It's All Post Apocalyptic Training

Now I finally understand why we have the games we do. Oh and just in case you're worried, I've got us covered if Tiberium really exists :) http://www.theonion.com/content/video/are_violent_video_games?utm_source=a-section

Sony's latest product

A-ha, their evil plan is finally revealed.

What would you do with a trillion dollars?

It's hard for many of us to fathom the amount of money the government is talking about when it comes to the stimulus plan. We all grew up thinking millionaires where the aristocratic upper tier crowd seeded with a few billionaires; but a trillion, who has that kind of money? Think of the wealthiest of the world (i.e. Bill gates, Donald Trump, Oprah, ect.) and none of them even come close to this about of money even if you where to combine their income. It's such a large amount of money it's hard to think about how big it really is. If you think of a trillion dollars in terms of weight and put it in simple terms people understand, say $100 dollar bills... well a trillion dollars would weigh 22,026,432 pounds or about 11,000 tons. To put this is something you can grasp, the Eiffel tower weights 10,500 tons. So a trillion dollars weighs more than Paris's most famous landmark, but not by much…

I've often wondered what I would do if I came into a large sum of money. I pass the billboards advertising the local lotteries and they spark thoughts of "what if". What if I won the money, what would I do? Being that I'm naturally lazy, of course I would “retire” from working but what would I do after that? Would I become a philanthropist, entrepreneur, or miser? Well here's my "what if" plan:Since I have children my first thought would be for them. All three of my kids are in collage and are creating their own debt via student loans so I'd have to erase these loans and then make sure they would continue their education by creating some kind of annuity for them to draw from. I'm not real big into giving out money "just because" but by making sure they have an education I'd be setting them up for success throughout their lives so they can find their own path in the world without the burden of finding the funding. I'm not a materialistic person but I do like being comfortable so I would also make sure they have a reliable car and a comfortable place to live during their college years. That way they would only have to focus on studying and not where their next meal is coming from or having to go out and get a job to make rent. One of the main things I would do is to establish independence for my kids by encouraging them to choose their own path in life. College is an important aspect in this process so by giving them this opportunity without limitations I'd be setting them up success throughout their life. This wouldn't end with my own children however; I would establish some kind of scholarship for all my nieces and nephews so they could enjoy the fruits of a good education as well. Education breeds success, and success breeds happiness.

Family is one of the most important parts of my life. We look at brothers, sisters, and parents who struggle with the day-to-day burdens of life and want to help any way we can. One of the things I would like to do is to have a large ranch or farm with several homes on it open for my immediate family to live in when they need to. It's not going to be an open checkbook however; I'm a firm believer in establishing one’s own destiny not through charity but through pride and a sound moral center. I would not want my brothers and sisters to piggyback their success off mine nor depend on me, but I would like to give them a leg-up so they could establish success within their own family. Nothing brings more pride in someone than becoming successful in life and providing for your family.

Business... If I had an unlimited amount of money what kind of business would I create? I don't know really because it's hard for me to describe what I like to do. One thing I've learned about myself during my military career is that I like to help people out. I look at myself as a fairly good leader but I have very few skills that apply to a particular trade. I have a brother in-law that is a talented machinist that can create almost anything you could imagine with a CnC machine. He's had several businesses but for one reason or another all of them has had their problems and now he's selling machines (and being very successful at it). I've never had a marketable talent like this but one thing I do have is an ability to manage and lead people. If I was going to create a business most likely it would be a family business exploiting each of the talents of the family. Here's the individual talent I could draw from just within my siblings; a computer guru, an office manager, an accountant, a visionary, a social worker, a marketer, 2 natural salesmen, and me, a leader. We have all the attributes we need to create a successful business but we lack the funding or vision to initiate it. I still don't know what we would do but whatever we decide, with a talented force like this how could we fail.

One of my favorite things to do is to travel and see the world. I’ve been blessed with having a career that fed this desire but I’ve had about enough of traveling the globe just to see the confines of the airport we land at. I want to travel to the far reaches of the globe and see all those things that most people only experience on the Discovery Channel. Machu Pichu, the Antarctic, fishing for Arctic Char above the Arctic Circle; these are then things I want to do and see but I want to do them with the people I love and care about. I did a search one time for a cruise and found one that originated in Australia and ended in New York, It would take about 6 months and cost about 50 grand but the port of call were all once in a life time locations. New Leland, Easter Island, the Panama Canal and many others, all of those dream places we only hear about. Now that would be an experience of a lifetime and all from the posh comfort of a 5 star cruise ship. Now that would be a definite thing to do but I would want my family to come with me. With 11000 tons of cash I think I could afford it.

