American mainstream media seems to have a broadcasting policy of; "If it bleeds it leads". They hung around in Tacloban, the worst hit city in the Philippines from the Category 6+ typhoon, but never went much beyond ground zero. After a week, ratings waned and they came home after giving absolutely no help to people who really needed it. But I am sure they felt good flying back to the US on their first class fully reclining seats while drinking expensive wine and enjoying froie gras and lobster tails.
The problem is that once the media goes home the attention fades, but the tragedy does not. This is an ongoing tragedy, people are dying, and although basic things like water and rice are being delivered, people are living in squalid conditions, and this is diseases like typhoid are rampant now.
Media focused on ground zero in Tacloban, the whole islands of Leyte, Samar, Bohol, Cebu, Negros, and Panay, as well as smaller islands have serious damage, power and water loss by this in many cases has not been even addressed yet.
Once that the valiant NBC correspondent who was staying in a powered RV got done looking at people in Tacloban with a pitiful look, and got on his first class flight home, the donations dropped. The Philippine Red Cross (NOT the American Red Cross), and Salvation Army are distributing relief as much as they can and need your help.
The media may be gone because there is no sizzle there now, but this tragedy still looms, and people keep dying. They need our help.
Pray about this and consider about helping. I'm thinking of going on a missionary trip to do my part after the 1st of the year.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Thursday, November 28, 2013
My 2013 Thanksgiving Story
A lot of people have enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday surrounded by family. Since most of mine are either in the Scranton, Pennsylvania area or scattered throughout the US and Asia, we made a decision to just stay put this year and help others have a nice meal and get out of their homes and meet people.
I volunteered to work at a dinner sponsored by several churches and synagogues, and had an enormous amount of support from many of those EVVVVVIIIIL companies who donated money, food by the ton, delivery trucks, and volunteer employees to help in the kitchens.
We started planning this a couple months ago, raised money, got a lot of companies like Kroger, Costco, Sam's Club, Wal-Mart and some smaller merchants to donate food. We really had no idea how many people would show up. We planned on dinner from 11am to 6pm or until the food ran out. We were set up in the gym of the church to hold about 400 at a time.
After a while, we got requests from nursing homes and elderly assisted living homes for food to be delivered. We considered this, made plans and agreed. This thing just kept getting bigger. As of Wednesday we had enough food for 4000 dinners, although desert would probably run out early.
I got asked to show up at the church kitchen at 8am to deliver bulk quantities of prepared food for the various homes. I showed up around 7:45am to load up the box trucks loaned to us by an express delivery company based in Memphis, and people were already lined up outside in 15 degree temperatures for a dinner that wasn't going to open for hours. Some looked very poor, and this is in the burbs, not the inner city. We got the pastor to open the sanctuary and Sunday school rooms to get them out of the cold and they were offered coffee.
We went out and did out delivery runs, and they took almost 2 hours. By 10am, the church was full and the only place for them was in the gym, which had been set up for dinner.
We could see this turning into an ugly free-for-all once the serving lines were opened, so we passed out tickets that somone wisely brought along, starting from the people in the sanctuary and the Sunday school rooms. We told everyone we'd be serving by number and assured everyone that there was plenty of food, which their was. There was some grumbling, but this worked out with a few jerks who had to be special.
Finally everything was ready to be served to the first 400 people, invited them to the gym, and then my real work started. I was working on the food line dishing out food, and grabbing stuff from the kitchen to replace empty pans. We had a great taskmistress (that sounds kinky, but she is a 75 year old Jewish woman who runs big meals all the time). The rest was relatively easy, or at least methodical. I though there was no way we would use up all the food that had been donated or bought by 6pm, but it was all gone by 3:30pm and deserts were gone by 1pm.
Some people just wanted to come out and have a meal because they were alone, but some families who showed up were really poor, and this might have been the only meal they had all day. And this is in the suburbs, the affluent suburbs, not the inner city.
We are clearly becoming a much poorer nation with the high unemployment, people who have just given up hope on getting a real full time job, and the only change that they have gotten since 2008 has been the change in their pockets.
Although helping people have a nice Thanksgiving dinner is gratifying to me, the need to have something of this magnitude says a lot more about the direction where this country is going.
