Sharkey's World

Low carb dieting

2012-01-05T03:23:00.002-05:00

I'm starting a low carb diet for my new years resolution. I'm using the Atkins book as a guide. If you've never actually tried it, I would encourage you to actually read his book. I have found that, without exception, people who criticize the diet have never actually read the book. It's not all bacon and eggs (although that is one of the best parts...I LOVE bacon). Tons of vegetables and protein on the diet.

He has a pretty convincing argument that our modern lifestyle of over-abundant, highly-refined, low-nutrient high-carb lifestyle is killing us. People are eating a low fat, high carb diet in record numbers, yet America is getting fatter and fatter. We just weren't designed to eat foods that nearly instantly turn to sugar in our bodies.

4 days into the diet, and I am having absolutely no acid reflux (I've completely stopped my heartburn meds). I have no headaches. Have already lost some weight (which Dr Atkins freely admits is initially partly water weight). But for the first time in years, I was able to pass up the donuts at work this morning without even a second thought.

Again, let me stress that you should read the book before you criticize him. Even if you don't start his eating plan, you'll learn a lot about nutrition.

Things we should all agree on

2012-01-05T03:07:00.002-05:00

1. Mapquest direction should begin on step #4. I'm pretty sure I already know how to get out of my own neighborhood.

2. Everyone should boycott movie & television technology beyond Blueray. I'm sick and tired of having to purchase all my movies again and again.

3. US citizens should adopt the afternoon siesta.

4. Don't tell your doctor that you have a "high pain tolerance." We all automatically know you are a wuss at that point.

5. When asking your doctor for pain meds, don't request them by their street names (i.e. "hydros")

6. Texting while driving should be a capital offense. Or at least life imprisonment spent breaking big boulders into pea gravel.

7. Dogs are man's best friend. Cats would be happy to claw out your eyes.

8. MTV should be required to show at least 3 music videos a day.

9. Opinions are not like a$$holes or belly buttons. I've seen people who don't have a navel or an anus.

10. Broadcasting fishing or bowling on TV should be limited to prison televisions.

This day in history

2012-01-05T03:00:00.003-05:00

On January 4, 1903, Thomas Edison electrocuted Topsy the elephant, in an attempt to demonstrate how AC current was too dangerous to use for our country's power grid. It was actually caught on film.

Despite this gruesome display, Edison's Direct Current electricity grid just didn't have the oomph to power our growing country. Tesla's AC system won out in the end. Edison was a genius, for sure; but this example of poor judgement shows he was all to human as well.

Health care rationing

2012-01-05T02:51:00.002-05:00

As Thomas Sowell has eloquently put it, general economics is not a zero sum game. Just because person X makes more money, that doesn't mean person Y has to lose a proportionate amount.

However, government controlled health care will indeed be zero-sum. Since it's actually impossible for government to create wealth, and their only way to actually get more money is to raise taxes, there is only a finite amount of money that can be budgeted towards health care. So they will soon have to make decisions for the "public good." This will mean that once you reach the end of your usefulness to the government, they will no longer provide access to medical care.

In other words, your elderly grandmother will be denied dialysis based on government actuary tables.

It's the only way they can control costs. Which, lets be honest, is the only reason big government Looters want socialized medicine. They don't care if you live longer & healthier. They certainly don't care if a physician practice is more efficient. In fact, the earlier you die, the less you cost. Can you say "Logan's Run?" Or "Soylent Green is people!!!?

Fall is here!

2011-09-26T03:33:00.001-04:00

It finally seems that fall is here! High temps in the 70s, lows in the 50's. For a few weeks, the weather will be perfect! And miracles of miracles, the Detroit Lions are 3-0!

Kelo vs city of New London, update

2011-09-08T09:48:00.002-04:00

Remember the Supreme Court case, Kelo v the City of New London? Where the Supreme Court ruled that it was legal for the government to steal your private property if they thought they might get to make money off of it?

Well, 6 years have gone by, and Ms Kelo's house is now officially the city dump. Seems that the government's greedy plans fell through, and Pfizer never built their mega-complex; thus no windfall tax profits for the Looters of New London. BUT, Ms Kelo still lost her private property. Private property is essentially what the Revolutionary War was about.

I hope that the ACLU would support a new case. Kelo v Supreme Court. Maybe Kelo v New London & Pfizer, as well. Seems she deserves some restitution, no?

The soul of a man

2011-09-03T17:13:00.000-04:00

"The soul of a man, left to it's own natural level, is a potentially lucid crystal left in darkness. It is perfect in its own nature, but it lacks something that it can only receive from outside and above itself. But when the light shines on it, it becomes in a manner transformed into light and seems to lose its nature in the splendor of a higher nature, the nature of the light that is in it."-- Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain

The Future of America

2011-07-21T09:36:00.001-04:00

This was emailed to me. No author was given. Welcome to...the Twilight Zone

Thanksgiving 2022

"Winston, come into the dining room, it's time to eat," Julia yelled to her husband.

"In a minute, honey, it's a tie score," he answered.

Actually Winston wasn't very interested in the traditional holiday football game between Detroit and Washington.

Ever since the government passed the Civility in Sports Statute of 2017, outlawing tackle football for its "unseemly violence" and the "bad example it sets for the rest of the world", Winston was far less of a football fan than he used to be.

Two-hand touch wasn't nearly as exciting.Yet it wasn't the game that Winston was uninterested in.

