasn’t doing good, but since he was getting back to his old self (I got a history and political lesson the last day I saw him in the hospital) I wasn’t too worried about it.

So why am I a bastard?

Well, aside from the times when people have told me that they don’t want to play games with me –

Do you want to play Monopoly?
No.
Why not?
Because you are a bastard
What do you mean?
You play to win
And your point???

- I’m a real smart-ass and have a mouth on me.

My dad had just gotten out of surgery. We waited in the waiting room all day. It was fairly long, and we were all tired. You can imagine, we finally get to see my dad late at night and he’s barely coming around from the anesthesia.

He’s got two chest drain tubes, a catheter, a central line, pacemaker wires, all kinds of IV’s and stuff all over the place, a stomach tube, and he’s on a ventilator. It’s a little distressing seeing him like this, but his color was good and his body temp was back up to normal.

He’s very disoriented, his eyes are glazed and he can barely open them. They agree to take him off the ventilator and we step out of the room while they do this. It’s obviously not very pleasant having a tube shoved down your throat, and probably even less pleasant having them take it out after you just got through having surgery. But, they got it out and then they let us back in to see him.

He’s still pretty much out of it, but acknowledges that we are there. He manages to ask, in a very croaky voice, “What time is it?” to which my mom replies “It’s about 8:15pm.”

Now, in a micro second my brain reacts and I start to blurt out “January 3rd.” (he went in on December 11th) I had to bite my tongue and stifle a giggle. Here is my dad, laid up, just out of open heart surgery, feeling horrible, barely conscious, and just wanting to know what time it is, and then there is me with my natural reaction to fuck with somebody.

I’m a bastard.

Waiting to wait....

I am sitting in a waiting room. More specifically, I am sitting in a fairly nice waiting room that is part of the cardio vascular facility at Arlington Memorial Hospital. My father is having a triple bypass as I type.

It’s hard not to be at least a little bit worried, but for the most part I’m not overly concerned. This is a fairly routine procedure, if you find that having your chest cracked open and your heart stopped “routine.”

Besides as a friend of mine said, there isn’t any other option but for things to turn out OK.

I was on the way to the airport when I got the news he was supposed to have surgery immediately. My boss and company were kind enough to find a replacement for my gig and tell me to stay with my family. I know that my parents are comforted by my being here and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

My dad was in fairly good spirits this morning before he went in, but I can tell he was nervous. Who wouldn’t be?

I look at it like this – he had a major heart attack and lost about 40% of his heart muscle. At the time, the docs told him that if he did everything that they tell him to do that they would give him another five years. That was just over 10 years ago. I feel pretty lucky to have him around. I already got an extra five years with him. Both my parents mean the world to me.

Things and Such as they Are

I’ve taken a break from being heavily involved in political debates for the last few weeks and it’s been a bit refreshing. Other than reading a few blogs here and there that keep me up to date, I’ve kind of just ignored everything.

I guess this is extreme apathy, but I’m so disgruntled with everything that I don’t even know where to begin. I certainly feel that our government is not interested in what the people want nearly as much as their own agendas (whatever they may be).

The presidential elections aren’t too far off and there is absolutely nobody running that I want in office. Great. Since I’ve been of-age to vote I’ve never seen any candidates that I truly believe in.

*sigh*

Other than that, Christmas is coming around again!!! It seems like it wasn’t that long ago that I was wrapping up my niece’s gifts. Of course, yesterday it was over 80 degrees and I have been on the ‘Priller every day this week. It’s kind of hard to get in the spirit with that type of weather.

That also means I’ve been home almost a year!!! Not too long ago I looked up how many flight miles I had racked up, and it was somewhere around 38,000 miles. Considering I was racking up 90,000+ a year this is a fairly significant change and I am certainly happier with my job because of it. Averaged out, I spent about 1.5 weeks out of the month on the road. This is pretty significant compared to 45 weeks out of the year spent on the road. So these are good things.

I just got off vacation from Thanksgiving, and now December is here. I am heading out of town next week to a client’s site, then I get back for one day and am heading up to Montana to see my friend’s and do some snowboarding. Then I get back for Xmas, then off to Vegas for New Year’s!!! So lots of traveling over the next month, but it’s mostly for having a good time. I’m sure my credit card companies are going to love me.