I volunteered to work at a dinner sponsored by several churches and synagogues, and had an enormous amount of support from many of those EVVVVVIIIIL companies who donated money, food by the ton, delivery trucks, and volunteer employees to help in the kitchens.
We started planning this a couple months ago, raised money, got a lot of companies like Kroger, Costco, Sam's Club, Wal-Mart and some smaller merchants to donate food. We really had no idea how many people would show up. We planned on dinner from 11am to 6pm or until the food ran out. We were set up in the gym of the church to hold about 400 at a time.
After a while, we got requests from nursing homes and elderly assisted living homes for food to be delivered. We considered this, made plans and agreed. This thing just kept getting bigger. As of Wednesday we had enough food for 4000 dinners, although desert would probably run out early.
I got asked to show up at the church kitchen at 8am to deliver bulk quantities of prepared food for the various homes. I showed up around 7:45am to load up the box trucks loaned to us by an express delivery company based in Memphis, and people were already lined up outside in 15 degree temperatures for a dinner that wasn't going to open for hours. Some looked very poor, and this is in the burbs, not the inner city. We got the pastor to open the sanctuary and Sunday school rooms to get them out of the cold and they were offered coffee.
We went out and did out delivery runs, and they took almost 2 hours. By 10am, the church was full and the only place for them was in the gym, which had been set up for dinner.
We could see this turning into an ugly free-for-all once the serving lines were opened, so we passed out tickets that somone wisely brought along, starting from the people in the sanctuary and the Sunday school rooms. We told everyone we'd be serving by number and assured everyone that there was plenty of food, which their was. There was some grumbling, but this worked out with a few jerks who had to be special.
Finally everything was ready to be served to the first 400 people, invited them to the gym, and then my real work started. I was working on the food line dishing out food, and grabbing stuff from the kitchen to replace empty pans. We had a great taskmistress (that sounds kinky, but she is a 75 year old Jewish woman who runs big meals all the time). The rest was relatively easy, or at least methodical. I though there was no way we would use up all the food that had been donated or bought by 6pm, but it was all gone by 3:30pm and deserts were gone by 1pm.
Some people just wanted to come out and have a meal because they were alone, but some families who showed up were really poor, and this might have been the only meal they had all day. And this is in the suburbs, the affluent suburbs, not the inner city.
We are clearly becoming a much poorer nation with the high unemployment, people who have just given up hope on getting a real full time job, and the only change that they have gotten since 2008 has been the change in their pockets.
Although helping people have a nice Thanksgiving dinner is gratifying to me, the need to have something of this magnitude says a lot more about the direction where this country is going.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Category 5+ hits the Philippines. They need our help now.
A category 5 typhoon is slamming in to the central Visayas in the Philippines as I write this. Samar and Leyte are getting the initial brunt, but this affects a far wider population. This is a poor place and most houses are not built to sustain this sort of thing. Some reports say there are 200 mph winds.
Weatherunderground has a better analysis than I can do.
Once this storm passes these people are going to need a lot more help than the ObamaPhone lady .
All I can ask for is for prayers for these people, and contribute what you can to the charity of your choice. I'm one who thinks that the Salvation Army does the best job getting help to where it is needed. Their overhead is low compared to the Red Cross and Catholic Charities, but give to help these people if you can. I don't see any Islamic charity stepping up to this tragedy.
This storm makes Katrina look like a rain shower.
God help these people....please!
Update I've been trying to call friends and family all night. Of course the phone lines are down and cell have been destroyed. Still i was able to at least to get some news on Skype from my niece in Cebu. This is worst storm in recorded history and all the charities I mentioned will be on the ground to help. I still see no Muslim charities trying to help. They are too busy helping insurgents in Zamboanga kill Christians.
This storm is not over. Once it gets over the South China Sea it will intensify again, and it looks like Vietnam may get a direct hit.
This is the worst storm I've ever seen.
Update 2: The typhoon had some of the highest sustained winds on record, but because it was a fast moving storm, the deaths and devastation were far less than feared. If a storm with 200+ mph winds stuck around for a long time, there would not be much left on Samar and Leyte. Tacloban airport has reopened in a limited way and people are cleaning up a real mess, but it could be far worse.
