Big Tex rides again, just as the Tea Party fades into the sunset

The "Great State Fair of Texas" opens this weekend, and you know what that means....it's gonna rain!  That little squirrel in Pennsylvania has nothing on Big Tex's ability to predict the weather.  Lows in the 60's with a 90% chance of rain Saturday night.  I need the 60's, and we need the rain.  :)

To bring you up to speed, Big Tex was the huge talking statue that stood at the entry to the fair grounds for decades.  He was dressed up in western duds (I always thought it was rather cheesy) and was revered by many.  At last year's fair he caught fire, the motor that made his mouth move malfunctioning:

Looks like he had a rather serious crotch issue, too.

But all is right again.  More money was raised and now the new Big Tex has been unveiled:

Gotta keep the rednecks happy!

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I'm shocked!  Absolutely shocked.  New Jersey Senate candidate Corey Booker is in hot water because of Tweets he exchanged with a stripper at a vegan men's club.  

This just boggles my mind....imagine, a vegan strip joint!  

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I honestly believe the Tea Party Republicans have suicidal tendencies.  Yesterday their lackey, House Speaker John Boner, actually said, "We will refrain from deliberately sabotaging the global economy if President Obama:

1.  Allows more drilling on Federal lands.  (OK)

2.  Drops regulations on greenhouse gasses  (*GASP....WHEEZE*  sure, we need more greenhouse gasses, right?)

3.  Builds the Keystone XL pipeline.  (Surely we can find a way to do it safely)

4.  Stops paying for the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.  (All for screwing the public, raise your hand  *their Big Banker buddies really hate that one* ) 

5.  Makes it harder to sue for medical malpractice  (Fair enough)

and

6.  Halts health care reform for a year.  (Umm....why not just try reforming health care reform starting right now?)

This is an agenda for absolute disaster....for the Tea Party.  Hmm....come to think of it, go ahead.  Good riddance.

Happy weekend everyone.  :)

S

King For A Day

Yes, I've once again put back on my CEO hat for a few days.  I must keep the empire rolling.  OK....I've gotta sit here and wait for the phone to ring.  Don't laugh.  The waiting can be intense.

This month my sister-in-law is having a certain momentous birthday (50), so my bro is surprising her with a trip to a resort in Mexico.  Her family and a few close friends are also going.

Let's review.  It's August.  Yesterday it was 104 in Dallas, and today it's expected to be 108.  And bro is taking a vacation, traveling even CLOSER to the equator.

See, even their logo shows a cactus, a blazing sun, and some little native guy burned to a crisp.

I thought I taught him better than that. *shaking head*

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I see in today's news that there is growing momentum in Washington to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two home financing institutions taken over by the Feds back in 2008 when the housing market collapsed.  In the pre-2008 days private financiers made 60% of all mortgage loans, with Fannie, Freddie, and FHA making the other 40%.  More recently the latter have been making 87% of all mortgage loans.

President O'bama recently echoed Congress when he said, "I believe that our housing system should operate where there's limited government role and private lending should be the backbone of the housing market...."  

Good....the "free market" is back!  The banks say they are ready to resume their role as the nation's primary source of home mortgages.

In other news, it was announced today that the Justice Department is suing Bank of America, accusing them of defrauding investors by vastly overestimating the quality of some $850 million worth of mortgage-backed securities.  

B of A now joins Goldman Sachs, Citi, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Barclays, HSBC Holdings, and Credit Suisse, among others, who have/are being sued for similar mortgage securities fraud.

Ummm.....

(What's that definition of insanity?...."Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.")

S

A wake up call

Politics is basically just a numbers game, right?  Whoever gets the most votes wins.  While the rich might have the money, it's the middle class, and to a lesser extent the lower economic class, that has the numbers (votes) necessary to win an election.  If you don't understand that, ask Mitt Romney to explain it to you.

So here's what I don't get:  Why does the Republican Party time and again shoot themselves in the foot by taking stands against the middle class?  Consider this....President Obama just yesterday appointed Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  He currently heads that Bureau with a recess (temporary) appointment, and now Obama is asking the Senate to make it permanent.

Senate Republicans have already said they would not support him or any candidate for that position.  It isn't that they have any particular bone to pick with Mr. Cordray.  They just don't like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, period.  I suppose it has something to do with "big government", "too much regulation", etc.  

Keep in mind the CFPB is charged with making sure mortgage lenders, credit card companies, and other financial firms (payday lenders?) play by the rules.  Heaven knows in years past they have been the most egregious of consumer abusers.  

By their opposition to the CFPB isn't the Republican Party in essence saying they condone such a royal screwing of the middle class?  That's sure how it looks from where I sit.

I'm sure they see it as a stand on principle, but all it's accomplishing is getting them run over by the proverbial bus.  Instead they need to get on board and help establish and enforce some financial rules that are fair to consumers yet allow businesses to make a reasonable profit.  

A "win-win" deal is always good.  A position where the side you favor (big money) wins big and the other side (the consumer) gets crushed will make you a consistent second place finisher.

Come on Republicans.  America's demographics are increasingly working against you already.  If you don't reasses your positions you'll eventually become irrelevant.  Wake up!

