ADancingBabyInTheMidnightSun

Economic Stimulus: Obama Vs. Bush

2009-02-09T13:06:00.000-08:00

When Bush became president we were in the middle of a recession and the pressure was on him to do something about the lagging economy. Bush presented an economic stimulus plan that had a set of tax rate reductions. John McCain did not vote for this plan because it did not have associated spending cuts with the tax rate reductions. Many people on the Democratic side have derided Bush's Tax Cuts because he did not cut the budget to match his tax plans. I agree he should have also reduced the size of the federal gov't to reduce deficit spending.

Obama has presented us an economic stimulus plan as the first thing he is going to do as president just like Bush. His plan doesn't have tax rate reductions but tax rebates or just plain hand outs to those not paying taxes. But he doesn't cut the spending to pay for his taxes plan. No he has spending increases. Long term spending increases in the billions to 100s of billions that will take years before measurable impacts to our economy are felt. This increase will also bloat the already way too large budget of many useless Gov't agencies that should quite honestly be shut down forever. Once a Gov't agency has a certain size budget it is very difficult to reduce the budget measurably. And if you do then you are looking at layoffs. Try laying off a Gov't employee in the Gov't Union.

Don't even start me on why a Union is needed for Gov't employees in a Democracy. They have the damn vote if they don't like management.

hmmm.... So far I like Bush's actual actions but Obama does give better parties for TV.

Why I hate our congress and Senate

2009-02-03T08:29:00.000-08:00

I really hate our congress and Senate. I hated them when they were led by Republicans and I hate them more now that they are led by Democrats. To do something important, like stimulate our economy, our great leaders put in multi million dollar projects that had nothing to do with the purpose of the bill. Maybe these projects have value and need to be done. But focus on stimulating the economy and building jobs.

The depths to how unbelievable corrupt this system is astounds me. At one of our countries worst economic moments in time, we have scum of the earth people pushing their own political agenda and calling it economic stimulus. That our "leaders" would use this emergency to spend multiple billions of dollars at a time when we have a trillion dollar budget shortfall that is not completely dedicated to stimulating our economy shows how badly our system is not working for the Good of the common man.

That we do not have the legislation still that gets us off of foreign oil and allows us to drill in the US blows me away. It's borderline criminal that we still do not have a meaningful plan to end our dependency on foreign oil.

Term limits, right now!!!! Term Limits, no more congressional pensions, no more lobbyists! Term limits!!!! term Limits!!!! Term Limits!!!!

Breaking up is good to do.

2008-11-10T13:05:00.000-08:00

In software development we have a saying. Fail often and fail early. The idea is that failure is an eventual given. We are going to make mistakes. And the system you use to build your software should be designed to discover them quickly and correct quickly. This significantly reduces the cost of failure and the impact of failure.

In the Pulitzer prize winning Book, "Gun Germs and Steel" the author explores why Western Civilization had all the things it needed to become the dominant power of societies in Australia, New Zealand, Africa, North, Central and South America. Becoming the dominant culture. It came down to the two countries that had access to the grains needed to have large population centers. China and Europe. However, Europe was a set of smaller countries fighting amongst themselves for resources while China was a very large monopoly. At one time China was sailing to the Americas and had an overwhelming naval fleet. One day the emperor decided to burn this fleet and has never recovered from that mistake. If Spain had made that choice then England or France would have made them pay and Spain would have learned from their mistakes and corrected quickly. But it was hundreds of years before China learned from their mistakes.

Now lets look at our Secondary Mortgage industry. Because Fannie May and Freddie Mac were created by Gov't legislation and supported by Gov't legislation they held a monopoly on a $12 trillion dollar industry. Now all institutions, especially if they are large and a monopoly develop group think. This is where they don't have different voices telling them they are wrong. So they start making mistakes. The problem with group think is that you see the world in a very specific way so it is very hard to realize that you are making the mistake. Even when you begin suffering the results of the mistake it is hard to see the root cause. This condition is inevitable for monopolies. So when we set up our Secondary mortgage system we need to create a system that identifies errors quickly, course corrects quickly and when failure occurs it is not devastating. This is why I think we should break up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into 20 to 50 smaller institutions. Reduce regulatory controls and let them compete. when one makes a mistake, let it go out of business. This failure is not devastating and others can learn from it. This is the way we avoid bailing them out in the future.

Build a system that fails early and often and significantly reduces the cost of failure. This is why Capitalism and competition is superior to Socialism and monopolies. Monopolies hold out the promise of control and central control. But it's a lie. Because failure will happen and failure in a central controlled system is devastating.

Sub Prime Mortgages, What are they good for.

2008-10-24T13:10:00.000-07:00

One of the key things killing this economy is the sub prime mortgages put into securities that come out of our secondary mortgage industry. So what is a sub prime mortgage and why do people want them and why would a mortgage company deal with them.

A sub prime mortgage is a mortgage that has low payments in the first 3 to 5 year but over time the interest rate rises to much higher than the prime interest rate and the loan payments become much higher after 5 years. so why would a person commit to a 20 to 40 year loan knowing that payments will climb over time so that they can not afford it. They do that because their credit rating is bad and the mortgage rate they would normally get would keep them from getting the house they love. So they take this loan to build their credit rating and in 3 to 5 years they refinance their house with their brand new clean credit rating. The intent of sub prime mortgages is for people with low income and poor credit to prove them selves.

so if the loan is much more likely to become default why would a company give the mortgage. Because they believe the value of the house will definitely climb. So if the loan must be foreclosed on in 3 to 5 years then the house will have gone up and therefore they will get their money back and possibly more because the value of the house has gone up. That was certainly true during the housing bubble but now that the bubble has burst, those sub prime mortgages are very scary problems. And that is one of the contributing factors. we have no idea when the house situation will even out and people can figure out what the actual value of those sub prime mortgages are. because if they get foreclosed on, people could lose their shirts on those houses because a foreclosed house is difficult to sell for profit in a bad housing market.

Next time you see Bill Clinton and a Democratic member of the house or Senate be sure and thank them for the 1999 legislation and the 2004 legislation that allowed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to include sub prime mortgages in their quotas for low income housing mortgages purchased and for helping them put those mortgages in our securities.

The Forgotten Man

2008-10-21T20:21:00.000-07:00

America met Joe the Plumber last week. But a pro-market economist writing over a hundred years ago was already familiar with Joe Wurzelbacher and Americans like him -- and understood how they are used and exploited by politicians.

"They are always under the dominion of the superstition of government, and forgetting that a government produces nothing at all, they leave out of sight the first fact to be remembered in all social discussion -- that the state cannot get a cent for any man without taking it from some other man, and this latter must be a man who has produced and saved it. This latter is the Forgotten Man."

"He Works, He Votes, Generally He Prays - But He Always Pays"

Sumner wrote of the Forgotten Man: "He works, he votes, generally he prays -- but he always pays -- yes, above all, he pays."Joe the Plumber has struck a chord in the closing weeks of this election because he represents the Forgotten Man. When he confronted Sen. Barack Obama on the campaign trail with the question of what would happen to his taxes under an Obama Administration should he realize his dream of owning his own business, Joe cast the decision that faces us in this election in stark relief:

Which will be better for our economy: Politicians redistributing our wealth or growing more wealth?

Government, The problem or The Solution?

2008-10-07T12:34:00.000-07:00

Ronald Reagen was elected because of a phrase "Government is the problem, not the solution". I believe that this is mostly the case. While the Government is the solution in some cases, Since the 1930s, our federal gov't has become more the problem and less the solution.

Is deregulation really the problem? Lets explore the issue. Our economy is like a human body. Money is the blood and banks are like a bunch of hearts pumping money in and out of the system. A significant amount of money banks take in comes from Securities founded on Mortgages. Banks leverage securities up to 40 times. For every security valued at $1 million they can loan up to $40 million dollars. This keeps the blood moving. Of course, 40 times is crazy. So if 5% of that $1 million is bad, then they should not have loaned out $1,000,000 *.05 * 40 = $2,000,000. Even though the security's value should only be reduced to $950,000, the money they have outstanding that shouldn't be out there is $2,000,000. And then other banks used that $2,000,000 to also create loans. House of cards!!

The 5% number comes from the Governments estimation to the loans in play in securities that they expect to fail. The $700 billion number for the bailout is 5% of the $12 trillion dollar mortgage market.

Where do these securities come from? Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They were created to help loan company's have more liquidity so that more people who couldn't afford houses at that time, afford houses. So Fannie Mae buys up loans from loan company's and creates securities which other companies buy because mortgages are usually a very safe bet. The security's value is based on how much the market will pay for it. So it's value is not based on it's actual value just on it's perceived value. When the sub prime mess became public knowledge these securities perceived value went down far lower than 5%.

How did fannie mae come to exist and how does it do it's job --- Government Regulation dedicated to helping people get houses that couldn't afford it.

Wikipedia:
Fannie Mae was founded as a government agency in 1938 as part of Franklin Delano
Roosevelt's New Deal to provide liquidity to the mortgage market. For the next thirty years, Fannie Mae held a virtual monopoly on the secondary mortgage market in the United States. In 1968, to remove the activity of Fannie Mae from the annual balance sheet of the federal budget, it was converted into a private corporation.[6] Fannie Mae ceased to be the guarantor of government-issued mortgages, and that
responsibility was transferred to the new Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae). In 1995, Fannie Mae began receiving affordable housing credit for buying subprime securities. In 1999, the Clinton administration and Fannie Mae shareholders encouraged the lender to increase the number of mortgage loans offered to those of low and moderate income, both to improve rates of home ownership among those groups and to increase profits.[7]
In 2000, due to a re-assessment of the housing market by HUD, anti-predatory lending rules were put into place that disallowed risky, high-cost loans from being credited toward affordable housing goals. In 2004, these rules were dropped and high-risk loans were again counted toward affordable housing goals.[8]

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac gave money to many people in Congress. The person who received the second most money is Barack Obama.

So how did we get all these bad loans into securities. There were a lot of reasons but one of them was Government interference. First we have the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act. This act was passed under Jimmy Carter and it said, if you are bank that receives deposits from low income areas, you must also provide housing loans to low income areas. This was the Government telling people who they could make loans to. Now this act is 31 years old and not enough to have created the amount of poison we have in our blood stream. Now we have a set of "Community Organizers" in organizations like ACORN. This is a Federally funded organization that uses the Community Reinvestment Act to intimidate banks along with other intimidation factors to force banks to give more loans to people who normally couldn't get it. There was an attempt in Congress to give money to ACORN in the recent bailout bill. Barack Obama was a Community Organizer for ACORN. ACORN has also been linked to a fair amount of voter fraud.

So is Gov't the problem or the solution? It's is certainly a contributor to the problem. Do we need more Gov't to solve a problem that they helped create? I don't think so!

To regulate or not to regulate

2008-10-06T07:19:00.000-07:00

The financial crisis has created a lot of accusations about deregulation. I hear the word unbridled a lot. But lets review the facts. In 2004 and several time before that and after, the Republicans attempted to increase regulation on Fannie May and Freddie Mac and those regulations were defeated primarily by Democrats. In 2007 the democratic controlled congress saw that their support 30 year support of these monstrosities that were created by regulation was going to come around and hurt them so they ended up passing the similiar bills to what the republicans wanted in 2004. However, 2007 was too little too late.

The point here is regulation is neither good nor bad. It depends on the regulation. Republicans have been trying to get rid of bad regulation and bring in good regulation.

Feeling and Valuing

2008-10-03T11:59:00.001-07:00

I want to provide some wonderful excerpts from one of my favorite books "The Fisher King and the Handless Maiden" by Robert Johnson

This Book is about our Wounded feeling function, probably the most common and painful wound which occurs in our Western world. It is very dangerous when a wound is so common in a culture that hardly anyone knows that there is a problem. There is general discontent with out way of life but almost no one knows specifically where to look for its origin.
Thinking is that cool faculty which brings clarity and objectivity - but provides no valuing; sensation describes the physical world - but provides no valuing; intuition suggests a wide range of possibilities - but provides no valuing. Only feeling brings a sense of value and worth; indeed, this is its chief function. Without feeling there is no value judgment. To lose one's feeling function is thus to lose one of the most precious human faculties, perhaps the one that makes us most human. We can understand the term feeling more accurately if we define it as the capacity to value or to give worth to something. People who have a finally differentiated feeling function bring grace and good feeling with them; one feels valuable in their presence.
The feeling function is a casualty of our modern way of life. To search out the loss or woundedness of this most valuable faculty is the task of our book.

...
The very term feeling is itself ambiguous, an orphan word. Its true meaning has not quite differentiated itself from its tactile origins. It derives from the verb to feel in its tactile sense. Our use of the word feeling is made to describe much more subtle realms. The act of valuing has no dignified term of its own and is still tied by an unseen umbilical cord to the realm of sensation. Little wonder that strong feeling is unconsciously tied to some physical act that we think should give expression to it. Of course, one may make sublime expression of feeling by a physical act, but feeling should not be unconsciously tied to the physical realm. Feeling is on of the wonderful, terrible, ambiguous words that contribute so much to our confusion.

karma schmarma

2008-09-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

What the world is thinking

2008-09-12T06:57:00.000-07:00

I found an article today at www.gallup.com that talks about a world poll. What is the world thinking. What does the world want. Well they want a "good job". For me that begins to describe victory in Iraq. When the vast majority of Iraqi people can provide a good life for themselves and their family, we will have won the war in Iraq.

Excerpt from article

What the whole world wants is a good job.

That is one of the single biggest discoveries Gallup has ever made. It is as simple and as straightforward an explanation of the data as we can give. If you and I were walking down the street in Khartoum, Tehran, Berlin, Lima, Los Angeles, Baghdad, Kolkata, or Istanbul, we would discover that on most days, the single most dominant thought carried around in the heads of most people you and I see is "I want a good job." It is the new current state of mind, and it establishes our relationship with our city, our country, and the whole world around us.
Humans used to desire love, money, food, shelter, safety, and/or peace more than anything else. The last 25 years have changed us. Now we want to have a good job. This changes everything for world leaders. Everything they do -- from waging war to building societies -- will need to be done within the new context of the human need for a "good job."

How does this change everything?
The leaders of countries and cities must make creating good jobs their No. 1 mission and primary purpose because securing good jobs is becoming the new currency for leadership. Everything leaders do must consider this new global state of mind, lest they put their cities and countries at risk.
Leaders in education will be forced to think beyond core curricula and graduation rates. If you are a school superintendent or a university president, you'll need to recognize that students don't want to merely graduate -- their education will need to result in a "good job."
Lawmakers need to contemplate whether and how new laws attract or repel a wide range of individual value systems. If enough people are sufficiently repelled, then the new laws will effectively strangle job creation.
Military leaders must consider it when waging war and planning for peace. They must ask themselves whether military strikes, occupations, or community policing will effectively build a growing economy with good jobs. The opportunity to have a good job is essential to changing a population's desperate, and violent, state of mind.
The mayors and city fathers of every city, town, and village on Earth must realize that every decision they make should consider the impact, first and foremost, on good jobs.

How to know you are on the wrong side of an issue.