The storm is now over the South China Sea and gaining strength again. Vietnam seems it's likely target. As poor as the Philippines are, Vietnam is far worse outside the major cities, and the communist government is too corrupt, incompetent and complacent to deal with the aftermath. The charities I mentioned above will be working overtime, provided that Vietnam lets them in to help.
Update 3: Photos are starting to come in now. The UK paper, The Daily Mail, shows how much devastation was done in the city of Tacloban on Leyte. There are over 1200 dead according to the Red Cross, 1000 in Tacloban alone. Relief flights are coming in now, but Tacloban airport is in bad shape. As bad as this storm is, the death and destruction would have been worse if it was not a fast moving storm. Vietnam is going to get the full brunt in the next few hours, as will Cambodia. Neither country has the infrastructure to recover from this. The Philippines, as poor as it is will bounce back much quicker.
Update 4: This not so much an update than it is a commentary. The US Air Force, and Marines have been bringing C-130 transports to Tacloban Airport, even when it was flooded and in almost unusable shape. The Salvation Army, Red Cross and several other others who have the means to do it ae on the ground giving relief to victims. Even though this storm was fast moving, some reports predict 10,000 dead. I'm not sure of that, because that is what the mainstream media said died in Katrina. But Leyte and Samar are in ruins right now. Any help would be appreciated.
One thing that is notable, is that not a single so called Muslim charities have offered any assistance, yet they are funding a low level insurgency in Mindanao that has gotten far more violent in recent months. The siege on Zamboanga City has been going on for 2 months now with no let up, and guess who funds the MILF, and MNLF? Yes it is the Muslim Brotherhood and their CAIR front organization in the USA.
So, While we in the west and mostly Christians and some Jews may give money to help the victims of the typhoon, the Religion of Peace (tm) are giving money to kill Christians in the Philippines.
I'll have further updates when I know more. I'm not speculating on anything. I'm not a TV network where "if it bleeds it leads". Family are fine, but this isn't over
Update-5: The devastation on Leyte, a very sizable island, is massive and Tacloban and Ormoc are destroyed. The media is not paying too much attention to anything outside the largest city of Taclobann, largely because it has a serviceable airport, and relief flights are coming in from nearby Cebu and Manila.
Ormoc, a smaller city on Leyte is also devastated. It's a port city and is not a stranger to disaster. It was destroyed in a large typhoon in 1992 and was rebuilt in to a very livable city. But once again it is destroyed. Nobody knows the number if villages and baranguay that are wiped out.
The island of Samar, just across a bridge from Tacloban also has massive damage and loss of life. The foreign media is not paying attention to Samar, because it may be difficult to get to the most affected areas. It is a very large island, and most towns tend to be smallish. So IU've only got limited information from here.
President Aquino has downward estimated the death toll to 2000~2500. As awful as it is, it is not 10,000 dead. The USS George Washington aircraft carrier will arrive in the area on Thursday and hopefully it can help get food water to the victims.
That's all I have for now.
Update-6: I really don't have to much more to add regarding the disaster in the Visayas, except that the damage goes far beyond Leyte and Tacloban. Many places as far west as Aklan province in Panay are without power, and there is widespread damage throughout the region.
One thing I need to emphasize is that all these care packages that church groups in the US indented for the Philippines will probably never get there. Relief flights are bringing large containers and palettes of bottled water, 100 kg bags of rice, and bails of clothing that can be moved on and off the C-130 planes that the US and Philippine military are bringing in, and small care packages of canned tuna, ramen noodles, instant rice and things of that nature just can't be accommodated now. The best thing you can do is contribute money to the charity of your choice. The Philippine Red Cross, Salvation army and World Vision have people on the ground now to help distribute relief. They buy supplies locally within southeast Asia and get those goods shipped in. Care packages sent by various church groups here in the US will most likely end up in soup kitchens at home.
Just a thought. I know that it makes people feel good making care packages, but the current relief flights and infrastructure in the affected areas just can't deliver or deal with these things.
Weatherunderground has a better analysis than I can do.
Once this storm passes these people are going to need a lot more help than the ObamaPhone lady .
All I can ask for is for prayers for these people, and contribute what you can to the charity of your choice. I'm one who thinks that the Salvation Army does the best job getting help to where it is needed. Their overhead is low compared to the Red Cross and Catholic Charities, but give to help these people if you can. I don't see any Islamic charity stepping up to this tragedy.
