O'Reilly was right, Barney Frank is to Blame!

While we’re not out of this mess yet, the investigative dust is starting to settle.  In the Wall Street Journal article “Blame Fannie Mae and Congress For the Credit Mess”, Charles W. Calomiris and Peter J. Wallison do a great job outlining how we got into this mess.  It seems that back when we had a Republican controlled congress some fairly savvy congressmen saw this looming disaster and tried to enact legislation to stop it.  Well they were unable to pass the proposals due to staunch partisan Democrat opposition centering around their socialist attitude towards financial equality.  The Democrat scheme to increase sub-prime loans as a method to create “affordable housing” would have been stopped by this bill or at least would have added some sanity to the lending practice.  After the power swap as a result of the last election, the Republicans concern on this matter was squelched and the impending Democrat created train-wreck that we’re dealing with now is the result. 

As I said in my earlier post, there’s little we can do at out levels to make a difference in how we proceed.  The one thing we have, the one thing we should cherish is our vote.  You cannot imagine how important your one vote is.  We need to vote these idiots out of power so we can get some sanity back in our government.  Who voted to create this mess?  Who sat there in those hearings a few years ago and said there wasn’t a problem?  As the flashlight of blame focuses its beam who will be highlighted the most?  Those are the folks that we should be removing and the first one to leave should be Barney Frank.  I ask you right now Mr. Frank, resign your position and take responsibility for your action.  You should be in prison for the mess you have created for the rest of us in this country to clean up.

In the article they talk about folks on both sides of this fight.  Yes, both candidates are mentioned; John McCain tried to get the legislation passed, Barack Obama did his normal and sat on the sidelines doing nothing. There’s a few other names mentioned but I would assume that all of the current Democrat leadership is responsible as well as some Republicans.  I haven’t had time to research the names but when I find them I will post them so we can boot these folks so they don’t ruin our future any more.  Fiscal conservatism is bi-partisan and an attribute claimed by both sides of the fence.  We need that attitude back in Washington. 

Bailout Bill Voting Record

We all here about the votes in Washington but do you really know who voted which way? Recently we had a vote on the Wall Street bailout bill; something that I was against.  You might find it interesting who voted for or against the bill (I know I did).  Below are the results for Texas but you can check out the complete list at the Senate and House website.

Senate overall vote:  Yea - 74         Nay - 25          Not Voted - 1

• Cornyn (R-TX), Yea  
• Hutchison (R-TX), Yea

House overall vote: Yea - 263       Nay - 171

Yea:    Republican – 6         Democrat - 9

• Kevin Brady (R)
• Michael Conaway (R)
• Henry Cuellar (D)
• Chet Edwards (D)
• Charles Gonzalez (D)
• Kay Granger (R)
• Al Green (D)
• Ruben Hinojosa (D)
• Sheila Jackson-Lee (D)
• Eddie Johnson (D)
• Solomon Ortiz (D)
• Silvestre Reyes (D)
• Pete Sessions (R)
• Lamar Smith (R)
• Mac Thornberry (R)

Nay:    Republican – 13       Democrat – 4

• Joe Barton (R)
• Michael Burgess (R)
• John Carter (R)
• John Culberson (R)
• Lloyd Doggett (D)
• Louie Gohmert (R)
• Gene Green (D)
• Ralph Hall (R)
• Jeb Hensarling (R)
• Sam Johnson (R)
• Nicholas Lampson (D)
• Kenny Marchant (R)
• Michael McCaul (R)
• Randy Neugebauer (R)
• Ron Paul (R)
• Ted Poe (R)
• Ciro Rodriguez (D)

Repeatedly in this blog I have urged you to be an educated voter.  While I do care which way you vote, when you vote I think you should be informed as to what your voting for.  Your vote is your decision but make that decision for the right reason.  Now in case you didn't figure it out I normally vote Republican but sometimes I vote outside of the party for various reasons.  This bill is one of those reasons.  I cannot in good conscience vote for someone who voted for this bill.  The bill pushes us closer to the precipice of socialism while I think we should be decreasing government involvement in our life.   We are a free market economy, we tout that philosophy around the world as the best way to be and punish those that disagree with us.  One of the prime tenets of a free market economy is that the value of the market is a direct reflection of the true value of it workers and businesses.  With us bailing out all these businesses we’re telling the world that our plan works “most” of the time but when it doesn't governments should step in.  Is this the message we want to tell the world?  Isn’t this what happens in a socialist society?  A strong government is an indicator of a strong economy but a government can’t create a strong economy, we do (the people).  I disagree with the doom and gloom forecasts that we were warned of.  I think we had some “chicken little” leaders who failed to correctly read the tea-leaves of markets.  Now we’re stuck with even more debt, even more government controls, and even more foreign influence in our country.  We should have let the market do what it was going to do and picked up the pieces when it was over.  That’s what we’ve done before and we were stronger because of it. 