These are all things that having unlimited cash can allow people to do. Right now I don’t have an unlimited amount of cash but I do have my dreams. One day I will be able to do some of my “what-ifs” but right now I do what I can. I have a wonderful family that no money can buy and we are all happy in our lives. Money can’t buy happiness but it can sure make a life less of a burden and more of a dream. We can all do a little dreaming now and then, it keeps us hoping and keeps us interested in living. So go out there and do a little dreaming and if you are lucky enough to come across a butt-load of money, share it with the ones you love and fulfill their dreams as well.

February Surgery - Not a reason for Universal Health Care

Monday, I finally got some problems fixed that has been causing me many problems. At least that's what we're hoping. It all started several years ago when I was on a C-5 mission in Puerto Rico. It was raining slightly and I slipped when leaving the airplane while carrying a suitcase. I fell about 10 feet to the tarmac but at least I had the presence of mind to try to roll into the fall rather than just smack the ground. At the time the only problem I incurred was a broken wrist but as time went by a few more problems came up. About 4 years after that I started losing strength in my left arm and went to see a neurosurgeon. The MRI found that I had a herniated disk in my neck that was impinging the nerves in the arm causing the problem. He went in and opened up the nerve conduit in the spine and relieved the problem but in the process weakened the vertebra. At the time we didn't realize this but recently I fell again but this time the impact was on my right arm. The transfer of the impact reinjured the weakened disks and I started having the same symptoms again but this time centered in my right arm and wrist. The MRI revealed another impingement and herniation which required another surgery. Also the Doc identified a carpal tunnel problem in my right wrist so back under the knife I went and now I'm in the recovery phase. Here are some pics of the results:

A few points I'd like to make here. First, the quality and expediency of the medical coverage we in the military get is almost unequaled in the civilian world. Of course being an crew-member covered under the flight medicine program helped out but still from the time the problem was diagnosed until the surgery happened was only a few weeks. We in the military are taken care of very well although I know there are a few folks out there that would disagree; for me I'm pretty damn happy with them.

The other point I'd like to make is how even though I'm in a government run health care system this should not be a statement as to how a system would be beneficial for the rest of the country. We in the military reap the benefits of an affluent private medical system that augments our own. When I first joined almost every base or post had its own hospital with its own cadre of doctors. Since then the government decided to shift the care to an insurance based system (Tricare) with referrals from our primary care physicians at the base. This system uses the local medical infrastructure to support the base population so we get top-notch care at no cost to us. It's pretty much transparent compared to what we used to have. While this process works for us it only works because we have a local civilian medical team to feed off of. If the government decided to take over the health care system we would be back to what we had before with long waits, poor service and endless amounts of red-tape and bureaucracy. As far as medical care goes I'm almost in a perfect world right now, why would I want to go back to an antiquated system that had problems supporting the very people it was there to service? No, don't equate what the military gets when you try to argue for government run health care, its apples and oranges since we still depend on the strong prosperous medical system our country enjoys.

By the way, I'm doing fine now and with luck, should fully recover. :)

Myopic?

Some of you may think my opinions are rather myopic but I do a lot of reading of other folks opinions.  Here's an example of something I found during my readings which supports why we need to continue to be vocal.  http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/29-01-2009/107030-Europe_Obama_tongues-0

This op-ed writer obviously doesn't look at the world the same way I do but some of his points are interesting.  His opinion is formed just as mine is by the events and perspectives of our world.  I hope that your opinion is formed the same way and not just a regurgitation of what your told.

Oh, but wait, this is the same place that posts this fact-based article

http://english.pravda.ru/society/anomal/17-12-2008/106840-weird_females-0.  :)

Funny Condom Ad

A New Blog

I have created a new blog to cover the political aspects of my writing.  My original idea of this blog was a place for me to ramble on about personal thoughts and ideas but it has become a dumping ground for my political frustrations.  So I have decided to create a stand-alone place for my political issues.

This idea came to me the other day one my way to work as my mind wandered around and my body focused on driving.  It sounded like a great idea however I told myself I needed to come up with an interesting name for the new blog that would capture the intent of the blog but be unique and easy to remember. A name that people could identify with.  I came up with Polithobbyist (pronounced Polly-thoby-ist) or political hobbyist. The blog is about politics and my understanding of politics is nothing more than as a hobbyist.  I figured it fit and it was definitely unique.

I have copied over all the political posts from this blog and have added some new ones so lease check it out.  Plus the comment part works over there.  Check it out; I think you will be pleased.

Governments Role in Freedom

What is the role of government when it comes to our freedom?  Do governments manifest freedom for their people or do people manifest governments once they've achieved freedom?  The answers to these questions are the very root of who we are as a country.  I was watching Braveheart today and became intrigued with the story of the people fighting to become free men.  One quote from William Wallace that I found most telling of their struggle was when he was discussing with the other Scottish nobles why they needed to fight. "You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom." What a powerful statement on the role of government.  Have we lost sight again on what a government is supposed to do?  During that day and age, government was a feudal system run by ruthless nobility who had lost sight of the need to allow men to be free.  The ruling class pushed peasants to the verge of slavery through overtaxation and subjugation. When peasants tried to fight for their freedom the nobility called them traitors and dealt with them swiftly and brutally.  This same series of event has been repeated through human history and is still continuing today.  Look at civil wars around the world and they can all be diluted down to this simple formula; governments start forgetting why they exist and the people rebel.  