This storm makes Katrina look like a rain shower.
God help these people....please!
Update I've been trying to call friends and family all night. Of course the phone lines are down and cell have been destroyed. Still i was able to at least to get some news on Skype from my niece in Cebu. This is worst storm in recorded history and all the charities I mentioned will be on the ground to help. I still see no Muslim charities trying to help. They are too busy helping insurgents in Zamboanga kill Christians.
This storm is not over. Once it gets over the South China Sea it will intensify again, and it looks like Vietnam may get a direct hit.
This is the worst storm I've ever seen.
Update 2: The typhoon had some of the highest sustained winds on record, but because it was a fast moving storm, the deaths and devastation were far less than feared. If a storm with 200+ mph winds stuck around for a long time, there would not be much left on Samar and Leyte. Tacloban airport has reopened in a limited way and people are cleaning up a real mess, but it could be far worse.
The storm is now over the South China Sea and gaining strength again. Vietnam seems it's likely target. As poor as the Philippines are, Vietnam is far worse outside the major cities, and the communist government is too corrupt, incompetent and complacent to deal with the aftermath. The charities I mentioned above will be working overtime, provided that Vietnam lets them in to help.
Update 3: Photos are starting to come in now. The UK paper, The Daily Mail, shows how much devastation was done in the city of Tacloban on Leyte. There are over 1200 dead according to the Red Cross, 1000 in Tacloban alone. Relief flights are coming in now, but Tacloban airport is in bad shape. As bad as this storm is, the death and destruction would have been worse if it was not a fast moving storm. Vietnam is going to get the full brunt in the next few hours, as will Cambodia. Neither country has the infrastructure to recover from this. The Philippines, as poor as it is will bounce back much quicker.
Update 4: This not so much an update than it is a commentary. The US Air Force, and Marines have been bringing C-130 transports to Tacloban Airport, even when it was flooded and in almost unusable shape. The Salvation Army, Red Cross and several other others who have the means to do it ae on the ground giving relief to victims. Even though this storm was fast moving, some reports predict 10,000 dead. I'm not sure of that, because that is what the mainstream media said died in Katrina. But Leyte and Samar are in ruins right now. Any help would be appreciated.
One thing that is notable, is that not a single so called Muslim charities have offered any assistance, yet they are funding a low level insurgency in Mindanao that has gotten far more violent in recent months. The siege on Zamboanga City has been going on for 2 months now with no let up, and guess who funds the MILF, and MNLF? Yes it is the Muslim Brotherhood and their CAIR front organization in the USA.
So, While we in the west and mostly Christians and some Jews may give money to help the victims of the typhoon, the Religion of Peace (tm) are giving money to kill Christians in the Philippines.
I'll have further updates when I know more. I'm not speculating on anything. I'm not a TV network where "if it bleeds it leads". Family are fine, but this isn't over
Update-5: The devastation on Leyte, a very sizable island, is massive and Tacloban and Ormoc are destroyed. The media is not paying too much attention to anything outside the largest city of Taclobann, largely because it has a serviceable airport, and relief flights are coming in from nearby Cebu and Manila.
Ormoc, a smaller city on Leyte is also devastated. It's a port city and is not a stranger to disaster. It was destroyed in a large typhoon in 1992 and was rebuilt in to a very livable city. But once again it is destroyed. Nobody knows the number if villages and baranguay that are wiped out.
The island of Samar, just across a bridge from Tacloban also has massive damage and loss of life. The foreign media is not paying attention to Samar, because it may be difficult to get to the most affected areas. It is a very large island, and most towns tend to be smallish. So IU've only got limited information from here.
President Aquino has downward estimated the death toll to 2000~2500. As awful as it is, it is not 10,000 dead. The USS George Washington aircraft carrier will arrive in the area on Thursday and hopefully it can help get food water to the victims.
That's all I have for now.
Update-6: I really don't have to much more to add regarding the disaster in the Visayas, except that the damage goes far beyond Leyte and Tacloban. Many places as far west as Aklan province in Panay are without power, and there is widespread damage throughout the region.
