Another day in Colorful Colorado...

Joe vs. Jose

2010-07-23T11:30:00.001-07:00

In our time living in Massachussetts we were witnesses to tons of misaapropraition of enitlements; from selling food stamps to family members to purchase cigarettes and drugs with the proceeds, to an employee of mine refusing a raise so she could remain below the income level necessary to keep her subsidized apartment. I even had another employee call in sick to work with the following message "I can't come into work today because I need to move my boyfriend out before the welfare inspectors arrive, if they find out he is living with me I will lose my apartment, thanks..."; She needed to move her boyfriend out in time for her ANNOUNCED surprise inspection, certainly an actual surprise inspection would be un-American. These situations are real and happen everday, I couldn't makle this stuff up if I tried.

I saw the following online in a comment thread and have no idea who to attribute it to...but it is a very telling story of some realities even I have witnessed, albeit an extreme example...but very plausable.

"Joe Legal works in construction, has a Social Security Number and makes $25.00 per hour with taxes deducted.

Jose Illegal also works in construction, has NO Social Security Number, and gets paid $15.00 cash "under the table".

Ready? Now pay attention...

Joe Legal: $25.00 per hour x 40 hours = $1000.00 per week, or $52,000.00 per year. Now take 30% away for state and federal tax; Joe Legal now has $31,231.00.

Jose Illegal: $15.00 per hour x 40 hours = $600.00 per week, or $31,200.0
0 per year. Jose Illegal pays no taxes. Jose Illegal now has $31,200.00.

Joe Legal pays medical and dental insurance with limited coverage for his family at $600.00 per month, or $7,200.00 per year. Joe Legal now has $24,031.00.

Jose Illegal has full medical and dental coverage through the state and local clinics at a cost of $0.00 per year. Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00.

Joe Legal makes too much money and is not eligible for food stamps or welfare. Joe Legal pays $500.00 per month for food, or $6,000.00 per year.. Joe Legal now has $18,031.00.

Jose Illegal has no documented income and is eligible for food stamps and welfare. Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00.

Joe Legal pays rent of $1,200.00 per month, or $14,400.00 per year. Joe Legal now has $9,631 .00.

Jose Illegal receives a $500.00 per month federal rent subsidy. Jose Illegal pays out that $500.00 per month, or $6,000.00 per year. Jose Illegal still has $ 31,200.00.

Joe Legal pays $200.00 per month, or $2,400.00 for insurance. Joe Legal now has $7,231.00.

Jose Illegal says, "We don't need no stinkin' insurance!" and still has $31,200.00.

Joe Legal has to make his $7,231.00 stretch to pay utilities, gasoline, etc.

Jose Illegal has to make his $31,200.00 stretch to pay utilities, gasoline, and what he sends out of the country every month.."actually Jose illegal doesn't pay for most utilities in many states as he gets county assistance to pay the bills and his late fees"

Joe Legal now works overtime on Saturdays or gets a part time job after work. "and pays a higher tax rate if he earns above a certain amount"

Jose Illegal has nights and weekends off to enjoy with his family.

Joe Legal's and Jose Illegal's children both attend the same school. Joe Legal pays for his children's lunches while Jose Illegal's children get a government sponsored lunch. Jose Illegal's children have an after school ESL program. Joe Legal's children go home.

Joe Legal and Jose Illegal both enjoy the same police and fire services, but Joe paid for them and Jose did not pay.

Do you get it, now?"

Author- Unknown

History...doomed to repeat it

2010-05-22T19:58:00.001-07:00

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation.
5. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.
-Adrian Rogers, 1931

Why doesn’t anyone ask why?

2010-05-20T09:48:00.000-07:00

Why is the illegal immigrations efforts all about Mexico? Why is it all about the poor Mexicans? And, why are the Latinos so fired up?

Let’s take a look at the problem from another point of view. Let’s pretend, pretend now, that you are an Asian illegal immigrant. How does one group get to be so large, anyway? Wouldn’t you want to know why millions of Mexicans can get into this country without a screening? Wouldn’t you, for one moment, wonder why this is a Mexican issue when you are just as illegal as a Mexican illegal immigrant?

What if you were an Australian, Swede, Indian, or even a Brit, who has over stayed their visa (which by the way is another large reason people are in this country illegally, overstayed visas, not because they crossed the border from Mexico) Wouldn’t you be concerned that this issue seems to be just a Mexican issue? You want a path to citizenship as well, but no one is hearing your cries. Want to know why? The answer: Volume…

You aren’t the likely voter, and there just isn’t enough of you yet…plain and simple. Fair, nope. Racist, perhaps. Nevertheless...it is what it is.

Hispanics make up the single largest growth of voters from any other racial voting block. The Hispanic voters are growing so quickly they could potentially outnumber the African American voters within the next few years. So why is it a hot button issue? Your politicians want their votes. By pandering to this voting block, whether right or wrong, and don’t get me wrong, it’s coming out of both parties…they think they can win over the likely voters of this group.

Black, White, Asian, Evangelical, Jewish, Right Wing/Left Wing, doesn’t matter. Sure, they want your votes too, but they see their keys to the capitol coming from the Hispanic Voting block.

So America, it’d be good for you to learn Spanish, so you can be able to speak appropriately to your new neighbors. Why? It’s the neighborly thing to do…Adios!

Herd vs. Heard...a lesson in homonyms

2010-05-19T14:34:00.000-07:00

Homonym: Two words that sound the same, and may even be spelled the same, but have two different meanings: Ex Trunk, as in an Elephant's Trunk or the Trunk of a Car (Maybe that's why the British call it a Boot...another Homonym by the way)

Being Heard is what I am most concerned with these days. The Tea Party seems to have it right; they are rallying together to be Heard. But the MSM would have you beleive thay are a different kind of...herd. A mob even...but mob is not a homonym and that would not be as much fun ;-)

The true Herd, I can honestly say, are the Sheeple who mindlessly vote for candidates based on what they've heard rather than going out and doing actual research. Like looking up voting records, or considering who is backing a particular candidate, or where is the campaign money coming from? Always follow the money, that's what I say. The money will tell you who the candidate will be working for in the long run.

More of the Herd are the people condemning the Arizona Immigration Bill without having actually read the bill. Those people include some of it's largest critics: Janet Napolitano, BHO, AG Eric Holder and P.J. Crowley, assistant secretary of State for public affairs, who is already apologizing to China for the Bill.

Seriously though, if you can’t read a 2300 page Healthcare Bill, may as well not read a 10 page Immigration Reform Bill…makes sense, right? Left! No! Confusing to me too…

Here's the bill...read it; I have, and nothing appears to go beyond enforcing EXISTING Federal laws. In Fact, that very point is spelled out in the Bill. On the 1st page even.

The best yet is Mexico's President Felipe Calderon; who is joining the herd. Mexico has some of the more extreme anti-immigaration laws in the Western Hemisphere...where does this guy get a leg to stand on here? Shouldn't he be more concerned with why his people are defying the law to enter into the United States illegally? We are soooo oppresive and unfair but people are risking their lives to get here, why is that?

I have a feeling that if our contry keep heading in the direction it has been, we will soon be climbing that fence to get out. Maybe thats what is bothering poor Felipe? Hmmm...

Bottom line; its one thing to be heard, it’s another thing completely if you are just another part of the herd.

Which are you?

I'm a Republican Because...

2010-05-19T14:31:00.000-07:00

I BELIEVE the strength of our nation lies with the individual and that each person’s dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored.

I BELIEVE in equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, sex, age or disability.

I BELIEVE free enterprise and encouraging individual initiative have brought this nation opportunity, economic growth and prosperity.

I BELIEVE government must practice fiscal responsibility and allow individuals to keep more of the money they earn.

I BELIEVE the proper role of government is to provide for the people only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations, and that the best government is that which governs least.

I BELIEVE the most effective, responsible and responsive government is government closest to the people.

I BELIEVE Americans must retain the principles that have made us strong while developing new and innovative ideas to meet the challenges of changing times.

I BELIEVE Americans value and should preserve our national strength and pride while working to extend peace, freedom and human rights throughout the world.

PC...is not OK

2010-05-04T19:59:00.000-07:00

Politically Incorrect Warning; if you really think terrorists are middle aged white men in their 40's, you probably work for the MSM...or the TSA.

MSM got the Times Square terror suspect wrong. In the video grab, the only thing you could say for certain about the suspect, was that he wasn't black. Somehow they came up with a White Male, in his 40's. Turns out he was a 30 year old Pakistani-Born US Citizen. This guy!

Heaven forbid we associate anyone Middle-Eastern with terrorism.

What's more disturbing is this man made it all the way through airport security, onto a plane...which was cleared for take-off. He paid cash, for a one-way ticket to Dubai. He didn't have any luggage.

How does this happen? Simple: the TSA has it all wrong too. I'm sorry, but little old blue-haired ladies are not blowing up planes. They aren't paying cash for one-way airline tickets and mysteriously void of luggage. Yet I am constantly seeing them in the search-me cube at local airports. Why is it not OK to profile in the case of National Security? Why are we so afraid to offend when it could save lives?

I don't know about you, but if I were the Middle-Eastern guy, getting onto an international flight, I think I'd make it a point to let everyone know I was safe. I'd request to be searched, have my luggage in hand, and wear my round-trip ticket in plain view. Just so you would stop looking at me out of the corner of your eye....seriously.

I'm guilty, I intentionally look for he middle eastern guy on any flight I am on...I make eye-contact...I give the nod...I AM profiling...sue me.

I sometimes feel the same way when it comes to the police; if you are dressed like a thug, hanging out in a group of thugs, with your pants hanging half-off your backside wearing a t-shirt that says "F Da Po-Po" or "Snitches get Stitches", you deserve to be pulled over or questioned. Sorry...I'd feel the same way if you were wearing Nazi emblems with shaved heads. It's not a 'color' thing per sey, it's a who's most likely to be up to no good thing...

This brings me to Arizona; How dare they make being in this country illegally a crime. Shame on them for enforcing laws the Federal Government has been falling short on. I think it is unfair that they are being labelled as bigots; There are more than 3 million people in the US who have overstayed their visas. It's not exclusive to Mexicans, and it is just as big of an issue as crossing our porous border. Would it be fair if they asked everyone their citizenship status when making police contact? Yep. Equally unfair is therefore fair...ask away I say. You may just save someone's life.

It’s been a while…

2010-02-19T11:28:00.000-08:00

So much has happened since I last put my blogging pen down. Scott Brown was elected (Historic!), Tiger Woods is all over the news (Old news, really...high profile athlete, does something horrible, then asks for forgiveness), Vancouver is hosting the ‘Green’ Olympics (Green, as in no snow…), and well…for as much that has happened, so much is still the same.

A Short list:

• Unemployment is out of control
• Economy is in ruins
• Hope is fading
• BHO is still lying

The last point is significant. BHO recently spoke on the anniversary of the stimulus. He had some facts seriously distorted…about as distorted as making fart noises with your hand and pretending it’s the latest Michael Buble hit.

I'll give you one…because I don't have all day.

President Obama: “economists from across the political spectrum warn that if dramatic action was not taken to break the back of the recession, the United States could spiral into another depression.”

He must have been talking about TARP, right? Yeah…NO?!? I specifically remember that wording when TARP was signed...right? What? He was talking about the Stimulus? No, TARP. What?!? He WAS talking about the stimulus. See where I am going here?

Anyone else remember, before BHO and the Democratic congress presented us with a bill that bankrupted our grandchildren. Before the nearly $0.24 cents of every dollar you make is going to the Government. Do you remember?

He said the stimulus would help stave off unemployment and keep it below 8%. Umm, Mr. Obama, unemployment is now estimated to be above 11%. 11%!!!! And growing….!

Since Obama has signed the stimulus, 4 million jobs have been lost. Let me rephrase that. In the last year, since that historic signing of the stimulus bill in Denver, CO; 4 MILLION JOBS HAVE BEEN LOST!

Glenn Beck said it best "Happy Anniversary, Stimulus"...Happy? Indeed.

I am so blessed to have a job right now…so very blessed; where is the change? Well, I guess from 8% to 11% is a change, its just not exactly the change you folks voted for. Don’t blame me…I voted for the other guy.

I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.

History, let’s hope so…Go-Scott-Go!

2010-01-19T09:56:00.000-08:00

Come on Massachusetts, make history today ;-) As a former MA resident, I am so excited to see folks waking up and understanding that one-party rule is to corruption as Cold-Stone’s cake batter ice-cream is to Biggest Loser contestants.

I still can’t fathom the MSM’s lack of response to one of the most mismanaged, minefield laden, campaigns by a Democrat ever seen. The stuff from Martha Coakley would have been legendary laugh-fests if she were a Republican. Here’s just a sampling…

Coakley announced last week that there are no longer any terrorists in Afghanistan

When Coakley was challenged in an October debate about her lack of foreign policy credentials, she parried: "I have a sister who lives overseas, and she's been in England and now lives in the Middle East." (Tina Fey, where were you on this one?)

When Coakley was asked on a radio program about Curt Schilling's support for her opponent, Coakley dismissed Schilling as a Yankees fan. Wow! I mean, wow!

Let’s not forget this one: “You can have religious freedom but you probably shouldn't work in the emergency room.” – Martha Coakley

Lame-stream Media, hello? This is GOLD. Where were you?

The not so distant future...

2009-10-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

//SCENE: Not so distant future://

Future Grandson: "Grandpa...tell me about America..."

Me: "What's that? speak up future grandson, into my good ear..."

Future Grandson:"America, Grandpa, what was it like?..."

Me: "Oh, yes, I remember America...*sigh*...see, America, before you were born, was once a great Republic...I know that seems hard to believe...but those were the days...maybe tomorrow night I'll tell you all about piggy-banks...they were neat too...not much use for them now"

Future Grandson: "What is a bank?"

Me: "Oh....wow...ummm...yeah...they had money at one time...you know what a piggy is right?...well...same thing only...aww...nevermind...sleep tight"

//End SCENE//

Gone too Czar?

2009-10-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., held a hearing Tuesday to look into President Barack Obama's appointment of "czars."; There has been a lot of right-wing press pointing to these Czars. The lack of Federal oversight/accountability, the amount of power they have been given, etc… But very little MSM focus.

Many of these so called, experts in their fields have absolute agendas. Probably none greater than what I thought might be the more controversial appointee, Kevin Jennings. Jennings, the founder of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, one of the most powerful gay-activist organizations in the country.

So MSM, where are you on this one? This individual who has spent the better part of 20 years promoting the Homosexual agenda. Now he is in a position to directly enact the agenda on our public schools; without accountability. This to me is quite disturbing. Why it isn’t so to the MSM baffles me.

On to my point: As disturbed as I am I cannot say that I am surprised. BHO does not have enough experience in any of these national programs to make decisions on his own. He cannot expand the cabinet…which is already filled with political payback positions, so he creates Czars. Sadly, these are also filled with political paybacks. Change indeed…but the ability to actually get things done is being clouded by paybacks and agendas.

You get what you pay for with this President. He is more concerned with getting re-elected than he is with actual, meaningful, change. Saying the right things and maintaining his voter base has stifled his electioneering platform. We will never get the economy right under this president…he doesn’t understand it. We will never get the situations in Iraq or Afghanistan under control…he doesn’t understand them either. We will never get the Hope/Change/(insert buzz word here) ...because he doesn't know how.

Remember folks; this was a Community Organizer, turned Jr. State Senator, turned Jr. US Senator; in a very short political career. He owes more than he knows…and it shows (I’m a poet…and I didn’t even know it). He has to appoint Czars, because he doesn’t have the expertise in any field, he has never run anything on his own before…so, sit back…relax…and when it is all said and done…BHO will continue to shift responsibility of these major portions of government…leaving BHO accountability free…and ready for another run in 2012.

One day, we might actually elect a President with actual experience running something, other than their mouths. Perhaps a successful business man? perhaps? A Governor, at least?...one can only hope.

Joe Wilson = Rebuked…

2009-09-17T13:13:00.001-07:00

I've often asked, "whyfor" when things just aren't making sense. I figure, why not ask the question in a form that doesn't make sense either.

The below events are just begging me to ask, whyfor?

On Tuesday, September 15th; Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) & Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) brought resolution H. Res. 744 to the floor; which says the outburst "was a breach of decorum and brought discredit to the House of Representatives."

The final tally late Tuesday was 240-179, generally but not entirely along party lines. It was 233 Democrats and seven Republicans voting to chastise Wilson, 167 Republicans and 12 Democrats opposing the measure and five Democrats merely voting "present." (Don't get me started on voting 'Present')

Though Joe Wilson apologized to White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, and the President almost immediately after the outburst; and even Obama himself considered the matter 'closed'. The Democratice leaders had this to say:

"The House general code of conduct requires that, "a lawmaker shall conduct himself at all times in a manner which shall reflect creditably on the House of Representatives." These are the standards members are held to when they take the oath of office. Despite the request of leadership of both parties, Rep. Wilson has refused to apologize on the House Floor, as is considered traditional, when a Member breaches House rules. Therefore, the House is compelled to respond."

Hmmm, interesting; Standards in the House of Representatives? Oath you say? Then, are the below actions not in violation of this same code of conduct?*

RANGEL FAILED TO REPORT ASSETS AND PAY TAXES

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) Failed To Report More Than $660,000 In Assets During 2007. “In late August, the slowest news period of the year, Rangel filed updated financial disclosure reports showing he failed to report more than $660,000 in assets during 2007, a potential violation of House ethics rules.” (Glenn Thrush, “Pelosi Loath To Drop Hammer On Rangel,” The Politico, 9/5/09)

Rangel Is Already Under Investigation For Misusing Rent-Controlled Apartments, Avoiding Taxes, And Using Government Letterhead To Raise Money. “The ethics panel has already spent a year peering into Rangel’s use of several rent-stabilized apartments in a luxury Harlem apartment complex, his failure to pay all taxes on a Dominican Republic vacation villa, and his use of Congressional letterhead to raise funds for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College in New York City.” (Glenn Thrush, “Pelosi Loath To Drop Hammer On Rangel,” The Politico, 9/5/09)

The House Ethics Committee Is Also Investigating Rangel’s Trips to the Caribbean. “The committee recently broadened the investigation to include Caribbean trips taken by Rangel and four other lawmakers to determine if they complied with a ban on corporate-funded travel.” (Glenn Thrush, “Pelosi Loath To Drop Hammer On Rangel,” The Politico, 9/5/09)

MURTHA AND VISCLOSKY DOLING GOV MONEY FOR CAMPAIGN CASH

Reps. John Murtha (D-PA) And Peter Visclosky (D-IN) Have Been Linked To Lobbying Firm PMA, Which Has Been Raided Twice By FBI Agents. “Murtha and Visclosky have both been linked to the lobbying firm PMA, which was twice raided by federal agents in recent months.” (Jay Newton-Small, “Key Dems' Ethical Clouds Could Haunt Pelosi,” Time, 8/22/09)
Murtha And Visclosky Have Received $3.5 Million For Steering Money To PMA Clients. “Over the last decade firms that PMA helped get hundreds of millions of dollars worth of earmarked projects - pet projects inserted into the appropriations process by lawmakers — have given Murtha and Visclosky more than $3.5 million in campaign contributions.” (Jay Newton-Small, “Key Dems' Ethical Clouds Could Haunt Pelosi,” Time, 8/22/09)

Visclosky Was Forced To Give Up Control Of His Appropriations Subcommittee After Being Subpoenaed In The PMA Investigation. “But, Visclosky was forced to resign his chairmanship of the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee after he was subpoenaed in relation to the PMA investigation.” (Jay Newton-Small, “Key Dems' Ethical Clouds Could Haunt Pelosi,” Time, 8/22/09)

MORAN TAKEN MORE THAN $100,000 IN PMA-CONNECTED DONATIONS

Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) Received $53,100 In Campaign Cash That Was Tied Directly To PMA On A Single Day In 2006. “Moran’s total take for June 6, 2006, shows how PMA’s bundling increased its presence. On that day, Moran’s campaign took in $57,000, according to FEC records. Of that total, $19,650 came from employees of Planning Systems, ProLogic and FiberGate. But another $15,500 came from PMA employees and another $7,750 from other PMA clients. Counting donations of spouses and other relatives of PMA clients, the lobbying firm was connected to $53,100 of the $57,000 total that Moran collected that day.” (Paul Singer, “PMA, Clients Shared Deep Ties,” Roll Call, 3/17/09)

From 2003 To 2005, Moran Received At Least $60,685 From A Group Of Companies With PMA Ties. “Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) received cash infusions from this same group regularly. In June 2003, Moran’s campaign banked $22,685 from employees of the four companies. Over a week in June 2004, he received $19,250. On one day in June 2005, he received $18,750 from members of this group.” (Paul Singer, “PMA, Clients Shared Deep Ties,” Roll Call, 3/17/09)

Cryptek, FiberGate, And Planning Systems Have Contributed To Members Of Congress In Bunches. “Employees of Cryptek, FiberGate, Planning Systems and ProLogic have tended over the years to generate campaign donations to Members of Congress in bunches, suggesting that the check writing was an organized activity, not random donations.” (Paul Singer, “PMA, Clients Shared Deep Ties,” Roll Call, 3/17/09)

Three PMA Directors Are Listed As “Equity Security Holders” For Cyrptek. “In bankruptcy filings submitted in a Virginia court in November, Cryptek listed three PMA directors among its ‘equity security holders’ — Paul Magliocchetti, Mark Magliocchetti and John Lynch. “(Paul Singer, “PMA, Clients Shared Deep Ties,” Roll Call, 3/17/09)

Louis Brown, A PMA Director, Is A Director At FiberGate And The Son Of PMA Founder Paul Magliocchetti Was Once Employed At FiberGate. “One of PMA’s clients is an Alexandria, Va., fiber optic company called FiberGate. According to Virginia corporate records, one of three directors of the firm is Louis M. Brown Jr. Brown has also been a director at PMA since 2005. Mark Magliocchetti, son of PMA founder Paul Magliocchetti, was also once employed at FiberGate.” (Paul Singer, “PMA, Clients Shared Deep Ties,” Roll Call, 3/17/09)

Brown, A PMA Director, Was Listed As A Director At Planning Systems Until 2008. “Until 2008, Brown was also listed as a director of Planning Systems Inc., an information technology firm that was a PMA client and received millions of dollars worth of earmarks.” (Paul Singer, “PMA, Clients Shared Deep Ties,” Roll Call, 3/17/09)

*Source = www.cologop.org/news

This is a living and breathing example of the self serving activity I’ve grown to despise in our Government. Michael Steele, president of the GOP claimed it was a sideshow meant to take focus off of their bumbling and deteriorating health care debate. Though that is true, to a point, it really doesn’t accomplish anything except salve the animosity Clyburn has of Joe Wilson and waste taxpayers time and money. None of these I consider productive.

