Thursday, April 23, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Tea Bagging
No, it’s not what you are thinking. Last week, on Tax Day thousands of people gathered across the country to hold a tea party. This tea party was symbolic of the first Boston Tea Party, but it wasn’t just about taxes.
You might not know that if you watched the news. The press coverage was astoundingly horrible. Liberal bias skewed the entire coverage and what little bit of a story there was. If you watched the news you might be inclined to believe it was a bunch of radical right-wing groups protesting income taxes.
The truth of the matter is that it was people from both sides of the fence – republicans and democrats. And the protest was not specifically about taxes, but the oppression and expansion of the federal government in just about every aspect of our lives. People that want to get back to a government by the people, for the people, that adheres to a unified standard. You know, there is this thing called the Constitution of the United States? Our government seems to have lost sight of this.
And the humorous headline on this post? That actually comes from CNN where they referred to the tea parties as “tea bagging” and the people as “tea baggers.” Of course they couldn’t say it with a straight face because they knew what they were saying. Disgusting.
You might not know that if you watched the news. The press coverage was astoundingly horrible. Liberal bias skewed the entire coverage and what little bit of a story there was. If you watched the news you might be inclined to believe it was a bunch of radical right-wing groups protesting income taxes.
The truth of the matter is that it was people from both sides of the fence – republicans and democrats. And the protest was not specifically about taxes, but the oppression and expansion of the federal government in just about every aspect of our lives. People that want to get back to a government by the people, for the people, that adheres to a unified standard. You know, there is this thing called the Constitution of the United States? Our government seems to have lost sight of this.
And the humorous headline on this post? That actually comes from CNN where they referred to the tea parties as “tea bagging” and the people as “tea baggers.” Of course they couldn’t say it with a straight face because they knew what they were saying. Disgusting.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Happy Tax Day!!!
According to a book I just finished reading the first taxes were levied and recorded in human history. It does not indicate who thought this brilliant scheme up, but let me take this opportunity to call him or her a bastard.
Hope you got yours done....
Sunday, April 12, 2009
No Trespassing!
Well....photobucket apparently removed my image for use violation. I'm not sure how a picture of a sign in a field, with no harsh language, no nudity, etc., violated their usage but let me describe the sign...
It was a picture of a sign, posted to a fence post in some random field with haystacks behind it. The sign read "If you can read this you're in range."
I liked this sign. I felt it was pretty straightforward and to the point. After my nieces baptism we were eating lunch over at my sisters. Somehow the conversation turned towards medical shows and stuff of that nature. My father pointed out that statistically speaking people are more likely to survive a gunshot wound than a stabbing if they make it to the hospital. I pointed out that people obviously aren’t using the right caliber.
It was a picture of a sign, posted to a fence post in some random field with haystacks behind it. The sign read "If you can read this you're in range."
I liked this sign. I felt it was pretty straightforward and to the point. After my nieces baptism we were eating lunch over at my sisters. Somehow the conversation turned towards medical shows and stuff of that nature. My father pointed out that statistically speaking people are more likely to survive a gunshot wound than a stabbing if they make it to the hospital. I pointed out that people obviously aren’t using the right caliber.
Happy Easter!!
I went to church today. Not because it was Easter. Not because I felt compelled to attend church for spiritual reasons. No, I went because my niece got Baptized. I was afraid that I would be struck down by lightning upon entering the church, but I survived that without too much difficulty.
The church was huge. Apparently there are over 25,000 members of the church!! They have a bus schedule to get you to remote parking lots. And it certainly wasn’t like when I attended church. The seating was stadium style with section numbers and everything. How do you get the good seats? I guess you “pay” more for your ticket.
This was one of those churches where they have full bands, a video production, stage show with props, the whole nine-yards. It was odd to me that we couldn’t watch my niece get baptized directly. They wanted us in the theater so they could stick it up on the big screen and show us a pre-recorded testimonial before she got dunked. The dunking was live, but everything else was recorded.
Before the baptism they had a song, then a quick prayer. The baptism took all of about 10 minutes for several people to get baptized. Then they broke into song….and then another song…and people were holding their hands up to feel the power of Jesus and the collection plates were passing and I said “fuck this, I’m out.” I bailed. Then I realized that even in the atrium they had speakers and the show on the monitors. Then the guy starts preaching and even in the atrium I couldn’t take it. So I went and stood outside in the rain to get away. Some of the people that stayed told me that it got even more theatrical as it went on. Apparently, they had green berets guarding Jesus’ tomb and that was proof that he rose from the dead. I had never heard of this, but…umm…OK. Whatever it takes.
Now I love my niece and I am glad that I got to see her get baptized because it was very important to her. However, I didn’t really appreciate feeling like I was supposed to sit there for a 2 hour preaching session about how I needed to be saved. And my niece got a “do-over.” Apparently when they baptized her they screwed up the order and so our photographer wasn’t ready. They had to do it again after the preaching to get the good photos. I’ve never seen anyone have a mulligan on a baptism, but I don’t exactly attend a lot of baptisms.
The church was huge. Apparently there are over 25,000 members of the church!! They have a bus schedule to get you to remote parking lots. And it certainly wasn’t like when I attended church. The seating was stadium style with section numbers and everything. How do you get the good seats? I guess you “pay” more for your ticket.