One thing I need to emphasize is that all these care packages that church groups in the US indented for the Philippines will probably never get there. Relief flights are bringing large containers and palettes of bottled water, 100 kg bags of rice, and bails of clothing that can be moved on and off the C-130 planes that the US and Philippine military are bringing in, and small care packages of canned tuna, ramen noodles, instant rice and things of that nature just can't be accommodated now. The best thing you can do is contribute money to the charity of your choice. The Philippine Red Cross, Salvation army and World Vision have people on the ground now to help distribute relief. They buy supplies locally within southeast Asia and get those goods shipped in. Care packages sent by various church groups here in the US will most likely end up in soup kitchens at home.
Just a thought. I know that it makes people feel good making care packages, but the current relief flights and infrastructure in the affected areas just can't deliver or deal with these things.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Random thoughts from a dumb non-Ivy League College graduate
I was listening tonight to a bunch of liberal talking heads discussing how stupid Tea Party people are. An the biggest arguments are they are violent racists (no proof of that) and uneducated rednecks because most of us never went to an Ivy League school.
I thought about it for awhile, and I have to admit that I'm part of the unwashed masses that the Democrats want to rule because they are so much smarter than me. I only went to a large mid-west university and have a B.S. degree in electrical engineering, and have worked as a flight simulation engineer for over 30 years. But I'm not a Harvard lawyer who has spent his whole career in politics, so I guess I need to be ruled by the likes of him. I get it.
We unwashed masses just can't understand complex issues like health care, debt, and balancing a budget. I'm so glad that smarter people than me who know what I need better than me are relieving me of decisions I'd have to make otherwise. No matter that it costs me more and I as a 56 year old man have to pay for pap smears, breast exams and abortions, the best and brightest are looking after us, the little people, the undereducated people who only went to a state university. Never mind that the Obama roll out has been a disaster and even the website does not work, let alone the exchanges that we are all supposed to sign up to if not on a group plan.
Everything is going to be great once all the "gliches" get worked out. The real market place must step aside for the government controlled "marketplace".
Ok I'm being very sarcastic here, and like I mentioned in a previous post, unless we get rid of this regime and this abomination ObamaCare I'll probably do the ultimate opt-out and build a house on my property in an undisclosed location in Asia, but a day trip to Singapore to get my MS treatments every other month.
Elitists in both parties just don't understand and are not connected to people outside the northeast and west coast. Normal people who are not addicted to government free stuff that costs the tax payers plenty will someday get fed up. I'm hoping it is not too late. If we don't get rid of socialized medicine, and get debt under control, we are doomed. Taxing our way to prosperity will turn the whole country into Detroit.
I thought about it for awhile, and I have to admit that I'm part of the unwashed masses that the Democrats want to rule because they are so much smarter than me. I only went to a large mid-west university and have a B.S. degree in electrical engineering, and have worked as a flight simulation engineer for over 30 years. But I'm not a Harvard lawyer who has spent his whole career in politics, so I guess I need to be ruled by the likes of him. I get it.
We unwashed masses just can't understand complex issues like health care, debt, and balancing a budget. I'm so glad that smarter people than me who know what I need better than me are relieving me of decisions I'd have to make otherwise. No matter that it costs me more and I as a 56 year old man have to pay for pap smears, breast exams and abortions, the best and brightest are looking after us, the little people, the undereducated people who only went to a state university. Never mind that the Obama roll out has been a disaster and even the website does not work, let alone the exchanges that we are all supposed to sign up to if not on a group plan.
Everything is going to be great once all the "gliches" get worked out. The real market place must step aside for the government controlled "marketplace".
Ok I'm being very sarcastic here, and like I mentioned in a previous post, unless we get rid of this regime and this abomination ObamaCare I'll probably do the ultimate opt-out and build a house on my property in an undisclosed location in Asia, but a day trip to Singapore to get my MS treatments every other month.
Elitists in both parties just don't understand and are not connected to people outside the northeast and west coast. Normal people who are not addicted to government free stuff that costs the tax payers plenty will someday get fed up. I'm hoping it is not too late. If we don't get rid of socialized medicine, and get debt under control, we are doomed. Taxing our way to prosperity will turn the whole country into Detroit.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
How Will ObamaCare Affect You?