If you agree with me then look at who voted for this socialist regulation and get them out of office.  Our country can recover but we need sound and strong leadership to do it, NOT the cowards who forced this crap onto us. 

Obama + Odinka + Ayers + Wright + ????

On my way home from work today I caught a snipit from Hannity regarding the ousting of writer Jerome Corsi from Kenya. Mr Corsi was in Kenya researching facts for his book "The Obama Nation" and apparently stepped on a few toes and was "asked" to leave. So what was the problem?  What was mr Corsi researching?  Well during the interview Mr Corsi went on to tell Sean that he was researching the connection between Senator Barack Obama and Mr Raila Odinga, the Prime Minister of Kenya.  Sounds legitimate enough right?  Well as usual once you peal the onion, things start getting a disconcerting.  Here is a Youtube video of a CNN broadcast regarding Mr Odinga:

The video explains fairly well that Mr Odinga reputation isn't the best in the world but that's the way things are in some parts of the world.  You have to ask yourself though, do we want that type of action here in the United States?  Check out Mr Odinga's own website: Don't worry to much with the rhetoric but look at what's written, doesn't this look eerily like Obama's campagn adds?  Change Change Change!  Mr Corsi told Sean Hannity that there where high level communications between Mr Odinga's 2007 campaign and Senator Obama's campaign.  I think it's probably so, the proof is all over both of their slogans and talking points.  So what else did Mr Obama learn from Odinga?  How about the aftermath when Odinga lost the election?  There's already talk of this possibility; after last nights debate James Carvel on CNN expressed this very concern.

Between the connection with ex-Weathermen Bill Ayers, wanna-be dictator Raila Odinga, and whacko preacher Jeremiah Wright; Barack Obama has some pretty radical friends. It makes me wonder who else is waiting in the wings.  What other radical group does Mr Obama have connections with?  In one of the debates Mr Obama told us that he would meet the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea with out preconditions.  Why would he do that when he knows these are self expressed enemy's of our country all of which seek the downfall of our country.  This country does not and should not conduct a foreign policy that legitimizes governments hellbent on our downfall.  But based on all these other associations Mr Obama has had in his life why wouldn't he also seek out the guidance of the rest of the worlds radicals. 

This is a track record that needs to be explored in Senator Obama.  His past actions and associations are indicators on how he will lead our country and with whom he will seek guidance on how to do it.  I've said this before and I will say it again.  Don't vote on passion, vote on facts.  Do the research on the person you want to vote for and let your conscience be your guide.

Is Posse Comitatus Dead?

I ran into a few articles today regarding an upcoming deployment of the 1st Infantry Division. Apparently their destination is the United States. This will be the first time since the Civil War that a military unit will be "deployed" within the U.S. borders with a mission other than training. Is this a conflict with the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878? I'm sure not the person to say one way or another; that will be left up to the smart folks in the Justice Department. However; I do have an opinion on it.

What is the problem with deploying forces within the U.S.? Well there's the obvious reason that initiated the Act after the Civil War but those reasons aren't in existence in today's world. We have a standing police force that is well equipped to handle any civil disturbance if it was to rear it's ugly head. But what of the real mission of the Army defending the U.S.? Yes, folks that's why this is coming around. In today's world of terrorist imposed micro-conflicts, it's a smart idea to have a force ready to go in a moments notice to defend us if a terrorist was to try something here at home. Suitcase nukes, dirty bombs, and chemical and biological weapons can devastate our homeland while our Army is focused overseas. Wouldn't it be smart to have someone providing defense at home for these threats? The time of large standing forces threatening our country is pretty much over but that doesn't mean we're not threatened. We need to adapt our force to handle these new threats; threats that do exist, threats that we live with every day.

Police forces are there to enforce the law but are being asked to do more and more defense type of missions. Terrorists don't normally break laws until they blow something up so the pursuit of this enemy by the Police could be construed as a conflict. Yes, I know we have laws about planning terrorist acts but they're pretty broad and hard to enforce. Although these people have declared war on us, we still treat them as criminals and they're not, they are enemy forces in our country to bring down us. The ultimate goal of terrorist forces is the same as if we had an enemy countries army within our borders; the downfall of our way of life. Defending us against this type of threat IS the mission of the Army folks.