This was one of those churches where they have full bands, a video production, stage show with props, the whole nine-yards. It was odd to me that we couldn’t watch my niece get baptized directly. They wanted us in the theater so they could stick it up on the big screen and show us a pre-recorded testimonial before she got dunked. The dunking was live, but everything else was recorded.
Before the baptism they had a song, then a quick prayer. The baptism took all of about 10 minutes for several people to get baptized. Then they broke into song….and then another song…and people were holding their hands up to feel the power of Jesus and the collection plates were passing and I said “fuck this, I’m out.” I bailed. Then I realized that even in the atrium they had speakers and the show on the monitors. Then the guy starts preaching and even in the atrium I couldn’t take it. So I went and stood outside in the rain to get away. Some of the people that stayed told me that it got even more theatrical as it went on. Apparently, they had green berets guarding Jesus’ tomb and that was proof that he rose from the dead. I had never heard of this, but…umm…OK. Whatever it takes.
Now I love my niece and I am glad that I got to see her get baptized because it was very important to her. However, I didn’t really appreciate feeling like I was supposed to sit there for a 2 hour preaching session about how I needed to be saved. And my niece got a “do-over.” Apparently when they baptized her they screwed up the order and so our photographer wasn’t ready. They had to do it again after the preaching to get the good photos. I’ve never seen anyone have a mulligan on a baptism, but I don’t exactly attend a lot of baptisms.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Off The West Coast of Africa
I have no idea why I am there....
it certainly doesn't feel like I am there.
it certainly doesn't feel like I am there.
Harley Davidson Seeking Bailout Cash
Harley Davidson, like most companies, is perusing bailout money. Yes, The Motor Company, has apparently fallen from grace with the financial gods.
For years now, I've thought HD made a significantly inferior product to the Japanese alternatives. In the last few years HD has made significant improvements in their technology and quality control. They had to. They were rapidly losing market share to superior motorcycles that cost less money. No doubt this had some impact on their current situation.
But what really gets me is that they pretty much did the same thing banks did. That is, target individuals with subprime loans on their grossly expensive motorcycles. HD reportedly had 30% of their loan portfolio in subprime loans. More than 5% of their loans were delinquent 30 days or more at the end of 2008. I have a friend that fell into this category.
This pisses me off. Once again we have a company that engages in poor business practices and now we may bail them out as well. Why do we keep doing this?
Recently, a friend of mine sent me an editorial comment based upon the latest round of trillion-dollar expenditures from the Obama administration. My response to him was as follows:
You know, [my friend]....I can't even keep up with all the spending and bail-outs anymore. I wasn't a huge McCain supporter, but I recall him saying that he would start cutting programs and that Obama would spend, spend, spend. Of course, McCain was pretty far off target because he only estimated a $1 Trillion dollar budget that Obama had in mind. We have already surpassed that and are heading for more.
It's interesting that people really liked to rail on Bush about the deficit and his spending. Did you know that when Bush left office the 2009 budget had a deficit of "only" $500 Billion? Even with the war in Iraq and the first bail-out and all that it was that low. So they railed on him at how much he spent. The big one was "Bush doubled the deficit in his eight years in office." Great. Obama tripled it in his first quarter.
I'm a pretty firm believer in capitalism and keeping the government out of the private enterprise. I do not believe that we should be bailing all these companies out. I really don't believe that we should be bailing them out and trying to take control over them and that's what part of all these stimulus bills are doing. I don't believe that we should be earmarking all this pork and continuing to run up the deficit that our grandkid’s grandkids will have to pay for. If anything, history showed us that if the government stayed out of it that we returned to prosperity in a short amount of time. The first great depression lingered because Truman got the government involved. The previous depressions recovered fairly quickly because the government didn't' get involved.
Even the individual states are filing cease-and-desist orders against the federal government to keep them out of states business. That's why so many states are turning down the money. They don't want the strings attached to it. The private companies and banks are doing the same thing. But the government is forcing it down their throats. Why? So they can have control of them. Our constitution was explicitly written to prevent this type of behavior and yet it's happening.
For a long time, people miss-used the term "fascist." The true definition of fascism is a government controlled private entity. I think that it’s what the Obama administration is trying to do. I think that the Democrats finally see their window of opportunity to turn us into a socialist state. I wouldn't go so far as to say communist, yet. But socialism is usually the first step to communism. Destroy the economy and make the people reliant on the government and you have an easy avenue for socialism. It's already happening. The government is in the process of federalizing banks, and private enterprise (fascism) and pushing more socialist programs through all this spending.
I also think that this spending is a slush fund for the DNC to continue to steamroll their war on republicans and capitalism. And further, it's quite obvious that at least some of this pork and the ludicrous things they are doing are to pay off Obama's buddies that helped get him into office. Just look at the presidential order to waive contract negotiations and mandate that all road construction go to unionized companies.
I'm not saying that I have the right answer. I'm not sure what that is, but I certainly believe that we should be treading lightly and not pushing these bills through. [my g/f] once said that if someone tells you they have the definitive, de-facto answer, that they probably are wrong and haven't examined the issue well enough. I tend to agree with that, but even she can't see that is exactly what the DNC and Obama have said, which makes me wonder.....