2008-09-10T13:55:00.001-07:00

When they write a Country and Western Song about the issue. Today Newt Gingrich is promoting a country and western song about the fact that Congress is still blocking domestic drilling. The song sung by Aaron Tippin has the following phrase in it:

Drill Here, Drill now

Hello…..Is anybody out there listenin’ in Washington D.C.

This is the suffering voice of America crying out for relief

Now I don’t know what a gallon of gas costs up on Capitol Hill

But we sure know what it costs down here in Realityville

And the damage already done has been a mighty heavy toll

And if we’re gonna fix it we gotta start right here at home

CHORUS:

Drill here, drill now

How ‘bout some oil from our own soil that belongs to us anyhow

No more debatin’ we’re tired of waitin’ everybody shout out loud

Drill here, drill now

.
.
.

This is funny on so many levels!!!

The Meaning of Life

2008-09-10T08:26:00.001-07:00

To me Life is a bootcamp for the next one to come. I found this quote on line and liked it a lot.

We are enrolled in a full time, informal school called, "Life." Each day of this school, we have the opportunity to learn lessons. We may like the lessons or hate them, but they are part of the curriculum. The greatest lessons we learn are about love and fear, that every action is either an expression of love, or a call for love. And the great blessing is that every lesson repeats itself until we learn it. ~Mary Manin Morrissey

big bounce

2008-09-08T16:53:00.000-07:00

The RNC is looking at a big bounce in the daily tracking polls. Rasmussen has McCain up by 1 point and the Gallup poll has him up by 5. The interesting thing we see in the daily polls is the number of undecided begin to get smaller and so far they are breaking of McCain. In Rasmussen we see Obama staying at 46% while McCain steadily climbs to 47%. The Gallup polls shows Obama losing votes. So I'm not sure what is going on.

Rasmussen Synopsis

In the first national polling results based entirely on interviews conducted after the Republican National Convention, McCain attracts 47% of the vote while Obama earns 46%. When "leaners" are included, it’s McCain 48% and Obama 47%. Tracking Poll results are released at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time each day and a FREE daily e-mail update is available.

The big question is: "can McCain win?". According to the electoral map Karl Rove puts out, I don't think so. However, this map is before the convention. Did the convention change the map? Before the RNC Obama looked like he had 260 electoral votes and you need 270 to win. So one or two of the swing stats goes his way and he has won it. How many has moved in McCains way????

Stop the Bird Porn

2008-09-02T11:44:00.000-07:00

Finally someone fighting the good fight and trying to end all this elicit bird watching. Most people who report on this believe it is probably a joke but the protesters seem to take it seriously.

Dave Barry on Bird Porn Protesters at the DNC

Practice makes perfect

2008-09-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

Ever try to do something very well and failed? Well here is the recipe for success. Do it over and over again until you get it right. Plan to throw away what you did at first. They do this in movies and TV with scene after scene. They do this in the Olympics with athletes practicing and practicing hours and hours.

Initial Article

Although I am not at all ready to call software development "art" -- perhaps "craft" would be more appropriate, or "engineering" if you're feeling generous -- the parallels between some of the advice offered here and my experience writing software are profound.

The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the "quantity" group: fifty pound of pots rated an "A", forty pounds a "B", and so on. Those being graded on "quality", however, needed to produce only one pot - albeit a perfect one - to get an "A".
Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the "quantity" group was busily churning out piles of work - and learning from their mistakes - the "quality" group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

Where have I heard this before?

Stop theorizing.
Write lots of software.
Learn from your mistakes.

Quantity always trumps quality. That's why the one bit of advice I always give aspiring bloggers is to pick a schedule and stick with it. It's the only advice that matters, because until you've mentally committed to doing it over and over, you will not improve. You can't.

When it comes to software, the same rule applies. If you aren't building, you aren't learning. Rather than agonizing over whether you're building the right thing, just build it. And if that one doesn't work, keep building until you get one that does.

The beginnings of a bounce.

2008-08-29T14:32:00.000-07:00

Gallup has Obama up by 9 points and the Rassmussen poll has him up by 3 points. I suspect the Rassmussen poll bump has more to do with Bill and Biden. I don't think last nights speech has effected the rassmussen poll yet. I suspect rassmussen will widen more. I wasn't impressed last night but I suspect he did what he needed to lay out his agenda for the next couple of months.

McCain now needs to lay off the attacks during the convention and focus on his agenda. Give people a reason to vote for you beyond I'm a great guy with lot of experience and Obama is bad. If McCain wants to see his poll numbers go up, not just see Obama's go down, he has to lay out a positive agenda for the next 4 years. I will say this much. His VP pick shows off his maverick side and reaches out to the female voter. I think it is a good move.

She is kind of cute also. I wonder if she has a sister somewhere!!!

how to irritate an aethist

2008-08-28T17:12:00.001-07:00

Dark Matter

Oh man you are going to love this one.

Or this one, My atheist Friends will hate this one

just a slip to whet your appetite. I can't stop smiling!!!

Astonishing discoveries have surfaced which point to the existence of a transcendent extra-dimensional Creator. Furthermore, numerous recent discoveries now confirm the incredible scientific and historical accuracy of the Bible, as well as the supernatural origin of its texts.
The entire Creator Series is now available in this one, self-contained CD-ROM. This CD-ROM includes all of these great studies:
The Creator Beyond Time and Space:
What are the implications of the current upheavals in traditional cosmology, astronomy, and physics? What is the significance of the recent discovery that the Universe is finite?
As scientists begin to understand the interactions of basic forces, they discover an unending series of incredible inter dependencies, delicately balanced.
As part of their recent series on the Creator Beyond Time and Space, Chuck Missler and Dr. Mark Eastman explore the recent scientific evidences revealing the Infinite Designer and a finite universe.

No bounce yet

2008-08-28T08:13:00.001-07:00

maybe I don't know what I'm talking about but there is still no bounce yet from the DNC. According to the polls from Rasmussen and Gallup we are still locked in a virtual tie.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/general_election_match_up_history

How does this not scare the hell out of democrats is confusing. Maybe it does and they are hiding it. Or we all are waiting for the giant speach at invesco field with the 75,000 adoring fans and the stage from Greek Mythology. I wonder if the speech he has planned there will give him his bounce or will it be another failure like his speech to the 20,000 adoring Germans. I think the problems is the election cycle this year has been way too damn long, the fighting between Hillary and he went on forever and ate up news cycle after news cycle. Any chance to reintroduce him self to people through the convention is gone. We all know him, we've seen so much said about him already. 4 days of speeches by his fellow democrats are just not going to move people much.

Time will tell.

Funniest Passive Aggressive Note ever

2008-08-27T10:06:00.000-07:00

Apparently 5 girls and 2 men moved in together. After a year the guys got tired of getting up at 3 in the morning to let in the drunken girls who didn't bring their keys.

Article

1. Maybe you shouldn't room with Amy Winehouse.
2. If a drunken girl is pounding on your door in the middle of the night do you
(a.) Get up happily and take care of business
(b.) Right a note telling them they are going to die crack whores if they don't stop.

Well you do (a) if you like girls and you do (b) if your controlling mother has led you to putting up brad pitt posters in your room.

Proof Positive that Texas Tech will beat OU at home and win the Big 12 to go on to win the national Title

2008-08-25T17:14:00.001-07:00

http://raiderpower.blogspot.com/2008/07/texas-tech-vs-oklahoma-ncaa-09.html

article

If you read it, you know I'm dreaming. But if we didn't like to dream, no one would buy lottery tickets. I think I need to go to 7-11.

Election Prediction

2008-08-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

Right now and for the last couple of month the polls indicate a very slight movement toward McCain but the real issue is not those voting for McCain nor Obama. It's the 12% to 20% of voters that still haven't made up their mind. When they begin to break toward a candidate then we will know who has real chance to win. Fox News came up with a poll where they asked the question, if you had a life altering situation, who would you turn to for advice, McCain or Obama.

The results indicated good news for McCain especially among the undecided. Independent voters pick McCain by a 15-point margin (41 percent – 26 percent).

There is still plenty of time for Obama and McCain to begin moving those minds but right now McCain has a little sunshine in his camp. Not a lot but it's always nice to see the sun begin shining through the clouds.

Full Article
These undecided voters will likely determine the presidential election outcome. So what do they feel in their guts about the two candidates? The FOX News poll tried to get at that question by asking: If you had to make the “toughest decision” of your life, who would you rather get advice from — Obama or McCain?
Based on that question, there are signs that undecided voters may be more inclined to move to McCain than to Obama. The largest number of undecideds – 38 percent – would rather get advice from McCain – that’s nearly three times as many as the 13 percent that would go to Obama. The remaining say “neither” (27 percent) or are unsure (18 percent).
Furthermore, independent voters pick McCain by a 15-point margin (41 percent – 26 percent).
As one would expect, most Obama voters — 78 percent — say they would go to him for advice. Similarly, fully 83 percent of McCain voters would consider him their trusted guru on a tough life decision.

While 68 percent of Democrats would go to Obama for advice, nearly one of five – 18 percent – would pick McCain. Most Republicans (74 percent) would go to McCain, with less than one in 10 saying they would pick Obama (7 percent).
Overall, slightly more voters say they would turn to McCain in this situation (43 percent to 37 percent Obama).
In such a tight race for the White House, where both candidates have positive favorable ratings and strong support from their party faithful, there are some troubling signs for Obama from undecided voters

I was wrong

2008-08-25T16:29:00.000-07:00

So I was wrong and the truth was, he never really even considered her seriously. I think from a getting elected perspective, I still think she and with her husband have something no candidate could offer. But it does create the risk of the election becoming more about her and bill than Obama. However, if I did get elected as the president the last person I would want as Vice President would be Hillary and Bill. Talk about fearing back stabbing and trying to take over the white house, not to mention Bill and the ladies!!!

So Biden, well I like Biden as a person. The field of Democrats in Iowa, I thought Biden had the most impressive resume. How anyone could choose John Edwards over Biden always confused me. Biden is generally a good person and very experienced. I think most of his ideas are wrong but that is just me.

Who will McCain go for????? That is a tough one. I don't like Mitt Romney and I'm sorry but how anyone can be a Mormon is confusing. I don't think it should be illegal but I have trouble voting for one. I like Lieberman but that choice is unlikely but one of my favorite. I'm a huge fan of Newt Gingrich but no chance of that. I would love, love, love to see either General Patreus or Colin Powell. But I can't tell if anyone is seriously pursuing this as an option. At this point there are a ton of Governors out there. I think the Florida Governor is awesome.

So my prediction.... Joe Lieberman!!!

You Heard It Here First!!!!

2008-08-21T22:21:00.001-07:00

I thought it was weird when Obama gave Tuesday night to a Hillary speech and a Wednesday night speech to Bill. Then I heard that Obama is getting about 52% of the Hillary voters. That is not very good. Therefore, I predict that Hillary is the VP pick. With him falling behind in the polls he needs a boost. I think she is his one chance to turn around the drop. He needs someone who can attack McCain effectively and people will pay attention to what the VP is saying. She is the only candidate that can garner the media attention that would make her attacks effective. Also, Barrack is aware of how effective her attacks can be and she had to be gentle or alienate the far left forever.

You heard it here first !!!

Can McCain win New York?

2008-08-21T21:34:00.000-07:00

Here we see McCain behind in new york by 11 points in May. The last week we see him closing by 3 points We also see undecided move from 8% to 14%. that is almost a double in those undecided. If McCain can carry New York, does he win the election? probably!!!! In almost all polls we see over 10% of the population undecided. Which way will they break. We know that during the Hillary Barack contest they tended to break to Hillary.

Obama will probably pull ahead here during the Convention and McCain will never catch up. But it's interesting to see NY leaning red.

We saw this with Hillary and now it's happening as Barack faces McCain

2008-08-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

He just doesn't wear well with the American people. The more people get to know him the more people don't vote for him. Or it could be that McCain is coming after Obama hard and it's hurting him. When Hillary went after him hard, she made a lot of in roads.

The Reuters/Zogby Horserace	August	July
McCain	46%	40%
Obama	41%	47%
Not sure\/Other	13%	13%

Obama Support	July	August	Difference
Democrats	83%	74%	-9
Women	50%	42%	-8
Catholics	47%	36%	-11
Ages \<35>59%	47%	-12
College Grads	51%	40%	-11
Live in Cities	54%	43%	-11
Income \<$50,000	53%	46%	-7
Southerners	46%	35% -	11

Genius

2008-08-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while you find a website that makes you hit yourself on the head and say, Why didn't I think of that!!!!

http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/2008/07/20/american-analog-threat/#comments

This is my favorite note so far. be sure and read some of the comments. They are almost as funny as the note themselves.

McCain wins first debate

2008-08-18T12:28:00.001-07:00

I watched the Obama side and I'm looking forward to the McCain side of the debate. I have it Tivo'd but haven't watched it yet.

It's interesting that the first debate was held during the Olympics.

Here is an article claiming MCain won the night. I've even heard that Obama's people are claiming McCain cheated by knowing the questions before hand.

Synopsis:

This was not your usual political TV show. Warren — Pastor Rick, around here — asked big questions, about big subjects; he wasn’t concerned about what appeared on the front page of that morning’s Washington Post. And his simple, direct, big questions brought out something we don’t usually see in a presidential face-off; in this forum, as opposed to a read-the-prompter speech, or even a debate focused on the issues of the moment, the candidates were forced to call on everything they had — the things they have done and learned throughout their lives. And the fact is, John McCain has lived a much bigger life than Barack Obama. That’s not a slam at Obama; McCain has lived a much bigger life than most people. But it still made Obama look small in comparison. McCain was the clear winner of the night.

Here is why I think Obama is slime:

The contrast was striking throughout each man’s one-hour time on stage. When Warren asked Obama, “What’s the most gut-wrenching decision you’ve ever had to make?” Obama answered that opposing the war in Iraq was “as tough a decision that I’ve had to make, not only because there were political consequences but also because Saddam Hussein was a bad person and there was no doubt he meant America ill.” But Obama was a state senator in Illinois when Congress authorized the president to use force in Iraq. He didn’t have to make a decision on the war. That fact was a recurring issue in the Democratic primaries, when candidates Hillary Clinton, Joseph Biden, Christopher Dodd, and John Edwards argued that they, as senators, had to make a choice Obama didn’t have to make. And now he says it’s his toughest call.

Not to mention he was a state senator from an extremely liberal area of Chicago that was already opposed to the war. Wow that was really brave to claim to oppose a war that you couldn't effect and be on the position of most of the people you were representing.

and ...

McCain bested Obama again when Warren asked for an example of a time in which he “went against party loyalty and maybe even against your own best interest for the good of America.”“Well, I’ll give you an example that in fact I worked with John McCain on,” Obama said, “and that was the issue of campaign ethics reform and finance reform.” But it turned out that was an issue on which Obama had briefly allied with McCain and then jumped back to the Democratic mother ship, causing McCain to write Obama an angry note about the abandonment of what had been a principled position. As far as bucking your party goes, it wasn’t very big stuff.

So the one time he bucked his party was for a week to which he eventually caved and abandoned his promise to McCain. Hmmmmm.... So he has a habit of saying whatever the situation calls for and then not sticking to his promises. This sounds like his position on the war, oil drilling and everything else he has promised to win this election.