Posse Comitatus isn't dead folks. The law has evolved just is our country has evolved and does still have some relevance however the law does have two sides. While it does limit the involvement of the Army in criminal enforcement it also somewhat defines the role of the Police. So let's do what Posse Comitatus intended and let the Police do their job of enforcing our laws, and let the Army do it's job of defending the country.

There's a ton of new pictures at my Picassa site.  Check them out.

What's my Palin name?

Yes, the Palins have a strange way of naming their children.  If I was named by the Palins my name would be:

Falter Locust Palin

If you want to find out what the Palins would have named you check out the blog. :)

Book Banning! Holy Crap it's Fahrenheit 451 all over!

So what is the temperature at which liberals burn?  Well it seems that it's pretty much whatever they want it to be.  In their latest attempt to bring down Sarah Palin, they've resulted to creationism. Creating lies that is; read on...

As I watched FOXnews this afternoon they had a few talking heads on to discuss the election. And, as usual, the discussion turns to how bad Gov Palin will be for the country and how her track record supports their point.  This time the brought up an event early on in the Governor's Mayoral stint in Wasilla when she asked a question of the city librarian concerning some books people had had "issues" with.  This story originally ran in the Anchorage Daily News on Sept 4th, 2008 and outlined events that had happened 12 years earlier.  The story tries to repeatedly find a connection between a discussion at a city council meeting between then Mayor Palin and the librarian and a supposed request from the Mayors office for the librarians resignation.  Well as I've said many times there's a lot more to this than what this left wing rag wants you to think.

After more research I found an article from a more conservative Blog regarding the incident. Michelle Malkin wrote an opposing article concerning the incident and it seems did a better job of putting the events in a more balanced light.  She even went so far as to post the list of the supposed planned books to be banned.  Here's the problem; some of the books on the list weren't even published at the time the events happened. Wow, how could that be?  I'm sure that ADN.com couldn't have been that gullible to be taken in like this.  Well they never actually posted the list, this was found out later on when some of the original sources where pressed a little harder. It seems the lists is from a group at the Florida Institute of Technology and has nothing what so ever to do with Governor Palin.  Yes it's a group against banning book but I don't think there's a FIT-Wasilla, AK connection.  

So what is the bottom line here?  I suspect that this all started because someone got their feelings hurt because she was asked to resign.  Then, the anti-McCain/Palin crowd latched onto it trying to twist it somehow to make the Republican candidate look like a jack-booted Nazi thug.  This is a tired tactic that doesn't work on the educated voter.  The writers use fear mongering to create a disingenuous account of events and their actions are downright despicable.  Shame on them.

No, Ray Bradbury's vision of the future isn't coming.  No, we don't have a new Hitler running in the election.  No Mrs. Palin isn't the anti-christ.  And no, the apocalypse isn't going to happen if the Republicans get elected.  So don't let the chicken-little liberal get away with this smear campaign; be an educated voter, do some research and make up your own mind.

Pork Invaders

Check out this McCain game:

And who says he's out of touch with America? Using an '80s video game to make a point! Brilliant!

Have fun with it but please go to his website and get the truth about the campaign.

Saw this on the internet today: July 11 2008 JONES, EUGENE Eugene (Gene) Jones of Westminster, 86, husband of Frances (Fran), father of Pamela (Pam) Jones-Gonzales, grandfather of Andrew Jones-Gonzales. Visitation Friday 4:00P-7:00P at Horan and McConaty Mortuary, 9998 Grant St., Thornton. Memorial Mass Monday 11:00AM at Spirit of Christ Catholic Community, 7400 W. 80th Ave., Arvada. Inurnment Ft. Logan National Cemetery. Gene was a damn good man; he'll be missed by all that knew him. I wish I would have known about this earlier. :(

Political Hay or a Real Problem?

As I was watching Fox news today they ran a story regarding how much the Political Action Committee (PAC) representing Fannie May and Freddy Mac had contributed to certain Democratic members. They're stance was the top recipients of this money was all Democrat specifically the number 2 person, Senator Barak Obama. Well folks, this isn't my first rodeo so the news wasn't any surprise to me; however I thought it was interesting so I did a little checking myself.  Yes it was as it was reported, the top 6 folks are Democrat but guess what; there are over 350 names on the list. I found the website they had cited as their source (OpenSecrets.Com) and found the entire list and it became very obvious to me that while they had reported correctly they hadn't told they whole story. Here's some data I thought you'd want to see:

