Taxes

Thank God I live in Tennessee, a state where an income tax is unconstitutional. Sure, we pay a higher sales tax, but I prefer it that way. I get to decide if I really need that $3000 flat screen or not. Taxing consumption is a much fairer way of generating government revenue than taxing income. It's a lot harder to hide money when you tax consumption than it is to hide income.

The argument I've heard most from people who like state income taxes is that they pay lower sales taxes. In fact, many, if not most, states exclude necessities like food and clothing from sales taxes. That, the Moochers say, more than makes up the difference.

However, it seems that the state of New York has decided to raise taxes in a big way. They're going to tax your music downloads, your can of Coke, your taxi fair, and now, (OMG) your food and clothing! I don't see where Gov Patterson is lowering the income tax rates to balance this out.

A Looter never met a tax he didn't like, or one that she wouldn't raise.

Gymkhana

I got this link from the Dec 1, 2008, issue of Autoweek magazine. Check it out. It's worth 4 1/2 minutes of your day. Wonder if I can get my Nissan pickup to do this...?

http://video.kenblockracing.com/flash/small_player/preloader.swf?vendor_id=204&media_id=9183&bgcolor=FFFFFF&autoplay=0

Global Warming Alarmists caught in a lie

"October 2008 was the hottest October on record!", reported NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS). Al Gore puffed up in pride, I'm sure, knowing that his prophecies were being fulfilled.


Except for 1 small detail. The assertion that October was the warmest is false. And GISS now has to admit it. When GISS was compiling it's data on it's quest to prove man-made global warming, they made a small boo-boo. For the month of October, they "accidentally" used temperature readings from the month of September; which, surprise, surprise, is a warmer month than October, at least most of the time!.

They were caught by some bloggers, who had combed thru the publicly accessible data. Now I'm sure the bloggers have their own agenda, as well, but this is still yet another stake in the heart of the man-made global warming canard.

While GISS didn't say this, I'm sure AlGore and his cronies are working hard at keeping this temperature data top-secret, G-27 classified from now on.

Looter's to pay off credit card debt

I just heard on the news that the credit card companies are begging for a piece of the $700 billion bailout that was passed by congress and signed by the president, despite overwhelming opposition from the American people. They are apparently asking for enough money to cut 40% off the Moochers' credit card bills.

What the crap??? Some slimy business man gets drunk and uses his credit card to buy a high dollar hooker, and I have to pay for it?????

This stuff is really ticking me off. Why the heck did I work my butt off to pay off my student loans? Why am I paying my mortgage on time? Why should I work harder than ever, just to get taxed more so some stinking Moocher can get away with being a dad-blamed deadbeat?????

Spread the Wealth

Here's a quote (emphasis added) from a speech given by Francisco D'Anconia, a fictional character in the novel, Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, that references the idea of "spreading the wealth". To read the entire speech (it'll take you less than 5 minutes, probably more like 3), click here.

""But you say that money is made by the strong at the expense of the weak? What strength do you mean? It is not the strength of guns or muscles. Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think. Then is money made by the man who invents a motor at the expense of those who did not invent it? Is money made by the intelligent at the expense of the fools? By the able at the expense of the incompetent? By the ambitious at the expense of the lazy? Money is made--before it can be looted or mooched--made by the effort of every honest man, each to the extent of his ability. An honest man is one who knows that he can't consume more than he has produced...'


"But money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver. It will give you the means for the satisfaction of your desires, but it will not provide you with desires. Money is the scourge of the men who attempt to reverse the law of causality--the men who seek to replace the mind by seizing the products of the mind.

"Money will not purchase happiness for the man who has no concept of what he wants: money will not give him a code of values, if he's evaded the knowledge of what to value, and it will not provide him with a purpose, if he's evaded the choice of what to seek. Money will not buy intelligence for the fool, or admiration for the coward, or respect for the incompetent. The man who attempts to purchase the brains of his superiors to serve him, with his money replacing his judgment, ends up by becoming the victim of his inferiors. The men of intelligence desert him, but the cheats and the frauds come flocking to him, drawn by a law which he has not discovered: that no man may be smaller than his money. Is this the reason why you call it evil?

"Only the man who does not need it, is fit to inherit wealth--the man who would make his own fortune no matter where he started. If an heir is equal to his money, it serves him; if not, it destroys him. But you look on and you cry that money corrupted him. Did it? Or did he corrupt his money? Do not envy a worthless heir; his wealth is not yours and you would have done no better with it. Do not think that it should have been distributed among you; loading the world with fifty parasites instead of one, would not bring back the dead virtue which was the fortune. Money is a living power that dies without its root. Money will not serve the mind that cannot match it. Is this the reason why you call it evil?"

The myth of tax increases only for the "rich"

Mr Obama keeps saying that only the evil, rich people making over $250k will see tax increases. That is a blatant falsehood. Here are the facts:

If you are currently lucky enough (or malevolent enough) to make over approximately $97,000/year, your FICA taxes peak out. But Mr Obama wants to eliminate that cap. So we've gone from tax cuts just for those making 250k, down to 97k.

Next, Mr Obama voted to allow the Bush tax cuts (you know, those tax cuts just for greedy rich SOB's) to expire in 2011. So, if you make over approximately $32,000 dollars, in 2008 you are in the 15% tax bracket. However, thanks to the messiah-wanna-be, in 2011, you will be pole-vaulting into the 28% bracket, without earning a penny more( betcha didn't know that 32K made you one of "the rich?"). Now we've gone from 97k to 32k.

Where will this downward trend stop???

Obama is getting desperate

Senator Obama is apparently getting desperate. He's now claiming that anybody who isn't for "taxing the rich" is just being selfish. Well, Mr Obama, lets look at who is really selfish.

How much money do you give to charity, sir? Since you obviously care more about the poor than I do, I'm sure you are giving 15 or 20% of your income to charity, right? Well, according to your tax records, you gave a measly (dare I say selfish) 6% of your income to charitable organizations in 2006. From 2000-2005, your maximum donation was a miserly 4.7%; shamefully, it was as low as 0.4% in 2002.

Senator McCain, on the other hand, donated 26% of his 2007 income to charity. In 2006, it was 18%.