In a webmemo published at the Heritage Foundation, Ryan Messmore asks ten questions regarding the role of government.  His answers outline what the role of a government supporting free people should be. Governments created by free people support and defend the rights and freedoms of the people.  The rights and freedoms the people have defined, not what the government defined for them.  When governments forget this basic fundamental they forget what put them there to begin with.  It's like putting the cart before the horse; you just can't get anywhere.  In Braveheart the nobility had forgotten what their role was and the people responded.

Today we have a government that has engorged itself into a money sucking behemoth who has a hard time remembering the freedoms we have defined for ourselves.  This situation is fed by career politicians that have become comfortable taking a very long drink from the taxpayers teat. Many of them report to Washington at our request and soon become sucked into the corruption and decadence just feed they're own re-election. When are we going to stop this cycle?  When are we going to fix the problems in Washington by instilling the corrective actions we know are needed.  Corrective actions such as term limits and citizen oversight.  

In the Declaration of Independence it states; "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed".   In other words people create governments and give them the power to enact laws to protect them. Farther on in the preamble it states; "(W)hen a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security." 

While I don't think we're close to having despots in power, we do have some that take advantage of the role we have given them for their own gain.  Many of our politicians have abused the position we have given them and usurped their power limitations of their office.  We sent them to Washington to do the business of the people and they end up doing business for themselves.  This is what I think is the biggest problem we have in Washington right now and I can only think of one way to correct the problem; TERM LIMITS. Instilling term limits will stop the cycle of corruption we see today.  The term "career politician" was never in the Constitution and goes against the intent of the Declaration of Independence.  When the founding fathers started our country they did it with the intent of everybody being equal and refused the notion of royalty. Today politicians have successfully reinstalled this concept.  Look at the case to put Caroline Kennedy in the Senate.  Is she being considered by the voters or being considered because of her lineage? There's already talk of how long she's going to be in office and how easy it will be for her to fund a reelection. Are we making a new career politician?  Is she going to be a representative of the people or one thrust upon the people by the government? 

What about the mess in Illinois for Barack Obama's seat.  Are we seeing a massive corrupt government machine instilling yet another crony to do their bidding? Yes, the appointment of a senator or representative to a vacated seat is a state affair but that doesn't mean that the rules are right. The people of New York and Illinois should be outraged at the total disregard of their rights by their own state. What happened to a government of the people, by the people and for the people?  

So what is the role of government in regards to our freedom?  It is to protect it, to support it, to defend it, but never to get in the way of it.  Let's take back our government. Vote to support term limits.  Vote to support new blood in government and not the tired, corrupted people that have long taken advantage of our hospitality.  When you see government buffoonery such as the exploits of Governor Blagojevich, the bailing out of failed businesses, or the by appointment people to represent us without consulting the represented, take note of the culprits involved and respond.  We still have our ballot boxes to speak for us so take advantage of the voice they give us and vote the idiots out of Washington. We have fought and died for our freedom so lets all do our part maintain it.

Updated my Picassa site with some new pics and face tags.  http://picasaweb.google.com/thebass25

Corruption in America - It's our own fault

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." (Lord Acton, 1887 )

I've used this quote before (see "Looking Forward to the 2010 Election" ) but in a different context.  In that post I used the quote to emphasis the need for term limits and a more active role of the populous in our government.  In today's news you'll find how true the wisdom of this quote really is.  Corruption in our government at almost all levels is rampant and entrenched in our political process.  I've outlined a few times how certain members of our government (Barney Frank and company) twist their own actions to focus the blame for our current financial mess to their opponents while their own pockets are lined with the ill-gotten-gains of the true backers who steer the votes of our representatives. I'm sure Mr. Frank isn't the only person doing this, after all, this is a proven political tactic legally pursued by lobbyists to promote the agenda of the organizations providing them money.  This is how things get done in Washington.  The bottom line is that money talks, unfortunately the ordinary citizens voice is lost in the process but I'm sure the congressmen and senators think their doing the right thing... right?

If we know that no matter where you look in Washington your going to find some level of corruption, why is it such a surprise when this mess about Senator Obama's senate seat hit the news?  Why should this be such a surprise that the seat doesn't got to the highest bidder?  After all, don't most politicians make decision based on the highest bidder?  When we vote a person into the government a process starts to temper their polly-anna views towards right and wrong.  This tempering makes the elected official realize that their constituents are morons who really don't know what good for them.  They mindset matures to the fact that only they (and the lobbyists who provide clarity on issues) know what is best. Since dollar amount's are indicators of correct decision making I'm sure Gov. Blagojevich was only trying to make the choice he felt was the best for his people, right?  

