John B - A Conservative In La-La Land

LSM Shrugged

2011-12-12T12:13:00.000-08:00

The liberal lame stream media supports big bloated government and over regulation. What they fail to understand is that a government big enough to control almost every aspect of life from individual health care to the content of radio programs will eventually get around to regulating out their sacred first amendment free speech. In effect these useful idiots are contributing to their own destruction. Why?
Who is John Galt?

Giving Thanks

2011-11-24T09:58:00.000-08:00

Every day is Thanksgiving Day for me. I am indeed blessed. These are a few things for which I am thankful.

I am thankful that my mother and father met and married even though they lived in a sparsely populated rural area around Montreal Canada.

I am thankful that they chose to migrate to the United States to improve the standard of living for them and their children even though they left behind many close relatives and friends.

I am thankful they decided to have one more child (me) after already having five during the worst depression in this country’s history.

I am thankful I was born and raised in the greatest country in the world.

I am thankful that my parents taught me to be honest, thrifty, hard working and to plan for the future.

I am thankful they baptized and raised me in the Catholic faith and sent me to a Catholic grade school at their own expense.

I am thankful there was an affordable college close by that I could afford without accumulating significant debt or over burdening my parents.

I am thankful my circle of friends in college were mostly married military veterans on the GI bill who were hard working and dedicated to getting a good education and taught me how to study.

I am thankful I met Nancy in a crowded drive-in restaurant and she later agreed to marry me even though we had so little time to date between my college and working evenings and weekends.

I am thankful for our 3 healthy offspring and for Nancy who raised them very well with little help from me because I was absent so much between work, school and extensive business travel.

I am thankful I lived and worked in a relatively free economy that rewarded hard work.

I am thankful that none of our immediate family has had serious life threatening illnesses.

I am thankful that all three of our children avoided the drugs, alcohol and other social corruptions of many of their peers and grew up sharing our values and are now married and have children of their own.

I am thankful for our grandchildren who are healthy, happy and well adjusted.

I am thankful we have not been adversely affected by a natural disaster even though we live in an active earthquake region.

I am thankful that I have SO MUCH to be thankful for.

John Kerry: Media Should ‘Not Give Equal Time’ to Tea Party

2011-08-06T07:38:00.000-07:00

John Kerry (D-MA) does not believe the media should give equal time to the tea party.

CLICK HERE FOR ARTICLE

Apparently he only supports equal time for movements with which he agrees. So much for the left wing liberal "Fairness Doctrine".

Crime and Punishment

2011-07-23T19:58:00.000-07:00

Thirty two year old Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik is suspected of killing about 92 people in Norway, 85 of which were teenagers. The lame stream media, specifically NBC News, stated 3 times that the suspect is not a Muslim extremist. They reported, with righteous indignation, he is a right wing Christian conservative as though his acts reflects poorly on Christians even though they espouse that terrorist acts by Muslim extremists do not reflect poorly on Muslims. This is just another example of the LSM bias.

In Norway the maximum prison sentence for ANY crime is 21 years. If Anders is tried and convicted in a Norway court the maximum sentence he will receive is 21 years so he will be free at the age of only 53 years after killing almost 100 people. How ignorant can a country be???

July Fourth Hollywood Bowl

2011-07-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

One of the many advantages of Southern California Living.

War Powers Act

2011-06-16T09:21:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying I am no expert on the War Powers Act so if you stop reading at this point it is understandable.

As I understand it the WPA allows the president to engage in military hostilities against a sovereign nation provided he reports to congress within 60 days so they can decide whether or not to declare war. (Only congress can declare war, not the president.) Recall George Bush obtained congressional authorization for military action in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The 60 day WPA window is closing on the US Libyan hostilities. Barrack Obama is claiming the WPA does not apply because troops are not in harms way on the ground. By that logic, Japan did not engage in military hostilities when they attacked Pearl Harbor.

Weiner's Weiner

2011-06-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

The US is involved in three wars, many middle eastern countries are in chaos, many areas in the US have been stricken by natural disasters, our economy is in shambles, we have presidential primary elections just over the horizon yet the first story on all three national evening news programs is about a perverted New York Congressman. Americans are being ill served by the lame stream media in this country.

That said, I am amazed that after lying to them over and over for more than a week, 53% of Weiner's constituents do not think he should resign according to a recent poll. To the best of my knowledge, every national politician, liberal or conservative, that had a sex scandal has either resigned or been elected out of office except Bill Clinton. This story, unfortunately, has not yet played out.

TV Executives Admit Liberal Agenda

2011-06-02T06:58:00.000-07:00

CLICK HERE

I am shocked.
SHOCKED I tell you!!
The next thing they will be telling us is there is gambling going on in Casablanca.

Natures Payback

2011-05-23T20:27:00.000-07:00

Tonight ABC News reported that the deadly tornado in Joplin MO may be the result of global warming. That may or may not be the case but what they claimed next revealed their clear bias toward the man made global warming religious cult. They referred to the tragedy as natures payback implying that humans have violated nature somehow and nature is retaliating. This moronic statement exposes them as members of the man made global warming religious cult.

Wet Streets Cause Rain, Part II

2011-04-20T07:11:00.000-07:00

The federal deficit in 2011 is predicted to be $1.5 trillion, 40% of the 2011 budget!

Only 53% of wage earners pay all federal income taxes. 47% pay no federal income tax.

So the left wing liberal politicians conclude the problem is that the 53% are under taxed!

Really? Really? Really?

Don't tax you,
Don't tax me,
Tax the man behind the tree.
(Russell Long, Louisiana)

Pro Choice vs Pro Life

2011-04-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

The lame stream media has done a good job educating the US public about the meaning of the "pro choice" and "pro life" labels. But here is what they fail to explain.

A CONSERVATIVE is pro choice when they are talking about school vouchers, union membership, light bulbs, gun ownership, health insurance, etc.

A LIBERAL is pro life when they are talking about convicted murders, rapists and terrorists.

REALLY!!!

Separated At Birth

2011-04-05T17:10:00.000-07:00

PAUL RYAN

EDDIE MUNSTER

Why Public Sector Unions Should Be Illegal

2011-02-23T19:02:00.000-08:00

Two states (Virginia and North Carolina) prohibit public sector unions but not private sector unions. Why?

Here are the main differences between private vs public sector collective bargaining.

1. Conflict of interest: Unlike private sector unions public sector unions wield power over their government counterparts. Government depends on the support of public union members to help their re-election. Public sector unions support government bosses with their votes, their money and election organizing.

2. No skin in the game: Government negotiators are giving away other peoples money. They have little to lose personally by their give a ways.

3. No accountability: Government negotiators have little/no accountability to the general public. The persons most negatively affected by their incompetence are the very young and the unborn that cannot vote.

4. Motivation: While private sector negotiators are motivated to keep their company competitive to keep their jobs there is no similar motivation with government sector negotiators.