For years now, I've thought HD made a significantly inferior product to the Japanese alternatives. In the last few years HD has made significant improvements in their technology and quality control. They had to. They were rapidly losing market share to superior motorcycles that cost less money. No doubt this had some impact on their current situation.
But what really gets me is that they pretty much did the same thing banks did. That is, target individuals with subprime loans on their grossly expensive motorcycles. HD reportedly had 30% of their loan portfolio in subprime loans. More than 5% of their loans were delinquent 30 days or more at the end of 2008. I have a friend that fell into this category.
This pisses me off. Once again we have a company that engages in poor business practices and now we may bail them out as well. Why do we keep doing this?
Recently, a friend of mine sent me an editorial comment based upon the latest round of trillion-dollar expenditures from the Obama administration. My response to him was as follows:
You know, [my friend]....I can't even keep up with all the spending and bail-outs anymore. I wasn't a huge McCain supporter, but I recall him saying that he would start cutting programs and that Obama would spend, spend, spend. Of course, McCain was pretty far off target because he only estimated a $1 Trillion dollar budget that Obama had in mind. We have already surpassed that and are heading for more.
It's interesting that people really liked to rail on Bush about the deficit and his spending. Did you know that when Bush left office the 2009 budget had a deficit of "only" $500 Billion? Even with the war in Iraq and the first bail-out and all that it was that low. So they railed on him at how much he spent. The big one was "Bush doubled the deficit in his eight years in office." Great. Obama tripled it in his first quarter.
I'm a pretty firm believer in capitalism and keeping the government out of the private enterprise. I do not believe that we should be bailing all these companies out. I really don't believe that we should be bailing them out and trying to take control over them and that's what part of all these stimulus bills are doing. I don't believe that we should be earmarking all this pork and continuing to run up the deficit that our grandkid’s grandkids will have to pay for. If anything, history showed us that if the government stayed out of it that we returned to prosperity in a short amount of time. The first great depression lingered because Truman got the government involved. The previous depressions recovered fairly quickly because the government didn't' get involved.
Even the individual states are filing cease-and-desist orders against the federal government to keep them out of states business. That's why so many states are turning down the money. They don't want the strings attached to it. The private companies and banks are doing the same thing. But the government is forcing it down their throats. Why? So they can have control of them. Our constitution was explicitly written to prevent this type of behavior and yet it's happening.
For a long time, people miss-used the term "fascist." The true definition of fascism is a government controlled private entity. I think that it’s what the Obama administration is trying to do. I think that the Democrats finally see their window of opportunity to turn us into a socialist state. I wouldn't go so far as to say communist, yet. But socialism is usually the first step to communism. Destroy the economy and make the people reliant on the government and you have an easy avenue for socialism. It's already happening. The government is in the process of federalizing banks, and private enterprise (fascism) and pushing more socialist programs through all this spending.
I also think that this spending is a slush fund for the DNC to continue to steamroll their war on republicans and capitalism. And further, it's quite obvious that at least some of this pork and the ludicrous things they are doing are to pay off Obama's buddies that helped get him into office. Just look at the presidential order to waive contract negotiations and mandate that all road construction go to unionized companies.
I'm not saying that I have the right answer. I'm not sure what that is, but I certainly believe that we should be treading lightly and not pushing these bills through. [my g/f] once said that if someone tells you they have the definitive, de-facto answer, that they probably are wrong and haven't examined the issue well enough. I tend to agree with that, but even she can't see that is exactly what the DNC and Obama have said, which makes me wonder.....
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
No Food in the House
Bling! came over the other day with Jake. Budda was fighting the wind outside and trying to cook on the pit. I invited Bling! to a beverage. He accepted and then commented how I didn't have any food in the house. Hey man, I had been gone for about a month straight, what did you expect?
But even without having food in the house I made enough dinner for three people and we still had a few leftovers. I made three tasty steaks with sides of green beans and Mac 'n Cheese, and a bottle of wine. Not a bad stay at home meal without "any food" to go around.
But even without having food in the house I made enough dinner for three people and we still had a few leftovers. I made three tasty steaks with sides of green beans and Mac 'n Cheese, and a bottle of wine. Not a bad stay at home meal without "any food" to go around.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Some People Do Care
It’s good to know that some people do read the blog from time to time. I recently got this in my personal email:
Hey you fuckin' SLACKER !
I suppose you are going to use that 'lame' excuse that you are traveling, and can't update your blog. Whats happening to you ???
Umm…yeah… This last month has been a bit hectic and somewhat of a blur. I was working on a project for the power plant I had mentioned earlier. More to the point, I was working on a project for multiple power plants. We had a brutal and aggressive schedule of covering all of these plants in three weeks, then writing the report.
I had to leave town to do it, of course. My average day over the last month was to get up between 5:00am and 5:15am. No big deal to you morning people, but I am not one of them. Never have been, never will be. And no, I will not “get used to it if you just keep getting up early.” It pisses me off and makes me miserable. If you can get used to being pissed off and miserable, then I suppose you can get to it. No wonder so many of you are grumpy until you get your coffee. Try waking up a little bit later. I remember one morning we left to go get some breakfast and when we arrived they weren’t open yet. My friend and co-worker turned to the other guy and said “See? Even the breakfast people aren’t up, yet.”