The best part? Joe Wilson was spot on; President Obama has lied; he may have juts missed the bullseye on the ‘what’ he was lying about, that, and he picked a poor place and time to bring it up ;-).

Pimpin Tea...

2009-09-17T08:33:00.001-07:00

Ok, I’m taking a page out of the ACORN book and am about to become a pimp. A pimp of a really cool site that is…see below:

http://www.freesignartwork.com/tea-party.html

It has some awesome ‘free’ art for you to make your Tea Party signs. whish I would have found this a couple of weeks ago...but, it's not that hard to take the image and make some cool banner art for your site.

Also, Welcome Michelle Malkin to Colorado Springs, CO. If you ever need any restaurant recommendations, I’ve got ‘em for ya! (as if she reads my blog...)

Hmmm, that’s a thought, perhaps I do need another blog…I’m constantly being hit-up for restaurant advice…stay tuned on that one. ;-)

Donkey or...?

2009-09-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090915/ap_on_en_tv/us_tv_obama_tweet

High five Mr. President; I agree with you in this regard. Kanye West is indeed a “jackass” ;-)

"I thought that was really inappropriate," Obama says.

"What are you butting in (for)? ... The young lady seems like a perfectly nice person. She's getting her award. What's he doing up there?"

A questioner chimes in, "Why would he do it?"

"He's a jackass," Obama replies, which is met with laughter from several people.

"Come on guys," he says. "Cut the president some slack. I've got a lot of other stuff on my plate."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCdDKEFFU7Q

Above is the audio captured from his pre-interview comments with John Harwood. These were supposed to be off the record.

In the world of iPhones, Twitter, and apparently, shared studio broadband lines; nothing is off the record. You are the president, everything you say is news. What I see here though, might actually be a positive for BHO. I mean, who better to call out Kanye, on his actions, than someone that Kanye will have a hard time countering. What next Kanye, Barrack Obama doesn’t care about black people? Don’t put it past him…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIUzLpO1kxI&feature=related

Ouch…yeah, jackass just about covers it. And you know this…maaaaan!

My, My, My…

2009-09-14T10:17:00.000-07:00

So, I tried to hold it in; I tried to avoid any political discussions on my blog…turns out, I can’t do it. I waited several days after the infamous Rep. Joe Wilson “You Lie” comment. I wanted it to play out so I wouldn’t have any words to pen. Turns out, the Lame-Stream Media didn’t cover it correctly (imagine that). They played the 'disrespectful' card…on one of the smartest men in congress, who by admission of most people in government is well-noted for crunching numbers and for his attention to detail. He, of anyone, knows what is funded, by whom, and what is written, by whom, into the versions of these ‘overhaul’ bills circulating in the House and Senate. He was part sponsor of the amendments that were stricken from the house bill which included language to expressly exclude Gov’t Funded abortion on demand (elective abortions); and the exclusion, through verification, of healthcare for illegals. Sure there is language in one version of this bill that says illegal immigrants are not eligible, but no enforcement language, and no requirement for anyone to verify their citizenship in order to apply for the public option (Harry Reid, D-Nev, said this would make the application process to cumbersome) Not even an ID requirement to verify your own identity. I get asked for my ID to buy items from my local grocery, is that too cumbersome? I might need some governmnt intervention here, that 16 year old behind the conveneince store counter won't let me purchase a lottery ticket.

Seriously…nothing will stop your tax dollars from paying for healthcare for illegal immigrants…get ready border patrol, you will soon be very busy. You will need the doughnuts to keep your carb count up with all of the running your about to be doing. Mmmm…doughnuts; Doh!

Ok, so in this country we don’t celebrate freedom of speech during a presidential address (oh and on Prime time, again…how much does this cost anyway?). We are instead supposed to watch our president, delay our sit-coms, and be force fed with another sales pitch. While the dem's, as if attached by string to Pelosi’s witch-like fingers, pop-up and down and applaud on command. I was over taken by an urge to play “Whack-A-mole” …but I digress.

To my point; Anyone else notice the use of the word “my” by BHO? Of the many plans circulating through the house, none are written by, or presented by the White House. Where is his plan? He used the phrase, under “my” plan quite freely.

So let’s get technical here: Rep. Joe Wilson, you can’t exactly call the president a liar; nope, apparently this is too disresepctful; and, because he could indeed be telling us the truth. If, and this is a huge if, BHO actually has drafted a healthcare reform plan, and, since no one has even seen it, it might just include/exclude a provision to not pay for elective abortions (doubtful, since PP is one of his biggest backers); his un-seen plan might include/exclude illegal immigrants from service; his plan might not increase the deficit, wait, no, that’s actually impossible…there is no other way to pay for this plan, the cuts he proposed are not enough. Oh an by the way, this will raise taxes for EVERY American, including the middle class…which you promised you would not do.

Mr. Wilson, you are correct, Mr. President, you are indeed a liar.

Finally…

2009-09-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

Parents, listen up; this IS how it should be.

http://www.gazette.com/articles/police-61572-children-officers.html

Incident Date
September 7, 2009
Time
12:29:00 PM
Division
Sand Creek
Shift I
Title
Burglary
Location
854 Chapman Drive
Summary
Officers of the Sand Creek Division and the CSFD were dispatched to a burglary involving an apartment fire. Investigation revealed that three children entered a vacant apartment by an open window and put some twigs on top of the stove. The twigs started to smoke when they turned on the burner. The apartment was not damaged and the children were unharmed. Two parents, Desire Jones and Pablo Salayandia-Marquez, were served a summons for child abuse/neglect. A third parent, Nicole Watkins, for obstructing a police officer. The burglary case against the children was exceptionally cleared by statute due to their ages, 4 thru 6. The children were released to their parent.
Adults Arrested
Nicole Watkins, Pablo Salayandia-Marquez and Desiree Jones

I can guarantee, in no uncertain terms, that if more Parents were held accountable to the actions of their children, there would be much less juvenile delinquency.

I hear it all to often, “my kids are out of control”; how did they get that way? Children are a product of their environment. Like plants, feed them well, nurture them, and they produce amazing results. Children are no different.

Educate them, teach them right from wrong, and hold them accountable for their choices. Is this really that hard? In the above article, where were the parents? And where did the THINK their 3 children were. Ages 4-6, did anyone else catch this?

My daughter is 3, in one year will she know how to break into an apartment? (My daughter knows not to go into the refrigerator without asking 1st); collect fire making materials, and turn on a burner…

My point is, these children had to have learned this behavior from somewhere. Not one action performed in the above police-blotter is ‘natural behavior’.

I will stay tuned for the full police report as well as the court docket ;-) I can’t wait to see “my kid would never…” excuses these parents come up with.

Things I said...

2009-09-03T08:12:00.002-07:00

I was having difficulty getting any progress from an internal department the other day...Someone asked me, "why don't you just go talk to their department head...who's in charge over there"

I could only reply with; "No one's in charge, it's like running into a Chicken Coupe and yelling 'Who's got eggs! Who's got 'em!?!'"

If there is one thing that irks me to the core, it is lack of accountability...and when the drive-thru hands you an ice-cold drink on a hot day...but forgets the straw...yeah they are pretty equal. The difference? I can ask to see the Manager at the drive-thru...good luck with that in the Chicken Coupe. "cock-a-doodle-doo"

It's not working for you...

2009-09-03T08:12:00.001-07:00

My good friend and fellow blogger T-Willy (Travis) provided some interesting statistics during a presentation he gave at our Toastmaster’s meeting. One that made a significant impact on me was that 80% of employees are actively looking for another job.

At 1st, that number felt incredibly high, shockingly high to me. Then I started to begin to take a look at how people are hired, what people actually do vs. their job description, and why people leave/move on. Then, I had an epiphany.

This number is probably closer to being accurate than many might believe. Think about it, how many employees are actually doing work they are passionate about? How many of you are in fields that align with your university degree?

Personally I have an IT degree, but work in Advertising and Marketing. Go figure…

Business rules!

2009-07-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

Ford, without a Bailout, makes a profit.

How could this happen? Why do I think Ford went from beggar to profiteer? Simple, we, to our very core, are survivors, that’s why. Ford certainly could have taken a bailout, lose control of their own destiny, sell out the hard work of their employees, retirees, etc… They could have taken the easy way out. The easy way out often feels like a safe bet, and looks inviting, and could have offered insurances that the brand name would live on long past their current darkened view of the future. However, it’s also true that nothing of value has ever been ‘easy’ to obtain. Precious metals, nope; Money, not unless you are have a trust-fund (but believe me, someone up the chain worked hard for that luxury); fame, again, no; Heaven, good luck coasting on that one; it all requires sacrifice and hard work.

Let’s look at Ford now, still privately run (more correctly, non-goverment run), and now turning a profit through good old fashioned cash management; Once, against the wall, on the brink of bankruptcy, and yes asking for federal assistance. (But trust this could also have been a negotiating power play to gain union concessions, who really knows other than Ford executives), they have now added further proof that American ingenuity can overcome daunting odds in any situation.

This is going to sound completely like an endorsement, and maybe it is, but today’s news has inspired me and potentially earned my loyalty as a customer. When I think of a truly American car company, I will think of Ford. Maybe all of their products do not originate domestically, but I am more likely now to buy a Ford product through all of this. I am ready to see Ford bury GM as government bureaucracy will prevent GM from ever being efficient.

Now we, as consumers, as Americans, and hopefully as voters, can have an Apple-to-Apples comparison on how the government can actually make things worse by intervention (meddling). We get to finally compare Ford performance to that of government run GM.

I’m not so naïve to believe that some government assistance has helped Ford with their recent excess, but I am happy to know that they did not need Billions of dollars in aid. I am happy to see that survival instincts finally kicked in.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090723/bs_nm/us_ford

The irony in all of this is, our government can now learn a thing or two about running not only a car company, but a national budget from some of the examples Ford had put in place; not only Ford, but from other examples the business world.

Where am I going with this…well, I’m celebrating Ford’s success and attributing that success to sound business principals organized and obtained through business minded individuals.

Do you want to fix the economy? Elect businessmen, want to make more laws and stifle the American economy into further bureaucracy and unimaginable debt, continue to elect legislators (Obama, Reid, Pelosi).

Agree or not, a former business man, or even a governor of a state is much more suited to be president than any congressman, ex lawyer, or even community organizer. You then take a governor, with former business executive experience and a track record of success, well there is a winning combination. 2010-2012, make a difference, fix Washington, please?

Rant accomplished…

A reality 'check' you can cash...

2009-06-29T10:54:00.000-07:00

Change, it's all the rage. From late night info-mercials to presidential campaigns. YOU need to CHANGE, WE need to CHANGE, CHANGE we can believe in...etc...

Well, quite frankly, you can keep your Change. Someone is...and spending it in unprecedented fashion.

Seriously, what about the last election cycle? Where is the change? What is 'New'? New rhetoric....not really. New tactics...no, not there either. You see, taxing & spending is not new. Not at all, the only thing different is that under the guise of "change" we have a whole heck of a lot more of it. Every time we have a Dem Executive branch (President) aligned with a Dem Legislative branch (House/Senate) we see an increase in spending and then taxes to pay for it. That’s same-'ol, same-'ol politics to me. Nothing changed...

I pray that next election cycle someone decides to run on a 'reality'. Slogan: "Keep the change, I want my country back... Vote XYZ Candidate 2012"

With all the new government controls (auto industry, finance, healthcare, even tobacco...), Unprecedented Spending, and...*newsflash*...taxes will increase; FOR EVERYONE...not just the $250k and above wage earners as promised. BHO is going to make an appeal soon...it started with the most recent 'roll up your sleeves' email, next will be 'empty your wallets, it's patriotic'. Trust me, its coming. In 2012, Someone needs to give the country back to the people.

We need to get back to what made this country great in the first place. Innovation, Values, Hard Work, Dedication...too many costly services are provided to too many 'eligible' (I use the term eligible very loosely) people.

Oh, but we can't cut these 'necessary' services. Really? Why not? Well, old folks may not get their medications, single mom's may not have reliable daycare, people may not get their Digital TV converter boxes, the auto industry may no longer produce cars in America, Congress won’t get new hybrids, the military will buy a few less tanks/jets/missiles, we may never see Universal Healthcare, etc...

I'm sorry, am I the only one who says that everything is negotiable? From medications, to WIC services, to defense spending...it's all fair game when you have multi-trillion dollar deficits.

The entire system is wrought with waste as well as opportunities to fine tune the budgets. Not all people who qualify for government provided social services (including welfare) need it. We've all seen the lady at the grocery store with the two carts full of groceries telling the cashier ..."Oh the front cart is for WIC"... while the back cart is loaded with junk food and cigarettes. I've always said if there were an actual audit service with a bonus structure to find waste, we'd find it, and it would more than pay for itself. BHO, are you listening? I just created X (insert your overly aggressive made up number here) jobs that would actually put money back into the taxpayers pocket. Daycare can be provided by other welfare recipients as an education/job training program. Did I just create more jobs? Wow! Most of all. Welfare is made temporary; with a set timetable that has a beginning and an end. Call it an 'exit strategy' for Welfare. The Social worker is simply a Program/Project Manager with set milestones and held accountable to his/her performance. Heck, bonus them for successful early conversions from welfare to work. Hey, you can make this a new job too! I'm on a roll!

The point is, we can all agree these are tough times, and tough times require tough decisions. The government is not responsible for my TV, my insurance, or my milk and eggs. Non-profits (with appropriate tax incentives) and other organizations can, and often do, pick up the slack when it comes to helping people thrive.

Also, at our very core, is an innovative, hard working American. Some of us lack the serious motivation to act the part when it is too easy to accept the easy way out.

No one was, or at least should have been, raised to fail. In fact, it can likely be scientifically proven that if you create a system, someone will find a way to take advantage of it. That, as poor of an example as there is, is innovation at work. Let's get people to take advantage of circumstances rather than our government.

Quotes of the day…

2009-06-15T11:22:00.000-07:00

The union will be the death of the auto industry, and perhaps BHO’s presidency (for the obvious vote garnering payback, also known as “bailout funds”). Here’s a quote from President Obama in Chicago, addressing the AMA today:

"A big part of what led General Motors and Chrysler into trouble," he said, "were the huge costs they racked up providing health care for their workers — costs that made them less profitable and less competitive with automakers around the world."

What?! So Healthcare costs led to the demise of two American auto-making icons? What about the unionized workforce that currently produces the American automobile?

Here’s a quote that seems so much more fitting.

“You can not pay someone $50.00 per hr. to build a car and sell it to someone that makes $12.00 per hr.”

I wish I could take credit for it, but alas it was an anonymous online poster responding to NASCAR’s considering allowing other foreign manufacturers into their circuits.

I make it no secret that I am a NASCAR fan, I have a yellow ‘17’ in the upper corner of the back window of my American made SUV (it’s a Ford, Explorer even). For not having a mullet, red neck, or a beer dispensing hat, I could fit into a conversation with any level of fan. I respect that they all have a passion for racing. But I digress…

I wish we had the time to talk about racing all day, me to write about it and you to read, but that’s not how it works in the real world, is it? Speaking of the real world again. Labor costs make up for a much bigger % of how profitable a business is rather than healthcare. It doesn’t matter what industry you are in, profit margins exist in the narrow confines of production costs and retail price.

Kudos to Ford Motor Company for not taking any bailout money; also for negotiating with the UAW and getting the best concessions for their business to run…for now. I tend to negotiate with a little more logic, such as…”concede, or we are all out of a job”…but hey, I’ve never been much of a “union guy”. I understand how/why they were created. To protect the workers from abuse, unsafe conditions, etc…but today, those poor working conditions simply do not exist anymore. Wal-Mart, operates it’s retail/grocery store union free, and may get a bad rap for low-paid workers, but you’ve got to hand it to them…do we, as consumers, really care? The worker has federal laws protecting them from discrimination, long hours, unfair pay rates, and poor working conditions. The employee is not an indentured servant, if they disagree with the corporate policy they can file a grievance, or resign.

Back to the real world where folks are just happy to have a job, and public outcry is beginning to harden regarding labor disputes, strikes, etc. With near-historical unemployment numbers, and growing jobless claims. No one is happy to see their tax dollars go to obviously failing businesses. No one is happy to see workers fight for more money rather than making concessions to stay employed.

I am a consumer, these are hard times, if someone in China is making a better product cheaper…and I’m more apt to buy it. Does it make me un-American? Not at all…consider that China already owns our debt, our government has made the same decision, well before I did.

A prayer for President Obama…

2009-06-09T10:45:00.000-07:00

Father, today I lift up President Obama to you. May your spirit enter his heart and provide him with Your Divine guidance. I pray that You walk beside him and guide him to act in a manner that would be more pleasing to You. Please grant him the wisdom to make appropriate decisions and lead this country as You would have us be lead.

I have personally forgiven President Obama for many of the anti-family and anti-life decisions and ask that You may be able to as well. As a follower of Christ, I fully believe in the power of redemption and ask that Your Grace be upon President Obama.

I pray that he is humbled in your presence and ask that President Obama be given every opportunity to succeed in his role. I also pray that the American people can learn to forgive each other, and ourselves as we move forward in a manner that is honoring and pleasing to You, Father.

All of this I pray in Your Holy name…

Soli Deo Gloria

Amen.

Obama's celebration of anything non-Christian

2009-06-04T15:46:00.000-07:00

So Barrack Obama writes a proclamation to make June, National LGBT month. I wonder if he knew that June is also:

· National Adopt-A-Cat Month
· National Drive Safe Month
· National Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month
· National Iced Tea Month
· National Rose Month
· National Safety Month
· National Tennis Month

As well as these other, non-National months.

· Potty Training Awareness Month
· Turkey Lovers Month (there’s a joke here somewhere…I just know it)
· Zoo and Aquarium Month
· Dairy Month
· Great Outdoors Month

I’m still finding it hard to believe the LGBT community deserves a month, but if Iced Tea (Not the Rapper) can have a month then I suppose it’s really no big deal, right? Well, its juts more ‘Change’ any of the Christians, primarily Catholics, who voted for BHO probably never counted on. Reflect for a moment, this is the same president who declined to recognize the National Day of Prayer; the same president who included, for the 1st time in History, atheists in his inaugural address while also omitting his Father’s religious preference (Muslim) stating during his inauguration speech that he is of Christian faith and his father was “agnostic”. Yet right now he is in the Middle East celebrating his Father’s Muslim heritage, almost wearing it as a badge of honor. Which is it, agnostic or Muslim? You certainly cannot be both.

I personally do not have an issue with either Muslims, Agnost’s or even Atheists, as a Jewish friend of mine would say “We can’t all be perfect” ;-) This is the same friend who said to me one time; “It’s not your fault you weren’t chosen” ;-) It is important to celebrate our Diversities, and even make light of them through humor…but to give a Day to anyone is a pretty big Deal; to give a month is a little ridiculous.

There is a trend with this president; he seems to adore, celebrate, and recognize everything. Everything that is, except the Christian faith. Challenge me on this, and I ask why has President Obama only been to Church (1) time since taking office. Don't tell me how busy he is, he makes time for basketball playoffs, baseball games, and a Super Bowl party at the White House. I don't know about you, but I went to Church Super Bowl Sunday and still made it home with hours to spare before the big game.

Say it ain't so, Lee?

2009-05-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090529/bs_nm/us_chrysler_iacocca

Oh no! Don’t take Lee Iacocca’s car! I hope it was one of those boxy mini-vans his group was credited with inventing and bringing Chrysler out of bankruptcy. If that were the case, I’m sure Lee’s all to ready to go out and buy a real car. "if you can find a better car, but it" - Lee Iacocca

Well Lee, I think they took your advice. It is an ironic turn of events when Lee Iacocca, the man credited with saving Chrysler from Bankruptcy in the 80’s is now the victim of the company’s lack of innovation. I read his book (autobiography) and briefly scanned "Where have all the Leaders Gone?" While waiting on my wife at Barnes and Noble (or some other mass bookseller), I can tell you that this man was innovative. He was also very charismatic in his time. Who could forget the C’s? Curiousity, Creative, Communicate, Character, Courage, Conviction, Charisma, Competent, Common Sense and the biggest one of all, Crisis. Apparently Chrysler did.

It’s a sad day, when, dare I say it. Politics, and the UAW take down the very source of their wealth. I’m not going to union bash, there are plenty of people that can and do that already. However, I will point out that in the ‘real world’ many of us have taken pay cuts just to keep our jobs. I was recently with an organization that filed Chapter 11; we had 147 retail stores along the east coast an nearly 11,000 employees. When we went into chapter 11 for the 1st time, we shuttered stores and markets, and those poor workers, that stuck it out on the promise of a payday were left holding the bag when the company decided to rescind the offer due to lack of funds. If they wanted their final paycheck, they needed to file a claim in bankruptcy court. Our CEO (very un-Iacocca like) was quoted with his famous last words; “It is what it is”. It certainly is, isn’t it Joe ;-) Our company emerged from Chapter 11 as a new company. Our assets were purchased at auction by a Hedge Fund manager who had no experience in our industry. Save the CEO and the founder, the majority of our Executives remained in tact. You know what happened? We didn’t change our business model to be more competitive. We kept marketing the same ways, selling the same ways, buying the same, etc…the only difference was a shrunken budget to try to do it all. Annnd then...We went into chapter 11 again less than 1 year later. I was fortunate to jump ship in May of 2008, the company no longer existed in any form after September 2008. No one got any form of payment, early retirement, or benefits package. This, my friends, is the real world.