Conservatives, on average, give "about thirty percent more per conservative-headed family than per liberal-headed family. And incidentally, conservative-headed families make slightly less money"- Arthur Brooks, author of "Who Really Cares".


What this really shows is that Senator Barak Obama doesn't trust the average American enough to give to the needy; he feels that only the government can decide what to do with money. Looks to me like you are the selfish one, sir.

Obama admits he's a Marxist

Barak Obama has been caught on camera admitting that he is a Marxist. He has decided that we should "share the wealth."

He keeps claiming 95% of Americans are going to get a "tax cut", but that is a blatant lie. Fourty (40) percent of this country doesn't even pay in to the income tax system to begin with!! How the crap are they going to get a "tax cut?" Apparently by stealing from the plumber.






His new campain slogan, to be emblazed on his presidential seal, should be "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need."

Of course...

this is pretty hard to beat.

Best drummer...ever

Non political post

Take 4 minutes and 46 seconds to watch this. These dudes still rock, even with their AARP cards!

I'd give my brother's right arm to be able to play like this.

What the Crap?

Absolutely nothing has improved since the Looters passed their "economic recovery bill". In fact, it's gotten worse.

I called my Representative the day the house first failed to pass the original bill. My rep had voted "For" the boondoggle. Of course, he also voted "for" the newest bill that passed.

Here's a quote from the letter he sent me (that I got today in the mail) explaining why he voted for the bill:

"As you know, the House narrowly failed to pass the rescue package and the stock market subdequently plunged..."

What the crap is happening now, then, Mr Representative, to the market, since you "passed" that crap-loaded rescue bill????????? You passed that garbage, and the market not only plunged, it took a complete nose dive!!!!!!

This stuff is really ticking me off.

Let the companies fail. AIG is NOT TOO BIG TO FAIL! It is just the height of arrogance to think that if AIG goes down, armageddon will be upon us. The need that AIG filled will still be there if AIG is gone. Somebody else will sweep in and take over.

Oil and Gas Don't Mix

Why in the world is the price of gasoline not coming down faster? The second that oil prices go up, every gas station in town raises their prices. This, despite the fact that the gas in their tanks was paid for weeks or months ago.

Now that oil prices are plummeting, gas has just barely dropped. Today, oil closed at below $88/barrel. That's down from a high of over $147/barrel back in July. Gas was close to 4 bucks a gallon then. Now, gas is $3.45/gallon in my town.

If gas "must" go up to cover the increasing cost of oil, it seems to me that it "must" go down, as well.

Senate passes earmark laden economic bill, with the aid of Senator McCain

The Senate today passed a bloated economic bill today, AKA the "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008"


Can anybody please explain to me what the heck wooden arrows (section 503), wool research (section 325), mine rescue teams (section 310), race tracks (section 317), Puerto Rican rum (section 308) and investment in the District of Columbia (section 322) have to do with this "economic crisis"? They want to spend how much of my money on this type of garbage?

From a "simple 3 page bill" to a 451 page behemoth, this is going to do down, I'm afraid, as the single reason Senator Obama will become president. I noticed that Senator McCain signed on as well. What happened to his promise that he'd veto any bill that had earmarks in it? I guess it's OK to vote for garbage, but he wouldn't sign the same bill if he was in office?

To quote Senator McCain (because he apparently forgot) “Earmark spending runs against the public interest in many ways and especially when public safety is in the balance. And that’s why, as president, I will veto every bill with earmarks until the Congress stops sending bills with earmarks .It may take a while for Congress to adjust, but sooner or later they’ll figure out that there’s a new sheriff in town.”

Why are we in this financial mess?

Check out this video. It's almost 11 minutes long. Bear in mind, the producers of this video are pro-McCain. So they put little to no blame on the Republicans; I'm sure there is plenty of culpability to go around. But everything in it is factual.

Based on this video, do you really believe that Washington DC can fix this problem?

The answer, a resounding "NO!"


Burning down the house

This economy has gone to the dogs...

Times are tough right now. People are struggling to pay their bills. People who bought a much bigger house than they really should have are now paying the piper. Medicine, or food? Gas, or the phone bill. Cigarettes, or, never mind (smokers always seem to afford these).

While reading today's local newspaper, the Jackson Sun, I noticed an add for a business that I never even imagined I'd see. It's one of those entrepreneurial opportunities that, once you read about it, you think, "why didn't I come up with that?" According to this company, their services are absolutely essential to your health, and the health of those you love.

I do not know this guy; to my knowledge I've never even been in the same BigBox store with him. I've never called him requesting his services. But maybe you should.

Dave's Doo Deporters.

Taxes, explained

I got this in one of those "forwarded" emails. For a change, I like it, so I thought I post it here.

AN EXPLANATION OF OUR TAXATION SYSTEM



Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beers (a great idea) and the bill for all ten comes to $100.00

If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

The fifth would pay $1.

The sixth would pay $7.

The eighth would pay $12.

The ninth would pay $18.

The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.

"Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beers by $20.00. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.00."

The group of ten men still wanted to pay their bill they way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the so-called PAYING customers:

How could they divide the $20.00 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20.00 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man would end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and thus, he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay..

And so we have these results:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3. (33% savings).

The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7. (28% savings).

The eight now paid $9 instead of $12. (25% savings).

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18. (22% savings).

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).






Each of the six was better off than before and the first four continued to drink for free, but once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man.. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got TEN times more than I!"

"That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. We didn't get anything at all. They system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat the S**T out of him.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something very important . . . . . they didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalist and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them to much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up for drinks anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

Economic Crisis

"Crisis is the friend of the state. And they have always used crisis to increase their power and their hands on our money".

John Stossel said this tonight while he was on the "O'Reily Factor". I don't know who said it first, but it is certainly the truth. Look for more government intrusion into our lives after their "fix". And, just like a heroin junkie, one "fix" will lead to another.

Will they debate?

John McCain states that the crisis in the economy is too important for him to take time off for a presidential debate.

Barak Obama states that the crisis in the economy is too important for him to not take part in the debate.

I don't really know who's right. But something struck me as funny today. Both candidates are supposed to be US Senators. Yours and my tax money pays their salaries. To the tune of over $169,00.00. Has either candidate actually done a fricken' thing they are being paid to do during the past 2 years? I think any sitting U.S. member of Congress, either house, that runs for any other office should repay their salary back to the people, since they aren't doing their jobs. Let 'em run for President on someone besides the U.S. Taxpayer's back.