Place	Name	Office	Party	Grand Total
1	Dodd, Christopher J	S	D	$165,400
2	Obama, Barack	S	D	$126,349
3	Kerry, John	S	D	$111,000
4	Bennett, Robert F	S	R	$107,999
5	Bachus, Spencer	H	R	$103,300
6	Blunt, Roy	H	R	$96,950
7	Kanjorski, Paul E	H	D	$96,000
8	Bond, Christopher S 'Kit'	S	R	$95,400
9	Shelby, Richard C	S	R	$80,000
10	Reed, Jack	S	D	$78,250
62	McCain, John	S	R	$21,550
217	Biden, Joseph R Jr	S	D	$3,300

 

Now I only put in the top 10 and then McCain and Biden but do you notice something interesting here? The game is tied folks! 6 Dems, 6 GOPs! So what does this tell us? Well since I downloaded the entire list I did some number crunching to see what other truths I could gleam from the data.

If you broke of the money by party it comes out to 42% GOP, 57% Democrat, and 1% Independent. If you changed it around and looked to see if there was a difference between the House and Senate; House 55% and Senate 45%. Hmmm, it looks like the PAC knows how to do math too; remember, Democrats are the Majority right now and, as we all know, the House has more people than the Senate. So do the Democrats have a larger problem, does the house? Nope, they're all equal opportunity leaches.

Now I do have to say it is rather troubling to me to see Senator Obama's name so high on the list considering his time in the Senate but that's not really the point to all of this. So what is the point… None of us should take what we hear on the news as gospel. If we want to know the real truth we need to look for ourselves especially if it's particularly damning towards one person. Don't follow the hype folks, become free thinkers, take responsibility for your own knowledge.

Upcoming Election

Just in case ya'll are wondering, I'm voting for McCain this November. Why? Well for one I've been a Republican for a long time now but mostly because of his track record and some things he's done recently. McCain's track record speaks for itself; his service in the military, his service in the House, and his service in the Senate has all portrayed this fine American as the true leader he is. While Obama talks about needing "change" McCain exudes leadership in way Obama can only dream of. McCains TV add on the day of Obama's nomination congratulating him on reaching this point was profound. It shows McCains ability to put politics aside and do what's right. Was there any response like that from Obama on McCains nomination? No, only more tired democratic rhetoric. When it came to selecting a running mate Obama thought it was correct to choose an entrenched liberal Senator, McCain selected a fresh face. Look at Bidens stance and track record on the important issues of our times ad you'll see the same failed Democrat positions of the past. Granted Palin is a much more conservative Republican than McCain is but she has been fixing the problems in Alaska that mirror our nations problems. She brings to the plate new solutions to old problems, not the tried and failed Democrat solutions of Biden and Obama. So who is the better candidate? Who is showing leadership and not just talk? Who is really demonstrating an ability to facilitate change? You know my answer; do the research and make up your own mind. I welcome your responses.

On-Line Life

So what is your on-line life? With the advent of on-line gaming, social networks, chat rooms, and surfing there's so much on-line now that we use to define ourselves. Currently I've got a Facebook account, MySpace account (that was on the wane though), and a couple of blogs. While I've created all these things I do realize that there's a lot of information out there that people can read or see about me. If you're a frequenter to those site you know that I'm married, have kids and even know my dogs name. I've made friends all over the world, and yes, some enemy's but have never actually met any of them. So what did I do before all this? What has access to the internet created in me that I didn't have before? Not much actually, read on... When I was younger I always had a hard time making casual friends. I always had one or two that I felt close to and their still friends of mine today. Folks like JC Tallman, David Day, Dave Stock, Jay Fox, and Tim Strickland are some of the ones that have been my closest friends and I still keep in contact with many of them. The level of friends that I'm talking about is the casual friends, the ones you had because you where a member of a group, or organization. Those are the ones that I've always had issues with. There's probably a few reasons for this, first tend to shy aways from groups because I don't feel I need them to identify myself, and secondly me devotion to the people I felt where close to me. That's a little vague but let me explain using a different type of relationship. Being that I'm a guy I have real problems having girls as friends without wanting the relationship to turn sexual. Whenever I have a girls as a friend, there always reaches a point in the relationship where I want more than mere friendship. Even as a teenager I wanted girls as girlfriends not casual friends. Those that I did have as girlfriends I wanted to become even more; in other words I fell in love with every girl. This inability of mine to see what the relationship potential actually was caused me to drive a lot of very nice girls away. For guys however I have this same desire to be the best friend possible but since love isn't in the equation there's no desire to make it any more than that. So what does that have to do with my on-line life? I now have more casual friends than I know what to do with but it's been difficult to realize what type of friend they really are. Lately Facebook has been occupying a lot of my on-line time. I really like the game applications like Homeworld, Mob Wars, and Knighthood. I never got involved with other on-line gaming schemes like World of Warcraft, so this is rather new to me. What I've found though is a whole world of casual friends. Maybe one or two might turn into the close friend category but chances are thin. I'm liking things the way they are though, here's a group of people whom I have something in common with but there's no responsibility to any of them for anything other than playing a game. I know that last sentence seems shallow on my part but this type of relationship is the norm on the internet. When I was younger (before the internet) friends where made be meeting people. Normally this was by working with them, going to school or church together, or living next to someone. We also used to have "pen-pals" that could have been anywhere in the world but only the most outgoing people put the time in to write the letters. Now we have a world wide web of users that have replaced the "pen-pal". social networks like Facebook and MySpace have created an easy way for anyone to meet folks from all around the world. I now have friends in Australia, Great Briton, Hong Kong, Japan, and elsewhere. You name it and I've probably have talked with someone from that country. 30 years ago when I was in high school, to have this level of world wide contact was unfathomable. Even if you had a few pen-pals it wouldn't be anything close to the variety on-line social network give us. Yes there's some whack-O's out there but for the most part people are what-you-see-is-what-you-get. I know that most of these people I'll never actually meet but I sure do enjoy their company. I also know that if I travel around the world that I at least know someone. So what's in the future for us? In 20 years are we going to have virtual relationships that are taken to the next level? Will we have virtual marriages between folks that never really meet? I don't think it'll get that bad but I will say your on-line life will probably play a bigger part in your social life as the internet matures. Who knows maybe you will meet the love of your life half a world away. Not me however, my best friend and the love of my life is living with me now. we didn't meet on-line we met in person, shooting pool in a bar, like normal people do.