Once we got to the plants it was generally a rough day of cerebral as well as physical activity (hey! It can take a while to make your way through a power plant). Sometimes we’d work through lunch, sometimes we got a break. Our afternoons generally ended somewhere around 4:00. Then it was off to the hotel to catch up on emails and other responsibilities until it was time for dinner. We’d all meet back up and go over the day as well as the over-all project. By the time I’d make it back to the hotel room and get settled down it would be between eight and nine o’clock. Time to finish up a few….more emails….before….the FUCKING ALARM IS GOING OFF AGAIN!
Three weeks of that, with about 2 whole days off before I made it home. I missed my mom’s birthday, Bling’s birthday, and my own birthday (a few others are in there somewhere for good measure). I worked the weekend I got home and then my other friend and co-worker flew in to help write the report. Now it was time to compile all that information into a report. That report also had to include a strategy, design, and summary that the plants could utilize. I know far more about power plants than I ever wanted to.
We rented out a crappy little conference room at a hotel for $200.00 and held up in there for a week pulling more 10+ hour days to get the thing written. That weekend? Worked right through it, again. Then I flew off to Portland and spent a few days there before I got back home. Worked all day last Friday and finally took the weekend off. Oh, sure, I could have worked, but I really needed a break.
Somewhere in between I found time to get my bills paid, start on my income taxes, got some yard work done, worked on my website (we are almost in beta!), and almost get caught up on expenses.
For the most part, I simply have been too busy or too sick of the computer and writing stuff to work on the blog. I have to drag myself to my desk to get anything done right now. I’m completely burned out. But here it is. Here is something to read. Hope you enjoy it, you slave-driving bastards!
Hey you fuckin' SLACKER !
I suppose you are going to use that 'lame' excuse that you are traveling, and can't update your blog. Whats happening to you ???
Umm…yeah… This last month has been a bit hectic and somewhat of a blur. I was working on a project for the power plant I had mentioned earlier. More to the point, I was working on a project for multiple power plants. We had a brutal and aggressive schedule of covering all of these plants in three weeks, then writing the report.
I had to leave town to do it, of course. My average day over the last month was to get up between 5:00am and 5:15am. No big deal to you morning people, but I am not one of them. Never have been, never will be. And no, I will not “get used to it if you just keep getting up early.” It pisses me off and makes me miserable. If you can get used to being pissed off and miserable, then I suppose you can get to it. No wonder so many of you are grumpy until you get your coffee. Try waking up a little bit later. I remember one morning we left to go get some breakfast and when we arrived they weren’t open yet. My friend and co-worker turned to the other guy and said “See? Even the breakfast people aren’t up, yet.”
Once we got to the plants it was generally a rough day of cerebral as well as physical activity (hey! It can take a while to make your way through a power plant). Sometimes we’d work through lunch, sometimes we got a break. Our afternoons generally ended somewhere around 4:00. Then it was off to the hotel to catch up on emails and other responsibilities until it was time for dinner. We’d all meet back up and go over the day as well as the over-all project. By the time I’d make it back to the hotel room and get settled down it would be between eight and nine o’clock. Time to finish up a few….more emails….before….the FUCKING ALARM IS GOING OFF AGAIN!
Three weeks of that, with about 2 whole days off before I made it home. I missed my mom’s birthday, Bling’s birthday, and my own birthday (a few others are in there somewhere for good measure). I worked the weekend I got home and then my other friend and co-worker flew in to help write the report. Now it was time to compile all that information into a report. That report also had to include a strategy, design, and summary that the plants could utilize. I know far more about power plants than I ever wanted to.
We rented out a crappy little conference room at a hotel for $200.00 and held up in there for a week pulling more 10+ hour days to get the thing written. That weekend? Worked right through it, again. Then I flew off to Portland and spent a few days there before I got back home. Worked all day last Friday and finally took the weekend off. Oh, sure, I could have worked, but I really needed a break.
Somewhere in between I found time to get my bills paid, start on my income taxes, got some yard work done, worked on my website (we are almost in beta!), and almost get caught up on expenses.
For the most part, I simply have been too busy or too sick of the computer and writing stuff to work on the blog. I have to drag myself to my desk to get anything done right now. I’m completely burned out. But here it is. Here is something to read. Hope you enjoy it, you slave-driving bastards!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
PS – Your Cats are in the Freezer
The week before last I took off on vacation and headed up to Bozeman, MT to see some friends and get some runs in with my g/f. We both worked like dogs the week before going up there…all the way until the last minute and then we caught our flight and took off.
It was a bit late, local time and really late “our time” by the time we got there. We stayed at my friend and co-workers house. He and his wife had left to go to Cancun, so we had the place while they were gone. All we had to do was take care of their cats, Cisco and Sadie. Little did I know Saidie was short for “Sadistic.”
I had a surprise of chocolate and champagne waiting for us when we got there since it was Valentine’s day so we stayed up late drinking champagne and nibbling on chocolate. I’d say it was about 2:30am according to my body, even though it was only 1:30am local time. We finally crashed out and then at about 3:58am I woke up by hearing a faint, but distinctive chrip!. WTF? I start to drift back off and, chirp! there it is again! One eye open, mind barely functioning…Chirp! OK, now I am awake but not quite thinking straight and again....chirp! ARRGGHH!! It's a freaking smoke detector! You know when the batteries die they emit a chirp about every minute to let you know the battery is dead. Why does this always happen at night??
