Fingerpost

Relax. They'll make more.

2011-11-16T19:31:00.001-06:00

Money that is. From CNS News:

Fed Now Largest Owner of U.S. Gov’t Debt—Surpassing China

"At the close of business on Tuesday, the debt of the federal government exceeded $15 trillion for the first time--with the largest single owner of the publicly held portion of that debt being the Federal Reserve.

"The U.S. Treasury Department divides the federal government’s debt into two general categories: debt held by the public—the type owned by the Chinese and the Federal Reserve—and “intragovernmental debt,” which consists of what essentially are IOUs the Treasury gives to government trust funds such as the Social Security trust when it takes and spends their money on other things."

We can't survive as a nation doing carrying on like this. Sooner or later there is going to be a day of reckoning.

The price of one job...

2011-11-15T19:13:00.001-06:00

And that one job would be, of course, would be the presidency of the united states.

From Fox News:

State Department Won't Budge on Call for Pipeline Review Despite Rerouting

"A day after Canadian oil company TransCanada agreed to reroute its proposed Keystone oil pipeline around Nebraska' ecologically sensitive Ogallala Aquifer, the State Department refused to budge on a new environmental review of the project that is not slated for completion until 2013 -- after the presidential election."

Here are the relevant facts:

Canada is going to continue extracting petroleum from their oil sands whether environmentalists like it or not.

There is no safer way to move petroleum than by pipeline.

If we don't buy this oil from Canada, Canada is going to sell it to China.

China is going to burn that oil with utter disregard for the environment.

We all use the same atmosphere.

China's oil supply will become more stable. America's oil supply will become less stable.

The Obama campaign's cowardice borders on treason. Life as we know it depends upon cheap and abundant energy. It's madness to use our energy supply as a political pawn.

Dave Ramsey for president

2011-10-30T18:20:00.000-05:00

I am a huge fan of Dave Ramsey. I wish I could send half the people I know to Financial Peace University. Recently Dave wrote an open letter to the Occupy Wall Street Crowd. His analysis is brilliant, as usual, but I particularly enjoyed this excerpt:

“Wealth Redistribution Is the Answer!”

"I’ve heard a lot about wealth redistribution over the past few years, and I’m sure you’ve heard it too. Call it whatever you want, but this is how it usually sounds to most Americans: “We are the 99% of Americans who don’t have as much as the 1%, so we’re mad and think the government should take their wealth and property away so that I can have a piece of it. Wealth inequality is a moral breakdown! We should all spread the money around so everyone gets a fair share!”

"I have my toughest critique for those who believe this: You are a thief. When someone takes my money and gives me no say in the matter, that’s called theft—whether they’re using a gun or the government. At the core of this demand is envy. And that’s not the same as jealousy. Jealousy just says, “I want what you have.” Envy is a different beast. Envy says, “I don’t think I can ever have what you have, so you shouldn’t have it either.” Decades of horrible economic teaching and the politics of envy have kept this monster alive and growing and moving forward.

"This way of thinking makes you assume that all rich people are evil and have scammed their way into wealth. That may be true in the tale of Robin Hood, but I choose to live in the real world. Sure, there are some scoundrels, but the vast majority of successful men and women got that way by working hard and serving people—lots of people. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates changed the world in ways we’re just now starting to realize. Their positive impact on the world has helped all of us live better lives, and they made fortunes for themselves by doing so. Why is it that you’re holy if you help one person but evil if you help a million? That’s just stupid."

Right on , Dave!

Now all you people go visit Dave's web site and find a radio station that plays his show.

The kindest cut

2011-10-19T19:31:00.000-05:00

No, I'm not talking about neutering your pet. I'm talking about the kind of cut that we're not likely to see any time soon. From Bloomberg:

"Federal employees whose compensation averages more than $126,000 and the nation’s greatest concentration of lawyers helped Washington edge out San Jose as the wealthiest U.S. metropolitan area, government data show.

"The U.S. capital has swapped top spots with Silicon Valley, according to recent Census Bureau figures, with the typical household in the Washington metro area earning $84,523 last year. The national median income for 2010 was $50,046."

Put another way, the average employee of the federal government makes two and a half times what the average tax payer makes. That's about right, don't you think? They work twice as hard as you, don't they? They provide great value for your money?

