Bob's Brainstorms

Owed

2012-01-28T07:09:00.003-05:00

Reading the Cleveland Plain Dealer yesterday there was an article about unemployment. The article was talking about weather it is time to cut back unemployment compensation from 99 weeks to 79 or even 59 weeks.

A former factory owner Ken Rapaport is quoted "I want to work, benefits should exceed 99 weeks.My personal belief is that our government owes us everything that is possible as long as we demonstrate that we are actively looking for work." Rapaport is 60 years old and feels that is adding to the difficulty of finding a job.

The part that interested me was the statement that the government owes us something. What does the government truly owe us. The government surely owes us safe and secure borders. We're also owed streets, roads, and bridges that are safe to travel on. Maybe the biggest thing we are owed is a government that applies laws and justice in an equitable manner.

Am I missing something maybe but one thing is for sure the government doesn't owe me a free ride.

TANSTAAFL

2012

2012-01-01T14:40:00.001-05:00

Put aside the past
Reconcile, renew,rejoice
Happy New Years day

Book review

2011-12-31T05:07:00.002-05:00

I just finished Sarah Palin's America by Heart. I found it to be much more informative than Going Rouge. Where her first book told us about her the second tells us what she believes. She talks about family, faith, and flag and how they intertwine to make America great.

In the past I have said Palin should not run for president because of her lack of electability. This book had me wishing she had given it a go.

Christmas eve

2011-12-24T05:58:00.001-05:00

Christmas eve is here
Our waiting time has passed
Celebrate His birth

Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T18:32:00.000-05:00

My blessings counted
Family, friends, and good health
Happy Thanksgiving

Something for nothing

2011-11-20T06:24:00.002-05:00

This past week the OWS in Cleveland moved some of their people out of downtown. They moved to the yard of a foreclosed house where the women was to be evicted. They got her another month living in a home that she isn't paying on any longer. There are sympathies to various degrees with OWS movement and the idea that the regs are skewed right now towards the investment bankers and Wall street. However the protesters always seem to come back to the idea of something for nothing, Forgive our student loans, living in housing we don't pay for, etc. Even the idea of taxing the rich more is just wanting someone else to pick-up the tab.

Joe Biden

2011-11-19T05:12:00.002-05:00

Joe Biden visited Cleveland this week. He was looking to capitalize on the voting down of SB5 a bill aimed at public employee unions. The bill would have given communities more leverage in dealing with the unions by only allowing collective bargaining over wages. Biden called this a victory not for unions but the middle class. My question is what about all the middle class people who aren't in the public unions. Did they win by getting to fund much more lucrative pensions and benefit packages that are not sustainable at the current tax levels.

Tea Party vs. OWS

2011-10-29T07:57:00.003-04:00

A recent pew poll showed 39% favorable reaction to OWS and a 32% favorable reaction to the Tea party. In addition the Tea party was veiwed negatively at a greater percentage 44% as opposed to 35% for the OWS protesters.

I wonder why people generally are viewing the OWS protesters more favorably even if only slightly. Could it be that at least right now the OWS group is suggesting little and mostly playing to a vague sense of inequality. Where as the Tea party is equally disappointed with the government but they have made real world demands for change. Where OWS points at the 1% and the need for shared sacrifice the Tea party and it's demands for spending cuts is the true advocate for shared sacrifice.

Shared sacrifice sounds good but nobody really wants to sacrifice.

Power

2011-10-09T06:27:00.003-04:00

My son runs a McDonalds and they are in the process, nearly complete of tearing down and rebuilding the restaurant. So when we were out yesterday we stopped by to check out the progress. Charlie was there so we got the in side the store preview tour. There have been many headaches but they are scheduled to reopen on Thursday only a month late. It sure doesn't look at this point like they will make it without very long days by construction and clean up crews.

So where am I going with all this? While walking around the store and hearing about all the little hang ups something he said really set me off. McDonalds has templates for interior and exterior design, you get a design catalog and pick features you like. Turns out the mayor in Middleburg Hts. decided that he should pick all the design elements for the outside of the building. I'm not just talking zoning requirements like distances to the street and adjoining properties. This mayor feels he should decide brick colors and styles,and detailing on the overhangs, and what style lights should run across the front of the property. Now this is a 2.5 million dollar project and if I was spending the money I would be royally pissed to have somebody come in and dictate in such a heavy handed way how to spend my money. The mayor's lighting demand alone is adding around 50 grand.

This is power at it's worst. I told my wife on the way home it makes me want to move to Middleburg hts. so I could run for mayor. People that are that heavy handed in wielding power need to be deposed.

Public sector unions

2011-10-01T07:24:00.004-04:00

Reading the paper this week I saw a picture in the business section accompanying a story on the Greek financial crisis. The picture showed a group of angry protester protesting austerity measures being taken to try to save the Greek's economy.

So what does the Greek situation have to do with public sector unions? They both seem to think money can be produced like magic from thin air. For years promises have been made to the Greeks and public sector unions that are impossible to keep.

It may be too late for the Greeks with the low birth rate that is common in Europe there is not enough people to come close to meeting the promises. You see these promises of early retirements and socialized medicine were fine with a rising tide of workers to pay for them but the tide quit rising.

There may still be time in the U.S. we are one of the few developed countries without a drastic fall off in births. This is why I saw similarities between the Greeks and the public sector unions they both seem to think that they are entitled to money that just isn't there.

The reality train has been rolling for the last few years let's hope we can make the right decisions to make the drastic and painful changes that are necessary for our country. I don't mean to pick solely on the unions but the government and it's workers the unions are collectively us the people of the U.S. and therefor the place to start cutting. We need to do this through across the board reduction in budgets, attrition, and revamping the budgets of our future expenses(government retirement packages).

The Big Lie

2011-09-25T06:20:00.002-04:00

With all this talk of class warfare I wonder about the logic of the people who advocate taxing the rich. In some ways I understand it economically things aren't going well right now and people don't know where to turn. So the simple solution is to find fault with the other, the evil rich for of course all rich people got that way trampling on the rights of the average guy. I won't pretend I can defend all rich people but percentage wise there probably aren't any more evil rich people than there evil middle class or poor people.

There other reasons for arguing against taxing the rich when the economy is struggling. The first has to do with incentives everything has an incentive we eat foods because of the way they taste, date a girl because she's pretty or smart, work hard to earn more pay. There are also disincentives don't touch the stove it's hot, how hard do you work after a pay cut. How hard is anyone going to work if the government is going to take a bigger share. The second argument against increasing taxes is selfish who do you think pays this tax on the rich. No I'm not rich but I'll be paying for any tax increase, much of any tax increase will be passed along through higher prices. Thirdly effectiveness of any tax increase is dubious most of the Bush tax cut's went to the poor and middle class raising taxes solely on the rich would have little impact on the deficit.Plus if G.E can pay n0 federal taxes now they could pay zero with an increase as well. We need only to close loopholes as a minimum but hopefully move away from an income tax all together.

Safety nets

2011-08-28T07:46:00.002-04:00

I was reading an article this morning talking about what positive effects the left has had on America. One of the said accomplishments was the social safety net Social Security, food stamps,Medicare/medicaid, and so on. It's hard to argue that safety nets are bad my question is are they safety nets or are they crutches.What I mean by this are we using these programs to prevent a fall or to hold people up all the time. I would contend that the way they are currently administrated they are an incentive to stay on these programs. We need to find a way to make personal responsibility the first choice and safety nets the emergency plan.

I grew my supper

2011-08-21T07:36:00.002-04:00

At least once a year I like to have dinner strictly composed of only things I have grown. Last night I had a salad comprised of chopped cucumbers and tomatoes with some chopped onion and fresh basil and rosemary. It was good but the rosemary was a little strong, outside of salt and pepper it all came from my backyard. It makes me feel self sufficient all though I would have trouble living off my land full time.

Absurdity

2011-08-14T08:31:00.002-04:00

Sitting reading the Sunday paper The business section has a piece on bank fees. This one caught my attention Ohio Savings Bank has instituted a .50 cent fee on deposits of rolled change over 10 rolls. That's 50cents per roll so if your depositing pennies you are giving them to the bank. Makes you wonder how they keep their customers.

It's complicated

2011-08-07T14:28:00.004-04:00

Everyone has been bemoaning the catastrophe that is the baby boomers retiring. How do we provide benefits for this huge group of people. Last week during the Tom Sullivan show on the radio I heard a different approach and fear. The caller made the point that the boomers are also the biggest consumer group. What's the problem with the boomers buying the most? I've found as I get older there is less and less stuff I need to buy. If I need something for a project odds are I have it in my garage and don't need to go spend money. Now this isn't just me , so we have this largest section of the population without the need to buy. In a consumer driven economy how do we lower unemployment while buying less.