It was more the thought of eating another Tofu Turkey. Even though it was the best type of VeggieMeat available after the government revised the American Anti-Obesity Act of 2018, adding fowl to the list of federally-forbidden foods, (which already included potatoes, cranberry sauce, and mincemeat pie), it wasn't anything like real turkey.

And ever since the government officially changed the name of "Thanksgiving Day" to "A National Day of Atonement" in 2020, to officially acknowledge the Pilgrims' historically brutal treatment of Native Americans, the holiday had lost a lot of its luster.

Eating in the dining room was also a bit daunting. The unearthly gleam of government-mandated CFL light bulbs made the Tofu Turkey look even weirder than it actually was, and the room was always cold.

Ever since Congress passed the Power Conservation Act of 2016, mandating all thermostats - which were monitored and controlled by the electric company - be kept at 68 degrees, every room on the north side of the house was barely tolerable throughout the entire winter.

Still, it was good getting together with family. Or at least most of the family.

Winston missed his mother, who passed on in October, when she had used up her legal allotment of life-saving medical treatment.

He had had many heated conversations with the
Regional Health Consortium, spawned when the private insurance market finally went bankrupt, and everyone was forced into the government health care program.

And though he demanded she be kept on her treatment, it was a futile effort.

"The RHC's resources are limited", explained the
government bureaucrat Winston spoke with on the phone. "Your mother received all the benefits to which she was entitled. I'm sorry for your loss."

Ed couldn't make it either. He had forgotten to plug in his electric car last night, the only kind available after the Anti-Fossil Fuel Bill of 2021 outlawed the use of the combustion engines - for everyone but government officials.

The fifty mile round trip was about ten miles too far, and Ed didn't want to spend a frosty night on the road somewhere between here and there.

Thankfully, Winston's brother, John, and his wife were flying in.

Winston made sure that the dining room chairs had extra cushions for the occasion.

No one complained more than John about the pain of sitting down so soon after the government-mandated cavity searches at airports, which severely aggravated his hemorrhoids.

Ever since a terrorist successfully smuggled a cavity bomb onto a jetliner, the TSA told Americans the added "inconvenience" was an "absolute necessity" in order to stay "one step ahead of the terrorists."

Winston's own body had grown accustomed to such probing ever since the government expanded their scope to just about anywhere a crowd gathered, via Anti-Profiling Act of 2022.

That law made it a crime to single out any group or individual for "unequal scrutiny," even when probable cause was involved.

Thus, cavity searches at malls, train stations, bus depots, etc., etc., had become almost routine.

Almost.

The Supreme Court is reviewing the statute, but most Americans expect a Court composed of six progressives and three conservatives to leave the law intact.

"A living Constitution is extremely flexible", said the Court's eldest member, Elena Kagan. "Europe has had laws like this one for years. We should learn from their example", she added.

Winston's thoughts turned to his own children.
He got along fairly well with his 12-year-old daughter, Brittany, mostly because she ignored him. Winston had long ago surrendered to the idea that she could text anyone at any time, even during Atonement Dinner.

Their only real confrontation had occurred when he limited her to 50,000 texts a month, explaining that was all he could afford.

She whined for a week, but got over it.

His 16-year-old son, Jason, was another matter altogether. Perhaps it was the constant bombarding he got in public school that global warming, the bird flu, terrorism, or any of a number of other calamities were "just around the corner", but Jason had developed a kind of nihilistic attitude that ranged between simmering surliness and outright hostility.

It didn't help that Jason had reported his father to the police for smoking a cigarette in the house, an act made criminal by the Smoking Control Statute of 2018, which outlawed smoking anywhere within 500 feet of another human being.

Winston paid the $5,000 fine, which might have been considered excessive before the American dollar became virtually worthless as a result of QE13.

The latest round of quantitative easing the federal government initiated was, once again, to "spur economic growth."

This time, they promised to push unemployment below its years-long rate of 18%, but Winston was not particularly hopeful.

Yet the family had a lot for which to be thankful, Winston thought, before remembering it was a Day of Atonement.

At least, he had his memories.

He felt a twinge of sadness when he realized his children would never know what life was like in the Good Old Days, long before government promises to make life "fair for everyone" realized their full potential.

Winston, like so many of his fellow Americans, never realized how much things could change when they didn't happen all at once, but little by little, so people could get used to them.

He wondered what might have happened if the public had stood up while there was still time, maybe back around 2011, when all the real nonsense began.

"Maybe we wouldn't be where we are today if we'd just said 'enough is enough' when we had the chance," he thought.

Maybe so, Winston. Maybe so.

2011-05-22T23:18:00.001-04:00

Forgive me for repeating myself.

I bought my first Kindle in 2008. It was the 1st generation. I loved it. Bought tons of e-books. My wife loved the fact that I wasn't taking up any more book shelf real estate.

I recently purchaced the 3rd gen Kindle, which I think is much better than the first version. Thinner, lighter, better contrast, faster response time, longer battery life, etc.

However, today I think I've seen what will kill the e-book readers. I was going to get a book that was reviewed in the Our Sunday Visitor. Went to Amazon's website, and they were asking $16.50 for the fricken' kindle edition! What the heck?

For just a few dollars more I could get a "like-new" hardback. That I can touch, smell and lend to a friend. Why should I pay that much money for 1's and 0's?

I know the publishers threatened to sue Amazon and are now the ones who set the e-book prices. But it costs the publisher's next to nothing to sell me the e-book, after it's been converted (once!). No paper to buy. No hard board for covers. No glue.