With all these advantages public sector unions have the power to plunder state treasuries and bankrupt state and local governments.

Wisconsin Teacher Protest

2011-02-19T19:28:00.000-08:00

Wisconsin teachers are protesting state budget cuts needed to balance the state budget that reduce teacher salaries and benefits. The cut also affect many other department budgets and state employees. After implementation the average state employee wage and benefits would still be better than the average non-government employee that is paying their salaries. Some teachers are in Madison protesting rather than at work teaching their students. Those who lie by claiming they are sick should be disciplined or fired.

With all the whining and temper tantrums you have to wonder if Wisconsin children are learning from the teachers or the teachers are learning from the children. Waa, waa, waa.

Love vs Greed

2011-02-06T09:49:00.000-08:00

We had a visiting priest celebrating Mass this weekend. The topic of his sermon was love vs selfish greed. He told a joke to make his point.

A 60 year old couple were walking down the beach when they found a magic bottle. When they opened the bottle a Genie came out and, as a reward for freeing him, offered each of them a free wish. After some thought the wife asked for a one year trip around the world for her and her husband.
POOF
She was given first class tickets and hotel reservations and $50,000 for meals.
After much thought the husband asked for a wife 20 years younger than himself.
POOF
He became 80 years old.

There is no i in love but there is in live.

Exploiting Tragedy For Political Gain

2011-01-10T15:06:00.000-08:00

Rahm Emanuel stated “Never let a crisis go to waste.” Prominent left wing liberals (including politicians and the lame stream media) are masters of that philosophy. When a deranged individual shoots 19 people and kills at least 6 in Tucson, left wing liberals immediately sprang into action. First they tried to blame the tee party movement, Sarah Palin, talk radio hosts and Fox News accusing them of inciting violence while ignoring the hate speech of the left during the Bush administration. Then they seized on the (crisis) opportunity to advance liberal causes including gun control, radio content control and internet control.

In my view most liberal causes are an affront to liberty rejected by the vast majority of Americans unless scared into submission by phony crises such as uninsured health care, man made global warming, financial meltdown or even the tragedy of a psychotic gunman.

Arizona Congresswoman Shot

2011-01-08T19:40:00.000-08:00

This afternoon Arizona Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head

by a crazed mass murderer. When asked if Gabrielle had any enemies her father replied "Only the tee party.". The shooter has been identified as 22 year old Jared Lee Loughner.

Jared sure does NOT look like a Tee Party supporter to me.

Youth Liturgy

2010-11-22T16:17:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday Nancy and I attended the evening Mass called the youth liturgy. Except for the priest saying the Mass the entire service, including the choir, is conducted by young people of about high school age.The Mass was extremely lively and upbeat. As I closely observed the faces and actions of the multiracial congregation I became very encouraged with the future of our country. I was inspired by their devotion, spirit, enthusiasm and self reliance.

I don't believe those kids will become dependent on bloated inefficient government for their livelihood or their health care. I don't believe they will tolerate having over 50% of their income confiscated by bloated, inefficient government for redistribution to greedy deadbeats. I don't believe they will vote for politicians that are ashamed of America and apologize for her perceived grievances. In summary, the future of America is bright with kids like those who I believe will reject the false promises of liberalism.

WAIVERS

2010-11-18T08:04:00.000-08:00

The Obama administration has granted 111 waivers for Obamacare. About 30% of the waivers are to unions who supported Obamacare. Apparently those unions think Obamacare is good for the US as long as their members are exempt. In fairness, that is the same opinion as all three branches of the federal government (i.e. good for everybody except them). All three branches of the federal government and their staff are exempt from Obamacare. The ultimate test of whether a federal law is good or bad is whether the government exempts themselves. Think about it. Why is Obamacare good for you and your family but not for those who passed the law and not for some of it's supporters?

EARMARKS

2010-11-17T07:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Sen Mitch McConnell came out against earmarks. Mark Levin, on his radio show, poo pooed the idea because earmarks are such a small item compared to the federal deficit. I disagree strongly with Levin. What he overlooks is that the true cost of earmarks is NOT only the dollar value of the earmarks but the horse trading that they enable. Many terrible and costly bills are passed by adding small earmarks so key senators would vote for them. A recent example is the Obamacare bill. I would like to see ALL earmarks outlawed.

Impartial & Non-Partisan; Really?

2010-11-05T15:28:00.000-07:00

MSNBC Suspends Olbermann Over Political Donations to Dems...

SANITY RESTORED

2010-11-03T17:52:00.000-07:00

YOUR NEXT!

2012 is sooner than you think

Bring In The Clowns

2010-10-31T12:53:00.000-07:00

THEY'RE ALREADY HERE

YOU'VE GOT TO LOVE OKLAHOMANS!!!

2010-10-27T18:39:00.000-07:00

Last week Nancy and I visited our son David and family in Oklahoma City. On our first day there I read in the local newspaper, The Oklahoman, a story about a woman asleep in her own house with her two young children was awaken by a loud noise in her house. Thinking there was an earthquake she called her husband who works at Tinker AFB to confirm the quake. He told her there was no quake so she hung up and got her hand gun. She went to her living room where she found two intruders and shot them killing one and wounding the other. Shortly after the event the second intruder was found by following his blood trail. The local police declared the shooting justifiable under the

(now get this)

Oklahoma "Make My Day" law.

This is a win/win for society. There is one less robber, potential rapist, potential murderer in the world plus a brave mother and her two young children are still living.
I bet anything that you will never hear about this incident in any of the lame stream media. This story is contrary to their anti-gun agenda so they will commit a lie of omission to further their that agenda.

Southern California’s Coldest Summer In Decades Ends Today

2010-09-22T07:27:00.000-07:00

I think I have finally figured out why Southern California temperatures are so cold lately. We no longer have all those dairy farm cows (flatulence) we used to have 10 years ago. Most have moved east near the desert, which is experiencing record high temperatures.

If this keeps up I may convert to the man made global warming faith. If I do, I will buy a Hummer, get rid of my recycle bin, change my CFL bulbs and install air conditioning to do my part to restore normal temperatures here in Southern California.

Delaware Dragon Slayer - Defeating The Republican Establishment

2010-09-15T16:36:00.000-07:00

Christine O'Donnell

A solid conservative Republican creams a RINO Republican.

YEAH

You Go Girl!!!

Next up: the liberal Democrat Chris Coons (Harry Reid's pet).

LUCK HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT (Or did it?)

2010-09-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

As far back as I can remember I have always worked hard and followed all the rules. At high school when all my friends were going to football games and dances I was working at part time jobs. Later when many others were dating and enjoying themselves I went to collage to learn a profession. After collage I got married and when many others were enjoying their young families on weekends and taking vacations I was working full time and continuing my education for a Masters Degree at night and weekends. At times my friends or relatives would tell me how lucky I was to have a good job or to have a nice house or car and I would tell them that luck had nothing to do with it because I felt I earned everything I had.

