Security

What is the balance between being safe as a country & preserving our liberties?  How do we feel about an obviously guilty crook getting off so others can not be railroaded into jail?

Obama has appointed security people that are against many of the techniques that keep us safe for the past 7 years.  Will this lead to as much safety or less?

Most people will not even notice his appointments; is it only Grandparents, who have the time to notice, that care?

Obama appointed numerous good appointments for jobs like state, etc. but in my opinion has made a bad mistake in his CIA, Justice, & Security Advisors choices.  Many errors are self correcting but this error could bring about a huge cost, I hope I'm wrong & they will put country first over their political opinions ("Bush was always wrong" crowd).

Different subject: $1,000,000,000,000 is a lot of money!  This means that the national debt will increase by 10% a year!

security (n)  1 the security of the nation's citizens safety, freedom from danger, protection, invulnerability. antonym vulnerability, danger. 2 he could give her the security she needed peace of mind, feeling of safety, stability, certainty, happiness, confidence. antonym disquiet. 3 security at the court was tight safety measures, safeguards, surveillance, , protection

Great Thoughts

When I'm not near the computer, I have all these brilliant thoughts. Unfortunately when I'm here, the thoughts have left.

So what my ravings are is not the great thoughts that you (few though you are) deserve. The brilliance you are missing is world changing.

I was looking at my blog Adsense ads & there was one for governments grants, certainly seems to be in concert with my anti-tax / government rants!

sardonic (adj) his sardonic wit mocking, satirical, sarcastic, ironical, ironic; cynical, scornful, contemptuous, derisive, derisory, sneering, jeering; scathing, caustic, trenchant, cutting, sharp, acerbic

Tax Cuts

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." Ronald Reagan

If you make any money, the government shoves you in the creek once a year with it in your pockets, and all that don't get wet you can keep. ~Will Rogers

The taxpayer - that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination. ~Ronald Reagan

America is a land of taxation that was founded to avoid taxation. ~Laurence J. Peter

Obama is giving tax cuts to non-taxpaying people.  I find it interesting that these are called tax cuts.  It is welfare.

I am worried that our children & grandchildren & great-grandchildren, etc. are going to have to pay for our "tax cuts".  At what point do we let the economy tank for a while & let the free market system self correct?

ECONOMY (n) Purchasing the barrel of whiskey that you do not need for the price of the cow that you cannot afford

IL Politics

For those of you who are lucky enough to not live in IL, Gov. Blago (as he is affectionately known) has appointed R. Burris for the open "Obama" senate seat.  Burris is a afro-american who has basically done nothing to anger people, sort of an nondescript safe politician.  Sort of a brilliant move by Blago; no one could say that he bought the senate seat & as a minority should have been OK.

But the democrats in the US Senate will not seat him (as of today).  He was appointed by the reigning governor for an open seat & appears to me to be the legal senator (he is much too liberal for me, but probably less liberal the the Big O).

It amazes me the way democrats ignore the law (remember I come from a conservative viewpoint).  They are the party of if I say it it must be true if I say it enough.  They demonized G. Bush for the Iraq war even though they saw the same intelligence & agreed at the time;  they run Republicans out of office but allow $10,000 in the freezer Jeffries to remain in the house (actually he lost his seat this year to a R).

I guess we get the government we deserve!

SENATE, (n) A body of elderly gentlemen charged with high duties and misdemeanors (Devil's Dictionary)

Law of Unintended Consequences

There is a talk show host who often talks about the Law of Unintended Consequences.

A good example is the Ecological imperative that using less gas is good.  Oregon has proposed adding transponders to cars so that the cars which are hybrid (OR has the highest % of these in the US) can be taxed per mile when they fill up since they get more mpg.  Here a good thing buy less gas (less pollution less cash to overseas, etc.) has led to lower gas taxes so government "needs" more tax.

In other states, since gas use has decreased the price has decreased which leads to less tax revenue from sales tax or proportional gas tax.  So other states are looking at OR for inspiration!