When is America going to pull their heads out and fix this problem?  This isn't going to go away until the people make it stop.  We as a people need to make our voices heard on how outraged we are about the corruption in our government.  We need to take back our voice and stop the insanity happening in Washington and around our country.  My suggestion is that more and more of us get involved with what is happening and when corruption is found, shout it to the world.  We need to clean the halls of Washington and then put the processes in place to prevent corruption from re-emerging.  Term limits, oversight, proper candidate vetting, and continual citizen involvement are the only true way of keeping everything above board.  Get out there and do your part folks and help clean up this mess.

Basis of Racial Slurs

     Where do racial slurs start?  We all know about the "N-word" and how derisive it has become, but how about all those other words used around the world that are race based?  While the  "N-Word" has basis in the Spanish, French, and Latin words for black, it was  transformed into a slang word to by slave traders in the 1600s to identify the goods they had to sell. Since then it has taken a life of it's own with meanings dependent upon the speaker or the receiver.  In other words; I can't use the word without it being derogatory, however a black person can use it to identify a comrade or friend.  Very few words in the English language hold this wide a spectrum of definition but this is a testament to it's dubious beginnings. Why do words like this come about though?  As with the slave trade these words created a dehumanized depiction of a race of people allowing the speaker to apply less than human status to the slave. Calling a slave a "negger" makes them less human and thus able to be sold as property the same as a farm animal or a pet. It's a form of social engineering that allow despicable acts to be done on other humans and has been going on for as long as humans have been on the planet.

     Another way these terms develop is due to military conflict.  Two examples of this are the terms Tojo and Kraut. These words were used by Allied GIs during World War II as derogatory slurs to identify enemy forces. I know that sounds like a fairly benign definition but rest assured when said during the WWII era, the tone was definitely with hatred. But what was the basis of the words?  During WWII, Hideki Tōjō was the Prime Minister of Japan and General of the Imperial Japanese Army.  His name was used to identify all Japanese combatants by the soldiers and was picked up by the civilian populous as a racial slur towards all Japanese.  Hideki Tōjō was thought to be the mastermind behind the attack on Pearl Harbor so a lot of hatred toward him boiled over to the rest of Japan as a result. Kraut was a term derived from the German food sauerkraut.  The common theme here is the use of nicknames and slurs that dehumanize our enemy.  Allied soldiers weren't sent into battle to kill people, they were sent to kill an sub-human nameless enemy.  All Japanese where Hideki Tōjō and all Germans where Himmler and Hitler.  These were serious motivating battle cries that were extremely effective at encouraging ferocity in battle and solace in the aftermath.  You can look at almost every conflict around the world and find similar slurs being used by both sides to dehumanize the enemy.  It makes killing easier.

     Even in todays "politically correct" world we still see these terms come around.  If you where to walk into a military camp in Iraq or Afghanistan and use the term "hajji " or "raghead" every GI would know exactly who you are talking about.  These words are rapidly becoming racial slurs even though they have benign beginnings.  The real definition of Hajji is a honorific title giving to a Muslim that has completed the Hajj and in that region is considered a good thing.  "Raghead" refers to the headdress worn by the locals.  When these are uttered by a GI however it's spoken with disgust and disdain and takes on a whole new meaning.  During one of my recent deployments a co-worker of mine said he was going to the "hajji-store", meaning he was going to the shop run by the locals.  One of our other co-workers happened to be of Indian heritage and took offense to him using the term.  Both of them knew the origins of the word but it was the way the word was used  to made it offensive.  It ended up getting pretty ugly and finally the commander had to get involved finally deciding that it was a racial slur, not in the definition but in it's contextual usage.

     This ability of humans to dehumanize our enemy will not go away.  If a superior race from another planet came and invade, we would come up with a derogatory term for them.  I'm sure if the Zaphoids from Zaphod landed today the term "Zap" will have a whole new meaning.  Our ability to dehumanize our enemy allows us to do things to them we can't do to other humans.  Sometimes we use this for good but, as in the case of slavery, it can become an evil thing.  If the slur is conflict based, we need to be able to turn it off once the conflict is over.  You will still hear people referring to Japanese and Germans as Tojos or Krauts and this is truly terrible.  Pick a racial slur and most likely it had a legitimate meaning at one time but it's relevance has long since passed and the only thing left only creates pain now.  No matter if you use these words as a positive or a negative we need stop using them so their derogatory definitions only exist in our history books.

