Random Thoughts

Spent last weekend at a friends in Greenville, SC to do a little golfing. When we left his house, he plugged in his Garmin GPS so we could find our way since neither of us had been to that course before. Once we were there my friend broke out his GPS to navigate the course. It gave us distance to greens, how far to sand traps and water hazards. Of course it didn't help my game, when the biggest handicap in your golf game is your swing, no amount of technology will help! It did get us talking about how far technology has come so quickly.

It is amazing to think where we are now as compared to 20 years ago.

It's frustrating to stand in line at a store behind someone yakking on their cell phone. It's even more frustrating to watch that same person pay for their groceries with "food stamps". Me thinks somebody has their priorities abit screwed up!

I love the hypocrisy of the ADT, Brinks, Broadview commercials. The stats don't back them up. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you're not paying attention.

The argument used to support raising the minimum wage is ridiculous! If someone's skill set is such that they can only get a job earning the minimum wage, perhaps they should have thought twice about increasing the gene pool!

Could someone in the White House please tell the President that the campaign is over, he won, it's time to LEAD!

Congratulations to the University of South Carolina baseball team on winning the NCAA Championship! Maybe it will help cover up the dysfunctional political landscape of the state! I doubt it!

Why does it seem that all golf holes that dog-leg, do so to the left? My ball goes right, that doesn't help!

The South Carolina Educational Lottery has "supposedly" generated millions in funds for our educational system, yet we still dwell in the bottom of the country. Perhaps they need to re-think the system as a whole, instead of trying to throw more money at a broken entity.

Speaking of money, when will politicians realize that "sin taxes" (cigarettes, alcohol) only serve to hurt the poorest among us?

Just some things I think about when I home alone and the cable's out! Hope you enjoy!

First Greece, Now France...

...could we be far behind? The scenarios are eerily similar. Greece's' national debt was wildly out of control, due mainly to it's appeasement to national unions. The retirement age in Greece is 54, with guaranteed retirement benefits for life. When the Greece Government tried to reign in the benefits and raise the retirement age, those benefiting from those nanny-state policies rioted! Germany stepped in to ease the tension with a bailout (sound familiar). That didn't save Greece's debt from falling to junk bond status!

Today, the French Government of Nicholas Sarcozy is now at odds with national unions, as they try to raise the retirement age there from 56 to 62! As well as get pension spending under control. All to avoid the fate of Greece. Again, the nanny-state recipients are crying foul, and have went on strike, shutting down the schools, train services and other various government run entities.

Could it happen here? Absolutely! It will be a bit slower though. It will start with individual states. Those leading the way are California, Illinois, Michigan and New York. Their debt is unsustainable and the public sector unions are unwilling to make consseccions to help balance their budgets and relieve the debt! The same scenarios are shaping up all over the country. Once these states can no longer support their debt, they will come to the feds, for yet another....wait for it...BAILOUT! Only this time it won't be federal control of private industry, it will completely demolish state rights as the feds will now own state debt. Paid for by our tax dollars!

Our national debt is also at point of crisis, so we will have to try and borrow even more money from people that don't really like us, to assist in those bailouts.

Paranoid Conspiracy theory? Maybe! But all the signs are there. We have been following the French model for years, they are now reaping what they've sowed. How long before we reach that tipping point?

You can't make this stuff up!

Here is part of the speech given by the head of Communist Party of the USA, Sam Webb, at the 29th annual CPUSA convention on Jun 3, 2010..

What a difference between now and five years ago when we convened in Chicago! At that time, a Puerto Rican woman raised in the South Bronx didn't sit on the Supreme Court. Then the president didn't call for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Millions had no health care... Global warming wasn't on the White House agenda... And, an African American wasn't president. Now an African American is president, and much else has changed as we convene our 29th convention...


"[T]he long night of rule by the most reactionary groups on the political spectrum has ended...we contributed to the historic victory in 2008...


"In hindsight, I overstated the nature of the election victory... A decisive defeat of the right - signified by larger Democratic majorities... will profoundly alter the political landscape...


"Others (teabaggers and all) are captured by lies, half-truths, and hate-filled rhetoric steeped in a subtext of racism...