It seems like a valid point but someone also has to fill all these jobs the boomers are vacating.

Book review

2011-07-24T07:36:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite places to go is Half Priced Books. Recently while browsing a rack of older paperbacks I came across a copy of The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson. It was a book I remember being assigned to read for CCD Catholic education for kids who go to public school. I picked it up and looked at it but put it back but couldn't leave it alone so I spent the buck and brought it home.

The Cross and the Switchblade is the story of one man who is drawn by God to work with troubled teens in N.Y. city. This man a country preacher (David Wilkerson) from Pennsylvania finds his way to N.Y.'s ghettos and with the help of the Holy Spirit learns how to reach out and help drug addicted, violent teens. His efforts help to establish an organization of caring people to work with the severely disadvantaged.

It's funny when it was assigned I never read more than a couple pages before I blew it off and stopped reading. As an adult I read it fairly quickly and really enjoyed it I guess you have to be ready to read a book.

Another odd note being intrigued by the Rev. Wilkerson I looked him up and he died just this past April.

Roofing

2011-07-22T13:30:00.003-04:00

The last seven days have been spent on my son's roof. A simple tear off and re-roof was complicated by 90-98 deg temps and the need to replace most of the wood. Some of the wood was outright rotted away and some was borderline but being 3/8 plywood on 24" centers necessitated the wood replacement.

There is something satisfying about looking at a completed project and saying I did that with my own hands. Although it is not the ideal way to spend a vacation.

As a recommendation I would recommend buying a framing hammer if your going to be doing any amount of heavy hammering. The air nailer was also a big help it was the first time I had used one.

Wedding day

2011-07-09T05:14:00.002-04:00

A little girl no more.
Down the aisle to empty nest.
Love nest of their own.

Independence day

2011-07-04T06:01:00.004-04:00

Celebrating the birth of our great nation, almost everyone does. The question is are we celebrating independence from England and it's king and the liberty that followed or just the annual deluge of firecrackers and bottle rockets.

In arguing the budgetary problems maybe people should remember this fight for liberty and independence. Because every dollar we take from people in taxes infringes on their liberty. This is not the only infringement that happens the other infringement is the stealing of independence when we don't let people do for themselves. This is probably more insidious in that it creeps up on you over time. A family takes government assistance thinking it will only be temporary and then finds they can't do without the assistance. Stolen independence isn't limited to our personal lives. A story last weak in the Cleveland Plain Dealer highlighted a company who was subsidized in making parts for wind turbines. They were complaining about increased competition and the danger it posed to their business. The next day an article said they had declared bankruptcy. You see they had become to dependant on the government subsidy and not self reliant enough to fight off competition.

So remember freedom, independence, and liberty are more than words to describe our country they are the path to successful living.

Quote

2011-06-25T04:15:00.001-04:00

H.L.Mencken said of the new deal, It's dividing the country into those who work for a living and those who vote for a living.

Child abuse

2011-06-11T07:15:00.002-04:00

Often in today's society it seems people are quick to claim child abuse. A slap on the rear or a harsh word can bring the threat of children's services being called.

Saturday's Cleveland Plain Dealer has a story from Lafayette township of true child abuse. Unlike some stories this story is ruling out charges being filed even before investigations are finished. The story tells of a young girl who lost her life not through an overt act but through a lack of proper supervision or perhaps overly permissive parents. The young girl died because she was allowed to ride a motorcycle before she was ready. This young girl was 4 years old and riding solo with training wheels when she crashed.

It's sad when we can't let children grow up at a normal pace, sometimes no has to be the answer.

Easter

2011-04-24T08:28:00.002-04:00

Forty days of Lent
Are climaxed here today
Our risen Lord lives

Motivation

2011-04-10T06:34:00.006-04:00

I've been awful busy lately or at least the days seem to have too few hours. Besides working 12 hour days and six days a week we got a new puppy after the disastrous Tillie affair. His name is Henry and he is a mini Dachshund. It's been a long time since we had a puppy and it's easy to forget how much more work puppies are compared to dogs. On top of the puppy the in-laws moved in a week ago for an indefinite stay. I'm glad we can help them out when they need a place to stay but it puts a strain on our privacy and routines.

So what does the above have to do with motivation. Well Henry and the in-laws were motivated by love but what of work. I like to think my motivation is solely dedication but I'm sure there is an element of wanting to acquire wealth. Now some might call this greed but I think greed is a desire to put accumulation of money ahead of all other concerns. Greed also has an element of envy and excessiveness involved.

So what has been driving advocates in Washington and states like Wisconsin and Ohio over the past couple of weeks. In Ohio and Wisconsin opponents of austerity measures have been calling out the Governors as being vengeful. They cite their rollbacks of public sector unions bargaining powers as payback for past political involvement. In Washington we hear much the same as Democrats decry attempts to cut certain funding as political payback. I won't deny that payback may have some roll but I think priorities are an equal partner in the cut backs. Many of the programs targeted have never been a priority for the Republicans but could be overlooked when the economy was humming along.

Godzilla

2011-03-19T04:33:00.003-04:00

Life doesn't always imitate art. In the old 50s-60s Japanese Godzilla movies the creature comes up out of the sea to reek terror on the people of Japan. In the movies the people run screaming and shouting, pushing each other what ever it took to reach safety.

Compare this with their reaction to to the earthquake and tsunami. While there was fear the people tended to act in an orderly manner. No stories of people looting or committing acts of violence on each other.

Maybe this is what made the Godzilla movies that we laughed at scary to the Japanese, the loss of control of emotions and decorum. The Japanese have had their Godzilla experience and reacted admirably.

Sorrow

2011-03-07T05:01:00.002-05:00

Well that didn't last long. The person we got Tillie from didn't have permission to give the dogs away an called yesterday demanding the dog be given back. We wrestled with this through the afternoon and concluded that the right thing to do was to relinquish Tillie to her first owner. Who would have thought that after a week it could hurt so much.

Poetry

2011-03-01T19:02:00.002-05:00

A new addition to our house
Not a baby or a mouse
It may sound silly
It's a dog named Tillie

Career builder

2011-02-27T07:20:00.002-05:00

Career builder did a survey of how often people are late to work. They found over the last couple of years tardiness has dropped to 15% from 20% in 2008.

So what does this tell us it could be 2 things as I see it the article implied that people are wising up because of the recession. My thinking is that the perpetually late got laid off in far higher numbers and are not back in the work force yet.

One of the keys to keeping the boss happy is dependability. Most employers may act as though they care about their employees personally but for the most part what they care about is profitability.

This to me is the reason that employers whether public or private are at odds with unions.Unions don't tend to be about promoting the business they are about the workers and what they want.

It doesn't mean that employers and employees can't coexist it means that as an employee your worth to the company is based on how you can make it more profitable. An employee that can help the company run efficiently will generally be rewarded or the company will fail for lack of competent workers.

Tough questions

2011-02-12T08:12:00.002-05:00

I wonder do we really know what it is that we want in life. After the economy collapsed in 2008 I had my hours cut at work and money was tight. I hoped for a new and vigorous economy and a renewal of overtime. While times were slow working sometimes 4 days a week and only 8 hours a day something I had never done before at least not for more than a week at a time I found new interests. Maybe new interests isn't quite right what I really found was the time to do the things I wanted. I exercised more, read more, found time to go hiking with my wife, found more time for family it was good. Now we are back to normal at work six days a week 10-12 hours a day. I got what wished for but I don't think I really knew what I wanted.

Estate taxes

2011-01-23T07:45:00.002-05:00

There has been a lot of talk lately on the federal level and here in Ohio about estate taxes. Those on the right propose eliminating or drastically reducing them, those on the left prefer the status quo.Two arguments arguing against the elimination got me thinking,one called it the fairest tax and the other worried about governmental budgets. Supposedly it is the fairest tax because it only affects the richest among us.

Fair is an interesting concept is it fair if the reward for hard work is getting to pay for everything while the person who didn't achieve pays nothing. Some will say that the inheritor didn't work for this money therefore this money is fair game. This doesn't really address the motivation of the estate builder who is working to take care of his or her family. Many times the wealth of a person is not held in liquid assets but in the buildings and tools of wealth building. When a person inherits a large family farm or business it often entails selling the business or taking on debt to pay the tax man.