So, how is Obamacare working for you? The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is Orwellian in title, and it is anything but affordable so far for anyone who doesn't get pushed on to Medicaid. A lot of us have been told that we will lose our medical insurance at the end of the year. Mercifully, mine has been extended until 2015 with a substantial premium increase.
Having several preexisting conditions, under ACA my monthly premiums would go up from $400 a month to $2000 a month if my insurer didn't decide to keep me on another year. My insurance agent is not optimistic. He reckons it might be as high as $3500 a month come 2015. This is not sustainable for the average person. Most of us who have preexisting conditions and although not disabled, can't afford to pay $42K a year. With any luck ObamaCare will implode under its own weight over the next year, and relieve is from this socialist state rum monstrosity. I'm not betting on that.
I am seriously considering moving out of the country so I can still get pay as you go health care in places like Thailand, Taiwan, and Singapore. My chemo infusions cost about $4000 a treatment in the US, much cheaper abroad, and I only need them bi-monthly. It is cheaper for me to live in a home I've already purchased in Asia and buy a round trip ticket to places like Singapore or Thailand than to pay the Obamacare premium.
It is indeed sad than Obamacare is driving people offshore because the ACA is anything but affordable. And until this gets repealed or fixed, which I am doubtful it can be, people with preexisting conditions, to paraphrase President Obama, should just take a pill.
I may take the ultimate opt-out, but what happens in 2014 will help me make a decision. Oh by the way the website debacle is the tip of the iceberg. It gets far worse from there.
As Nancy Pelosi said when this passed: "This is our gift to the American people". But Joe Biden said it best: "This is a big fucking deal"
Big fucking deal indeed.
Having several preexisting conditions, under ACA my monthly premiums would go up from $400 a month to $2000 a month if my insurer didn't decide to keep me on another year. My insurance agent is not optimistic. He reckons it might be as high as $3500 a month come 2015. This is not sustainable for the average person. Most of us who have preexisting conditions and although not disabled, can't afford to pay $42K a year. With any luck ObamaCare will implode under its own weight over the next year, and relieve is from this socialist state rum monstrosity. I'm not betting on that.
I am seriously considering moving out of the country so I can still get pay as you go health care in places like Thailand, Taiwan, and Singapore. My chemo infusions cost about $4000 a treatment in the US, much cheaper abroad, and I only need them bi-monthly. It is cheaper for me to live in a home I've already purchased in Asia and buy a round trip ticket to places like Singapore or Thailand than to pay the Obamacare premium.
It is indeed sad than Obamacare is driving people offshore because the ACA is anything but affordable. And until this gets repealed or fixed, which I am doubtful it can be, people with preexisting conditions, to paraphrase President Obama, should just take a pill.
I may take the ultimate opt-out, but what happens in 2014 will help me make a decision. Oh by the way the website debacle is the tip of the iceberg. It gets far worse from there.
As Nancy Pelosi said when this passed: "This is our gift to the American people". But Joe Biden said it best: "This is a big fucking deal"
Big fucking deal indeed.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
You can't fix stupid
My friend Jazz Shaw over at HotAir asked the question yesterday, how can anyone who does not live in a cabin in the middle of nowhere with no connection to the outside world without even having a clue as to what Orwellian named "Affordable Healthcare Act" aka ObamaCare is about. The CNN video clip he posted is telling as to just how clueless some people are. They can tell you what Honey Boo Boo did last week but not have a clue as to what even happened up the street from them.
Well Jazz, we have plenty of these people here. A local radio program asked random people in downtown Memphis how ObamaCare is going to affect them. The answers ranged from, "I can't wait to get my free health care", "Can I get this all put on my EBT card and can I use it in a supermarket?", and "Where do I go so sign up for this? My girlfriend is about to pop a baby next week".
The bottom line is you can't fix stupid, as Ron White so aptly pointed out several years ago. We have a lot of them, and they do vote, once someone takes them to a polling place and tells them how to vote.
I don't know how to fix this. Education might help, so long as they are not taught by teachers from the Memphis and Shelby County Public Schools. We have tenured teachers who are functionally illiterate and can barely speak proper English training kids to be nothing more than government dependent serfs, who between recharging their EBT cards are out gang banging, or knocking up their harem of girlfriends.