Leadership Funk

For those of you that where wondering, I've been in a little bit of a funk the past year. Last June I deployed for 4 months; during that deployment I had to deal with the death of a co-worker which made for some of the worst times in my professional career. While I realize now that the deployment was going poorly from the start, at the time I felt that his death was the catalyst for all the bad karma we experienced. What I've come to realize is that it was poor leadership at all levels, including mine, that let the deployment go sour. While I do put the majority of the blame for all the problems we endured on our commanders shoulders all of us in leadership positions had a hand in the declining moral. Even though we had a bad apple, it took a team to make us all feel like failures. Where I failed was not recognizing where the problem was and therefor was not able to help in fixing the problem. I'm not sure what the solution to that problem was other than time but now if I ever see it happen again I'm going to do my damnedest to stop it. This spring I was able to experience a deployment with a different leadership package. Initially I wasn't supposed to go but at the last minute I had to go to replace someone with personal issues the prevented him from going. I was very concerned about having to go and re-experience all those problems again but I really didn't have a way to "not go". This time however the experience was totally different. First; we didn't have a traumatic loss to deal with so that was one huge issue we didn't have to deal with. Secondly; we had a much more charismatic commander who had the best interest of each of us and the mission in mind. His leadership abilities and skills trickled do to all of us an the lower levels empowering all of us to do our job better. The entire experience for me was a 180 degree difference for me with respect to the previous deployment. I actually came home feeling better than I left and the experience changed my attitude about whether I can continue doing this job. It pulled me out of the funk I was in and has motivated me to stay around a little longer. The moral to all of this is simple; if you are in a leadership position you must be a leader. Don't let your team fail because of outside influences, and no mater what, maintain your strength. I know that we had some huge influences that created our problems but had we all handled them better we could have turned them into positive influences instead of allowing them to be negative results.

The American Flag

I'm not sure where this came from or who wrote it but I thought it was nice.

I am the American Flag.  I have flown over every conflict since my inception into this world. I have seen the grassy fields of Gettysburg, the waters in the Pacific, the sands of Iraq, the skies over Yugoslavia, and the mountains of Afghanistan.  The mere sight of me invokes tears of joy, pride, and dedication to those who believe in what I stand for.  I also provoke fear into the heart of nations of those who oppose me.  I know no gender or race, and accept all who will accept me.  I am no God, but hold a bond over men and women who serve under me that is equal.  I have no voice, but people listen.  I cover a nation with hope and vision, and sadly blanket those who have given us the same.  Of all the nations and all the flags, none makes it’s presence known as I.  I am a leader among leaders.  I encompass the lives of friends and family, brothers and sisters, the living and the dead.  I will continue to give hope to those who do not understand, and meaning to those who do.  In return for all I can give, I ask for but one thing.  This I cannot tell you, it is something that only you will come to know.  I do ask that you be patient for I am young…and yet stern for I am old.  Proudly display me for all  the world to see, and look to me, and I will show you the past, the present, and the future.  I am committed to you, the children of my country.  I am the American Flag.