Governmental budgets that can't be met are another issue all together. Budgets grow during good times and then we hear during the hard times how we can't do with out this program or entitlement. In the real world we don't just get to say I need a raise I've got to many bills.

When people start to tell you something is fair ask your self is it truly fair to everyone or just the person saying it's fair.

Christmas morn

2010-12-25T06:06:00.002-05:00

Predawn quietude
Glow of lights and winter snow
Calm serenity

Merry Christmas

Christmas eve

2010-12-24T05:03:00.002-05:00

Christmas eve is here
The waiting is almost done
So joy to the world

Lunch

2010-12-18T07:30:00.003-05:00

President Obama signed the hunger free child act this week setting standards for food quality and allocating money to increase the number of children getting free or reduced cost lunches. One would think there could be no disputing the benefits of such a bill. My question is how much government intervention do we need. When did it become such a burden to feed our own children?The school lunch programs aren't aimed solely at the poorest of the poor in 2009 31.3 million children received free or reduced cost lunches. This is a totally absured waste of tax payers money. When did it become my responsibility to feed someone else child and the governments job to decide what they eat. When I was a child I'm sure my family probably could have applied for the school lunch program and received it because there were so many of us nine all total. We didn't need it though prioritizing and economizing allowed my parents to feed their own children. Sure we ate a lot of peanut butter and jelly and baloney but we did O.K. I'm not for starving children but isn't there a better way than having Washington poke their noses into family finances and dynamics. Wouldn't a little observation and intervention on the local level be a better recourse.

Fundamental misunderstanding

2010-12-12T05:22:00.002-05:00

This week everyone is weighing in on the compromise between President Obama and the Republicans. Sherrod Brown senator from Ohio was disappointed with the compromise feeling it gives to much to the rich. He said it was pretty bad when republicans had to be given tax cuts for the rich so that we could give unemployment to the middle class.

Fundamentally Dems and Reps look at government differently thats why this debate keeps coming up. Dems believe the government has money to give and Reps believe the government has to take money to have money. You see the tax cuts are not really cuts they are a vote against a massive tax increase. Unemployment compensation can not be given by the government it is money that must be taken from someone else and given to the unemployed.

The true nature of money is obscured by the notion that it comes from the government. I know the gold standard is no longer doable but people had a better understanding of what money is and where it comes from under that system.

Bad news

2010-12-04T06:14:00.002-05:00

During October unemployment fell slightly to about 9.6% this was mostly due to retailers ramping up for Christmas. Novembers unemployment numbers are out and it rose to 9.8%. An article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer pointed out a major reason to be concerned long term. According to Alan Parkhill of Banner American products productivity is up and it's making companies realize that the integral employee that was laid off during the recession was dead weight all along. If this is true and even half of the people that were laid off were truly dead weight then the prospect of years of high unemployment are the new reality. Bad news indeed.

Thanksgiving day

2010-11-25T08:08:00.001-05:00

It's Thanksgiving day
So grateful am I today
Let me not forget

Achievement

2010-11-14T07:23:00.002-05:00

Yesterday my wife and I went to my daughters pinning ceremony this signifies her completion of the nursing program at college. Seventy or so people were pinned while proud friends and family watched. This group of successful students represent about 33% percent of the class that started out. Hard work and dedication pay off and were proud of our little girl.

Earmarks

2010-11-13T06:14:00.003-05:00

No I'm not going to write about the Tyson Holyfield fight. A lot is being made about the Republicans now that their in charge wanting to go back on the idea of eliminating earmarks. Many Republicans are citing the constitutionality of earmarks and the need for them in the appropriation process. While the press tends to paint Republicans as bit hypocritical for this change of position.

The problem isn't earmarks the problem is how they are used. Many times earmarks are put into bills that have nothing to do with spending or with totally unrelated spending. Go ahead and use earmarks but do it above board don't stick education spending in a defense bills solely because it couldn't pass on it's own. Accountability first if you aren't proud enough of what you are proposing to let the voters back home know about it don't propose it.

Halloween

2010-10-31T07:17:00.004-04:00

For some unknown reason our community decided to have Trick or Treat on the 30th. So last night some friends of ours joined us in the front yard,we had a bonfire and passed out candy. A couple of things struck me as we sat by our fire. First off the number of kids was incredible we had more than 250 kids stop by the house. Secondly the predictions of many Avatar or political costumes was completely wrong in fact most reminded me my youth and the homemade get ups we wore. Thirdly the distances the kids came from was amazing we had kids from Brecksville to Avon Lake show up here in Columbia which is central to them each being 25-30 miles away. mostly though it was just good fun with friends and neighbors.

Somthing to think about

2010-10-17T07:25:00.003-04:00

The other day on the news I saw Dennis Kucinich speaking on government and why he should be re-elected. Much of it was the usual political clap trap not really saying anything. There was one statement that got me thinking, He said the purpose of government is to do for people what they can't do for themselves. This immediately makes me think of roads or defense but it has come to mean much more than that in fact Kucinich's list included housing, health care, and food.

Now one of the beauties of our nation are found in the words of our founding fathers all men are created equal endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I think I can state that most people will agree whole heartedly with the above sentiment. Why then do people insist that things like Housing and food or even health care are the states responsibility. Being that all men are created equal and also agreeing that the state should take care of the things that people can't do on their own. Means that in the vast majority of cases people shouldn't be provided by the state with any of these things because we have example all across the nation of people providing for their selves in these areas. We are created equal and our opportunities should be equal this is the states responsibility. When the state decides to provide basics to people not only do they distort the budget they steal opportunities from people. People lose the opportunity to do for them selves stealing their chance to feel the satisfaction of achievement that is available to everyone who puts their mind to it.

Disparity

2010-10-03T06:00:00.001-04:00

Much has been being made of the wealth disparity in America. There are 14 percent of the population living in poverty and 38 percent of the wealth is controlled by 1 percent of the population. While the poverty numbers are a bit disturbing I believe the wealth numbers are thrown out to drive a wedge between people especially rich and poor.

There is nothing nefarious about the increase in the concentration of wealth. in fact I would say that this is entirely natural and should have been expected. I say this because we are entering in to the time that we have been hearing for years would wreak havoc with social security. Yes the dreaded coming retirement of the Baby Boomers. Something we've all been overlooking is the natural progression that happens with time. In our twenties we all are poor just starting out we have many expenditures because we basically have nothing and need many basic necessities. It's also a time when student loans and new families bog down are budgets. However as time goes on into are thirties and forties we start to pay off loans and accumulate possessions. By the time we're in our fifties we don't have mass quantities of things to buy and money starts to be less of a worry. This massive section of the population the Baby Boomers is now exiting the work force after many years of prime earning of course this huge section of the population has pushed the ranks of the wealthy to new heights.

Instead of being distraught over this concentration of wealth we should be glad for those who have achieved the American dream of success. Seeing this as a sign that people still can reach these heights through hard work and perseverance.

Pending legislation

2010-10-02T07:28:00.003-04:00

I was sent an email today by my brother telling me to watch out for HR4646. HR4646 is a resolution implementing a 1% transaction fee when ever money changes hands. In effect it amounts to 1% percent minimum, direct deposit 1 percent, ATM 1 percent, buy something 1 percent. Of course the resolution does promise to end the income tax in 2017, of course I wouldn't put a whole lot of faith in a politicians promises. This is known as the debt free America act, I know it sounds kind of benign but beware.

The real way to be debt free is to stop spending money.

Housing

2010-09-28T19:41:00.002-04:00

Congress in an effort to get the housing market moving has convened a panel to study the issue. One of the proposals that was made is to make first time home buyers buy a mandatory insurance. Not regular homeowners insurance but insurance against damage and repairs that might be considered maintenance.The idea being that an unexpected repair could put undue strain on their budgets. So at a time when homes are extremely hard to sell and new construction is almost at a standstill they want to put another impediment in the path of first time buyers. Most people who have bought a house remember how tight money was coming up with down payments and closing costs. The added expense of an insurance that is bound to be expensive or useless is libel to be the tipping point that keeps people from buying.

Differences

2010-09-28T04:51:00.003-04:00

For the past two years we've heard how mean spirited Republicans are being towards Pres. Obama. This mean spirited behaviour is generally aimed at policies that Rep. find disagreeable. I submit that there is a time and a place for spirited disagreement and political functions are fair game. Contrast this to last nights episode of Dancing with the Stars. Sarah Palin was in the audience to watch her daughter compete. Between dances ABC decided to interview Sarah about what she thought of the competition so far. She was booed loud enough so that it could be heard back stage.