Why the background on my former employer, simple, where was our bailout? We would never have asked for one, and our 11,000 workers were not union, therefore not organized to influence politics with their voting power, and not due a pay-off for future votes. (Did I say that out loud?) That, and all this happened under the Bush Administration, where you don’t bailout failing companies. AND you certainly do not invest in them. Companies fail for a reason; they are too big to afford themselves, no longer innovative, they refuse to change their business to accommodate the changing consumer, etc…

Now I’m hearing my tax dollars just earned us, as a taxpayers, 72.5% of GM shares…whoopty-doo. What a poor investment. What will be different when they emerge from Chapter 11? Will they make better cars, cheaper, and more efficiently? Nope…Anyone seen a do-do bird lately?

Rights, right?

2009-05-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

If I say that the Prop 8 argument is about "rights" we would then be entering into a philosophical conversation, right? (It’s my blog, so I say yes) Right: So I begin with some questions: What are we entitled to, that can not be denied, and ultimately makes us all equal? Certain inalienable rights apply, and are truly constitutional. Like it or not, the US constitution was founded upon and drafted fully in the presence of men who firmly lived Judeo-Christian values. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…right? Is marriage an equality issue? Not at all, marriage is a choice rooted in religion, some would argue marriage was designed and is ordained by God. It certainly isn’t an inalienable right.

You may believe you can “choose” to be religious or not, and that choice has a specific set of guidelines you are to follow while calling your self religious. You can also "choose" to get married just as you can "choose" to be gay (save me the murky arguments about this undiscovered Gay gene, then why do people become un-gay? does the gene go away?). By making these choices, you are accepting some generally agreed upon operating guidelines, which are pretty well known. Choices are by no means rights, or constitutionally protected. If I chose to be married I let go of my ‘singleness’, I chose to be with my wife from this day forward forsaking all others, etc. If I chose to be gay, I accept that I may lose the opportunity to be married in a Church, I also chose to align myself with a minority group that can face adversity.

Here’s the deal: If we go around and label a choice as a right, then what happens when the choice sparks a new group whose choices translate into a new set of rights? Then what we are saying is, one’s rights are determined by the mere existence of any group that can rationalize choice, no matter how that group’s existence is viewed by the majority of society.

The homosexual community looks to challenge the definition of marriage by changing it from 1-man and 1-woman into 2-people; ironically by doing that, they in fact still leave a definition that would be an exclusion to any 3-people who want to get married. However, ask a homosexual group about it’s stance on that subject and you will hear that it is not valid. Where’s the tolerance for polygamist groups ;-) Laughably, the thought of 2 or more nagging wives is amusing…but that’s another rant for another time. I personally could not afford more than one wife, think about the unimaginable increase in toilet paper usage…but I digress.

How is it that a one group can change the definition for their subset, but not for others that want a more liberal definition taken into consideration? This is precisely why religion and politics are kept out of public schools; a subset of individuals can not monopolize rights that are certain, with rights that a particular group chooses to adopt. Poor kids are confused enough with high school stuff, like proms (ever try pinning a boutonniere on yourself?) Again, I digress.

It begs me to ask; where does it end? If everything is ok, then what is no longer ok? Society is not obligated to offer every single amenity offered to any individual to all individuals.

Unfortunately, this is what happens when we become all too “politically correct”. When we lose our moral compass, stop listening to tried and true principles of our faiths, our founding forefathers, and begin to follow our hearts rather than our minds. Let’s be honest with ourselves, “All progress begins by telling the truth” –Lou Cassara.

At the very least, look at your history book and begin to analyze the fall of Rome. People relied on the government for all of their services, and grew increasingly dependant. Government was so big it could not afford itself, nor afford to protect itself, and then…you get the picture.

I have grown weary of everything having to be politicized. Hence my lack of blogging lately. This moral and ethical argument is a non-point anymore; laws are created to favor the majority viewpoint. Politics are played to sway groups to form a majority opinion. The tool is the media and he with the bigger wallet (translated to media buying power) usually wins. This is how you force a minority “issue”, regardless of its moral and ethical standing, into a popular opinion contest.

Welcome to Blue...

2009-04-11T13:19:00.000-07:00

Top 5 Most Taxed States, just so happen to be Blue States.

1. VermontPopulation: 620,000
Average tax burden per person: $3,861

2. HawaiiPopulation: 1.29 millionAverage tax burden per person: $3,856

3. ConnecticutPopulation: 3.5 millionAverage tax burden per person: $3,596

4. MinnesotaPopulation: 5.2 millionAverage tax burden per person: $3,203

5. New JerseyPopulation: 8.7 millionAverage tax burden per person: $3,024

Coincidence? I think we need more data like the above to show juts how your state legislation affects you individually. The nice thing about the above study is it shows the avg. individual tax burden. Not surprising is the Top Ten:

6. New York
Population: 19.4 million
Average tax burden per person: $3,019

7. Massachusetts
Population: 6.4 million
Average tax burden per person: $2,953

8. Washington
Population: 6.6 million
Average tax burden per person: $2,553

9. Wyoming
Population: 530,000
Average tax burden per person: $2,357

10. Pennsylvania
Population: 12.4 million
Average tax burden per person: $2,223

Only one red state can be found, and it is a state with no individual income tax which would lead to higher property taxes, as evidenced in other states that do not have individual income taxes (Hawaii, New Hampshire…).

Next time, think before you vote…taxes do affect you. If you think the government can spend your money efficiently, take another look, or move to one of the above states ;-)

The Welfare Politician…

2009-04-11T13:07:00.000-07:00

Say it ‘aint’ so…I can’t, it’s where we are. Gone are the days of Washington, Lincoln and Reagan. They were larger than life men who were passionate about their country, demonstrated by their actions, not just their eloquent speeches and public persona. These men made smart, tough, decisions that actually shaped our country and, dare I say it, were guided by a firm moral compass. As I write this I am reminded of the phrase “Stand for something, or fall for anything”.

Today’s politician has no desire to be any greater than their peers. We no longer see the guiding principals that shaped our history books. Today’s politician is simply trying to keep their job by pandering to YOU, the voter.

Politicians aren’t stupid by any means. They understand it’s all about votes. Their sole purpose, rather than shaping our country or defending our constitution, is to capture votes. How? Simple…(I’m about to turn the tables here)

Take Sen. John Randolph (1773-1833) warned early Americans against a notion "that all things must be done for them by the government," as such an arrangement would corrupt moral character by relieving men of their duties and responsibilities. This, in part, led Randolph to say, "Give me 50 speeches, I care not how dull or stupid, rather than one law on the statute book."

Did anyone ever pay attention to World History in High School? Do you know how Rome, widely considered the most powerful empire in the world, could fall? Granted, there was several things happening on several fronts but none were greater than this. Rome collapsed under its governments own weight. They simply could not afford all of the services it’s people required of the government. The high cost of services emptied the coffers, they could no longer pay for: maintenance, public works (Trash removal, Water, Heat, etc…), fund their military, feed their people, pay for your slave, etc… There were more services required than taxes collected. We are seeing a similar attitude in our country today.

Today, it has turned exactly into that. Voters look at voting record with a “what have you done for me lately” attitude. Welfare is now mainstream; how is this person going to help me once in office. This attitude creates a certain intimacy when coupled with the media. We learn more about a politician’s fanhood than viewpoint on constitutional law. With unprecedented media coverage it starts becoming more about who you are inviting into your living room rather than how they will function in their elected position. You are looking at “your guy” who really speaks “to you”. And thus, we have the birth of the welfare politician. His speeches, web site, pod casts, and voting record are going to be custom made for you, and you’re going to feel good. If you are poor, you are promised free money. If you are rich, you are promised lower taxes so you can keep your money. If you are green, you get environmentally conscious messages, and so on. Of course, if any savvy voter does the research, they will see that the same position has created a custom persona for the opposite viewpoint as well. The irony is that it was never about YOU, it was about getting your VOTE.

I long for the strong, guided, moral, stand for something, leader we so deserve. Someone who actually believes that the ‘buck stops here’; someone who makes decisions for the majority good of the country and does not give in to minority special interests. Tell me, are you out there? You might get MY vote…

Is Hillary Clinton a racist?

2009-04-01T08:51:00.000-07:00

It's probably untrue....probably, but one could conceivably start that rumor based on her recent heralding of Margaret Sanger at Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s national conference in Houston.

Hilary was recently honored by Planned Parenthood with the Margaret Sanger award, afterwards she said: “I have to tell you that it was a great privilege when I was told that I would receive this award. I admire Margaret Sanger enormously, her courage, her tenacity, her vision.”

Her vision? Let’s remind you all of who we are talking about here:

Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, was openly sympathetic to Nazi Germany’s eugenic practices and was strongly committed to preventing black people and the poor from reproducing.

Sanger once said: "Many of this group are diseased, feeble-minded, and are of the pauper element dependent upon the normal and fit members of society for their support. There is no doubt in the minds of all thinking people that the procreation of this group should be stopped."

I may just be “poking the baby” here (poor reference I know); but you chose people to admire, you chose to make positive references about them in the public arena, you are then choosing to tell me that you ‘like them’ and want to ‘be like them’.

Shame on you Hillary...really...

In the spirit of Jeff Foxworthy; "If you herald Margarat Sanger, for her vision of eradicating the poor, the unwanted, and minorities, you miiiiiight be a racist...."

Taxes do matter…

2009-03-16T10:45:00.000-07:00

When I was in Boston, it was not odd to accidentally stumble upon an impromptu ‘set’ for a Movie or popular TV Show. Boston as a city and Massachusetts as a state, land of a thousand taxes (and fees, when taxes can’t apply) has some of the most favorable tax breaks for movies and TV shows to set up production there. A lot of States and Metro areas are doing the same thing. New York (city and state) and Michigan are also so high in tax benefits that it is possible to have a negative tax on your entire production in these areas.

Ever watch '30 Rock'? Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin’s sit com on NBC? Well Alec Baldwin recently rebuked New York Governor David Paterson for trying to help close the state's $7 billion budget deficit by stating he may cancel the 35% tax credit for filming in New York City.

"I'm telling you right now," said Baldwin, "if these tax breaks are not reinstated into the budget, film production in this town is going to collapse, and television is going to collapse and it's all going to go to California."

'30 Rock' is filmed in Manhattan.

Isn’t that irony? What is you ask? This; The Motion Picture Production and Distribution industry gave $14 million in political contributions last year: 89% went to pro-tax Democrats.

I was also told that the filming of “Annapolis” (a film about the Naval Academy) was originally planned to film in Maryland (You know, where the Naval Academy actually is…) but as production as scheduled to begin the received a last minute offer from Pennsylvania. What happened? They packed up and headed to the Keystone State to save an additional $10 million in tax incentives. Similar happenings occurred in Mississippi where filming was set to begin for “Runaway Jury”; When Louisiana came knocking, they packed up and headed to Cajun Country.
Anyway, just to bring home a point here, taxes do matter. Enough that folks are willing to ‘leave town’.

I'll tell you where you can park that boat...

2009-03-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

I just read an article that states the 'golden child' is tarnishing.

“Polling data show that Mr. Obama's approval rating is dropping and is below where George W. Bush was in an analogous period in 2001. Rasmussen Reports data shows that Mr. Obama's net presidential approval rating -- which is calculated by subtracting the number who strongly disapprove from the number who strongly approve -- is just six, his lowest rating to date.”

Here are some additional Gallup poll highlights:

83% say they are worried that the steps Mr. Obama is taking to fix the economy may not work and the economy will get worse.
82% say they are worried about the amount of money being added to the deficit.
78% are worried about inflation growing.
69% say they are worried about the increasing role of the government in the U.S. economy.

Knock, knock…GOP, are you there? 2010 is right around the corner. Linking BHO to the floundering economy as a neophyte who won a popularity contest and those that support him blindly do so to further imperil the US economy. It's not just your job, it's your duty to keep bringing up the absolutly irresponsible acts of this administration.

People are upset, and they should be…raise your hand if you’ve ever taken a debt management course or read a book on improving your finances. Anyone ever tell you that you need to spend your way out of debt? It doesn’t make sense, does it?

A gentleman I work with just bought a home on short sale for $164,000; the home had two defaulting mortgages attached to it; a Primary for $250,000 and a Second for nearly $50,000 more. Just 8 years ago the family who now can no longer afford their house bought it for $139,000. I give you the root of the financial crisis right there. In 2005 the house was probably worth close to $300k on paper, and the family who lived there used their home as a Credit Card. Did I mention they have a Cadillac Escalade, an Audi A6 and a large Boat?

As sad as it is to see anyone displaced, there are some situations where I don’t offer a lot of pity; and when it comes to greed, that’s certainly a case for no remorse on my behalf.

Now to further prove that the ‘smartest man in the room’ has no clue; we, the tax payer, will be left with the burden of helping families like the one mentioned above, stay in their home. The Audacity of Hope indeed.

Big Bird nearly laid off...it's true!

2009-03-11T15:11:00.000-07:00

Wow! How does it feel to be the President responsible for nearly laying off Big Bird? In a recent AP article titled: ‘Recession forcing layoffs at Sesame Workshop’ it was announced they are eliminating 67 of 355 staff positions. My personal recommendation is Bert & Ernie, but who am I?

I was already trembling at the prospect of telling my kids that their future has just been mortgaged; then to hear that big Bird, Elmo and Cookie nearly got their pink slips put me in a near panic. Sadly, it was 67 other jobs that could not be saved by BHO's economic spenduluses.

On another subject, how amazingly asinine is it to tout earmark reform after signing a bill containing over 8000 earmarks? Moreover, where were our (5) days to review it and how come it was signed behind closed doors? I know why, because he couldn't wipe the grin off his face long enough to appear in public…either that or the teleprompter was broken.

Heck, for all I know there are earmarks for Snuffy and crew...there are certainly much sillier things in this bill. Just too little too late I guess.

What a day…I’m spent.

Education or Family Values; Chicken before the Egg?

2009-03-10T10:08:00.000-07:00

BHO said on Tuesday:

"Despite resources that are unmatched anywhere in the world, we have let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short, and other nations outpace us," Obama said. "The relative decline of American education is untenable for our economy, unsustainable for our democracy, and unacceptable for our children. We cannot afford to let it continue. What is at stake is nothing less than the American dream."

This was during his speech to overhaul the education system. He thinks that by creating incentives for teacher’s that it will solve our education issues, and save our country from an inevitable decline. Spend all the money in the world and you will be left with nothing more than an empty wallet. Great teachers do not teach for the money, they do it because they are passionate about education.

That said here’s a news flash for you: Education has been on the decline ever since the American family values system has been on the decline.

Single parents outpace traditional families. Premarital sex has led to an enormous increase in young, unwed, single mothers who struggle in raising a family. Child abuse claims are on the rise and in my city is already 3 fold fro ma year ago. What was once shunned upon by society is now completely acceptable. In fact, there is more government assistance for a young, single mother than for a traditional young family who is struggling to make ends meet. I’d we willing to wager that the difference is tenfold.

The Divorce rate is climbing due to ‘no fault’ divorce laws and its continued acceptance in society. Instead of making it work even if only for the good of the Children, men and women are tricked by society into believing they can do it better on their own. Then they battle it out in the court systems and children are bartered as possessions. It’s MY weekend! I get to clam them on taxes this year! Etc…

When you are single parent, it is tough on you; I know and feel for those of you in that situation. If you do not have a close, reliable family willing to pitch in and fill some of the paternal voids (pick up the children from school because you need to work late, take them to a Dr. appt. because you have used up all of your vacation time, help teach the kid to hit/throw a curveball, etc…) you find yourself in situations where you have to make horrible choices in either your career or your household. Then the Children grow up, and begin to model their life after yours, and it’s much more difficult to tell them “Do as I say, not as I did/do”. Children aren’t dummies and they will push you to your parental limits. None of us are supermen/women, and if we were, then teenagers are kryptonite and they know it.

Here’s the deal. With no moral authority parents are left with very little leverage in raising their Children. They are left with the empty phrase of “because I said so…” which, to a rebellious son/daughter means nothing more than “I know better than you…” which may be true, but is as empty in meaning as MC Hammer’s (Ed McMahon for you more seasoned folks) bank account. When kids are bombarded with humanistic views of they are masters of their own destiny, they can do anything, and everything is ok as long as you are lead by your heart; they lose sense of reality. Wrong is no longer wrong if it feels good. Feelings and emotions outweigh logic and common sense.

Here’s a question, is murder wrong?...Who says so? Man’s law? What is man’s law based on?

Perfect example: I had an amazing opportunity to see Dennis Prager deliver a speech on morality. He told a story of a time he posed a question to a group of High School Seniors he was addressing. His question was simple; if you saw your dog and a stranger both drowning and you could only save one of them, which would you save? Overwhelmingly the students chose their dog over the stranger. This is exactly the type of results you will have when you are lead by your heart. The same reason we spend millions in federal money to support Chimpanzee Retirement Homes yet allow people to abort their children. It is ‘wrong to euthanize an Ape, that looks and acts so much like us, shares so much of our DNA; but a baby you cannot see, or hear…well, think of the burden that young girl will have to endure for the rest of her life from one night of poor decision making. I can tell you; neither of my two children were ‘planned’, in fact I could tell you that it was not the most convenient of things I’ve had to endure, but…I tell you the truth when I say…HAVING CHILDREN IS THE GREATEST JOY I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE. Nothing compares…nothing on earth. I think of the guilt that a young girl who had an abortion will have to endure for the rest of her life, knowing what she has given up, the joy she will miss out on, because her heart had control of her mind. I feel for her…and her loss.

Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, it is well known that children thrive within the family structure. Two parents, preferably Male/Female is the balance that was intended from design. If you have no religion at all, use nature as your guide. Very few animals go it alone; both parents have an intended role in the youngling’s development. From teaching the young to hunt/fight/gather/groom/love/nest/forage/store etc… each parental figure is vital to the survival of the species.

The learning process, the passion to learn, grow, and succeed, all start at home. It is vital for not only the ‘American Dream’, but for our own survival as a species.

Don’t bag on my Judeo-Christian worldview; Islam, Hinduism, all of the worlds great religions support moral values. It’s something we all agree upon.

Pork...with a side of Distraction

2009-03-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

Why oh why is Rahm Emmanuel launching a strategy to link Rush Limbaugh as the voice of the Republican party? Why are we picking on Rush Limbaugh? One word…distraction. It’s actually a pretty good one considering the current status of the GOP.

Rasmussen Reports recently published results stating 68% of Republican Voters say their party has no clear leader, while nearly 17% remained undecided.

The White house plan, being executed by Rahm is:

Purpose: To divert the attention from the massive spending and negative focus building upon the POTUS.

Plan: Get the GOP to defend that Rush is NOT their leader all the while fighting about who is when there really isn’t a frontrunner at all.

Secondary Objective: Use Rush’s immeasurable ego to fan the flames.

Brilliant!

Here’s the good news, anyone with ½ a brain is not following it.

I agree that the GOP currently has no Frontrunner. I agree That Bobby Jindal had a bad 1st outing that may have damaged him politically if he can’t follow it up with a STRONG second change on an upcoming national stage soon.

However, the truth is no one is going to stick their necks out just yet, not until closer to 2012. Plus, as much as I hate it, there will be backdoor deals to garner support from powerful party insiders before someone is more or less, appointed as the party ‘frontrunner’ from a conclussion of several behind-the-scenes agreements. This uis the ad reality of politics until someone comes out of nowhere speaking true passion for the county with incredible charisma (Reagan-esque)

Who would I support? That’s easy…

Mike Huckabee: He has been in the spotlight quite a bit and has made no obvious missteps. Very sharp, conservative, positive image.

Mitt Romney: He looks to have taken a step back, out of the spotlight, but very business savvy and could help with current economic condition.

Bobby Jindal: Very charismatic governor of Louisiana, has a keen political mind, and a brilliant self promoter (remind you of anyone...Obama?…)

Sarah Palin: Though she has taken a step out of the spotlight as well, she set valuable ground work during the last election cycle that can pay off in the future. She ignited the conservative base and is a powerful draw for female supporters, many of whom could come from the independents. I really think she should focus on 2016 since she is so very young and was proven to be a bit unseasoned, which Obama is proving to be his biggest weakness.

This all begs me to ask a still unanswered question:

Whis the Leader of the Democratic Party? Obama always speaks ah, umm, with ah, Teleprompter, ah, umm, who ah, is writing ah his speeches then?

Hmmmm…

Pork? Where's the beef?

2009-03-06T13:53:00.000-08:00

Wow, my head is spinning. Notice I haven’t blogged in a few days? You’re not the only one.

All I’d be spouting is how spending this unimaginable amount of money is ridiculous. But now I’m starting to get it…the inexperience of the POTUS is beginning to show.

I’m not sure why I’m shocked that:

BHO hasn’t lived up to his campaign promises.

Where’s our (5) days to read every bill that passes his desk prior to him signing it?
Where is the "Scalpel "to cut out all of the ‘irresponsible’ spending?
What happened to "No new taxes for anyone making less than $250k", so far so good unless you just so happen to use electricity…sheesh. At least the Amish are safe from that one.

How is going to basketball games and police academy graduations , filling in his Secretary of HHS (Sebelius), and filling a FEMA Director (Fugate) takes priority over economic crisis. The brilliant Tim Geithner still hasn’t filled out his posts in the Treasury Dep’t.

How about the pork-a-palooza road show to sell us on why "we had to do it"? Does anyone know how much it costs the US taxayer everytime Air Force 1 is fired up? Mmmm hmmm...fiscal responsibility at it's finest.