So, here I am in a strange house searching for batteries at 4:00am. No luck, and I was about to go to the store but then I realized the one that was chirping was the one over the staircase, about 2 stories up, which I couldn't easily get to anyway. I used a pillow to cover my ears and got some rest, but not much. The next day we got a battery the next day and I fixed that bastard!!
But little did I know I was still not to enjoy a good nights sleep. Sadie is a fat little furball of a cat. She must weigh a zillion pounds and while she isn’t very agile and can’t move very fast she knows exactly where her cat treats are. My friend warned us ahead of time that Sadie would wake us up if there wasn’t plenty of food and water so I made sure she and Cisco had plenty of both before crashing out.
As it turns out Sadie will wake you up....even if there is plenty of food. At about 4:00am she started batting on the door. I got up to see what was going on and she looked at me and then ran off for a cat treat!! I double-checked their food and water, yup....plenty there. So she wanted a cat treat, but I didn’t' give her one as I didn't want to reinforce negative behavior. She did this about two or three more times during the morning.
She also woke me up the next morning doing the same thing at about the same time. This time, though, I opened the door and told her to knock it off and when she ran for a cat treat I didn't follow her out. The following day she waited until about 5:00am but did the same thing. My g/f and I took turns opening the door and screaming at the cat, but not giving her any cat treats. By the time we left she stopped batting on the door, or if she did do it she wouldn't be there when we opened the door. She was learning.
Cisco, the other cat was pretty cautious. We didn’t even see him for about three days and then he finally would come about ½ way down the stairs and watch us. By the next night he finally came up to us and once he realized we’d pet and scratch him it was game over. He wouldn’t leave us alone after that.
We wanted to do something nice for my friends since they let us have their house and we put a little care package together with some wine, cigars, flowers, etc. We also did all the laundry and cleaned up so that they could come home to a clean house and not have to deal with anything. Because Sadie was driving us crazy, we had this thought of signing the card and adding:
" PS, your cats are in the freezer. "
Sunday, February 15, 2009
I Need Four Jobs
And so do you to cover the spread.
Pelosi recently was quoted as saying "every month that we do not have an economic recovery package 500 million Americans lose their jobs." But it isn’t the first time she said it! She also said it during a Jan. 18th interview on Fox News Sunday. She was corrected then, but obviously didn’t figure it out.
Of course the press didn’t rake her over the coals or point out how stupid she is. They'd better do something quick! At this rate, my grandchildren will be unemployed 10 years before they're born!
And this no doubt takes into consideration job loss in all 57 states.
Pelosi recently was quoted as saying "every month that we do not have an economic recovery package 500 million Americans lose their jobs." But it isn’t the first time she said it! She also said it during a Jan. 18th interview on Fox News Sunday. She was corrected then, but obviously didn’t figure it out.
Of course the press didn’t rake her over the coals or point out how stupid she is. They'd better do something quick! At this rate, my grandchildren will be unemployed 10 years before they're born!
And this no doubt takes into consideration job loss in all 57 states.
The “Stimulus” Passed
You know, when I started writing in here I really didn’t want this to be a political blog in particular. Lately, though, I am so disappointed in our government that I find myself writing more and more topics about politics.
I saw last night that the stimulus bill passed. We all knew it would. The democrats are determined to turn us into a socialist country and I think we are seeing the tip of the iceberg. Let’s face it, they didn’t need any Republican votes for it to pass. When you have a single party controlling the house, senate and presidents office you can pretty much do what you want.
The one thing I question is how constitutional this is….nobody seems to mind. I’ve only heard a few other people argue that perhaps we shouldn’t be doing this at all. That’s kind of the way I feel about it.
Now we have to deal with….and so do our great-great-great grandkids.
I saw last night that the stimulus bill passed. We all knew it would. The democrats are determined to turn us into a socialist country and I think we are seeing the tip of the iceberg. Let’s face it, they didn’t need any Republican votes for it to pass. When you have a single party controlling the house, senate and presidents office you can pretty much do what you want.
The one thing I question is how constitutional this is….nobody seems to mind. I’ve only heard a few other people argue that perhaps we shouldn’t be doing this at all. That’s kind of the way I feel about it.
Now we have to deal with….and so do our great-great-great grandkids.
Finally On Vacation!
Last week was rough. I probably had a 90-hour work week in and the most stressful start to a vacation that I can remember in a long, long time. I was wrapping up some reports and designs for a new project that we are trying to land. It’s one of these multi-million dollar projects that will have me on the road and tied up for a good three to six months. I hope we get it, though.
But now I am in Bozeman….back to the land of ice and snow. It’s 29 here, and actually feels like winter as opposed to back home where my azaleas are blooming because it’s been so warm. They are obviously confused as to what season it is.
I plan on getting some snowboarding in as well as spending time with my homies and having some beverages.
But now I am in Bozeman….back to the land of ice and snow. It’s 29 here, and actually feels like winter as opposed to back home where my azaleas are blooming because it’s been so warm. They are obviously confused as to what season it is.