Obama did neither of these things but claims that he did and the press does nothing to hold his feet to the fire and demand a little thing I call... Accuracy! How the hell does this guy even get ratings above 40%? oh I know, the press gets wood in their pants every time he gets up and promises to be their savior.

Equal treatment creates Inequality

2008-08-13T09:10:00.000-07:00

"From the fact that people are very different it follows that, if we treat them equally, the result must be inequality in their actual position, and that the only way to place them in an equal position would be to treat them differently. Equality before the law and material equality are therefore not only different but are in conflict which each other; and we can achieve either one or the other, but not both at the same time."
found at:

This is one of the reasons I don't like Obama. He wants to reward people for poor behavior. The power of Captalism is that it rewards people for good behavior (economically good) and punishes people for bad behavior. This leads to more good behavior and less bad behavior. It's painful at times but the only effective way to create real change in people's behavior is to provide incentive along with punishment. When you try to remove the pain of doing self-destructive things like not improving skill sets, taking risks, getting educated, not going to work, taking drugs or alchohol then you get more of this behavior. Therefore the cost of removing the pain of this behavior continues to go up which leads to more which leads to more cost which leads to more which leads to the collapse of the USSR and the embrace of captilism by the chinese or the bone crushing proverty of Cuba.

So when Obama promises Windfall profits taxes on Oil Companies and then promises $1,000 per person (who isn't rich) from this tax, I think WTF!!!! I'm not so stupid as to believe that the oil companies are going to absorb this tax out of their profits. No what we will see is energy costs go up because now the taxes oil companies pay went up, this is the last thing we need. Please keep the $1,00o and invest it in oil drilling, shale oil extraction, bio fuels, wind power, nuclear power, natural gas conversion of existing fleet, natural gas gas stations and electric cars.

drawing closer to war

2008-08-12T15:23:00.000-07:00

found at

Let's play "What if". What if Russia shuts down the Georgia Pipeline? Well, if we look at the map we see that Russia could easily handle all the oil coming through Baku by using the existing pipeline from Baku north into Russia where the oil is easily mixed into existing pipelines from Russia that supply Europe.It gets better. What if Russia decides to go after Azerbaijan as well. Well, well, lots of wells...oil wells that is! If Russia controlled Azerbaijan they would have a route for Irans oil to flow directly into Russia where again it could be sold to Europe or used in Russia or even piped to Chita Russia and into China through the new planned Russian and Chineese oil pipe system. Iran would gain another exit route for its oil...a route secure from the US and Israel.The plot thickens. Suppose Israel acting on behalf of the US decide to attack Iran's nuclear facilities thus spreading nuclear fallout in Iran and possibly destroying the pipelines around Tehran. How much would Russia like that? Would they sit by and let it happen, knowing that the result would bring US troops to secure Iran's oil for the US.....oil that Russia wants to secure just as much as the US?Well, alot of what ifs, but if the US and Russia continue to both play the game of "Secure the Worlds Oil", then the outcome is inevedible....WW3.

John Edwards is confusing me

2008-08-12T04:13:00.001-07:00

I can't tell if John Edwards is a total idiot or a Genius. So he gets caught in recent weeks going into a hotel room with a girl and spending, I believe the evening. He denies having an affair with this woman and being the father of the baby for weeks. Then goes on TV and says he had an affair with her in 2006 but that he is not the baby's father. And says he wants a paternity test but some how the woman doesn't want one?

Now didn't we just catch you visiting her in a hotel room like 3 weeks ago and you say the affair ended 2 years ago?

And why in the world did you go on TV and admit to an affair you were claiming didn't happen. What caused this shift and why go public.

It could be to try and save his political career. I think he is an idiot if he thinks that will happen. IT could be to continue grabbing headlines to continue hurting the Obama campaign. It could be that he committed a few crimes in funnelling campaign money to her and is trying to go on the record before she goes public or someone else does and tells the real truth.

I don't understand why he is prolonging this situation by going on TV and talking about it.

War, what is it good for!!

2008-08-11T14:50:00.001-07:00

Lets begin this blog with one basic premise. War through out the centuries has been basically about who is controlling the resources two different sets of people want to control. It could be land, water, food and religious sites or buildings. But it is fundamentally about insuring a society has and controls resources vital to it's existence. I believe this deeply. I don't think it is all that great of a thing to do, but it is what the human race has done for as long as it was capable of waging war.

Now think about who the most dangerous countries in the world are: America, China, Europe, Russia and India. Then think about what is happening with Oil. The reason oil is doing what it is doing is that the middle class in China and India are growing very quickly. What does the middle class people like to do, drive their cars, cool their houses and eat good food. That all takes tons of energy. This situation scares the hell out of me!

Are we headed to war if we don't figure out our energy issues? I think we are. We have to focus all our resources on fixing our energy dependecy or we need to be investng in a bigger army. I know which one I want.

Jon Voight gets Nasty

2008-07-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

I was surprised by the verocity of this op ed piece by Jon Voight.

200,000 or 20,000 who is counting!!!!

2008-07-30T11:31:00.000-07:00

The Daily Gut

REPLACEALOGUE: OBAMA HAS NUMBERS ON HIS SIDE
As it turns out the 200,000 people attending Barack Obama's speech, as reported by his staff, in front of Berlin's Siegessäule was off, give-or-take, by about a 180,000 people.
According to people who can count and not people who believe in change that is.
I contend that this slight over-estimate is not important in the least! We are only talking about an extra zero added to the end of some number. While I have been out of college for a while, last I checked a zero equals nothing.
If you do not believe in change, then you are a zero who lives in a past mired in accuracy.
Correct mathematics has been a bane to anyone who counts themselves on the side of change. Was it so long ago that correctly counting votes in Florida cost Al Gore the 2000 election? How can we be progressive if we as a society can not let go of this tainted legacy and step boldly forward into a better tomorrow?
The answer is we can not, because people are focusing too much on facts instead of what is important: change. Barack Obama exemplifies that. Yet change does not come without ourselves changing. We have to change our critical ways, because crtiticizing Barack Obama is voting against change.
That is wrong and unpatriotic.
And if you disagree with me, you sir are worse than my music teacher in elementary school.

Berlin review

Thankfullness

2008-07-29T08:47:00.000-07:00

I read several blogs from AA people and I think they are beautiful. They write down everyday what they are thankful for. I feel inspired, I don't know if I will do this every day but I think it's a good thing to be appreciative for what God, the universe or your higher power has given you.

I appreciate hanging out with Susan on Sunday
Seeing my brother Sunday at church and Getting to go to my nieces birthday party.
I appreciate my house and the ability to maintain it.
I appreciate that no one from the OKC branch was affected by the recent layoffs in my company
I appreciate how long I've got to keep my dog despite his poor health.
I appreciate the opportunity to speak on Ritual at the Agile 2008 conference in Toronto
Talking to Laken on the phone and keeping up with that relationship.
I appreciate the people who help me like Lloyd, Donna and Lisa.
I appreciate reconnecting with Bree, I've missed her.
I appreciate lunch with friends from work.

I appreciate my life and all that it means.

Recently I was reading about how one solution to the issue of probability with in quantum physics is the multi verse theory :
This is where each possible outcome of a quantum event could create two or more separate universes. This had me think about what it would mean if there is version of me for every possible decision I made in life. Someone who didn't go to college, who dated and married several of the girls that I let go, someone who majored in psychology and not computers or was a lawyer. Someone who joined the army instead. What if there a millions and millions of me experiencing all the possibilities of what life has to offer. Then what happens if when I die, I go to heaven and it is an integration of those people who experienced every one of those different events. Who would I be in heaven if I had lived and experienced every possible outcome and decision of my life. Interesting to me! It is also makes judgement of my life interesting. Some many of our decisions are dictated by our past but what if there were millions of me who had experienced both positive and negative decisions by others that influenced me. What kind of excuse would I have, none, I would know what would have happened if all those negative influences were not there.

Jesse Jackson and Freudian slips

2008-07-28T12:47:00.000-07:00

Recently Jesse Jackson claimed that he wanted to cut off Obama's nut's because he was talking down to black people. This appears to be a reference to Obama telling a black church that Black's need to start taking personal ownership of their lives.

I find that the claim to castrate Obama is exactly what Jesse has been doing to black people for 40 years. I feel that the civil rights movement has moved away from helping black people and works to keep them as victims that only the Gov't can help. That is castrating, or making impotent the individuals who are in the black community. Can the Gov't do things that help, probably but it will never truly create the society that blacks are capable of and deserve. Only black people can do that, People who continue to create victims and a victim culture for political power and financial gain are an anathema to all that they hoped to accomplish initially.

Why Jesse hates Obama

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/07/the-black-indiv.html

Liars to the left of me.

2008-07-01T12:54:00.000-07:00

I love Sunday morning. I like to get up and fix myself a nice sized breakfast and watch all those political talk shows. There isn't a one that I wouldn't watch if I had the time. Except for the Chris Matthews show, that has become so liberally slanted I think my eye balls are going to start bleeding. My favorite part is where the political Analyst get together and have an honest debate about what is going. The one thing I do hate is when someone comes on and begins repeating the talking points of one of the parties. I hate that, I turn it on for original thought and to hear things and perspectives I have not heard before. Or to hear my thoughts and feelings around issues expressed and have the other side respond to those to see if they stand up to scrutiny. However, the last couple of weeks, I think I'm going to stop watching.

If I hear one more time how all the Right wants to do is drill, drill and more drilling, I'm going to .... Well nothing really but I wish I could do something, violent in nature!!!

Yes the right wants to drill but they have said over and over.... We need nuclear power which they have been pushing for 30 years, we need wind, solar, hydrogen, electric cars, clean coal and Bio fuels. They have blocked higher standards in automobiles and in retrospective this was a bad move. But George Bush has given over 1 billion dollars in tax credits to bio-fuels and has invested millions in green research. Do we need more? ABSOLUTELY!!!!!! So come back from your summer break and pass a bill that would give millions more to this research. When the left says all the right wants to do is drill, drill and more drilling, they are lying. Now it seems silly to be upset about politicians lying to score political points. But this situation is different from the standard worthless craps politicians fight over. What is happening to us because of our energy policy is, IMHO, the most dangerous thing this country has faced since WWII. And what we need is leadership from our leaders and honesty and a willingness to do what it takes to begin correcting this situation as soon as possible, not a bunch of f-ing lies on Sunday morning talk shows.

One more lie they spread is that opening up areas like shale in Colorado and our coast to drilling would not effect the price of oil for at least 5 years. First, if you weigh 400 pounds and it will take several years to get down to a healthy weight, do you blow it off because it will take a long time or do you get started as soon as possible. However the reason it is lie is because of the cost oil is a factor of where supply and demand is trending, not just where supply and demand is currently. So while it could be several years ( I think it would earlier if oil companies could see significant profit by doing it) before it would effect the current supply and demand equation, the potential of another 2 to 3 billions barrels a day added to supply would effect the current speculation market that accounts for up to 40% of the price of a barrel. So simply passing the legislation will effect the predicted supply and demand equation. Thus immediately effecting the price of oil and therefore the price of Gas. Please Congress get off your soap box and do the right thing for the American people. When low income families have to chose between going to work and putting food on their tables, lying to score political points is... well criminal at best!

If your planning to Vote for Obama

2008-07-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

If you are planning to Vote for Obama I have two things I want you to consider.

First is a little story. For the last couple of weeks it's been wheat harvest time here in Oklahoma. A very exciting time for the state, record rains, record crops and record prices has many farmers very excited. However a friend of mine(Susan) went up to Enid Ok to help her 74 year old father bring in his 400 acres. The Grandfather Worked very hard but eventually developed a lot of pain in his knee which swelled to the size of a grapefruit. So Susan called his doctor but the Doctor couldn't see him for at leat 30 days and he should go to the emergency room if he needed immediate care. so he passed on medical care for his swollen knee and kept working to bring in the harvest. You hear about this kind of thing in Russia, Canada or Britian with their poorly managed Gov't health care but never have I heard of this in America. When I asked how this could be she explained how he is on Medicare or Medicaid and that is very normal thing with this system. WOW, welcome to Obama's vision for America!!!

Finally, how much do you like Gov't interference in your life. Like what kind of clothes you were or what kind of food you like. If you think that Gov't interference in your life would make it more sucky then I suggest you check out how our good friends in the Democratic party are handling thier convention. All kinds of rules and controls around the food allowed to eat, and what kind of coth is used in give away bags and the list goes on and on and on and on and on and on.... Ask yourself, is that what you want for America and your life!!!

THURSDAY'S GREGALOGUE: THE NEW PATRIOTISM
As the Democrats prepare for their National Convention in Denver, what do you think concerns them most? Party unity after a fractious primary season? Articulating Obama`s plan for fighting terror? Or, maybe dealing with the oil crisis without relying on windmills? No. No and no. Their big worries are fried foods, organic cotton and biodegradable utensils. In that order.

That`s right – instead of coming up with a blueprint for all this change we keep hearing about, they`re worried about whether the 15,000 fanny packs belonging to convention volunteers are made of organic cotton.

And herein likes the joys of being politically correct. Instead of focusing on improving the country, you become obsessed with improving your image. I mean – forget Iran. What about those goat-cheese won tons served to the delegates? Are they organic? Union made? Grown locally? And that caramel sauce better not have been trucked in from Canada. Think of the emissions! And I certainly hope that duck sauce came from a free range duck.

In the desire to create the greenest political convention ever, the Democrats expose the party`s two main weaknesses – no sense of proportion, and no order of priorities. The fact is, the number one concern in America is not tofu – it`s terror. It`s not compost, it`s caliphates. It`s not sauce, it`s security. For the Democrats, this green obsession is the new patriotism – because – unlike old patriotism you don`t need to love your country – you just need to hate anyone who lacks a Prius. It`s easy and it feels good – like a sensual massage. But without the happy ending.

And if you disagree with me, may your first born have a tail.

Obama, Apparently Change we can believe in is to change into McCain

2008-07-01T11:13:00.000-07:00

http://www.dailygut.com/index.php?i=3841

Following this presidential campaign is like watching a friend of yours dump a psychotic, potentially homicidal girlfriend. In this case Obama is the friend, and the crazy soon-to-be ex is the left. In the beginning, Obama could indulge the crazies over at the Huffington Post and Move On.org, simply because, back then, the rest of America didn`t know who he was. He could be every bit as loopy as they are because the saner folk were too busy working real jobs. But now that he has the nomination, he can drop the Wesley Clark`s of the world like a chlamydia-infested potato. Suddenly among the normal, Obama can no longer hold onto those nutty beliefs - which means, he must turn right. I predicted this months ago the Democrats know you can`t run left because you`ll lose which is funny, when you think about it. The only way your party can win, is to abandon your party`s beliefs. See for yourself: Obama has flipped on the death penalty and thinks guns are peachy. He's accepted the foreign surveillance act and he's no longer entertaining high tea with Ahmadinejad. Now he`s up for expanding President Bush's faith-based programs, and blasted Moveon.org for calling General Petraeus a traitor. His crazy ex-girlfriend must be cutting up his underwear. But it`s not over yet. You wait until Obama returns from Iraq speaking of the brave troops, how violence has decreased and that the surge is working and how, in effect, we are winning the war. At this point he will embrace the phrase his lefty brethren mocked so well, which is "stay the course," and ultimately acknowledge that the whole thing might have been worth it after all. Once he abandons his idiotic stance on capital gains, the makeover will be complete. So sit back and enjoy it, as the unbalanced ex-girlfriend roils in her basement apartment, blogging about her heartbreak to her loathsome friends, as the rest of us realize that Obama isn`t running against McCain, he`s turning into him. And if you disagree with me, then you`re worse than Eric Alterman.