A New Low for eBay

It's illegal to sell or auction off body parts on eBay. But apparently it's perfectly legal to sell or auction off fake body parts on eBay. I'm referring to porn star Mary Carey's eBay auction of her implants. It looks like the starting price was $1.00 and is currently up to $6,600 at the time of this writing!!

On a slightly more useful note, I just got my Joby Gorillapod in the mail today. I haven't gotten to play with it yet, but it looks like it's going to work like a champ. Often times I wished that I had a tripod, or even just something to hold my camera for a moment while I snapped off a photo. Well, the Gorillapod does just that. It's a tripod, but it also grips unusually shaped objects for that "quick hold my camera" moment when nobody is around. It's also fairly small and compact so you can carry it in a pocket. I had it hanging on a door knob earlier, just to see if I could.

Go check it out!!!

Smart Car vs. Ferrari?

Well....give someone enough time and they'll figure out a way to have some fun with two objects that should not go together. I'm referring to the Smart Car and a Suzuki Hyabusa motorcycle engine!!!

Yes, some brave soles have started bonding these two with impressive results. Did you ever think you'd see a Smart Car smoke a Ferrari?

Tres Cool Coffee Table

Uber geek or Uber cool? I want one!!!!




I believe it's made by a company called "Because We Can" and starts at around $2500. Apparently, this is the new thing in coffee tables....

Cherry - if you are reading this, don't let Bling! see it.

Brad Pitt Announcement

...so i am talking to my friend in CO and she is sick as a dog. She asks me if knew what Brad Pitt said this morning.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Brad Pitt was supposed to make some big announcement this morning, but I didn't hear it."

"Really?"

"yeah."

Ok, I'll tell you the same thing I told her. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, that Brad Pitt could announce that would have any relevance in my life or have a substantial moral, political, or religious impact on the rest of the world.

no offense, Brad....but when you get right down to it, you are just an actor.

Coming Together

Last night I watched a movie called "Talk to Me." It's a movie that chronicles part of the life of Ralph "Petey" Green. He was a radio personality that was the voice of black people in Washington D.C. He had some brief notoriety and momentary fame, but eventually elected not to pursue it.

Part of his time spent on the airwaves was when Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed. He apparently helped quell the fury and riots as well as helped soothe people during this time of mourning.

While watching this particular part of the movie I was trying to figure out why it always takes a tragedy like this to bring our country together. We have all kinds of divisional boundaries - religion, politics, racial, social, etc.

It seems the only times we truly come together as a country is during times of crisis and mourning. MLK assassination, JFK assassination, the shuttle explosion(s), and 911.

Why is it that for a while we can put aside our hate and prejudice, but not continue to do so?

A Quick Lesson On The South

Many people often confuse the Confederate flag with the Confederate Battle Flag. Here are pictures of both of them:

Most people are familiar with the Confederate Battle flag (bottom), but would not recognize the Confederate Flag (top).

A Day in the Life...

So I've had a fairly productive day in the sense that I got a few things done without being stressed out. You also have to discount the fact that I didn't really get anything accomplished until after about 10:30am. I am on vacation, after all!!

But I got some air in my tires and made it up to the mall. Even for a Wed. after noon it was quite a scene. MILFs were abundant with strollers and little kiddies everywhere (don't these people work?). Some of the kiddies were on leashes, and it looks like they needed to be. Come to think of it....My folks said they put ME on a leash.

The strollers, though, were hard to navigate around. These things have gotten huge! Some of them had more cargo space than my truck and that was for just ONE kid. I'm not kidding, I saw some of them that were easily three feet long with sleeping quarters. The double-strollers were also quite massive and it was entertaining watching the women try to man-handle these things while simultaneously juggling shopping bags and the happy meal from sonic.

At one point, I was walking through the food court and got trapped / surrounded by several of the behemoths. Oddly enough, it was well choreographed and I had faint memories of watching a water ballet on the Olympics.

But I made it through the food court only to be called out to by a cute young girl at a kiosk selling iPod accessories.
her: "Hi! Do you have an iPod?"

me: "yes, I do."

her: "which one?"

me: "ummm....the 30-gig classic." At this point I got the deer in the headlights look. This model is only a year old, but I could tell she had no clue what I was talking about.

her: "so, huh, have you seen these converters that let you listen to them in your car?"

me: "yeah, but I don't listen to my iPod in the car very much" Mind you, I am standing there in full riding gear holding a motorcycle helmet. I am still getting the deer in the headlights look and I almost thought to ask her "Which one is bigger, an elephant....or the moon?"

fortunately, she let me out of this one with only a warning....
her: "ummm....ok, have a nice day."

