The Big One-Oh-Oh-Oh!

To the applause of a few and probably the dismay of even more, this is my 1,000th post here on Blogger. 

I hope that I haven't offended many of you (unless you're a crooked Ivory Tower banker or a thieving politician).  I enjoy writing, even though my chosen subject matter is usually off everyone else's radar.  I have strong opinions on some things and, while I'm not necessarily trying to change any one's mind, I do hope you'll at least consider my positions and perhaps see things from a perspective you hadn't before.

The last time I looked 198,883 pageviewers had done just that.  Many agreed with what I wrote and many didn't, but those who didn't disagreed politely.  I like that.  Thank you for reading my drivel.

I'd also like to give a big shout out to the NSA....hey guys!  SUP?   Any good gossip you can share?  Brad and Angelina doin' OK?  Ted Cruz still doing vile things to farm animals?  NOOOO!  Pictures??

Thanks again everyone.  Party on!  (Sorry, but it's a cash bar.  Retirement income doesn't go as far as it used to, you know.  :)

S

Symbolism vs. Reality

Bureaucrats and politicians and much of civilized society, too, believe in rules and laws.  If there's a problem, you pass a law or amend a rule and the problem is fixed.  Sometimes that works, often times not.  It looks like our leaders will soon be writing new laws to deal with gun violence in the wake of the Connecticut school shootings.  So will these new laws represent a paradigm shift in public safety or just be a symbolic gesture?

I expect to see new gun laws that will prohibit the purchase of some types of high-powered firearms and expand the databases that decide who can buy a gun and who can't.  It's a noble gesture, something the public will welcome as it will make them feel they're doing something to relieve the pain we all feel when we think of those innocent children lost at Sandy Hook.

I expect to see school districts everywhere amend their school visitor rules, requiring more identification and explanation of intent before doors will be unlocked for them.

Good people will comply with these new gun purchase rules and will always knock politely and ask for permission to enter.  Evil people will still buy their guns on the streets or just steal them and kick in whatever door is in their way.  This is reality.  

Keeping some types of guns off the streets isn't a bad thing at all, but with between 250M and 350M privately owned firearms out there right now it would be like assessing every adult another $1.50 in taxes and expecting that to balance our budget.  This is little more than symbolism.

Let's get real.  We have many mentally disturbed people living among us.  Some slowly go over the edge or just eventually snap and do terrible things.  These are the people we need to reach out to.  We need to identify them and do something....really DO something....to help them.  Right now any programs to help them are being increasingly starved for money.  They're just pushed to the side by society.

In exchange for help they would have to give up their right to own weapons, and would be subject to frequent random inspection of their residences and belongings to confirm they remain unarmed.  Anything we could do to assist them would no doubt be appreciated by them and even more so by their families who are desperate for help, and would make us all safer, too.  Not just feel safer, but actually be safer.  Win / win. 

If we won't even honor "Thou shall not kill", what chance does another photo-op bill signing in Washington DC have?

S

The snake oil salesman is alive and well

When a President goes through the White House doors

And does what he says he'll do

We'll all be drinking that free Bubble-Up

And eating that rainbow stew

Merle Haggard..."Rainbow Stew"

We must be the most gullible electorate walking the face of the earth.  It's an election year again, another crop of "tell 'em what they want to hear" politicians are talking out of both sides of their mouth, and we just smile and nod and bend over and let them have their way with us.

Four years ago it was Barack Obama "spreadin' it deep and sellin' it cheap".  "Hope and Change" was going to save us all.  But how?  No details?  Nope, just the power of positive thinking.  And enough of us voted for him to put his name on the mailbox at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  You may already be a Publisher's Clearing House winner.  No purchase necessary.  

We'll all be drinking that free Bubble-Up....

This year it's Mitt Romney.  He tells us he's going to give us all a 20% tax cut, expand funding for our military, and somehow still balance the budget.  Since when does 2+2=9?  We're all going to have good jobs, freedom from government interference, and a bright future, too.  How?  Only he knows, and he's not sharing any details with us.  Nope, we're just supposed to "trust him".  And a sizable number of us will.  Maybe enough to make him our next President.  

Do you think if an entrepreneur had come to Mitt when he was the CEO of Bain Capital asking for money, with a business plan that simply said "We're gonna buy cheap, sell value, go for volume, and get rich", he would have put millions of dollars in this upstart venture? Absolutely not!

And eating that rainbow stew....

Has our educational system failed us so badly that we can no longer critically think?  Has common sense gone the way of the dodo bird?  Do we just hoover up everything Fox News or MSNBC tells us, questioning nothing?  

I'm certainly not going to tell you how to vote, or how I voted.  That's a personal decision.  But please, know why you're voting for a particular candidate.  We need meat and potatoes details in order to make smart choices.  We're getting puffed pastry promises.  In politics, nothing is what it seems.

I have no idea who will be running in 2016, but I can hear their campaign promises now...."Jobs for all, taxes for none, and a free puppy for everyone (while supplies last)."

S

The "Pelosi-Ryan" connection

Yesterday on the news I saw GOP Veep candidate Paul Ryan trying to explain why Mitt Romney won't divulge any specific tax loopholes he would close or what tax rates he would set if he's elected.  They're being vague, he said, "....because we want to get it done."  He went on to say, "We don't want to presume to say, 'Here's exactly our way or the highway, take it or leave it Congress.'"  Huh?