How can you blame the new Porkulus (Porkulus II, Revenge of the Pork) on the past administration? It is coming across your desk, right? If that’s the case, send it to Texas, let Bush sign it. The fact is Porkulus II has was put on hold last year, awaiting the liberal POTUS knowing they can get a bigger payout. Duh…

So, my wife and I are looking at our monthly expenditures, cutting out the excess. We go over our expenses and figure out what is a want, and what is a need. For now, we both are gainfully employed, but with an uncertain outlook, who knows for how long. So we are making preparations to best weather the storm.

Why isn’t the government doing the same? My Starbucks habit, gone…their Bacon Bits (or literally, study of pig smell at a cost of over $1 million of my tax dollars), should go…better yet, give me the $1 million + dollars and I’ll tell you right now…pigs, their farms, and feed lots…smell. For that money I’ll throw in some charts and graphs, and I’ll even leather-bound it.

Pork, it's what's for dinner.... right?

I’m just going to burn all of my money when I get home, at least I’ll get some warmth from it.

Money, money, money....

2009-02-27T14:54:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: The following Mockumentary is a parody. Any similarities to actual events in Rick Wagoner’s office, though may have been eerily similar, would be strictly coincidental. The author was not, and does not claim to be an eyewitness to the actual events. Besides, I am not even Union. ;-)

SCENE: Detroit, MI; a crisp November day, 2008, in a building resembling an automobile manufacturer’s head-quarters, a multi-storied skyscraper. GM CEO Rick Wagoner is staring out of the window from his plush, well decorated office.

Director: ACTION!!!

Rick Wagoner: I don’t believe it’s going to be a very good Christmas at all this year Tiny Tim. We seem to be losing money faster than . Just the other day I could only fuel one of the Corporate Jets ½ way. Can you imagine? We almost had to offload the Krystal and Grey Goose to save mileage in order to make it to DC for the congressional inquiry. It’s definitely a changing time.

Tiny Tim: Perhaps we should have driven to the capitol…it would be a wonderful way to combine publicity w/ advertising for one of our new eco-friendly concept cars. Especially since our advertising budget has already been spent between NASCAR, Union Goons, Recalls, Cool Techno Music, and lavish Executive outings.

Rick Wagoner: NONSENSE! Tiny Tim, as I have said we already fueled the jet ½ way, it’d be a shame to just leave it sitting there, in the a lifeless temperature controlled hangar, all Lonely. Why,…why,… the caviar might spoil. Besides, the corporate masseuse and stylist will be here 1st thing in the morning, as well as a group of the highest-paid corporate lawyers and planners I could have ever assembled will be arriving to help me prepare for my trip. I’m speaking before congress you know,… on CSPAN even. Have to make the proper impression. At any rate, we’d never have time to drive there once I get my afternoon tee time in. Too funny Tim,…you are such a funny little man.

END SCENE: (FADE OUT)

You all know what happened next, the CEO’s of the Big-Three automakers (GM, FORD, Chrysler) fly to Washington DC in their corporate luxury jets asking for up to $34 billion in federal loans, up from their earlier request for $25 billion in assistance. Two of them, GM and Chrysler, warn that without immediate assistance they could run out of the money before the end of the year.

Fast forward 2 weeks…

This time GM CEO Rick Wagoner, Ford CEO Alan Mulally and Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli drive fuel-efficient hybrids to Washington, jet’s remain grounded ;-)

Washington folds, after making a spectacle of the event, a little showmanship for the voters. However, as always, the health of the nation depends on saving the auto industry. Must be another part of the 2 million jobs saved.

Fast forward again to...Now...

GM CEO Rick Wagoner, who already has accepted $13.4 billion in government aid for his company, was in Washington on Thursday to talk to the Obama administration about a request for up to $30 billion in additional aid.

Why do we continue to throw our tax dollars into a steeping toxic waste hole? Does anyone really know what a Billion dollars looks like? Let alone $50 billion.

I can’t even begin to describe the $787 Billion, more than all of the US currency currently in circulation (estimated at $585 Billion), looks like.

You do realize that if you took all of the US money out of everyone’s bank account, mattress, wallet, and every penny form every child’s piggy bank, you still would not have enough money to pay for this spend(ulus) bill already signed. Now BHO is proposing another $410 Billion in spending. The Government is likely to throw the $50 Billion to the auto industry, and the newly unveiled $653 Billion in healthcare reform. Where does it end? Can they see the forest through the money trees? Apparently that’s where all of this money grows.

Let me try to put some visual references to this by using some help from our liberal friends that tried to make a mountain, out of a mole hill, literally, when attempting to put a visual model to the $315 Billion Bush spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan during his term. Wars that I remind you were backed by Congress.

Three Thousand dollars ... roughly the thickness of a ream of paper, 2 inches thick or 500 sheets a single stack, it would be a foot high.

Three-Hundred-and-Sixty Thousand dollars ... A stack 5 feet tall. Shorter than the average American man.

Nine Million dollars ... The pile is 5 feet tall, 10 feet long, and 6¼ feet wide.

This horde is comparable in size to a single compact car. You could buy 489 of them for the amount, though, with enough cash left over to fill up the gas tanks of 162 of them.
This amount of money is more than four times what you can expect to earn in your entire life, if you are an American with a college degree.

Three-hundred-fifteen billion dollars ... This pile is 125 feet wide, 200 feet deep, and 450 feet tall.

450 feet is the height of a 38-story building. It's the height of the Millennium Wheel in London. It is also the height of the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas and the Louisiana State Capitol Building, where Bobby Jindal gave his latest response

Does this help a little? Can you imagine staning next to roughly 2 and 1/3 of these stacks. President Obama can. And he's only just begun...

Cabinet ‘Locke’d up?

2009-02-25T09:32:00.000-08:00

Are you telling me, the Dem’s do not have any viable candidates for a cabinet that haven’t had a questionable past? Even Gary Locke, who was just announced to fill the revolving door position of Commerce Secretary nominee, will have to answer questions regarding a number of issues:

He was briefly linked to the scandal over foreign contributions to President Bill Clinton's 1996 campaign. In July 1998, he gave a deposition to the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight about his relationships with questioned Clinton donors. But the committee later said the deposition produced no evidence that Locke knowingly accepted illegal campaign donations.

Locke denied any wrongdoing, and he subsequently returned some checks tied to people implicated in the fundraising scandal, including $750 from John Huang. Huang, a former Commerce Department official, was the Democratic Party's chief fundraiser for the Asian-American population in the 1996 elections, and he became one of the central figures in the national Democratic Party fundraising scandal.

In December 1997, Locke's political committee was fined a maximum $2,500 by state regulators after it admitted breaking campaign finance laws during two out-of-state fundraisers in 1996.

in March 1998, state investigators cleared Locke of wrongdoing following complaints that he unlawfully took $10,000 in campaign contributions from members of a Buddhist church.

I’m just waiting for his taxes to come to light ;-) BHO needs to consider re-staffing his vetting committee...then again, perhaps that was part of his 4 million job agenda.

Who doesn’t like Bobby Jindal?

2009-02-24T16:13:00.000-08:00

Bobby thank you for being a voice of reason!

“Louisiana's young, charismatic governor, Bobby Jindal, who was delivering the televised GOP response to the Democratic president, exhorted fellow Republicans to be Obama's "strongest partners" when they agree with him. But he signaled that won't happen much, calling Democrats in Congress "irresponsible" for passing the $787 billion stimulus package that Republicans have criticized as excessive and wasteful.

"The way to lead is not to raise taxes and put more money and power in hands of Washington politicians," Jindal said, according to excerpts of his remarks released by the Republican Party. "Who among us would ask our children for a loan, so we could spend money we do not have, on things we do not need?"

While we are all still observing the swift/bold/scare tactics used by our current administration, a shooting star is emerging among us; Enter Bobby Jindal.

Conservatives, check him out. Here’s some basic info on where he stands on some of our hot-button issues:

Abortion and stem cell research

Jindal has a 100% pro-life voting record according to the National Right to Life Committee. He does not condemn medical procedures meant to save the life of a pregnant woman that would indirectly cause the termination of the pregnancy. Jindal also supports the use of emergency contraception in the case of rape. He opposes embryonic stem cell research and voted against increasing federal funding to expand embryonic stem cell lines.

Same-sex marriage
Jindal opposes the legalization of same-sex marriage, and has voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment to restrict marriage to a union between one man and one woman. In December 2008, Jindal announced the formation of the Louisiana Commission on Marriage and Family, including individuals representing organizations that oppose same-sex marriage, including Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, Gene Mills, the executive director of the Louisiana Family Forum and Mike Johnson, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund.

Civil liberties
Jindal voted yes on making the PATRIOT Act permanent, voted in favor of the 2006 Military Commissions Act, supported a constitutional amendment banning flag burning, and voted for the Real ID Act of 2005. Jindal has an "A" rating from Gun Owners of America.
He was a member of the conservative Republican Study Committee. In 2006, Jindal voted with the Republican Caucus 97 percent of the time during the 109th Congress.

Health care
Jindal also supports co-payments in Medicaid.

Intelligent design
Jindal supports the teaching of intelligent design creationism in public schools and signed the Louisiana Academic Freedom Act in 2008 despite calls for a veto from groups as diverse as the ACLU, the National Review, the Roman Catholic Church, and Jindal's own biology professors at Brown University.

Crime and punishment
On June 25, 2008, Jindal signed the "Sex Offender Chemical Castration Bill", authorizing the chemical castration of those convicted of certain sex offenses.

Personally, I'm in favor of rusty knife castration of all convicted sex offenders, but in a new era of 'political correctness' I'll support chemical castration ;-)

Bobby, you rock!

Business as usual...

2009-02-23T13:44:00.000-08:00

Transparency is looking more like an empty promise…or business as usual.

1st the Spend(ulus) bill is drafted, completed, and rushed through the legislative branch before anyone can read it, or sufficiently debate it. Why do you think BHO tried to scare us? Same reason he applied such an aggressive date for passage, so we wouldn’t have time to read and decode the legalize in this few thousand page document; now get ready for Universal Health Care.

lead by Sen. Ted Kennedy, lobbyists (remember these guys?), and key legislators are all meeting behind closed doors writing the proposal now without any public or cross-party input. It’s also rumored that anyone leaking details will be barred from future meetings. However, information has been leaked.

One initiative is to require all Americans to carry health insurance; splitting the enormous cost between corporations and the public. The estimated cost is around $50-65 billion a yr.

Those who do not carry health insurance will be fined.

This is eerily similar to the existing state law in MA (Sen. Kennedy’s home state). I was required to prove my health insurance status at the end of the year when filing my state income tax.

Before enacting federal legislation, I would want to at least take a look at a few things: (Business 101, Fiscal Responsibility for Dummies, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Governing a Nation)

How successful has this been in states that currently require individuals to carry health insurance?
– Not very, look at MA, any significant improvement in the health and lives of the people? Hmm, their wallets are lighter, does that count?

Who stands to gain?
– Lobbyists, the Healthcare industry, and the Insurance industry as their cost of doing business are now passed on to you ensuring their long-term profitability.

What is the long term impact, if we continue?
– 1st, we set a precedence that all of our civil matters can be legislated by our government. To me Healthcare is simple. You are either insured, or you are not. If not, unlucky you, as if you cannot, or are unable to pay for your medical services, you will likely be taken to court and have wages garnished, liens applied, etc, etc…(In reality, you will be able to negotiate a lower rate as the Industry just wants to collect something for the services rendered. Fight it! Or juts claim bankruptcy, rumor has it a good portion of your elected officals have ;-))

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not at all heartless. I have no issues with the government competing with the insurance industry and providing an affordable, comparable product for those that cannot get healthcare from their employer. Competition is good. So long as we buy it by choice, not out of a requirement.

When will we ever grow up?

2009-02-20T14:56:00.000-08:00

The initial title I had was going to be the "TRAVIS-ty of it all" ;-) But, by judging the political backlash this ridiculous cartoon has already garnered, most people probably have no idea who Travis was.

Today the NY Post offers its ‘official apology’ for the ‘racist’ cartoon. It took a lot of dots for me to draw any racist conclusions from this cartoon. You seriously have to be in that mindset, to even create that thought.

I took from the cartoon what 90% of reasonable, rational, people would have. That a Chimpanzee could have (and likely did) write the Economic Spend(ulus) Bill. It was also socially relevant and brilliantly timed considering the police recently gunned down poor Travis the Chimp, after mauling a friend of his owner. It was a clear parody. Besides, as far as I knew Travis wasn’t even a registered Democrat.

What’s worse? Dare I say it; The all too race-obsessed Rev. Al Sharpton and the largest ‘legally’ racist organization in the US (NAACP) were the biggest backers of the protests and public outcry.

I can see the good Reverand Al, waving to his neighbor in his bunny slippers, as he strolls down his driveway to pick up his copy of the NY Post. He makes his way back into his home. Snuggles down into his squeaky high-backed leather chair of his well decorated home-office. Rolls open his paper. He begins to abruptly sip his cofee when all of a sudden PsssssBBBTTTT...he spits up all over the pages at the sight of this...Travis-ty. Yeah right! Al doesn't subscribe to the Post.

We had a very similar outburst here locally in regards to a ‘President’s Day’ billboard featuring a photograph of BHO was taken down. The local NAACP stepped in and called the responsible parties ‘racist’. Who were the responsible parties, you ask; None other than the United States Air Force, in the form of the Peterson Air Force Base Commissary. They replaced the billboard with one that had no likeness after several customers pointed out that President’s Day was in recognition of Washington’s Birthday and has nothing to with the current POTUS (Yes, even in Massachussets they do not recognize the Current POTUS on this day). Yet somehow, this became a question of racism.

I hated, hated, (did I say hated) the fact that during the election process, if you told anyone you were not voting for BHO; you were a bigot and a racist. Their 1st response was always, “Why not? Because he is black?” Let’s be real here…I did not vote for BHO due to his lack of experience. I could care less if he were an alien (illegal or otherwise ;-)). Experience and eligibility of citizenship aside, many people voted the party line, regardless of color. So here we go again, and perhaps for the next 4 years.

The MSM, good people of America, and everyone else in the world for that matter. Will now need to spend the next 4 years walking on egg shells under the veil of ‘political correctness’ for fear of being called a racist. When in reality, we should be celebrating a historical achievement by a person of color.

Remember folks, this could have an negative affect on the next person of color to run. For fear of ‘fear’ some folks might chose not to select an experienced, well qualified candidate of color, simply because they fear the 4 years of egg shells.

Let us celebrate some progress here. I’ve ranted before about our obsession with race. When we finally stop adding one’s race to their title (Black President, Black NASCAR Driver, Black Head Coach…etc…) we may actually be able to move forward.

Don't look at my private…....info

2009-02-18T12:17:00.000-08:00

I just heard that a paper in Tennessee has made a decision to post a searchable database listing everyone in the Volunteer State who has a license to carry a concealed weapon.

The paper has made the case that this information comes form a publicly available list from the Department of Safety which includes names, addresses, and phone numbers.

Wow! Really? So I think to myself, why is this information even public?

Go back to the online searchable listing of donors who supported Proposition 8 in California. The LGBT groups used the publicly available donor list to create an online searchable database, overlaid with Google mapping software, to expose the donors and their exact locations (their homes and businesses). What was the purpose of this I ask? For harassment of course.

This act of harassment didn’t even make the MSM. Imagine for a moment if I take that same list, and publish an exact replica, only providing the information of the folks that opposed it. I certainly would have been exposed by the MSM as a bigot, hatemonger, etc…

I am all for donors having to provide personal information to the government, but not for the government making their personal information public. If I donate, I make a choice to do so, to whatever cause I personally feel called to do so. It is a personal decision.

Not only are opposition groups using this list to intimidate and harass; they are having a psychological affect on the would-be donors. People enjoy their privacy. People are entitled to support any cause they’d like. This is, or at least was, the country of the free.

Here’s a poem I recently saw that reminded me of socialism's power:

"When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out."

Niemöller

Folks, we don’t have to put up with this, please vote conservative in 2010.

If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, well…

2009-02-17T12:49:00.001-08:00

I’ve been really turned off by the amount of ‘expression’ I see in our youth today. It seems that Tattoos, Piercings and Poor Grammar are “hip”, “cool”, “sic”, and “off the chain” right now. Seriously, I remember the 80’s, and aqua-net headaches from all the big haired gals needing to ‘freshen-up’ in the hallways. Then there was the 90’s where people actually wore ‘hammer-pants’. I’m not completely naïve to say kids won’t be kids and phases won’t be phases. However, as a parent, and a business professional, I have to say…that’s as far as it should go.

Here’s the skinny (no offense to those of us with a few extra pounds); Big Hair, Funny Cloths, and catch phrases like “whoomp there it is” and “who let the dogs out” were temporary. Today’s “expressions” are no longer so temporary. Add to it the ‘hands-off’ parenting we see these days, and the ever-growing world of single parents, it’s hard to instill a sense of responsibility into the next generation.

We have accepted Celebrity rehab as a normalcy. We value popular opinion over self esteem. Don’t get me started on the television programming and the movie industry.

We, as parents, leaders, and managers of business need to 1st, set the expectations of appropriate attire, speech, and demeanor. It starts with us, and very well ends with us. The child, or later in life as an associate, is a reflection of us. As a parent we should be raising respectful, individuals, who reflect our own morals and values. As professionals we should be duplicating ourselves through mentorship and leading by example.

Kids, themselves, are capable of making the ‘right’ decision in most cases. When they come home wanting a tattoo, or nose ring, etc…don’t agitate them causing them to rebel. Talk to them about the impact of such a decision.

Seriously, or just show them a picture of this guy. He’s cool, huh?

I supported robber barons!

2009-02-11T09:38:00.000-08:00

After all of the comments on my posting yesterday, I thought it's be worthwhile to take another stab at the "controversial" subject of Evolution.

A new Zogby Poll commissioned by the Discovery Institute suggests that the majority of people want to see “both sides” of evolution debate taught in our schools.

Some findings:

According to the poll, Democrats (82%) and liberals (86%) are even more likely than Republicans (73%) and conservatives (72%) to support the academic freedom of teachers and students to discuss the “strengths and weaknesses of evolution.”

The poll also shows a dramatic 9-point increase over 2006 in the percentage of likely voters who agree that “Biology teachers should teach Darwin’s theory of evolution, but also the scientific evidence against it.” Support for that position has jumped to 78%, up from 69% in 2006. The percentage of likely voters who favor teaching only the evidence for evolution suffered a corresponding decline of 7 points, from 21% in 2006 to just over 14% this year.

Dr. John West, of the Discovery Institute; “Clearly, the Darwin-only crowd is losing public support,” said West. “There seems to be a backlash against the strong-arm tactics that have been used in recent years to censor and intimidate scientists, teachers, and students who raise criticisms of Darwin.”

Now, those who follow my blog know where I stand in the argument; However, I feel that presenting all sides as possibilities helps students engage in critical thinking. I recall a debate class I once took, and I was given the daunting task of “supporting the robber baron’s” of the 19th century. I was clearly against this side of the argument, and felt it was unfair to put me in the position of support; however, through that exercise I was required to do the research and found some very interesting, and supporting elements, of how the robber barons helped shape our country. Though it was a team effort, we won the debate. I thought to myself, how could this happen? How did we win? Even after the debate I felt the great Robber Barons did more harm than good. It was then that I realized an incredibly persuasive argument, regardless of personal feelings, will sway popular opinion. This was a very necessary lesson.

My biggest concern, regardless of which side you support, is the fear of our future generations learning environment will be controlled by political correctness. This is in regards to all aspects of a student’s curriculum.

Ben Stein, expelled from U. of Vermont!

2009-02-10T09:39:00.000-08:00

Ben Stein was expelled from University of Vermont’s graduation speaking list. Why? Per the University it was due to a flood of complaints. I believe this happens more often than we know about, where the liberal voice on a campus will strongly oppose a conservative viewpoint to the point of disruption. Ben’s opinion on evolution just so happens to go against the generally accepted view. So? What part of Ben’s graduation speech would have affected these graduating students’ minds? Didn’t they just complete (4) years of liberal education? Are they not completely brainwashed already?

The issue I have is that these Universities publicly promote “Tolerance”, “Acceptance”, and “Diversity”; but when it comes to actually applying them they cave under the guise of “political correctness”.

Here’s something to chew on; just a few years ago this same University welcomed Congressman John Lewis (D - GA), who has compared Republicans to Nazis.

Yay Tolerance!

What is so scary?

2009-02-09T12:05:00.000-08:00

Making his case in the most dire terms, President Barack Obama said that if Congress does not quickly pass an economic stimulus package, the nation will slip into a crisis so deep that "we may be unable to reverse" it.

Obama, please tell us, in detail (for once), about the dire economic forecasts behind the stimulus plan. All I hear from you is how "it’s going to get worse before it gets better", and that without a $ trillion of new spending we are headed for a catastrophe. Are you just lowering our expectations so it’s easier to claim success? I want to know why I am supposed to be so scared.

Since we are apparently headed for the end-times here, how aboutsome clear benchmarks, so we all know if the government is succeeding or failing. Especially since we have no idea what happened to the 1st $350 Billion to bail out the banks. You know, the one that apparently was overpaid. We can’t tell if the first half of the financial rescue package is working or not is we don’t really know what it was supposed to accomplish.

If the rescue plan was to restore the banks to health and pave the way for normal lending, then it failed. And, there’s another $350 billion worth of financial rescue funds just lying around. Now we have a $ trillion plus spending spree all but passed. Are you going to put the CEO’s who are managing all of these pet projects through the same public groveling that GM, Chrysler, and Ford had to go through? I think you should.

I’d like to know what exactly this spending bill is supposed to accomplish: How exactly will you measure the success of the new spending bill? Are we going to see one of those huge ‘thermometer’ gauges on the whitehouse.gov site to measure all of the new jobs we are creating? On your campaign trail you spoke of transparency, when it comes to my money (and yes, as a taxpayer I consider this my money) I think you should show us all what transperency really means. Let’s open up the ledger to the public. Additonally, I want to see Specific, Measurable, Time-bound goal setting and actual accountability.