Many states increased cigarette taxes to reduce the amount of smoking (let me state for the record I am against smoking!) so as people have stopped smoking, the tax revenue is going down.  Smoking brings in a lot of taxes (of course the "costs" of smoking in terms of health care, etc. are also high).

As people get healthier they live longer, so medicare costs increase, so taxes go up.

Makes you wonder, what can we do that won't increase taxes?

consequence (n) 1 a result or effect of an action or condition : many have been laid off from work as a consequence of the administration's policies. 2 [often with negative ] importance or relevance : the past is of no consequence | he didn't say anything of great consequence.
• dated social distinction : a woman of consequence

Average

My life is pretty good.  When people ask me how I'm doing I say, "Average."

This seems to really freak out some people; they expect the normal "Great", "Fine", or "Good."  There are numerous questions that are asked that people really don't want to think about the answer.

My life does not have a lot of very highs or lows; my average means that I am happy, healthy, & content.  It might be boring to others but in my life I have a lovely wife, good kids & grandkids; we have enough to live on & a house that is paid for.  As long as our taxes don't go out of sight, we will do fine!

av·er·age (n)  numerical result obtained by dividing the sum of two or more quantities by the number of quantities;  usual or normal kind, amount, quality, rate, etc. an intelligence above the average; a number or value of a set of values carefully defined to typify the set, as a median or mode

Grandkids

Four oldest Grandkids!

Youngest!

grand·child (n) : the child of one's son or daughter

0-16

Well they were able to do it! The Lions went Zero & Sixteen!

Before their record the following teams went 1-15 :
1) 1980 New Orleans Saints
2) 1989 Dallas Cowboys
3) 1990 New England Patriots
4) 1991 Indianapolis Colts
5) 1996 New York Jets
6) 2000 San Diego Chargers
7) 2001 Carolina Panther

The Lions actually played as well as they could with their talent. They were in numerous games; had a chance to beat Minnesota & lost on a questionable call 10-12 & pulled defeat out of the jaws of victory losing 23-27 to Chicago. Of course there were also lopsided games 7-34, 14-38, 10-47, & 7-42.

But for now they have a record that can not be beat only tied!

LOSS, n. Privation of that which we had, or had not. Thus, in the latter sense, it is said of a defeated candidate that he "lost his election"; and of that eminent man, the poet Gilder, that he has "lost his mind." It is in the former and more legitimate sense, that the word is used in the famous epitaph:

    Here Huntington's ashes long have lain
    Whose loss is our eternal gain,
    For while he exercised all his powers
    Whatever he gained, the loss was ours (Devil's Dictionary)

Have you noticed that...

Have you noticed that...

..if you order something online & want it immediately it takes its time, but if you order & then go away on a trip, it comes when you are away?

...if you visit someone in another state that you catch all the germs/diseases from the other state?

...that "cold" depends on where you are, in the winter in Florida 50 degrees F is cold but in the Midwest 32 is warm?

...that "cold" depends on age, a child is warm in tee shirt & shorts that requires coat, sweater, hat, gloves for an adult?

...that vegetables taste better as you age?

...that Church & God seem more important when you have kids?

notice (v) Inflected Form(s): no·ticed; no·tic·ing 1: to give notice of 2 a: to comment upon b: review 3 a: to treat with attention or civility b: to take notice of 4: to give a formal notice to

Visit the Kids

I have just come back from a visit with our adult kids and all 5 grandsons.  The grandkids range in age from 14 months to 8 years.

It was my best Christmas gift.  They tend to wear us out & I now realize that child rearing is best done in your 20's & 30's,  but their energy level is amazing.  The older 3 with the two dads went sledding & then still had the energy to run around my daughter's house all evening.

The younger ones were cute & huggable, all were fun to play with.

My kids are very good parents; it is good that they had my wife's example.  I think I worked too much when they were growing up (in the Navy for most of them); I'm afraid I missed an awful lot.

CHILDHOOD (n) The period of human life intermediate between the idiocy of infancy and the folly of youth -- two removes from the sin of manhood and three from the remorse of age (Devil's Dictionary)