Well now that I am retired I have done some self-examination and concluded that luck had a lot to do with it.

I AM LUCKY

I am lucky that my mother and father met and married even though they lived in a sparsely populated rural area around Montreal Canada.

I am lucky that they chose to migrate to the United States to improve the standard of living for them and their children even though they left behind many close relatives and friends.

I am lucky they decided to have one more child (me) after already having five during the worst depression in this country’s history.

I am lucky that they taught me to be honest, thrifty, hard working and to plan for the future.

I am lucky they baptized and raised me in the Catholic faith and sent me to a Catholic grade school at their own expense.

I am lucky there was an affordable college close by that I could afford without accumulating significant debt or over burdening my parents.

I am lucky my circle of friends in college were mostly married military veterans on the GI bill who were hard working and dedicated to getting a good education and taught me how to study.

I am lucky I met Nancy in a crowded drive-in restaurant and she later agreed to marry me even though we had so little time to date between my college and working evenings and weekends.

I am lucky we had 3 healthy offspring and Nancy raised them very well with little help from me because I was absent so much between work, school and extensive business travel.

I am lucky I lived and worked in a relatively free economy that rewarded hard work.

I am lucky that none of our family has ever had serious life threatening illnesses.

I am lucky that all three of our children avoided the drugs, alcohol and other social corruptions of many of their peers and grew up sharing our values and are now married and each has two children of their own.

I am lucky our 6 grandchildren are healthy, happy and well adjusted.

I am lucky we have never been adversely affected by a natural disaster even though we live in an active earthquake region.

Notice that NONE of the above was a result of anything I did or decisions I made myself so as it turns out I AM LUCKY after all.

Enviro-Terrorism

2010-09-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

Another weak minded, mislead climate change drone.

JAMES J LEE

A radical environmentalist who took three hostages at the Discovery Channel headquarters while wearing what police say may be explosives was shot and killed by officers today. Thank God this enviro nut job did not get the chance to take anybody with him.

CLIMATE CHANGE LIES ARE EXPOSED

2010-08-31T07:08:00.000-07:00

I (and many others) have said for years that man made global warming is a fraud perpetrated to enhance the fortunes of so called climate change scientists, UN bureaucrats and certain ex-vice presidents.

EXPRESS.CO.UK , Tuesday August 31,2010

CLIMATE CHANGE LIES ARE EXPOSED
By Donna Bowater,
THE world’s leading climate change body has been accused of losing credibility after a damning report into its research practices. A high-level inquiry into the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found there was “little evidence” for its claims about global warming. It also said the panel had emphasised the negative impacts of climate change and made “substantive findings” based on little proof.

The review by the Inter-Academy Council (IAC) was launched after the IPCC’s hugely embarrassing 2007 benchmark climate change report, which contained exaggerated and false claims that Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2035. The panel was forced to admit its key claim in support of global warming was lifted from a 1999 magazine article. The report was based on an interview with a little-known Indian scientist who has since said his views were “speculation” and not backed by research.

CLICK HERE to see the whole article.

Preemptive Strike

2010-08-29T13:08:00.000-07:00

Profiling - Big Brother Runamuck
Law enforcement agencies in Washington D.C. have begun to use technology that they say can predict when crimes will be committed and who will commit them, before they actually happen. The pre-crime software has been developed by Richard Berk, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Previous incarnations of the software, already being used in Baltimore and Philadelphia were limited to predictions of murders by and among parolees and offenders on probation. According to a report by ABC News, however, the latest version, to be implemented in Washington D.C., can predict other future crimes as well.
Critics have urged that the program encourages categorizing individuals on a risk scale via computer mathematics, rather than on real life, and that monitoring those people based on such a premise is antithetic to a justice system founded on the premise of the presumption of innocence.
Other forms of pre-crime technology in use or under development include surveillance cameras that can predict when a crime is about to occur and alert police, and even neurological brain scanners that can read people’s intentions before they act, thus detecting whether or not a person has “hostile intent”.

Wet Streets Cause Rain

2010-08-23T17:08:00.000-07:00

A government study of the effect of sexual activity on student grades concluded that grades are unaffected for students in a committed relationship but are adversely affected for students that "hook-up".
REALLY?
Is it possible that poor students are bad decision prone and are more likely to "hook-up"?
YOU THINK?

Selective Sensitivity

2010-08-16T15:11:00.000-07:00

Barack Hussein Obama, umm, umm, umm claims he will not take a stand on the wisdom of the decision to build a mosque at the Manhattan site of the 9/11 Muslim extremist attack. He stated, correctly, that Muslims have a right to practice there religion in the US including building a mosque on private property in lower Manhattan. Once again, however, he missed the point of the objection that Americans have against the 9/11 site mosque. Most Americans (62%) agree Muslims have a right to build a mosque where ever they want in the US but feel strongly (67%) it is highly insensitive to the feelings of the families of 9/11 victims.

Recall about a month ago Obama criticized Israel's decision to build more settlements on their own land in Jerusalem. Even though they have a right to build the settlements, Obama said, it would be insensitive to the feelings of the Palestinians. Obama publicly chastised Israel and humiliated their prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the decision.

Once again Obama is more concerned about the sensitivity of Muslim Palestinians then the sensitivity of Americans in general and the 9/11 victim families in particular.

Pakistan Disaster

2010-08-15T07:14:00.000-07:00

Flooding in Pakistan is a terrible natural disaster, worst than Katrina. Over 20 million Pakistanis are homeless and the US is rightly sending millions of dollars in humanitarian aid.

Pakistan is predominantly a Muslim country and many danced in the street over the news of 9/11. I do not recall Pakistan or any other Muslim country sending humanitarian aid to the victims of Katrina. The US is seriously in debt to the tune of trillions of dollars that will continue to burden future generations. We have to borrow from China and other countries to pay for two wars, bloated government, wasteful government programs and, yes, foreign aid including to Pakistan whose majority hate the US. We are one of the most generous countries in the world yet we are too often denigrated by leaders of other countries and our own President. Go figure!

SHOCK Of The Week

2010-08-14T08:22:00.000-07:00

After 3 weeks of silence on the subject Barack Hussein Obama, umm, umm, umm speaks out on the potential mosque at ground zero.

LA Times: "President Obama on Friday took a strong stand in favor of building a mosque near the site where Muslim terrorists flew airplanes into the World Trade Center in 2001 - breaking his silence on the controversial issue."

I am SHOCKED!!
.

D vs R

2010-08-10T17:58:00.000-07:00

Today Barack Hussein Obama, umm, umm, umm, said when you drive a car you put it in D when you want to go forward but when you put it in R you go backward. This is his lame attempt at political humor.
I think he does not understand that the biggest issue of voters is the economy not driving a car. I say if you want the economy to Recover you vote R but if you want to Destroy the economy further you vote D, and this is NO JOKE.