American Fighting Words: Zawahiri refers to Obama as "abayd al bayt"

The term "abayd al bayt" translate to English as "house slave" or "house servant". Terms such as these have been removed from the average American vernacular by our civil rights movements deemed as unacceptable and demeaning language. It seems though that our enemy has not yet been enlightened to what is acceptable conversation and what is not. But who would ever imagine that it would? Al Qaeda's rhetoric show's their true side on this subject but not as you would imagine. No matter who we elected as our next president they would have attacked the person; I'm sure they had a litany of comments regarding John McCains POW status ready just in case. Comments like this are expected but what do they say about our enemy? Who frack'n cares? These people have attacked us outright and threatened to attack us again. They have threatened our way of life, attacked our religious beliefs, even gone so far as to call us the "Great Satan". They threaten our allies, and bolster our enemy's. Who really cares what they say about our present or future leaders. Well actually we all should. Every one of us should look at these comments for what they are; real and credible threats to our very existence.

As I said earlier; it wouldn't have mattered who we elected. Al Qaeda was waiting until we decided to make a statement on the newly elected. They are our enemy so a comment like this isn't any surprise. The surprise to me is the reaction of some of our media about concerning these comments. Some brilliant commentators act surprised by these comments stating how these racist remarks have undermined Al Qaeda's standing in the world. What the hell are they thinking? Are they thinking that Al Qaeda are these nice respectable mainstream people? Damn it folks, these people are THE scum of the earth. They want to kill you and your way of life; they have said so! Don't ever think they have the same morals we have, they don't. They're religious beliefs state that if you don't believe as they do then you should be put to death. How can anyone equate a belief system that allows these type of ideas as mainstream and thus apply mainstream reactions to them? We believe is equality and freedom of belief, to them this is a totally foreign and threatening attitude. They will kill you if you decide not to "believe". If Al Qaeda really was concerned with our election system (which they're weren't!) wouldn't you think they would have put up they're own candidate? Not really, they don't believe in a public voice so this is a totally unknown concept to them. They abhor what we hold dearest, our freedom. Our freedom of speech, our freedom of religion, and most importantly, our freedom of choice. They never cared who we chose, they wanted us to choose so they could attack our choice. So what do we do? Do we react to this lame attempt to make us react? No, it's a hollow threat, it's just a little more rhetoric to add to the steaming pile of rhetoric they've already spewed. Nope don't let them get our goat folks, however there is one aspect to this little attack that we shouldn't ignore. Never attack our leaders.

With the power of freedom of choice and our right to vote comes our responsibility to our leaders. Sometimes we don't get our person voted into power but that shouldn't mean we stop supporting those that are elected. As individuals we stand by our individual ideals but as a community we stand by the decisions of the majority. In other words, if you put this in family terms, parents may disagree about a decision regarding the kids but when they confront the a united front is always the most successful front. Al Qaeda looks at our pre-election divisions as a weakness and tries exploit this. What they don't realize is that as a nation we will defend to the death our right to have these disagreements. They can't fathom a world were difference of opinion flourish as they do in our world. They don't hold dear the right to dispute the decisions of the government. They also underestimate our ability to unite behind the defense of these beliefs. These are free choices we hold dear. Freedoms that we have defended in battle in the past and will in the future. These are beliefs that they do not, nor ever will agree with; these are basic human rights of free men and we should and will always defend them to the death.

I think we need to bring back the "Don't tread on me" flag but re-name it to "Don't threaten me." In other words; don't threaten my lifestyle, my beliefs, or my freedom. If you do, you define yourself as my enemy and I will kick your ass. Pass this on folks, this needs to become out mantra; this needs to become the words we live by. Always defend your freedom because their end may be only one defeat away.

Bailout Bill 2 - "Operation Rescue Detroit"

     Wow, another round of bail-outs.  I am so glad we have all this money to bailout our largest corporations. Wall Street, Detroit, what's next?  Now I know they are planning to take this money from the $700B of the original bailout bill but what are they actually planning to do?  The bill is very long but here are the highlights : 

-- $25 billion in 10-year low-interest loans, charging 5 percent interest for the first five years and 9 percent for the remainder of the loan terms.

-- Parts-makers as well as the Big Three would be eligible.

-- The money would come from the $700 billion rescue/bailout plan.

-- A prohibition on bonuses for automaker employees making more than $250,000 per year.

-- Fast processing: Eligibility for loans will be determined within 15 days of application.

-- Fast turnaround: The loans would be distributed within seven days of approval.

-- "Clawback" provision: Bonuses can be taken back by the government if executive statements are found to be inaccurate.

-- No golden parachutes of any sort.

-- Companies receiving these loans cannot pay dividends for the duration of the loan. 