If you can’t, then I suggest you just write us all a $9k check; that is essentially what the $850 Billion divided by the roughly 92 million US taxpayers would net.

You want to stimulate the economy? You want to think big? Send us all a big fat check…I’d certainly endorse that!

Who's angry?

2009-02-06T15:29:00.000-08:00

I feel horrible that I took pleasure in Obama’s angry fist speech last evening. Forgive me. But hey, I’m angry too. This bill is junk…! I don’t need a teleprompter to tell you that. I also think the language of this bill needs to reflect exactly what it is, spending, not stimulus.

$142 Billion for “education”. An unprecedented federal spending increase for education will not improve economic growth. Moreover, past experience strongly suggests that this plan will not improve American educational performance. Since 1985, actual federal spending on K–12 education has increased 138%. But higher federal spending has not increased American educational performance, long-term test scores, or graduation rates. Here’s the kicker, there are procedures in place to request increases in spending outside of this bill. The only reason this is in the Spending (Stimulus) Bill is that it will pass quicker, without voter accountability. That’s it. But, don’t question it, because you’ll be accused of hurting the children.

More waste? Given all of the warnings and health research out there about the dangers of smoking. If you still chose to smoke, you should suffer the consequences. I know that sounds harsh, but if I chose to eat acid…well, there you go. Why do I bring this up? Well, in direct opposition to the $75 million to fund programs to help people quit smoking.

$335 million for treatment and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. Same deal here, especially since this benefit traditionally goes to the free clinics out there not folks who have jobs, and traditional health insurance. This bill gives relief to the unemployed or underpaid worker who simply cannot afford the consequence of their actions (Pregnancy, STD) but still want to enjoy the activities. I blame this on the continued ‘sexualization’ of society and the decline of moral values. Specifically, the removal of religion from our schools and households. Also, again, if you chose to sleep around…well there you go; enjoy your ‘living’ gift. You thought watching Sea Monkey’s grow was cool, wait until you see….ok, ok, I’ll stop there.

Look at me, by introducing this phenomenal new concept called “accountability” I just saved the taxpayer $1.8 Billion dollars. I’ll take my commission, now, please, in gold or another precious metal since I can tell you with this type of spending being introduces as cures those dollars you have will soon be as valuable as a Mexican Peso.

I can save much more, $50 million to the National Endowment for the Arts. Let’s create two columned checklist, a really simple one. In one column we write “items that will create jobs” the next we write “useless pork”. Or, for my illustrative purposes, “somewhat helpful stuff” and “pure crap”.

Somewhat Helpful stuff

Pure Crap

$2 billion to help subsidize child care. (if you need Childcare, hopefully you are going to work)

$400 million for research into global warming. (isn’t this referred to as climate change now?, maybe it’s $400 mil for a name change and branding issues) CRAP

$32 billion for a “smart electricity grid to minimize waste. (weird, but will probably create jobs hopefully not at the expense of jobs within the coal industry)

$2.4 billion for projects to demonstrate how carbon greenhouse gas can be safely removed from the atmosphere. (Really? Now?)

$87 billion of Medicaid funds, to aid states (I hate it, but I also have met a few Medicaid dependant seniors and I feel for them)

$650 million for coupons to help consumers convert their TV sets from analog to digital, part of the digital TV conversion. (When did it become the Government’s responsibility to provide TV?)

$53.4 billion for science facilities, high speed Internet, and miscellaneous energy and environmental programs. (should boost the IT industry, the word miscellaneous scares me though)

$600 million to buy a new fleet of cars for federal employees and government departments. (What? Why should you get a new car when the rest of America is forced to repair theirs to save money, subsidize mechanics, that will save jobs and cars)

10.3 billion for tax credits to help families defray the cost of college tuition. (Yay!, should exclude any liberal colleges, but I know I’m just being picky here)

$21 million to re-sod the National Mall, which suffered heavy use during the Inauguration. (have you seen my lawn? Obama’s campaign $ should pay for any damages)

$2.25 billion for national parks. ($2.25 billion is about equal to the National Park Service’s entire annual budget, what’s going on here?)

$13 billion to repair and weatherize public housing, help the homeless, repair foreclosed homes. (How about spend the same amount on equipping out homeless to find jobs, maybe train them to weatherize public housing, which they can later live in…)

$20 billion for quicker depreciation and write-offs for equipment. (What?...I don’t get this one $20 bill to write of junk? Here’s an idea, auction it…have a yard sale…)

$20 billion over five years for an expanded food stamp program. (I hate it to the core, there are enough gov’t handouts, and too much abuse. Nearly everyone knows someone who has abused this system in some fashion…if you don’t I’ll introduce you to a few)

$44 million to renovate the headquarters building of the Agriculture Department. (Is it falling apart?)

$1 billion for Amtrak (I beg you to tell me when the last time this industry reported a profit…you can’t, can you…let’s not reward anymore corporate mismanagement. I know someone is going to try to point out that this money is actually to provide mass transit options in metropolitan areas. I argue that if there are no jobs to go to, then why do we need mass transit to get to them? Seriously, the roads will be empty ;-) Realistically, what did the interstate project due for the depression? )

Justice Department’s pro-family issues.

2009-02-05T12:42:00.000-08:00

I, too often, get caught up in the details. It’s one of my weaknesses, and I get that. However, when it comes to our President nominating the folks who are about to interpret and enforce our laws, it is absolutely imperative we look at the meat, rather than the fancy packaging. Therefore, the details are warranted. The only real measure of what someone can do is from what they have actually done in the past. It was my same argument regarding BHO and his bid for presidency. We really don’t know what kind of president he’ll be, considering he had so little experience to judge him on. What we did see was one of the most liberal voting records in history. Now we can see what that means. Take for example three of Obama’s Justice Dep’t nominees.

David Ogden, nominated to serve as deputy attorney general, has built a profitable career opposing the laws he now would be expected to enforce — including obscenity laws.

Thomas Perrelli, Obama’s nominee to serve as associate attorney general, represented Terri Schiavo’s husband as he fought to have food and water withheld from his disabled wife.

Dawn Johnsen, who hopes to serve as assistant attorney general, is the former legal director for NARAL Pro-Choice America.

“The one thing Barack Obama’s nominees to the Department of Justice seem to have in common is a disrespect for human life," Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America.

My only summary really has to do with Obama’s history on nominations. So far, looking at his recent history, he is not good at making nominations. Let’s hope these three folks actually paid their taxes; wait, then again, let’s not. There are plently of better nominations out there.

Stiiiirike threeeeeee!

2009-02-04T09:19:00.000-08:00

Obama to Fox: "I take responsibility for this mistake." He vowed his best effort to "make sure we're not screwing up again."

Obama to ABC: "This is a self-induced injury that I'm angry about, and we're going to make sure we get it fixed."

Obama to CBS: "It's frustrating for me, and it's something that I take responsibility for."

I appreciate your honesty, and accept your apology. Now, either there is an issue with the vetting process or you really felt that there is a double-standard to which public officials are exempt. I suggest correcting the former as to not have to answer to the latter.

Here’s the deal, I’m tired of exceptions; whether it’s politicians, celebrities, athletes, etc. Equal rule under the law is imperative. Equal rules, ensure equal accountability. I recall the POTUS speaking about accountability in one of his many campaign promises. Of course, I remember Bill Clinton say emphatically that “his will be the most ethical administration ever”, and look how that turned out.

Let’s get real; you want to show me ethics? Accountability? Integrity? Then let’s have a few more conversations like these. However, I don’t care to hear that you screwed up; I want to hear what SPECIFIC actions you are taking to ensure these types of ‘errors’ are not repeated.

My wife taught me the definition of integrity a long time ago. She put it in the simplest terms so that I will never forget it.

“Do what it is you say you are going to do”

That’s it…really. It’s that easy. We all make mistakes, and can be forgiven. Let’s just ensure we’ve learned something from it. In manufacturing, you correct the error and ad a new QA stop to the process (either permanently or temporarily depending on the severity). In business you call it “a training session” and update your company policies. In private you can call it a “brain fart” and apologize profusely to your wife when you “accidentally” forget to claim appx $500k in earnings, then wait 6 months after you’ve discovered the ‘error’ to rectify it before you are sworn into a highly visible cabinet position (but I digress). Whatever you do…you learn from your mistakes, are forgiven, and move on. However, when you repeat these same mistakes…well, then you are just a dummy.

I’ve always measured issues as such:

One Time = Occurrence (Caution)
Two Times = Coincidence (Concern)
Three Times = Trend (Crisis)

Three times now for this administration. Let’s get on the ball here, eh?(Good thing we aren't playing baseball...3 strikes are only good in bowling)

What’s with Rush?

2009-02-03T13:17:00.000-08:00

Since when can a President be immune to public criticism? From SNL through Liberal media it happened to the last Pres. Now it switches to Conservative radio and it’s an issue? I happen to enjoy Rush Limbaugh’s broadcasts. I’m not a regular listener, but tune in from time to time and am usually at the very least, entertained.

Recently, Obama told republicans to ‘quit listening to Rush Limbaugh if you want to get things done’. What’s next, don’t read the dictionary if you are looking to define: “liberal” ?

With the majority of the meat in this stimulus bill being pork, it is no surprise Rush called the president out. Sure it’s not the 1st time, and absolutely certain it will not be the last time he calls out the POTUS.

If I had a national radio show, with even ½ the audience Rush has, I’d have done the same.

However, the sad truth is it’s not about Mr. Limbaugh. It’s really a shot at conservative media. It’s the 1st real shot at the conservative voice. Mr. President, if you can’t take the criticism, you have chosen the wrong line of work. The First Amendment guarantees our right to free speech.

1st Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

I will accept no apologies when it comes to exercising my right, nor will I interfere with your right to counter my opinion.

Welcome to Colorado…now go home ;-)

2009-01-30T09:15:00.001-08:00

I know why I love it here. After spending the past (3) years in Boston (which has its own charm) it’s so good to be home again. Every day I get to wake up to some of the most incredible panoramic views on the planet. From the sunrise to the east to the most colorful western sunsets I’ve ever had the pleasure to witness. God has an amazing paintbrush and truly gets creative in our skies. All this talk about the views is one thing, but another is we get to actually enjoy His playground. From Garden of The Gods (bring your camera), and hiking for every skill level, to some of the most welcoming powder on world-class ski areas. It’s a truly wonderful place to live and I feel blessed to be here.

That said; it seems our little secret has been exposed to the masses as Denver was voted as the Top City in which Americans would like to live.

Suffice it to say, the parties over.

Granted, it’s not all bad. I’m certainly proud of our state. And with all things good, it’s no wonder other people would like it here. I hope with the popularity, it brings an influx of jobs. Think about it large CA companies, with your economy tanking, tax breaks shrinking (I even heard rumors of IOUs instead of tax refunds), and real-estate costs grossly inflated; it might make more sense to relocate.

However, please be aware of the baggage you bring with you. Leave your economic and political policies in earthquake country please. Leave you little plastic water bottles at home, our water is great to drink right out of the tap and we’d like to keep it that way; be kind to our environment and it will be kind to you.

If you can’t abide by these simple rules, then stay home, we are content with or without you.

Thanks for visiting…have a nice day!

Bacon anyone?..

2009-01-29T10:31:00.000-08:00

How timely that the NY Times spotlights the latest pork laden dinner food when Washington itself is trying to push this pork laden stimulus plan on all of us. My good friend, the Black Sphere highlighted much of this in his blog entitled “Obama’s Bailout Plan: Pork-a-Palooza”
Below is an excerpt from his blog hitting all of the highlights (including his comments):

Bailout pork…

$650 million for digital TV coupons. Since when is it the government's responsibility to provide TV? Only in America would we allocate this much money for something so ridiculous. This is larger than the GDP of half the countries in Africa.

$600 million for new cars for the federal government. Obama got a new ride, why not the rest of government. And why isn't this part of the money loaned in the auto bailout? I say let these bureaucrats do what the rest of America does when their cars get old. Live with 'em.

$6 billion for colleges/universities – What more investment in "lower ed" do we need, when all they do is create more liberals? This is an increase in the limits on Pell grants. Here's an idea: Colleges and universities start lowering tuition instead of raising it every year.

$50 million in funding for the National Endowment of the Arts. Pork Pocketchange. I can only hope they send some of this my way, as The Black Sphere qualifies as art in my humble opinion.

$200 million for the National Mall, including $21 million for sod. Why do we need a "National Mall"? Let them shop at Wal-Mart like the rest of America.

$360 million to potentially be used to put on transsexual beauty pageants and erotic art shows. Do I even need to comment?

ACORN will receive potentially $4.19 billion. They are financing their next election with our money.

Now, I read through this and think…what the heck is going on in DC? I hope, and pray the public gets an earful of all of this, as it has been so eloquently referred to: Crap.

I also hear that the Senate Republican’s are proposing a competing bill, for about ½ the cost to the taxpayer, that will create nearly twice as many jobs, and faster. If BHO could live up to his campaign promises and work with both parties to “do what’s best for our country” which would you think he should be promoting?

Fireproof, the movie…

2009-01-28T15:22:00.000-08:00

Fireproof your marriage yet? I know I’m going to sound like I’m totally endorsing this movie; well, I am. With U.S. box-office receipts of $33 million and counting it is certainly worth taking a look at, eh? Be honest, your Netflix/Blockbuster Online queue could use an update.

You see, Marriage is a funny thing. No matter who you are, you need to be reminded of how wonderful it can be. Those unfamiliar with The Bible may not notice that my blog URL is in reference to Eph 5:25; or “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her”. It’s just a small way I try to honor my wife. Granted, she could care less about my political views at times, but it doesn’t take away from my having a daily reminder to honor my wife. Something beyond the ring I wear on my left hand.

Now, if you are married and haven’t seen this movie yet, I highly encourage you to do so. Even if you are not the ‘religious’ type. There are lessons within the movie we all need exposure to. Too often, when faced with a difficult situation in their marriage people give in to their emotions and throw in the towel. Unfortunately for them, much of these situations would prove to be temporary if even one party were truly committed and honoring their own vows. More disheartening is the ‘D’ word is all too accepted by society anymore and easier to do than ever. I think I saw a “Do it yourself’ divorce kit advertised by an attorney online the other day.

God willing, I hope I never need another reminder of how much I love my wife. I also pray that she feels cherished, honored, and loved everyday.

Mexico City Policy...

2009-01-28T15:10:00.000-08:00

Absurd to think, regardless of how you personally feel about the abortion issue, that our President, and Senate Leaders, would chose to vote NEA (a vote of ‘Nea’ removed the policy, that prevented Tax Dollars to go overseas specifically to fund abortions) killing the bill that prevents OUR TAX DOLLARS to go overseas for the purpose of funding abortions. With this administration already proposing record spending in forms of stimulus, programs, etc… whether you support abortions or not, we simply cannot afford to send tax dollars overseas for any reason except perhaps humanitarian. However, even then I still argue that you shouldn’t send money overseas for humanitarian needs when you have humanitarian issues on your own soil (Homeless, hunger, disease…etc).

If by "change we can believe in", you simply meant reversing all Republican policies, whether they make sense or not, then I suppose you were ‘just doing your job’. I just can’t see where this president thinks the money is going to come from. Typical Dem philosophy (See CA, MA…and other Blue States) spend without considering the deficit, then raise taxes to try to compensate. This philosophy is a failure simply because the people you are trying to help with all of this spending do not contribute to the tax pool. Then they (Dem's) wonder why they have run out of money.

Conservative Oasis had a well done blog post re: ‘Obama the Ice Cream Man’; In his post he illustrates a story involving two elementary students running for class President as part of their Teacher’s lesson.

The first student makes his campaign speach including detailed promises on how to make the class a better place and ends with a promise to do his best. Everyone applauded and the young man sat down.

The second student was much more concise; she simply said “If you will vote for me, I will give you ice cream.” She then sat down.

Needless to say the class went wild, chanting “Yes! Yes! We want ice cream.” She surely would say more. She did not have to.

Afterwards a discussion followed. How did she plan to pay for the ice cream? She wasn’t sure. Would her parents buy it or would the class pay for it. She didn’t know. The class really didn’t care. All they were thinking about was ice cream.

Remind you of anyone? If this administration continues to make promises and simply just withdraw from US Taxpayer as if we were the fabled “Money Tree”. I have to quote my father in saying; “surely, you realize, Money doesn’t grow on trees you know!”

Unfortunately, it will probably be received by the President about as well as it was by me at 7 years old. Mr. Obama, you can treat the US Taxpayer as you personally ATM; however, eventually, you will receive nothing but a slip of paper eloquently stating “Insufficient funds, have a nice Day.”

Gay dinosaurs?

2009-01-27T13:20:00.001-08:00

BHO is beginning to sound as confused as the LGBT community when it comes to tolerance.

Tolerance still gets to me, because it makes the case that everything is OK. Unfortunately, if everything is then ok, then nothing isn’t. (you can’t tolerance, with exceptions or you are then being intolerant, right?) Therefore, if I want to dress like a horse and be referred to as a horse. I should be allowed to be a horse, right? But wait, what if I felt that I should have been born a horse and ‘God’ made a mistake. Or, as some scientists are trying to get you to believe, my DNA got confused when my nervous system was forming in the womb. (I actually believe this is accurate, your brain didn’t develop properly affecting you perception of reality). It doesn’t mean you were born in the wrong skin; you simply have a mental condition. This condition should be treated with therapy. Do we allow schizophrenics to go ahead and be referred to as the Hamburgler? No, we treat them for their condition.

Remember, Obama stood against all three marriage-protection amendments in November 2008 during the elections. (California, Arizona and Florida), saying:

"I support extending fully equal rights and benefits to same-sex couples under both state and federal law. That is why I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states.”

Now decoding ‘Obama-speak’ you see that he is saying to oppose same-sex marriage makes you “divisive and discriminatory”.

Seriously, less than 2% of the population is considered homosexual, the majority being middle-aged white males; yet we are talking about allowing legislation to protect this ‘condition’. Not only protect it, but create laws that force the roughly 81% of America who identify themselves as religious (76.5%, or 159 million, of whom state they are Christian) to recognize their ‘condition’ in the interest of tolerance. This goes against the principals of many of the world’s great religions, but more importantly the majority of the population in the United States itself.

Obama himself claims to be Christian. I’m wondering what his pastor has to say about the subject.

So, you don’t believe in God, eh? Ok, that’s fine. But consider this; Why are there not any gay animals? Isn’t nature our guide? Hmmm…maybe it is because it is unnatural?

I’ll throw you a bone (no pun intended) Maybe the dinosaurs were gay, and because they couldn’t reproduce they died out. Forget comets, climate changes or any other theory. Maybe they were all gay…Darwin would be so proud ;-)

Change, I believe it….

2009-01-21T08:47:00.000-08:00

Well, not really...The most change I have seen so far involves Michelle’s outfits. Well, at least that seems to be the focus of the MSM right now. Seriously, is there nothing better to report than outfit changes, celebrity’s in appearance, or the number of balls that were held?

I was hoping we’d have a POTUS that would cancel the balls in lieu of our economic conditions (or at least tone them down some); roll up his sleeves, and get to work. Now that would have been a statement! However, when large Greek columns and packed NFL stadiums are involved in your acceptance, and Obamapalooza is organized to celebrate the win on election night; why would I expect anything different during the inauguration celebration? Silly me I guess…perhaps Little Optimist can stop by and tell me everything’s going to be alright.

Little Optimist: Hey there Rob, how ya been? You sure look incredible today ;-)

me: Why thank you Little Optimist, these are only my work clothes. Nothing extravagant, but I digress. Please, tell me everything’s going to be just fine.

Little Optimist: Of course it will, think about it. The POTUS has had such extravaganzas showing he is very ego-centric. What that tells me is he will be more concerned with himself and his image than what's happening in the county. Therefore, he’ll be too busy looking in the mirror to be able to screw anything up. Great news, right!?!

me: You know, I never thought of it that way.

Little Optimist: Yeah, and since 99% of his staff came from the Clinton administration, you can assume, by looking back at what occurred during Clinton’s terms, that the country will pretty much look like that in (4) years. We made it through, ok, didn’t we?

me: Well, I was in High School then…and other than a few issues, the country turned out ok, I guess. Thanks for making me feel a little better about the next (4) years.

Little Optimist: Hey, no problem, dude! Did I mention how much I love your writing? You are so awesome!

me: Ha! I know…thanks Little Optimist, see you soon.

Well, there you have it folks. If Clinton didn’t break it too badly, then we should assume Obama won’t either. I truly hope Obama quits smoking because the last thing he needs for his image is another ‘cigar incident’.

MLK reflections…from a white guy

2009-01-19T13:11:00.000-08:00

I hear it said all too often that with the election of BHO; MLK’s dream is now finally being realized. I have only (4) words to accompany that absurd statement: “Are you kidding me…”

Our 1st African American President, an historical accomplishment, is only the beginning of the dream MLK had. This excerpt from his speech below truly sums it all up for me.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Yes, MLK said it first in 1963, not Barrack Obama, who often quotes Dr. King.

The sad reality is, until we stop referring to our president as “African American”, or “Black”; King’s dream will never be realized. I know there are still many ‘1st’s’ to come for the African American community. Let me be bold and also state that as soon as we stop referring to every accomplishment as a ‘1st for the African American community” and focus more on the individual and HIS accomplishment we will not be aligned with Dr. King’s dream. If race is always part of the statement, then we are not moving forward.

I was lucky enough to be raised in a very diverse environment. My father is a 23yr veteran of the US Army. During that time we had the opportunity to live in many different places where cultures ran the gamut of social and economic diversity. What I’ve learned from this experience is that stereotypes, though holding some interesting generalizations and cultural truths, are not a way to measure an individual. We have all been created to be unique, and it is the uniqueness that we should hold a measure to.

Some other excerpts from Dr. King’s speech I like to reflect on are below:

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"

"The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people. For many of our white brothers as evidenced by their presence here today have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We can not walk alone."