A time and a place for everything, so I ask you who is really mean spirited.

Update: What appeared to be the audience booing Sarah Palin is being denied by ABC and new video evidence seems to confirm this.

Bloated Government

2010-09-19T06:53:00.002-04:00

For years our government has been taking in a bigger percentage of the population. Both parties say the government is too big and we keep hoping one party or the other will act to reduce the the size of our government. Obviously the Obama-Pelosi-Reid administration is working in the other direction growing our government through new health care and environmental panels and commissions. I won't argue the merits of either set of programs here.

Talking with the boss the other day he advocated just loping out 50% of the government employees. Great this will reduce the government in one fell swoop the only problem is what do we do with millions of more people that would be unemployed. I prefer a more judicious approach and I believe the baby boom generation can hand us this reduction. We all dread the burden the mass retirement of the baby boomers and what this means to social security and our economy. Why not look at this as an opportunity mandating no new hires letting the retirement of baby boomers reduce the government in a slow methodical way. Combine this with a review of existing programs eliminating antiquated and ineffective programs. This stream lining may even allow us to reallocate funds to cover our s.s. obligations without crippling new taxes.

Green Jobs

2010-09-12T05:22:00.002-04:00

As Obama Runs around the country pushing his economic plans to help the economy and put people back to work he often cites Green technology. Yep windmills and electric cars the government wants them and this new technology will add jobs. Even the lowly incandescent bulb has fallen to the greener cfl compact fluorescent so that we can save electricity and add jobs. Of course there is a price these bulbs are much more expensive and produce an inferior light. It turns out though that were really lightening our wallets and ruining our eyes only to actually lose jobs. You see as they quit making the old bulbs they close the plants putting more people out of work and import the new bulbs from China.

Good thing the government is pushing this green technology, that will put us back to work Not.

Green Government

2010-08-22T06:31:00.002-04:00

A while back I wrote about installing a rain barrel. The greenness of the rain barrels can be debated but mine work because they were cheep enough to make me try them.
Another example of green living is recycling. A year ago the company we contract with to pick-up our trash changed the way they function. They issued us two garbage cans that can be automatically grabbed by the truck and dumped. While I didn't like it at the time it forced me to recycle. You see they only gave me 2 cans and one was for recycling. Sometimes one can isn't enough so I began recycling or at least expanded. You see I always sorted out aluminum and cashed it in myself. The trash company also offered a rewards program for those who chose to recycle, after a year the points add up to almost a ten dollar gift card.

Now when the government goes green things work differently 1st there was the cfl mistake. This was the plan to give away the inferior bulbs and raise every ones electric bill to pay for the free bulbs and to compensate the electric company for the reduced electrical work. This was not entirely the electric companies plan they must work with a utility commission to set rates.

The latest from Cleveland is that they want to put electronic chips in the garbage cans to monitor garbage and the amount of recycling. They have already run a pilot program on 15,000 residence, Wednesday they voted to issue 25,000 new cans a year at a cost of 2.5 million dollars each year. They plan to monitor who is using their recycle can and who isn't, anyone who doesn't will get a call from the garbage police. Garbage police is my term actually the service department will come and go through the non recyclers garbage and if more than 10% is recyclable they will receive a $100 dollar fine.

Is it just me or does so much of the governments greenness seem an awful lot like big brother is watching.

Who should decide

2010-08-15T07:24:00.002-04:00

With the recent appointment of Kagin to the Supreme Court the abortion debate has been raised again. Reading the paper this morning one of the letters to the editor abdicates any right to comment on abortion and claims I should too. His reasoning is that being male eliminates you from having a say on the legality and morality of abortion. Well I refuse to give up my voice on any issue.

Many people voice the idea that being able to get pregnant is the sole criteria for having a say on abortion because it can only effect a woman who has gotten pregnant. However people seem to forget that the woman isn't the only one effected by the abortion. Not only is a man necessary for her to get pregnant there is also the life that is snuffed out.

We all have the right to speak up for those who can't defend themselves. No I'm wrong we have the responsibility to speak up not only for the defenseless but against all injustices.

Craziness

2010-08-07T06:08:00.002-04:00

A few random thoughts occurred to me yesterday.
Everybody talks about these great government jobs in Cuyahoga county we found out exactly how great. Recently the county board of property tax revisions joined the rest of the county government in being investigated. One piece of information we learned is the salary for the three appointed administrators is 64,000 a year. A good wage but not great but wait there's more they also work less than 30 hours a week and sometimes hold second jobs. Sixty four thousand a year guaranteed extra income pretty good.

A second thought came to me when I read our fearless leader Pres. Obama"s remarks to UAW members in Chicago. Obama was stressing how his bailouts to G.M. and Chrysler saved the U.S. auto industry. I don't agree but I can see how he might make that point. The oddity comes in when you realise he was speaking to Ford workers, Ford being the company that was run intelligently enough to not need government financing to stay above water. Obama can spin these bailouts any way he likes but to say giving money to someones competitors is good for them is ludicrous.

Last but not least I think we are finally moving away from recession a little based on two signs. One at work I'm starting the second month of 12 hour days, and this month it may even be hard to make deliveries with just expanded hours. Hiring can't be too far behind if extra hours isn't cutting it. Secondly the money supply is starting to flow again. This is based on a pocket change analysis I'm finally seeing some change dated 2009 this is extremely odd in that the norm would have been to see change dated 2009 in Feb-March 2009. If people aren't spending then there is no need for change and the banks don't need to order more coins from the Fed.

Okay I'll admit it my economic analysis is mostly wishful thinking but the experts aren't much better.

November

2010-07-24T07:04:00.002-04:00

People have been talking about the November elections and who should be worried. a recent U.S. chamber of commerce poll sheds some light on the direction people will turn. The poll asked what the greatest obstacle to job creation is over the next 2 years. The results were 24% high budget deficits, 24% expansion of government's role in the economy, 22% higher taxes, 13% trade barriers or tariffs,17% other.

Now if I was a Republican I might worry about those 17% other respondents, but a Democrat has to worry about the other 83% of the voters. Seriously don't the first 4 categories look like the Democratic platform

What is old

2010-07-17T06:31:00.002-04:00

With the passing Sen. Robert Byrd much has been made of his longevity in office. In fact it raises a debate among some as to how old is too old to do a competent job in congress. There are more than ten 80 plus years old members of congress or the senate. These older legislatures agree on at least one thing they are doing the best work of their careers now. The seniority that comes with age gives them an advantage when it comes to committee chairs and the allocation of funds.

So is it any wonder that they want to raise the age for full S.S. benefits to 70 or maybe older. Some of the reasoning for raising the retirement age makes sense. When S.S. was started the average person didn't spend 30 years in retirement more like 5-10 years. This disparity is one of the elements dragging the fund to bankruptcy.

So maybe it is time to raise the age of retirement. The right age is the question some jobs football player mid 30's is the right age, where for a librarian maybe 75-80 is the right age. Maybe what we need is a floating scale where 65 remains the retirement age for some jobs and for other jobs it rises. Some jobs it just doesn't make sense to raise the age of retirement, after all do you want an 70 year old fireman trying to rescue you from a fire. Some jobs physically prevent a worker from doing a good or safe job after a certain age.

If we are going to adjust retirement ages or benefits let's do it wisely

What's important

2010-07-10T05:35:00.002-04:00

For weeks we've been inundated here in Cleveland with the saga of Lebron James. Well it's over and he's gone and I don't really care.

During all the hoopla about 2 weeks ago we picked our first cucumber. This week we've been overwhelmed picking everyday sometimes as many as ten cucumbers plus the beans have started coming in.

You see it isn't what we watch that matters it's what we do that counts.

The Road

2010-07-03T14:00:00.002-04:00

I read the Road about 6 months ago and was moved by the story. When looking for a video to watch last night I picked up the movie version. The movie was ok but lost some of the desolation and hopelessness of the book. The casting however was masterful Viggo Mortenson as the father was perfect. The rest of the players worked around his central figure very well making the story come to life.

Did I hear that

2010-06-30T19:48:00.002-04:00

Driving home from work this evening a news item came on the radio that made me say What. The Cuyahoga County Health and Human services department has been under fire for not being careful enough when returning children to homes they have been removed from. In response to this they decided to do background checks on every person living in a home where children are to be returned. This is a policy that won't exclude blood relatives or parents. This common sense policy is coming under fire from family activists who state that this is an uncalled for invasion of privacy. Now this isn't the statement that caught my attention they also stated that criminal history has no bearing on how good a parent someone will be.