     Do you notice what's missing out of this bill?  How about a reliable, marketable car?  Something that can compete with the imports?  No, there's nothing like that here but what else would we expect from the "Big Three".  All three of the US auto makers have been making cars based on a warranty life span.  It's been a scam they've been pulling on the American populous for many years.  They build a car that will make it just until the warranty is up then small things will start failing.  It starts with little things first then progresses to larger things until you're in a no-win situation and decide to buy another vehicle.  This process makes sure there's a constant market for cars and a constant demand without the car makers having to make any real progression in fuel economy, technology, or safety.  There are two reasons people buy cars; need and desire.  Car maker's recognized early on that desire is too unpredictable so they have forced need on us.  Hmm, here's a coincidence; factory warranties are three years and the normal car loan is four years.   How convenient.

    Ok, back to the bailout; back in 1979 the government did bailout Chrysler.  I know a lot of you weren't around to remember this event but I do.  Do you know what we average citizens got out of that bailout?  The K-Car.  One of the biggest piece of crap vehicle ever created by Detroit. This line of vehicles was created by Chrysler as a cheap vehicle who's mass sales generated the cash flow to get Chrysler back on it's feet.  One aspect of that bailout was the government was supposed to buy their fleet vehicles from Chrysler so what did they buy? That's right, K-cars;  which, due to their low quality had to be replaced within a few years.  So we gave Chrysler the money they needed, they produced a cheap piece of crap so they could become solvent again, then we all had to buy new cars within a few years.  Do you notice a problem with this scenario?  It's a repeated fleecing of the American people to fund a failing business model.  What is the reason Detroit is in the place their in today?  They produce crappy cars that are low quality, over priced, and get poor fuel economy.  Wow, it's history repeating itself.  

      There's a lot of talk about how Chrysler paid back their bailout early and that we actually made money on the deal but in reality did we?  If Detroit had really learned their lesson they wouldn't be in the world-of-hurt they are now.  We as American need to ask ourselves if we want to go down this road again.  Do we want to bailout yet another company just so they can continue to fleece us by providing us crap.  When are we going to stand up for ourselves and say NO to this type of treatment?  One of the best advice that has come out of all these bailouts is to "not throw good money after bad".  The Detroit big three bases their business on bad practices and we should not be supporting them. I'm all for "buy American" but I'm no fool.  If buying American means we're wasting money then it's un-American. You know the old adage "fool me once shame on me, fool me twice shame on you"?  Well Detroit is trying to make fools out of us again and we all need to say NO.  Just say NO Washington, do us all a favor and just say NO! 

Don't take things too serious

When you think life is getting a little too tough check this  out. :)

Scam? - Investor Protection Association for America

     I got a letter the other day soliciting me to fill out a survey and mail it back.  The survey had a cover letter outlining this groups idea to use my inputs and many others to lobby congress  on our part regarding our responses to questions surrounding tax cuts, energy, and the economy.  Sounds good right?  Well it sounded a little too good too be true for me so I did a little research.  I found this website called STATLISTICS.COM  which had a very nice outline of who intended target audience is for this letter.  What the hell!  This letter may be a legitimate request for information but then they turn all your information into a commodity for junk mailers and spam artists.  What a SHAM! 

     Folks, if you want Congress to know your opinion tell them.  It's very easy; all Senators, Representatives, the President, and even the 1st Lady have e-mail addresses, web sites, and snail-mail addresses.  They also have phone numbers that are in the public record so if you want to let your opinion known, take advantage of those venues, not an unsolicited request that comes in the mail.  This is a perfect example of something being too good to be true; it's nothing more than a con-artists scheme to mine for your information.  The unfortunate thing is that many people will fall for this and millions of dollars will be made at their expense.

     So what do we do?  A bi-product of my research may have found a suggestion; a blog called "Nerd on a Plane " has a great suggestion that you use the pre-paid envelope to send back an anonymous letter outlining your rage at this fishing scam.  This is a great idea, but I like the less time consuming approach; throw the crap away.  Oh, and since it has your address all over it I'd make sure and shred it first though.

American Thinker: Old Habits Die Hard

This appeared at the American Thinker website.  Some things will never "change"...

cartoon by Sean Sullivan

Red State? Blues State? How about Purple State?

      We've all seen the red-state/blue-state electoral maps but do those images really portray how America really voted?  Check out this map which depicts the 2008 elections results at a county level:

 

This image really intrigues me.  As you can see there are pockets of people voting one way and it transitions into area's voting another way.  Most of the solid blue area's center around highly populated urban area's and the more red around the more rural area's. If you think about the contrasts between the parties this makes sense.  Liberal voters tend to congregate around area's that support their ideals and conservative voters towards areas that reflect theirs.  This goes right along with a normal human tendency of wanting to be around people that think like you do.  Pundits like to talk about transitioning the voter base towards their candidate but compare the image above with this one:

This is county level results for the 2004 election. Other than being a tad more red it's almost identical.  So where is this transitioning of the voter base? The two maps clearly indicate the same deep blue and red areas but its the change in the purple areas that reflect this transition.