Starting College

Well I've finally and officially started college. I'm registered with the American Military University pursuing a BA in Human Relations. The university is all on-line and geared towards the military. I chose this degree because one thing I think I'll enjoy this type of work once I'm a civilian. I feel that it's close enough to the First Sergeant and Flight Chief work I've been doing that I should enjoy it very much. I've done my first essay, here's what I wrote: ___________________________________________________________________ Why did I decide to attend college now? I’ve done a lot of thinking about this question and have come up with several answers; broadening myself as a senior NCO leading to a possible promotion, preparing myself for my upcoming return to the civilian job market, being a positive role model for my college age children, and lastly, to rid myself of this feeling of incompleteness since I haven’t gotten my degree. There are a myriad of other reasons but these are the ones I feel are most important to me. Let me take a closer look into each of these reasons to better explain my motivation. There are many responsibilities associated with being a senior NCO but none are more important than being a positive role model and mentor. We are expected to give career planning guidance to the young the NCOs to include education expectations regarding promotions. The Air Force has recently changed their promotion criteria for the top two enlisted ranks to include a CCAF degree requirement. Without this degree Master Sergeants (like me) will receive such a low promotion score that it takes them out of the running. Some folks don’t care about getting promoted but the point is to be able to show the folks that are working for you how they can be successful in the Air Force. The “do as I say and not as I do” mentality doesn’t work very well and doesn’t make successful Airmen. Another door a degree will open for me is that certain jobs within my career path are offered only to the most promotion eligible NCOs. Jobs such as Chief Instructor, Chief Evaluator, and Flight Chief don’t open up too often and when they do you need to look good on paper in order to be considered. So as you can see not only will the degree make me more competitive for promotion, but it also bolsters my credibility when I’m counseling one of my young Airmen about their education goals. There are several other advantages to having a degree while in the military but the military is only a short phase of my life. Let’s take a look at what college will do for me after my military career is over. The civilian job market isn’t anything new to me; I didn’t join the Air Force until I was 25 years old so I had a lot of experience prior to my military enlistment; but that was several years ago and I’m a much older man now. Knowing that I’m soon going to have to complete a resume to search for a job, I need to make myself look better on paper in order for me to get an edge for a job that pays well enough to support my current lifestyle. If I hadn’t joined the service, more than likely, I would have worked my way up through a company towards a middle management position similar to job I have in the military now. Unfortunately I don’t have the luxury of working my way up the corporate ladder; I need to start in the middle. With a degree and my military experience, I should be able to start at a job as a manager or some type of supervisor at a higher than normal pay grade. Without it, I’d be lucky to start at an entry level position at the lowest pay bracket; a position that would put a lot of pressure on me and my family. This would also put me closer in line with my civilian peers in my age group and life experience level rather than having to start at the bottom. For me though, the most important thing having a degree will give me is allowing me to actually do something that I enjoy rather than just getting whatever job I can get. I’ve gone 22 years now doing something I really enjoy and I don’t want to have to go back to doing something just because it’s the only thing I could find. Work and career is only one aspect of why a degree is important to me. As you can probably figure out I’m not a very young person, In fact I’m 47 years old and have three children. Andrew, my oldest, is a senior at Denver University studying Computer Science, Isabella is 19 years old and pursuing a Political Science degree at West Texas A&M, and Krystina is graduating high school this year and will be attending Angelo State University this fall in pursuit of a teaching degree. I mentioned earlier how important it is for me to be a positive role model to those that work for me and I also feel this is important when it comes to parenthood. I don’t think I’m going to beat Andrew to a degree but he doesn’t need any motivation, my daughters on the other hand look to me leadership in all aspect of their life so I want to show them that attaining a degree is important and achievable. They’ve heard me talk about going to college and how important I feel it is, but I’ve not demonstrated this to them with my actions. This is a problem I need to fix. I mentioned several reasons why I’ve decided to start college mostly pertaining to my career or my family, but what about my internal reasons? What inside me finally motivated me enough to take this step? The answer is simple; I’m tired of procrastinating. I need to get this monkey off my back and get it done. It sounds so simple but I know how difficult it’s going to be, which is why I procrastinated so long; I was dreading the work. I have successfully put up a roadblock to my advancement; I’m not talking about promotion in the military but advancing me as a person. For a long time I was comfortable with who I was but I’ve reevaluated my purpose in life and found that this roadblock has to go. No longer am I going to sit around and blame other people for my inadequacies. This is just the first of many steps I’m taking to make myself an even more successful person. Why did I decide to attend college now? Very simple; I’ve reached a point in my life both professionally and privately that the reasons to start, outweigh the reasons to wait. Having a degree will help me professionally, help my family, and help me during my transition to civilian life. The most important reason however is because it’s something I’ve been putting off for a long time and I want to finish it so I can work on the next challenge life throws at me. We all have to find our own motivation to overcome the roadblocks in our lives, hopefully now you better understand mine.