Good News About Medicare Changes

2010-07-13T16:42:00.000-07:00

Dr Berwick

New Medicare Czar

Government Criticism

2010-04-17T20:54:00.000-07:00

I have received emails from a few of my liberal relatives concerning the potential violence that could erupt due to criticism of government. They bring-up Timothy McVeigh and Harvey Milk as examples. This theme is promoted among liberal politicians like Obama (umm, umm, umm), Pelosi, Reid and the latest to weigh-in, Bill Clinton. The lame stream media amplifies this theme by re-running their comments over and over.

I personally find liberals hypocritical and opportunistic. When they were protesting Reaganomics, the Iraq war or the Bush administration liberal politicians considered it patriotic free speech. Now that liberal Democrats are in power government criticism is inciting potential violence.

Bye Bye Bayh

2010-02-15T13:54:00.000-08:00

Evan Bayh

Exiting the Kitchen

WAH WAH WAH

Good Riddance!

BLAME GAME

2010-01-22T08:27:00.000-08:00

Success has many fathers but failure is an orphan. This is especially true in political elections. Here are some of the “blames” expressed about the Democrat loss in Massachusetts last Tuesday: (I paraphrase)

DNC – Martha Coakley ran a bad campaign
Martha Coakley – The DNC did not support me with enough money
Harry Reid – It’s the RNC’s fault
Nancy Pelosi – It’s Fox News’ fault
Rohm Emmanuelle – It’s the f—ing, c—k sucking, tee baggers fault
This is my all time favorite!!
President Obama – It’s George Bushes fault.

Sharp Contrast

2010-01-19T22:05:00.000-08:00

Massachusetts Senator

Minnesota Senator

EARTHQUAKE (2)

2010-01-19T20:23:00.000-08:00

FINALLY!!

Some adult supervision.

EARTHQUAKE

2010-01-19T09:38:00.000-08:00

No not Haiti.

Massachusetts!!

World Misled Over Himalayan Glacier Meltdown

2010-01-18T06:44:00.000-08:00

Never accept as fact the words of people that have ulterior motives including salesmen and climate change scientists. So called climate change scientists are ripping off a fortune from the UN so they and others stretch the facts, destroy data and/or outright lie about climate change. The same is true of some ex-politicians.
See the latest revelation below:

Click here

Political Prostitution

2009-11-23T13:35:00.000-08:00

POLITICAL WHORE Mary Landrieu (D) Louisiana, was given $300M of taxpayer funds for Louisiana to buy her health insurance reform bill vote on Saturday night. The other 59 whores now realize they sold out US citizens way too cheaply and I expect are now going to raise their price for their next date (oops vote). Was it good for you? I didn't even get a cigarette.

Student Protests

2009-11-19T11:17:00.000-08:00

Like every blue state and some red states California is broke. Our liberal government has driven California into abject poverty. Today California college students are protesting a potential 32% increase in tuition at the UC system. This is but another example of student naivete and misguidance. Less that 20% of eligible students actually voted in 2008 and those that did, being badly misguided by their liberal professors and Hollywood celebrities, voted predominantly for the most liberal candidates. I have no sympathy for liberal Californians (students or not) who whine about budget cuts yet continue to support the most liberal politicians that are the source of their problems. California is the third highest taxed state in the US. California's budget deficit is caused by liberal over spending not by under taxation. The best days for California are past.

Smear Campaign Or Truth Campaign?

2009-09-06T07:14:00.000-07:00

When a member of government is forced to resign (fired) over publicly offensive deeds or words the normal response is they are victims of a “massive smear campaign”. Rather than admit error and seek indulgence they attack the messenger and the evidence as a smear campaign. However, these days with ubiquitous camera phones recording their acts truth is almost irrefutable.

Last night we got another example when Van Jones, Obama’s “Green Jobs” czar was fired (resigned). For weeks Glen Beck has been exposing video and audio of Van Jones declaring himself as a Communist and accusing Republicans of being “ass holes” for their political effectiveness. Jones is also a signer of a petition asking for a congressional investigation into whether high-level government officials had allowed the 9/11 attacks. Van Jones, upon "resigning" last night stated "On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me," Jones said in his resignation statement. "They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide."

This Photo Speaks Volumes

2009-08-06T11:05:00.000-07:00

Our So Called Uniter??

2009-07-24T06:16:00.000-07:00

“I don’t have all the facts but---the Cambridge police acted stupidly.” !!! OH REALLY??

BHO

2009-07-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

NEVER TRUST A MAN WITH NO BIRTH CERTIFICATE

Hollywood Bowl 4th Of July

2009-07-04T14:13:00.000-07:00

We love the Bowl on the 4th.

Great venue, Great weather, Great wine

Great music, Great company

Great fireworks

Great Fun!

Congratulations Minnesota

2009-07-01T06:48:00.001-07:00

Political Transgressions

2009-06-30T07:20:00.000-07:00

Does politics attract narcissistic, over sexed, risk takers with low morals and a subconscious self destruction wish or is it just that politician’s transgressions are more visible than those of your average profession? OR WHAT??

THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL

2009-06-21T21:13:00.000-07:00

California has the highest marginal income tax rate in the U.S. and is highly dependent on the income tax to fund its government programs and projects. In 2008 the top 5% of wage earners paid about 65% of income taxes and the top 20% paid about 85%. 80% of California wage earners pay little or no California income taxes. Thus, when Californians vote on a spending initiative it almost always passes because so few voters have “skin-in-the-game”. In the last four years California voters passed $4B for stem cell research, $2B for a high speed train (down payment only), $3B in the lame attempt to stop global warming single handedly and many Billions to build new, court ordered prisons. (Well over 50% of prisoners are illegal aliens.) Income taxes are a very unstable way to fund state governments especially as fewer and fewer pay more and more taxes. Relatively small variations in the economy cause wild swings in state income. First quarter 2009 withholding was 29% lower than 1Q 2008. When the economy is good politicians and voters cannot resist the temptation to commit to long-term discretionary projects. When the economy is bad (as it is now) the state has to further raise taxes on that 5% and make painful spending cuts. The average California voter cares little about raising taxes but cries loudly about spending cuts. “Nothing is more mobile than the rich.” per Milton Freedman. Many high-income taxpayers and businesses are simply moving to low/no tax states putting more pressure on the budget. The more tax rates are raised the less income results. I believe California is in a DOWNWARD SPIRAL and the poor and middle class will suffer the most but the rich will simply leave taking their income and their jobs with them.

RACE SUPREMACY

2009-06-09T08:32:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed that liberals often make race supremacist comments while accusing conservatives of racism??