I don't mean to disparage all federal workers. I know a few of them who work hard (and a helluva lot more who don't). The point is that our elected officials don't feel constrained by reality.

Do you really think we can't cut federal spending?

Have you considered community college?

2011-10-10T10:40:00.003-05:00

These, "Occupy," people are really starting to piss me off. It 's not that they are assembling to air their grievances that rubs me the wrong way. Peaceful demonstration and civil disobedience are among the most cherished rights of Americans. What frosts me is that they are railing at a system that has made their carping possible. Take this asshole for example:

How fortunate for him that he didn't try that in Iran, Egypt, Syria, Cuba or Venezuela where he would have been beaten or shot for that little stunt. He takes his rights for granted. I'm sure the families of those who died to protect his rights are proud of him.

In particular I note that a fair number of these, "occupiers," are in a snit because they have $600,000 in student loans but there are no, "good paying jobs." Fine. Go get yourself a bad one and work at that until you find something better. It's called, "working your way up," and it has been the way most of us have got where we are. I cleaned toilets, mowed grass and manhandled canoes 80 hours a week to pay my way through college.

If you went that far in debt for a degree in underwater basket weaving then you are a fool who deserves to be separated from his money. Take your i Phones back to your parent's basements and figure out how to move forward. If you don't want to flip burgers or stock shelves at the big box store, do a hitch in the Peace Corps. Or even volunteer at a local church or shelter. It'll be the first time in your pathetic, over-indulged lives that you haven't been totally self centered.

The bottom line, children, is that the world doesn't owe you a six-figure salary the day you graduate from your ivy league college. That house your parents let you crash in is something they probably worked 20 years to afford. Grow up and quit whining. And quit comparing yourselves to those who marched for civil rights in the 1960's. Those people were courageous. You are simply spoiled.

Proud to be a redneck

2011-08-01T19:07:00.004-05:00

I'm proud to say I know most of these good ol'boys, or to be more accurate, I know their folks. They are from Van Buren, MO, a place that I called home for many years. Enjoy. And give your favorite redneck a hug.

Tempest in a Teapot

2011-07-27T20:04:00.002-05:00

I've been watching with great dismay the kerfuffle between congress and the president over the debt ceiling. They are talking about reducing spending, which is a good thing as far as it goes, but the numbers they are fighting over are a joke. We are more than $100 Trillion in the hole thanks in large part to a nasty bit of accounting deception called baseline budgeting.

When you or I make out a household budget we start with our income, make assumptions about expenses and decide what we can afford. The federal government doesn't do it that way. They ignore income entirely. This year's budget is whatever they budgeted last year plus some percent increase. They then borrow whatever it takes to make up the difference between how much they spent and how much was collected in taxes.

Here's an example. If the federal government budgets a 5% increase for some agency and that subsequently gets reduced to a 3% increase, they brag about cutting spending by 2%. Cool, huh?

Now let's apply that logic to our own lives. Let's say that Krispy Kreme opens a donut shop next door to you and you expect to gain 15 pounds next year. It turns out that you only gain 10. Using federal government accounting procedures you could brag about losing 5 pounds.

Don't take my word for it. Check it out for yourself.

Despite all the crowing from all quarters, we are going to spend more this year than last. And the credit agencies are going to downgrade our bond rating. Remember those low mortgage rates? Say bye bye.

I'm telling you this so you can brace yourself. This is going to get very, very ugly and it probably isn't going to take as long as you think.

Immoral? Really?

2011-06-27T19:19:00.002-05:00

These guys are wearing me out. From Real Clear Politics:

CHIP REID, CBS NEWS: "This weekend, when the Vice President was laying out all the things that you have to do and how much -- when he said you have to ask those who are struggling in this economy to bear the burden and let the most fortunate among us off the hook, he said that borders on being immoral. Does the President agree with that?"

JAY CARNEY, WH PRESS SEC: "Why, I think he does. Yes."

That exchange was in reference to GOP debt-cutting efforts.

Give me a break. We are $14 trillion in debt, not counting unfunded entitlements. Those are another $60 trillion or so give or take a little. We are already borrowing 42 cents of every dollar we spend. A nation cannot continue to exist doing that and there aren't enough tax dollars in the world to square up the accounts.

I'll tell you what's immoral. It's immoral to promise people benefits they are never going to see. It's immoral to pass on to our kids and grand-kids a nation worse off than the one we got. This is going to hurt like a son-of-a-bitch sooner or later. And the sooner we face up to the problem the less bitter the medicine will be.