Infanticide

Presidential hopeful Barak Obama apparently supports the idea of infanticide. Four times while in the Illinois Senate, Senator Obama voted against the Born Alive Protection Act. This act, which became law in Illinois in 2005 (after Obama left the state senate), protects children who survive an abortion attempt.

Up until that point, in many cases, if a child survived an abortion procedure, they were left to die on the operating table, whether this took minutes or hours. Mr Obama felt that an infant who was to be aborted was less than human, and didn't have the same human rights as a wanted child who was born prematurely. The Born Alive Protection Act would require physicians give such a child the exact same life-saving attention that were used on premature babies.

Even NARAL (the largest abortion rights group in the world) did not oppose the passage of this bill. The most liberal members of the US senate voted unanimously with the rest of the Senate in the passage of a similar national bill.

This man wants to be our President. He is supposed to protect the citizens of the United States against all threats, foreign and domestic. Yet he REFUSES to protect the most frail, the most vulnerable, citizens. What other duties and responsibilities will he refuse?

Cheers

The Left's botched "Gotcha"

The liberal media is all aflutter now. They think they have proven that Sarah Palin is unqualified to be the Vice-Commander-in-Chief.

During Mrs Palin's interview with ABC news' Charlie Gibson, he asked, "Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?"

She replied, with all honesty (unlike most politicians) "In what respect, Charlie?"

Thinking he finally had her, and barely able to hide his glee, he eventually told her, that the Bush Doctrine "is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense." The New York Times reported that Mr Gibson "sounded like an inpatient teacher" as he lectured the naive Mrs Palin.

Unfortunately for Mr Gibson, he was wrong. According to Charles Krauthammer, the man who coined the term "Bush Doctrine", the term has had four definitions throughout the Bush administration, and that the currently acceptable definition is most certainly NOT the one used by the arrogant Mr Gibson.

The Bush Doctrine is "the fundamental mission of American foreign policy is to spread democracy throughout the world."

Perhaps in their attempt to aid their messiah, Barak Obama, Mr Gibson's writers should have spent a bit more time on the Internet doing research. Go Sarah Palin!

I Pledge Allegiance

Here's a video of Don LaFontaine reading the Pledge of Allegiance. He died September 1, 2008. Movie previews will never be the same!

Random Ramblings

People are criticising Sarah Palin for "parading her pregnant daughter" on the stage last night at the Republican National Convention. What else was she supposed to do? If her daughter hadn't come up on stage, the elite media would all be saying this morning, "see, she's ASHAMED of her daughter!" Besides, we all know what Barak Obama would do if, God forbid, one of his daughters were to become pregnant, in his own words: "I don't want them punished with a baby!"




During hurricane Katrina, people (myself included) complained that the local government didn't do enough to evacuate the poor. Now,this time around, people are complaining that people were evacuated in time. Can't win for losing.

A big topic this election cycle is health insurance. If only we had universal health insurance, people would be better off. However, what people don't seem to recognize is that having insurance does not equal access to medical care. We're going to need thousands more primary care physicians if we are to actually treat all these people; that isn't going to happen if primary care income keeps going down, while the debt for medical school alone (not counting any debt needed to start a medical practice) is over $150,000. When I left school, at the age of 26, I had loan payments of over $1500 per month just for school debt.


Barak Obama has years of experience in the Legislative branch of government. John McCain and Joe Biden have decades of experience in the Legislative branch. Sarah Palin may be "greener" than even Obama, but she has 8 years of executive experience (both as mayor and Governor). Unfortunately, the president is an executive job, not a legislative one.

Gas in my town is all the way down to $3.39 per gallon, and I actually got excited about that!

If the environmental wackos really want to win over people, they need to stop whining about the "sick Earth". Hit people where it hurts, their pocket books. I want to drive a car with better gas mileage, not from some misguided belief that I will save the planet, but because gas is too fricken expensive. I actually have a couple of those toxic, mercury laden light bulbs in fixtures that we tend to leave on quite a bit. Again, not because Gaia told me to, but because they use less electricity, thus costing less! Plus, I'm trying to get my kid to pee in the back yard more, just so I don't have to spend the money on water and sewage (fyi, my wife's not too happy about this one!).

A man has been arrested for trying to bomb the Republican National Convention with Molotov cocktails. Maybe I missed it. Were any non-democrats arrested for behavior that could potentially kill others during the Democrat's convention? Why such a violent hatred from such supposedly more tolerant people?

Who would John Galt vote for? For certain, I can say he wouldn't vote for Obama/Biden. That combo guarantees greater governmental intrusion into our public lives. The Libertarian party nominee is really just seems to me to be a disgruntled Republican, so no vote there, either. The Green party wants us to live like it was 1875, so no vote there, either. The Constitutional party really seems closest to what the libertarian-leaning protagonist would like, but I don't know enough about their candidate, yet. I doubt he'd like McCain, either, with his McCain-Feingold bill as one of his greatest accomplishments.

The Redeem Team

I'm not a big NBA fan. It seems like most professional basketball players are all about ego. At least it did, until this year's "Redeem Team" at the Olympics. These young men, all millionaires I'm sure, didn't have to go to China and compete. They didn't have to go cheer on Michael Phelps as he swam. They didn't have to go watch the beach volleyball teams win. They didn't have to be such stand up guys; no news about drunken orgies, no fights, no ego-trips. They stood there proudly at the gold medal ceremony, singing the "Star Spangled Banner."

And, after this, what did they do? They all went over to their coach, Mike Krzyzewski, and one-by-one put their medals around his neck.

God Bless America. Go USA!

The Christian church has only existed for 50 years

Apparently, the Christian church has only been in existence for about 50 years, according to Speaker of the House (and 3rd in line to the Presidency) Nancy Peolsi. This weekend on a TV political news show, Ms Peolsi was asked about the Catholic Church's stance that life begins at conception. Since Ms Pelosi claims to be Catholic, you'd think she was prepared to answer this question.

She replied, "'I understand. And this is, like, maybe 50 years or something like that. So again, over the history of the church, this is an issue of controversy".

First off, does anyone really believe that the history of the church is "maybe 50 years" old?