Kindle Book Prices too High now

2011-05-22T23:00:00.004-04:00

I realize Amazon has lost control of pricing now, and that it's up to publishers to set the prices. But this is outrageous. Once the book is in electronic format, there is little to no cost to the publisher to let me download a book. I just looked at a book that Amazon was selling for $16.50!!! For a few 0's and 1's. No paper pages. No hardback binding. No shipping packaging.

I wrote a review of my first kindle back in 2008. I now have a 3rd generation Kindle, which I think is even better. But I doubt I'll ever buy another one.

It's one thing to get an e-book for significant savings, but when I can hold a real book for just a few more bucks, I'll take the real thing.

Rain, rain go away, come again another day

2011-05-02T20:53:00.003-04:00

Man, will it ever stop raining? My back yard is like a swamp. I think we're gonna need a bigger boat.

May 1st, in history

2011-05-02T20:50:00.003-04:00

On May 1st, throughout recorded history several important things have happened.

1. Adolf Hitler declared dead, 1945

2. Osama bin Laden shot & killed by US Navy SEALS, 2011

3. Blessed Pope John Paul II beatified, 2011.

Wonder what else happened on this date.

Gas Prices

2011-04-12T06:52:00.002-04:00

Gas prices seem to be going up, up, up! And our president doesn't seem to care. When, at a presidential photo op, asked by a man what the President was going to do about gas prices, President Obama just laughed and said " if you're getting eight miles a gallon you may want to think about a trade-in.."

Once again showing how out of touch he is with real Americans.

They guy is having trouble buying gas, and the president just laughs it off. How does Mr Obama know what this guy drives? Maybe he already has a Prius or a Nissan Leaf? What kind of mileage does the presidential limo get? I know, he needs the protection. But still, don't make a joke out of something that is hurting most Americans who actually have to pay for what they need.

This sounds to me like a Marie Antoinette moment (let them eat cake...)

WikiLeaks

2010-12-04T10:37:00.003-05:00

I'm torn by all this WikiLeaks controversy.

On one hand, the libertarian in me supports what they've done. I don't trust big government, whether it's Dubya or Barry. The thing that's kept this country great for so long is that our government leaders aren't deities, and we can reign them in by shining some light on their slime mold plans and schemes.

On the other hand, I can see how leaks of top secret government documents, especially military related plans, can endanger the lives of our young men and women in the Armed Forces. If my son were to be killed in, say Kandahar, and plans related to his units movements were plastered on the web, I'd want Julian Assange's head on a platter.

Just because one CAN do something doesn't mean one SHOULD do it...

I knew I liked sourdough for a reason

2010-10-18T06:28:00.002-04:00

Turns out that plain, old-fashioned sourdough bread is healthier than whole wheat. According to the University of Guleph, in Ontario, Canada, people who eat sourdough bread have the lowest spikes in blood sugar, as compared to those eating white or even (shocker) whole wheat bread.

So I guess this makes Sourdough the Miller Lite of the bread world! (great taste, less filling!)

Vitamin D testing

2010-10-13T16:46:00.002-04:00

Nary a day goes by when I don't read about how Americans are low in Vitamin D, and that "everybody" should get tested. (As a society, we get enough Vitamin D in our diets and by multivitamins to prevent Rickets, but still have sub-optimal levels).

Well, here's the truth about being tested for Vitamin D:

1. The testing is really expensive. From $50-$150, depending on the lab.

2. Most insurance plans don't pay for it, unless you have a proven low level of Vitamin D. How are you gonna know if you have low Vitamin D, if you don't know your Vitamin D level? (truth be told, odds are you are low. Just about everybody is.)

3. Vitamin D supplements are DIRT CHEAP. Everybody can afford it OTC. We're talking pennies a day.

So, instead of paying to check your level, just take 2000 units of Vitamin D3 every day, and get 15-20 minutes of sunlight daily.

Sourdough heaven

2010-10-11T23:32:00.005-04:00

I've been experimenting with various sourdough bread recipes lately, and I've had some moderate success. Google the term "sourdough bread starter" and, surprise, surprise, you'll get a billion different sites. After spending several hours, and being told by my wife that I was obsessed, I narrowed the sites down to just a few.

Making sourdough bread is surprisingly simple, but to create your own starter takes some time. Following this method took me about 7 full days to get a starter that was nice and frothy. The only thing I did different was use King Arthur unbleached, unbromated bread flour. I didn't use any whole wheat flour.

On to the baking. There were several good recipies ( here, and here and here). But I settled on a video series I found on YouTube, by Chef Mike.

I haven't yet gotten the timing down just right, especially since my work schedule varies so much. Sometimes I'm ready to bake at noon, sometimes it's not until 10 pm! And, for some unexplained reason, my starter seemed to die after the 3rd loaf. Instead of throwing it away, I just added flour and water, waited 12 hours and threw away 1/2 of it and re-added flour and water, and 48 hours later my started was exploding again. Go figure.

Physician suicide

2010-10-11T21:40:00.003-04:00

The New York Times published a disturbing article on Oct 7, 2010. It seems that physicians commit suicide at a much higher rate than the general population.

Most physicians are very driven people, having this deep, spiritual need to succeed. We were able to be at the top of our class in high school and college. And then we got thrown in a room full of over-acheivers, and life became a bit harder for most. Then we had to compete for residency positions, many of which only accepted you if you made all "A's" in med school.