An inconvenient democracy...

2011-05-25T06:48:00.004-05:00

I've become quite the fan of Bibi Netanyahu. The other day he addressed both houses of congress with poise, grace and even a bit of humor. Here is a partial transcript of the speech from The Yeshiva World:

"In an unstable Middle East, Israel is the one anchor of stability. In a region of shifting alliances, Israel is America’s unwavering ally. Israel has always been pro-American. Israel will always be pro-American. "My friends, you don’t need to do nation building in Israel. We’re already built. You don’t need to export democracy to Israel. We’ve already got it. You don’t need to send American troops to defend Israel. We defend ourselves. You’ve been very generous in giving us tools to do the job of defending Israel on our own. Thank you all, and thank you President Obama, for your steadfast commitment to Israel’s security. I know economic times are tough. I deeply appreciate this."

Two points:

1. He's absolutely right on the facts.
2. He's got the decency to say, "Thanks." Whom else have you heard that from in the Middle East?

Continuing...

"Courageous Arab protesters, are now struggling to secure these very same rights for their peoples, for their societies. We’re proud that over one million Arab citizens of Israel have been enjoying these rights for decades. Of the 300 million Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, only Israel’s Arab citizens enjoy real democratic rights. I want you to stop for a second and think about that. Of those 300 million Arabs, less than one-half of one-percent are truly free, and they’re all citizens of Israel! "This startling fact reveals a basic truth: Israel is not what is wrong about the Middle East. Israel is what is right about the Middle East."

There are those who consider Israel to be a nuisance and want the whole problem to go away, even if it means the end of Israel. Bibi is smart enough to recognize that fact and it explains his curt behavior with the current occupant of the White House.

All Israel wants is to exist without bombs going off in the Pizza Hut or missiles hitting their school buses. That doesn't sound like an unreasonable request to me.

If America turns its back on Israel, God is going to turn his back on America. And we would deserve it.

Every man for himself...

2011-05-18T19:41:00.002-05:00

Dateline Los Angeles by way of AP:

Gas station fluke results in $1.10 pump price

"Word spread quickly about a Los Angeles gas station selling premium unleaded for $1.10-a-gallon, but it wasn't a promotion. The owner says the too-good-to-be-true price was a computer glitch that cost him $21,000.

"The Torrance Daily Breeze reports that within four hours, about 7,000 gallons of premium were pumped at the discounted rate.

"Station owner Kenny Nguyen says the attendant on duty was busy staffing the convenience store and register.

"Nguyen hopes motorists who got the break come back and pay the real price."

Is this who we've become? Assuming an average of 20 gallons per fill-up, something on the order of 350 people knowingly and willingly screwed the station owner. Not the evil oil companies, but an independent business man who I happen to know makes no more than 8 cents per gallon pumped at the best of times.

Has the moral decline of society really come to the point where 350 people steal from someone and not a single person felt obliged to go inside and say something like, "Dude! Your pumps are messed up."

We're better than that, folks. This isn't funny. Everyone involved ought to be ashamed.

Do you really think this can continue?

2011-04-04T19:46:00.002-05:00

From CNS News:

March Madness: U.S. Gov't Spent More Than Eight Times Its Monthly Revenue

"To help pay off its $1.0528 trillion in monthly bills on only $128.179 in monthly tax revenue, the Treasury turned primarily to new borrowing. During the month, according to the Treasury statement, the government sold $786.5 billion in new securities. It also drew down its cash balance from $190.6 billion at the beginning of the month to $118.1 billion at the end of the month. It also reaped $18 billion from the sale of assets in the Troubled Asset Relief Program."

Here's what Erskine Bowles, Bill Clinton's chief of staff had to say about it:

It's time to brace yourselves, people. This is going to get very bad.

So simple even a kid can do it...

2011-03-26T09:08:00.002-05:00

He's not making that stuff up, folks. I've done those types of mathematical operations myself. He's much better than I was. So, who is this kid? from the Indianapolis Star:

Genius at work: 12-year-old is studying at IUPUI

"When Jacob Barnett first learned about the Schrödinger equation for quantum mechanics, he could hardly contain himself. For three straight days, his little brain buzzed with mathematical functions. From within his 12-year-old, mildly autistic mind, there gradually flowed long strings of pluses, minuses, funky letters and upside-down triangles -- a tapestry of complicated symbols that few can understand. He grabbed his pencil and filled every sheet of paper before grabbing a marker and filling up a dry erase board that hangs in his bedroom. With a single-minded obsession, he kept on, eventually marking up every window in the home.