I plan on getting some snowboarding in as well as spending time with my homies and having some beverages.
And Even More Holes at the 2nd Amendment….
Here is one from my dad’s blog. Another anti-gun movement bill that they are probably going to pass.
Friday, February 06, 2009
Shooting More Holes at the 2nd Amendment
It's starting..... or continuing, however you want to say it. BTW, this bill is retroactive. So, as opposed to having to register all new firearms, you must register ALL of your firearms (even antiques, etc.) within two years after this bill goes active, should it pass.
Why do we care? Because the govt. has NO RIGHT to know what I own or don't own in the privacy of my home and it's a small step in banning firearms. They can't take them away from you if they don't know where they are.
H.R.45 Title: To provide for the implementation of a system of licensing for purchasers of certain firearms and for a record of sale system for those firearms, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep Rush, Bobby L. [IL-1] (introduced 1/6/2009) Cosponsors (None) Latest Major Action: 1/6/2009 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
SUMMARY AS OF: 1/6/2009--Introduced.
Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit a person from possessing a firearm unless that person has been issued a firearm license under this Act or a state system certified under this Act and such license has not been invalidated or revoked. Prescribes license application, issuance, and renewal requirements.
Prohibits transferring or receiving a qualifying firearm unless the recipient presents a valid firearms license, the license is verified, and the dealer records a tracking authorization number. Prescribes firearms transfer reporting and record keeping requirements. Directs the Attorney General to establish and maintain a federal record of sale system.
Prohibits: (1) transferring a firearm to any person other than a licensee, unless the transfer is processed through a licensed dealer in accordance with national instant criminal background check system requirements, with exceptions; (2) a licensed manufacturer or dealer from failing to comply with reporting and record keeping requirements of this Act; (3) failing to report the loss or theft of the firearm to the Attorney General within 72 hours; (4) failing to report to the Attorney General an address change within 60 days; or (5) keeping a loaded firearm, or an unloaded firearm and ammunition for the firearm, knowingly or recklessly disregarding the risk that a child is capable of gaining access, if a child uses the firearm and causes death or serious bodily injury.
Prescribes criminal penalties for violations of firearms provisions covered by this Act.
Directs the Attorney General to: (1) establish and maintain a firearm injury information clearinghouse; (2) conduct continuing studies and investigations of firearm-related deaths and injuries; and (3) collect and maintain current production and sales figures of each licensed manufacturer.
Authorizes the Attorney General to certify state firearm licensing or record of sale systems.
Why do we care? Because the govt. has NO RIGHT to know what I own or don't own in the privacy of my home and it's a small step in banning firearms. They can't take them away from you if they don't know where they are.
H.R.45 Title: To provide for the implementation of a system of licensing for purchasers of certain firearms and for a record of sale system for those firearms, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep Rush, Bobby L. [IL-1] (introduced 1/6/2009) Cosponsors (None) Latest Major Action: 1/6/2009 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
SUMMARY AS OF: 1/6/2009--Introduced.
Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit a person from possessing a firearm unless that person has been issued a firearm license under this Act or a state system certified under this Act and such license has not been invalidated or revoked. Prescribes license application, issuance, and renewal requirements.
Prohibits transferring or receiving a qualifying firearm unless the recipient presents a valid firearms license, the license is verified, and the dealer records a tracking authorization number. Prescribes firearms transfer reporting and record keeping requirements. Directs the Attorney General to establish and maintain a federal record of sale system.
Prohibits: (1) transferring a firearm to any person other than a licensee, unless the transfer is processed through a licensed dealer in accordance with national instant criminal background check system requirements, with exceptions; (2) a licensed manufacturer or dealer from failing to comply with reporting and record keeping requirements of this Act; (3) failing to report the loss or theft of the firearm to the Attorney General within 72 hours; (4) failing to report to the Attorney General an address change within 60 days; or (5) keeping a loaded firearm, or an unloaded firearm and ammunition for the firearm, knowingly or recklessly disregarding the risk that a child is capable of gaining access, if a child uses the firearm and causes death or serious bodily injury.
Prescribes criminal penalties for violations of firearms provisions covered by this Act.
Directs the Attorney General to: (1) establish and maintain a firearm injury information clearinghouse; (2) conduct continuing studies and investigations of firearm-related deaths and injuries; and (3) collect and maintain current production and sales figures of each licensed manufacturer.
Authorizes the Attorney General to certify state firearm licensing or record of sale systems.
Credit Card Crunch!
I have a Citi Aadvantage card that I use for business. I only put my business purchases on it. I like it because I get the miles / points for using the card. Recently, I was going over my statement and noticed a little flier that came with my statement. Even though I have been using this card for seven years and have never missed a payment my rate was suddenly going to be changed to prime-rate plus 10.99% - roughly 19.99% as of today.
WTF? Are you kidding me? Apparently they are doing this to everyone. So I called them. I was calm and courteous, and they dropped my rate all the way down to 10%, which is even lower than my existing rate.
I’ve heard a lot of credit cards are doing this, so you might want to check your statements and all the extra junk they put in your statement. Give ‘em a ring, be nice and see what happens!