"Arizona's draconian and unconstitutional immigration law...Florida's governor [Charlie Crist] vetoed a rightwing-inspired overhaul of public education... The campaign for jobs and against Wall St. initiated by the AFL-CIO... The near-victories by Rick Nagin and Rudy Lozano in recent election campaigns are a sign of the times...


"You could easily say there was one mood before the health care bill passed and another mood afterwards. In fact, viewing the struggle through a dialectical lens, the bill's passage was not only a victory on its own terms, but it also changed the larger political dynamics of Washington and the country in a positive way...


"Yes we can!...


"For more than a year, the main issue that captured our energy and the energy of millions of others was health care reform. With the signing of a health care bill, our attention is shifting to job creation... It is urgent to win immediate legislative battles - unemployment compensation, the Harkin education jobs bill, the Miller Local Jobs for America bill, the Murray bill to help veterans find jobs, etc....


"The other key arena is the Congressional elections this fall... It's pretty clear that if the Democrats lose their majorities in Congress both the president and the broader people's coalition will be weakened...


Only an incredible grassroots effort... will turn back rightwing extremism and increase the Democratic majority in both chambers in Congress. Any less than that is playing with fire... We will join with the broader movement, including new formations like Organizing for America and MoveOn...


"I would argue that a relationship to the Democratic Party at this stage of struggle is a strategic necessity and later on probably a tactical requirement... In 2008, there was no other way to defeat the right without such a relationship. The same could be said about the health care struggle...


"[T]he Republican Party, which has turned into an instrument of unabashed racism - not to mention militarist, obstructionist, anti-working class, anti-immigrant, anti-women, homophobic, anti-democratic, anti-scientific, and so forth...


"Let's be blunt: there is no progressive alternative [to President Obama]. If the president loses in 2012, we will lose too, and the country will once again be in the hands of rightwing extremism. There is no option to the left of President Obama...


"In my view, President Obama is a reformer... whose agenda creates space for the broader people's movement to deepen and extend the reform process in a non-revolutionary period...


"When our movement is on the level of the popular upsurge of the 1930s and 1960s, we will be in a better position to say if his views are elastic enough to accommodate more deep-going change, as Roosevelt and Johnson did...

So, the leader of the American Chapter of the Communist party believes that they should follow the agenda of the current administration to achieve their goals...what does that say about this president?

Insubordination??

As most everyone knows, I'm not a fan of our current Commander-in-Chief. I can voice my displeasure with his policies since I am a civilian now. That being said, President Obama must either fire or ask for Gen. Stanley McChrystals' resignation.

After spending 20 years in the military it is always instilled in you to not voice your political views. We were not drones that followed orders blindly, but we took an oath to defend our Constitution. To protect this country's sovereignty and national interests. That means curtailing your political leanings and personal beliefs to support the mission at hand. We are an all volunteer force after all.

I was a follower during one war, carrying out the orders of those above me. A leader in another, with responsibility of accomplishing a mission and keeping those assigned under me safe. Both are huge responsibilities. There were times I didn't agree with the decisions made, but to outwardly object to those choices would affect my ability to lead my troops, putting them in harms way even more. If one of my superiors had done the same, I would have questioned his ability to lead and, if it was worth what I was fighting for.

I was only a minor player in the military, but understood my role. This is the top General of the Afghanistan War! His comments call into question his support for our President, his ability to faithfully carry out his mission is now damaged to a point that the lives of our soldiers are in even greater jeopardy.

A leader has to sell his people into the mission at hand, they buy into it because HE believes it. Gen. McChrystals comments in Rolling Stone magazine have destroyed his ability to do that!

Alvin Green, the man, the myth, the candidate...

The politics of my adopted state of South Carolina are nothing if not interesting. We have a sitting Governor that committed adultery with a woman from Argentina. Destroying any possibility of a run in national politics and causing national uproar. A very hot Gubernatorial candidate in Nikki Haley that has been accused, not once but twice of infidelity. Ironically, both men claiming to have had the trysts with Ms. Haley worked for her opponent in the GOP Primary, Andre Bauer. I guess dysfunctional would be a better description for our politics down here.

Now we have Alvin Green. Alvin, if you haven't heard, won the Democratic Senate race against the established former state rep and Judge, Vic Rawl, with a resounding 60% of the vote. The problem with Alvin, according to the Democratic establishment, is that he is not qualified. You see, Alvin is unemployed, homeless (he lives with his father) and seems to be a bit unstable. He didn't have a campaign website, or even campaign in his local area of Manning, SC! The biggest question is how Mr. Green paid the $10,400 required to get on the ballot? Some in the establishment are saying he was a Republican "plant".