Then there's residency, where long hours with little sleep (at least until recently!!!!) combined to wear us down. Some of us then still had to complete for that special fellowship.

Then private practice, where we suddenly had to pay bills, which we never did before. Our expenses continue to go up, but our reimbursement from Medicare and insurance companies goes down every year. We pull out our hair dealing with insurance companies' ever-changing regulations, forms, phone calls, etc. On top of that, our patients don't respect us like they did "in the good old days" (if those ever really existed). They are demanding, angry, don't want to pay their co-pays or keep follow up appointments; they want free care over the phone, internet, email, etc.

On top of that, there are those patients who we truly care about, but get worse or die anyway, despite us doing everything we can. After they pass, Duey Cheatem and Howe, Esq, send us the legal summons telling us what idiots we are for obviously missing the lawsuit-disease-of-the-month.

Most of us don't have the luxury of paid vacation or sick time. So we work to pay the bills, even when most of our patients complain about needing work notes.

To make matters worse, if physicians do admit to depression or suicidal thoughts, they are branded as "impaired physicians" for the rest of their lives. This makes it harder to get appointments to hospitals and insurance plans. Some could even lose their license to practice medicine.

This can weight down our souls, often times so much we miss the good times. The patient who thanks us for caring or helping. The little old lady who brings us cookies. The widower who thanks us for helping him get thru his grief afer his wife died. The child at the grocery store who yells "Hey, Doc!".

Stop right now, and say a prayer for your physician.

Kindle prices coming down, but not their e-book prices

2010-06-22T02:52:00.002-04:00

Amazon's Kindle e-book reader has been an awesome experience, from my standpoint. However, after almost 3 years of use, I'm a little peeved that Amazon has been gradually raising the prices of their e-books. I don't understand why an e-book needs to cost over $10, ever. I mean, it doesn't cost Amazon or the publishers anything for me to download their product. All the money went to conversion to the e-book format. But there is no physical printing on their part, no paper costs, no binding fees, no shipping costs. I press one button, and in about 1 minute, the book is on my Kindle.

Amazon, KEEP YOUR PRICES LOW! I'll go back to real books if prices keep getting closer. At least then, I can let someone borrow the actual book.

I'm just a bill, yes I'm only a bill

2010-03-19T08:25:00.002-04:00

I don't recall any "Slaughter" rule in that old Saturday morning cartoon about how a bill becomes a law. The House democrats are about to use unconstitutional means to pass a bill that can't pass by ordinary measures. If it passes, American health care will begin a rapid, downward spiral.

What's more, the Democrats will have opened a Pandora's Box with this trickery. Some day, they WILL be in the minority again. The Republicans, who have proven themselves just as slimy when they are the majority, will pull this same crap to pass something. The Democrats will whine and fuss about it. But, they will be reminded that the "Slaughter" rule is named after the Democrat who proposed it. Not like "reconciliation" which no one really knows which parted started using.

Democrats, reap what you sew.

Chuck Norris

2009-12-17T07:57:00.002-05:00

There is no such thing as a theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures that Chuck Norris has allowed to live.

What an honor, or What the crap...

2009-10-09T09:35:00.002-04:00

By now, everybody knows that President Barak Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

What the crap?? What has this guy done to deserve the Peace Prize? I suppose people have been miraculously healed just by passing under his shadow. Maybe it's for all those thrills going up people's legs.

Come on. Are we supposed to believe that Obama is more worthy than Mahatma Gandhi???

September remembrances

2009-09-14T17:54:00.001-04:00

Anybody else find it odd that President Obama could make it to New York City for the anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, but couldn't make it for the 8th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attack?

Health Care reform.

2009-07-22T23:54:00.002-04:00

I just watched the President's press conference tonight about health care reform, and I learned something about myself I didn't know. Apparently, I am an evil scumbag who just wants to take tonsils out just to make myself rich. Bad doctor.

Also, a reporter asked the big O if he would go on the record and promise that the government would NEVER deny a patient a service and that those types of services would only be decided by the patient & their Doctor. He also asked the president if he and the rest of the gubment would go on the Public option as being offered.

I was shocked that Mr Obama wouldn't answer either question. Must be because, A- you most certainly will be denied care just because some bureaucrat says so, and B- no way in hell will the Looters in DC be forced to take the crappy socialized coverage.

the Death of the Physician

2009-07-17T19:18:00.002-04:00

Currently, the health care reform bills before Congress are 1000+ pages long. Obviously no one is going to be able to read this monstrosity before it is voted on.

However, a few pages have been brought to my attention, and I thought I'd pass them on. I believe this bill will be the death of the American physician.

Page 461 states that mid level providers (i.e. nurse practitioner) will be placed in charge of “a patient centered medical home.”

Page 463 states that primary care will be defined as being provided by either a physician or a midlevel.

Page 480 defines a primary care provider as “a physician or other health care practitioner (including a nurse practitioner) who specializes in family medicine, general internal medicine, geriatrics, or obstetrics and gynecology.”

And page 778 describes how midlevels will be paid the same as physicians for providing care.

So what this seems to say to me is that, as a primary care provider, I wasted my time going to medical school for 4 years and then on to 3 years of residency. I racked up $120,000+ of debt for nothing. I should have just gone to nursing school and I could have saved a fortune.

Is Health Care a Right?

2009-07-17T19:17:00.001-04:00

A “right” is something to which a person is entitled to just because they exist. It is nothing they can earn. It is not provided by whatever form of government under which they live. 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. It is something that cannot be denied to them.