Manna from Heaven??

So how many of you out there actually think this rebate scheme the government is planning will do any good? My wife and I haven't really discussed what we're going to do with the money but with all our recurring bills I doubt if we're going to be buying anything with it. No, with tuition for two daughters, home upkeep expenses, and property taxes, we really can't afford to go out and spend extra money on anything. For most of the population we live on a payday to payday basis so when extra money comes along we use it to reduce our existing debt, not for to expand our wealth. So if my hypothesis is correct will this scheme really do what it's intended and promote growth in our economy? Makes one wonder... The last time I checked the government is supposed to act as a non-profit agency. If they have money to send out all these checks why do we still have a national debt? Have we been able to create this much extra money to be able to fund this boondoggle? I think not. I've heard the figures surrounding the cost of this plan and I know they're not enough to really make a difference but we're still incurring more debt every day due to Washington's spending habits. Instead of sending out all these checks and increasing our debt even more, why don't they actually try to pay off some of our debt? Wouldn't that help our economy? Our country is slowly eroding it's social benefits because of it's increasing inability to live with it's means. Increasing our debt won't help in that situation. I'm not a big fan of social programs due to their abuse but some really do make a difference in people lives. Increasing our debt will eventually require those programs to be cut even farther. So with all these issues why is the government doing this? The answer is that it's an election year. In reality this plan is no more than voter pandering; and it is some of the most despicable I've ever seen. And it's not just one side that's doing it. Both the Democrats and Republicans have their hands in this one so they can both take credit for it. They've advertised this as a plan to boost our economy but I suspect it will eventually have the opposite effect. What are they going to do next year when we're still in the same boat? How deep in debt will our government go to hide the truth about the economy from it's people. No this plan isn't the answer and has the potential of having some serious long term affect for all of us. I'm not an economist so I won't pretend to have all the answers but it seems to me that if we pay down this huge debt the country, as a whole, would be better off. A few years ago my wife and I where is a similar position; we owed a large amount of money to several agency's. This was mostly because our income level was fairly low and we needed some things just to get by. Due to some changes in my job we found ourselves with the ability to pay off most of our debt and have been able to keep it at bay since then. We still take out an occasional loan for big ticket items but for the most part we're living within our means. What a liberating feeling we've enjoyed since we've become financially free; I can only imagine what it would be like if our country was in this position. Incurring more debt isn't the answer, removing our debt is.

Herk Video

Here's a cool video I hope ya'll enjoy.

Want to make a change?