WTF? Are you kidding me? Apparently they are doing this to everyone. So I called them. I was calm and courteous, and they dropped my rate all the way down to 10%, which is even lower than my existing rate.
I’ve heard a lot of credit cards are doing this, so you might want to check your statements and all the extra junk they put in your statement. Give ‘em a ring, be nice and see what happens!
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Obama’s Empty Promises
Or maybe not promises. Maybe it’s just the usual shuck and jive from a politician. There has been a lot of talk about the proposed stimulus package. You may or may not be aware that in the House of Representatives the Republicans voted unanimously against it. Didn’t matter too much because the Democrats passed it anyway. In case you haven’t been keeping up, they control both the house and the senate and can do just about whatever they want. It will, however, be harder for them to pass it in the senate.
Republicans are generally against the package because it gives a lot of money to private enterprises and the tax cuts primarily benefit the poor – pretty much the people that don’t pay any taxes anyway. Here is Obama “spreading it around” for you. This is your money being taken away and given to the poor.
I’m not surprised at what is proposed in the package. The DNC has had a long history of supporting proposals and spending for socialist programs. These aren’t always a bad thing. The Republicans have a long history of voting against this type of thing. So what is the rub?
The rub is this – Obama promised to bring people together. He promised to work for bipartisanship. But he’s not really trying. Why do I say that? Because this bill isn’t even close to something Republicans would be willing to vote for. Did that matter? No. The DNC pushed it through the house, and they will try to do the same thing in the senate. Obama is well aware of this, yet he proposed no changes to the plan that might appease the Republican party.
Yesterday while at the gym there were several DNC politicians that accused primary party leaders of abusing their power and influence. These folks chose to remain anonymous (I don’t blame them) but basically said “…the house leader and other democratic party leaders told us to not read it and just vote for it.”
This bill is about as partisan as it gets. And I don’t see Obama doing squat to change it.
I also noticed that Obama is looking to pass the bill that would basically provide federally funded insurance to all children. This is an interesting bill. There are numerous reasons to pass it and there are numerous reasons to not pass it.
Part of the stimulus package is to provide insurance to people that are out of work. He claims its so that people who lost their jobs can still have insurance.
Both plans are great ideas in theory but they both give me pause for different reasons. How long does the insurance last? And, did the people have to have a job in the first place? Can someone not have had a job and still get the insurance?
Socialized plans to take care of people that fall through the cracks is not a bad idea. Plans to take care of children because their parents haven’t provided for them, or unable to provide for them, is not a bad idea. But unilaterally providing health insurance to anyone who chooses not to work is bullshit.
Obama said something to the effect that we are not a nation that leaves its people behind. That’s a good thought, but we aren’t the same country we were even just 30 years ago, much less 100 or 200 years ago. We aren’t the same country where people work hard to better themselves, and through that process better our country. We are now a country that expects to be taken care of, a country that wants what is coming to them because they are owed something, and a country that has a vast majority of people that simply to not want to work to better themselves or their country. Those are old ideals. They exist, but it’s blatantly obvious to anyone that these ideals are not shared amongst the majority of the population. And for those people, the ones that do not share these ideals, I don’t have empathy for them if they get left behind.
Folks – we must be careful here. Obama is ramming nationalized health-care down our throat. The DNC is taking “baby” steps to move us closer to socialism. And while it sounds like a grandiose plan….it…does….NOT…work.
Republicans are generally against the package because it gives a lot of money to private enterprises and the tax cuts primarily benefit the poor – pretty much the people that don’t pay any taxes anyway. Here is Obama “spreading it around” for you. This is your money being taken away and given to the poor.
I’m not surprised at what is proposed in the package. The DNC has had a long history of supporting proposals and spending for socialist programs. These aren’t always a bad thing. The Republicans have a long history of voting against this type of thing. So what is the rub?
The rub is this – Obama promised to bring people together. He promised to work for bipartisanship. But he’s not really trying. Why do I say that? Because this bill isn’t even close to something Republicans would be willing to vote for. Did that matter? No. The DNC pushed it through the house, and they will try to do the same thing in the senate. Obama is well aware of this, yet he proposed no changes to the plan that might appease the Republican party.
Yesterday while at the gym there were several DNC politicians that accused primary party leaders of abusing their power and influence. These folks chose to remain anonymous (I don’t blame them) but basically said “…the house leader and other democratic party leaders told us to not read it and just vote for it.”
This bill is about as partisan as it gets. And I don’t see Obama doing squat to change it.
I also noticed that Obama is looking to pass the bill that would basically provide federally funded insurance to all children. This is an interesting bill. There are numerous reasons to pass it and there are numerous reasons to not pass it.
Part of the stimulus package is to provide insurance to people that are out of work. He claims its so that people who lost their jobs can still have insurance.
Both plans are great ideas in theory but they both give me pause for different reasons. How long does the insurance last? And, did the people have to have a job in the first place? Can someone not have had a job and still get the insurance?
Socialized plans to take care of people that fall through the cracks is not a bad idea. Plans to take care of children because their parents haven’t provided for them, or unable to provide for them, is not a bad idea. But unilaterally providing health insurance to anyone who chooses not to work is bullshit.