Then she mentions the canard of controversy about life. From the beginning, the church has taught that life begins at conception. Tertullian wrote in the late second or early third century (a bit longer than 50 years ago) that "The embryo therefore becomes a human being in the womb from the moment that its form is completed. The law of Moses, indeed, punishes with due penalties the man who shall cause abortion, inasmuch as there exists already the rudiment of a human being" (Tertullian, a Treatise on the Soul).

If 1800 years ago isn't old enough, back in 80 AD (maybe as late as 120 AD) a Christian document was written, the Didache. In it is the phrase "you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is born"

Pelosi is trying to put her post-modern spin on the topic of abortion. Sure, I'm putting my spin on it, too, but my spin has been around for about 2000 years.

This Messiah's Not Quite Omniscient

John McCain is in the news for stumbling over a seemingly simple question. In an effort to show how out of touch McCain is, a lefty reporter asked the Senator, whose wife is a rich heiress to a beer distribution fortune, how many homes he owned. He didn't know, "I think - I’ll have my staff get to you". In true liberal fashion, this gaffe has been constantly played by the drive-by media.

The media's anointed Messiah, the most-holy Barak Obama would never make a gaffe, would he? Besides, who cares if the man who would be America's savior knows how many states America has? Sure, he was tired (gasp-he's not Omnipotent, either) and the number was a slip of the tongue. But to say "57 states, I think one left to go, one left to go, Alaska and Hawaii..."? That's an awful strange math. I guess Alaska and Hawaii are the same state, which gives us a total of 58 states in the Peoples States of America.




I don't know about you, but I want my president to be highly successful in his life, personally, financially and professionally. I don't want a president who knows how much a gallon of milk costs. If he's busy doing his own grocery shopping, he's not spending enough time doing his job. I want him to know what the bad guys are doing.




Addendum: Somehow, he made a mistake again last night. He told the DNC convention attendees that he was with a family in "St. Louis." Fortunately for him, his daughter corrected him-he was in Kansas City. Will this mistake play on an endless loop? Don't hold your breath.

Craig Ferguson is funny

If you haven't been able to watch the Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson, give it a try. Craig is quite funny, much of his humor is self deprecating. He often talks about his past struggles with alcohol. If you get time, go to Youtube.com and look up Craig's monologue after his father passed away.

Here's some video from this year's White House Correspondence Dinner where Craig Ferguson was the host.

Bryan Clay, Olympic Gold Medalist, Christian

The winner of the decathlon, arguable the most difficult Olympic event, at this summer's Olympic games is Bryan Clay. He also won the silver medal at the 2004 games, and overcame injuries to bring home the gold this year.

Bryan and his wife are both devout Christians; and here is a link to a nice interview with him from just before he left the USA to go to China.

Go, Michael Phelps, go!

I don't know about you, but I was glued to the tube to watch Michael Phelps become the most decorated athlete in Olympic history. He seems like a very humble young man with a compelling story.

However, he is being criticized for endorsing Frosted Flakes and McDonald's restaurants. The tightly-wound-up critics are afraid that sets a bad example for young people. They need to get a life. Not one single child is going to get fat because they saw Michael Phelps on a box of cereal.

Go, Michael! I'm glad to see he's endorsing products he's actually using, and not being a sell-out.

My curlie-que lightbulbs are saving the planet!

It's working! Eco-pope AlGore the First must be bursting with pride. I actually have a couple of those world-saving fluorescent light bulbs in outdoor fixtures that we leave on all night. Now, it seems that Anchorage, AK, is having its COLDEST SUMMER EVER!!! This summer, the temperature has risen above 65 degrees F only 7 days.

You're welcome, caribou.

Now, we just have to figure out what to do with all the Mercury we're putting in the landfills when we dispose of those miracle bulbs.

Always look before you leap

I have to admit, I like my Crocs. They're comfortable, easy to take on and off, and wash clean with a blast from the hose. I've been keeping them in the garage lately, to wear when I'm working in the yard. I usually just slip my feet in them and go.

Well today, thank God, I picked them up first. They were extra nasty, so I thought I'd rinse them in the sink before putting them on. Lo and behold, I saw some spider webs. Looking closer, I was greeted by a swollen black belly with a red hour-glass! So,I commenced to soaking my shoes with half a bottle of insecticide and rinsing them in scalding water for 10 minutes.

Look before you leap!

Kindle e-book reader

One of my partners got a Kindle e-book reader from her husband for Christmas, last year. She recently brought it to the office and let me play with it. Now I've got my own, and love it!!! The technology still isn't perfect, but this has been a great new toy!

I've had my Kindle now for about 1 month, and already I've downloaded over 30 books, either in full form or sample versions. No, I haven't read them all, yet. Like any new toy, I am giving it alot of attention.

Things I love:

1. Downloading free samples. It's just like going to the book store and spending time thumbing thru the paper edition. About 1/3 of the things I've downloaded have been in this format. When I get to them, if they interest me, I'll buy the whole thing.
2. The Kindle takes up much less space on my shelf! I love reading, and I tend to buy 2 new books while I'm still reading one. This gets on my wife's nerves. So now we don't need as much storage space.
3. The Whispernet. It downloads books in mere seconds.
4. The built-in dictionary. I've found that I use it much more than I thought I would.
5. It makes me feel like I'm an officer on the starship Enterprise when I'm using it!
6. There are tons of free or very cheap books available, not just the bestsellers.
7. I've read some complaints about the lack of backlighting. I guess a lot of people want to be able to read at the bottom of Mammoth Cave. Personally, I don't care about this. I already need light to read books, so it's no biggie.
8. Changing the text size is way cool!
9. I leave my Whispernet turned off while I'm reading, so the battery life is excellent. I charge it up about once a week, but even then, the batter is not fully discharged.

Things I don't like:
1. Still not enough titles. The Kindle is too new. Hopefully with time, more and more authors and publishers will get on board.
2. It doesn't render pictures very well at all. Amazon will have to continue to improve this technology if they really want to replace the printed word (which I don't think will ever really happen-books are here to stay). I can see college kids one day having all their textbooks on a Kindle, though. But not yet.
3. Amazon.com advertises "over 140,000 books". However, I have found that alot of these books are actually repeats. I think I found 5 or 6 different versions of Ben Franklin's Autobiography, all of them being offered at different prices. Don't really understand that logic. I guess some of them may have different comments from modern editors.
4. They do need to design a better cover. As long as I hold it tight, it's fine, but it does tend to slip out quite a bit.
5. The right hand "next page" button is placed at the very edge of the Kindle. Occasionally I'll shift my grip, and accidentally turn the page.