Energy plan

2008-05-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

Hillary got beat up pretty bad by Obama over her pandering use of the Gas Tax Moratorium. It was silly because it had no chance of passing, and the leglslation to make sure the cost would be paid for had no chance of passing either. So it was obviously an act of pandering, however I did find one argument distressing. It's not a long term solution to the problem. Well no shit Sherlock!!!

She never said it was. In fact all the candidates claim to have a long term plan to our energy woes and we are heavy on the woe side with it only getting more woey every day!.

so what should be done. EVERYTHING!!! The great thing about Hillary and the Obama plan is it focuses on the decreasing demand. And we very much need to be doing everything we can to reduce the demand, especially on foreign oil,, i.e. making women abusing, christian killing Muslim crazies even richer then they already are. However it is extremely weak on the supply side. The nice thing about John McCains is it tries to improve the supply side. This is also very important. And this is the problem with politics. People pick a side and think their is no value on the other side. We are not going to solve this problem if we do not attack the issue from the supply and demand side. Recently I heard an argument that we shouldn't drill for oil in anwar because it is 10 years away from producing oil. Really!!! Well if we had started drilling there when we wanted to then it would be already be producing oil and helping us out. So get started, every time we sit around and wring our hands and cry in out lattes about what horrible thing might happen, we delay solving this problem. and it needs to be solved, bad!!!!

Here is why, all war and conflict between groups of people are about control of a resource needed for that society. We can say Iraq is not about oil but the truth is we wanted give a flying crap about that area if they didn't have oil. They would just be another Darfur or Kenya. However as India, China and to a certain extent Russia continue to grow their economic abilities, they also grow their middle class. What does the middle class like, warm houses, lots of meat and cars to get to work in. All that requires more and more energy. If we don't solve this problem, we are headed to war with these countries.

Here is what we need. We need meaningful alternatives to oil consumption. Nuclear energy, wind energy, Solar energy, Green bio fuels, A meaningful hybrid car, more drilling off the coast and in Anwar, more refineries, better stock choices for bio-fuels (No more corn based ethanol), and controls on commodities traders that drive up the cost of commodities.

Found at the Dailygut.com

May 1, 2008 12:29 PMTHURSDAY'S GREGALOGUE: FAST FOOD TAX
from The Daily Gut
I love my fast food as much as I hate big government. And now a slow-growth economy with rising food prices is causing idiot lawmakers to consider creating "sin taxes" on fast food. Color me engorged and enraged. The thought of taxing my taco came up at a New Jersey hospital meeting - it wasGov. Jon S. Corzine who brought it up. At the meeting, he called it a "constructive suggestion." Never trust a man named Jon without an "h." This idea blows. The fact is, people who eat fast food aren`t rich. So tax a burger, you tax the poor. Worse is the underlying sense of self-righteousness - that because you shouldn`t be eating this crud anyway, these dipwads are going to punish you for it. look, It`s not up to anyone but my mom to tell me what`s bad to eat - even if it's my own body hair. That's my right. Instead they should tax tofu and granola -if only because vegetarians are Nazis. See Hitler. So what`s the answer to our rising food costs? It ain't drilling my wallet. It`s drilling, period. Bush is right - Congress has failed to pass bills that expand oil exploration and create refineries that would boost crude oil production. That would cut prices across the board. And instead of embracing nuclear energy - we`re stupidly focusing on idiotic corn-driven biofuels, ethanol - which takes real food out of real mouths. It's so stupid, it makes me want to kill. Instead however, I`m going to McDonalds and have a quarter pounder special. Do you know what that is? It's when I take the burger and put it in a blender. And then I inject it straight into my armpit. It`s better than sex, people. And if you disagree with me, then you sir are worse than Moby.

Hillary or Obama, who has the most votes.

2008-04-24T12:16:00.000-07:00

Recently Hillary claimed that she had the most votes cast for her and Obama claimed the same thing. The answer of course is what is the definition of a vote and whose vote do you count. If you do not include states that use Caucuses and include Florida and Michigan then Hillary has a wide margin, if you include Caucuses then she has a very thin margin. However, if you count the votes that are counted by the DNC to determine delegates then Obama is ahead. One thing to note, most caucus states do not keep accurate records so that vote is not very accurate.

This brings me to my point. Michigan and Florida need to be part of this process. Every vote should count. I'm not a big fan of Hillary and I don't really hope she wins the nomination but I am a big fan of democracy and voting. To ignore Florida and Michigan and exclude them from this process is a disgrace to a party that 8 years ago cried about how horrible not counting votes are.

Here is the best description of my thoughts on Obama are: Found over at the dailygut.com

As the democratic primary season drags on, we know the show by heart. It's experience vs. change. But I can't believe I'm about to do this - I`m going to defend Hillary Clinton. Why? Because when the New York Times viciously attacks someone in an editorial - that means that person must be doing something right. It's the enemy of my enemy theory that works in politics as well as the salad bar at the Olive Garden. Here's the bottom line. Barack Obama is about change. But what is that change? It's not substance, it's style. Fact is, not a single idea Barack has bandied about is new - he's every bit as liberal as Ted Kennedy on a bender- and his ideology is in lockstep with the most disastrous progressive thinking of the last 20 years. Meaning, Obama is praising stuff that doesn't work and never has. Hilary knows this, but has no idea how to explain it without the Obamites coming down on her.So she's screwed. She might actually be a fairly mediocre president, but it's not going to happen, because she's the old crone at Cinderella's ball. And it's Obama's foot that fits the slipper. This is not to say Barack doesn't believe in change.For him, change means "pick me." And that's it. There are no revolutionary ideas, or inspirational thoughts. He`s just an extremely charming man who wants to be president. Is that enough? Please let me know. I'll be out back tending to my roses. They cover the graves.

Expelled

2008-04-21T11:36:00.000-07:00

I got talked into seeing Expelled last night, This is the right wing response to the Michael Moore approach to propaganda. Let me say that Ben Stein has out Michael Moored the left. I generally didn't want to go see this but I'm now very glad I did. It was very, very thought provoking.

The premise is that the University systems and science in general is suppressing meaningful dialogue about Evolution as a scientific theory. There are holes in the theory that are not explained and most scientist would agree. However, not a lot of them think Intelligent Design has a shot at filling those. So why the suppression if ID as a solution.

This is where the movie got interesting. He says it's not about the science or lack there of, it's pretty clear that it's about religion and a world view. That this is just one of the battle grounds on going around two opposing world views. One where there is a morality, there is good and evil and a God who set it all up. And there is the world view where there isn't any of that, it's all happening by accident and chance. Good and evil are what we decide. He then shows the cultures that fully embraced that world view and where it led. Russia and Nazi Germany. That was very powerful, he showed how using Darwin, Nazi's used it to justify Euthanasia and Genocide.

Very powerful stuff, I was impressed. It was sobering.

New Anti war movie bombs, Keeping doing the same thing over and over. Expect the same results

2008-04-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

The new stop loss movie is one more item on the growing list of anti war movies dieing at the box office. When is Hollywood going to join the rest of America in not hating our military.

I found this over at the Dailygut.com

TUESDAY'S GREGALOGUE: STOP-LOSS

So the new anti-war film Stop-Loss took in about twelve bucks on it's opening weekend. I haven't seen it - as you know my weekends are jammed with massage therapy and community service. But I know it's a movie about a soldier whose service is involuntarily extended in a war that's unpopular among people who eat at Spago.

And it does what Hollywood does best: be predictable. I mean, this is not a movie about a soldier who wants to fight. That reeks of patriotism, which kills your chances of Tim Robbins, or his mom Susan, talking to you at a cocktail party.

So whose fault is it for the film's failure? According to someone at Paramount: "It's a function of the marketplace not being ready to address this conflict in a dramatic way because the war itself is something that's unresolved yet." Meaning, Paramount already thinks the war is lost. But because you don't, you're too dumb to enjoy the picture.

You gotta admire that gumption: it's the audiences fault when a picture doesn't connect. However, when Paris Hilton's film flopped, you didn't hear that kind of assessment.

Look - we don't need war movies to remind us that war is bad - we know that. Plus, mainstream media is already doing a bang up job ramming home that idea - even to the point of ignoring good or encouraging news about the conflict.

But I guess what bothers me most about the flick is being lectured by people who are fundamentally more flawed than the rest of us. Really, is the act of stop-loss worse, on a personal level, than cheating on your wife and mother of your two kids - with your saucy little costar? I'd ask Ryan Philippe that, but I'm already over him. He's no Orlando Bloom.

And if you disagree with me, then you sir are worse than Hitler.

Number one issue we care about - "Bull Shit"

2008-03-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

I hear all the time about how the American Public only cares about "Bullshit" and who is screwing who, like Rev Wright, Monica Lewinski or the sniper fire in Bosnia or lack there of.

Here is why we do care about "Bullshit". When the candidates talk seriously about issues we think --- I don't believe an f---ing word. We have heard all the lies before. The president is not a king who can do anything he wants. The president responds to National issues and tries to set the national agenda. He does not do a lot law crafting and can only approve or veto the budget. He can propose laws all day but they are always modified by the House and Senate. 99% of the things said on a campaign trail is designed to sound like something I want to hear while not pissing off too many people. It's all manufactured and carefully crafted. It's all dishonest!

So we are looking at the fringe of what they have been up to in the past to try and gleam who the person is really. Not what is the carefully crafted image we see all the time. But who is the person really. How do they really feel and how will they really react to a 9/11 or a pearl harbor or a mortgage crisis. The only way we have to discover who the person is really is find out what they are up to behind the scenes when the camera is off and they think no one will find out. And that is often sordid and awful. It's often about people they surrond themselves with.

What choice do we have when no one is really honest about who they are? When you can't trust anything a politician says, we are left with inuendo and accusations.

Mark

Whale Explodes! Shop Keeper waters it!

2008-03-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

A 56 ft, 60 ton beached while dies in Taiwan. During the transfer for autopsy purposes gas builds up and the Whale "explodes". The following are pictures of the event. My favorite picture is the Shop Keeper in his surgical mask and one glove pouring a ridiculously small stream of water on this giant mound of rotting whale guts. I love this guy because he is trying to make a difference. Instead of complaining or calling the Gov't to fix his problems. He gets out a water house, a glove (I can't get over that single glove) and a mask and begins to spray water on it. How long does a small stream of water take to move a few tons of whale guts into sewers of Taiwan?? I can't tell if this is the bravest man I've seen in a long time or one of the dumbest. Maybe there isn't much of a difference!!!

This man doesn't curse the darkness, he lights a candle! Of course there also happens to be a hurricane going on at the same time.

How would you like to be the owner of the scooter and explaining this event to your insurance company. I really wanted to photoshop out the picture of the whale and change the blog title to "Man on Scooter Explodes!!!!". Now that would be cool!!!

Jeremiah Wright and Barack Obama

2008-03-19T14:53:00.000-07:00

Pastor Wright is the person who lead Obama to his Christian faith, the person who was his spiritual leader for 20 years, the person who married him and his wife and baptized his two children. Pastor Wright also said things from the pulpit like "God Damn America for all the things it does," or "America created the AIDS virus to kill people of color" or "America deserved 9/11" and a whole host of crazy things you can see on you tube.

So what does this mean. Obama admits he does not have the experience that Clinton or McCain has but that he has the better judgment and that is what being president is all about. I'm wondering how effective his judgment is to send his children to this Church every Sunday. It's one thing to join the biggest church in the area, especially if you are running for office. It's another thing to send your children to a place where hate against America is promoted from the pulpit and cheered for in the audience. Maybe every Sunday they don't bash America, however, the fundamental underpinnings of this kind of thought is taught there every day. So I'm left with two options here, Barack Obama has poor judgment when it comes to caring for his children's spiritual well being or the political value of that church comes before his families spiritual well being. Either way, not a guy I'm liking much right now.

Florida and Michagan

2008-03-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of talk about what to do about the fact that Florida and Michigan are not allowed to seat delegates in the Democratic Convention. Basically the State's of Florida and Michigan moved their Primaries up to a date that was not allowed by Democratic and Republican National Committee rules. So the Democrats disallowed the states delegates from having a voice in the convention and the Republicans allow the delegates to vote but cut the number of delegates to half. Sounds like the Republicans are acting like adults here. The democrats also requested the candidates to take their names off the ballots in the offending states and to not campaign there. Every one did that in Michagan except for Hillary and the other learned their lesson in Florida and kept their name. No one campaigned in Florida for the Dems.

So what should we do. Should we follow the rules set forth when the election began and ignore Michigan and Florida. Should we say no, all people who want to vote should have the right to vote and their vote should count. This in many ways is a lot like Florida in 2000. In that instance I felt the right thing was to follow the laws as set out originally and end the election. Here I feel differently. What is the difference. Well the people of Florida got to vote in 2000, and the official count of the vote was used to decide who the president was. They voted, it was counted and the results were what they were. In this situation, all votes are being thrown out. Their is a time to follow the rules and their is a time to fight those rules. When people begin discounting votes a whole state, then it's time to fight those rules and see them changed.

I also want to talk about the 2000 election. I find the anger of Democrats over the 2000 florida incident an embarrassment. Was it awful, yes. Why was it awful, it was the Democrats. Here is why I have a problem with it. When the vote was so close, there should have been a recount. And Al Gore and the Democratic National Committee had a chance to do the right thing and ask for a complete state wide recount. But they didn't. In an effort to ignore the will of the whole state, the Dems cherry picked the three most democratic counties in the state and asked for a recount there only. Dade County then proceeded to recount only the Democratic precints. When it was obvious to the Dade county Officials that more counting would actually increase Bush's lead, they quit their count. The Dems also tried to have the absentee voting thrown out because absentee voters tend to be mostly military and they tend to vote republican.

After the 2 and 1/2 counties were counted, the time to request a recount expired and Bush's lead had grown. According to state law, the vote was certified. Then the Dem's sued. Eventually the Florida Supreme Court got involved and decided unwisely to have another recount but wisely insisted that it be state wide. Which is what it should have been from the beginning. However, the law had been followed, the votes has been allowed, counted and delegates assigned according to that law.

For me the difference was that there was a good faith effort to cast and count the votes in 2000. In 2008 there is an actual democratic policy that throws out all the votes of two of our most important states. One did unintentionally miscount or possibly cause the intent of the voter to not be understood but that was purely unintentional and it effected the votes of a small minority. Here it is intentional and it effects all Dems in the two states

I also want to say the manipulation of a national election for president being forced down to a recount of three Heavily Democratic counties in Florida was the worst, ugleist, most machivelian, tainted politically move I've ever seen in my life. Worse than Nixon and watergate, worse than Reagan and Iran/Contra and worse than the Monica Lewinsky tragedy.