"But entirely normal for Jacob, a child prodigy who used to crunch his cereal while calculating the volume of the cereal box in his head. "Whenever I try talking about math with anyone in my family," he said, "they just stare blankly."

I feel your pain, kid. I get the same, "Children of the Corn," stare around my crib. And don't ever let them tell you that you're weird. We're the normal ones. It's everyone else that's weird. Read on:

"Oh my gosh, when he was 2, my fear was that he would never be in our world at all," said Kristine Barnett, 36, Jake's mother.

"He would not talk to anyone. He would not even look at us."

"Child psychologists assessed Jake at the time and diagnosed behavioral characteristics of a borderline autistic child. He was impaired, they said, and had a lack of "spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment," difficulty showing emotion and interacting with others.

"Diagnosis: mildly autistic.

"My biggest fear," his mom said last week, with tears welling up in her eyes, "was that he had lost the ability to say, 'I love you' to us."

"By age 3, Jake was the focus of a more intense evaluation from a team of psychologists, therapists and a diagnostic teacher.

"Their report indicated that while Jake continued to struggle with social activities and physical development, he was showing signs of academic skills that were above his age level.

"Diagnosis: Asperger's syndrome, a somewhat milder condition related to autism.

"After hearing this, Jake's parents decided to pay closer attention to the things their first-born son was doing -- rather than the things he was not.

"For example, Jake often recited the alphabet -- forward and then backward. He used Q-tips to create vivid geometrical shapes on the living room floor. He solved 5,000-piece puzzles (rather quickly). And he once soaked in a state road map and ended up memorizing every highway and license plate prefix.

"And perhaps most amazingly, he could recite the mathematical constant pi out to 70 digits."

That is all seriously cool to a geek like me, but what about being a regular kid. After all, he has the rest of his life to do adult stuff. Not to worry:

"Despite this new experience, his parents insist that Jake remain close with his friends in Westfield. Social activity is important, they know.

"For Jake, life is not all centered on math and astrophysics.

"He also likes playing video games. ("Guitar Hero" and "Halo: Reach" are his current favorites.) He plays basketball with friends, has a girlfriend and recently attended his first dance.

"He likes music -- classical, which he plays by memory on a piano, but he also plays some contemporary songs he hears on the radio. He loves sci-fi movies and the Disney Channel. He watches documentaries on the History Channel.

"A normal kid."

You go, kid. You're more normal then most of the people I work with...

Libya a textbook fuster-cluck

2011-03-23T19:30:00.002-05:00

"Do or do not. There is no try."
~Yoda~

It has been oft said that the purpose of the military is to kill people and break things. Or, as Sun Tzu might have put it, the object is to make the war intolerable for your enemy to continue. Sadly I have to believe that thus far Gaddafi is laughing his ass off.

The French haven't launched a war plane since the first day. That shouldn't surprise anyone. The French usually surrender after about a day. The Brits aren't much better. After only 5 days they are out of missiles and had to send for their other submarine. The Germans pulled out in a snit. The Arab nations, once so outraged by Gaddafi's atrocities, haven't contributed a single bullet. And check out the highlights from UK Mail online:

# Tensions with Britain as Gates rebukes UK government over suggestion Gaddafi could be assassinated

# French propose a new political 'committee' to oversee operations

# Germany pulls equipment out of NATO coalition over disagreement over campaign's direction

# Italians accuse French of backing NATO in exchange for oil contracts

# No-fly zone called into question after first wave of strikes 'neutralises' Libyan military machine

# U.K. ministers say war could last '30 years'

# Italy to 'take back control' of bases used by allies unless NATO leadership put in charge of the mission

# Russians tell U.S. to stop bombing in order to protect civilians - calls bombing a 'crusade'

I'm not sure why Obama got us into this goat-roping - evidently he doesn't either - but I think it's high time he got us the Hell out of it. Not tomorrow. Now! You don't put the American military under the command of some damn French committee.

Our brave members of the American military didn't sign on for this kind of bullshit.