     One thing I noticed was a blue area in southern Texas and central New Mexico.  These area's aren't normal liberal hangouts, they're not urban, their not tree-hugger hang-outs, so they had me wondering why these area's fell so heavily Democrat.  When I was discussing this phenomenon with my wife she reminded me that this area is mostly inhabited with lower income hispanics who normally vote for the Democrats.  This year the Republicans thought they would be able to swing this group thinking that their stance towards abortion would swing the Catholic vote.  As you can see they where not only wrong, the area actually increased for the Democrats.  This is just one example on how the Republicans misled themselves on what people though was important.  As with almost every election this is an indicator of why people vote one way versus the other, and the number one reason is their pocketbook.  If Republicans learned anything after this election I hope it's that we need to have a platform that attracts this type of voter.  Learn the lessons of Reagan and hold true to fiscal conservatism, this will do it every time.

      So what do these maps tell us?  First off you can tell that no matter who is the candidate and what is happening in the world you will not be able to swing the hard core Democrat or Republican.   Second, you must have a platform that appeals to the moderate but holds true to your own values.  Fiscal conservatism does this; it puts money into the workers pocket as well as protect corporations and small businesses; this in turn expands our economy thus generating more revenue. We are the most powerful nation in the world and it's about time we re-adopted the values that got us there. This is how we move the map more red, put the money back into the people pocket.  Not by giving it to them (such as with a stimulus package) but by real tangible prosperity that people can rely on.  In other words; don't give a hand-out, give a hand up. That's how you win elections.

Looking Forward to the 2010 Election

     I was checking on Wikipedia on the next general election and ran into an interesting list.  Here are the Senate seats up for grabs in 2010:

• 
  
  • 
    
  • Democratic Incumbent Race 
  • Blanche Lincoln, Democrat Arkansas
  • Barbara Boxer, Democrat California
  • Ken Salazar, Democrat Colorado
  • Daniel Inouye, Democrat Hawaii
  • Evan Bayh, Democrat Indiana
  • Barbara Mikulski, Democrat Maryland
  • Harry Reid, Democrat Nevada
  • Chuck Schumer, Democrat New York
  • Byron Dorgan, Democrat North Dakota
  • Ron Wyden, Democrat Oregon
  • Patrick Leahy, Democrat Vermont
  • Patty Murray, Democrat Washington
  • Russ Feingold, Democrat Wisconsin
  • 
    
  • Republican Incumbent Races
  • Richard Shelby, Republican Alabama
  • Lisa Murkowski, Republican Alaska
  • John McCain, Republican Arizona
  • Mel Martinez, Republican Florida
  • Johnny Isakson, Republican Georgia
  • Mike Crapo, Republican Idaho
  • Chuck Grassley, Republican Iowa
  • Jim Bunning, Republican Kentucky
  • David Vitter, Republican Louisiana
  • Kit Bond, Republican Missouri
  • Judd Gregg, Republican New Hampshire
  • Richard Burr, Republican North Carolina
  • George Voinovich, Republican Ohio
  • Tom Coburn, Republican Oklahoma
  • Arlen Specter, Republican Pennsylvania
  • Jim DeMint, Republican South Carolina
  • John Thune, Republican South Dakota
  • Bob Bennett, Republican Utah

     
     If your a follower of my blog you should know how I feel about certain things, one of which was the Wall Street bailout bill.   The highlighted names above are Senators that voted for this bill.  Prior to the election I posted the names of the Texas congressmen that voted for it and specifically left out the rest of them because then I would have had to include senator McCain.  At that time I felt that it was more important to look at the short term goal of electing Senator McCain to the presidency and dealing with this issue on a smaller scale.  Especially since both Obama and McCain voted for this useless, pork-laden, government inflating bill. Now however, we need to look at the long term and the next election.  We need to look at everyone that voted for this bill and get them out of office.  We need to make the people that created this problem and then tried to line their own pockets at our expense to pay the ultimate political price; VOTE THEM OUT OF OFFICE.  

     While I know a lot of you out there may be caught up in the Obama-Mania syndrome please try to remember one key thing; fiscal conservatism is a bi-partisan concept.  No matter which side of the aisle you fall remember this list, remember who did the right thing and who screwed the public sector for their own gain. There are some pretty long term and famous names on this list, some folks have been in the senate for some  30+ years.  That is most likely the very problem.  The 1770 quote by William Pitt , "Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it", is a perfect example of why we need to limit the time people can hold office. These senators are out of touch with the desires of the voter and are voting not for their constituents but for their own gain. They have become corrupted by their own little bubble of greed.  We need to remove those that are camping out in Washington lining their own pockets with our tax dollars.  We need to remove them before their corruption can create more problems for us.  They are not doing the business of the people, they are doing business for themselves and need to GO. 