I have a bigger question. Why did the democratic voters of this state even vote for the man? This is an embarrassment for the democrats of this state, and nationally. It shows that they aren't interested in policies of the state or nation. All they are concerned with is getting a liberal in office! Even if someone in the GOP paid for him to be on the ballot, the idiot liberal voters of this state voted for him! With 60% of the vote! Conspiracy theories aside, the local democratic party has no one to blame but themselves for this sideshow.

Again, I truly believe there should be a test to be able to vote in an election. This only proves my point!

I love living here in SC, the political theater is just a bonus...:)

Thought of the Day!

I didn't see President Obamas' address last night, but I didn't have to. I've seen it coming from day one of the Deepwater Horizon spill. As his COS Rahm Emanuel stated during the 08 campaign, "Never let a crisis go to waste"! Understand, I don't wish for our President to fail. I hope some of his policies fail, because I think they are bad for my country. I disagree with the media starting to call this Obamas' Hurricane Katrina. There are vasts differences.

Did Bush fail during Katrina? Yes! But the local governments of New Orleans and Louisiana, failed to follow their own Hurricane response plan, the media conveniently left that part out. Has Obama failed in his response to the spill? Yup! But, for a different reason then has been reported. The feds can't stop the spill and shouldn't, that's BP and Transoceans job, the government doesn't have the expertise to stop it. Nor should it try. It's a matter for the parties responsible to take care of. That being said, the President IS responsible for protecting our borders, the same borders currently under assault from the spill. He has been inept at doing the things HE is responsible for and has yet to focus on those responsibilities. He needs to take off the ideological gloves and protect the coast.

I'm no scholar, I'm just a commonsense kinda guy. But it would seem to me that if you're offered help from countries that have experience in dealing with these disasters, you would lift the Jones Act (I think that's the act, I need to do some research) and allow them to help. Three days after the rig sank, the Dutch and a company here in the states offered "skimmer ships" with the capacity to skim 20,000 gallons of oil from the surface per day. It wouldn't have stopped it but, would have stemmed the flow, as it were. Louisiana Governor Jindel was asking for permission to construct berms in the gulf to protect the fragile marshlands that are now immersed in oil. He was told that he could not put them in place until the Army Corps of Engineers did an environmental impact study! WHAT?? Let's do an environmental study on the impact of something designed to protect from an environmental catastrophe. That's about as screwed up as a "football bat"!!

As a citizen of this great country I do not blame the President for not being able to stop the flow of oil, I blame him for not being engaged enough to understand that he needed to do everything in his vast power to prevent it from reaching our gulf coast. On this he gets an epic FAIL! His moratorium on drilling and push for Cap and Trade in his address last night, lead me to believe that his agenda is more Ideological driven then leading and protecting this great country.

Boycott BP...

Why? Are they responsible for the spill in the gulf? Yes! Did they own the Deepwater Horizon rig? No! Of the 126 people on the rig at the time of explosion, 8 were BP employees. The rig is owned by Transocean, BP leased it. I have seen alot of calls for boycotting BP since the spill started, it's stupid! Boycotts do nothing, it may make you feel better but does little to effect the company you're protesting. If anything it hurts your local community. Take BP as an example. If everyone boycotted your local BP station, understand that the owner of that station has nothing to do with BP other then selling their gas. He is a small business owner with employees that have nothing to do with BP. By boycotting his store because of the BP sign he will have to lay-off those employees. How does that hurt BP? It only increases the unemployment problems in your own neighborhood. Senseless!

I respect people that stand on principle, but, know the scope of the principle you're standing for.

"No Comment" would have been a good response...

North Carolina Rep. Bob Ethridge displayed what is exactly the problem in D.C. When asked a question by someone that only wants to know his position this guy loses it and attacks him. Anyone of us doing the same thing would be gathering up bail money right now. This is an elected official whose positions are fair game, and more than open to questioning from us little people!



When people running our government start to believe that they need to know who it is asking the questions we really need to look at the direction our leaders are trying to take us! The 1st amendment is under assualt, by our own government, that is scary!