Enough of this nonsense

2011-03-09T19:29:00.002-06:00

A handful of our elected representatives are beginning to figure out that skyrocketing national debt is an existential threat to the republic. This dumb ass clearly isn't one of them.

To be clear on the context, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was in the middle of explaining how proposed cuts in federal spending were "mean spirited," when he launched into this impassioned defense of federal funding for a Cowboy poetry festival.

Shut up, Harry.

Frankly I'm not sure that it's possible to extract ourselves from the excrement pile we are in. The debt we have run up is incomprehensible to any normal person. And it's not just the visible part that everyone is bickering about. It's the, "off budget," stuff like Social Security, Medicare, Obamacare etc. Discretionary spending is literally just the tip of the iceberg.

We need to have a serious national discussion about wants and needs. Cutting billions is a waste of time and energy. We need to be talking trillions, and there are no cows too sacred. This is going to hurt like Hell sooner or later. It'll hurt less the sooner we get serious.

Journalistic Malpractice

2011-03-04T18:38:00.003-06:00

Okay. For those of you not paying attention here is the quick wrap. A federal Judge ruled that Obama-Care is unconstitutional. The Administration, to no one's surprise, promised to appeal. Everyone on both sides of the issue expects it to ultimately go to the Supreme Court. But there is one problem. The Administration didn't appeal. It essentially ignored the ruling and went right on implementing the plan as though nothing had happened. The Federal Judge, clearly pissed if you actually read the ruling as I did, spanked the administration for foot-dragging and gave them a week to appeal. Enter Reuters:

Florida judge refuses to halt new healthcare law

Say What? He gave them one more week with an, "or else!" at the end of it.

But I didn't interrupt your enjoyment of American Idol or Survivor just to point out blatant bias in the media. Hell, even Chris Mathews can recognize that for what it is. I'm here to point out the Administration's deeply troubling lack of respect for the rule of law. From it's ongoing disregard for a federal judge's ruling to end the moratorium on deep-water drilling in the gulf to it's sudden announcement that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, the Obama Administration's cavalier attitude is appalling. Lay politics aside for a moment and imagine the headlines if Dubbya had done any one of those things.

It had to happen...

2011-02-20T17:20:00.004-06:00

A friend and colleague used to quip, "It doesn't cost any more to go first class. You just cant stay as long."

Well, a lot of folks have been living beyond their means for a long time. Reality is setting in like a bad hangover and, much to my surprise, Wisconsin is the first place it came to a head. From Wall Street Journal:

"Madison, Wis.—As union supporters geared up for their for sixth day of protests at the Wisconsin Capitol, Gov. Scott Walker reiterated Sunday that he wouldn't compromise on the issue that had mobilized them, a bill that would eliminate most of public employees' collective bargaining rights.

"Democratic lawmakers have said they and union members would agree to financial concessions that the Republican governor wants in exchange for workers keeping their collective-bargaining rights. But Mr. Walker said he wasn't willing to budge, and he expected the bill to pass as is.

Rather than watch the bill pass over their minority votes, 14 Democratic state senators fled Wisconsin on Thursday, bringing the legislative process to a halt and giving time for union backers, including a political organization affiliated with President Barack Obama, to rally support at the statehouse."

I really don't have a dog in this race. I don't live in Wisconsin and I wouldn't presume to tell the good citizens of that great state how to conduct their business. What I will point out is that financial reality eventually bites everyone in the ass. And unlike the federal government, states don't have the ability to print money when they are broke. Wisconsin knows this. California, Illinois, Ohio and a host of other states will dope it out sooner or later.

Some are portraying this budget kerfuffle as an attempt to break the affected unions. I don't know if that is true or not, but wouldn't exactly break my heart if that were one result. I don't have a problem with private sector unions because market forces balance their influence. Public sector unions are another matter. They wield power with impunity. Or at least they have until recently.

For the record, I have been in the employ of the State of Missouri for nearly 30 years. I am fully aware that budget woes will affect my bottom line as surely as the sun rises. But my angst is manageable for two reasons.

First, Missouri law does not allow collective bargaining for it's employees. We do okay, but not nearly as well as our union counterparts in other states. In short, I can get another gig without taking a big hit in the wallet.

Second, the framers of Missouri's Constitution were uncommonly savvy in that they required a balanced budget every year. Thus, we take our bitter medicine of reality in tolerably small doses.