Change We need to understand II

2008-02-27T15:19:00.000-08:00

Another Excerpt from Mr. Obama's speech:

We're here because of the mother in San Antonio that I met just today, just this afternoon. She's got 2-year-old twins who are legally blind. She somehow entered into a predatory loan and saw her mortgage payments double in two weeks and has paid thousands in fees to try to stave off foreclosure.

She told me she was on the verge of packing and didn't know where her family would go next. She needed us to crack down on predatory lenders and give relief to struggling homeowners who were tricked out of their dream. She needs change today.

It's nice to see that Mr. Obama is only motivated by altruism and he decided to run for president because of a chance meeting with a complete stranger who gave him a sob story about losing her house. It's hard to believe his motivation for running for president is a serious of chance meetings with young single mothers who are down on their luck. I'm also wondering what a married father of two is doing hanging out with random single parents who are down on their luck. (sorry about that but I took a page or the New York times "reporting style" there)

So what is the action Mr. Obama is suggesting here. "She needed us to crack down on predatory lenders ". Interesting dilemma here. As far as I know sub prime mortgages are legal and have been for some time. They are not a great idea unless you plan to refinance your house before the high interest rate comes around, that is why you don't ever take one with a high penalty for early payment. So if I read this right, Mr Obama wants to take legal action against a company that did not break any law.

This is my problem with Mr Obama and liberals in general. They think all injustice must be righted by the Gov't. Instead let free enterprise and capitalism takes it's course. If anyone is paying attention, these predators are quickly going out of business and the idiots who bought these loans are losing money hand over fist. I would be very surprised if any Loan purchasing company will ever buy a mortgage like this that was given to someone with bad credit. If they do, then they should go out of business. But not to jail unless we want to make those kind of loans illegal. Then once it is illegal, all loans after that should be prosecuted. But prosecuting organization that gave out those loans in a legal manner, hmmmm....

Then he suggests we should provide relief. What is relief. Hillary wants a moratorium on foreclosures. So now they can stay in their house for another 6 months to a year with out paying rent. What happens after that? IF they can't afford their loan then what is going to change. Should we now pay the rent of anyone who didn't understand what they were getting into and can't afford their house. That sounds good to me. There is a $750,000 house I've got my eye on. I can't afford it but maybe they will give me a sub prime loan and in a few years I can't get the Gov't to pay for my mortgage. It's painful but it's time people took responsibility for their actions. Being Tricked is a poor excuse. There are tons of documents you are strongly encouraged to read before signing and tons of information on the Net and lots of advice you can get. This is one of life's little lessons that people need to learn from. Be careful when you get a loan or buy a house. Understand what your obligation is under the law.

Barrack is promising change. However, I don't see how keeping people from suffering from their mistakes is change from what the Liberal Democrats have been promising for years. However, to prosecute someone for a law that was made after the person committed the crime would need a change to the constitution. That is against the Constitution. So that is change, I don't think it's a change I want.

Change We need to Understand

2008-02-25T09:28:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama is promising Change. I do believe things need to change but I'm not convinced his kind of "Change" is what we need. So I got hold of a transcript of one his local speeches and I'm going to analyze it.

Excerpt

We're here because there are workers in Youngstown, Ohio, who've watched job after job after job disappear because of bad trade deals like NAFTA, who've worked in factories -- who've worked in factories for 20 years, and then one day they come in and literally see the equipment unbolted from the floor and sent to China.

They need us to end those tax breaks that go to companies that ship jobs overseas...

(APPLAUSE)

... and give them to companies that invest in jobs right here in the United States of America, that pay well, provide a pension, provide health care. That's the change they need.

I'm not sure how NAFTA (A free trade agreement between US, Canada and Mexico) sent equipment and jobs to China? I thought that was a cheap shot. I would agree we need better protectionist legislation with China but not Canada or Mexico. However, lets be clear, Free trade did not send jobs to China. Cheaper wages, lower taxes and significantly decrease in operating costs sent those jobs to China. Why is it so expensive here, well that is easy, Labor Unions, Outrageous amounts of legislation, unfreindly tax systems and lets not forget the squeeze Insurance Companies and lawyers put on operating costs here in the US. So the Change is ignore the real problem which is friendly to the Democratic Party. So honesty when it actually hurts is not one of the changes we will be looking forward to.

Secondly, I really hate Income Tax. Not because I don't want the gov't getting money. I want to pay taxes and get the benefits of those taxes. The problem I have is the gov't deciding how I should live my life or run my business. They do this by creating tax incentives and tax punishments. Why does someone that buys a house have the right to lower taxes. Why is that the Gov't business. Or if someone decides to offer benefits and a pension, why does the Gov't have to get in that person's business. Stop manipulating society through the tax code and let it be what it needs to be.

Where does hope come from

2008-02-08T09:13:00.000-08:00

I've been reading a blog called "Attitude of Gratitude". It's a beautiful blog. It's honesty is a wonderful thing to experience. His art is pretty impressive.

http://sippiambrose.blogspot.com/

He asked the question "Where does hope come from". That is a powerful question. One I want to explore. First lets talk about the difference between wishing and hope.

One day two men were golfing. One we Dr. John Townsend. One told there other that he hoped to marry his current girlfriend. This confused Dr Townsend because it is quite easy to get married. So he asked him why hasn't he already married him after 5 years of dating. Well the woman was quite controlling. So Dr. Townsend asked him how controlling. The man shared some very horrifying stories of a very controlling person. So Dr. Townsend asked the man about what the couple and the woman was doing to change this behavior. The answer was nothing. So Dr. Townsends said this man was not hoping for a change in behavior, he was wishing for it.

The point here is that hope, real hope is based on getting connected to the reality of their experiences. If we look at the 12 steps we see the first set of steps is connecting to the reality of their situation. Realizing that all the lies they told themselves is hurting them and justifying all the bad things they do to themselves and others. The first step to hope is feeling bad about the horrible thing you do. But feeling bad is the act of killing that part of you. It must be grieved and let go. But to make through "the valley of the shadow of death" the grief process we must have a vision of what it will be like. That begins with people who have made it. We borrow the experiences of others and set our sites on those. The seeds of hope come from those with the 6 month's of Sobriety, or 12 months or 5 years or even 20 years. When those lost in hopelessness and pain can see someone who has made it out and living a life worth living, the seeds of hope are planted.

But the seeds have to grow and that comes from working the program and experiencing the change in their lives. Seeing and experiencing relationships that are honest and caring at the same time. Seeing the change that those relationships bring. Knowing that those relationships that they have, have also been where they were. It's the love and honesty from those people that is the water and light that feed the seeds of hope. Every new day spent away from the Drink or drugs or food or meaningless sex is the act that strengthens our hope. Every small step away from the horror of that past life builds our hope.

I met with a friend several weeks ago and she was depressed. A horrible marriage, a bitter custody fight ongoing with a previous marriage, Her mother recently passed and he father knocking on deaths door and poor physical health had her with out hope. We met over coffee and talked. My advice to her was find a reason to hope again. Find a reason to live. She met with her brother and he encouraged her to move in with her Dad and help him in the final stages of his life. She called me that next day, bright eyed and hopefully. She had a way out and a way to rebuild her life. She also had someone to care about. This is where so much of our life's meaning and purpose come from. Caring about others. When we care about others we find purpose. We find meaning. I think this is an important place to find hope. When we have a purpose in this life, we have something to hope for.

West Virginia

2008-02-05T12:54:00.000-08:00

West Virgina is a Caucus. That is where people go and sit in a room and stand or sit by the table of the candidate of their choice. Then they go through several round of showing support for a candidate. If the candidate is not viable then the people supporting that candidate has to pick another or leave. There are several rounds of voting before the final count is taken and then that person won that area.

On Super Tuesday, in the first round Mitt Romney won West Virgina with Huckabee second and McCain third. Instead of continuing to vote for McCain in later voting rounds and giving the state to Romney, the McCain voters switched sides to Huckabee. Giving Huckabee the win in the state.

McCain

2008-02-01T09:40:00.000-08:00

McCain seems to be building a contigency that will get him the nomination. With Rudy stepping out that is very useful for him in moderate states like CA and NY. With Hackabee staying in then conservatives will continue to be split between Huckabee and Romney. I would be very surpised if there are not postions in the McCain presidency for Rudy and Huckabee. It's funny, I heard so many political pundits talking about how fractured the Republicans are and how united the Dems are. Now it seems the division between the Dems is increasing with the nastiness between Billary and Obama. While the Republicans are beginning to circle the wagons around McCain. The Govanator just threw his support behind McCain and the Governor of Texas is supposed to do it today, if he has not already. Things are looking good for McCain. But can he be president. I think he has a good shot against Hillary but maybe not so much with Obama. We will have to wait and see.

Is there any media bias in covering stories

Look at this and tell me what you think?

http://www.journalism.org/node/9266

Influence

2008-01-25T09:29:00.000-08:00

A friend was talking recently about how things influence our lives. the long term impact of our choices are impossible for us to envision or hope to fully understand. Here is a powerful story of how a simple thing like speed bumps in an area can profoundly effect the quality of life for all people in the neighborhood.

source:
http://www.exampler.com/blog/2007/11/03/latour-2-ant-and-the-building-of-the-social/

In the US, we call these “speed bumps.” In other parts of the world, they’re called “sleeping policemen.” (The model pictured is a Rediweld Sitecop sleeping policeman.)
Through a different mechanism, the sleeping policeman has the same social effect as a human policeman: slower cars and an environment matching collective preferences.
We can take this a step further. Consider neighborhoods. Many sociologists might explain the existence of neighborhoods by appealing to powerful abstract forces like power, class, or racism. An ANT explanation, by contrast, might start with speed bumps.
Consider a car as an “actor” that can affect—push on, act as a force upon—other actors, specifically children. Speeding cars are a danger to children, and they affect their behavior. Children aren’t allowed to play near streets where cars travel fast.
Now suppose speed bumps are put up across those streets. The speed bumps mediate or “translate” the effect of cars on children. The cars become less dangerous. Parents (another set of actors) are more likely to allow children to play outside. As many parents know, children who are playing together outside soon invade houses in packs. Parents come to know the nearby children. And, inevitably, they come to know those childrens’ parents. They begin trading favors like driving children around. They become neighborly.
Now, speed bumps by themselves don’t create a neighborhood, but there are lots of other physical objects that have similar effects, and they keep having these effects, day in and day out. The continual recurrence (”circulation”) of all these forces, all these actors affecting other actors, is (according to ANT) a sufficient explanation for the “assembly” of a neighborhood. We don’t need to bring abstractions like power into the equation.

Romney, McCain and Giuliani

2008-01-22T12:20:00.000-08:00

Florida looks like it could be pivotal. It is a huge win because it gives all it's delegate votes to the winner. So even if you have 25% of the vote you get 100% of the delegates at the convention . It's also the next major stop on the way to super Tuesday where almost half of the country's states will vote or caucus. I can't tell what is going to happen with the Republicans. If I had a choice it would go like this John McCain, Rudy, Fred T and then Mitt Romney. I might put Huckabee in front of Romney but I think that is just giving the presidency to Hillary and I suspect Mitt would make a better president then Huckabee.

In this poll McCain is in first and Mitt is second

Republican Candidate FL NY
Pollster SUSA Zogby
Date 1/20 1/19-20
John McCain 25% 24%
Rudy Giuliani 20% 21%
Mitt Romney 19% 14%
Mike Huckabee 14% 7%
Ron Paul 7% 2%
Fred Thompson 7% 7%
Other(vol.) 8% 25%

This poll is after the NV and SC primaries

Republican Candidate FL NY NY
Pollster Rass Marist SRI
Date 1/20 1/15-17 1/14-17
John McCain 20% 34% 36%
Mitt Romney 25% 19% 10%
Mike Huckabee 13% 15% 7%
Rudy Giuliani 19% 19% 24%
Ron Paul 5% 2% -
Fred Thompson 12% 6% 6%
Other(vol.) 6% 5% 17%

Proof that guns are good! or Evolution does work!

2008-01-22T12:12:00.000-08:00

KOKOMO, Ind. (AP) - A man accidentally shot himself in the groin as he was robbing a convenience store Tuesday, police said.A clerk told police a man carrying a semiautomatic handgun entered the Village Pantry demanding cash and a pack of cigarettes. The clerk put the cash in a bag and as she turned to get the cigarettes, she heard the gun discharge.Police say surveillance video shows the man shooting himself as he placed the gun in the waistband of his pants. The clerk wasn't injured.A short time later, police found 25-year-old Derrick Kosch at a home with a gunshot wound to his right testicle and lower left leg.Kosch was released from the hospital Tuesday and booked into the Howard County jail on a charge of armed robbery, criminal recklessness and battery. He is being held on a $100,000 cash bail. A jail official did not know if he had retained an attorney Wednesday.

Let this be a lesson to all you petty criminals out there. Learn the rules of Gun Safety before committing your low ball stupid crimes. Put the safety on your gun before putting it in your pants. Of course this is faster than smoking yourself to death. Why did he demand a pack of cigarettes. Why not a whole carton?

Michigan

2008-01-16T08:35:00.000-08:00

I'm a little surprised by the Michigan results. One is that Hillary won 55% of the vote. However, John Edward and Obama were not on the ballot. Basically running unopposed allowed Hillary to carry 55% of those who came out to vote, almost 40% voted for Uncommitted. Here is the scary thing for Hillary, she only carried 30% of the black vote. That means 70% of all black voters voted for someone other than Hillary. That makes South Carolina, with 50% of the electorate black, a scary place for her.

The interesting thing for Mitt Romney is his win in Michigan. 39% is not bad with McCain coming in second at 30%. This gives him 2 golds and 2 silvers. However I believe he is going to have a bit of bad luck in the next couple of races. I think he might get 3rd if he is lucky in South Carolina and then winner take all Florida does not look good for him.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/florida-primary.html
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/south_carolina-primary.html

The problem I have with Michigan is how Romney won it. Here is a good article about it:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=N2ZiNTg5MTViMzY2OTU4MzAxNTRhMDM2ODY5YTFlNDc=

Basically Romney pandered and promised to come in and fix all of Michigan's woes. Right now Michigan has been in recession for the last 6 years. They have lost jobs 6 of the last 6 years. Detroit, once a city of 1.8 million is about 900,000 today, once the city with the highest per capita income, it's now 63rd in the US. I believe that is largely due to a failure of it's state gov't to manage it's tax burden and spending programs. So what does Romney do, he offers them more gov't. I love how he promises to fix the problem with more of the problem. This is my problem with Mitt. He panders to whomever is listening and tries to become what he thinks we want him to be. We had that and his name was Bill Clinton. No thank you.

McCain might not have been wise but at least he was honest when he said there have been a lot of jobs lost there and they are probably not coming back. Of course this got a lot of air time and hurt his chances there just like when McCain opposed ethanol subsidies in farm centric Iowa. Later on he did begin offering federal Gov't solutions to there problems.

We really need to stop letting states make a mess of things and then looking to the federal gov't to bail out states. Michigan's problems are state related and the state needs to reduce it's tax burden on business and it's people and begin reducing the size of it's gov't if it wants to attract new business into the state and turn around it's jobless situation. No amount of Federal Gov't interaction is going to solve that problem.