Full speech here:

Obama ‘Flip-Flops’ outselling ‘Waffles’…

2009-01-16T11:52:00.000-08:00

What images do ‘Flip-Flops’ immediately bring to mind? Open toed shoes? A fish out of water struggling to get back in? No…but close. How about the President-Elect Barrack Obama?

“A gay-activist newspaper in Chicago has discovered that President-elect Barack Obama supported same-sex "marriage" during his run for the Illinois Senate in 1996. Conservatives and liberals alike seem irritated by the flip-flop.

In 1996, Outlines newspaper, which merged with Windy City Times in 2000, surveyed candidates for all levels of elected office. Obama's answer was very clear: “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.”

Wait, therrrrre’s more!

* His recent acceptance of Roland Burris, his Senate successor, whose appointment he initially opposed.

Annnnnd, just when you thought it couldn't get any better, we bring back these classic oldies:

* “Readjust the time-table in Iraq”

* “President-elect Barack Obama is not planning to implement a windfall profit tax on oil companies because prices have dropped below $80 a barrel…”

I know what you are thinking, where’s the number? Who can I contact about the incredible ‘Flip-Flops’?!?! We bring you one more...

The grand-daddy of all ‘Flip-Flops’:

* “I want to be realistic here -- not everything that we talked about during the campaign are we going to be able to do…” said, Barrack Obama, during an interview on ABC’s “This Week” program.

Let’s hope he keeps at least one, for his daughters sake. Last reports have Obama narrowing the all important cabinet position search for a “White House Dog”.

(Biden is already occupied as VP…and now is not the time for a Michelle joke)

Where do we go from here?

2009-01-14T13:01:00.000-08:00

It’s sad that without a governing moral foundation people are free to be “whatever you want to be”. Think about it, we are absolute liars raising kids to simply become confused, hurt, and lost when it comes to their identity. I refuse to tell my children they can be “whatever they want”, because it is simply not true and no one can will it to be. American Idol is a perfect example for illustrations sake. Every year you have folks that crack glass and are genuinely surprised to hear that they were awful. It’s a direct result of “support” in an avenue that you, simply put, have no talent for. Then, as they stomp away and use language not fit for printing, let alone repeating to an age appropriate audience, only further supports my theory as its clear these shrieking lunatics have zero coping skills; Another result of never having to deal with your feelings and a result of being coddled.

Morals? Guidance? The Bible is my families guide and moral authority when it comes to “right” and “wrong”. This is our foundation and it is why our children will actually have a hope and purpose rather than wander this life aimlessly wearing their underpants on the outside screaming “I am batman!”

Now, don’t get me wrong, when my child falls down and skins their knee while trying to slam dunk a basketball, I’m not going to make them feel bad because they aren’t ‘gifted’ with a gazelle’s leaping ability. I will absolutely comfort them, and work with them on their ‘jumping’ skills, but I certainly won’t tell them after discovering they can’t even touch the rim that they will be the next Michael Jordan if they just keep trying. They will likely have other talents that are more realistic, and should be supported. Truthfully, we are all great at some things and not so great at others. That’s just how it works; your talents are unique to you. You cannot ‘will’ it any other way. Can you learn other talents, absolutely, and there is nothing wrong with being good at a lot of things. Just don’t get fooled into thinking you are great at all things. Life is about successes and failures, both becoming your unique experience to have and use as you move forward and discover, for yourself, your calling.

Popular opinion is, opinion.

2009-01-13T09:49:00.000-08:00

I took a moment to enjoy an old comedy series called “Yes, Prime Minister”. I swear this episode was taken right out of my mind.

Polls: do you consider them valuable? Well, you should, and you should not. For example, I used to implement quality assurance metrics for large organizations. I would create a measured format and ask questions pertinent to our business at the time. Through that process (well, and my knowing what I know about human psychology) I could essentially pinpoint and measure whatever it is the executive team would want to know about at any given time. I know polling works in a similar fashion; the problem is, not everyone conducting the polling is objective, and therefore results can be whatever it is they want them to be.

It’s an unfortunate sad reality that popular opinion polls are just that, opinion. Next time you hear that 60% of medical doctors approve stem cell research, be sure to know what group sponsored the poll, who exactly was the sample taken from, and in what context those questions were asked. At least the nyou might be informed, whether or not the participants were or not is another matter.

2009-01-12T09:37:00.000-08:00

Wow, I’m all for peaceful demonstration, as long as it is just that, peaceful. Granted, in the below video we don’t get a view of what was going on with the Israeli supporters side of the street. For all we know they could have been shouting horrible things as well. But I just didn’t see it and can only speak to what I saw on the video. Horrible, horrible things and provoking that is not, and should not be, tolerated in any peace loving religion.

I feel that many Muslims have an identity crisis going on and that identity is in contrast to what I have always known as a fundamentally peaceful religion. The above video is clearly not a representation of a peaceful religion. I am not naïve to not believe that there is a lot more behind this demonstration than the events in Gaza over the last few weeks. I understand that for many of these young Palestinians they have never known or experienced peace. I also understand that because of which there are many emotions that are difficult to control.

I remember how angry we all were during 9/11, and what kind of emotional outrage it sparked in all of us. What we need to realize is that our 9/11, shocking as it was, is small in comparison to the everyday struggles in the Middle East. I know I will receive flack for that statement, and perhaps I deserve it, but if we are being honest with ourselves, the only reason we were so upset is because it happened to us. Don't get me wrong, I was shocked, and my heart went out to the many families that were affected. However, consider for one moment, what if an aircraft had hit the Eiffel Tower, what emotions would that have stirrred in us instead? London Bridge? The Kremlin?

I for one will pray for peace for all in Gaza, Palestinians and Israelis alike. I pray for peace in the Middle East. More importantly I pray for peace here in the US and am thankful for every day I am allowed to experience it.

Peace, be with you all.

looking ahead...

2009-01-09T12:40:00.000-08:00

Just read Politico’s article entitled: O-bummer (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17268.html).

Seriously, what do you expect from someone with such a lack of experience. Not to mention it’s going to be some time before all of the Clinton appointees get back into the swing of things for their 3rd term. After all, we are all a tad bit rusty when we’ve been out the game for a few years. Fear not Dem’s you’ll get your groove on and in no time you’ll be back to stepping all over my way of life with one hand in my pocket and the other furiously trying to take my Bible away. Go ahead, take it…I have many of the verses memorized and since I have an ever growing personal relationship with God, the book is really just a book. Since there is only so much money you can take from me before there is none left, you’ll soon be out of options since my soul is already promised ;-) “Have fun storming the castle!” (or destroying America, interchangeable unfortunately)

In other news, I now have (4) stories of miracles I am actively pursuing, ensuring we have first consent to use their story and are portraying the events as accurately as possible. I also have a lead on a 5th happening that occurred over Christmas. I can wait to get started on this.

Stop, listen…do you hear that?

2009-01-07T16:10:00.000-08:00

Stay tuned for a new interactive website/blog that I want to build. I had an epiphany today; As if God whispered directly into one ear as the other ear was listening to a man tell an amazing story about his dying mother-in-law and the incredible thing that happened to her right before she died.

After hearing this story, I smiled, and then I shed at least (2) tears.

I know it’s unfair not to tell the story now, and I truly want to. However, it wouldn’t be proper until I sat down and recorded every detail from the eyewitnesses, including asking for a copy of the pictures that were taken that day.

I was also drawn to a miracle that I personally witnessed regarding a little boy named Ezra. I want to tell this story and many others like it.

So, in an effort to spread real hope and to fulfill God’s calling; this project would be founded to seek out, document, and tell the story of the many miracles that happen everyday in this world.

Now, I have to admit, I have well over 10 years of business management experience interlaced with multi-disciplined end-to-end project management. I’ve served as a department head with more than 100 direct reports and have controlled multi-million dollar budgets. All that, and I am not completely sure how to begin this endeavor. Beyond the two stories I have to tell, I know I will have to actively seek and pursue more. Yet, I’m not worried. I know like many of us I have walked through this life with blinders on. I couldn’t see the very things happening around me. I have full faith that if I stop, and listen, and look around me...I will have all that I need and more.

Will you help me? All offers of assistance are welcomed and appreciated. Have you been witness to a miracle, are you willing to talk about it? Would you like to be part of an interview team? Please contact me…you might be very glad you did.

More to follow....

A raise, sure...

2009-01-06T12:08:00.000-08:00

How many of you would vote yourself a raise if you could? PUT YOUR HANDS DOWN! ;-) In fact, I’m willing to bet it is one of the few times no one in congress votes “present”. I will spend the next few days looking at the voting records to prove my point…as if I needed to.

“Unemployment is at its highest level in 15 years. Housing prices won't stop falling. The stock market has suffered its most punishing collapse since 1931, and shareholders have lost $7 trillion in wealth. Millions of workers have lost their jobs; millions more are worried about losing theirs. IRAs and 401k accounts have been decimated, and companies are halting their contributions to retirement plans. Retail sales are dragging, the credit markets have seized up, and worse is expected in 2009. The government has gone to unprecedented lengths to improve the economy, yet the economy keeps getting worse. The federal budget deficit is headed for a trillion dollars, and the national debt is well over $10 trillion — and climbing. The number of Americans saying the country is on the wrong track is at or near its all-time high; consumer confidence is at its all-time low.

So what do you do now?

Well, if you're a member of Congress, you give yourself a raise.

Beginning this week, US representatives and senators will be paid $174,000 a year. That represents an increase of $4,700 and the 10th time since 1998 that congressional pay has been given a boost.”(http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2159709/posts)

I personally think Congressional/Senate raises should be voted on by the public. Seriously, for the same reasons you don’t put a commissioned sales workforce in charge of reporting their own sales. Accountability at it’s best.

It’s amazing that Congress even feels they deserve a raise.

I don’t know about you, but I have to submit a review and meet with my manager to discuss my performance over the last year, then that manager gauges my performance with his allowable budget and determines what percentage of that budget is applied to my performance. I think it’s about time Washington started working in the real world.

Not surprised…

2009-01-05T11:39:00.000-08:00

We’d rather talk about BHO’s abs than whats going on in the political arena. Fellow blogger nonsensibleshoes called it when he says the media is ‘running blocks’ for him. Seriously, latest report from Minneapolis Star Tribune states Al Franken up 225 votes after the latest recount. Then theres Bill Richardson backing out of Obama's nominee for Commerce Secretary due to some questions regarding major donors receiving state contracts.

Other than late night cracks from Leno, Conan, and Dave (mostly on Minnesota and not on Al Franken) no one would seem to have a clue that an election is one, so close, and two, potentially fraudulent. Which, as history has proven, won’t matter as Capitol Hill is now Dem. controlled and they will quickly move to seat Franken. Makes me wonder why there is even a recount.

Then on to Bill Richardson, if someone didn’t point it out to me I would be none the wiser. My local rags certainly aren’t talking about it. Remember when this guy was once a presidential hopeful? And a “smart choice” (Karen Kerrigan) Now he is under a Federal investigation, and all I can find is the same old “I have done nothing wrong” articles and BHO’s “with deep regret” … where’s the beef? If he is a scoundrel, lets talk about it. How hard can it be to find the $1.5 million contract awarded to a major donor (in this case: New Mexico Finance Authority to CDR Financial Products Inc., a Beverly Hills, Calif.-based firm whose president contributed thousands of dollars to political action committees established by Richardson). I have an idea; look for the only car in Beverly Hills with a “Richardson for President” bumper-sticker. It will belong to the guy with the fist full of money saying “what, me worry?”

So, again, why am I not surprised anymore?

(10 points if you can properly identify the real source of the “what me worry” quote; 10 points towards what I can’t say, how about an atta-boy?)

Is there a problem here?...

2008-12-31T09:00:00.001-08:00

The problem with the most Churches today is they expend a majority of their resources keeping their existing congregation entertained. They’ve made the relationship with God into just another thing to do. Week in and out, you go and get your religon-card punched and call yourself faithful. Dare I say it; Churches are more concerned with keeping their existing congregation coming to Church rather than spreading the Good News. I find this to be an incredible contradiction to the very foundation of our Faith. If the goal is to grow and to spread the Gospel, then to maintain headcount by preventing attrition is in contradiction to that goal. Here’s the Truth, the message will keep them faithful if it’s truly faith your are providing.

Even in my own professional arena we hit our current constituency with approximately 90% of our own messaging. That leaves roughly 10% of the resources left to grow constituency. However, our goal is to grow constituency by adding 2 million more names. Anyone else see the flaw?

Reverse that number and concentrate instead on growth. Get out into the community and provide interactive services to at risk or people in need. Expose all people to the Church by providing for the needy, offering quality family entertainment, and most of all, live as an example of Christ. Use popular media to promote the great things you are doing, and people will begin to associate what you are with positive feelings. Those feelings should grow into a curiosity to find out “why are these Christians so happy all of the time, how can they accomplish so much good in this world?” Here are some ideas I came up with on the fly:

Forget having the latest Christian band to play for your congregation; spend that money on a ‘free’ ski bus to send a group of folks up the mountain (seriously, you’d have a captive audience to witness to. Money well spent if you ask me).

Cancel that world renowned speaker you have scheduled and provide a ‘free’ street breakfast downtown.

Don’t put all of that energy into create 100+ small groups (my own Church has well over 200 small groups); reconfigure them to be community volunteer groups who actively seek opportunities to serve at soup kitchens, donation centers, hospitals, and even at city hall or the DMV.

If you concentrate on growth, spreading the Good News through your own actions, you will no longer need to worry about attrition. The growth will create more opportunities to be active and through this you can change your community for the better. After all, would Jesus be scheduling speakers, forming small groups, and booking bands for his congregation? Or, would he be out and about in the community touching as many lives as possible?

Where in the world is....?

2008-12-30T12:36:00.000-08:00

Where is BHO on Gaza? Vacation of course. Why not? He still has the old “one president at a time” rule to fall back on. While the Middle east falls further into turmoil BHO can relax, on vacation, in a $9 mil home, where he can be free to finally ‘mourn’ his Grandmother (aka: ‘the rock’ of his family) 2 months after her death by showing his abs and playing golf.

This apparently has the world losing patience as well, see: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1102951/Shhhh-As-world-waits-Obama-voice-opinion-Gaza-Americas-President-elect-hits-golf-course.html

I just wonder why I am not surprised. After all, we are talking about a community organizer here, not some powerhouse politician. It’s also possible with all of the power troubles in Oahu they couldn’t get enough juice for a teleprompter.

The sound of one hand clapping...

2008-12-23T09:55:00.001-08:00

My mind is better off now that I’ve seen the arguments for Intelligent Design, and I would say the same for the youth of america. It interesting to see how absolute scientists are regarding Natural Selection. I have to say, that if scientists were so absolute on Newton’s Laws the Einstein’s Theory of Relativity would never have taken hold.

I’ve never seen so adverse a reaction as when you even mention the ‘possibility’ of Intelligent Design into a scientific conversation. Last I remember the purpose of science was to hypothesize, then test, objectively. That part that really gets me on the subject is there are unexplained issues and flaws within the Darwinists theories, but somehow, through scientific community’s insistence, they are beyond reproach; such as: the failure to account for the origin of life from non-living matter, or the failure to account for natural selection’s demonstrable inability to produce any new genetic information, or the failure to explain immense complexities like the single cell, the eye, or the ear (problem of irreducible complexity). If you cannot admit to the possibility, then science itself is doomed.

I personally believe in God, and God as our creator. But that does not mean I can’t look at both sides of an argument. I believe the issue of the scientists is they have to admit that there is a possibility of a God to be able to enter into such a conversation. Which is so weird because some of these guys are die-hard sci-fi fans and dress up as Romulans, study Klingon, and dream about slaying dragons. However, the chance that there might be an omnipotent creator…well that’s fantasy. I also love how that actually removes the possibility of alien intervention, something most of these guys do believe in. How can you support both UFO’s and Natural Selection? Laughable…now go play with your Spock ears.

Conspiracy theory…

2008-12-22T09:42:00.000-08:00

I’ve held a suspicious conspiracy theory for about [3] weeks now. Want to hear it? Here it goes….

The Broncos will have to play the Chargers to decide the AFC West. Amazingly, it has happened, it is not longer a theory but an actual occurrence. You may ask yourself, then why is this a conspiracy theory, what events could possibly lead you to believe in more than chance itself? Here’s my take:

Jay Cutler vs. Phillip Rivers

These two have had a long standing feud ever since 2007 when the two exchanged taunts. I personally remember seeing Rivers start it, but hey, I am also biased. Every sport needs a rivalry (Earnhardt v Gordon, Yankees v. Sox, Avalanche v. Red Wings, etc…); it doesn’t hurt that these two young QB’s came into the league around the same time, play in the same division, and are both quite charismatic.

The feud has even gotten press as recent as 12/4; Yahoo! Article: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=cr-badblood120408&prov=yhoo&type=lgns ; A google search will turn up quite a bit more on this ongoing feud.

Come from behind/Cinderella story

The Chargers were down [3] games and were counted out. The Broncos have held the division lead since the 1st game of the season. No one expected to see the Chargers in this situation. Yet, here we are, they have played tough, and put themselves in a position to do something that has never been done. Everyone loves an underdog.

Ratings

What a ratings machine this will be. NO TEAM has ever lost a division lead when up by [3] games; well, the Broncos have officially done it. The winner of this weekend’s match-up will win the Division, and host a play-off game. In an era of declining ticket sales, the recession, and lack of an exciting story; The NFL has managed to produce a week 17 match-up that actually matters. Seriously, when most teams will be playing their benchwarmers to stay healthy for the play-off, and most fans tune out for lack of interest. Now there is something to buzz about in the NFL, imagine that. THIS JUST IN: The Broncos/Chargers game has just been moved ot prime time. Kickoff is not 8:15pm ET (From 4:15pm ET)

You tell me if this is all mere coincidence ;-)

Honoring Christmas…

2008-12-19T09:40:00.000-08:00

Some of us forget that this season, for many of us who would call ourselves followers of Christ, is all about the birth of our Savior. With all of the commercialization and ‘sensitivity’ around the even mentioning the word, it can take us away from why we really celebrate Christmas. I personally am on a mission to change that a little.

How? Simple, I have made a promise to be overly kind, generous, and spread a little peace on earth in the name of our Lord. I challenge you to as well.

We can all simply modify our behavior just a bit in favor of kindness, and Christmas. Here are some examples….

Hold the door for a stranger, then wish them a Merry Christmas
Buy a stranger a coffee at your local coffee shop, and wish them a Merry Christmas
Give up your place in line to a stranger, and wish them a Merry Christmas
Write Merry Christmas, on the top of your credit card slips as you sign your
name helping the business recognize your appreciation for Christmas.
Honestly, in everything you do, try to include a Merry Christmas…and be kind
to one another.

Oh, and I truly wish you and yours a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The power of Twitter…

2008-12-18T08:58:00.000-08:00

The power of Twitter…

I’ve been on Twitter for about as long as I’ve held this blog (http://twitter.com/frmrdj). I’ve found the key is to be active on Twitter, and for that sake, I have only been active for a week. It all started with curiosity, but now I’m finding it to be a useful way to spread information. I also think it takes advantage of need for quick spurts of information due to our ever shortening attention spans.

I have [3] examples of creative uses of Twitter:

1st; #TCOT, or True Conservatives On Tweeter (http://www.topconservativesontwitter.org), have been incredibly active with a ranking function to identify who is the Top Conservative; they have recently launched a new campaign that is getting tremendous buzz. Operation: Three Little Piggies (re: The piggies being: CEO of Chrysler, CEO of GM, and UAW President)

http://www.tcot-otlp.org/

2nd, Babycenter.com had an interesting interactive way to drive a targeted audience to their site. Why not? Who wouldn’t be curious to predict the height of their baby?

http://parentcenter.babycenter.com/child-height-predictor?scid=pcbulletin_20081216:2&pe=4wFnVD

3rd, You may have heard of the Comcast stalker; well, in a sense it is a proactive way to meet a client’s needs before they call you. They have an agent, or agents sift through the “tweets” looking for people mentioning Comcast, and proactively call them if they mention trouble with their service. It’s a good idea and other service industries should take note. (GM, Southwest, and JetBlue have since followed suit)

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2008/tc2008095_320491.htm

I honestly feel this is just the tip of the Twitter iceberg as several new ‘tweeter-apps’ are being released daily to further the ease of use…such as:

Twurl
http://tweetburner.com/
(To shorten URL’s since you are limited to 140 characters per tweet)

Outtwit
http://www.techhit.com/OutTwit/
(Enables you to use Twitter from MS Outlook)

Many others can be found here:

http://twitter.pbwiki.com/Apps

Chalk one up...

2008-12-16T15:33:00.000-08:00

Chalk one up to Live Action Films. It was announced today that another Indianna Planned Parenthood employee was suspended as a result of an undercover video produced by Live Action Films. (latest video below, for as long as YouTube will allow it)

http://www.liveactionfilms.org/

"The release of the video today led one lawmaker to urge Attorney General Steve Carter to investigate and to ask the Family and Social Services Administration to suspend Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood of Indiana.

Planned Parenthood says it has suspended without pay a counselor shown in the second video while it investigates the matter. Planned Parenthood fired an aide at a Bloomington clinic after the release of a similar video two weeks ago by Live Action, which has three chapters in California and one in Oregon."

I'm obviously appaled at the brashness of these so called counselors. I can only imagine how many times this has happened prior to these videos being released. The only victory here is that it is being exposed and the funding is being suspended, albeit, temporarily.

Another wrong being commited is YouTube's banning of these videos. They outright censor them. Yet I can hear all about japenese martial aides or extreme defication. Some of the most disturbing videos in the world are published to YouTube every day and these videos from Live Action Films get censored. Silly....eh?

Let's look at the irony of it all, lawmakers make it nearly impossible fior a child to have bendryl at school; yet these counselors can tell our children how to get an abortion without our knowledge. Ar you hearing me AG Steve Carter? I'll say it loud and clear "Throw the book at these people".

Life is a gift....