As I watch the market upheaval today I wonder why all this is happening. Lately there's been a lot of discussion in the world about increasing prices and the devaluing of money. What there isn't one simple solution to any of the worlds woes, one huge contributor is our own inability to accept change. Here's an example of what I'm talking about: How many of you remember your first car? I remember mine, it was a 1977 Chevrolet Chevette. The Chevette was one of Detroit's answers to our desires for cheaper transportation. It was overpriced, underpowered, and unrealistically small. In the 70s Detroit was still the king at making large comfortable cars so when they tried to downsize their efforts were lacking. The Chevette, Vega, Pinto, and Omni all pretty much sucked. You'd be hard pressed to find any of them on the road today but if you look around you'll still see LTDs, Caddies, muscle cars, and pick-ups built in that era still being driven. Why is that? Could it be that people actually like the look, the comfort, or the power these vehicles offered? I think so. Yes these are gas guzzlers but in reality their mileage isn't that much worse than a lot of the new cars coming out now. At it's prime my Chevette would get almost 20 mile per gallon, with a 12 gallon tank I could fill it up on about $10 bucks. Now I have a Honda Civic that gets about 20-25 MPG around the city and it costs me $25 to fill it up. But neither of these cars are comfortable doing a 3-4 hour drive. So what have I gained? Not much. Now my Honda isn't the only car I have in fact it's actually my daughters car now. I have a very nice pick-up, it's very comfortable, but it cost's me a lot to operate it. My wife have been looking at buying a replacement for her mini-van, we really don't need a car that big now but we do enjoy it's creature comforts. When I go out to buy this new vehicle will gas mileage be my #1 concern? No not really, I'll be looking for a comfortable car that I can drive around the country safely and comfortably. Good gas mileage will be a bonus but won't play much into my decision making. I thin that for the majority of the population that will probably ring true. So how does all this play into the markets? Well my theory is this; people don't purchase based on global concerns, people buy things based on their own needs. When I buy my next car I'm not going to fall prey to this malarkey about how I can save the planet if I buy a piece of crap car. I know that in the cooperate world it's all about how to make a profit. Right now corporations aren't seeing the benefit to their profits to create things that will help the global economy or environment. Detroit is still creating gas guzzlers because gas is the easiest way for them to make a profit. It's easy because it's a proven technology. They don't really have to do anything to convince me that there's a better option. If all the auto makers in the world suddenly said they would no longer build gas powered engines what do you think the out come would be? Well other than a collapse of the oil business that I think would be short-lived, they would have to sell something else right? Gee I wonder what that would be, we have car makers that have a demand but they don't make cars? Come on folks, we have existing technology they could use to make large comfortable cars we would be willing to buy. I saw a show the other day called "Future Cars". A manufacturer in Japan had created a car that looked like a mini RV. It had six wheels, all independently driven, and a huge interior that could seat 6. they said it would easily do 200 mph, but who want to go that fast. If this car was built in the 70s it would have had to have a huge engine in it but this car was electric. Now I'm not sure of the range but I do like the way this was going. A large powerful comfortable vehicle that all I have to do is plug it in to recharge it. Wow what a concept. And on top of it all, a 4 (ok 6) wheel drive. Put a bed and a lift kit on it and you've got a monster truck! Ok, probably not but it's got potential. So why isn't this car being driven? Oil, that's why. As I mentioned earlier, if we quit making gas driven vehicles the oil market would initially be hurt. I said I felt this would be short lived because the initial shock would cause a lot of gasoline centered oil companies would be hurt and even fail but there are a lot of other products that can be created with oil. At our current consumption our oil reserves aren't going to last much longer, maybe 100 years (I'm speculating of course). If the demand for oil was reduced by a drastic change in the gasoline market many of the small companies would fail but auto's aren't the only consumer of oil so a market would still be there. Also, it would take time for all of us to get these new cars so it would be a tapering effect at the worst. In the long run we would in reality be extending our reserves enough that technologies that couldn't be converted could be extended even farther into our future. Since less oil would need to be converted to gasoline, more would be available for conversion into jet fuel, diesel, and other fuels thus resulting into eventual lower costs for these products. If the cost of commercial transportation is decreased a ripple effect of lower prices for everything would result. So next time you decide to "go-green" and "reduce your carbon footprint" (whatever the hell that crap means). Think about if your actually making a real affect. One vehicle isn't going to make change, but a massive change to the vehicle market will. And I'm not talking about environmental change, that's a liberal sympathy ploy, no I'm talking about real change, more money in your pocketbook. And strengthening our pocketbooks strengthens our global economy.

Latest Knee Surgery

Well yesterdays knee surgery went well. Dr DePrange found a tear in the meniscus that was easy to repair. I'm not sure how it happened since I'm not that athletic but I'm pretty sure it happened while I was deployed. One thing I know contributed to the problem was getting knocked around during an approach into Baghdad. We were trying to land and I was standing behind the pilot scanning for threats when we flew through the wake turbulence of a departing IL-76. I got slammed into the circuit breaker panel and ended up on the floor. My knee was the first thing I noticed but that's also when the back problems started. I think I posted a few things earlier about this incident so I'm not going to repeat myself. I'm glad though that we found something and it's now fixed. Next week I see a new doctor about the back, hopefully we get that fixed as well. I'm going to be on leave for a few weeks to help with the recovery of the knee. My plan is to start walking as much as the back can endure. Since I've been back I haven't exercised much and it's showing. I've got to loose this excess weight so I'm going to take advantage of this time off to work on it. Athena is going to be my walking partner; I'm sure she'll love it. I know this isn't my normal type of post but I've found that by writing things out helps me focus and prioritize my thoughts. It's kind of funny how that works; I've never been the type of person to keep a journal or diary but I'm really enjoying this. What's really interesting is that I'll have an idea in my head but when I try to write it out it changes and evolves into something better. It's like I take a bunch of random thoughts and writing it out channels them into a workable plan. If you you find your that type of person you might want to give this "blog" thing a try, it may help. (If you do let me know, I'll enjoy the read).

Another Surgery

Well the Doc's going to hack me open again. He needs to go into my left knee to fix a problem that's developed form last years surgery. Nothing major, just a quick "scope job". Oh well, I could use the time off from work. Now if we could just figure out what's going on with the back...