Things like Enterprise zones can provide incentives for behavior that could be very good for Michigan, While we use them in my business, I don't support them because it is part of a completely out of control and way overly complex tax code that the Fed Gov't uses to try and control our behavior. I think that has to stop. I would personally like to see a single tax system that is collected in a simple way and is split between Federal, state and local levels. I would like to see a constitutional amendment that limits the percentage that an individual can be legally taxed. Then I would like to see all taxes eliminated that are not part of this simple system. This includes all sales tax, wine and beer tax, luxury taxes, smoking taxes, property taxes etc... By the way, it should be unconstitutional to add any deductions.

A cry heard around NH

2008-01-15T09:11:00.000-08:00

It appears that Hilary's tearing up episode combined with the guy carrying the Iron my shirt sign turned it around for Hillary in New Hampshire.

Can she keep it up, not if she keeps comparing her self to LBJ and Obama to Martin Luther King. Talk about the dumbest thing she has said up to this point. Why in the world would you want to compare yourself to LBJ in the civil rights movement which makes the comparison of Obama to Martin Luther King. Then all those black "leaders" who love to get their feelings hurt, decided that she was denigrating the effect Marting Luther King had on the civil rights movement and elevating LBJ. Of course she did no such thing.

The point here to me is how self destructive living your life as a victim is. Playing the victim is just a sick form of passive aggessive behavior. So many of today's black "leaders" try to accomplish change through creating or finding Victims. Martin Luther's great gift to the world was how he changed peoples perceptions and fundamentally changing what we believe about race. He made it a shameful thing to degrade black people. Up to that point it was accepted culturally norm. He changed peoples thoughts and perceptions of black people by speaking the truth, not victimizing. There are legitimate victims in this world and we need people to stand up for them and tell their story, but come on the Jenna 6 and Rugby team at Duke are examples of this victimization gone crazy. Martin Luthers King story wasn't a message of anger and resentment but it was a message of hope. I think Bill Crosby, who sometimes says some very nutty things, is speaking out about the right things. Black men, if you make a baby be it's daddy. Stop spending more time and money on your tennis shoes than on your education. I could go on but you get the point.

Christmas Adds from the Presidential Candidates

2007-12-20T07:35:00.000-08:00

http://www.youdecide2008.com/2007/12/19/video-2008-presidential-candidate-christmas-ads/

The Site above contains all the presidential Christmas adds. The fascinating thing about these adds is they sort of tell you how the campaigns are doing and what they are up to.

John Edwards.
In the add John talks about the poor and homeless. One point he makes is that 1 in 4 homeless people are Vets. hmmmm.... I would like to see source material on that. I find that hard to believe. He also says this is the season of Miracles, peace, hope (insert tired platitude). I feel like John made the mistake of wrapping up a political statement in Christmas cheer, and a very depressing political statement at that.
Ok John, you perform one of the following Miracles then I will seriously consider voting for you:

Walk on Water
Feed 5000 people with two fishes a small loaf of bread.
Turn water into wine
Carry you home state of North Carolina in the Dem Nomination

Clinton.................... .31%
Edwards................. .26%
Obama................... .24%
Different candidate. .12%
Undecided.............. . 8%

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/PPP_Release_120407.pdf

Hillary's is just silly. The Government is now Santa Claus and she is wrapping it up for you. What the hell is universal pre K???? It desperately tries to make her seem warm, human and loving and fails miserably. It feels so forced and fake. This is such a microcosm of her total campaign. Here is her campaign in a nutshell, "I'm going to make them like whether they like it or not". Hillary also made the mistake of wrapping up a set of political statements in christmas cheer, I really don't think people like that. Hi jacking christmas to promote your political career. I also think she added a bullet in the Republican attack weapon with this add. It plays directly into one of the primary arguments against liberals. They want to make the Gov't into Santa Claus.

Rudy's is kind of funny but it sort of feels like he is celebrating being mean. He always comes across as one strong and mean SOB. Even when he is being funny. His add is also a political statement wrapped in Christmas cheer. I think John, Hillary and Rudy made a mistake with that approach. Barack and Huckabee did not. They definitely win the add war this Christmas.

Baracks is very good but it always makes me nervous when people bring out their children for political purposes. however, he makes you feel warm and connected to him. It was very well done. He does have very cute kids.

Huckabee is amazing. I don't like this guy for president but he comes across so personable and warm and competent. I think his add is the best. However, once you use the word Jesus Christ, you will alienate some people. Not a great political move but I can respect someone who speaks his convictions.

The 2nd coming according to Oprah

2007-12-19T23:03:00.000-08:00

I watched the McLaughlin group and they pointed out the religious overtone of Oprah's speeches. I was shocked by the religious overtones of Oprah's speeches in Iowa and South Carolina. I don't mind talk like, I follow God or I'm trying to do what pleases God but this seems to make Barrack Obama equal to Christ. It seems to border on blasphemy.

A few Quotes I wrote down while listening to her speeches. This was very scary for me.

The Man who has a new vision for America

When you strip us down, We are American at our core, ... What we really have is an abiding faith, an abiding faith in the possibility that life can be better for every one
of us.

With our many colors, religions and languages but we have one government ... one congress ... one president ... and because we can only choose one that choice should be Barrack Obama

We do not want to reinvent the same reality we are now all experiencing but stand strong and united for the potential ... the potential with in us and the potential that lies before us.

when you do the same thing over and over you get the same results. But it is time to dream America new again by supporting Obama.

We need somebody committed to the welfare of all Americans, we need Barrack Obama, we need a new way of doing business in America,

You can not see through the political vale of other politicians. When you witness Obama, you witness a very rare thing, a politician with an ear for eloquence and a tongue dipped in the unvarnished truth.

We need a president that can proceed with moral authority. (This one surprised me, if we have anything today, we have that)

It is a dangerous imbalance when we do not realize that all human hearts are the same.

In order for humanity to evolve (and that is the reason we are on this earth) we have to learn to treasure our uniqueness and each others diversity.

These are dangerous times, you can feel it, you can sense it in the air. We need a leader who shows us how to hope again... faith again... in America as a force for
peace.

Just as Barrack Obama has seized this moment, we need to seize this opportunity to support a man that as the bible says, loves mercy and does justly... loves mercy and does justly.

none of us is God and none of us knows the future so we should seize this
moment...

Are you the one? are you the one? Well I have the answer. I'm here to tell you that he is the one, he is the one.

For the first time I'm stepping out of my pew, I've been inspired. I've been inspired. Dr King dreamed a dream but we can vote that dream into reality

A man who knows who we are and what we can be.

Each one of us has a calling to do good things on this earth
and he knows that and know us.

If you could vote against a president, Hillary wins

2007-12-19T08:34:00.000-08:00

They did an interesting poll. If you could vote against a president then Hillary wins with 40% of the vote. Rudy comes in second with 17% and Barrack with 11%.

I was surprised by the 11%.

Mark

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3856557

Is it better to feel good or be pragmatic

2007-12-18T15:06:00.000-08:00

Some organization is out trying to give a laptop to every poor child in the world.

http://www.dailygut.com/index.php?i=3485

It costs about $200 and is designed to be rugged.

Of course 500 million children live in serious poverty and hunger and 15 million of those die from starvation every year. So what they really need are laptops. Really.

Is this really about making a real difference or is it about making people feel good about themselves. Wouldn't that $200 dollars be better spent in building schools, paying for teachers, food, farming equipment, hospitals, medical supplies, sending doctors there, building infrastructure like electrical plants, water processing plants, Roads and bridges, etc....

Is our goal to provide for the poor and impoverished people in this world, (you know the ones that can't read, don't have electricity, a house that pours water through it when it rains and no locks on the door to protect any thing of value in it, works 12 hours a day for pennies) with the all important ability to blog, down load porn, surf their friends on myspace and get all the junk email they could hope for. Don't forget all that ad revenue when they click on those Google add sites.

I think this maybe one of the most uncaring acts I've seen in a long time.

Mitt Romney and Mormonism.

2007-12-18T13:02:00.000-08:00

I believe and love the freedom of religion this country has and I hope one day every country in the world will embrace that. I believe everyone should pretty much be free to practice almost any religion as long as it doesn't cause serious harm to anyone associated.

I don't believe freedom of religion means that I should ignore the fundamental beliefs of presidential candidates. What a person chooses to believe and base his life around should be a personal decision but when you decide to run for office, especially the presidency, then it should matter what religion you have followed your whole life. A person's actions are almost always based on his beliefs. If I believe I can meet a nice girl at a bar, I believe meeting a nice girl would make me happy, then I'm hanging out at the bar. Change what a person believes and you will change his/her behavior.

Until 1978 the mormon church would not let a black man be a preist. Mitt Romney was in his 30's and a practicing mormon.

That the current prophet running the church today is speaking for God and is to be obeyed as if he is God.
http://www.lds-mormon.com/fourteen.shtml

"Always keep your eye on the President of the church, and if he ever tells you to do anything, even if it is wrong, and you do it, the lord will bless you for it but you don't need to worry. The lord will never let his mouthpiece lead the people astray."
LDS President Marion G. Romney (of the first presidency), quoting LDS President (and prophet) Heber J. Grant "Conference Report" Oct. 1960 p. 78

The husband gets to heaven by pleasing God, the wife gets into heaven by pleasing her husband.

"Celestial" marriage, as this eternal marriage is often called, is essential for Mormon women. Without being celestially married to a holder of the priesthood, a woman cannot be "saved" (Green 154). Mary Ettie Smith, a Mormon woman who left the church and Utah in 1856, said that "women do not amount to much in themselves," and that women in those times were often celestially married to men they had no intention of ever living with, so that they could have a man who would be able to get them into heaven (Green 154). In the temple marriage ceremony, women are given secret names known only to their husbands, for identification purposes, so their husbands can pull them through to "the other side" after death (Laake 118). During the marriage ceremony, until 1990, men made their temple covenants directly to God, while the women had to make their temple covenants to their husbands (Laake 328).

The Mormon Church currently claims about 11 million baptized members worldwide (5.2 million U.S., ranking it 5th among the largest 25 U.S. denominations), up from about 2.5 million in 1970. 1970. Over the last decade, nearly 300,000 individuals over the age of eight have joined the Mormon Church every year. Membership is expected to grow to over 23 million over the next two decades. It is growing fastest in Latin America and Asia

The Mormon Church collects at least $6 billion a year from its members, and generates at least another $5 billion in sales from its various business enterprises; total church assets exceed $30 billion. (At least 100 companies are controlled by the Mormon Church, and some estimate its total annual revenues in excess of $20 billion! The church also owns 18 radio stations in the U.S.) Part of the Church's income goes to operate an elaborate internal welfare system so its members avoid any governmental assistance. The Mormon Church also has a 58,000-plus missionary force working in more than 160 nations in 102 languages. The Church's Provo, Utah, 26-acre Missionary Training Center receives 500 new missionaries a week into its 3-9 week intensive missionary training program. (All boys, once they turn 19, are expected to dedicate two years of their lives to missionary service.) Fielding missionaries is a $500 million per year effort and currently reaps more than 300,000 new converts each year.

As of year-end 2002, there were 114 operating temples of Mormondom worldwide, with another 14 under construction or approved (albeit less elaborate than the 50 temples in existence at the end of 1997). (Approximately 65,000 members must be in an immediate area to qualify for a temple.)

God was once a man like us.
God has a tangible body of flesh and bone.
God lives on a planet near the star Kolob.
God ("Heavenly Father") has at least one wife, our "Mother in Heaven," but she is so holy that we are not to discuss her nor pray to her.
Jesus was married.
We can become like God and rule over our own universe.
There are many gods, ruling over their own worlds.
Jesus and Satan ("Lucifer") are brothers, and they are our brothers - we are all spirit children of Heavenly Father
Jesus Christ was conceived by God the Father by having sex with Mary, who was temporarily his wife.
We should not pray to Jesus, nor try to feel a personal relationship with him.
The "Lord" ("Jehovah") in the Old Testament is the being named Jesus in the New Testament, but different from "God the Father" ("Elohim").
In the highest degree of the celestial kingdom some men will have more than one wife.
Before coming to this earth we lived as spirits in a "pre-existence", during which we were tested; our position in this life (whether born to Mormons or savages, or in America or Africa) is our reward or punishment for our obedience in that life.
Dark skin is a curse from God, the result of our sin, or the sin of our ancestors. If sufficiently righteous, a dark-skinned person will become light-skinned.
The Garden of Eden was in Missouri. All humanity before the Great Flood lived in the western hemisphere. The Ark transported Noah and the other survivors to the eastern hemisphere.
Not only will human beings be resurrected to eternal life, but also all animals - everything that has ever lived on earth - will be resurrected and dwell in heaven.
Christ will not return to earth in any year that has seen a rainbow.
Mormons should avoid traveling on water, since Satan rules the waters.
The sun receives its light from the star Kolob.
If a Gentile becomes Mormon, the Holy Ghost actually purges his Gentile blood and replaces it with Israelite blood.
A righteous Mormon will actually see the face of God in the Mormon temple.
You can identify a false angel by the color of his hair, or by offering to shake his hand.

Healthcare Costs - Supply and Demand

2007-12-04T14:59:00.000-08:00

I've been talking recently about Tort reform and how it could impact the cost of health care. Helping to make health care more affordable and thus increasing health care so that we can achieve universal health care with out completely giving control of health care to the Gov't, the good people that brought you public restrooms, Medicare, Medicaid and the post office.

One of the ways to manage costs is to increase Supply and reduce Demand.
Lets talk about Supply first and then Address Demand later. Increasing Supply requires us to increase the number of Doctors, Dentists, Nurses etc.. working. We actually have a lot of Doctors but many of them simply don't work or limit the kind of work they do because of the cost of insurance. I believe a key impediment to Doctor is the extreme cost of becoming a doctor and the huge debt one must go accumulate to become a Doctor and of course how difficult the training is for This. I'm not sure I want to address how difficult this is, I think I want it to continue to be difficult to be a doctor from the work load and how much you have to learn. However, I feel that the one area the Gov't can and should get involve is not to pay for Insurance but instead to pay for our Doctors' education. I think anyone who can get accepted to Med School should be able to get a full ride from our Gov't. I believe this would significantly enable and increase the number of doctors entering the workforce. I also believe that if a person got a free education from the Gov't they are required to pay it back by giving 10% to 20% of their time and earnings to Needy people and Free Clinics. Focused mostly on Preventive care. In fact I think most preventive care could be paid given away by those that received a free education. This would actually increase the cost of health care some what. Because then for the doctor to make his money he would have to charge 10% to 20% more for the other work he is doing. However, This is going to be much cheaper than the taxes required for the Gov't to create another bureaucracy to create a health care system that covers all Americans.

By increasing or even making free most or all of our preventative health care work, we would see a significant decrease in the amount of emergency and truly expensive work we are doing now. Such a large portion of our population is waiting to see the doctor at a point where the work is very expensive and less likely to be effective. We actually find that people with Insurance spends less on health care because they get the maintenance and preventive care that so many do not.

By removing the cost barriers of becoming a doctor and getting them to pay it back in preventive care for the poor, we increase Supply and reduce demand.

tort reform and contigency fees

2007-11-30T11:33:00.000-08:00

A contigency fee is where an attorney recieves a portion of the winning if they win the case.