Thought of the Weekend...

Just got back from visiting family in Baltimore to celebrate my nephew graduating High School. These trips have become few and far between, since my family get togethers are kinda like the "Waltons" with a hand grenade, just waiting to see who pulls the pin! I think I'll start a pool next visit...I'd make a killing...:)

This trip was incident free and very enjoyable. My sis took to me to see a local classic/hard rock cover band on Friday night. They were very good.

Which brings to my thought...

Can we be honest? You can NOT dance to "rock" music! You can "headbang", "mosh", jam on the air guitar, but you CAN NOT "DANCE" to it. I watched in horror and amusement as I witnessed about 40 people having a simultaneous seizure to the tune of Black Sabbaths "War Pigs"!!!

It was not a pretty sight!

I really hope the skinny blonde chick finally come down from the rock the next day...she had me worried!

Primary Day!

Ahhh...the Primaries...the scent of political blood in the air! I went to my local polling place and once I checked in they asked me which party I would be voting with. When I replied Republican, you would have thought I shot someone! This is a very nanny-state part of South Carolina. Normally, I would have voted straight Libertarian but, this year is too important, and the Democrats have proven they can't be trusted with my child's future.

Anyway, there was an interesting resolution on the ballot concerning the recent Health care bill. It decreed that South Carolina residents not wishing to obtain health coverage would not be fined. I loved it, I voted yes!

This is exactly what the 10th Amendment of the Constitution is about!

First, this Health Care bill forces the population to obtain something from a private entity against their will, or be punished by the government. Where in the Constitution does the Government have that authority? If you can find it, I'll give you my next paycheck....as meager as it is!

Second, this bill completely takes health care management away from the states but, forces them to pay for it at the direction of the federal government.

The 10th amendment states: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

This amendment has been completely abused by the feds. This is a country that is governed by the people. The elitist in D.C. seem to have forgotten that, it's tme we remind them. Seeing that resolution on the ballot today was a start!

When is liberal not liberal enough?

When Nancy Pelosi is being heckled for being to conservative!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-P9SxrmOtk

Great Day, where do these people draw the line between government control and personal responsibility...apparently they don't! This country is in deep trouble if we allow these people to maintain the reins of power!

As an aside...Martha Macallum is the hottness...:)

UPDATE: I'm still trying to figure this blog stuff out, need to learn how to embed vids...bear with me...:)

U.N.worthy

On March 21st a North Korean submarine torpedoed a South Korean vessel, killing 46 South Korean sailors. Last week, the Isreali Defense Forces (IDF) boarded an "aid" flotilla trying to break the Isreali naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Why do I bring this up? One reason, the ineptitude and ulterior motives of the United Nations.

Since the sinking of the South Korean ship, the U.N. has yet to even take up the issue of the rouge North Korean regime commiting an act of war against South Koreans. A nation that has thumbed it's nose at nuclear proliferation treaties. Not a peep from the U.N.

Last week the IDF boarded a so called aid vessel trying to break Isreals legitimate blockade. They were greeted to heavily armed "peace activists", the result was the death of 9 "activists". Less then 24 hours later, the U.N. screamed for international investigations and charges of war crimes.

Isreal offered to allow the flotilla to dock in Isreal to allow the cargo to be inspected to ensure no weapons were being transferred to the Hamas government controlling Gaza, they refused. Was their intention to deliver the 10 tons of aid to Gaza (Isreal provides 18 tons a week in aid to Gaza) or to make the point of breaking the blockade?

Regardless of the diplomatic efforts of the Isrealis, the U.N. finds fault with Isreal, but is not even interested in the aggressive actions of a nuclear armed North Korea? Make sense?

The U.N. established the homeland of Isreal in 1948, since then, more then 60% of the resolutions passed by the organiztion have oppossed Isreals efforts to protect itself.

The American taxpayer provides almost 25% of the funding of the U.N. It is clear to me that this boondoogle of beauracrats, which is full of nothing but despots and tyrants, hell-bent on opposing any and all interests of freedom, has long ago outlived any usefulness.

On a side note, how many of you even knew that N. Korea sank the S. Korean ship? How many were aware of the IDF actions against the "Flotilla"? It's a rhetorical question that when you answer it to your self should show you the hypocrasy and bias of our failing media.