Ummm, Paul....that's exactly what the Tea Party "Young Guns" have been saying since they got to Congress:  "Here's what we demand, take it or leave it."  No compromise, no way.

And didn't the Republicans lambaste then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her quip during the debate over health care reform when she said, "We'll just have to pass this bill so you can see what's in it"? 

Aren't Romney and Ryan doing the same thing, in essence saying, "You'll just have to vote for us so you can see what were going to do with your taxes"? 

One of my favorite old sayings is, "If you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem."  Looking around Washington today I see lot's of "problems" and very few "solutions".  

Even though you might have some potential solutions, unless you're willing to work with others, you have nothing.  Therefore you're still a "problem".

Whenever politicians, any politicians, try to fluff me off by just saying "trust me and I'll fix everything",  I immediately grab my wallet and back myself into a corner, 'cause I'm fixin' to either get robbed or screwed....quite likely both.

S

I should do this more often

WOW!  What a great birthday so far!  I took the dog out this morning at oh-dark-thirty to find the temperature at 63 degrees.  Woohoo!  Then I came back in to a big plate of brownies K made for me, complete with "Happy B-Day" written across it.  I would show it to you, but I've already eaten "Happ..".  Yes, I had a brownie for breakfast.  Sue me. ;)

Today is supposedly the first day of my semi-retirement, but all I see ahead of me is work.  Besides the client I met with last Saturday, another one of our homeowners from 16 years ago has sold their home and wants us to build them another.  I've been helping them look for some property, and yesterday they made an offer on one and it was accepted.  Looks like the next step is to visit the architect.  Then another one of our homeowners, this one from 14 years ago, wants to meet today to discuss building them a new home, too.  Looks like I'll have to postpone "sleeping in" for a while longer.

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Looks like this election will be the most expensive ever....to the tune of $2 BILLION dollars spent, which means at least that much was donated to the politicians all combined, right?

OK, let's think this through:  We have a TRILLION dollar deficit and our Congress / President are beating the bushes looking for ways to save a buck.  They've come up with the noble idea of closing tax loopholes and ending expensive subsidies to selected companies and industries, ideas which have been (on the surface) universally praised.  

At the same time rich individuals and large corporations and their PAC's have donated the vast bulk of that $2,000,000,000 the politicians have in their re-election war chests.  So we're to believe they're giving generously to politicians to show their support for them for closing THEIR tax loopholes and ending THEIR subsidies?

Why yes, I would like to buy a time share in a high-rise ocean-view condo in Nebraska, complete with a private white sandy beach and palm trees.  Who should I make the check payable to?

S

The pot calling the kettle black

Do our politicians really think we're dumb enough to believe our current political / economic mess is ALL the result of "the OTHER" party?  I've done a lot of research on the housing bubble that imploded in 2008 and put us in our current mess and here's what I found:  The whole sordid affair began in about 1993 when Congress, the President, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and a few others began the National Homeownership Initiative.  


During the years since then Democrats occupied the White House for 11 years, the Republicans for 8.  Democrats and Republicans evenly split control of the Senate, 5 terms each, and Republicans have controlled the House of Representatives for 6 of 10 terms.  I would pretty much call that a draw.


For either party to claim sainthood, to say with a straight face that if we will trust them with all the reigns of power a bright future will be ours, is disingenuous in the extreme.  Both parties have had ample opportunity to do the right thing for the American people, but instead were all-consumed with extorting campaign contributions and preserving their power. 


Congress, mainly the Republicans, want to scale back government spending.  Fine...no argument from me.  Except they conveniently fail to mention this will put millions of people out of work.  Oops!  All while they point a finger and jump up and down on their soap box asking what the Democrat's plan is to reduce unemployment?  Huh?  Fess up guys....you can't have it both ways!


Are any of you buying the load of crap both parties are selling this election year?  If you are, then let me introduce myself:  I'm a wealthy Nigerian prince, and I need your help!


S

Science confirms it....

At an archeological dig site on the Mall in Washington, DC, scientists have unearthed definitive proof of early Cro-Magnum politicians.  While further testing is underway to determine if the subject was a Democrat or a Republican, officials warn that the differences are so slight they may never be able to tell.  

I stay away for a few days and THIS is what I come back to...

Whew!  This has been a busy but productive week.  I've been at work early every day doing a time-sensitive remodel for a customer.  Fortunately all my guys have shown up on time and worked hard, and my customers say they have been awesomely impressed.  Today will actually be relaxed as all I have to do is sit and wait for the various inspectors to visit and give me their blessing.


I did manage to spend a long lunch hour on Wednesday with two of my daughters and three of my grandsons.  I left with a serious twitch and a grotesquely stretched-out shirt due to all the boys pulling on it wanting me to watch/play with them.  But I love 'em.  *blink...twitch...jerk*


I see the world's economies are imploding....AGAIN.  And of course we can trace it all back to the scheming bankers and their sleaze lawyers who have them just barely inside "legal", never mind "ethical".  This time it seems it's in Europe (whose bankers must be about 3 years better than ours at covering their feces).  When will we get smart and just round them all up, confiscate all their ill-gotten wealth, and banish them to some razor-wire-ringed desolate island?  


Hope you're all dodging the Wall Street bullet.  Enjoy your upcoming weekend.  :)


S