I wish nothing but the best for the people of Wisconsin. Bitter medicine sucks, but the sooner you start taking it the sooner you get better.

Two views of America

2011-02-15T19:25:00.002-06:00

Care to guess which show I'll be watching?

Git-R-Done!

I like bananas

2011-02-04T17:48:00.002-06:00

I bought some today. They were inexpensive and abundant. The sticker on one of them said that it was a product of Guatemala. I assume that the other bananas in the bunch came from the same place.

I like grapes too. I bought some red ones and some green ones. Both kinds turned out to be very fresh and tasty. They too were inexpensive and abundant. The bags they came in said that they were a product of Chile.

Do you remember when you were a kid and your grandparent or some other old person used to lecture you about how they had to walk 5 miles to school each day. The snow drifts were 10 feet deep (not unlike they are in my part of Missouri today) and it was uphill both directions. And they were so poor they were lucky to get an orange for Christmas.

Guess what? Back in the early part of the 20th century it was a big deal to get an orange in the mid-western states. They had to be shipped by rail to a terminal and then be hauled to local markets on wagons or primitive trucks. They weren't inexpensive and they certainly weren't abundant.

Our entire economy is based on just-in-time deliveries. We take it for granted that the supermarket shelves will always be stocked to overflowing with reasonably priced fresh produce. We are able to take it for granted because petroleum based energy is cheap and abundant. But what if that were to change? Have you noticed what is going on in Egypt? Do you know how much of the world's oil supply passes through the Suez Canal? If that thought doesn't send a chill down your spine it ought to.

It will surprise most Americans to learn that the majority of our petroleum comes from Canada. They want to build a new pipeline to facilitate delivery of that oil to us. That's a good thing. There is no safer or less expensive way to transport petroleum than via pipeline. Which is why this headline pisses me off:

Pipeline Safety Concerns Threaten Oil Route's Expansion

"The U.S. State Department will decide in the first quarter whether it approves another TransCanada Corp.'s pipeline that will bring crude from Alberta's oil sands to the Gulf Coast refineries. But a group of environmentalists, politicians and regulators says the State Department should take a closer look at the especially corrosive nature of the crude-oil itself."

BULLSHIT!

It's about time the grownups in this country retake control of the conversation. Sure, I'd like to see cars and trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells too, but that technology is decades away from any meaningful implementation. And electric cars are a farce. We're told that the goal is to have 10 million electric vehicles on the road in the next 10 years. There are 250 million gas or diesel powered vehicles today. Do you think that replacing 4% of them is going to make a difference?

Whether we like it or not, we're stuck with petroleum based energy for at least the near to mid term. Do you want a more sustainable lifestyle in the long term? Outstanding! I want that too. But until that gilded day I'd like to not have the economy collapse and I'd damn sure like to keep getting fresh food during the middle of the winter in Missouri.

Okay, you can go back to watching reruns of, "The Simpsons," now. I'm sure someone besides you will make a reasoned decision on your behalf.

A teachable moment

2011-02-02T06:11:00.002-06:00

One can learn a lot by watching people who aren't aware that anyone is watching. From the Daily Caller:

"During an exclusive dinner hosted Monday by the Alfalfa Club, Obama adviser Valerie Jarret had just such a moment. And were it not for an irritated tipster, Jarret might have walked away from the dinner unblemished.

"According to our tipster, Jarrett was seated at the head table along with several other big-name politicians and a handful of high-ranking military officials. As an officer sporting several stars walked past Jarrett, she signaled for his attention and said, “I’d like another glass of wine.”

"The guy dutifully went up and got her a glass of wine, and then came back and gave it to her and took a seat at the table"

Yeah, I know. We all make stupid but honest mistakes. The problem I have is that Ms Jarret gives us a glimpse of what I see as the root problem with the political leadership of both parties. They think of themselves as, "elite," and the rest of us as servants. Or, to use another analogy I've grown fond of, they are the ranchers and the rest of us are cattle. As you might imagine I take umbrage with that line of thinking.

I also note that the military officer behaved with admirable class. With very few exception our men and women of the military are the cream of society. They don't like being sent away from family to bad places all over the globe, but they volunteer anyway. They serve because of their love of country and sense of duty. Can you do better?