S

Advantages outweigh disadvantages?

The story read, "The White House is debating whether the disadvantages of an accelerated pullout of American troops from Afghanistan outweigh the advantages of staying."


Um....WHAT advantages are there in staying in Afghanistan, Mr. President?  I must have missed that memo.  Didn't we go in there to make the Taliban "government" turn over the Al Qaida operations there?  Didn't we support the various Afghan tribal factions in their effort to run the Taliban out of power, and then go in and get the important Al Qaida operatives one at a time?  Didn't we do that?  Osama bin Laden IS still dead, right?  


What are we there for now?  Are we trying to set them up with a strong national government, complete with a unified army and security forces capable of defending their own territory?  I'm not sure they even WANT that, Mr. President.  They are a tribal society.  That's where their loyalties are, not with a unified national government.  Based on all I've read they've never had a unified, strong national government, so why would they want one now?  Oh sure, they have lots of people signing up to be soldiers and police, because we're paying them about 3 times as much as their civilian pay would be. 


Mr. President, I don't think you'd upset too many Americans if you sent in all the transport planes we have, load up all the troops, load up all their stuff, maybe sterilize those poppy fields on our way out, and let's have one helluva parade here to welcome all our folks home.  And leave Afghanistan and their 13th century society right were it is.


I'm sure we'll still have enough paid informants and satellites flying overhead to let us know if Al Qaida tries to re-establish any terrorist training camps there.  And if they try, I'm pretty sure we have the technology to deal with it.  I would hope that a B-2 over Afghanistan at 2 in the morning could outrun a rock thrown at it in anger.


S

One to remember

I remember many years ago when I was a student at Harvard-on-the-Plains, more commonly known as Texas Tech University, Lubbock had the mother of all thunderstorms.  It lasted most of the night and was just a flash of lightning and clap of thunder one after another after another.  I remember I turned off the lights and, just to see if it was possible, read a chapter in a textbook using just the illumination from the lightning.  The next day everyone I saw looked like they hadn't slept all night, probably because they hadn't slept all night.  FLASH...BOOM!  FLASH...BOOM!  It was a crazy night.


Last night here in Dallas it wasn't quite that intense, but it was still memorable.  So far we've had more lightning strikes than you can count, and 2.5" of rain with another 2+" expected before the storm moves out.  Our area lakes, which are all several feet (or more) low, are getting a nice fill-up.  We've been on Stage 2 or 3 (I can't remember which) water restrictions for months, and we've been warned that if we don't get some major replenishment before spring we'd soon be on Stage-whatever-is-the-highest.  That would mean short showers and ducking behind trees for "relief".  Just for the record, La Nina sucks.


Did anyone watch The Prez on TV last night?  I actually watched the replay this morning and thought he made a great speech.  Now let's see if he can deliver on any of it.  I thought it spoke volumes when he mentioned the banking/financial reforms and congressional insider-trading reforms that were still needed, and then the cameras panned the Republican delegation to show them all staring at their shoes.  Or maybe they were checking their pay envelopes they were handed by the banking lobbyists as they entered the House chamber.  I couldn't tell which.  At least the Democratic delegation slipped theirs into their coat pockets to be counted after the cameras were turned off.  Smart.   :)


S

Vietnam 1, USA 0

When I shop now I pay close attention to where things are made, looking for an alternative to "Made in China".  Over the weekend I looked for a new vest, but found a grand total of 0 made in America.  The one I eventually bought was made in Vietnam.  At least it wasn't "Made in China", but really, is there any difference?

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I read a very interesting article over the weekend about why the USA has such a hard time competing in the new global economy.  The story began with President Obama asking Steve Jobs (this conversation was in February, 2011) what it would take to get Apple to bring their production back to America?  Jobs replied, "Sir, those jobs aren't coming back."  Then it goes on to describe in layman's terms why.  (It describes one electronics assembly factory, Foxconn City in Shenzhen, China, where 230,000 employees work 12 hour shifts, 6 days a week, many living on-site in company dormitories.  If they get a new client they can hire 3,000 new employees overnight and begin work immediately.)  It was a real eye opener.  It's a long, but worthwhile read.  You can read it here if you're interested.

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Over the weekend Mr. & Ms. "W" moved in to the new home we just finished building for them.  Their big crisis was that the movers stole Ms. W's purse.  Besides the obvious money and credit cards inside, her purse also contained ALL the keys to their new home.  They had a locksmith come out and re-key all the locks, paying him the emergency / weekend price of $800.  I'm thinking it should have cost a fraction of that, but the guy pulled up out front and saw their $1.3M house and had an instant price increase.  (I think they got robbed twice this weekend!)  Then to rub salt into the wound, when the cops got there, they found the original keys!  The crooks tossed 'em.  

Looks like I'm playing Suzy Homemaker today.  I need to make an appearance at work, but I should still be home by early afternoon.  To give K a break I'm going to wash clothes and clean out the refrig. I can't imagine doing that full-time, like my mom and most mom's of the 1950's did.  I'm afraid my brain would atrophy.  

Gotta go.  Fabric softener awaits.  ;)

S