“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”

I'M SORRY

2009-05-12T20:13:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of contrition inspired by the BHO “apology tour” to Europe and South America for past US transgressions I am compelled to apologize for the transgressions of our generation against this years graduating class. I’m sorry we are leaving you the largest national debt in US history. I’m sorry that we are leaving you the worst economy in at least two generations with a terrible job market. I’m sorry that you will not have the quality of medical care we had. I’m sorry that you will likely pay much higher taxes then we did. I’m sorry that you will pay 3 to 5 times more for electric power then we did in a lame attempt to stem global warming. I’m sorry that you will be burdened by a larger, more intrusive government then we had. I’m sorry you will likely never receive a social security check like we do in spite of contributing all of your working life. But most of all, and most important, I’m sorry that you will not have the opportunity to succeed in the free market system that we enjoyed. Good luck. You’ll need it.

HATE

2009-05-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

A segment of society feeling strongly about one issue or another overstates the position of those that disagree. An overused word du jour is hate. If you are against gay marriage you’re a gay hater if you did not vote for BHO you’re a race hater if you do not want to pay higher taxes you’re an America hater. I don’t believe pro-abortionists are infant haters or anti-school choice people are child haters or that politicians causing the national debt explosion are child haters they are all just badly miss-guided.

Comedian In-Chief

2009-05-10T16:30:00.000-07:00

President Obama was extremely funny last night at the correspondence dinner. He roasted almost everyone in his administration plus Michelle and his two daughters. Once again he demonstrated that he has excellent writers and he has outstanding delivery skills. My favorite joke was referring to foul mouthed chief of staff Rahm Emanuel "This is a tough holiday for Rahm. He's not used to saying the word "day" after "mother"."

SCUM BAG IN CHIEF

2009-05-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

Anonymous Comments - NOT

2009-05-06T21:26:00.000-07:00

I have modified the settings of this blog to disallow anonymous comments. If someone is so ashamed of their comments that they need to hide their identity then their comments are unwelcome here.

Abstinence Ambassador

2009-05-06T08:07:00.000-07:00

This morning GMA aired an interview with Bristol Palin (teenage daughter of Gov. Sarah Palin) who had a baby out-of-wedlock recently. Bristol is making a speaking tour promoting sexual abstinence to teenagers! Does anybody, except Bristol, think she is a good spokesperson for abstinence? Why would any teenager follow her advice? Classic “Do as I say, not as I did.” The height of naiveté.

IDIOT LSM !

2009-05-05T15:54:00.000-07:00

Today the top story in the “lame stream media” was video of Obama and Biden ordering lunch at Ray’s hamburger joint near the white house and detailing exactly what they ordered and how much they paid and how much they tipped. I conclude there are no other more important stories. I guess this means the economy has recovered, the Taliban and Al Qaeda have surrendered, Iran and North Korea have abandoned their nuclear weapon activities and we succeeded in reversing global warming. Amazing accomplishments for an administration of only 100 days.

Enhanced Interrogation

2009-04-30T09:04:00.001-07:00

2974 Reasons For Supporting "Enhanced Interrogation"

Best $50 Ever Spent

2009-04-13T12:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Navy Seal sharp shooters killed the three Somali pirates holding the captain of the Mersk Alabama with only three bullets. I don’t know what a sharp shooter’s bullet costs but I guess about $15 to $20 each. If so, those three bullets were the most cost effective items ever bought by our military. My congratulations to Mr. Obama for authorizing the killing. I admit I did not think Mr. Obama had the stones to do what was necessary to protect American citizens.

RIGHT ON

2009-03-25T17:24:00.000-07:00

Today an English Member of Parliament, Daniel Hannon, speaking to the liberal English Prime Minister Gordon Brown: “Mr. Brown, you cannot spend your way out of a recession or borrow your way out of debt.” This is directly applicable to Obama and his new budget proposal. Too bad no one in our US congress has the stones to say this to him.

Congressional Mantra

2009-03-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

If it moves – Tax it. If it continues to move – Regulate it. If it stops moving – Subsidize it. If it gets too big to fail – Bail it out. There is little doubt we are being governed by IDIOTS!! Wake-up.

Fair Tax – NOT!

2009-03-21T08:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the house passed a bill taxing the AIG bonuses at a 90% rate. This is another example of the government using the tax code to punish (or reward) persons or groups they don’t (or do) like instead of for FUNDING vital public projects. This is why the “Fair Tax” will never be implemented in our or our children’s lifetime. Among other things the tax code is used to get politicians re-elected. The fair tax cannot do that. IDIOTS!!

Congress

2009-03-02T16:53:00.000-08:00

The inmates are in charge of the asylum!

Class Warfare

2009-02-17T09:24:00.000-08:00

Mouse In The House

2009-01-21T12:14:00.000-08:00

Nothing strikes fear in the heart of a woman more than seeing a mouse in her kitchen. Catching or killing that mouse overrides all else. Even after the deed is done fear and doubt linger. How did it get in? Will more find the entry point? Are there siblings? Offsprings? Sleep is restless for days.

What A Great Idea!!

2008-12-23T08:22:00.000-08:00

Many news reports claim students in the United States are well below average in academic performance. I recall one report that US students are 35th in the world with respect to math performance, behind most European and some African countries. Yet the US is about 3rd or 4th in spending per student. What is wrong with our educational system? Obviously taxpayers are not getting their money’s worth and our children are being cheated out of a decent education. Some school systems are attacking the problem by throwing more money at it as if the solution is more of the same. Other school systems are trying innovative solutions such as creating school competition (i.e. choice) with mixed results. Most liberal politicians influenced by teacher unions oppose the latter. However, earlier this month a saw a report on GMA on a highly effective experimental program to improve performance in Chicago schools. It’s called “Pay For Performance”. The idea is to “reward” students monetarily for achieving high grades. Funded entirely by private funds, students were given $50 for each A, $35 for each B and $20 for each C. In less than one year the grade point average increased by one grade level. In addition, GMA reported that students and their parents were much more enthusiastic and involved in their education. They actually looked forward to final exams and bragged about how much money they earned. Now I know that there are many opportunities for abuse in this program (i.e. student cheating, teacher bribing etc.) and critics claim this is simply bribing students to do what they should be doing anyway (focus on the money and not on the academics) but I think we need to do something in this country and this experiment deserves further investigation and expansion. Monetary rewards are a tremendous incentive to perform and improve. During my entire career in engineering management we used “pay for performance” to determine annual pay raises. Persons with the highest performance ratings are given the highest raises. Yes there are occasional abuses of the system but by and large the process served us well. Pay for performance is one of the best ideas I’ve heard of to improve the performance of the educational system in the US. I expect that teacher unions and liberal politicians will find fault with this program and try to kill it. To all my readers I hope you have a very Merry Christmas.