Obama said something to the effect that we are not a nation that leaves its people behind. That’s a good thought, but we aren’t the same country we were even just 30 years ago, much less 100 or 200 years ago. We aren’t the same country where people work hard to better themselves, and through that process better our country. We are now a country that expects to be taken care of, a country that wants what is coming to them because they are owed something, and a country that has a vast majority of people that simply to not want to work to better themselves or their country. Those are old ideals. They exist, but it’s blatantly obvious to anyone that these ideals are not shared amongst the majority of the population. And for those people, the ones that do not share these ideals, I don’t have empathy for them if they get left behind.
Folks – we must be careful here. Obama is ramming nationalized health-care down our throat. The DNC is taking “baby” steps to move us closer to socialism. And while it sounds like a grandiose plan….it…does….NOT…work.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
More on Bonuses and Executives
I think I’ve posted several articles on this, but you keep hearing about it over and over again. The American public is enraged that executives on Wall Street are still getting bonuses. My initial reaction is to be upset, too. But I also put it in some perspective. We have to keep in mind that some of theses people only get a bonus. No bonus = no pay. You certainly can’t expect someone to work for free and that is no different than any other industry.
But, before you get mad that I am defending *them* please keep in mind that I said it’s all about perspective. The average Wall Street executive still pulls a 6 or 7 figure salary. While it may cost more to live in NYC, it doesn’t cost that much more. So while I don’t think it’s right to say “no bonuses” I do think it’s right to cut them back and bring these people down to earth some.
Where I really get bent is the executives that make millions of dollars while driving the companies into the ground. I absolutely reject the argument that big companies need to keep paying them big salaries to retain the talent. Bullshit. Scrap the million dollar bonuses and let them walk if they don’t like it. Where are they going to go? Nobody is hiring and nobody is hiring you if you come from a company that you ran into the ground. What do they think? Someone is going to look at their resume and compare them to another failed executive that ruined a company, but not by as much? Is that how it’s supposed to work? Fuck them. Let them walk. Let them go work at some shit-hole job for minimum wage. They can sell their porches and leave their Manhattan apartments. Hello? Welcome to earth.
And something that really pisses me off? While all of these layoffs are going on. While millions of Americans are losing their jobs because the banks won’t continue to extend lines of credit? The same morons that got us into this mess, the executives, have kept their jobs. That’s right. 90% of the executives at the top banks and businesses getting bailed out have kept their jobs while laying off their employees. What the hell is wrong with us?
Oh, and I’m sorry – but President Obama jumping on his high horse at this point is ridiculous and hypocritical. First off, he is part of the reason we are in this mess. Before becoming President he and his buddies were part of the Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac bust. Secondly, the government missed its opportunity to enforce any type of control of how the money was spent when they gave it over to these guys without any provisions. Sorry Barack, but it’s too late, now. You can’t just step in and tell them how to run their companies.
But, before you get mad that I am defending *them* please keep in mind that I said it’s all about perspective. The average Wall Street executive still pulls a 6 or 7 figure salary. While it may cost more to live in NYC, it doesn’t cost that much more. So while I don’t think it’s right to say “no bonuses” I do think it’s right to cut them back and bring these people down to earth some.
Where I really get bent is the executives that make millions of dollars while driving the companies into the ground. I absolutely reject the argument that big companies need to keep paying them big salaries to retain the talent. Bullshit. Scrap the million dollar bonuses and let them walk if they don’t like it. Where are they going to go? Nobody is hiring and nobody is hiring you if you come from a company that you ran into the ground. What do they think? Someone is going to look at their resume and compare them to another failed executive that ruined a company, but not by as much? Is that how it’s supposed to work? Fuck them. Let them walk. Let them go work at some shit-hole job for minimum wage. They can sell their porches and leave their Manhattan apartments. Hello? Welcome to earth.
And something that really pisses me off? While all of these layoffs are going on. While millions of Americans are losing their jobs because the banks won’t continue to extend lines of credit? The same morons that got us into this mess, the executives, have kept their jobs. That’s right. 90% of the executives at the top banks and businesses getting bailed out have kept their jobs while laying off their employees. What the hell is wrong with us?
Oh, and I’m sorry – but President Obama jumping on his high horse at this point is ridiculous and hypocritical. First off, he is part of the reason we are in this mess. Before becoming President he and his buddies were part of the Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac bust. Secondly, the government missed its opportunity to enforce any type of control of how the money was spent when they gave it over to these guys without any provisions. Sorry Barack, but it’s too late, now. You can’t just step in and tell them how to run their companies.
Too Smart?
I met up with my good friend Stan and his wife Karla for drinks. We were all sitting around talking and Stan told me that he had asked his son(s) if they wanted to come along. They were on the fence about it until Stan said I would be there. Apparently they didn’t want to come, then.
That kind of bothered me so I asked why. Apparently, their youngest son (who is about 22) said that I was too smart. I guess it bothered him. As much as that is a compliment it bothered me that he didn’t want to be around me. I have never though that I make an effort to intimidate people in this fashion – at least not consciously.
That kind of bothered me so I asked why. Apparently, their youngest son (who is about 22) said that I was too smart. I guess it bothered him. As much as that is a compliment it bothered me that he didn’t want to be around me. I have never though that I make an effort to intimidate people in this fashion – at least not consciously.
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