Sometimes I have to wonder if people think at all before they speak.

The Golden Rule

2010-06-26T19:17:00.003-04:00

The Rabbi Richard A. Block had an article in Saturday's paper extolling the virtues of the Golden Rule. The golden rule says to love your neighbor as yourself or do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In his article he went on to stress that politicians especially when they are campaigning should follow this rule. No doubt he like many of us is dreading the upcoming election season.

His article was all well and good until he started with examples of the failures of the last election season. His examples included the idea that the right is particularly adept at slamming their opponents through grotesque character assassinations. He also pointed to some of the accusations thrown at Barack Obama in 08, being a Muslim, and not being an American. No where does he use an example of the Left's misdeeds. His one sided treatment of the issue made me think his Golden Rule was do unto others before they do unto you.

If your going to call for more civil discourse you better be ready to talk the talk.

Lillian Greene

2010-06-24T04:40:00.002-04:00

Who is Lillian Greene, she is the Cuyahoga County Recorder and she's what's wrong with today's politicians. I wrote about Miss Greene in the past when The Plain Dealer published an article on double dipping. Not in the chip dip but at the public trough. She got elected to a county job the paid less than her previous government job 74,000. So she retired so that she could collect pension as well as salary. Miss Greene said this isn't double dipping because I need the money to live the life I've become accustom to.

Well Lillian Greene just keeps on giving yesterday's paper brings word the Miss Greene has filed suit to keep her job. You see the voters in Cuyahoga county voted to change their charter to change the way the county government is administrated and staffed. Part of this change eliminates her job and like most politicians she feels she's entitled to lifetime employment.

Maybe she needs to hear it from Donald Trump, Your Fired

Going green

2010-06-20T06:48:00.002-04:00

During the spring the Lorain county metro parks runs a hiking stick program. The parks have a list of events, you participate in 6 hikes at 4 different parks county wide and receive a hiking stick. Lynne and I decided to ask some friends of ours if they would like to do this together

We completed the mission but in doing so we came across a program that looked interesting. This was a program on how to make your own rain barrel. So we now know how to make a rain barrel in fact I've made 2 barrels already.

One of the local service departments (Avon Lake) Has 55 gallon drums made of plastic that they get from food service usage, they give them away. You cut a hole in the top to hold a strainer to keep debris out of your water, we used a square basket with some screening. Secondly you cut hole for over flow to be diverted back to the storm sewer. thirdly you drill a 1inch hole for the faucet You screw in a 3/4 inch faucet.Next you disconnect your down spout and place the barrel so that you can run the down spout into the strainer and the over flow into the storm sewer. There are flexible down spouts to make this easier. I placed my barrels on 4 cinder blocks stacked 2 high in 2 piles. Total cost was about 16. dollars according to the program 4times using the rain from the barrels defrays the cost.

After installing the barrels I was curious how long it would take to fill them, one rainy morning filled them to the top.

Green is good when it is cost effective this seemed like a good way to save money and keep from overburdening the storm sewers. This may not be for everyone but we have a large garden and watering can be expensive. Not to mention the fact that our sewer bill is based on water used so we pay a sewer charge for watering the garden even though that water doesn't go through the sewers.

Renovation

2010-06-12T06:26:00.002-04:00

I've posted recently about gutting my kitchen, Walls and ceiling down to the studs. I'm glad to say we are done it took total about 6 weeks. I do all the work myself or with the help of my wife or children. Sometimes there are inconveniences that go along with the work, dust and dirt, tools all over the place, Heck we had our refrigerator in the dining room for the whole project. So far I've done similar projects in 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, living room, dining room,laundry room,and family room, so I know the level of disruption that can ensue during a project.

Yesterday I read an article about a local women's homeless shelter. I was irritated when reading the article by the comments of a homeless advocate. You see while they are renovating the normal shelter they have temporary accommodations that include only one shower. This advocate said this was unacceptable and demanded more showers be installed immediately or to move the residents to a place with more showers.

While I don't favor willfully mistreating anyone this is ridiculous. After all they are staying for free they should be grateful for the efforts of the shelter providers. Cutting expenses sometimes most overrule hardships especially when there is an end in sight, the new accommodations are to be re-opened in the fall.

In fairness the article did say some of the residents weren't happy but realized they just had to tough it out. We would all be better off if we lived this way realizing everything doesn't have to be perfect right now. That we can grow and improve and work towards our goals and ambitions and some times even our needs.

Nationalization

2010-06-03T19:02:00.002-04:00

The Obama administration has flirted with nationalizing several industries. With the bailout and majority interest in G.M. and dictating who can be ceo the auto industry has moved towards nationalization. With the giant health care reform bill they have hit two birds with one stone. Coming close to nationalizing both the health care industry and the insurance industry.

Now Rosie O'Donnell is calling for the nationalization of the oil industry. My first thought when hearing this was if you're going to call for an industry to be nationalized you ought to be willing to have the industry your involved with nationalized as well. in Rosie's case that would mean nationalizing the entertainment industry.

But then I realized it's hard enough as it is to get good entertainment without letting Washington foul it up.

Unions

2010-06-02T19:50:00.002-04:00

Now here's a union to support. In China the Honda workers are on strike. They are asking for a raise. You might say that's crazy the economy sucks right now they aught to be happy just to have a job.

The Chinese workers want to make 280 dollars a month, the greedy buggers. This is why the global economy is so hard to deal with. It's also why China's economy continues to grow at a pace that out strips the rest of the world. When your starting so low there is only one direction to go.

Arizona

2010-05-29T06:09:00.002-04:00

As the whole immigration flap has unfolded one thing has truly puzzled me, California's politicians repeated disdain for the Az. bill. One would expect opposition to a bill from some quarters it's almost obligatory. California struck me because they should understand Arizona's plight. California probably has an even bigger illegal immigrant problem.

Now this is just speculation but isn't it possible that California's objection is because they fear the Arizona bill will work. If it works in Arizona it's libel to increase California's problem. After all why cross where you might be hassled when you can cross into a less vigilant state.

Whose money is it

2010-05-25T19:39:00.002-04:00

Here in Ohio there is a program similar to the cash for clunkers program the feds ran. This program gives rebates for buying energy star products and proving you scraped your old appliance. Of course this is run with the usual government efficiency. Thousands of people are waiting on their rebates. The state gives a variety of reasons for this,forms not filled in correctly,model numbers not matching( the state has an incomplete listing in it's computer ), or not having the original receipt. The spokesman explained that after all this is tax payer money we have to be careful.

My question is if their so concerned about their fiduciary duties why do the program at all. Taking money from one citizen and giving it to another can never be justified.

Children

2010-05-22T06:21:00.002-04:00

I heard a woman on the radio yesterday I believe her name is Lenore Skanzy. She is the author of a book called Free Range Children. Recently she has been promoting today Saturday May 22 as the first annual national take your kids to the park and leave them there day. She was talking about children as young as 7-8 years old and leaving them alone for time commensurate with their ages.

People today are utterly terrified of what can happen to there children. When I told my wife about the radio show she asked if this was just a ploy to lure in all the perverts. My thought is that I'm not sure if a national ditch your kids day is good, but I know living in fear is bad.

I wonder if the increase in both parents working hasn't helped exasperate these fears. Years ago when I was young most of the moms didn't work and kids were everywhere. We can't go back and I don't know that it would fix anything, but we do need to find a way to not live in fear. The fear we have we share with our kids so be smart and let them grow strong and fearless.

Kagan

2010-05-12T18:22:00.003-04:00

It's kind of early to have reached much if any opinion about Elena Kagan's Supreme Court qualifications. The Cleveland Plain Dealer asked readers to comment on Kagan's nomination. Many of the letters focused on whether having been a judge should be a prerequisite. Most said they didn't believe time on the bench should be necessary. One letter stood out in it's reasoning. They reasoned that Kagan may be better than most because she spent time in the real world and wasn't secluded in the world of the law and judiciary. Now I might be wrong but I don't recall hearing any positions held by Kagan outside of academia.

So the question is what's a more sheltered existence the law or academia. I believe by far academics are sheltered from the real world to a greater degree. Living ones life on campus shields them from the economic pressures that the working man must face. Raises without profitability and tenure that guarantees employment for life are just some of sheltering effects.

Kagan may well be qualified for the scotus but to claim a more worldly position than many others is ludicrous.

Civilty

2010-05-08T07:23:00.002-04:00

I generally try to remain respectful of others when in dialog in person or on the computer. I told my wife Lynne yesterday how refreshing it was to have an honest disagreement with jockeystreet and still remain respectful and actually listen to the other person.