If healthcare is a “right”, then the government cannot limit one’s access to it. Just like government cannot limit their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. How else can this be done then by trampling on the “rights” of the health care provider? How else can the government tell people they have the right to health care without saying to their physician, “You have no right to your own mind, to your own thoughts, to your own actions”?

“I deserve health care. I want health care, and I want it free. It is my right. And I want it now,” is what people are saying.

With the right to life, no one is required to feed them, clothe them, and provide them shelter. The right to the pursuit of happiness is not a guarantee that anybody else will make you happy or even try to. Nothing is imposed on anybody but yourself. But the right to health care, by definition, must impose a duty on other people to satisfy your own needs; they have no choice in the matter. Their right to anything at another’s expense makes that other person rightless. Their “right” to health care makes the physician a slave to the desires of others.

Consumer Confidence CNN Crok

2009-07-01T11:20:00.002-04:00

On June 30, 2009, CNN anchor Christing Romans did her best to brainwash the viewers.

She stated " We've seen a spring stock market rally that has been quite incredible! Job losses are slowing! Consumer confidence is improving! People are feeling a little better. They're feeling better because they're spending less. They're saving more money. They're getting back to basics. There's a new frugality that's making them feel better. "

Sounds awesome, doesn't it?

Except for one small detail. That same day, the Consumer Confidence Index fell significantly.

Too bad Ms Romans didn't actually get this news before she made a fool of herself.

What the ....

2009-06-09T11:39:00.002-04:00

When will people wake up and see how dangerous this is? The editor of Newsweek magazine is seen here calling Obama "God" and Chris Matthews in gleeful agreement. This was broadcast on the show "hardball" on June 6, 2009. Shameful.

Socialism creeping down to local government

2009-05-13T17:06:00.003-04:00

Our local utility department has recently begun a "round up contribution" campaign to aide a local charity. Without notifying me, last month they began to round up my bill to the nearest dollar. I didn't notice it then.

Today, when I opened up my statement, I thought it strange that, for 2 months in a row my utility bill ended in $xx.00. So I called them up, and they said that the City government authorized them to begin taking the "contribution" for the local charity.

What the crap?

How in the heck can I "contribute" when I have never been asked? I never authorized this. They stated that if we didn't want to "help out" we were to notify them.

So, as of today, I am no longer having this money stolen from me. Is it a lot of money? No. But if I want to "contribute" to charity (which I do to a tune of over 15% of my income yearly), I will choose the specific charity and how much to give.

Socialism in Western TN at work.

Stem cells may cure diabetes

2009-04-15T18:47:00.003-04:00

A new study shows that there might actually be a cure for Type 1, or juvenile, diabetes. Using stem cells! Unfortunately for liberals, the cells are adult stem cells, not embryonic.

Researchers in Brazil have shown that by using a diabetic's own bone marrow to harvest ADULT stem cells,and then injecting them back into the same patient, 50% of the diabetics were still not requiring insulin injections- after almost 3 years!

So once again, science has shown that stem cells indeed may offer miracle cures. And once again, it is adult stem cells, not embryonic cells, to the rescue. Why do people keep denying this fact and insist on destroying embryos?

My Arms are Broken

2009-04-12T01:13:00.000-04:00

Secrets to a happy marriage

2009-04-12T00:58:00.004-04:00

Take My World Apart

2009-04-11T17:35:00.000-04:00

One of my absolute favorite songs, and incredibly appropriate for this weekend:

Government Charity

2009-04-06T20:25:00.002-04:00

When Indonesia was devastated by a tsunami in 2004, private American citizens gave millions of dollars towards recovery.

Now, 1n 2009, Italy has experienced a massive earthquake. Just to the north of Rome. Entire towns have been destroyed. Over 100 people killed, thousands now homeless. Priceless medieval buildings lie in ruins. And all the US Government can do is give $50,000.

True, Italy is not Indonesia. And President Obama did offer rescue teams, which the Italian government turned down. But $50,000 seems more like an insult than an offer of aid. Especially in light of the gazillions being offered to AIG, GM, etc.

Your taxes are going up, in spite of what he said...

2009-04-01T18:12:00.002-04:00

"I can make a firm pledge," then presidential-candidate Barack Obama said on Sept. 12,2008, in Dover, New Hampshire. "Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."

"Any form...". Humm.

Well, that's not what's happening. Starting today, the taxes on tobacco have skyrocketed. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm all for enticing people to stop smoking. And of course, the money is going to help children. Who can be against that, right? Unfortunately, the vast majority of smokers make less than $250,000/year.

A disproportionate number of lower-income-bracket people smoke; they are the ones that Mr Obama said he would help by not raising their taxes.

So, Mr Obama, would you care to revise your Sept 12,2008, statement?

AIG fiasco...and worse

2009-03-20T07:58:00.002-04:00

I am appalled and disgusted by AIG in giving out $165 million in bonuses, especially after they came groveling to the federal government for bailout money. However, I am also very concerned about Congress’ response to this travesty.

Our founding fathers knew what it was like to live under a totalitarian regime that could, and frequently did, single out individuals for punishment by confiscatory measures. The Framers of our Constitution realized that for America to truly be a free country, they would have to ensure that the government could not pass any laws singling out specific peoples for pecuniary punishment. Also, they realized that Americans could not truly have liberty if they could be punished by ex post facto laws. That is exactly what this Congress has done. The House has passed a law that they want to be applied retroactively! This is clearly unconstitutional, based on Article 1, section 9, of the US Constitution.