What the contigency fee does is two fold: First it builds up the lawyer lottery. To win the lottery you have to play and the more you play the more likely you are to win. So the more the lawyer sues people the more likely he is to win the lottery. The lottery is the right combination of suffering and pain combined with activist judges and money happy juries that can result in out of control settlements. All you have to do is keep playing the lawyer lottery and you will get that big judgement. Then once you get that judgement you get 25% to 50% of all that money. Of course you can build up fear of paying out on the lottery and get insurace companies and corporations to just give you money to go away. Then you can take 25% to 50% of that also.

Secondly it takes money from those truly suffering. For example, I recently hear of a family that was rear ended on a free way. The individual responsible for the wreck sold cars for a living. The car had been loaned to him as part of his employment. A look at this mans record would have indicated a history of unsafe driving and therefore loaning cars to this person was unwise and put the car lot as part of the responsible party in the accident. So now this case is interesting to a lawyer because there are deep pockets and they can maintain a percentage of responsbility. This creates a lottery situation. Notice that if this persons record was clean then there was a much smaller chance a lawyer would take this case. so the lawyers begin pursuing the lottery. In response the insurance companies decide to avoid the potential pay off and settle for around 5 million in suffering and lost wages to the family and spouse of the wife killed in the car. The lawyer takes 1.5 million of this money. The family's suffering, medical bills and lost wages are calculated out at 5 million and the lawyer get 1.5 of it. for what? If the money is for those truly hurting, how does this much money go to a lawyer. Take a paralyzed person for example. I've heard lawyers talk about how this is the biggest lottery ticket. Because that person can sit in the courthouse and juries are going to feel awful on top of the incredible money they can ask for concerning long term medical costs. therefore if a paralyzed person needs 2 million to pay medical costs, how does a lawyer justify taking 600K to 1 million of that in contigency fees?

options:
1. reduce the allowed amount to around 10%.
2. eliminate this as an option and force costs to be charged. I don't like this because then lawyers would be incented to delay the action to bill more time.
3. force the loser to pay for courts costs. again we have the issue of lawyers delaying action to increase billable time.
4. all lawyers go on the gov't as salaried employees or work for corporations as salaried employees and bonus them on how quickly justice is served.

Wikipedia list the strengths and weaknesses as
[edit] Advantages
A contingency fee arrangement provides access to the courts for those who cannot afford to pay the attorneys fees and costs of civil litigation. Contingency fees also provide a powerful motivation to the attorney to work diligently on the client's case. In other types of litigation where clients pay the attorney by the hour for their time, it makes little economic difference to the attorney whether the client has a successful outcome to the litigation. Finally, because lawyers assume the financial risk of litigation, the number of speculative or unmeritorious cases may be reduced..

[edit] Disadvantages
Contingency fees do not guarantee civil justice, or even access to the courts. Lawyers sometimes "cherry-pick" only the strongest claims which are most likely to succeed. Not all cases are immediately transparent. Some require extensive investigation before the chances of success can be properly assessed. Such cases might be turned away because even the initial assessment of their strength is costly and risky.

NoChance.com

2007-11-30T11:31:00.000-08:00

According to a recent zogby poll. Hillary clinton would lose in a genral election against every major republican candidate.

http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1393

No chance at all!

Tort Reform - Addressing the argument against

2007-11-26T14:01:00.000-08:00

One of the key arguments against Tort Reform has:

"We've lost our system of legal accountability, said N. Alex Winslow, executive director of Texas Watch, a consumer advocacy group. "Just having more doctors doesn't make patients safer. It remains to be seen who is coming to our state."

This argument is weak at best. What tort reform does do is limit the cost to society of an out of control system that has become the opposite of what it was intended for. Right now law suit after law suit is filed. It like playing the lottery. Their is little cost and eventually you will hit pay dirt. Just the threat of huge payoffs cause insurance companies and corporations to pay out on dubious claims just to avoid the risk of finding that dangerous combination of activist judge and crazy jury. By reducing, not eliminating, the amount a person can win in non economic costs to $250,000 per entity the state of Texas has significantly reduced the number of lawsuits being filed, decreased the health care insurance premiums by over 21% and increased the number of people acting as doctors in the State.

But lets look at an argument on the other side. An classic example is the Ford Pinto case. Here we learn that the automobile industry calculate the cost of lawsuits versus the cost of recall to decide if they want to recall a vehicle that they know is dangerous to drive. If we have tort reform then the automobile industry will reduce their number of recalls and maybe even safety controls and therefore hurt the safety of Americans.

However, what they didn't have in the seventies like they have in the 21st century is serious competition. If Ford begins to make a lot of unsafe cars then they are out of business. IF they are not already close to that already. The free market system and a free press will correct this problem. We don't need a bunch of lawyers getting rich off the pain and suffering of people before the market or company makes the required correction.

Lets look at another issue. Tobacco. Many of those opposed to Tort reform point to the work done on the Tobacco industry. Well this is ridiculous because anyone who honestly looks at this knows that the only thing that came of those lawsuits was a lot of money went into the lawyer pockets just so that Tobacco could avoid being sued by all the people that were actually made sick. So now the Lawyers are rich, Tobacco can continue poisoning people and where is real care for those suffering from lung cancer, Heart disease and the host of other diseases killing Americans.

Tort Reform - We really do need this.

2007-11-26T09:40:00.000-08:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tort_reform

http://www.atra.org/wrap/files.cgi/7964_howworks.html

I feel like one of this country's biggest problems is the money made on lawsuits. This kind of wealth movement for little to no real value is killing innovation and our health care systems.

Today I was thinking about how the left is looking for it's "Contract for America" and Reagan-esque ideas that would help champions it's causes and how they seem to be moving toward universal health care. I think Universal Health Care is the worst of ideas. The same people who brought you public restroom, the Post office, Medicare and Medicaid and the American/Mexican Border are now going to be in charge of your health care. On the other hand, I know a lot of people who work hard, are wonderful members of society but have no health care and desperately need it. So something truly does need to change. The primary issues that is killing access to health care for millions is the continual rise of cost of health care and health care insurance. The rise of health costs can be partly if not mostly attributed to rising health care provider insurance. Especially in pediatrics. A significant burden to insurance companies is the lawsuit factor. Not only is the number of lawsuits and the crazy pay outs that happen often driving the cost of health care and health care insurance out of reach for the lower middle class, it's also choking off important funding that companies could use to innovate and improve itself. So many potential companies fail to achieve their potential because of the risk of lawsuits.

I believe one important move to make health care available to 100% of our working members of society is to do something about Tort Reform.

Recently Texas enacted some of the toughest Tort reform rules a state has ever had.
http://www.tortreform.com/node/433
In the following article and excerpt to follow, Texas has seen a 21.3% drop in health care insurance premiums. That has resulted in many more doctors moving to Texas and real savings for those using health care.

Four years after Texas voters approved a constitutional amendment limiting awards in medical malpractice lawsuits, doctors are responding as supporters predicted, arriving from all parts of the country to swell the ranks of specialists at Texas hospitals and bring professional health care to some long-underserved rural areas
...
For pain and suffering, so-called noneconomic damage, patients can sue a doctor and, in unusual cases, up to two health care institutions for no more than $250,000 each, under limits adopted by the Legislature. Plaintiffs can still recover economic losses, like the cost of continuing medical care or lost income, but the amount they can win was capped at $1.6 million in death cases.
...
The increase in doctors - double the rate of the population increase - has
raised the state's ranking in physicians per capita to 42nd in 2005 from 48th in 2001, according to the American Medical Association. It is most likely considerably higher now, according to the medical association, which takes two years to compile the standings. Still, the latest figures show Texas with 194 patient-care physicians per 100,000 population, far below the District of Columbia, which led the nation with 659.
...
Adding to the state's allure for doctors, Mr. Opelt said, was an average 21.3 percent drop in malpractice insurance premiums, not counting rebates for renewal.
...

Turning Lead into Gold and taking Shots at each other.

2007-11-20T20:34:00.000-08:00

Turning Political Lead into Political Gold
I have to say I was very impressed with Mike Huckabee on Fox News with Chris Wallace this weekend. Chris Wallace brought out a lot of accusations that Mike faced as Governor of Arkansas and Mike handled himself as well, if not better, than Bill Clinton himself. When confronted by multiple accusations concerning his use of the Governorship to increase personal wealth, he give a very good explanation for each item. Here is the part that was impressive. After each explanation he explains how this is the way things are done in Arkansas and how this has given him the ability to run a very effective campaign and go the distance. It was so impressive to see someone getting beat up politically on national TV by professional journalist (politically bullies) and see him turn it into nothing but smoke and then twist it into this amazing positive about what a great person he is. This man can turn lead into political Gold. However, I don't think he has a chance at winning the nomination. He will do well in Iowa and probably not in a state as secular as New Hampshire. He is an ex-Baptist preacher. But come Super Tuesday, he is Toast. He does not have the money to do the kind of campaigning super Tuesday will require and he doesn't have the time to come up with the cash on hand. What he can do is make Rudy much more acceptable to the Christian Right as his running mate. We will see that? I think Rudy would be smart to consider it.

That brings up another important point. Super Tuesday gives many states more of a say in who is elected president and reduces the importance of Iowa and New Hampshire as one of the key decision points. that kind of thing would be good, just look at the results of John Kerry. That was a bad idea all the way around. What it also does is force the election to be more about how much money you have and less about who you are and what you are really saying day in and day out. Super Tuesday campaigning will be done on TV, not at the local eateries, state fairs, pancake breakfasts and Chili cook offs of Iowa and New Hampshire. I'm not convinced we have done ourselves a service with this Super Tuesday thing.

Taking Shots
Recently Novak claimed that Hillary was claiming that she had bad dirt on Obama but wouldn't share it because she cared too much for the Democratic party to be so ugly. So Obama charged her with getting honest with the people and share it. They also claimed that this was just like an awful Republican trick. Of course the Hillary campaign responded with the claim that anyone who has any experience would recognize the finger prints of the GOP behind this scam and would just ignore it. I love this comment, the carefully worded slam against Obama's primary weakness, experience. Of course Obama was going after her primary weakness, She is just plain evil and does as much if not more evil than the Republicans. It's fun to watch the Democrats out hypocrite themselves while vacillating between self righteous talk, wounded victim and just plain evil innuendos.

HillaryHasNoChance.Com

2007-11-19T15:46:00.000-08:00

http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1376

At the top of the list as to people would NEVER vote for is Hillary Clinton at 50%. As of October 2007, over 50% of likely voters would never vote for Hillary. People would be more likely to vote for Dennis Kucinich than Hillary. Ron Paul does better than Hillary.

Obama's real chance.

2007-11-19T08:49:00.000-08:00

Does Obama have a shot at the winning the Democratic Nomination? He has one according to Juan Gomez of NPR http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1930705
and Fox New Sunday with Chris Wallace.

If John Edwards attempt at nomination dies, then which way will those supporting John Edwards go. For the last several months we have seen Hillary's poll numbers rise. I think that has come mostly from those originally support Edwards and think Hillary is an acceptable alternative. However if he falls apart, like his getting booed this weekend, then I think the 12% to 21% polling that he gets
http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/2008/iowa.html
http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/2008/zogby-national-polls.html

would then go to Obama. Notice in the national poll, there is 18% undecided. Undecided is interesting because that is a group of people not supporting Hillary. How much more do you need to know to decide whether to support Hillary. It think that is 18% hoping someone comes around that they can support besides Hillary. Add the 12% John is getting to the 18% undecided and then to Obama's 24% he is getting and that's 54%. Can he get all of that 12 and 18, probably not but all he needs is more than her 38%. I suspect if he begins to pull closer to her, we could see that 38% erode. Realize that Bill Clinton was originally elected by 43% of the electorate thanks to Ross Perot taking 20% of the vote. Right now Hillary is winning by splitting those voting against her between John and Obama. Can Obama turn that around. We will see.

Is the "B" word the new "N" word

2007-11-13T12:16:00.000-08:00

Hillary is now calling out John Edwards for acting like "B"ush because he is attacking her and dividing people like a "Bush". John Edwards is saying that planting softball questions in town hall meetings is acting like a "B"ush.

Has it really fallen this far. Has the sitting president of the United States become a curse word for Democrats. Is the real enemy George Bush, really. Can the leaders of the Democratic party be so irresponsible as to paint our president as the bad guy. Look at the slow deterioration of Democracy and Capitalism by the KGB inspired leadership of Yeltsin, or the dangerous Rhetoric of Hugo Chavez, The nuclear weapon empowered nutcase running half of Korea, the Genocide in Rwanda and the Rampant HIV plague killing millions in Africa, Nuclear weapon empowered Pakistan lies at the doorstep of Anarchy, and Iran continues to help kill our troops every day. And the problem the Democrats face is George Bush. Is he doing a great job? I can't see that anyone is offering a better plan other than, I would talk to them more. Really, what these problems needs is more talk. Wow, how disconnected from reality can we get.

In a sign of the increasingly bitter feud between the leading Democratic presidential contenders, Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign Monday accused John Edwards of acting like President Bush and dividing Democrats.

On Saturday, Edwards, while campaigning in Iowa, criticized the Clinton camp for planting a question in the audience, saying the practice is "what George Bush does."

"George Bush goes to events that are staged, where people are screened, where they're only allowed to ask questions if the questions are favorable to George Bush and set up in his favor," the former senator from North Carolina said.

But it is Edwards who is acting more like the sitting Republican president, the Clinton camp says. "What George Bush does is attack Democrats and divide the country," Clinton campaign spokesman Mo Elleithee said Monday. "Sen. Edwards' campaign resembles that more and more every day."

Edwards comments came after the Grinnell College's "Scarlet and Black" newspaper reported a student's account of being pulled aside before a campaign stop in Newton, Iowa, and asked to pose a specific question.

Starbucks, Service and Sexism

2007-11-13T08:45:00.000-08:00

Here is a study full of correlation and a complete lack of Casuality. A very poor study, dismal science but begins an interesting point.
http://ideas.repec.org/p/mdl/mdlpap/0711.html

1. When the barrista is male a woman will have to wait on average 20 seconds longer for her sugar laden, over priced, caffeine addicting cup of delicious heaven
2. When the Barrista is male or woman and the customer is male then they get their cup of heaven faster than all groups.
3. If the patron is below average in looks then they tend to wait longer also.

What does this mean. It means people are starving in Africa and we are worried about 20 seconds spent in line at over priced coffee shops.

Finally someone truly fighting for the Environment. Eat your heart out Mr. Gore

2007-11-12T16:08:00.000-08:00

http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/020207/loc_020207074.shtml

This Guy, In LubbockTx, Where I went to College, set up wires at neck level, broken glass and nails on Bike Trails to protect the environment. Really, Bike Trails. This place is the Mecca of Bad farming practices and Feedlots that destroy top soil and poison the ogalla aquifer and he is fighting for environment by hurting the 18 people in Lubbock that ride bikes.

Wow, talk about misguided.

Tolerance or Freedom, Make your choice. You can't have both.

2007-11-12T15:44:00.001-08:00

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/582

This lady was fired after expressing an opinion about water boarding and the good people at the daily Kos went after her. I'm very disappointed to see an news agency, damn Canadians!, cave to what amounts to book burning. Where is the all the understanding and tolerance gone from our liberal friends at the Daily Kos. It always amazes me how much intolerance is justified by a cry for tolerance. Give it up, there is no such thing as tolerance!!! Fight for freedom and justice, but tolerance can not be enforced. It just makes you intolerant. Tolerance is only a personal choice, not a lifestyle to be slammed into the faces of people.