Greed

2008-11-28T17:26:00.000-08:00

One of the liberals favorite words when it comes to free market economy is “greed”. But what is greed? Merriam Webster defines greed as: a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (such as money) than is needed. The problem with this definition is it uses relative words like: selfish, excessive and needed. These words have no absolute definitions so they are subject to arbitrary definition by anyone who wants to make a point or further their agenda. One of the favorite targets of liberal politicians and the liberal media are CEOs. But who has more greed, the CEO of Toyota (a fortune 500 company employing over 750,000 people) earning 1 million dollars annually or the president of The University of Chicago (a relatively small university probably employing only a few thousand people) earning 1.5 Million dollars annually? You could make a case that the university president is greedy relative to the Toyota CEO. It’s interesting that liberals never criticize as greedy liberal CEOs like Warren Buffet, the second richest person in the US, who made his fortune practicing free market investing. Thomas Sowell said in his column today: “The average pay of a CEO of a corporation big enough to be included in the Standard & Poor's index is less than one-third of what Alex Rodriguez makes, about one-tenth of what Tiger Woods makes and less than one-thirtieth of what Oprah Winfrey makes. But when has anyone ever accused athletes or entertainers of "greed"?” Some people think that greed caused the recent mortgage crisis. I agree. It WAS greed that caused the recent mortgage crisis. It was political greed of politicians to grant their constituents favors so as to be re-elected, it was social greed of moderate/low income people to live in houses with mortgages they could not afford and it was financial greed of investors buying risky investments based on those risky mortgages. Greed is relative like beauty – in the eye of the beholder or like pornography – you know it when you see it.

Be careful what you wish for

2008-11-03T13:30:00.000-08:00

With all the talk these days about CHANGE by both presidential candidates it brings to mind a story I recall from my childhood. Be careful what you wish for. A small boy with a crippled, badly deformed left arm went to a wishing well one day. With his good arm he pulled out a coin and tossed it in the well saying: “Wishing well, wishing well, please change my arm to be like my other arm.” POOF: His right arm was immediately crippled. Moral: Be very careful of the change you wish for. It may not be what you expect. Also, watch out for unintended consequences. For example: The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) passed in 1977 is designed to encourage commercial banks and savings associations to meet the needs of borrowers in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. The Act requires the appropriate federal financial supervisory agencies to encourage regulated financial institutions to relax mortgage loan qualifications. The intent was to make home ownership more available to low/moderate income families. A valiant goal. However, this act gave rise to the “sub prime” mortgage industry that is at the heart of the current financial crisis. Congress passed a $700 Billion dollar “bail-out” bill to shore-up the financial institutions from complete collapse. The saddest thing is that many of the low/moderate income families that this act was meant to help are losing their homes in foreclosure and declaring bankruptcy. Now their credit records are ruined and THEY STILL DON'T OWN A HOUSE!!

Objective News

2008-09-09T10:41:00.000-07:00

I believe the American public is being ill served by their information sources today. There is no longer objectivity in news reporting. Every so-called “news” organization whether TV, radio or print purports to be objective but indeed have biased agendas and often lie to promote their agenda. Some are worse than others, like NYT, CNN, CBS and NBC who want the public to think they are objective so you will rely on them for information even if it is untrue. On the other hand there are talk shows like Hardball (Chris Mathews) Limbaugh, Hannity and internet blogs like Daily Koss and Moveon.org. that make no pretense of objectivity. They too lie openly to promote their agenda but, knowing their biases, their lies are obvious and transparent. So what is a thinking person to do to get reliable information to form their conclusions? DO NOT rely on a single source for information. Be skeptical of all sources claiming to be objective. If you want both sides of every issue you have to work for it and listen/watch sources with competing agendas. Most people are too busy to watch/listen to one information source much less multiple sources. These people often rely on Saturday Night Live or David Letterman as their only source of political information. Is it any wonder that we now have two deeply flawed presidential candidates?

Are You Open Minded?

2008-07-14T16:10:00.000-07:00

Recently I was accused (subtly) of not being open minded by a dear liberal friend. Referring to the Bush administration her exact quote was : “---unless you have an open mind and can look at the "real story" or :"the rest of the story" there isn't any use even telling you about it.” That got me thinking about what it means to be open minded and whether I am open minded? The definition of someone who has an open mind (per Wikipetia) is: “Someone who has an open mind is receptive to new ideas or information.” I think most people, including myself, think they are receptive to new ideas and ARE open-minded. I think I am receptive to new ideas because I actively seek and contemplate new ideas. For example, I listen intently to liberal and conservative propaganda from John McLaughlin, George Stephanopoulos, Chris Matthews, Dan Rather, Chris Wallace, Brit Hume and others. Being receptive to ideas is vastly different than accepting and embracing them. I, like many people, including my dear liberal friend, have deeply held PRINCIPLES. I actively seek and contemplate new ideas but if they are not in concert with my principles I reject them. That does not make me less open minded. Just because I am open minded does not mean I have to accept and embrace all new ideas. Can a person with deeply held principles be open minded? What do you think?

The Perfect Couple

2008-07-10T20:40:00.000-07:00

After reading Marcel's latest posting about food it caused me to think of my own eating habits. I am reminded that Nancy and I are a perfect match, she loves to cook and I love to eat. If it wasn't for biking and golf I would go back to my pre-retirement weight. LIFE IS GOOD!

With Liberty and Justice For All

2008-07-04T08:55:00.000-07:00

One of the BIG advantages of living in La La Land is the great entertainment opportunities. Last night Nancy and I witnessed a wonderful show at the Hollywood Bowl that culminated in a spectacular fireworks display.

There are few places in the world where you can enjoy a picnic meal, wine and an evening of entertainment OUTDOORS without being pestered by mosquitoes, flies or other insects in a comfortable shirt sleeve environment. LIFE IS GOOD!

HYPOCRITE (2)

2008-06-18T06:44:00.000-07:00

Energy Guzzled by Al Gore’s Home in Past Year Could Power 232 U.S. Homes for a Month Gore’s personal electricity consumption up 10%.

NASHVILLE - In the year since Al Gore took steps to make his home more energy-efficient, the former Vice President’s home energy use surged more than 10%, according to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. “A man’s commitment to his beliefs is best measured by what he does behind the closed doors of his own home,” said Drew Johnson, President of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. “Al Gore is a hypocrite and a fraud when it comes to his commitment to the environment, judging by his home energy consumption.” In the past year, Gore’s home burned through 213,210 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, enough to power 232 average American households for a month.

One Good Reason To Vote For McCain

2008-05-30T07:37:00.000-07:00

SUSAN SARANDON, who appeared in three films last year and won kudos for her TV movie "Bernard and Doris," is still not a contented soul. She says if John McCain gets elected, she will move to Italy or Canada.

Audacity Of Congress

2008-05-20T15:18:00.000-07:00

While liberals in the US, including Sierra Club, have successfully lobbied congress to prevent domestic oil exploration, today the House has the AUDACITY to pass a law allowing the US to sue OPEC countries "---for limiting oil supplies---" (see below). That law should be extended to include liberal congressmen and the Sierra Club! Why should other countries be expected to do what we in the US will not do!! Idiots!!