I'm working on a House list and will post it when I can.

Congrats are in order for Obama, but...

      Our country has a new president; congratulations Mr. Obama.  As many of you know I am not a Obama supporter, however this doesn't mean that I will not support our future president.  As with all good citizens out there I will continue to support our country and it's leaders.  Support is one thing but that does not mean that I'm not going to voice my opposition when I see something going wrong.  I ask all of you that read this to support our new government but be vocal when you see something going awry.  This is what true Americans do, we support our government by using our right to free speech to voice our opinions. One of the best ways to support our new president is to tell him which way to guide us.  I encourage all of you to follow me in the next two years to assist Mr Obama, Mrs. Palosi, and Mr Reed in guiding this country down the road in the direction we want it to go.  Voice your opinion loud and often to help these three misguided souls lead our country.  We all know they have agenda's we disagree with so it's our responsibility as good citizens to correct they're errors in judgement before they happen.  Use any possible means to make sure your voice is heard; e-mail, call, write letters, or even create a blog.  Whichever you choose, rest assured your voice will be amongst the millions that can not be ignored.  Congratulations President Elect Obama, and trust me, we'll be keeping in touch.

On-Line Gaming Fanatics

     Well this is the first post in a while that have nothing to do with politics. If you're not aware I enjoy playing some on-line games on Facebook.  These small applications are fun, have a huge global following, and a nice distraction in the evening.  As with everything in life, some people get way too wrapped up in these worlds they create for themselves and end up ruining it for the others.  If you've seen the commercials about World of Warcraft you can see how people can get very involved to a point of becoming fanatics and this isn't necessarily a healthy position. 

     When I was younger many of my friends played Dungeons and Dragons. In case you're not aware this is a fantasy based game with wizards, clerics, fighters, dragons and monsters.  It's a game that allows the players to create a imaginary character and go on adventures with other friends all being guided by a dungeon master (the person controlling the adventure).  The rules of the game are extensive and come is many books but are mainly just guides since everything is in people imagination.  Some people became so wrapped up in the game that they tried to actually live the game using it as an escape from reality to a point that they couldn't differentiate the game from reality.  These incidences became well knows in the news media which was then picked up by some fundamentalist religious type who tried to tie the game to satanism and demonic worship.  The makers of the game and the players who enjoyed it where ridiculed and many parents become concerned of their children descending into deviancy because of it.  It got to a point that people even tried to ban the game, forgetting that it was just a silly game being played in the imaginations of the players. All this fantastic reaction because a few unstable people took the game too serious and the other end of this spectrum reacted in kind.  Today D&D is accepted by most but not played that often by people since now we have the internet to stimulate our imagination.

     So last night as I was playing one of my favorite games (Homeworld) I had an encounter with an individual that is taking this game way too serious.  Homeworld is a space based game which you build your character through training and attacking others, making yourself stronger and smarter.  Early on in the game people realized that if you attack others too often all you do is upset people.  No one wanted this but they also didn't want to put an official limit on it so they adopted an un-written rule to not kill each other more than twice in a period of time.  As new players started to play they quickly found out about this un-written agreement and for the most part adhered to it.  As with any rule there are those out there that don't adhere to it and those folks develop reputations for nasty play and are ostracized by the other players until they change their way.  This works well with the majority of players but some folks just don't get it that it's just a silly game.  They take things personal when they;re attacked and retaliate with scathing e-mails telling the attacker how much of a low-life they are for attacking them.  This is what I ran into last night. 

     While we put out warnings to parents about these games concerning age I don't think age has a lot to do with it; I think it's mostly a maturity issue.  No matter how old someone is they'll never gain the level of maturity to be able to allow their imagination to take over for a while and then turn it off when they're done playing.  As with D&D some folks just can't let go.  Last night this guy killed me 6 times and when I asked him why he stated that I'd killed him repeatedly over the past few months and he couldn't retaliate due a limitation in the game.  Now he was just giving me a little payback.  So he had saved up a load of funds and was repeatedly attacked everyone who had attacked him.  Obviously this person is holding a grudge and unable to accept the fact that this is just a silly game.  I've ran into many folks like this on-line and I have to say it's a little scary knowing they're out there.  What trigger would it take for this guy to start taking it out on people for real?  This is thinking of a serial killer not a mature stable individual.  He looses the ability to have fun in a game and takes game-play as a personal attack rather than just a little fun.  Most likely this type of person is reclusive with few friends because if they show these traits in a fantasy world most likely it shows in the real world as well.  If you where a friend of this person would you allow him to treat you this way?  It's an abusive personality and not tolerated by many people.  

     So next time you play a game on-line and run into this type of person don't tolerate the behavior.  Tolerating this type of behavior only encourages them to continue.  What we should be doing is telling them repeatedly that it's just a silly game, let it go. Just let it go...