2008-12-16T08:06:00.000-08:00

This is the time of year when folks go to 'holiday' parties (how dare they call it a Christmas Party, wouldn't want to offend anyone), and their CEO or President tells them all about the wonderful work they've done all year, highlighting sucessfull projects and milestones, and talks about how they look forward to next year. "Were going to have a great year, team!"

The following is excerpted Cecile Richard’s (of Planned Parenthood) annual report to stakeholders…

We provided medical services to more than three million people and helped prevent an estimated 621,000 unintended pregnancies in the U.S. alone.
Our activists and supporters helped convince 11 more states to decline federal abstinence-only funding, bringing the total to 26.
We helped defeat anti-choice legislation and ballot initiatives across the country, including 33 of the 34 abortion ban bills introduced in state legislatures in 2008.

Sobering; 621,000 lives ended this year and PP is rejoicing over another successful year. 621,000 mothers, for whatever reason, would not keep their babies. I will pray for them and hope they will find comfort. I wish I could be upset, but I’m really just saddened.

Saturday, I was driving around town, doing the usual holiday routine, not thinking about anything other than the weeks to come. Then, as if it were a five-story stop sign planted right in front of me, I was stalled. I saw a billboard with an incredible blue eyed, blonde haired, smiling baby on it. It had a bright white background with only [5] words on it:

“Smile, your mom chose Life”.

That was all I needed to remind me that there are bigger things in this world. Larger than my Christmas, larger than what days I may need to take off for the holidays. It is Life itself.

[8] years ago I had never really bought into the pro-life movement. I always said, abortion is not for me, but who am I to tell others what to do with their bodies. That means for twenty five years I went through this world non-stop, not seeing the signs, or at least not taking the time to read them. That is, until two things happened in my life.

First, I had a child. It’s amazing what a joy that is. Words cannot describe the happiness in my life all a direct result of having children. I have [2] now and they are both incredible. In fact, my wife and I are looking into fostering and adopting to help bring the joy of family into others lives.

The second was listening to a very compelling testimony from Gianna Jesson (I’ve mentioned her in a blog before). It is incredible what this young woman had achieved and terrible what she had to go through as an abortion survivor.

http://www.giannajessen.com/EPK/bio.html

It’s those two moments in my life that helped me realize that Life is amazing. It is a gift, and an honor to be alive. Use your time here wisely, and never, ever, take that gift from anyone else.

It's always money...

2008-12-15T09:13:00.001-08:00

I’ve decided not to talk about the Broncos. I do not need any reminders of a terrible outing vs. a very good Carolina team. My prediction of a 1st round play-off loss still stands. That is, if the Broncos make the play-offs; this very well could come down to the final game of the season vs. Sand Diego and re-ignite the Jay Cutler/Philip Rivers feud. Rivalries can be good, high blood-pressure and heart break aside.

On to BHO; I read results of a recent Zogby poll stating 71% of “born-again” Christians opposed the Freedom of Choice Act; yet many of these “born again” Christians are the very same people who voted for BHO. I know I keep going back to this, but with the media distortion I felt many Christians weren't able to see the policy vs. the personality difference. They were, in effect, led astray. The rude awakening will be when they figure out that many of BHO’s policies are indeed in direct conflict with the Christian faith. Ex: BHO’s campaign promise to Planned Parenthood to sign the Freedom of Choice Act as “the first thing I will do as president”. This act virtually removes all State and Federal laws regarding abortions, such as parental notifications in the case of a minor (that's right, you're daughter can have a Federally funded abortion and you'll never know), and informed consent for women. Remember, this is a bill that BHO co-sponsored in the Senate.

Then there’s the 81% of “born again” Christians that support the ban on partial birth abortions, yet BHO voted against such a ban [4] times while in the senate.

Then there’s the say one thing yet do another; BHO’s position of saying he does not support gay marriage but making another campaign promise to strike down the Federal Defense of Marriage Act. Why? This is not a reflection of many deeply held religious values by Christians, Jews, or Muslims.

So you might ask yourself, what purpose does it serve? I know, I know; money, of course.

PP has turned abortion into a cash-cow. With Federal and State tax dollars they’ve been able to create a considerable cash surplus. Since they are a “non-profit” that money has to be spent. Wait, so why do my tax dollars support this industry again? They obviously have more than enough money to continue their mission of infanticide. Oh, that’s right, they can put that money back into the hands of the politicians that keep granting them the funds. That makes sense? Huh? What?

We get upset at oil companies for their ‘windfall profits’ and demand the government ‘do something about it’ by taking away their tax breaks; why do we not get upset at other government tax breaks and funding to companies making profits? As long as abortion remains birth-control for the immoral, and population control for children who may be born with special needs, it will continue to grow and remain profitable for those who support it. The excess is then funneled into politics, and there you have it, an endless cycle.

People get militant at the thought of mixing religion and politics, here’s a thought, get militant at mixing money and politics. Then, maybe, your government will actually work for you.

Burning ants and dancing....

2008-12-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

Excerpt from and Alexander Burns article (12/11/2008; http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/16481)

“Over a period of fewer than 10 days, Democrats have seen their nominee go down in defeat in the Georgia Senate runoff — eliminating the prospect of a filibuster-proof majority — lost two winnable House races in Louisiana and witnessed House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) sink deeper into ethics trouble.

Then there’s the still-unfolding Illinois Senate debacle, which exposed Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s tawdry attempts to auction off President-elect Barack Obama’s Senate seat and forced Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) to hold a press conference Wednesday denying any inappropriate discussions with the governor.”

I’m not going to say I take anything gleefully away from these happenings, but I do see a small shard of light. And with that light, when properly magnified and focused you can burn more than just ants. I also have to agree with many of the bloggers that if there is any way that BHO made it through Chicago Politics corruption free; I’ll gladly put on a tutu and perform the nutcracker in the middle of Millennium Park center stage of the Jay Pritzker Pavillion.

Trust me, I’m not going tutu shopping anytime soon. We’ve already been privy to Rezko and Ayers, there’s more…there’s always more. You simply can’t come out of nowhere, to a national stage without owing/doing favors. (see the 20+ Harvard alumni already on staff in BHO’s transition teams) I wonder what role Oprah has in the new admin? ;-)

Are the Broncos cursed at RB?

2008-12-10T13:27:00.000-08:00

Those familiar with the NFL have likely heard of the ‘Madden Curse' and the 'Sports Illustrated Cover Curse', but who would have ever thought the Broncos were cursed at Running Back (RB)? With Peyton Hillis being their latest RB to hit the Injured Reserve (IR), that makes [5]. Yes, I said [5] Running Backs for one team have all sustained season ending injuries.

Most teams only carry [3] RB’s into a season without even a thought of ever having to hand over your offense to the 3rd string guy (sometimes a 4th RB is placed on the Practice Squad Roster, which is separate from the Active Roster).

The Broncos have used [6] different starting RB’s, and [8] have seen significant playing time due to injuries. Wow, imagine the personnel department and what they have had to go through. I’d be hesitant to sign with the Broncos for fear of going down. ;-)

The last man standing (limping really) is Selvin Young, who has had [1] carry in the last [7] games, due to an injury that was re-aggravated on the single carry. Luckily, he has not been placed on IR.

They brought in Tatum Bell a couple of weeks back, and he appears to be the starter for now while Selvin Young is recovering. They must be feeling very comfortable with Tatum and Selvin for the remainder of the year as when they placed Peyton Hillis in the IR they signed another Tight End (TE). My advice, start scouting another RB. I tend to use historical trends in predictive modeling. If that is the case, the Broncos need to get someone signed and their nose in the playbook as they are losing a running back every 2.16 games. Is there any good news? (Do I need to invite Little Optimist for this one?) There is; there are only [3] regular season games remaining, though the Broncos can clinch the division with [1] more win or a San Diego loss which would guarantee them at least [1] playoff appearance. That said, see my earlier prediction of a 1st round playoff loss. If this is true, they have exactly enough RB’s to play out their season according to my numbers.

Don’t even get me started on the injury plagued Defense….

Worse before it gets better…

2008-12-09T10:55:00.000-08:00

Since Obama is never really clear in what he is saying, I wonder if this is what he was referring to? ;-)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081209/ap_on_re_us/blagojevich_corruption_probe

I have to admit, I didn’t know much about the IL Gov, but (and here’s the media for you) this article makes him sound like hardened garbage can sludge. I can’t wait for the wire-taps to become public, this will be a popcorn moment.

In other news, I am wary of this so called Fairness Doctrine. I agree that it is outdated, and unnecessary. I believe it does violate the 1st Amendment. However, I am not a Supreme Court Justice. So my opinion only matters with my vote. Which, I take very seriously and never miss poll, primary, or election. Over the next 4 years I plan to hold “election parties” in my home where family, friends, and even strangers can gather at my house, we’ll drive to the polls together, vote, and return home for food and fellowship. That’s another story for another time though, especially since I haven’t told my wife yet ;-).

Back to the Doctrine; Here we have a legislation that was repealed in 1987. In 2005 Dem’s started bringing it back into the limelight. Now, here it is again. The Fairness Doctrine basically requires media to provide opposing views regarding ‘Controversial’ subjects. If passed, it will have the greatest affect on Conservative and Christian Radio. Where everything is often deemed ‘Controversial’ to someone. Providing a pro-choice and pro-homosexual opinion would just turn these audiences off, if not outright offend them, since much of this audience holds deeply religious views. It will also adversely affect those who advertise on these stations, which in turn adversely affects these stations revenue.

I think Stewart Shepherd says it best in his video clip:

More of Stewart here:

http://www.citizenlink.org/videofeatures/A000008831.cfm

If only I could trust executing the Fairness Doctrine would be done in a Hannity & Colmes fashion I’d be more accepting. Since I realize this is the media we are talking about, I become more concerned.

Now here is my little optimist dropping by to say a little something:

“Hi guys, I’m Rob’s optimist ;-) Isn’t it a great day!?!? It sure is. There are two good things, potentially, that can come from the Fairness Doctrine that the liberal media may be missing. 1st, they too will be required to present a conservative view…yep. Oh Happy Day, and good luck to you CNN. Also, since Blogging is still unregulated, perhaps the conservative voice will go underground and we can begin talking sense to the masses as they likely will cancel their newspapers (wait, that already happened), turn off their TV’s (which is a great thing if you ask me), set all their radio stations to sports talk radio (since everything else will be too confusing), and subscribe to my blog! Yaaaaaayyyy!”

Thanks little optimist, you’re always so chipper!

“Thank you Rob, you’re always so darned handsome and well spoken!”

Well said….here, here.

What, no change?

2008-12-08T12:55:00.000-08:00

So first, euphoria, remember the “mortgage lady” Peggy Joseph?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P36x8rTb3jI

Then there were the excuses…people began saying “give him time” and “...most change will take longer than his 1st term”. Even Oprah rang in with her request for leniency. (I wish I could find a transcript)

Now, I see the left is actually worried that there is no ‘change’. Even upset about it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081208/pl_politico/16292

I stand by my earlier statements or as I like to call it "BO" (Before Obama) statements; you elect inexperience, you get inexperience. Or, if you order fish from a menu, you often get fish on your plate. Moral: Know what it is you are asking for.

I saw a bumper sticker the other day, it was very simple, but it really spoke to me. It read:

"Even I have more experience than Obama"

Forget the bumper sticker; I'd like the T-Shirt please. Size 2T, for my daughter.

More Polling...

2008-12-05T11:13:00.001-08:00

Remember the “How Obama Got elected” website I’ve referred to in the past? The site continues to provide updated information including a new ‘Wilson Research Poll’ which duplicated the ‘Zogby Poll’ questions. The results, relatively unchanged, and virtually identical. It’s amazing I love analytics so much since I truly disliked statistics in college.

Maybe it’s like vegetables, the popular opinion is they are yucky, but they are so good for you. And, when you actually research for yourself, not all of them are yucky. I’m assuming there is a “media bias” leading us all to hate vegetables too. Anyway, see results below.

See the video from John Zeigler’s appearance on ‘Hannity & Colmes’.

Wilson Research Poll

The 12 "Zogby Poll" questions were duplicated; one on the Keating scandal was added for extra balance. The results from Obama voters were virtually IDENTICAL in both polls.

Here are the highlights:

35 % of McCain voters got 10 or more of 13 questions correct.

18% of Obama voters got 10 or more of 13 questions correct.

McCain voters knew which party controls congress by a 63-27 margin.

Obama voters got the “congressional control” question wrong by 43-41.

Those that got "congressional control" correct voted 56-43 for McCain.

Those that got "congressional control" wrong voted 65-35 for Obama.

The poll also asked voters to name all the media sources from which they got information.

Those “exposed” to Fox News got "congressional control" correct 64-25 (+39)

Those “exposed” to CNN got “congressional control” correct 48-38 (+10)

Those “exposed” to Network news got “congressional control” correct 48-39 (+9)

Those “exposed” to print media got “congressional control” correct 52-37 (+15)

Those “exposed” to MSNBC got “congressional control” correct 55-35 (+20)

Those “exposed” to talk radio got “congressional control” correct 61-29 (+32)

Voters in the "South" had the best response rate on “congressional control” (+22)

Voters in the "Northeast" had the worst response rate on “congressional control” (+9)

Those “exposed” to Fox News voted 70-29 for McCain.

Those “exposed” to CNN voted 63-37 for Obama.

Those “exposed” to MSNBC voted 73-26 for Obama.

Those “exposed” to network newscasts voted 62-37 for Obama.

Those “exposed” to national newspapers voted 64-36 for Obama.

Those “exposed” to talk radio voted 61-38 for McCain.

Tolerance...it's ok.

2008-12-03T16:18:00.000-08:00

It seems that in the world today tolerance is ok, as long as you agree with me. Take the Prop 8 backlash for example. A portion of the homosexual agenda is to promote their message of tolerance, that is, until you disagree with them. Then they become intolerant. I don’t blame them entirely. It’s not like they are the only group who says one thing and then does another. However, It reminds me of a line in an Austin Powers Movie (I wish I could remember which, agreeing that they are all pretty much the same plot and content, only the villains change)…

” There are only two things I can't stand in this world. Those who are intolerant of other people's cultures... and the French.”

Here’s where I often get criticized for my personal beliefs. I have a family member, who is gay. I love that family member. I wish they weren’t gay, but I don’t love them any less. It’s because I have strong moral and Judeo-Christian values I can love them, but still disagree with their lifestyle. The family member I am referring to knows how I feel, and still loves and appreciates me. Our relationship as a family is fine, we don’t send white powdery substances to one another, and we don’t burn each others homes down, or protest each others places of employment. We just simply disagree. In fact, I’m sure a lot of families have disagreements, and learn to live with those disagreements.

This is what I call tolerance. I encourage you to try it.

We're in trouble...

2008-12-02T13:34:00.000-08:00

I was reading a report online about how Americans have lost our civic knowledge. Then I was directed to the video below.

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/ifmedia.aspx#flashcontent2

All I can do is shrug. I can no longer ask myself about “How Obama was elected?” It seems the average Joe (Six Pack), possibly even Joe the plumber himself, may not have enough information about “how stuff works” to even know why they are voting, let alone who they are voting for.

I’m appalled. Two quotes come to mind:

“Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it. — "George Santayana

“Mediocrity is forgiven more easily than talent. — “Emil Krotky

It is my opinion that Education, Morality, and Righteousness seem to have little value in these United States. To think I once called Canada, America Jr. We in the US are quickly becoming Canada Minor, or France-West, or Sweden’s Love Child. The irony is most American’s wouldn’t even get what I am saying, worse, I doubt whether more than 50% would be able to correctly identify Sweden on a Map. We are indeed in trouble…

Excited? Sort of…

2008-12-01T08:09:00.001-08:00

It’s all about the Broncos; here’s what one Yahoo columnist wrote: (Michael Silver’s Morning Rush, 12/1/2008)

“So you think you have the Broncos all figured out? Yeah, sure you do. Here’s what this playoff-bound team did in November: Lost at home to the Dolphins, pulled out a wild road victory at Cleveland, upset the Falcons in Atlanta, got blown out at home by the Raiders and, on Sunday, ended the Jets’ five-game winning streak at chilly, rainy Giants Stadium by a 34-17 score. Another stealth MVP candidate, Jay Cutler, had a monster game (27-of-43, 357 yards, two TDs, one interception) that set him apart from John Elway in one way: Elway, one of the greatest players in football history, absolutely hated throwing a wet ball. Conversely Cutler, coach Mike Shanahan told reporters, “embraced throwing in the rain. He likes it. There is nothing that seems to bother him. Some guys it bothers, others it doesn’t.” Like the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals, Denver, despite its inferior divisional competition and choppy campaign, has an offense explosive enough to make it a potentially dangerous playoff team.”

It’s amazing how up and down the Bronco’s season has been. It feels like the ’93 season where they had an explosive offense, but played to their competition. The takeaway differential was much more favorable in 1993 at +3 than this year’s lowly -12 (horrendous), plus Elway was sacked 39 times that year to Cutler’s mere 7 this year (amazing).

I suppose what I’m trying to illustrate is, save subtle balance issues, the teams are eerily similar. That said, the Broncos lost in the 1st round in 1993 and I very much see a similar outcome this year. Given all of the Bronco’s injuries, well you have to hope they can get healthy in time for the playoffs. If not, I predict a 9-7 record (just as in ’93) and a 1st round playoff loss.

Family, Food, and Football

2008-11-27T19:29:00.000-08:00

Today, there was so much to be thankful for. Great to see all of our family; we are so blessed. Food was amazing. My wife really outdid herself today. And to cap it all off, 3 football games.

It is snowing this evening, incredibly light and fluffy; A pure white blanket on my lawn. I’m surprised it started sticking so early, but It is wonderful, especially since we have no where to be but here, at home.

So until Monday, we’ll be enjoying our time-off together.

Thank you Lord, for everything.

www.jeremygrantcreative.com

2008-11-26T09:59:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all, just wanted to take a moment to promote my good friend Jeremy Grant. He is now doing freelance work. Check out his website for a look-see.

http://www.jeremygrantcreative.com/

Thanks!

2008-11-26T07:44:00.000-08:00

On the eve of Thanksgiving, I am just feeling rather grateful. We are having our family over tomorrow, including my Grandmother, Aunt, and Uncle from AZ. This should be a full house. I can’t be more thankful for the many ways my family has been blessed. Sure, some of us have health issues, financial issues, and many other issues. But we all get to spend another holiday, together, and be very thankful for that opportunity as they are limited.

So from me, to all of you who have touched my life; thank you. You are appreciated and I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving, too!

Oh, and another thing. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not exactly a Trekkie. That said, I have watched just about every episode of the original and the Next Generation as well as many, many episodes of Deep Space 9 and Voyager. I never could get into Enterprise (the latest run). I’m a fan, just not obsessed. I’ve never been to a convention, nor wore a costume representing a character. However, you can’t help but be a little excited about J.J. Abrams new Star Trek. The trailer looks great. See for yourself:

Change...oh yeah!

2008-11-25T09:17:00.000-08:00

Obama = Clinton’s 3rd term, it’s the change we got. Swallow it, as bitter as it tastes, as it is what you voted for (not I). Maybe now those who were so infatuated with this individual, who are likely the verge of denial right now(natural human reaction to change), will learn to become an informed voter. I was amazed when I watched the video at howobamagotelected.com.

http://www.howobamagotelected.com/

I seriously cannot wait for the documentary to come out. I doubt it will receive the hype Fahrenheit 9/11, or any other Bush Bash film did or even would today. However, I think it is important for the public to see how they were manipulated by the media. I had a conversation with a co-worker, months before the election, where we agreed this is sort of the ‘Media’s Last Stand’ to prove they still carry influence. Looking at the decline in newspaper readership, the myriad of online news sources and how they’ve grown over the years. I truly believe this was an almost coordinated effort to prove they still had the power of influence. Well, it worked, you win, we, as the American voting public….lose.

Image credits: Pat Oliphant, 11/24/2008
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/uclickcomics/20081124/cx_po_uc/po20081124

More ugh....

2008-11-24T12:47:00.000-08:00

So, my brother and I did attend the Broncos v. Raiders game at Mile High (Invesco) Stadium. I can’t offer many analytics; in fact, it was such an awful performance I have very little comment. I was witness to many missed offensive opportunities for the Broncos that included a couple of badly overthrown passes and at least 2 wide-open receivers. Turnovers, missed field goals, and a Raiders punt return for a touchdown sucked the life out of that stadium on Sunday.

Yet, we stayed (unlike the majority of the fans) until the final whistle blew. Afterwards we waited near the barricaded players exits for autographs. I scored a Jay cutler and Ebenezer Ekuban autograph. Brandon Marshall was also signing auto’s but only for the kids (admirable). I was impressed that Jay Cutler and Ebenezer stayed to sign every autograph in the chilly weather. I think this is an important way to say thank you to the fans. Especially after a loss.

The Broncos have lost 3 straight home games. This is not helping them with ticket sales. There were over 2,700 no-shows according to the announcer. The Miami game I attended had a similar number of no-shows. I’m sure the economy lends itself to the issue, but (Team owner’s listen up) if you continue to raise the ticket prices and put out a mediocre product, you will continue to see a decline in sporting venue attendance. I’ve never understood the logic in raising ticket prices annually. It’s like they push the consumers to the limit. How far can we go until we see a decline in attendance?….well, you have your answer. Other than the barrage of advertisements and TV time outs, I’d have to say that watching the game from home is surpassing the in-stadium experience. You get more viewing angles, and replays, than you might at the stadium. For my brother and I to attend the live performance, it cost $130 in tickets, $25 in souvenirs, and about $30 in concessions. That’s $185 in lost funds for a single game experience. Conversely, if we had stayed home to watch the game we would likely have spent next to nothing. Though I would have bought the $25 bronco foamhead eventually ;-)…

Broncos update…

2008-11-21T08:56:00.000-08:00

I am going to this weekend’s game, taking my brother again. I’m going to force him to listen to Dennis Prager (Radio Personality, Conservative, Judeo-Christian theologian….smart guy) on the drive to Denver ;-) I’m not trying to convert him or change his mind, I just have a CD where Prager talks about many of the humanist effects on culture and even to the non-religious it is fascinating.