At which point I made a bee-line to the gift giving tree. This is similar to the Angel tree, but it's sponsored by Big Brothers and Big Sisters. It's interesting that over the years it has changed from:
basketballs, skates, and remote controlled cars

to:

games for my [insert game system here]
MP3 player
CD player
etc.

Still, though, the ones that really get to me are the ones where the kids are just asking for clothes. If a 14-year-old boy is asking for clothes that's really sad.

So I loaded up on gift cards to clothing stores and an AMC movie pass good for a few rounds at the movies and dropped it all off. That made me feel a little bit better, but there is still the Toys for Tots Run coming up. As usual, I'm having problems finding which one is the right Toys for Tots Run.

But then it was off to find a tank protector only to find out another motorcycle dealer has moved or gone out of business. You would think that with the increasing popularity of motorcycles it would be easier to find dealers, not harder. But here in S. Arlington you are pretty much fooked unless you want to go to D&S Kawasaki, and I hate those guys.

So I took the bike and flogged it down 157 through the twisties. I think, for once, I really didn't speed too much.....as long as you don't count doubling the posted warnings for the corners, but I don't think that is actually speeding. Only once did I look down and realize I was exiting a corner at over 70mph and the posted speed limit for that stretch was somewhere around 50mph.

Aside from the wind, the weather was great. One layer of thermals on my legs, a long sleeve shirt and my jacket (no winter liner). It was cool, but never cold and for some reason it was just very peaceful to be on the bike letting the miles click off on the odometer.

I Blew My Wad at Fry’s

….and all I got was this lousy t-shirt. Actually, I didn’t even get that. I had to argue with the manager to try to get them to let me guarantee my purchases beyond thirty days as they were all Christmas gifts.

But I have gotten about 90% of my shopping done for the year!!! WHOOOHOO!!! Tomorrow I think the ‘Priller needs a good flogging.

Global Warming Evidence

So Bling! and I are having a conversation and he says to me that “a lack of evidence is not evidence.” This was in reference as to why I don’t agree with global warming theories.

A bit stunned, we got interrupted and I didn’t get to finish the conversation with him. But he does have a good point even if I think the logic is a bit flawed.

But more importantly I think it’s necessary to recognize who is responsible for the burden of proof . You don’t see me running around shouting that we are all doomed and must change our politics. If someone is going to shout that there is global warming and that we need to make radical political and sociological changes then I believe the burden of proof is on them.

Yet, the IPCC has consistently failed to meet that burden of proof. In fact, (here is some evidence) none of what they have predicted has come to fruition. Oh, wait! Maybe that’s a lack of evidence though we can prove that what they said would happen didn’t actually happen.

So here are a few other quick factoids:

The IPCC manipulated models, graphs, and evidence that were contradictory to their agenda. They also “silenced” IPCC reviewers that disagreed with their falsified findings by refusing to publish their reports. And yes, this is fact.

It has not been proven that there have been any significant increases in mean sea level as recorded by satellites, gps readings, and markings made by man. There is some evidence that the sea levels have changed, but it there has been no clear determination of whether the sea actually rose, or if the land shifted (up or down).

Co2 has been proven to have very little if any effect on temperature and certainly not enough of an effect to cause global warming on the scale that the IPCC claims. Water vapor, however, has been proven to have this effect.

There is evidence that shows that solar activity has a far greater effect on our planet than anything mankind has done.

The IPCC, NASA, and other scientist have failed to provide a consistent and precise protocol for measuring temperature across the planet and over time so as to provide a true and accurate recording of the average or mean temperature.

Even that being said, there is evidence from satellites, weather balloons, and other instruments that support that the earth is not, in fact, warming by any significant amount.

Evidence also shows that the earth has been significantly cooler and significantly warmer throughout history.

There is evidence that shows that ice shelves, landmass, and glaciers are increasing in size while others are decreasing (just like always). One might remember that it wasn’t too long ago that Greenland was green and not buried under ice and snow.

I suppose I can go on, but I don’t think I need to. Don’t forget to review this older post for more facts.