Average Joe, American

An interesting message from Joe America to the Presidential Candidates. I don't know who this guy really is, but I wish the candidates would listen to him.







( for some reason, the youtube video won't display. click here to go to youtube.com)

Colonial Irony

According to my local paper, a huge automotive deal has just taken place. An American company, Ford Motor (based in the former British colonies), has completed a sale to an Indian company, Tata Motor, (also based in a former British colony). What was sold? The iconic British brands of Land Rover and Jaguar.

Just a bit of colonial irony, I guess. Of course, since the "sun never sets on the British Empire", it's only natural that things like this will happen more and more.

The Last Coin

After looking thru some old boxes of books I've collected over the years, I picked up "The Last Coin" by James Blaylock. I hadn't read it in 20 years, but I was surprised at how much I remembered. It's a fun, and silly, book to read, despite the heavy subject matter. Briefly, it's about the 30 silver coins that Judas Iscariot was paid for ratting on Jesus. In the book, Judas never really died, and the coins he was paid were cursed for all eternity. Judas himself was cursed to forever walk the earth, charged with keeping the coins apart. If all 30 coins are ever reunited, an evil will be unleashed unlike any on earth during the past 2000 years. The majority of the book is about how an odd, bumbling, goof-of-a-man is the unknowing Caretaker of the Last Coin.

The book got me thinking. Judas hanged himself after his betrayal. Hanging rarely kills instantly. People often survive for several minutes, if not hours, dangling by the rope. I've always assumed that Judas was bound for Hell. But now I wonder, if, with his last few moments, Judas asked the Father to forgive him; when I'm (hopefully) standing in line to enter the Pearly Gates, will Judas be right in front of me?





Galatians 5:5 (NIV)

But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.

Romans 8:25 (NIV)
But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Only the Government knows what's right

Senator Obama has been letting more sneak out about his true agenda. The other day in Oregon, the omniscient Senator said "We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times".

How dare someone actually set their thermostat at such an unacceptable temperature? Only the enlightened Looters in Washington know the proper settings for your house. In fact, if the Looters had their way, we'd all be driving monochrome, compact hybrid cars; wearing uniform, brown suits; and going to bed at the same time. We'll all have a meal plan to ensure that no one is more nutritionally advantaged than others. Perhaps everyone's income will be legislated to be equal, as well.

Every light fixture in your house would have those magnificent, completely environmentally safe twisty-bulbs. We'll just use our collective will to keep the mercury in them from causing problems. After all, AlGore says those bulbs are the savior of the planet, right? And don't forget, corn should be used to make ethanol, not food.

Besides, America is full of too many evil, rich people. We'll just raise taxes, because who doesn't want to pay their "fair share", anyway? During the race to become POTUS, the definition of "rich" has been ratcheted down from $1,000,000.00 per year to $500k, to $250k. Now apparently $102,000 per family is rich. And since private citizens don't really know which charities to give to, the Looters will redistribute that money for us.

And, now that the Supreme Court has set the precedent with the Kelo v. City of New London decision, your home is not really even yours. If the Looters discover that you set your thermostat too high or low, leave a light on in your house, flush your toilet twice or use more that 3 squares of toilet paper, they might just condemn your house, so they can put in a shopping mall, to be built by the Looter's cousin.

Millionaire's tax

Did you read about the new "millionaire's tax" the Democrats are proposing. It's just a 1/2 % income tax on income above 1 million dollars. Mike Ross (D_Ark) says "someone who earns $2 million a year would pay $5,000. ... They're not going to miss it."

There never gonna miss it??!?!?!? That pisses me off. It's their fricken money, not yours, Mr Ross. You gonna kill their dog, too, because "it's just a dog, they're never gonna miss it"????

And to make matters worse, this really isn't even a millionaires tax. The $1 million dollar level would apply to couples. Individuals would pay the surcharge on money over $500,000. So the democrats don't even know basic stinking math. 500k doesn't a Million make.

It won't be long until the "rich" are $250k. Then $125k. Then $75k. The Looters will NEVER stop until they take everything you have, and even then they'll attempt to grind you into the ground.

Paris, France 2008

My wife and I just got back from a 1 week vacation to Paris, France. I figured with the French election of President Sarkozy, now was as good a time to go as any. I booked this vacation about 6 months ago, so the costs were all locked with a better exchange rate. With the dollar being down against the Euro, I thought for sure there wouldn't be very many Americans there, but I was wrong. There were literally tons of Americans everywhere we went.

We had an awesome time. We found the French people to be polite, kind and very helpful. I took 3 years of French in school, but had forgotten most of it during the past couple (ahem) of years, so I bought a CD set to refresh my memory. I knew enough French to get around, order at the restaurant, etc, and found that as long as you tried to speak their language, they were more than happy to switch to English when I struggled.

The monuments and attractions we saw were all incredible. We started the trip with a visit to the Eiffel tower. After waiting in line for over 90 minutes, I actually got my wife to ride the elevator to the top. Approximately 990 feet in the air. That high up, the view of Paris was incredible.

Next, we wandered around the Isle de Cite and found Notre Dame. It's quite impressive being inside this place of Christian worship. We were lucky enough to get there as they were wrapping up a night time Mass. I can still smell the incense being burned.

We also spent about 5 hours in the Louvre. To tell the truth, the last 2 hours of that time was just spent trying to find the exit. My wife finally found the door to the outside world. That place is fricking huge! The "Mona Lisa" was actually a disappointment. The painting is kinda small, and it is in a room jam packed with people, pushing and shoving to try to see it. After being impaled by about a thousand elbows, I shot a quick picture and left, not getting to really appreciate the painting. We also got to see the "Venus de Milo", "Winged Victory" and Michelangelo's "Dying Slave" and "Rebellious Slave".

We also visited Montmartre, which is a Paris neighborhood. This area contains a hill that is the highest point of land in Paris. On it's peak, is a beautiful church, the Basilica Sacre Coeur.