House passes bill to sue OPEC over oil prices

By Tom Doggett WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation on Tuesday allowing the Justice Department to sue OPEC members for limiting oil supplies and working together to set crude prices, but the White House threatened to veto the measure. The bill would subject OPEC oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela, to the same antitrust laws that U.S. companies must follow. SEE COMPLETE NEWS ARTICLE

FINALLY!!

2008-04-27T08:20:00.000-07:00

LA has had one of the coldest winters on record even though angelinos have been doing their part to generate as much greenhouse gas as possible. We drive more SUVs than ever and we have been burning a record amount of gasoline. It’s finally working. Today we expect a record setting temperature of 101 degrees. Our faith in Al Gore is restored!

Thomas Sowell

2008-04-09T07:07:00.000-07:00

I love reading Thomas Sowell's writings ever since Marcel introduced me to them a few years ago. Here are some of his latest "Random Thoughts":

Most of the problems of this country are not nearly as bad as the "solutions" — especially the solutions that politicians come up with during election years.

Senator John McCain could never convince me to vote for him. Only Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama can cause me to vote for McCain.

One way to reduce illegal immigration might be to translate some of our far left publications into Spanish and give everyone in Mexico subscriptions. After they read how terrible this country is, many may want to stay away.

It is amazing to me that there are people who still take seriously claims by some candidates that they are against "special interests." All politicians are against their opponents' special interests and in favor of his own special interests.

Among the many wise things said by the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan was that you are entitled to your own opinion, but not to your own facts. Yet an incredible number of people make up whatever "facts" are needed to support whatever they choose to believe.

HATE MONGER

2008-03-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

Guy on Wright: Hate monger, race baiter.

Guy on far left: Naive. After 20 years I never knew and by the way, I did not have sex with that woman either.

HYPOCRITE

2008-03-10T19:15:00.000-07:00

hypocrite: a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.

More than almost any other trait I despise hypocrisy the most whether it is a governor of New York, a Senator of Idaho, a female (BS) singing star or a former vise president. Invariably they lecture how you should act while they are unwilling to follow their own preachings.

GLOBAL COOLING!!!

2008-02-11T17:25:00.000-08:00

It seems that not every scientist is part of Al Gore's mythical "consensus”. In 1991 the Danish Meteorological Institute released a study using data that went back centuries that showed that global temperatures closely tracked solar cycles. Now, Canadian scientists are studying our sun, which has a bigger impact on Earth's climate than all the tailpipes and smokestacks on our planet combined. And they're now worried about global COOLING!! According to Kenneth Tapping, a solar researcher and project director for Canada's National Research Council, solar activity, which fluctuates in 11-year cycles, has been disturbingly quiet during the current cycle. This lack of increased activity could signal the beginning of what is known as a Maunder Minimum, an event which occurs every couple of centuries and can last as long as a century. Such an event occurred in the 17th century and corresponded with a period of bitter cold that began around 1650 and lasted until 1715. Frigid winters and cold summers during that period led to massive crop failures, famine and death in Northern Europe. Tapping warns that if the sun remains quiet for another year or two, it may indicate a repeat of that period of drastic cooling of the Earth, bringing massive snowfall and severe weather to the Northern Hemisphere. The biggest impact on the Earth's climate over time has been the sun. There is excellent correlations between the regular fluctuations of the sun and earthly climate according to R. Timothy Patterson, professor of geology and director of the Ottawa-Carleton Geoscience Center of Canada's Carleton University. A Hoover Institution Study a few years back examined historical data and came to the conclusion that "The effects of solar activity and volcanoes are impossible to miss.” "---try as we might, we simply could not find any relationship between industrial activity, energy consumption and changes in global temperatures." according to Hoover fellow Bruce Berkowitz . The study concludes that if you shut down all the world's power plants and factories, "there would not be much effect on global temperatures." Note: This was exerpted from an article in Investers Business Daily. If you care to see the complete article go to: http://ibdeditorial.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=287279412587175

MAY DAY! MAY DAY!

2008-02-08T06:53:00.000-08:00

That's me falling to the ground about 5 years ago.

CHINESE WINTER

2008-02-06T17:35:00.000-08:00

China is having the harshest winter weather in decades. My suggestion to them is they need to do what we do here in America. BUY MORE SUVs TO CREATE MORE GREENHOUSE GASSES. This should solve their problem. Oh wait; they already produce more greenhouse gasses than any other country in the world. Oh well, maybe manmade greenhouse gases are not the source of global warming after all. Maybe I should create a documentary. I understand a former vice president has made a fortune this way.

Bigotry In America

2008-01-26T20:05:00.000-08:00

Bigotry is alive and well in America and it’s bilateral. Today 80% of black South Carolina democratic voters voted for Barack Obama but only 21% of white democratic voters voted for him. Even 79% of black women voted for Barack over Hillary. Other than his color, what is it that black voters see in Obama that is not apparent to white voters? Not much I think. Color is the dominant discriminator in BOTH cases. Is this any way to select the potential future leader of the free world?

All Hail Has Broken Loose

2008-01-24T11:10:00.000-08:00

Climatologists predicted that in 2008 Southern California will have one of the hottest and driest winters in many years. However, we’ve have had more rain so far this season then all of last season and well above the average to date. In 23 years living in the Los Angeles area it snowed only once and hailed only 4 times. However, today we got a good sized HAIL STORM lasting almost half an hour. All this convinces me that so-called climatologists are incapable of predicting one year in advance much less 10 to 20 years. Does anyone know what climatologists predicted 20 years ago about the present? They were predicting man made GLOBAL COOLING. As Bill Clinton says: “GIVE ME A BREAK.”

Wii-itis

2008-01-20T11:44:00.000-08:00

Wii is now the fasting selling video game because it not only appeals to children but also is a big hit with adults and senior citizens. The Wii games (bowling, tennis, golf, boxing etc. etc.) require the player to use there arms and legs to swing a virtual tennis racket or throw a virtual bowling ball. And therein lies the problem. There is a new ailment out there called Wii-itis. It is caused by overusing your Nintendo Wii video game. Some players (mostly seniors) overuse previously unused/underused muscles leading to pain similar to carpel tunnel syndrome. I played Wii bowling with my grandson Gregory (12 years old). Even though I lost it is a fun, challenging game. I wonder how long before Nintendo gets sued for selling an attractive nuisance and medicare gets swamped with Wii-itis claims!!

Bangladesh Cyclone Deaths

2007-11-16T17:29:00.000-08:00

On tonight’s news we learned that a Cyclone in Bangladesh killed 580 people and in 1998 another Cyclone KILLED 158,000 PEOPLE!!! All this death and destruction occurred without the incompetence of a FEMA and incompetent Louisiana and New Orleans government. Just imagine how many more would have died if they had a Ray Nagin as their mayor.