If you have read this blog for any length of time, and still fail to see how there is evidence that supports climate change, but not this impending doom then perhaps I have failed to do a good job.

I’m A Fanatic!!

While preparing to gluten myself on holiday turkey and other tasty morsels of food I was having a conversation with a friend of mine and he said that both me, and my father, were fanatical about being anti-global-warming.

I was a bit stunned by this as I certainly don’t see myself as fanatical. I typically think of someone that is fanatical as someone that is willing to go out of their way, alter their behavior to some extent or otherwise become obsessed about something as to be fanatical.

The issue is most definitely divided and we have people that both believe in global warming, and those that do not . Yet, I wouldn’t throw any of them into the fanatical crowd.

The people that I would throw into the fanatical group are those that are flying around the country scare mongering people into believing that we are all doomed. These are people that are willing to go the extra mile to preach what they believe in (or do they?) and have us change our lifestyles, ideologies, and even our laws. To me, that is fanatical.

What do I do? Well, I do think that we have an inherent responsibility to educate ourselves and our future generations. It’s exactly why we spend money on public education. So, all I do is try to let people know that I don’t believe in the scare mongering and why I don’t believe in it. You don’t see me lobbying and protesting with anti-global-warming signs and crap like that. For the most part, I even keep my mouth shut when people bring it up. I hardly call that fanatical.

Insurance Company Credit Scam!

Ok, so it’s not really a scam….but it seems highly unfair and unfounded as to why an insurance company is allowed to check you credit history to determine if they will cover you and what rates they will charge you.

I could understand this if you were borrowing money from them, but you are not. It would make more sense to me if they could run some kind of check to see how many filings you have had in the last few years. That makes a lot more sense as to whether or not you are going to be a high-risk client.

What I’d really like to see, in all fairness, is some type of statistics that show how many first claims are denied. I’d also like to see that for second claims and some ratio showing how many claims that were denied on a first or second filing basis that were eventually paid.

Turnabout is fair play and that would allow us, as consumers, to know what kind of a company we are going to be dealing with. But that will never happen. The insurance companies have way too much money and are sucking the proverbial dicks of the legislature so well that we can be assured that we will continue to be treated as peons and that they can get away with just about whatever they like.

Dumbest Contestant Ever?

Aside from the Beauty Pageant contestant that left me feeling like I can eat Cheetos, drink beer, never work again and still be OK we have a new winner!!!

I saw this and laughed until I cried. It just struck me as highly amusing. I then had visions of the producers with their jaws hanging open wondering how they were going to fill more air-space because nobody could be that stupid. “Quick! Cut to commercial! Cut to commercial!!!’

As it turns out, she wasn’t that stupid after all. The picture is a hoax. I found that out afterwards, but it really made me question my faith in humanity. Well, then again…there really isn’t any question. Yes, I believe people are that stupid. Sorry, there you have it.

Black Friday

The AP reported that you crazy bastards waited in line, camped out, crushed each other through doorways, got into fistfights, and broke record numbers of spending. Up 8-point-something percent you managed to spend $10.3 BILLION dollars on Black Friday.

I read numerous reports of fist fights, people camping out, etc. Let me just tell you….you have got to be high on crack, or at least should be seeking mental help. Nobody in their right mind can cost-justify torturing themselves to that extent to save a few extra bucks. Trust me, it will be on sale again before Christmas, and again after Christmas.

Maybe it’s the whole camaraderie of being a crazy bastard along with all the other crazy bastards that are camped out. I don’t know….but I can tell you this white cracker will not ever be amongst you. So shop at will, and thanks for helping support the economy!
BTW – if you took some of that time and energy and put it back to helping people out that would be a real gift this year.

Microbial Hydrogen!!!

Here is a quick article forwarded to me by Bling! The article is spot-on when it states that part of the problem with using hydrogen as an alternative fuel source is storage and production. This article addresses the production piece of it and it’s a very innovative alternative.

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=9278

Just a Few Quickies

Here are some random thoughts, ideas, and things I’ve heard over the last few days. I’m not saying that all of them are mine, or even that I agree with all of them.

Caddo Lake
I spent the weekend at Caddo lake with a friend of mine. I had never been there before, but it was pretty cool. The lake is more of a swamp, with an average depth of only 6 feet and huge groves of cypress trees and all kinds of aquatic life.