The best part of the trip was a tour of the Normandy Beach landing sites. My grandfather landed there on D-day, and fortunately made it home safely after the war. It was awesome (in the original sense of the word) to stand in the same spot he stood decades before. The American cemetery is breathtaking. And at Point du Hoc, there are still hundreds of craters from the American battleships' guns. Grass and flowers have grown over them, but if you close your eyes, you can still hear the explosions.



The food ranged from awesome (a Moroccan place called "404") to mediocre(cafe on the street). You could buy an entire bottle of wine for the cost of about 2 Cokes. We had snails (actually quite tasty when drowned in garlic butter), lamb, duck, quail and crepes. I liked the bread, with it's hard outer crust.

I brought a pedometer with us because I knew we would be walking quite a bit. Not counting the travel days, we walked 14.14 miles. Our feet hurt at the end of each day, but no pain, no gain, they say. We also heavily used the Paris Metro, which is clean and easy to use.

This was our second trip to Europe. The first was a guided tour in Italy. This trip was on our own. There are pros and cons to each method, so it's really hard to say which is the best way to go. However, overall, this trip was worth every Euro we paid.

Update on Ohio Supreme Court Justice DUI

The Supreme Court of Ohio justice Alice Resnick apparently pled Guilty to her DUI charges from a few years ago. She was sentenced to 3 days in either jail or a treatment facility. She wisely chose treatment.

On January 1, 2007, she stepped down from the Court, having decided that she would not attempt to run for another term.

I wish her the best in her recovery, but I'm glad she's no longer on the bench.

Is Health Care a Right?

Here's the conundrum for people who view health care as a right, especially if they support the idea of government controlled "universal health care". A "right" is something to which a person is entitled to just because they exist. It is nothing they can earn. It applies to all people equally, no matter their color, religion, sex, age, economic status or number of extremities. It is nothing that can lawfully be taken away.

The only way you can have universal health care is for the government to provide it. However, the only way a governmental system can regulate health care is to enact limits on access. This leads to rationing of services. If health care is my "right", then the government can NOT limit my access to health care. Just like they can not infringe on my right to life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness.

Can you say Catch-22? More to come...

What are the liberals to do?

Global warming is supposedly destroying our planet, and one of the "best" solutions is ethanol, right? By replacing oil with the corn-derived fuel, we will save the world for future generations. Except for the fact that ethanol production, besides being very energy intensive, is driving up the cost of food everywhere.

As more corn is being grown for ethanol, less land is used for other food crops. That means less wheat is being grown. Which makes bread more expensive. Fewer soybeans being harvested means more costly "mystery meat" burgers in schools. In addition, the price of corn is at all time highs. That raises the prices of everything, including milk, cheese, pork and beef.

In a world where liberals see everything as half empty, the world's poor are starving to death. We must lower the cost of food for their sakes. But we must raise the price of fuel for Mother Earth's sake. What are liberals to do?

The girl who cries wolf

Apparently, presidential candidate and New York Senator Hillary Clinton has a habit of "misspeaking", and the vast right wing conspiracy (which now suprisingly includes CNN) has an unfortunate habit of pointing this out.

Recently, it has been shown that Mrs Clinton lied when she talked about coming under sniper fire in Bosnia while she was First Lady. More recently, Mrs Clinton has been telling the story of a poor pregnant woman with no insurance who died after delivery of her infant. According to the presidential candidate, the woman's death was because the hospital refused to treat her since she had no insurance. Well, it turns out, suprise-suprise-suprise, that the story is not true. While the woman in question did indeed die weeks after the delivery of her stillborn baby, she was never denied treatment, and she had insurance.

Oh well. Never let the truth get in the way, I suppose.

Global Warming, eventually

I really feel sorry for Nobel prize winner Al Gore. Once again, the right wing UN is attacking Mr Gore's baby, global warming. This year is going to be cooler because of La Nina. La Nina is possibly responsible for the coldest winter on record in China and increased rains in Australia.

If, God forbid, this tragedy takes place, the global temperature will NOT have risen since 1998. That was when an evil, conservative, George Bush-loving El Nino caused the world temperature to skyrocket.

Of course, more level headed scientists are telling us to calm down, and that very soon, global warming will pick back up and turn us all in to cannibals.

And we can only pray to Gore that this hurricane season will FINALLY be as bad as the global warming alarmists say it will!

p.s. And don't forget, last years drought was caused by global warming. I'm sure this years excessive rainfall is also the fault of global warming.

Great Music

My wife and I went to see Michael Buble perform the other night. His live show is awesome. One of the best concerts I have ever seen. He has one of the best voiced I've ever heard. He's very interactive with the audience. At one point, he noticed in the second or third row a group of young girls singing along with him. He started talking with them, saying how thrilled he was that 12 & 13 year olds were loving the songs he was singing. Then he jumped off stage, went over to where they were sitting and spent about 5 minutes taking pictures with these girls. Every few songs, he'd stop, pick somebody out of the audience and talk to them. If you get the chance to see him live, don't pass up the opportunity.

His opening act was incredible as well. Naturally 7 is a group from New York that performs "vocal play". That's acapella music, but they don't just sing. Every instrument sound that is heard while they perform comes from their own voices. We got to meet them after the show, and they seemed really humble.

Another sign I'm getting older...

I read with some sadness today in the Wall Street Journal Online than Gary Gygax recently passed away. Most people probably don't know who he was; he was one of the creators of the game Dungeons & Dragons. D&D lead the revolution in fantasy role playing games, with hundreds of imitators. Even today, despite the proliferation of computer versions of similar games (PC, Wii, Playstation, etc), thousands of people still get together to roll multi-sided dice and pretend that they were heroes (or villains) out saving the world from evil dragons, vampires and trolls.

I have fond memories of being a teenager, staying awake with some friends for hours on end exploring various dungeons in pursuit of treasure and strength. Some of those guys I still talk to today.

Yes, some people became obsessed with the game, but no more so than University of Memphis basketball or University of Tennessee football fans. None of us sold our souls to the Devil; we didn't actually harm anyone (except ourselves--I drank tons of Mountain Dew and ate waay too many Little Debbie snack cakes during those adventures!) But we had a lot of fun.

RIP, Gary Gygax.

Waaah! I want a do-over..