Zogby did a poll for Allegheny College one of the questions was who or what has caused politics to be less civil. Some of the responses were Political parties70%, talk radio61%blogs42%television news61% while all had a part I don't think they mentioned the main cause. When thinking of divisive and polarizing issues most people realize the Roe v Wade heads the list. We can't even discuss Supreme court nominees anymore without this issue affecting opinion. It's not that this is the only issue that raises disagreement but it is the disagreement that stirs the pot and separates the parties.

Personally I don't really think either parties hierarchy wants the abortion debate resolved it works too well at keeping people in their respective camps.

Dystopias

2010-05-01T05:41:00.007-04:00

There is a list for practically everything on the web. I like lists there is a certain orderliness to them. I also like to compare my likes and dislikes with other peoples. I like scifi and I've seen lists of scifi authors,and series of books ,future histories, and alternate histories and others. Here's a short list of Dystopian books.

1. 1984 by Orwell
2. Brave New World by Huxley
3. Lord of the Flies by Golding

Feel free to add your own in the comments.

I read an article recently asking whether we are now or are we heading into a Dystopia. They called it the salt Dystopia based on a proposed law restricting added salt in restaurants. I believe all politicians think they are moving our society to a more perfect place. The question is are they right in this assumption.

Lincoln undoubtedly moved our society forward when he helped to push us away from slavery ending in it's abolition. LBJ even spelled it out as his goal during the civil rights era of the 60's. He called it the Great Society the idea was to end poverty and put everyone on an equal footing. Many people now see Johnson's policies as a failure, because many of the the people are now poorer and less educated.

The Obama administration also thinks they are moving us towards that utopian society. With health care for all and wealth more fairly distributed. How is this happening with health care that that is largely unfunded and with government poking it's nose into day to day operations of businesses, G.M., Chrysler, and the insurance companies. Obama himself gives a picture of the kind of world he sees through a statement he made in a speech last week in Quincy Illinois. Paraphrasing he said I think at a certain point people have just made enough money. Money isn't the only issue though it's an over all intrusiveness into our daily lives.

So beware the utopia we know not where it leads.

Math

2010-04-24T07:17:00.002-04:00

The Cuyahoga County Commissioners Have decided to erect a wind turbine at the fairgrounds. Not only is this to be a display of green energy but also a cost savings of 50 thousand dollars a year is to be had.

This all sounds great until you hear the cost of the turbine 1 million dollars. So if my math is right in only 20 years they can pay for this turbine.

Most businesses when buying new equipment like to recoup costs in 5-7 years. This is why government agencies invariable spend to much money. If private industry chose to carry expenses for twenty years there would be no profit and no business.

We need elected officials who can live within their means and spend the publics money like it is their own. Sadly we wouldn't trust most of them with our wallets if they had padlocks on them.

Busy

2010-04-10T06:32:00.002-04:00

Not much time to post lately. I've been renovating our kitchen, tore the walls and ceiling down to studs and I'm putting up new drywall. It's moving along the walls are up but a long way still to go.

Recently I finished reading Sarah Palin's Going Rogue. It's slow in some sections but readable. I don't think she is going to change many minds with her book. Love her or hate her people aren't going to shift their positions greatly. One insight I gained is the difficulty of being in the second position on a ballot during an election. Not only do you have to subordinate some of your own will to the lead candidate but also to the campaign staff. It seems like a lot of control to give up when your fate and reputation are on the line.

Tanstaafl

2010-03-27T07:43:00.002-04:00

You may not be familiar with the title phrase. The first time I read it was in a scifi story by Robert Heinlein. It means there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

Some people attribute the Tea Party movement and the anger in general over the policies of the Obama Administration to racism. More likely it's directed at people that don't realize the truth of tanstaafl. Whether it's Health care ,Mortgage relief, or Economic stimulus packages it come down to the same thing people wanting something for nothing. People talk about the free health care that the Canadians and Europeans have like it is truly free not realizing the tremendous tax burden they pay.

Today's Plain Dealer details the provisions of the new Mortgage relief plan. While not something for nothing it does reduce actual balances to make mortgage payments much lower. This really sets my blood to boiling you see I like a bargain as well as the next guy but I don't expect my neighbor to finance my bargain.

Even the Stimulus follows this idea of wanting something for nothing. big banks and insurance companies took the rewards and want me to cover the risks. The unions and G.M. and Chrysler negotiated unsustainable contracts for decades living high on the hog (us). Now we own at least part of these auto makers to bad they are no longer worth anything.

You see this is the cause for anger serious problems don't call for living in fantasy land.

Fitness

2010-03-17T19:42:00.002-04:00

Generally when I choose to workout on the elliptical machine at home instead of running outside I listen to music. I find hard driving music helps to give me a better pace. Using cds it also gives me rest periods when a slower song will come on. Some of my favorites to workout to are the Beatles, Squeeze,ELO, and basically any 70's to early 80's rock.

However I never listen to music when I run out doors. This decision was confirmed by a story out of Hilton Head S.C. A jogger running on the beach listening to his IPod was killed when he was hit by a plane making an emergency landing.

Haiku #19 St. Patrick's day

2010-03-17T04:59:00.003-04:00

Putting on my green
Heritage remembered
Drink a pint or two

President Obama comes to Strongsville

2010-03-15T18:50:00.002-04:00

Luckily I still have a job and I am working steadily. However work precluded me from going to Obama's healthcare rally and hearing what he had to say. There were 1200 tickets available for the rally. It was set up so you just went to the event site on Sunday and asked for a ticket and you could attend. It turns out it didn't really matter that I had to work odds were against me or anyone getting a ticket. You see there were really according to local radio host Mike Trivisono only 200 tickets available the rest were given to local Democrats to give to party loyalists.

This is why politicians are so distrusted they can't even tell the truth about event planning. If this health care reform is so good it should be able to stand up to the scrutiny of the people. Sadly it obviously has flaws that our leaders see fit to try to hide from their constituency, Us.

Census

2010-03-10T04:25:00.002-05:00

This is why everything the government does is expensive. Yesterday I received an envelope from the census bureau. When I opened it there was a letter telling me that in a couple of days they would send me another mailing with the actual census forms. So our government decided to send two mailings to each address.

This doesn't seem very smart to me. Of course the post office is hurting maybe this is another stimulus package.

Picking winners

2010-03-06T06:10:00.003-05:00

You might think I'm writing about horse races or basketball games you'd be wrong. In Ohio we have a commission PUCO that oversees utility rates. Approximately 100,000 families have complained to PUCO the Governor and anyone else that would listen about their increased electric bills. The electric company had removed a long standing discount given to all electric homes this was initially approved by PUCO. Well three cheers PUCO says the electric company has to reinstate the discount.

So what is the Electric companies solution. Their going to try for a rate increase on the rest of us. Personally I object to buying someone elses electricity.

Government's job is to set certain standards and laws so that we might function with as little friction as possible. Their job is NOT to pick winners and losers. When regulations are put in place that allows one customer to pay one price and another customer a second price we are letting them pick the winners.

Abstinence

2010-02-27T07:09:00.002-05:00

In the letters to the editor in the Cleveland Plain Dealer A writer is advocating eliminating sex ed all together. Her thinking is that morality plays a part in sex ed and parents should be allowed to advance their moral position.

I think this shows the need to allow individual districts to set policies that fit the community. Many if not all major metropolitan areas have poor academic achievement scores. I don't think the blame falls with the schools or teachers. Invariably these districts have higher than normal single parent families. Being a single parent is a hard job and somethings are are not going to get full attention. Unfortunately it seems often to be education that gets left behind.

This is why some districts have more conflict over Abstinence only programs. Over burdened single parents a lot of the time have little time for educating their children whether spelling or sex ed. No fingers being pointed here I'm sure I make mistakes as a parent we all do. I think the more localized the decision making on education policy the better off our children will be.

Generally I like the idea of teaching abstinence first and progressing to a clinical explanation of what's going on in a young persons body.

Common sense

2010-02-22T04:23:00.002-05:00

I recently read Glenn Beck's Common Sense. Beck speaks of a need to return to the principles of the founders of our nation.

At the end he talks about the 9.12 project, 9 principles and 12 values.

The values are honesty,reverence,hope,thrift,humility,charity,sincerity,moderation, hard work,courage,personal responsibility,and gratitude.

A few of the principles are 1. America is good, 6. I have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results 9.The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

The rest of the principles can be found at the912project.com

I enjoyed the book which points out where government has been failing at the principles and values. As a bonus it included Thomas Paine's Common Sense.