So while I personally will never try to do business with AIG or is subsidiaries, I also think it’s too late to do anything about it. Maybe if the Looters in Washington had actually READ THE FRICKIN' “stimulus” bill before they signed it, they would have known this could have happened; then they could have legally done something about it.

Happy St Patrick's Day

2009-03-17T22:14:00.002-04:00

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

I've been waiting my whole life for this...

2009-03-07T08:52:00.001-05:00

Finally, the movie that I've been waiting for my entire life...

How disgusting

2009-03-06T07:37:00.004-05:00

For the second time, Democrats are gleeful that our country's situation is going down the toilet. First, Rahm Emanuel jokingly stated that Democrats should "Never let a serious crisis go to waste" (Nov 2008)

Now, Mrs Clinton has jumped on the "celebrate the destruction of America" bandwagon. She was speaking to the European Parliament yesterday and told the crown of gathered socialists, "Never waste a good crisis" when describing the current economic state.

I pray that the hard working people in this country wake up and see these disgusting Looters for the scumbags that they really are. The Producers in our society must rise up and demand change from the Looters in DC. Without us, the Moochers would have no welfare, unemployment, medicaid, etc. I pray that the Moochers realize that the governmental Looters to not really care about them; Looters only care about the power they get from taking what doesn't belong to them and giving it to others.

A majority of Americans voted for "Change" this past election. Well, people, be careful what you wish for.

Atlas may be shrugging soon.

Don't expect the government to help you...

2009-03-03T08:02:00.003-05:00

Here an excerpt from an editorial by Ben Stein:

"You have been -- you are now -- bombarded every day with TV shows, radio news, and newspapers telling you of this government support plan and that government support plan and how they are going to rescue you. To which I can only say, when you hear the word ‘government,' in your mind, substitute the words ‘Department of Motor Vehicles.' When was the last time they rescued you? When was the last time they bailed you out of anything at all?"

"...But to expect that ‘government' is a fairy godmother who will rescue you from your problems over any long period is just fantasy. Here's the good news: This country will be rescued by each of us doing what we can do in our own individual sphere of action as government works in its sphere of action. There are roughly 142 million men and women in the labor force. Their ingenuity, flexibility, energy, and confidence will make more difference than anything government does on an individual basis...In the free society, we rescue ourselves "

SNOW!!!

2009-03-02T19:50:00.002-05:00

Ayn Rand Shrugged

2009-02-28T09:33:00.002-05:00

Sales of the Ayn Rand masterpiece, "Atlas Shrugged" are thru the roof. Year to date, the book sales numbers have tripled in 2009, compared to 2008. A friend just went to our local bookstore to buy copy, and the clerk told her that there was a waiting list, but that they were ordering them as fast as they could. She asked her if one of the local colleges was using the book, and the clerk said "no".

The economic turmoil that Ms Rand described seems to be eerily coming true. As equally scary, the economic "solutions" our government is currently proposing are nearly identical to the ones that ultimately destroy society in her books.

Harry Reid says that Income Taxes are voluntary

2009-02-17T09:04:00.003-05:00

A buddy sent me this link. It's an interview between Sen Harry Reid, democrat from NV, and Jan Helfeld. Now I've never heard of Mr Helfeld before, but it's great to hear it from the mouth of Senator Reid that my income taxes are voluntary! But, his definition of "voluntary" is different than mine. His is "volunteer to give me half your money, or go to jail". What dictionary is he using??

What Mr Helfeld apparently edited out of the interview is that taxes ARE indeed voluntary, but only if you are a member of the Democrat party, right Mr Geitner, Daschel, et al?

Don't laugh at this...

2009-02-15T19:40:00.001-05:00

http://media.putfile.com/SNL-Debbie-Downer-WDW

Johnny the Bagger

2009-02-13T19:25:00.000-05:00

Take 3 minutes and watch this clip:

Why bother reading it...

2009-02-13T18:11:00.000-05:00

This is supposed to be a stimulus?

2009-02-12T08:54:00.002-05:00

According to the Associated Press (hardly a right-leaning organization), the latest version of the stimulus plan will give Americans a whopping $13/week. Only a moron thinks $13/week will improve anything.

America doesn't care..

2009-02-10T21:35:00.002-05:00

According to the Honorable Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Americans really don't mind all the wasteful spending that he so clings to. We don't care? What frickin' planet does this guy live on??????

What an arrogant SOB.

The New Quayle

2009-02-09T11:42:00.002-05:00

Thank goodness for Joe Biden, the new Dan Quayle.

Biden, well known for multiple verbal gaffes, recently made fun of Chief Justice Roberts for messing up the presidential oath of office. After all, EVERYBODY loves it when a conservative screws up, right?

So, what does VP Biden-Quayle turn around and do himself? Screws up the Secretary of State oath of office.

Why is it that, when anybody right-of-center makes a mistake, it's front page news, but when lefties like Biden do it, "Oh, it's just Joe..."?

Some perspective on the financial failure

2009-02-06T20:43:00.002-05:00

It seems horrible that, for the year 2008, 25 banks failed in the USA.

However, during the first 10 months of 1930, 744 banks failed.

So don't believe the media that this is another Great Depression.

Why do they do it?

2009-02-05T19:06:00.006-05:00

Once again, a group has come together to discuss the dangers of global warming. This time in Buffalo, NY.