Personal Property
I was having a conversation with a friend of mine regarding the ownership of, and the use of, personal information. They presented this as being anything that is personal or proprietary to the individual including photos, DNA, etc.

The idea being that if you picture or photo is utilized by the government, you can sue them and ask for compensation because it is your property. The same would go for your DNA records, medical records, etc. Part of what is driving this is that the government has been, and still is collecting, massive amounts of information about individuals. So if you grab this photo of yours truly, I expect something back......

Can I touch it?
no, don't even look at it.
I can't look at it?
no




Helmet Laws
Yesterday I took Hopper’s bike out for a quick spin around the block. If you have read my blog for any length of time you know I am an avid supporter of wearing protective gear when riding.

This one time, though, I was just taking it for a quick spin so I didn’t bother to grab my helmet. In fact, I didn’t even grab my wallet (though I briefly looked for it). I took the bike out and, of course, got pulled over.
The officer pulled me over and told me up front he stopped me for not wearing a helmet. I got a warning on that one, but also got a $225 fine for not having my license on me even though he validated it from the information I gave him and I now have to go down and show them my license. Supposedly that will get the ticket dismissed.

Afterwards, I started looking into the law on helmets again. It’s still a very convoluted issue in Texas and the officers, judges, and court clerks still don’t know the law and are merrily violating people’s civil rights and fining them way too much money.



Using Ethanol as Fuel
A few excerpts from an article forwarded to me regarding some of the far reaching impact of subsidizing and mandating of ethanol for fuel:

Ethanol, it turns out, may be great politics in Midwestern corn growing states, but it is terrible environmental and economic policy. As more and more food is diverted from human consumption to producing fuel, prices for basic food are skyrocketing around the world. Deforestation is on the rise as third world countries try to cash in on the boom, and violence has broken out as small landholders are being kicked off their land to make way for large palm oil farms.

A coalition made up of Oxfam, the World Wildlife fund, and other groups is raising concerns about the current rush to replace fossil fuels with biofuels. Increased Ethanol production has led to a spike in corn prices that has caused food shortages in third world countries, including our neighbor to the South, Mexico. African and Asian countries that are currently unable to produce enough food for their own populations are clearing cropland to supply Ethanol for Europe’s new mandate of 10% Ethanol in all their gasoline.

The environmental benefits of using Ethanol are miniscule to non-existent—some estimates even show that it takes more fossil fuel to make a gallon of Ethanol than it yields as a fuel. Water resources are being stretched to the point of disaster, and food prices are spiking across the world. The Japanese car companies warn consumers to avoid biodiesel as it lowers the life-span and efficiency of their engines.

Politicians and other ethanol advocates have argued that government mandates and subsidies and mandates were needed to “jump-start” the ethanol industry—that someday, some way all these government subsidy will pay off in better and more efficient fuels. After 30 years of government subsidies and mandates, Ethanol production is as inefficient today as it was then—only now it’s hurting more people.




Kermit Sings Hurt
This is just….wrong, in so many ways:






Ironic, Isn’t It?

New Mexico Grants Drivers Licenses to Illegal Aliens

I really thought it would be California that did this first, but it looks like the state of New Mexico is now granting drivers licenses to illegal aliens. Other states are considering doing the same. Unbelievable. I saw this right before I stepped on a plane and fumed about it the whole way home.

It’s mind boggling to me. I simply do not understand how we can allow felons to come into a DMV and get a drivers license without getting arrested! My friend tells me that we need to have a talk about constitutional law. I really would like to be enlightened on how this works because I simply don’t understand it. I am not being facetious. I really want to understand what I consider to be a serious flaw in our system. But it probably wouldn’t do any good anyway as it certainly doesn’t seem that our government cares to fix the problem.

There isn’t much I can do as I am not a citizen of the state of New Mexico, but I am so disheartened by this that I just feel like giving up on our government. I cannot express in words how angry and sad this makes me all at the same time. It’s no wonder that other countries have no respect for us. We can’t, or don’t, enforce our own laws.

Just Time for a Northern Quickie

Here are some pics from my recent trip into the Massachusetts area. I’ve never been up here before so it was a bit of a change for me. Everyone kept telling me that I missed the turning of the leaves, but I still thought they were beautiful! You can tell that some of the trees have finally shed their leaves outright, but for the most part there were still plenty of colors to behold no matter where you went.