When All Is Said and Done

2007-09-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

A while ago I saw the results of a study on the effects of various political parties in power versus the stock market performance. The conclusion was that the stock market has historically gone higher when the Democrats are in power than when the Republicans are in power. However, the stock market has had it’s best historical performance when power is split between the parties for example a Republican President and a Democrat Congress or visa versa. The study concludes that a split government causes gridlock resulting in little new legislation, which is best for the stock market and, presumably, the economy. You may have heard the adage “When all is said and done, more will have been said then done.” A split government results in lots being said but little being done which is ideal for the economy and stock market performance.

Feeding The Soul

2007-08-28T22:32:00.000-07:00

I’ve heard that food feeds the body, books feed the mind and music feeds the soul. Tonight our souls are well fed. We attended our fourth live outdoor concert on the Redondo Beach pier. These concerts are held every Saturday and Tuesday nights all summer long for a total of 19 concerts. No two concerts have the same genre and they always include audience dancing. The genre tonight was Zydeco and one of the audience dancers was almost as entertaining as the live music. What a great benefit of Southern California living.

Extremism (what I believe)

2007-08-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

One of Merriam-Webster’s definitions of extreme is: “exceeding the ordinary, usual, or expected” I note lately that it is increasingly difficult to discuss the “ordinary, usual, or expected” without being contradicted by well meaning but misguided people who focus on the extremes. I am as guilty as anyone else. We tend to be the product of our environment that forms our beliefs and our judgments. Some people are influenced by daily newscasts, some by pop culture, some by their personal daily contacts, some are influenced by all or a combination of the above. A case in point is the impression of Muslims. If you watch daily newscasts you see suicide bombers, kidnappings and beheadings by Muslims on a daily basis. It would be reasonable to conclude that Muslims are violent fanatics. If you are exposed to Muslims in the US on a daily basis you see peaceful, gentle, hardworking people. It would be reasonable to conclude that Muslims are peaceful, gentle and hardworking people. I believe both of these views are in the extreme and do not represent the “ordinary, usual, or expected”. I believe that Muslims in the US are not representative of the vast majority of Muslims who happen to reside in countries that are governed by Islamic law. All of these countries are autocracies and most are theocracies. (Note that some of these countries CLAIM to be democracies but they are no more democratic than was soviet Communist Russia in the 60s that also held elections periodically but surprise, surprise, the communists always won.) This is what I believe: 1. I believe the vast majority of Muslims are very religious and feel so strongly about their religion that they are contented to be governed by people of a like mind. 2. As such, they do not crave freedom as we know it (i.e. freedom of religion and speech). 3. They hate (may be too strong a word) the west because we are non-believers and tolerate decadence. 4. I believe that some verses of the Qur'an in their historical and literary context sanction military action against non-believers as a whole. I also believe some verses of the Bible condone the same thing but there are fewer strict Bibelists (new word) than strict Islamists. This is what I believe based on my environment. What do you believe?

Doublespeak

2007-07-15T15:42:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or has the art of doublespeak gotten out of control. I started thinking about this last month when the sheriff of LA county defended his early release of Paris Hilton unapologetically as a "reassignment to home"!! When people try to disguise their actions or beliefs they seem to find words that are less offensive or less controversial. This is true in all fields of endever especially politics. Anti abortionists call themselves pro-life. I guess the word anti has a negative connotation to some people. Pro abortionists are not any better. They call themselves pro-choice. Probably because the word abortion has a negative connotation. I don't think people that call themselves pro choice are any more pro choice than the people who call themselves pro life are really pro life. Here are some recent examples of doublespeak: redeploy rather than retreat revenue enhancement rather than tax increase investment rather than spending fairness doctrine rather than free speech suppression rightsizing rather than layoffs undocumented worker rather than illegal alien recycle collection area rather than junk yard negative patient care outcome rather than died ethnic cleansing rather than genocide Doublespeak is not new by any means. Here are some historical examples: pre-owned rather than used passed away rather than died sales associate rather than clerk friendly fire rather than fratricide mentally challenged rather than retarded sanatation engineer rather than garbage collector maintenance engineer rather than janitor Do you think doublespeak is getting worse? What are some of your favorite doublespeaks?

Sixth Sense

2007-05-31T22:23:00.000-07:00

We just returned from 3 days in Las Vegas. Stayed at The Orleans on Tropicana Ave. again. We really like that hotel. The rooms are huge and clean, service is good (not like Sean's cafeteria) and they have a great buffet (although we use it less and less as our appetites diminish). We have stayed there so often they send us special deals on rooms, meals and shows. Already made reservations for this September. Did not attend a show this time but did our share of slots, shopping and walking. Nancy bought me a new driver for my birthday next month. Can't wait to use it tomorrow. Our gambling losses were well within expectations thanks mainly to Nancy. She amazes me at how she can walk up to a machine occasionally and know it is about to pay off saying "This one is talking to me.". It does not happen often but when she gets that feeling she is usually right. An amazing sixth sense!

Spoiled Brat

2007-05-10T07:27:00.000-07:00

Paris Hilton

Paris is a pathetic character whose parents gave her everything she wanted and now they are defending her actions claiming that police are just picking on her.
I think Warren Buffett said about inheritance: You should leave children as much as they need to do whatever they want but not so much that they can do nothing. Hear Hear

Ticking Time Bombs

2007-04-23T16:09:00.000-07:00

ONE HAS ALREADY GONE OFF

ANOTHER IS STILL TICKING

Enough Enough Already

2007-04-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

I could hardly believe my ears! This morning Harry Smith of CBS Early Show reporting from Vtech used the term "enough already" describing all the extensive reporting of the Vtech shooting. Seems like even the so called news commentators are getting exhausted with the overly excessive coverage. Think they will change their ways? Yeah right. Not as long as we the people continue to watch.

Enough Already!

2007-04-17T19:28:00.000-07:00

I really sympathize with the families and friends of the 32 people murdered at Vtech. I cannot imagine how I would feel if this happened to one of our kids while they were in college. Having said that, I am amazed at how the rest of the world came to a complete stand still today. If you watch the evening news by NBC, CBS, and ABC Vtech is the only newsworthy event today. Hard to believe given Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Gonzalez, Imus, global warming, etc. etc. All these items stood down today so that we could focus entirely on Vtech.

Our Most Precious Wards

2007-03-31T19:13:00.000-07:00

Today Nancy told me of a news article about a woman who, worried about the pet food scare, cooks all her dog’s food from scratch. It is a lot of work since she has to insure her dog has a balanced diet including meats, fish, fruits and vegetables. In addition to the extra shopping time there is the preparation, serving, cleaning and storing. Nancy theorized that the woman does not do as much for her own children. I told Nancy that I thought the woman was justified. After all, the dog never talks back, is always happy to see you when you come home, never disappoints you (after being house broken) and appreciates everything you do for it. Nancy replied: “ Yeah but the dog can never give you grand kids.”