Today's temperature there was minus 6 degrees. Why do they keep scheduling these meetings IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER?

You wanna try to convince people that the world is getting hotter, try holding your dad-gum meetings in August in the South!

Looters, Moochers and Producers

2009-02-05T09:30:00.001-05:00

Looters have a genetic predisposition for taking money from Producers and giving it to Moochers.

Unfortunately, Producers have a natural tendency to avoid politics, and since Moochers are just plain lazy, only the Looters make it in the political world.

Tax Cheats

2009-02-03T21:08:00.003-05:00

Then: “Make no mistake, tax cheaters cheat us all, and the IRS should enforce our laws to the letter. ” Sen. Tom Daschle, Congressional Record, May 7, 1998, p. S4507.

Now: "Never mind"- Tom Daschle, 2009*

*First quote, true. Second quote, implied.

Trust me, I'm from the Government...

2009-01-30T17:39:00.003-05:00

Mr Obama is trying very hard to convince the American public that only Government can solve our problems. Just trust him and his cabinet (like the tax-cheating Secretary of the Treasury) and everything will be fine.

Well, I started thinking about September 11th, today. Not really sure why. But the thought hit me "what failed on that day?" Was it private citizens, or the Looters in DC?

Seems to me that it was the government that failed (and, yes, I know that Bush 43 was the president at the time). In fact, it was private citizens (Todd Beamer, et al) who actually acted. They didn't blindly follow FAA rules. They used their cell phones. They didn't remain seated with their seat belts fashioned, their heads between their knees. They stood up like free men, rising up against the terrorists and, at the cost of their own lives, prevented Flight 93 from killing possibly thousands more.

On that day, when big government failed, the only good news came from private individuals.

So, Mr Obama, I'd rather you didn't send me a stimulus check. Just let me keep my own money, to spend as I see fit. Protect us, sure. But let private citizens do what we do best, and the country will be just fine.

CNN blows it's "objective" cover

2009-01-30T15:09:00.003-05:00

CNN for years has fought against the political Right's claim that CNN is a liberal network in the pants pocket of the Left. Now, it seems that CNN has proven the Right right.

CNN.com's website is selling a "historic" T-shirt to honor the election of Mr Obama. Honor may be the wrong word. More like deify. "Obama raises hand, lifts a nation."

Come on. That is really sycophantic. CNN will soon be changing it's name to Pravda.

Economic stimulus

2009-01-26T13:18:00.002-05:00

The government TARP program has so far done diddly squat. What a surprise. A government program that promised more than it could deliver.

Recently in the news, it was reported that Merrill Lynch executives spent $1.2 million on renovating an executive suite. When I first heard this I was appalled. How dare they spend taxpayer money on a shiny new toilet!!

However, it turns out that the media, in it's race to vilify capitalists, was WRONG. Not a single dime of taxpayer money was spent on this renovation. In fact, the renovation was about 9 months before the "bailout" was even imagined.

Seems to me that the media could have spent a little more time investigating this story before plastering it all over the place. But then, they wouldn't have had that thrill go down their leg that they all seem to get when capitalism is the bad guy.

As a matter of fact, Merrill Lynch did a much better job stimulating the economy by having the renovation done than the Looters in DC have ever done. That $1.2 million dollars had an immediate impact. The money went to taxpayers (decorators, contractors, delivery services and suppliers) and no bureaucrats got their grubby little fingers on it.

So I'm sorry, Merrill Lynch, that I got caught up in the vilification. Thank you for an effective economic stimulus.

Stuff that's broke

2009-01-25T20:02:00.002-05:00

In the past few months, we've had some stuff malfunction, or break down entirely. Here's a list of some of the stuff that's gone kerplewie during the past 12 months:

Central heating and air unit
refrigerator
dishwasher
radio in my wife's car
the main television in the house
cordless phone
my laptop computer

I'm sure there's more, I just can't remember it all.

Go figure.

Kid's say the darndest thing

2009-01-25T01:16:00.004-05:00

A short while ago, while bringing my son home from his art class, he told me something quite profound.

"Dad, I know what I'm gonna be when I grow up."

"What's that, son"

"I'm gonna be in the car business. I'm gonna call it GNW's..." Then he paused, and followed that up with:

"Or an actor. Or a director. Or a producer. Or a cranberry farmer."

God Bless the little children.

Ransacking the White House

2009-01-21T19:47:00.003-05:00

I don't know if you remember, but when the first black president left office in 2001, his staffers showed their class and sophistication by ransacking the White House. Walls were covered with graffiti. Computer keyboards were destroyed beyond use. Phone lines were severed. Filing cabinets were super glued shut. Pornographic photos were left strewn about like ticker-tape.

Well, as the media loves to report, we're supposed to believe that George W. Bush is the most vile president to ever hold the public office. So, I'm sure that his staffers are just as perverted. But, so far, I've not heard a single report about their damaging or desecrating the White House or the office of President. Humm...

I'm sure that Dick Cheney was able to use the dark side of the Force to suppress the reports of destruction. Because we all know that Republicans are worse than Democrats in every respect, right MSNBC?

You mean I need to pay my taxes?

2009-01-21T14:18:00.003-05:00

I find it absurd that Mr Obama cannot find someone more qualified for the position of Secretary of the Treasury than Mr Timothy Geithner. The man who would be in charge of the IRS claims it was an innocent mistake when he didn't pay his taxes for the years 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004.