Who has the best health care

2010-02-16T04:23:00.002-05:00

Here are some statistics to help you decide who has the best health care in the world.

As recently published by Investor Business Daily, a survey by the U.N. International Health Organization has reported:

Percentage of men and women who survived a cancer five years after diagnosis: U.S. 65 percent, Eng-land 46 percent, Canada 42 percent.

Percentage of patients diagnosed with diabetes who received treatment within six months: U.S. 93 percent, England 15 percent, Canada 43 percent.

Percentage of seniors needing hip replacement who received it within six months: U.S. 90 percent, England 15 percent, Canada 43 percent.

Percentage referred to a medical specialist who see one within one month: U.S. 77 percent, England 40 percent, Canada 43 percent.

Number of MRI scanners (a prime diagnostic tool) per million people: U.S. 71, England 14, Canada 18.

Percentage of seniors (65 and older) with low income who say they are in “excellent health”: U.S. 12 percent, England 2 percent, Canada 6 percent.

The other question about U.S. health care that always arises is cost. Our health care is definitely expensive but how much quality are you willing to give up to reduce costs.

I learned a long time ago that you get what you pay for.

Valenines day

2010-02-13T06:05:00.002-05:00

From the AP a rather interesting way to say I love you. A farmer from Albert Lea Minnesota formed a half mile wide heart for his wife using manure. His wife said you might as well be creative with what you have.

J Giels had it right love stinks.

When to quit

2010-02-08T04:56:00.002-05:00

People have been talking about how the Dems should give up on Obama care in it's present form since Brown's win in Massachusetts. People also talk frequently about athletes who past there prime stumble on collecting undeserved paychecks. We now have had a vivid example of when to quit during the Super bowl.

The Who showed us you should quit when you can no longer do the job.

Ponzi scheme

2010-02-06T07:20:00.003-05:00

Reading the letters to the editor this morning. The one letter is railing at a letter from earlier in the week calling social security a ponzi scheme. He argues that he has paid in and is entitled to his benefits. He also argues that S.S. has worked well and is solvent besides being basically the only pension plan out there any more. He does acknowledge the need for adjustments to benefits and taxes as we go forward.

The letter writer is right on at least one statement SS is not a ponzi scheme. Social security is a pyramid scheme and we're working towards inversion. When ss started there were multiple workers for each retired person. This is important to remember because we are not paying our own way. Our social security tax (fica) is not meant to provide us with any benefit it is there to provide benefit for those already retired. In the 1940's there were 42 workers for every retiree we are nor at 3 workers for every retiree. This is a a pyramid that could easily flip if unemployment stays at it's current high level.

This is one point that Bush was definitely right we need to find a way to allow people to invest their money for their own retirement. Even if it radically changes benefits and promises made to current recipient of SS. I believe this has to be the starting point to any deficit reduction plan. Without adjustments that will no doubt be painful Social Security will bankrupt our country.

Living

2010-02-04T19:15:00.002-05:00

A question was posed in Sunday school last week. How important is money to having a good quality of life? I argued that money would effect the quality of life greatly. One of the women argued that money is of no consequence. That if she could have lived her life in better personal relationship with her daughters she wouldn't have cared how much or little money she had.

Now I'm thinking I was wrong the quality of life is not effected. However the quality of living is effected immeasurably. What I mean by this is that your life is your life money or not. Money only allows you to do different things within your life. Life is the people you relate to at home or work, isolation is the true detriment to a good quality of life.

Public knowledge

2010-01-30T08:09:00.002-05:00

A pew research quiz was done before the Mass. special election to find what people know about the U.S.. You can take the quiz at the pew research center the national average was 6 correct answers I got all twelve right. The thing that struck my interest was in reading about the quiz the results showed that Republicans were better informed than Democrats. The margin was slim and other factors go into the results age and gender, older and male tend to be better informed.

Makes me wonder if the knowledge we process has a bigger impact on the policies we support than labels. The other premise would have you believe that Reps. care more and thus become better informed.

I don't think either party cares more than the other. I do think this lays more credibility to the complaints of media bias. Media is one of the keys to an informed electorate if people are only fifty percent informed on average this points to a short coming.

Then again maybe the people just don't care to be informed.

Supreme Court

2010-01-29T07:00:00.002-05:00

After the State of the Union address much hype has been going around. The hype is centered on President Obama's criticism of the recent Supreme Court decision and Judge Alito's reaction. Obama states the supreme court has opened the door for unlimited campaign spending including foreign owned companies. Alito reacted by mouthing the word liar during the speech.

Both parties are wrong to some degree. Alito is wrong because there probably will be a certain amount of increase in campaign spending. Obama is wrong for criticizing the court for doing their job.

The court's job is not to set policy and determine what might happen because of their rulings. They are merely to read the law and determine how it fits with our constitution. In essence the court is there to make sure we play by the rules.

We may not like the rules all the time but the rules keep society working in an orderly fashion.

Celebrate

2010-01-24T07:16:00.001-05:00

Today is the 75th anniversary of the beer can. So sit back pop the top and enjoy a beer,maybe two.

Fitness

2010-01-22T18:53:00.002-05:00

Last year I took up the hundred push-up challenge. Two times I attempted the challenge to no avail my joints,shoulders, elbows and wrists didn't cooperate.

Two weeks ago I bought the extreme gym chin-up bar. This is a devise you hook over the door frame to do various exercises. The first day I did five sets of four chin-ups for a total of twenty. Yesterday I did five sets working to exhaustion each time and did a total of 37 chin-ups. I alternate on days between the chin-ups and the next day pull-ups to work different muscle groups. The pull-ups have increased even better than the chin-ups going from 5 to 16.

This device comes from several companies I opted for a generic version and am really happy with it, I bought it at Aldi's for twelve bucks. Real improvement with no pain can't beat that.

Hope

2010-01-20T05:08:00.002-05:00

I don't live in Massachusetts but it still feels like I won. Politics is sometimes like sports even though we're not on the team we'll say we won. When in fact we are not on the team.

Brown won great now what happens. Will my life change for better or worse who knows.

The one truly big plus to come out of Brown's election is the message it sends. This is a state that is owned by the Democrats, Browns victory is a huge upset. Hopefully politicians are waking up this morning and thinking maybe we should listen to the people and realizing who they work for.

Haiku #18

2010-01-16T05:43:00.003-05:00

Devastated Isle
So many people hurting
God hears His people

No where to turn to
So many injured and dead
God hears his people

God calling to me
Urging me,answer prayers
God helps his people

Exploding head

2010-01-09T05:43:00.002-05:00

Did you ever read an article or book that didn't sit right. Sometimes a sentence will cause instant pain to your brain. Usually for me it's a bald faced lie or obvious misstatement.

In Thursday's Plain Dealer there was two stories having to do with a new program started at the beginning of the year. This program is aimed at getting people in better shape. The Cleveland Clinic,Curves and other sponsors worked out a deal where every resident in Cuyahoga county gets a free 3 month gym membership. It's called GoFit and all you have to do is ask for a membership at the YMCA or Curves. So far fifteen thousand people have registered on line and forty five hundred have shown up for an initial assessment.

The second article starts with the sentence,( Going to a company sponsored gym or smoking cessation workshop makes for a healthy society, as every member of Congress seems to agree.) Some health care advocates have a problem with the current health care reform as it relates to these programs. Their problem is that people could be penalized for either refusing to participate or not achieving results.

Now here's the good part, If people attend but keep smoking or don't lower their B.M.I. they are afraid they will be penalized, fine. But they follow with this sentence. This could undo a key objective of health care reform: to keep people from paying more for insurance based on health factors they may be unable to control.

Unable to control, smoking and eating too much are controllable cancer and hereditary diseases are not. This is why costs are going to grow uncontrollably when the government takes over. Insurance companies use actuaries to assess a price for a policy. Not the government they want to charge everybody the same. People seem to understand this with life insurance. A twenty year old doesn't pay thee same for life insurance as an eighty year old. Why should a healthy person pay the same as a smoker or obese person.

2 polls

2010-01-07T05:05:00.002-05:00

I saw 2 polls this morning one stated that only 32% of people surveyed believe that congressman represent their best interests. The second poll stated that 67% of people know someone who has cheated on their spouse.

I believe both numbers are significantly off the mark. Not for the good mind you, but with congresses approval rating flirting with single digits and the amount of infidelity I would say one should be closer to zero and the other closer to 100%.