There is a lot of history right here where I am at. Most of it seems to be related to electricity and mills. Here is a quick picture of the Crane Paper museum, which was part of the original mill. Crane paper has the distinct honor of being the only mill that produces the specialty “paper” that our currency ends up being printed on. You are probably already aware that it’s not really paper but a textile like cloth. In fact, the original paper that the mill produced was from recycled rags. The guy I was working with has an original ad that read something to the effect of “ladies, don’t throw your rags away.” They also print all the stationary that the White House uses. Surprisingly enough, even though they pretty much ARE the town of Dalton, I couldn’t get my hands on any of their stationary!

A last little tidbit is this guitar. Now, I know it doesn’t look very special from the photo and if you know anything about guitars you might pony up a few bucks for it if you saw it at a garage sale. If you knew even more about guitars you might check the model and serial numbers and realize that you had a pretty special “one off” production guitar and pony up even more dollars for it.

And then if you were really serious you would take it to have it appraised, which is just what the guy I was working with did. After he told me about it, I guessed at a value of around $75,000. He said that’s what he thought, too. After having it appraised though, he was informed a “serious collector” might pony upwards of $500,000 for it!!!! HOLY SMOKES! Like I said, it’s relative. My guess is that a realistic price for it is probably around $250,000. He let me play it a bit, and it was pretty nice. Nothing extrodinary, though. The neck was a bit wide – like that of a classical. But it had a great tone. Check out some of the pics of it. Yes, that is a real rosewood body. Sorry the pics aren't great, it was kind of on-the-fly.

The Witching Hour?

So I woke up this morning and had to use the little boys room. I made my way in the dark, stubbing my toe in the process. I wasn't sure what time it was, but I guessed between 3:00am and 4:00am. Being a bit of an insomniac I have some experience at guessing the time.

As it turns out, it was 3:33. Not quite 6:66, but half of that.... does that mean that it hints at being half-way evil?

Football Or Nothing!

No wonder the northerners are enraptured by football. There isn't anything else to do but suck back a cold one and watch the boys throw the pigskin around!

Just Ramblin' A Bit

As always, I have all these great ideas to write about when I am flying and then can’t seem to articulate any of them in the same way when I actually sit down to write about them.

I suppose it has a lot more to do with freer flowing thought as I stare out of an airplane window and I just can’t get to that same place in a hotel room. Because my laptop is a behemoth and my battery doesn’t last long it is rarely worth it to pull it out on an airplane. Besides, I think they have weight restrictions on the tray tables..

Lately I’ve been dreaming a lot. For many of you, this may not be unusual. For me, it’s highly unusual. I’ve read that everyone dreams every time you sleep, but that we may not have any recollection of it. I can believe that, and if that is the case then lets say that I rarely remember that I even dreamt at all.

To take it a step further, many of you are already aware that I am a bit of an insomniac. Sometimes it’s the traditional form where I toss and turn and just outright can’t sleep. More often though it’s a bit different for me. I can’t seem to shut my brain down and therefore never reach a truly deep state of unconsciousness. I’ve had people tell me I was sleeping when I would swear up and down I was awake the whole time. It’s not that I don’t believe them, it’s that my brain continues to function on some level that eludes to a level of consciousness for me. The nights I lay down, finally fall asleep and then am just out for several hours is few and far between.

Now I can get very relaxed and my thought stream will get fairly creative and surreal. I suppose that is similar to a dream, but I don’t realize I am asleep and I am pretty sure that sometimes I am for sure NOT asleep as I can recall things going on in the environment around me.

But lately, I’ve been dreaming more at a level where I know it was true REM and I can recall that I had a dream. Not that I always remember the dream, but I at least know I had one. I’m not exactly sure what to attribute this to but it’s interesting and I’m exploring it a bit further.

I’ve also been trying to be a bit more introspective lately. It’s always hard to see yourself as you are, but I am fortunate enough to have some friends that tell me how they see me and how others see me. I’m not really trying to analyze how others see me, though. I’m trying to analyze how I see myself. Sometimes that is far more important than how others see you.

I’ve learned some things I was unaware of and have looked at things from a different viewpoint. I am not saying that I agree with them, but it’s always interesting to hear a perspective or viewpoint that you were not aware of.