What the crap??? For 4 years, this man didn't realize that he owed the United States of American his Social Security and Medicare Taxes??? And he wants to be involved in setting tax policy for the rest of us?

Would I have been treated just as lightly if I had "innocently" forgotten to pay my quarterly taxes? Even after I had signed (four years in a row) a statement from my employer affirming that I was aware that it was my responsibility to pay said taxes?

Hell no.

Do I believe that it was an accident? Sure. I don't think that this caring, empathetic Democrat withheld his tax money on purpose. I'm sure he probably believes that it's patriotic to pay your fair share in taxes. And, after all, he did say that he was sorry. I'll try that if I get audited.

However, I do wholeheartedly believe that mistake disqualifies him from the position of Secretary of Treasury.

Back door gun ban

2009-01-18T00:32:00.002-05:00

In the landmark Supreme Court of the United States decision, Heller vs DC, the Justices finally ponied up and agreed that the Second Amendment of the US Constitution does indeed guarantee Americans' right to own guns.

Now, in several states, legislation has been introduced that might be a back-door ban of weapons. If the Looters can't take away our guns, maybe they can take away our ammunition. These bills go by a variety of names, but they all essentially do the same thing.

These bills would require ammunition manufacturers to "encode" every single bullet and cartridge with a serial number, under the guise of improving public safety. Surprise, surprise: that these bills are being heavily lobbied by a commercial enterprise that has a patent on technology to imprint the codes. They are trying to create a demand for their product by making it mandatory.

My state was one of the culprits in 2008. Fortunately, these unconstitutional bills didn't pass. The legislation would have required that private citizens turn in all of their currently-owned ammunition, without any compensation; it would be illegal to possess non-encoded ammo. Every box of new, encoded, ammo would need to be registered. It would be illegal for people to reload their own ammunition, a process practiced by tens of thousands of gun owners. Private citizens would have to keep detailed records of when and where the ammo was used. A tax of up to 5 cents PER bullet would need to be paid.

The ultimate effect of these bills, if passed, would be to prevent gun owners from having ammunition for defense, practice, sport and hunting. The fact that these bills are not gun bans is a really just a technicality because, in practical terms, ammo bans are gun bans.

The death of the American Auto

2009-01-15T16:15:00.002-05:00

Part of me feels sad that the big three American auto manufacturers are in such trouble. "Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet", as they used to say, were what America was about. Now, to be honest, I've only ever bought 1 "American" car in my life (a Saturn SL); at least that's what I thought until I read the January 12, 2009 addition of AutoWeek magazine.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the vehicle that is the "most" American is the Ford Crown Vic. Makes sense. Ford is as American as they get, right? The Crown Vic is only 90% American. That means that 10% of it's parts are from overseas. And, truth be told, the Vic is actually assembled in Canada, not the USA.

The second most American car? The Toyota Sienna, at 85%. The Honda Odyssey is up there, too, at 75% American. The Mercedes-Benz M-class ranks at 62% American. Nissan's pickups are 65%.

Near the bottom of the list is the Chevrolet Aveo, at only 5% American. The Saturn Astra? Three (3) percent. The Ford Fusion is only 40% American. The Chrysler Crossfire is zero percent (that's completely un-American, folks).

So, it would appear that my brother's Nissan pickup is more American than many Fords, Chevys and Chryslers. Buy American? I just might. Just not one who's manufacturer claims to be from Detroit.

Taxes

2008-12-16T20:40:00.003-05:00

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

2008-12-09T15:58:00.001-05:00

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

2008-11-16T10:52:00.002-05:00

"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

2008-11-13T21:42:00.003-05:00

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

2008-11-08T21:01:00.002-05:00

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"

2008-11-03T22:33:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-31T16:44:00.003-04:00

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

2008-10-15T11:31:00.003-04:00

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...

2008-10-15T02:43:00.001-04:00

this is pretty hard to beat.

Best drummer...ever

2008-10-15T02:10:00.001-04:00

Non political post

2008-10-15T02:05:00.003-04:00

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?

2008-10-09T16:45:00.003-04:00

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

2008-10-06T21:10:00.002-04:00

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

2008-10-01T23:27:00.003-04:00

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?

2008-10-01T18:51:00.003-04:00

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...

2008-09-30T21:22:00.003-04:00

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

2008-09-25T22:58:00.001-04:00

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

2008-09-25T20:28:00.002-04:00

"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?

2008-09-25T19:33:00.003-04:00

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

2008-09-25T11:18:00.003-04:00

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

2008-09-24T11:35:00.001-04:00

The Left's botched "Gotcha"

2008-09-13T08:37:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-06T18:11:00.003-04:00

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

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

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

2008-08-27T20:37:00.004-04:00

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

2008-08-26T18:45:00.002-04:00

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

2008-08-26T07:44:00.003-04:00

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

2008-08-26T00:06:00.002-04:00

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

2008-08-23T23:59:00.002-04:00

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!

2008-08-21T20:40:00.003-04:00

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!

2008-07-25T19:52:00.003-04:00

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

2008-07-25T19:14:00.003-04:00

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

2008-07-25T00:19:00.003-04:00

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

2008-07-07T13:43:00.002-04:00

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

2008-06-03T14:26:00.000-04:00

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

2008-06-02T23:33:00.004-04:00

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

2008-05-19T11:28:00.004-04:00

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

2008-05-13T22:35:00.003-04:00

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.