Names

2010-01-02T07:58:00.002-05:00

In this morning's Plain Dealer there is a letter to the editor. In the letter the writer is complaining about calling Sherrod Brown an incompetent idiot. This was from a previous letter to the editor. He goes on to cite names used against Obama and the Democrats at Tea party rallies, some of which he describes as racist, these are his examples monkey,Hitler, Nazi,fascist,communist.

I think we can agree that monkey and Hitler are out of bounds, even though these were commonly used against Bush. In fact the most derogatory of these monkey and Hitler were used far more often against Bush than Obama. Communist , Nazi ,fascist , or incompetent should never be ruled out these are words that can be used to describe the positions that politicians take. We can argue whether or not they fall into these categories but the debate should be allowed to be raised.

Haiku #17

2010-01-01T08:15:00.001-05:00

A new years dawning
Make the most of what God gives
Hope must lead the way

Happy New Year everyone

A nation divided

2009-12-28T19:26:00.003-05:00

One of the biggest complaints about politics today is the inability of the two parties to work together. In fact this is partly what drove people to vote for Obama. During the campaign he often promised to bring the parties together in a more harmonious fashion.

Well the election is long behind us and so is the idea of a more civil debate over issues. This is not to lay it all on Obama. This problem has been long brewing, Bush also campaigned on being able to work with the opposition. We all know how that worked out.

This morning on the way to work I heard an interview with Mike Huckabee on the radio. This was not a political show but local radio guys Lanigan and Malone. They were reviewing Huckabee's new book a collection of Christmas memories. After talking about the book for a little while they asked the obligatory question of weather Huckabee was going to run for president again.

Following up they asked him why politics was so rancorous and what could be done about it. Huckabee had two suggestions for alleviating the discord first he would like term limits on congress. Secondly he would like to repeal the seventeenth amendment, this amendment changed the way we elect senators. Early on state legislatures appointed our senators as opposed to popular elections.

The reasoning behind term limits was to have congressmen voting in the countries best interests as opposed to just trying to get re-elected. With the seventeenth amendment he feels the way we are electing senators now they function to much like congressmen. With state legislatures appointing they were more beholden to their individual states. This kept a more even balance between states rights and federal dominance.

I don't like the term limits idea, I feel this is a restriction on freedom of speech. Repealing the 17th amendment might have merit and give the states a measure of power back.

By the way Huck says he doesn't really see himself running again but you never know.

When do you celebrate

2009-12-24T05:43:00.002-05:00

When I was a child we opened gifts on Christmas morning. This worked out good when I got married because my wife's family opened gifts on Christmas eve. Now my kids are older and it's getting harder to meet all at the same time. So now we celebrate Christmas on Christmas morning ,and eve and the weekend before and the weekend after.

How do you celebrate Christmas?

Haiku #16 Christmas

2009-12-24T05:36:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas all
Feelings of good cheer
Joyous time of year

Numbers

2009-12-19T05:57:00.002-05:00

Numbers are wonderful things. Reading the paper this morning a couple of numbers jumped out at me. 5 billion that is the amount of money that will be left on gift cards this year. This is based on 5-15 percent being left on gift cards on average.

Personally I pick up pennies off the street so I can't imagine leaving money unspent on gift cards.

The second set of numbers are 289-21-3 this the won lose record of Larry Kehres. Larry coaches at Mount Union a division III college football powerhouse. Mount Union is playing for the championship in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl today at 11. That's 21 loses in 24 years, amazing.

Surreal?

2009-12-13T07:18:00.005-05:00

Two stories in Sunday's Cleveland Plain Dealer the first on the House passing a spending bill. Five pages later there is a story about the deepening worry over the ever increasing National debt. In the national debt story they talk about the need to raise the statutory debt ceiling to keep money flowing. When we all know we need to drastically cut spending to reel in this debt. A bi partisan commission to find ways to cut the debt has been proposed. Congress is against this because it would usurp their powers to tax and spend. In effect their power to control us is in jeopardy and they are worried.

The spending bill story stated that this bill covered spending for half the federal government. The bill increases funding by ten percent for the agencies covered.

Does any one else find it as ludicrous as I that they worry about debt but increase spending.

Fixing things

2009-12-13T06:30:00.002-05:00

When I was young and the muffler was falling off of my car I tied it back up with a coat hanger. As a homeowner I often find myself having to fix things around the house. Weather it is patching holes or re roofing, inside or out I do it myself.

When business comes up with a new product, Plasma T.V.s,or Hybrid cars they are slow to hit the market. The people who are willing to way over pay rush to get the latest and greatest. Often the bugs haven't been worked out and the product is inferior to that which will be produced years later. Businesses also must worry about the cost effectiveness of a product. That is unless it meets some agenda and is subsidized by the government, like Hybrid cars. When you see a hybrid realize that you helped purchase that through your taxes.

So now we're told that the climate needs repaired. I won't argue the point all though I'm not convinced. I will offer a few thoughts though on the on going debate of how to fix the climate.

First off we need to decide what we want to accomplish. What are we trying to change the climate to, what is the optimum temp.
Secondly how do we pay for it, a repair must be paid for. We have all seen in the past year how most individuals and our government manage money. Spending into foreclosure and debt that is growing out of control. We the people need to tell them no to spending on all fronts. The only fiscally responsible approach to climate repair is to wait for a cost effective approach.

In the mean time if people want effect climate change they should do it their selves. Spending other peoples money to fix a problem without a defined goal is unacceptable.

Copenhagen

2009-12-12T06:17:00.002-05:00

Much of what's happening in Copenhagen reminds of that old saying. There's something rotten in Denmark. At conference set up to combat pollution that leads to AGW we have world leaders producing more pollution via limos and private jets. We also have the EastAnglia e-mail scandal which has people openly questioning the science behind AGW. Time and again we are hearing how the rich countries (U.S.A.) must fork over billions of dollars to the poor countries to fix this problem.

Yes, something surely stinks in Denmark.

Unemployment

2009-12-05T07:21:00.002-05:00

Barak Obama has to decided to take on Unemployment this week. Holding a conference to discuss the employment issue. The key theme to the conference was that the private sector really needs to lead on this issue.

I can't really argue with the idea that the private sector should lead because I believe in a limited government. Though it seems strange coming from Obama who chooses to insert government into private affairs frequently. My immediate reaction when I read Obama's comments was well get out of the way.

Not that it will happen but a lengthy congressional haiatus would be the best medicine for the economy and jobs. Businesses like certainty with pending legislation of the magnitude of Health care reform and Cap&Trade businesses are hunkering down.

So if President Obama wants the private sector to lead all he needs to do is stand up and be a leader. Lead by putting a hold on all new legislation that does not eliminate programs and reduce spending.

Sarah Palin

2009-12-05T07:01:00.002-05:00

I haven't written about Sarah P{alin in the past. Reading the paper this morning got me to thinking maybe we are too quick to dismiss Palin as a viable national candidate.

Two questions from the Washington Post phone poll of those who lean Republican taken Nov. 19-23. The first question focused on issues and and the emphasis the Republicans put on them.

Too much Too little Right amount

Gun rights 16% 33% 50%

Same sex marriage 27% 32% 42%

Abortion 23% 34% 42%

Federal spending 11% 60% 28%

Taxes 11% 44% 44%

Illegal immigrants 9% 61% 29%

The second question was concerning Republican leaders and who represents the parties core values. Sarah Palin with 18% led the next closest leader by five points at 18%. I believe if she focuses on Federal spending she can have run away Republian support. More importantly she could sway independants taking this approach.

Competition

2009-11-28T06:31:00.002-05:00

Proponents of the public option are continually talking about the merits of competition. Adding this new player, the government to the health insurance field is supposed to lower costs.

What is competition is it two equals vying for dominance or at least victory? Or is it as reformers would have you believe just adding another player.

A couple of analogies to consider. When my son was young he was hospitalized often for asthma. After work I would go and spend time with him. The hospital on the children's floor had video games for the kids to play. My son liked the sports games hockey especially. He would beat me regularly O.K. always. Now why did he beat me, no I didn't let him win. Some of it was that he was better at video games. Mostly though it had to do with incomplete instruction. You see he would tell me just do this and this but would leave out how to pass or go faster. Basically he laid out the game so he couldn't lose.

I like to play basketball in the driveway. When the kids were high school age we would play 2 or 3 on one. This kept the games competitive for the most part. However the one day my son invited a kid from the H.S team over He was 6'7. No matter how we split players this kid destroyed the competitive balance.

So is the public option adding competition or just taking over the game.