Then I get to thinking if I have made good, and correct decisions and where that leaves me in my life. Over all, I’d say that answer is “yes” and I am probably more “good” than most of your weekend Christians….even though I certainly like to have my fun.
But I wonder sometimes if I missed my calling. What does that even mean? To me, it means whatever we were supposed to do. I think that we often miss-interpret that to mean that we thought we should be famous or something like that. I don’t think that I should have been famous, but it would have been a sweet ride. I have a handful of talents that I believe are more prevalent than in others. My question to myself is more of a moral dilemma to wonder if I should be exploiting them more….and not just for me, and certainly not for monetary gain, but for humanity.

As an example….what if I was really supposed to be a musician? What if I was supposed to create music that people listened to and it touched them in some profound way? In that capacity I would have been doing something more than what I am. What do I do? I make 1’s and 0’s travel around and get them where they are supposed to be. I am good at it, but what benefit am I really providing to mankind?

I have said it before, but I’ll say it again. I think most people are just sheep. I don’t believe that they have any redeeming qualities or anything to offer and if they do then they have no ambition to explore it and become more than what they are as an individual. I supposed that is pretty pessimistic, but if you really sit back and look at the percentage of the population that inspires you for any real reason you might find that it’s pretty small.

I heard a guy recently give a speech and he asked “what are American values?” His answer was fairly sarcastic and pretty much on the money. But, then he said it should be God, Family and Country. I took these answers and thought about the root effect of any of them and my summation is that it’s to be part of something larger than yourself. With religion, it’s God. With people, it’s your family. With America it’s our country. We can become part of something larger than ourselves, but I think most of us choose not to for some reason or another. I wonder if I have also inadvertently chosen this path and don’t realize it?

It makes me feel good when my friends tell me that I inspired them in some way. Often times I don’t realize I did it. Maybe that’s my contribution. Maybe, it’s that I chose to be a good person and put other people and my country ahead of myself and by doing so have become part of something larger than I cannot see right now.

I feel pretty fortunate that I have great parents and a stable environment in which to grow up. I believe that to some extent it allowed me to develop into a fairly intelligent and well balanced person. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I am super smart. I know super smart people and I simply am not genetically as intelligent as they are no matter what I do to exercise it. It never fails to humble me to be around my father, some of my friends, some of my colleagues, or others I’ve been fortunate enough to meet in my life.

So again, I wonder am I doing enough with it? Is there something more I should be doing with it? With any of it? Don’t worry. I’d not say it’s a mid-life crisis by any means, but if I can find a good Vette then I’ll buy one.

I once wrote on here a quote that I really enjoyed. http://invioletlight.blogspot.com/2007/02/brief-quote.html

I think most of us are completely missing the point and just going about our lives as we go through the motions without making any real effort to better ourselves, recognize the beauty of the world we live in, or try to be at peace with each other and make the world (not just good ‘ol USA) a better place to live. I think most people are hollow and empty inside and have lost the ability to fill that void. But I also know there are people out there that are not like that. That are doing something meaningful and purposeful in a way that cannot be expressed in financial success or popularity. They are the people that create, that are giving of themselves, that have obtained some sort of peace and balance, have chosen to be more than a rat in a cage (sorry for the cheap analogy), and are kind even though they may not always be kind. They are the ones that inspire the rest of us. I hope, in some little way, that I am one of those people.

Electric Cows

I’m working at a fairly interesting research facility this week. I can’t tell you the name of my client, but let’s say they test and research high-voltage components and scenarios. The guy I am working with was telling me of a time when they did an experiment with cows.

Apparently, some dairy farmers were trying to lay to rest the question of whether or not dairy cows (Holsteins) produced less milk in the presence of high-voltage wires. Now, before you go thinking that they electrocuted a bunch of cows it was nothing of the sort.

They rented (yes rented) some cows and stuck them in a field with some high voltage lines. It took them a little while, but what they figured out is that the hooves of the bovines not only conduct electricity, but also act as a collector. So the cows would roam around the field and build up a charge. When they bent their heads to eat the grass they would ground themselves out and receive a mild electric shock for their efforts.

As far as they could tell, this didn’t really hurt the cows but it discouraged them from eating in the same quantities they would have had there not been any electricity around. Thus, it turned out it was true that cows which were in proximity to high-voltage lines produced less milk….just not for the reasons people were thinking.