Those that don’t know my brother is not exactly a follower of Christ. He still refers to the Bible as a B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth). Those that know me know I am never overt in my Christianity, just if asked, I will provide my best Christian Worldview answer.

Back to the Broncos: Raiders week, grrrrr. I am so anxious to get there. Anyone else attach their tickets to their fridge with magnets? Since I am in the fridge often, I see them often, and euphoric rushes begin to resonate throughout my body. I guess you would say I’m pretty hyped.

Brandon Marshall was suspended for their 1st meeting, and still the Broncos picked them apart. That was with Stokley, Jackson, and Royal. With the Rookie WR Eddie Royal schooling the 2-time pro-bowl CB DeAngelo Hall. The now Hall-less Raiders with have to account for Marshall. Likely drawing the cover of Nnamdi Asomugha , arguably the most feared CB in the NFL (Arguably as I still consider Champ Bailey the most feared CB in NFL history, let alone today). I don’t think the Raiders can risk pulling Safety Gibril Wilson to double cover Marshall with Royal on the other side.

Hopefully we’ll witness another dismantling of the Raiders by the Broncos. I’ll enjoy a nice icy beverage, and get an autograph after the game. (Yes, I still stand in line as if I were 12 yrs old and pester these poor professionals for their names). At the Miami game I got Daniel Graham to autograph my Broncos Memorabilia, and left it on the Broncos Bus on our way home. Sad, sad, sad…

That said, I do have plenty of NASCAR, MLB, and NFL autographs so I’m still a pretty lucky guy.

Unions are great!

2008-11-20T15:28:00.000-08:00

Ahh, the good old days of unsafe working conditions, unfair wages, and oppressive bosses. Wait? Is this the 19th century or the 21st? What is the purpose of OSHA? Aren’t there federal laws protecting the worker that limit the amount of hours as well? As for wages, well, I truly believe they are a supply and demand issue. You have a higher number of unemployed skilled workers, the pay corrects itself. I would say I believe in the market, and its fluidity when it comes to fair wages.

It’s my belief, and personal opinion, that the union is no longer necessary and in many cases detrimental to the success of our economy. They can be linked to why the auto industry is hurting so badly. Why the Airline industry is hurting. I even believe it can be linked to why education is not what it should be. Argue if you will, but this is my opinion.

I’d even challenge someone to point me to a union run industry that is thriving. I wish I had a more informative, inspirational post today, I do. I’m just not ‘feeling’ the union. A lot of this comes from the Auto Industry bailout that congress, wisely I might say, decided not to bail out. (so far anyway)

Corporate exec’s can’t ask for handouts when they are accepting $25 million /yr bonuses such as Ford Motor Co’s CEO did for 2007. You, as a CEO, should be embarrassed to accept a bonus, when you haven’t turned a profit in, how many quarters? This is not only Ford’s burden; GM’s CEO got $15 million last year.

BTW: Ford, Chrysler, GM, why aren’t Toyota and Honda asking for anything? Could it be that they manage their expenses better? Also, I just want to know, why are you building so many cars if they are not selling? Why are automobile prices still so high if no one is buying? I don’t like seeing good American workers lose their jobs, but I also have a terrible distaste for corporate waste.

'Triumph the Insult Comic dog' has it right; "yes, yes, the bailouts are great....for me to poop on!"

We are amazing...

2008-11-19T08:54:00.000-08:00

I was giving advice to a group of friends when I coined the below:

"It’s like learning to walk, if you haven’t learned how to fall down, you’ll never be able to stand without fear."

I wanted to share it, since it is so true. Observe a child, in all of their awkwardness they truly operate without fear.

Why is that? Well, simple of course. A child is truly born innocent, and fear has not yet been defined for them. Learning to walk is something I think we all take for granted. We struggled; none of us were born walking as seen in nature. The powerful horse, the enormous elephant, and the lanky giraffe, are all born able to walk. We, as humans, crawl before we walk. Yet, in trying, we fall, and fall, and fall. Determined, we pull ourselves up again and again. Then, one day, we just walk and never look back.

I am often amazed at how wonderful we really are. If someone honestly thinks we were actually made from ‘space junk’ and ‘evolved from single celled organisms’, you are only kidding yourself. If your ‘theory’ held water, then why are there 8 other empty planets, from that same space junk, orbiting our sun? Why has no meteorite ever contained any living organism. In the immortal words of the C&C Music Factory…”things that make you go hmmm”.

Or in the truly beautiful words of scripture;

Gen 1:27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Interesting to note, those familiar with scripture, that man and woman were created last of all creatures. This was in honor and favor; honor for that man was the advancement of less perfect creatures; and favor was to have man in a place that was designed for him.

I am so blessed to have returned home to live in Colorado. I can breathe in the fresh air as it was meant to be breathed (mostly free of man made pollution). I can look outside any window and view the most amazing of panoramas. At night, as the sun is tucking itself behind the mountains, the most wonderful skylines are created of blue, red, orange, and purple.

Space junk, get real Karl Sagan.

I want to be a loser...sort of...

2008-11-18T07:46:00.001-08:00

I remember watching a movie, where the main character, a pro-golfer, won a significant amount of money finishing in last place. I thought, well there it is. Play golf all day, and even if you come in last, you make a decent living. This got me to thinking; what other sports have significant payouts for coming in last?

NASCAR:

The last race held in Homestead, FL on Nov. 16th, 2008; paid $61,876 to the last place finisher, Kurt Busch, who, due to an accident, completed only 207 of 267 laps.

A far cry from the $256,735 the Kenny Wallace received for coming in last in the 2008 Daytona 500 completing only 141 of 200 laps. (1st place was over 1.5 Mil).

Vroom Vroom, how can I qualify my Maxima?

Boxing:

De la Hoya v. Mayweather. This was a split decision in which Mayweather was considered, ultimately the winner.

De la Hoya took home $25 million, with his Golden Boy Promotions set to receive half of the pay-per-view revenue from more than 1 million homes, while "Pretty Boy Floyd" Mayweather, amassed $10 million for the fight.

Punch me out anytime; just give me the check in advance. I’m insured.

I think I’ve made my point here. In some cases, it pays to be a loser.

Stimulus and the Recession...

2008-11-17T11:02:00.000-08:00

How did we get so lazy, me in particular? I have found it perfectly acceptable to pay someone $.99 to clean and iron my shirts. Avg 5 shirts a week; and I can feasibly budget $257.40 (not including tax, and the occasional pants at 1.99 ea.). My only justification is, I found the cheapest dry cleaner in town and I hate ironing.

Am I really that lazy? $257.40 x.075 (city taxes) = $275.70, just in shirts. Honestly, those shirts can adjoin to my existing laundry and I can, conceivably iron them during Sunday football.

So I’m hyper focused on one aspect of my yearly output. If I put the same energy into oil changes, car washes, eating out (wow, that’s probably bigger than I imagine) I’ll bet I can come up with $1k, maybe even more.

Conversely, these are uncertain economical times. If I, as an individual, cut my expenses, that would make little impact on the economy but a significant amount of saving for myself. However, if everyone were to think like this, and a significant amount of the community stopped going to the locally owned dry cleaner, or oil change shop, or car wash. You get the idea. By cutting back we are contributing to the decline. Layoffs and job losses are a direct result of decreased demand for services.

I wonder if anyone ever looked at how much ‘spend’ occurred from the latest stimulus package. With all of the retail chains closing, how much did it really help? How many people pocketed the cash and saved it for a ‘rainy day’? I’m willing to bet the majority of folks used it to pay of existing debt (meaning items purchased some time ago) and it had no affect on the current economy.

I’m not in favor of stimulus checks; I’m not in favor of government handouts of any kind. I don’t think I’m alone. I’ve worked for everything I have, and I am thankful, and donate to charity regularly. This is patriotic.

Now, I’m not saying we should all go dry clean our shirts to help the economy. But I believe we can all agree that a stimulus does nothing if it is not spent. Even then, it is only a temporary boost. Yet, it takes budget away from somewhere. The money does not come from thin air. Therefore, either a government programs get cut (not likely under this administration, in fact we were already told they would grow), or ultimately, our taxes will increase to compensate. (Very likely, though I don’t have all of the details, I thought the way the stimulus was funded was through our taxable income/refunds)

I have never met one person that considers paying taxes enjoyable nor ‘patriotic’. I’d even be willing to say the majority of the folks receiving and using the stimulus checks were paying very little into the tax pool from which they were funded.

What can I do to stimulate the economy? Drive my car, enjoy an overpriced hot beverage, and eat the occasional ’value meal’ from time to time. I can tell you now; I am certainly doing my part. Chick-Fil-A today ;-)

Sports...looking forward to the weekend

2008-11-14T08:45:00.000-08:00

Ok, back to the Broncos; Big weekend with Atlanta. Jason Elam (now with the Falcons) faces off against his former team (the Broncos). ‘The Tater’ (Tatum Bell) has returned (with his own luggage I assume). Coach Shannahan says Tatum is not quite in football shape yet (considering he was managing a T-Mobile in a mall the last 4 mos, I’d agree, who can resist a Cinn-a-bon when they are right there). That said, with the condition of the Broncos running back corps I think he’ll get a few carries. Let’s see if he can maintain his 4.9 yds /p carry average. It’s amazing to me that a man that was considered expendable in Detroit (0-7) is being hailed a savior to the Broncos running game.

My opinion, the Broncos ‘D’ will have trouble containing Michael Turner. Shannahan will over compensate with a safety in the box and Matt Ryan will have a huge day.

Brandon Marshall will likely pull double coverage from the Falcons 'D'. Look for Eddie Royal to have several intermediate opportunities. Also, with Tony Sheffler still ailing, we won’t see the deceptive 2 TE Set too often if at all. Likely a lot of 3 WR slot sets (Marshall, Royal, Stokely) with another big day for Jay Cutler. Due to the formation limitations, the run will be less easy to hide and the Falcons will be able to settle into a Situational D guided by down and distance rather than be off balance and reactive.

Can you tell I miss the 2-TE set? You can disguise running and pass plays much more effectively. Hurry back Tony Sheffler, then maybe we can win a play-off game. Since the AFC-Worst is exactly that, the Broncos should have no problem reaching the pre-season goal of making the play-offs. Odds are, Denver will face the #1 seed based on record. That will hurt.

Other sports related news, the rise of Jimmy Johnson in the NASCAR world is uncanny. The season finale to the 36 race NASCAR season wraps up in Homestead. FL. Johnson is about to accomplish what only one other driver in history has been able to achieve. A 3-peat for the Championship. Cale Yarborough, an amazing driver, is the only other person to win 3 Championships in a row. What makes it more monumental is the #48 team of Jimmy Johnson has endured 3 seasons of rule changes, car changes, and other challenges including crew chief suspensions an still is dominating. Only Carl Edwards (the back flip guy and driver of the #99) has a chance to play spoiler. Jimmy Johnson only needs to finish 36th or better to clinch. I can call it right here, Jimmy 3-peats. Congrats to the #48 team and Hendrick Motor Sports.

2012, short list.

2008-11-13T11:41:00.001-08:00

Here's the short list of potential 2012 front runners gathering steam on the web right now:

Mitt Romney
Sarah Palin
Mike Huckabee
Bobby Jindal
Mark Sanford
Tim Pawlenty
Michael Steele
Mike Pence
Sam Brownback
Start campaigning now, albeit 4 years early, we can really get a head of steam around one of these fine folks. Be outspoken on any Obama Admin misteps and we take momentum into 2012. In fact, if there is anyone in the Colorado are working on any of these campaigns, let me know what I can do to help.

Persecution? Really?...come on

2008-11-13T09:36:00.000-08:00

You know, my grandfather, and many from his generation would be visibly upset at the site of some protester burning an American flag. I never fully understood or grasped that type of emotional response. That is, until yesterday.

Those who really know me know that I am a very accommodating soul. I tend to lean towards doing the righteous thing rather than the right thing in order to create win-win situations, as long as it doesn’t violate my moral values or my religious freedoms upheld by the 1st Amendment. That said I am not one to infringe on anyone else’s either. I am all for the peoples right to form groups and assemble, whether it be for religious beliefs, social beliefs, or otherwise. Why if it weren’t for those rights we wouldn’t be free to blog as we do.

Let’s talk about the 1st amendment for a moment; for those unfamiliar (and I tremble at the thought that some of us might be) I have posted it below:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Please notice I did underline “peaceably”

Two links I want to share with you….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_ZvPR09N4Q

http://www.gazette.com/articles/student_43174___article.html/williams_spectrum.html

To bear witness to any form of Christian persecution is sickening to me and we (society) cannot, under any circumstance, accept it. Even to you agnostics, this type of persecution should be unacceptable. Here’s why; the very reason these homosexual groups are even permitted to assemble is under the very same ‘rights’ shared by the individuals who are expressing their own beliefs as well. Yet they are now persecuting those who hold beliefs that differ from their own. They have to realize the moment you try to limit one groups ability to express their beliefs you risk losing your own. The irony of it all.

Calling?

2008-11-12T11:01:00.000-08:00

We all grew up admiring heroes, thinking for a moment; what if I were ‘Superman’, or 'Batman', or even 'King Arthur'? As technology advanced, we were even able to put ourselves into the hero role, making heroic decisions. We are able to manipulate history and control vast armies in video and board games and being drawn into what it must look and feel like to be a hero through film and song. We can even create and completely control alternate online egos in virtual worlds. I think this may have put an unfair burden on our calling. What if your calling did not live up to your expectations? What if you suddenly realize you have no control over your role? I've heard this fro mpeople who are constantly searching for their calling. People may dismiss their calling because it does not live up to their expectation. How selfish can we be?

I firmly believe that we all must accept that we are small parts to a much larger machine. My daughter watches the Bee Movie, like most 2 year olds, she has to watch “bees” all of the time (With my son it was Shrek, not sure of the message we allowed there...hmmm). However, with the Bee movie, I’ve learned to like it as well; it has humor, and has a message. The message: that now matter how small of a role you have; if you do it really well, it is a really good thing. Like making honey for instance; how does a tiny insect that by all known laws of aviation should not even be able to fly, produce something as wonderful as honey while maintaining the ever delicate balance of nature through pollination. The movie goes on to say it takes a lot of bees doing a lot of small jobs.

I know that If you listen to God’s call and answer this calling, you will be fulfilled. There is nothing insignificant about that. It doesn’t affect your ‘identity’ if you follow your faith. You are no less a part of the master plan as anyone else. Os Guinness writes in “The Call” (Ch. 3, P. 25) “So when it comes to identity, modern people have things completely back to front: Professing to be unsure of God, they pretend to be sure of themselves. Followers of Christ put things the other way around: Unsure of ourselves, we are sure of God.”

Back to basics...

2008-11-11T10:30:00.001-08:00

Let me begin with this, I am a Republican...(now if you care to read more...by all means, do so)

I have wondered what could have been the tide turner in our most recent elections. I am settling on not taking a firm moral stand. The Republican Party, at one time, was known as socially conservative, morally sound, fiscally responsible, and focused on our nation’s security (from both domestic and foreign threats).

Hear me out: We can’t relate to those who are governed by their bellies. In the case of the most recent election, you have people feeling threatened economically, losing their homes, their jobs, their abundant lifestyle, which was all funded on credit. Credit is the promise to repay a debt; unfortunately, it was flawed because it was very loosely based on the ability (or lack there of) of a person to repay the debt. To repay a debt is the morally correct thing to do. However, if you are without morals, you have no foundation that binds you to your debt. You simply want to be relieved of it with as little impact on your belly as possible. What happened to staunchly supporting the idea of individuals being economically responsible for their own actions and decisions?

This, historically, is how kings are born. We are in crisis, pleading for a strong leader to rescue us, relieve us of our suffering (aka. Debts) and we will follow almost blindly as long as we remain comfortable. Gradually granting this new leader more power, as long as it is good for us, and poof: Instant king emerges. Democracy is lost.

Looking back at our forefathers, who initially wrote the declaration of independence as well as our constitution. They knew, at the very core, that man is not good by nature. The three branches of government, the check and balance system, was created for this very reason. To not allow one person, or party, to govern on a sole agenda.

It is my opinion, that due to the decline or moral values, that we, as a society, could not write a proper constitution today. It would contain far too many inclusions, and exceptions rather than governing rule of law.

Now, let’s start thinking about 2010 (at least 35 senate seats will be contested), and 2012 (presidential election) when we can finally earn back our place in government. I say earn, as I firmly believe we have lost the faith of our traditional voting base. I personally feel it is because we did not take a firm moral stand against our opponents. We failed to push the pro-life issue and we didn't force a dialogue on traditional marriage which failed to ignite our conservative base. We did not articulate our national security, McCain's strength, and we failed to argue fiscal responsibility and accountability when our banks were lending on greed rather than one's ability to repay a borrowed debt.

A former Director I reported to said it best “We need to get back to the basics; blocking and tackling” I’m sure he borrowed it from Lombardi or another famous football coach, but I remember it best from my boss. That, and the abundance of ice-cream he ate. Odd guy, but he was right about “getting back to basics…”

Be happy! Seriously....

2008-11-10T07:47:00.000-08:00

Interesting devotional this morning as well as reading in God’s Minute, Vol III (Auth. Schuller).

Let’s begin with the latter as most of us will be able to relate better to those words;

(Excerpt: God’s Minute, Vol. III by Schuller, ‘November 10’ ) “…Thank you God for making me as a creature to be decisive, and capable of making choices. You challenge me to make decisions even before I have all the answers. No wonder I get such energy and excitement from faith…”

Wow! Is that not the truth articulated in pages.

Now on to this morning’s devo. A co-worker held a special devotional this morning that spoke mostly of her visions and inspired thoughts over the last week’s historical election. She spoke of God’s will and the greatest gift is love; not truth, not faith, not hope, but love. It ended with a request to love, not fear, or be angry with our new administration. But to pray for them. I agree, completely. Palin said it best, when she concurred that the election was in God’s hands. Everything is, it is always God’s will. What I saw was millions of people inspired with hope for President-Elect Obama. I am hopeful that God will use this time to bring our nation together. We don’t always have to agree with our leader’s policies; but we cannot argue with God's. The beauty of God’s will is in the mystery. We can’t begin to understand it, and we should never fear or become frustrated because things didn’t go our way. I heard a Christian message over the weekend where the pastor said, “if God is in the passenger seat of your life, switch seats!”. Why can’t we just listen to reason ;-)

Get to work...

2008-11-07T14:35:00.000-08:00

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 [ESV]

Economic turmoil, massive layoffs, 14 year high in jobless claims as one new report is claiming. Even as I write this my employer is making plans to cut programs which in-turn affects employees. That said, since when did we have to fear for our future? Sure, there are those of us who are disappointed, hurt, frustrated, and to have these feelings is not wrong. However, don’t spend too much time in worry, hurt, anger, and disappointment, as they are negative, selfish emotions. You have so much to live for, so much to do…

Personally, I have left comfort and invested completely in faith more times than many of us can ever imagine. Most recently, I left a very lucrative “job” in Massachusetts to return home to Colorado on faith knowing that it would be better for my family. No comfort was waiting for me, other than my family and my faith. I truly had no income, no place to live, and no promising employment leads…only the trust and knowledge that my faith will present me with opportunity as it always has.

What did I do? I certainly didn’t spend my time sitting around the house, reading want ads, applying online to job openings until my eyes crossed in utter exhaustion. Well, maybe a little; but, more importantly I maintained my professional routine. I woke up and dressed as if I were heading out to work. I made my usual stop for coffee, and ordered my usual overpriced beverage. The only difference was, instead of going to work and planting myself into a cubicle; I visited prospective employers trying to present myself to as many people that were willing to listen to me. I expanded my network, and continued to keep my faith. The point is I didn’t quit living. I didn’t sit and wait for something to come to me…I went out there, made connections, and ultimately I was called to be where I am today. For however long it may be.

“Get to work”, as I recall, was the favorite saying of one of my 1st bosses. I echo it here, just because you may not have a “professional arena” to report to today does not mean you aren’t supposed to get to work on something.

BTW: The Panic-attack inspiring Broncos won! Though it was close, as usual, they pulled it off.

Broncos...ugh

2008-11-06T14:33:00.000-08:00

Let’s get one thing straight; Don't challenge my ‘fanhood’. My ‘fanhood’ has survived a cross country move to Patriot Country (3yrs in Boston, living in Foxboro…I’m sure you can imagine the pressure); 3 heart-wrenching superbowl losses (I wasn’t aware of the game much in ’78, when they lost to the Cowboys or I’d count the 4 franchise losses), several losing seasons and the ‘Elway-Effect’ (QB’s not able to live in Elway’s shadow since his retirement). Granted, in ’97, and ’98 I was able to witness the rare back-to-back accomplishment, but that can only carry a superficial fanhood so long before one might jump to another bandwagon. What I’m trying to say is, I’m a true fan, have been, am, and always will be. So what I offer is honest feedback regarding the team I love to root for. Here it goes…

Cutler: You’re arm may be stronger than Elway’s but you knowledge of the game can use some improvement. Stop, I beg of you; stop telegraphing your passes. I was there, in the South Stands, on Sunday vs. the Dolphins. I knew who you were throwing to from the second deck. There’s no question the DB’s did too. Turnovers…ugh.

Marshall: Come on, seriously, haven’t you garnered enough attention this year without provoking Joey Porter? You’re a machine, go produce yards and touchdowns and let your actions achieve the attention you more likely deserve.

Shanahan: Take control of the defense; if the schemes are too complex, simplify them. You’re an offensive genius, you know where the holes are. Analyze your own defense as if you were creating an opposing game-plan. Even I can manage a top-10 list of issues and implement a performance improvement plan to eliminate them.

OK, ok, on to the good news. Defense held the ‘Wildcat’ to negative yards, and overall held Miami’s rushing to under 75. That’s awesome! Your next opponent, Cleveland, is averaging 2.8yds per carry. D-up! Here’s a chance at what could very well become a trend in the right direction.