The Democrats, not satisfied with the way real life is turning out, are crying for a "do-over" in the Michigan and Florida primaries. The states of Michigan and Florida chose to move up their primary dates, and that ticked off the Democratic party officials, so they "voided" their votes. Now that the race is waaaaay closer than anybody thought, some of those same Democrat officials want to allow Michigan and Florida to re-vote. This seems rather juvenile, and quite embarrassing, to me.

By the way, despite what the Democrats in Florida are saying, it was a DEMOCRAT in the state government, not a Republican, who originated the bill to move their primary forward, and the Democrats voted unanimously to do so, knowing full well the consequences. I forgot about that amendment to the Constitution that allows for a Mulligan when things don't go your way...

I memorized Holy Grail really well

Just in case you haven't seen this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xEzGIuY7kw
(Youtube won't let this be embedded, anymore.)

Funniest Man in America

My wife, some friends and I went to see comedian James Gregory last night. If you've never seen him, he's pretty dang funny. I don't know if he's truly the funniest man in America, but he's pretty close. His opening act, Steve Mingolla, was hilarious as well. Both were fairly clean in their act, with only an occasional "damn" being uttered; no sexual jokes or innuendo.

If they come to your area, go see them.

Barack was broke

According to the National Review Online,2/29/08, in a speech given recently in Zanesville, Ohio, by Senator Barack Obama's wife Michelle, she addressed a group of women at a day care center. Apparently, the median household income in this area is only $37,192.00, which I think everyone can agree is not a lot of money. Mrs Obama was encourageing these people and their children to go in to a life of service, and avoid corporate America.

Mrs Obama stated "The salaries don’t keep up with the cost of paying off the debt, so you’re in your 40s, still paying off your debt at a time when you have to save for your kids." Here's what galls me. She then had the nerve to say, "“Barack and I were in that position. The only reason we’re not in that position is that Barack wrote two best-selling books… It was like Jack and his magic beans. But up until a few years ago,we were struggling to figure out how we would save for our kids.”

What a bunch of crap. Mrs Obama was a high priced lawyer who worked for the University of Chicago hospital system. She was making $121910.00 in 2004. In 2005, her salary jumped to $316962.00, the year after her husband was elected to the U.S. Senate. This is just her salary. That's a 260% raise in one year. How many of those hard working women she was addressing got that kind of raise? And this is not counting her husbands salary.

So if she wants America to believe that she and her hubby were just a poor, struggling family, she gonna have to try a lot harder than that.

Global .....cooling

Crap. Just when Al Gore was settling down from his Nobel Peace Prize high, the world seems to be cooling. China has had it's coldest winter in over 100 years. Baghdad saw snow for the first time in, well, ever. North America hasn't had this much snow in over 50 years.

According to DailyTech.com, the amount of cooling that occurred during the past year is enough to almost completely negate any warming we've had over the past 100 years.

I guess I need to cut down all those trees I planted.

My thoughts on the 2 leading candidates for President

This will probably change during the coming months. Things may be added, or taken away.


Why I like Obama


1. He’s young, fresh, hip.
2. He’s an excellent orator. He can really inspire people with his rhetoric.
3. He is willing to lift the embargo on Cuba. Honestly, all these years of refusal to deal with the communist regime in Cuba hasn’t done much other than keep the people of Cuba poor. The only thing that took down Castro was father Time.
4. He supports the death penalty in cases of egregious crimes.
5. He supports tax credits for college expenses if the person performs community service. Up to $4000 in tax credits (which is much better than a deduction) for 100 hours of service. People today just don’t seem to understand the importance of helping out their fellow man and their community.
6. Voted for a border fence. He recognizes that you have to first stop people from coming in to this country ILLEGALLY, before you can really adequately deal with the ones who are here. Supports English proficiency for people who want to stay here legally.
7. Wants to eliminate tax-filling requirements for older workers who make less than $50k/year. Depending on what he defines as “older”, I feel we should help out the elderly in this country in any way we can.




Why I dislike Obama


1. He’s young, fresh, hip.
2. He’s an excellent orator. I’m not sure that being “young, fresh and hip” and a good speech maker are really important qualification for commander in chief.
3. He’s for abortion on demand. Criticized the Supreme Courts decision to allow a ban on partial birth abortion. Also known as a dilatation and extraction. As a physician, I can promise you that there is NEVER a situation where turning the baby around to the breech position, delivering everything but the baby’s head, and jamming a pair of scissors into its skull so you can later suck out its brains, is safer than a delivery. If you can deliver everything down to the head, you can deliver the head. Then work on saving the mothers life.
4. He has radically changed his stand on campaign financing. Last year when he was trailing in the polls, he pledged to only accept public financing and its spending limits. Now that he’s the Democrat front runner, he seems to want to accept the unlimited special interest money.
5. He wants to give teachers more pay, but not have it tied to standardized test scores. How else can you tell the difference between a good teacher and a worthless slug?
6. He supports law suits against gun manufacturers for crimes committed by violent criminals. You cannot hold the maker of a product liable for what a customer does with it. That leads us down the road to suing fast food places for making people fat or auto makers for making a car driven by a drunk driver.
7. Supports raising taxes on the “rich” to pay for his numerous plans. The problem here is that the amount of money it takes to be rich changes from day to day. At first it was $500k/year, then $250k, then $200k; before too long, you’ll be rich if you make minimum wage. He wants to raise taxes on capital gains. He apparently thinks only rich people have money in 401k’s, IRA’s, etc. He wants to raise corporate taxes. Who in the world does he think employs all those young people he is courting? If you raise their taxes, all they will do is pass on the increase to their customers, thus hurting the poor even more. They will probably eliminate jobs as well to make up for increased costs.
8. Supports the idea of socialized health care. Wants mandates for health insurance. Health coverage does not equate with access to health care. That headache that you have had for 2 weeks? Well, it’s caused by a tumor, but since you’ll have to wait 6 months to get the MRI (instead of the 2 or 3 days it takes now), you’ll probably die from it before we even know it’s there. The knee replacement that you can now get in 1 or 2 weeks? Try waiting 18 months for it like they do in Canada. Wants to add people up to age 25 to the SCHIP program (the “C” is supposed to stand for “children”. I don’t think 25 year olds should qualify for this program, even if they are still living at home with mommy).
9. Wants to bring home all our troops in the Middle East. Feels that we’ve been there too long fighting an illegal war. Yes, we’ve been there for what, 5 years? How long have our troops been in Japan? Korea? Germany? Kosovo?
10. Supports embryonic stem cell research. There is absolutely no need to destroy an embryo when we have ample access to stem cells from placentas, umbilical cords, fat cells, etc.
11. Opposed to drilling in ANWAR and costal waters. How are we really supposed to become energy independent if we can’t tap what resources we have? Yes, private industry will eventually perfect alternative sources of energy, but we need oil now.
12. Supports a mandatory carbon “cap-and-trade” system to reduce global warming. This will just be another bureaucratic mess with companies cooking their books in an effort to look good to the environmental whacko’s out there.
13. Wants to create a $10 billion dollar fund to bail out homeowners who are going in to foreclosure. Why should taxpayer money be spent to bail out people who bought more house than they could afford? I realize that some people may have been bamboozled, but the majority of people out there are smart enough to realize that they cannot have a 4000 square foot McMansion when they make less than $50,000 per year. Why stop there? Why not bail out all the morons who are driving around in Escalades they can’t afford. Or the idiot who gambled his way to the poorhouse. Or pay off my credit card bill after my European vacation? One of the things this country was founded on was the principle of honoring a contract. If you do “X” for me, I’ll do “Y” for you. If we start voiding contracts, there will be no trust between parties. The very fabric of our society will start to crumble.