I of Newton

2011-01-27T18:49:00.002-06:00

This is my favorite bit from, "The Twilight Zone," during it's brief resurgence back in the mid 1980's. It's so seldom that mathematicians are held in the level of awe we so richly deserve.

Jay Nixon Assissination Attempt?

2011-01-24T18:44:00.002-06:00

Why am I only now hearing about this?

The Assassination Attempt You Have Not Heard Of

"It happened in September of 2010 in Missouri. A 22 year old named Casey Brezik, wearing a bullet proof vest, charged toward Missouri’s Democratic Governor Jay Nixon with a knife and attempted to slash his throat.

"In light of the media’s race to talk about the right’s climate of hateful rhetoric, you have probably guessed by now that Casey Brezik was an anti-Christian, anti-capitalist leftist who participated in a number of leftwing protests. He was also a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic.

"Luckily for all involved, Brezik was high on pot at the time and got confused. Instead of slashing the Governor’s throat, he slashed the throat of a community college dean he took for the Governor."

I'll grant that Human Events is a Conservative blog, but the story appears to be backed up by Yahoo news and Riverfront Times.

Let's see... Wasn't it the Missouri State Highway Patrol who released that report about the dangers posed by Conservatives and religious fundamentalists? I wonder if we'd heard more about this story if the would-be assassin had been a TEA Party type?

And political bias aside, it occurs to me that an attempt on the governor's life is something that Missourians ought to have been told about. Something is damn fishy about this...

Kwitcherbitchin

2011-01-18T18:42:00.002-06:00

I must admit that I've never watched Oprah Winfrey. Not even once. But I do admire her as a business person, a philanthropist and an all around decent human being. She carries herself well in this interview.

However...

I want to take her to task for something she said. If I may be so bold as to paraphrase, "her accountants need to bring tequila when she has to sign her checks to the IRS."

Pardon me, Ms Winfrey, but what did you expect when you supported a candidate who openly campaigned on the promise to, "spread the wealth around?" Do you remember that whole, "Joe the plumber", kerfuffle? That's what wealth redistribution is--you take wealth from people who have it and give it to people who don't have it.

It's funny how people feel satisfaction when they choose to give to a worthy cause but bristle when the government seizes their property for the same purpose. Why do you suppose that is? It seems to me that that would have been an outstanding question for the interviewer to ask Ms. Winfrey.

What I learned in first grade

2011-01-10T19:20:00.002-06:00

One of the first things I learned as a kid is that it's not okay to hit. That lesson was reinforced without delay not only by parents, but by my first grade teacher, Bennie Fern Hunter. Clearly that psycho-bastard in Arizona did not share my good fortune because he, in effect, hit his victims.

The press has been gibbering in it's usual fashion about shooter and his motives. He didn't have any motives. His tin-foil hat was screwed on too tight. Maybe one day I will be able to pity him for his mental defects, but for now compassion for him is out of my reach. He is a repugnant human being.

What is even more repugnant are those who would use the pain of the victims as a vehicle to advance a political agenda. I need not name names. We all know it when we see it, and the guilty should be ashamed.

There is no place for violence in civil discourse. We can disagree with passion, but it's not okay to hit. We're not a banana republic, we're Americans. We owe it to ourselves and to our children to rise above pettiness and violence.

And by the way, have a prayer for the parents of that little girl in the photo. Parents aren't made to outlive their kids.

Passing the gavel

2011-01-06T19:49:00.002-06:00

One wonders if John Boehner didn't struggle with that very temptation.

But on a more serious note, I can't help but marvel that we have once again witnessed the smooth transition of power. It is remarkable in history. Turns out that our dusty old Constitution is still serving us well after all these years.

Which makes it all the more annoying that those of the Liberal/Progressive stripe hold it in such contempt. And what is remarkable from a historical perspective is that they are increasingly open In their derision. I think that is most foolish from a political standpoint, but I don't want to go down that road with this posting.

My whole point is that the Constitution either means everything or it means nothing. There is no middle ground. Yes it is flawed, as are all things created by men. But the founders were wise enough to include a way to fix those flaws. Pretty clever, huh?

Shall we have a nation of laws or anarchy? Sees like a pretty simple choice to me.

Why women live longer than men

2011-01-04T19:09:00.002-06:00

I think it is safe for us to assume that he did that to impress a girl. I think it is also safe for us to assume that she was, in face, impressed. Too bad he blew his nads off...