Greed

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

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

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?

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

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

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)

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.