Why I like McCain

1. Opposes abortion on demand. Believes (rightly so) that nowhere in the Constitution is there a “right” to abortion. He would not, however, seek a constitutional amendment banning the procedure. He would leave it up to the states, as it should be.
2. He is for lifting the embargo on Cuba once U.S. is "confident that the transition to a free and open democracy is being made." Other than restricting our access to Cuban cigars, Castro didn’t feel a thing. Father Time is what took him out of office.
3. Supports the death penalty in cases of egregious crimes
4. Wants to lower corporate tax rates. That will allow more investment in business, creating more jobs, growing the economy, and ultimately increasing tax revenues due to increased capital gains.
5. Favors parental choice of schools in elementary and high school. Parents should have the right to take their kids out of failing schools and put them in ones that succeed.
6. Voted to shield gun manufactures from civil suits involving crimes committed by people using their product.
7. Wants to give a tax credit, up to $5000, to cover the cost of health insurance. Opposes governmental mandates for coverage. Believes the free market will control health costs.
8. He supports free trade and free market capitalism.
9. Supports strict constructionist judges to the federal court system. That means a judge who will follow the law, not make up her own to suite her political agenda. I loved John Roberts reply to the senators on the Supreme Court confirmation committee when he was asked if he would support the “little guy” over the “big guy” in court. The democrat (I believe it has Joe Biden, D-Del) was trying to see if John Roberts would let emotion and feeling guide his judgments. Now Chief Justice Roberts replied “if the Constitution says that the little guy should win, the little guy's going to win in court before me, ... But if the Constitution says that the big guy should win, well, then the big guy's going to win.”
10. Supports limits on government takings of private property (eminent domain). The Kelo decision by the Supreme Court was a travesty. Allowing the government to take private property purely for economic development is diametrically opposed to our Founding Fathers beliefs on the subject. The United States of America is supposed to be one of the few places on earth where your home is your castle. Private ownership of property is what defines our country. It’s why, to this day, people die trying to get here.


Why I dislike McCain

1. McCain-Feingold. Pure and simple, this is an unconstitutional law that illegally restricts free speech. However, in a hypocritical fashion, he turned down federal matching funds so he could spend unlimited money during the primaries.
2. Wanted to give illegal immigrants amnesty. Then, when the public outcry was too much even for him to ignore, decided that maybe we should defend our borders first.
3. Supports embryonic stem cell research. There is absolutely no need to destroy an embryo when we have ample access to stem cells from placentas, umbilical cords, fat cells, etc.
4. Initially opposed the Bush tax cuts. Now that he needs the conservative base support, he says he wants to make them permanent. Maybe this shows his ability to see where he was wrong initially and to correct his mistake. Maybe he’s just pandering.
5. Opposed to drilling in ANWAR and costal waters. How are we really supposed to become energy independent if we can’t tap what resources we have? Yes, private industry will eventually perfect alternative sources of energy, but we need oil now.
6. Supports a mandatory carbon “cap-and-trade” system to reduce global warming. This will just be another bureaucratic mess with companies cooking their books in an effort to look good to the environmental whacko’s out there





Sources: 1. http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2008-02-22-333536288_x.htm
2. http://www.2decide.com/table.htm
3. http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/issues/index.html#/context=index/issue=economy

Single Payer Healthcare is the bomb...

Check out this true story about the wonderful Canadian health care system. I realize that this is just ONE story. But, if this was you or your beloved family member, one is all it would take.

The snowball is getting bigger...

Not content with just controlling when and where you can smoke a cancer stick, talk on your cell phone, or what your kids can bring to school for lunch, Big Brother is now attempting to set the temperature in your house!

The State of California wants to be able to remotely controll the thermostats in new housing and "substantially modified" buildings and homes. That way, when THEY feel that you should be using less energy to heat or cool your domicile, THEY can just do it. At will. Apparently, customers can override the beurocratic setting, but in cases of "Emergencies" the government will override you. And guess who will get to define what an emergency is???

What the crap?

If I want to keep my house a cool 68 degrees during the summer, I should be able to do so. But I'll pay for it with a higher utility bill. If you really want to controll how much electricity we use, raise the price and usage will eventually go down. Did the morons who wrote this policy skip general Economics 101?

This country was founded on the ideas of individual rights and private property ownership. Day after day, our government is chipping away at these principles. It's like boiling a frog. By slowly turning up the heat, the frog doesn't realize he's about to die until it's too late. Right now, the temperature is pretty warm. Will we realize the danger we are in before we meet the frog's fate???

Latest on the Adoption...

NOTHING!

No new good news. Everytime we get contacted by our agency, they keep telling us that it is going to be longer and longer. The wait time for China to process the adoptions in now over 2 years, and we are being told that it may stretch to 4 years. That means 2009 or later, now. CRAP!