Recently I heard a senator claim that the war should end because our soldiers have become targets in Iraq. Really, we have put soldier in harms way and people are trying to kill them. Isn't that sort of the point of being a soldier. Isn't that the damn job! Has a segment of our population become so emotionally invested in our failure in Iraq that the possibility of success has driven them completely insane.

I do want to say that the left is right about one thing. A solution can not happen purely by Military means. To eventually succeed we do need the Iraq gov't to become a fully functioning gov't. Of course our gov't is barely functioning right now and that's because someone might run a negative add and hurt their chances of election. There, their family, friends, work comrades and even themselves could be killed. Iraq can never become a fully functioning gov't with out military action. Iraq will never achieve it's potential if we cut and run. It's going to take 20 or 30 years, just like it did in Germany before they are a fully functioning Gov't and society. But it is worth it. It was worth it in Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Korea and a host of other countries we have freed from oppression and set on the path of Democracy, Freedom and economic prosperity.

Rudy and Robertson, I'm speechless

2007-11-12T08:10:00.000-08:00

I saw John McCain on the Sunday morning political talk show circuit and his response to the Rudy and Robertson announcement was "I'm speechless"

http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/politics/2007/11/10/giulianis-good-news-and-bad-news.html

So I've watched the McLaughlin Group, Meet the Press and This week all talk about it. Everyone looked at it and predicted it would come falling apart. It was done with the worst motivation (This one is probably true). Robertson doesn't have the influence he once did (yeah, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have influence). I find all the liberal leaning lefties delightfully talking about how the Right doesn't agree with it self because they are willing to support a person that doesn't believe all the things that a powerful block of voters believe in deeply. Of course there was little talk when strongly religious black gospel singers who are very outspoken against homosexuality sing at Barack Obama events. Watching the Chris Matthews show was almost embarrassing on how little they understood or maybe wanted to admit what is driving the Rudy run for President. He is the Republicans best chance at beating her, and I think he wouldn't be all that bad. I still like McCain. He is just one tough guy!

Here is the one thing That the marriage of Robertson and Rudy says. Sure we don't all have to agree on things like abortion and Gay civil unions but the one thing we can all agree on is... NO Hillary Clinton in the white house. Rudy offers the Republicans the first real chance at turning many democratic states into Republican states. If Rudy can carry New York and most of the standard Republican states. Then he is president. If Rudy can Carry New York and several of the middle of the road states like Ohio, Michigan, PA and the Northeast then he wins in a land slide. I don't think Hillary has any chance of turning traditional Republican states into Dem states. Her negatives are just too high. Obama has a shot at it.

This is why Rudy is leading the polls and Robertson endorses him. Not because Robertson just loves Rudy, but because Pat fears a much worse fate for the country, President Hilary.

P.s. Rudy is also probably one of the most likable people in the election besides Obama. Come on, that guy is almost too likable. I watched Obama for an hour on Meet the Press. Very nice guy, very likable. However, for someone giving Hillary a hard time on not being specific, he could have given her lessons in this interview.

Einstein

2007-11-09T10:13:00.000-08:00

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. Albert Einstein

Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions. Albert Einstein

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. Albert Einstein

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. Albert Einstein

Love is a better teacher than duty. Albert Einstein

Pelosi and Reid play politics with the lives of our Troops

2007-11-09T08:18:00.000-08:00

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hcWJu9bbzrJZ7uNHjvMn0BuTGqHQD8SQ1F7O0

By all sane accounts the Surge has done an amazing job in quelling violence in Iraq. The civil war is at an end, the Sunni insurgency is over, Al Quaeda has no area in which it can operate in and this is what Pelosi said this week.

"This war is the biggest ethical issue we're facing in our country. ... This is not working. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. We must reverse it," Pelosi said, adding that she planned to end Bush's believe that Congress is his "ATM" for Iraq.

So they are creating a spending bill a quarter of what he is asking for and refusing to do anything else this year if he vetoes this one. Which we know he will do if she can even get this one passed. It would be one thing if this was a bill to build a museum for Woodstock but this about giving our troops the support they need to stay alive and fight a very tough war. Is this a time for political games man ship or a time for leadership.

Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Democrats face "unfortunate timing" because of the military progress being made in Iraq.

"While our troops are quelling violence and defeating terrorists in Baghdad and throughout Iraq, Democrats in Washington are trying to choke off funds for our troops in the field," he said.

Leiberman Rocks

2007-11-08T11:39:00.000-08:00

Below is an example of Lieberman's comments concerning the Democrats and their stance on foreign policy. I think Lieberman (Al Gore's running mate in 2000 and current independent) is just about the only sane person caucusing with the Democrats in Congress and the Senate when it comes to foreign policy. The Dems have chosen a path of partisanship and political manuvering over meaningful dialogue and solutions for our foreign policy. Kerry in the 2004 election basic foreign policy stance was, I don't like what the president is doing. so you ask him what he would differently and basically he would do everything the president was currently doing only much better and everyone in europe would love him for it. Come on, why would we change presidents then! So now it's take another tack so we can start winning elections. That tack seems to be oppose everything the president is doing no matter that we have no solutions to the real problems he is trying to solve. All we here from the three Democratic front runners is how much they hate the war but when confronted about pulling troops out or deadlines they went running for the hills. All they have is complaints, whining and hate speach but nothing meaningful that will help make us and the world a safer.

On Thursday, Lieberman waxed nostalgic over foreign policy giants Democrats like Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and John Kennedy, but said that after Vietnam, it took until the Clinton administration to regain an internationalist, interventionist attitude among Democrats. Just as soon as that attitude returned, it left again once the Bush administration took the reins in the post-Sept. 11, 2001, atmosphere. He said President Bush's call for the spread of democracy across the globe followed a campaign in which, as Lieberman described it, Bush was less interested in foreign policy than his Democratic opponent, Al Gore. Lieberman was Gore's running mate."The Bush administrations post-9/11 ideological conversion confronted Democrats with an awkward choice. Should we welcome the president's foreign policy flip-flop? Or should Democrats match it with a flip-flop of our own?" Lieberman said.

"I felt strongly that Democrats should embrace the basic framework that the president articulated for the War on Terror as our own — because it was our own. It was our legacy ... But that was not the choice most Democrats made. Instead, they flip-flopped," he said.
Lieberman said Democrats aren't being guided by principle, but partisanship.
"Even as evidence has mounted that General Petraeus' new counterinsurgency strategy is succeeding, Democrats have remained emotionally invested in a narrative of defeat and retreat in Iraq, reluctant to acknowledge the progress we are now achieving, or even that that progress has enabled us to begin drawing down our troops there," he added.

Robot Cars, Whatever (rolling my eyes!)

2007-11-07T14:35:00.000-08:00

http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaTechnology/idUSIndia-30329820071104

Enough with the Robot crap!!! When you have a real robot that really does something useful, like dishes, sweeping, driving, mowing, cooking or just plain working on the house... give me a call.

Other than that, stop getting my damn hopes up. I'm sick of all the promise and none of the pay off. BTW, I don't want someone else driving my car, I LIKE driving!!!! unless it's a long trip! Then we should have trains that move around my car.

Drugs not Hugs

2007-11-07T14:12:00.000-08:00

recently a girl got detention at school for giving her friends a good bye hug.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21661718/

Can we say ridiculous. I realize that this is done with the best of intentions. OH MY GOD we have to protect our kids!!!!! They are being HUGGGEEEDDDDD, stop all this caring and human warmth. Someone might take advantage of all the friendliness.

Here is the deal. At some point our kids have to be put in difficult situation and develop the ability to say no for them selves. It is important that a woman or man learn to say "no, I don't want to be hugged by you" in a nice and meaningful way when the consequences are limited. At school, someone gets mad at you for a week. At work, your co-worker who later becomes your boss thinks you are a mean bitch and you never get another raise or promotion.

Yes, inappropriate PDA's should be stopped in almost all situations but can't we trust the judgement of our teachers to make the call. Why does it have to be all possible human contact. Can we just trust the judgement of our teachers to allow nice hugs to happen and when it is inappropriate or causing school disruptions when out of control, then just step in and put a stop to it. Do we really need a school system wide policy against all human contact because sometimes it becomes ridiculous or some disturbed person misuses the kindness of our youth.

One of the most important things that happens at public school over home schooled is putting our children in situations where they develop human interaction techniques and practices. They discover how to have and promote their healthy boundaries in this important social ritual. When we take away all human contact to protect them from this stuff, it's stealing vital learning opportunities that they need to make it in today's world.

This is not protecting our children, it's hurting them! Start trusting our teachers!!! Correct the situation when a teacher does not do the right thing!

Republicans vote to impeach Dick Cheney

2007-11-07T08:24:00.000-08:00

I love this move by the Republicans. Dennis "UFO boy" Kucinich along with 21 other Democrats decided to bring articles of impeachment for Vice President Cheney. This is my favorite part, for speaking out against Iran and using the data that supports his argument. As opposed to using the data that doesn't support his argument. Dennis claims that using data that supports your point is misleading the American people.

The Republicans were going to block it and vote against it. Then in the middle of the vote, the Repubs reversed their vote and approved it. Why did they do that. Well they decided that instead of protecting the Dem's from their crazy, extremist, left wing nut jobs that have no real idea what it takes to deal with the world as it is, let them become successful. Let the American people see what they are really trying to do and what it would really mean to the world if these people truly did set policy.

One of my biggest problems with the attempts of Dennis and his ilk is that it is around hate and whipping up emotion. It is not a reasoned argument around what are the real options and what is the best option that keeps America safe and promotes freedom and democracy in the world. Dennis doesn't want to go to war with Iran. Well neither do I nor does any right thinking American or human being. But what options do we have. Do we sit back and let the most dangerous country in the most dangerous area of the world get the ability to kill millions if not billions. Where is a solution for that problem. Impeaching Cheney is a stupid waste of time and most of the Dem's knew it:

Here is what they had to say about his behavior

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has previously stated that she did not want the impeachment articles to come to a vote. High-ranking Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings, who was himself impeached while a judge in Florida, said he was not happy with Kucinich's attempts to raise the matter on the floor in an attempt to circumvent the normal legislative process. Kucinich "is on a quest of his own. He sees flying saucers and he acts like one," Hastings said.
A description of what happened:

The resolution arose when Kucinich made a procedural maneuver to bring up his resolution for a vote, despite opposition from Democratic leaders. During the action, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, acting in accordance with Pelosi's wishes, moved to table the resolution, which would have effectively sent it into the Ether.
Republicans had originally decided to go along with Hoyer and kill the resolution, but halfway through voting GOP lawmakers en masse changed their "yes" votes to "nays." Bringing a vote on the impeachment resolution would put Democrats on record over impeachment, a move that Republicans figured could end up a political advantage in a year that has been marked by little progress from the Democratic-led Congress.
When Republicans succeeded on a 162-251 vote to allow the resolution to be debated, Hoyer then moved to send the resolution, which had not gone through traditional channels, to the Judiciary panel for consideration. That motion passed, but Conyers could decide to bury the legislation.

The Juggernaught or the Silly Boys, You Decide. I can't

2007-10-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

Obama Decided to take a new track in his attempt to bring home the Democratic Presidential bid. He began hitting her on the issue of Social Security. He claimed that she doesn't have a detailed definition of what she would do to save social security. I believe the quote went something like "The American people deserve a presidential candidate that would be honest and detailed about what they plan to do about social security". Very daring. It has the chance of hitting a real blow to her but also hurts his chances of getting a VP nod or even a cabinet post.

In all fairness she has little detail as to what she would do but has put together a list of actions she would preform to build a detailed plan. Very shrewd. all the promise with out any of the consequences of a real plan. My favorite part of this story is her response. She put out an add attacking President Bush on his record regarding social security. WOW! That was political astuteness at it's greatest. It attacks the thing her base hates the most, keeps her hands clean from hurting Dems, she is going to desperately need Obama's supporters to win the race and subtly emasculates Obama.

http://www.thestreet.com/s/dems-lets-see-a-real-debate-on-medicare-social-security/markets/marketfeatures/10387278.html?puc=_googlen?cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

So what did our astute Republican candidates do recently. Well Mitt shows up to get on the New Hampshire ballot and claims that Fred Thompson is a Johnny come lately to the illegal immigration issue. He claims that Fred was in the Senate for several years and did nothing about illegal immigration. So When Fred show up to get on the New Hampshire ballot and is confronted with what Mitt said, he responds that Mitt is a flip flopper on the issue of illegal immigration. Supposedly Mitt was for the recently failed immigration bill and when it got ugly changed his position.

Talk about silly boys. At least they are being honest. A little childish but honestly immature. I don't feel anything Clinton does is honest. However, Fred Thomson seems to have accomplished very little as a senator and I'm not clear as to why he retired. I would like to know that. Mitt on the other hand seems to say whatever he thinks people want to hear. I don't agree with Rudy on a lot of issues but I like him better because he seems to honestly believe it and I feel he is genuine. Of course Ron Paul and Chris Dodd are probably the most honest, but being honestly crazy is not a good thing.

So who do I want for President. The very shrewd politically Juggernaut, the person who did nothing for years in the senate or the flip flopper. Maybe the guy that sees UFOs, Dennis Kucinich:
http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2007/10/kucinich_see_ufo_new_book_clai.html

Government Subsidies Gone Right

2007-10-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

Something I found quite funny.

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1537366.html

The Danish government is under attack for paying for its disabled citizens to have sex with prostitutes.

Finally A government mandated Health care system I could "Get Behind"!!!

Mark

Boxer, Dodd and what is wrong with Politics these days.

2007-10-26T12:20:00.000-07:00

Recently Barbara Boxer claimed that the equipment and people needed to fight the fires raging in California are not adequate because they are all in Iraq.

Senator Dodd said:
"In a Dodd administration never again will our houses be on fire because our troops are taking fire in Iraq. Never again will our first responders be left without the support they need because our president failed to do what it took to keep our community safe."

Anyone who is actually paying real attention to the issue and not trying to figure a way to win political points would see that the Gov't is doing it's best to deal with this issue and doing a good job. Before we really even understand how devastating this issue is we found ourselves surrounded by people who will say any horrible thing to ingratiate themselves for political gain and power. One of things most upsetting about this kind of hate speech is the pandering to the worst part of the human nature. The hate and evil accusations that do nothing but tear at the fabric of our society and demean us as a people. Their is nothing good for our society that can come from this kind of hate speech. It only separates us farther into factions. Soon we will be like the Sia and Sunni in Iraq. Killing and plotting each others deaths with no idea how it got this awful. Each blaming the other with out taking the responsibility or our action.

Here is the good news people. We can stop the hate speech. We can end the societal destruction that our political leadership is wreaking on us in order to promote their own political and power hungry ambitions. How can you do this. It's simple.

Stop listening to it. Recognize it for what it is and reject it. Stop giving your time, your attention and your money to anyone that promotes hate, anger or division. Anyone who demonizes another for their own political and power hungry purposes is no friend of yours, society, our country nor the world. Turn a deaf ear to people who promote hate.

Mark