These are not people watching the news, they watch Dancing with the Stars, and whatever Tyler Perry is churning out these days.
I'm writing this out of frustration, half asleep and pissed off that the stupid people of the US have so much power to elect equally stupid people or worse.
*Sigh*
Well Jazz, we have plenty of these people here. A local radio program asked random people in downtown Memphis how ObamaCare is going to affect them. The answers ranged from, "I can't wait to get my free health care", "Can I get this all put on my EBT card and can I use it in a supermarket?", and "Where do I go so sign up for this? My girlfriend is about to pop a baby next week".
The bottom line is you can't fix stupid, as Ron White so aptly pointed out several years ago. We have a lot of them, and they do vote, once someone takes them to a polling place and tells them how to vote.
I don't know how to fix this. Education might help, so long as they are not taught by teachers from the Memphis and Shelby County Public Schools. We have tenured teachers who are functionally illiterate and can barely speak proper English training kids to be nothing more than government dependent serfs, who between recharging their EBT cards are out gang banging, or knocking up their harem of girlfriends.
These are not people watching the news, they watch Dancing with the Stars, and whatever Tyler Perry is churning out these days.
I'm writing this out of frustration, half asleep and pissed off that the stupid people of the US have so much power to elect equally stupid people or worse.
*Sigh*
Monday, September 16, 2013
What ObamaCare means to me
I'm a 56 year old man, I have multiple sclerosis and my overall health is not the best. I spend 5 days in the hospital last month and even with insurance it is going to cost me, out of pocket, over $7000.
My insurance company decided to drop me after that illness, effective Oct. 15, the exact same day that ObamaCare exchanges become available. Very convenient for them. It seem a lot of private insurance companies have decided that this whole insurance racket is better suited to be run by government bureaucrats and let the federal government take the hit when people get sick. So here I am looking for medical insurance. Nobody wants to offer me coverage. NOBODY. ObamaCare is where I'm going to get stuck. I lose my doctor, lose my insurance, and get stuck under a plan administered by faceless government employees who got jobs because of political patronage that do not give a damn about anything but their next raise.
Barack Obama lies that if you like your doctor you can can keep your doctor. He also lied that if you like your insurance plan you can keep it. I'm losing both.
What I know now is my insurance premiums double for me under the Orwellian named "Affordable Healthcare Act" , my primary health care physician won't deal with ObamaCare and is approaching retirement. My neurologist who has been treating my MS for years now is moving back to India, because he hates all the new regulations, and says he can still make a living there without a lot of government interference.
I'm just venting here, but I am not the only one stuck in the wonderful new world of socialized medicine. Congress is inept, they can't pass a budget let alone defunding this medical nightmare. Young people are going to suffer far more than I will from this. They are going to pay the bill for ObamaCare for decades to come. Fortunately I'm not poor and can pay to get decent health care, but we as a nation will suffer the fate of the UK and Canada. There is a large medical center in Plattsburgh, NY for nothing. It's a small town just an hour away from Montreal. It's full of Quebecois who can afford to pay cash.
In the end, this how we are going to get medical care in the US. Either pay up cash up front at medical centers in places like Singapore or Thailand, or wither and die on an ObamaCare exchange.
My insurance company decided to drop me after that illness, effective Oct. 15, the exact same day that ObamaCare exchanges become available. Very convenient for them. It seem a lot of private insurance companies have decided that this whole insurance racket is better suited to be run by government bureaucrats and let the federal government take the hit when people get sick. So here I am looking for medical insurance. Nobody wants to offer me coverage. NOBODY. ObamaCare is where I'm going to get stuck. I lose my doctor, lose my insurance, and get stuck under a plan administered by faceless government employees who got jobs because of political patronage that do not give a damn about anything but their next raise.
Barack Obama lies that if you like your doctor you can can keep your doctor. He also lied that if you like your insurance plan you can keep it. I'm losing both.
What I know now is my insurance premiums double for me under the Orwellian named "Affordable Healthcare Act" , my primary health care physician won't deal with ObamaCare and is approaching retirement. My neurologist who has been treating my MS for years now is moving back to India, because he hates all the new regulations, and says he can still make a living there without a lot of government interference.
I'm just venting here, but I am not the only one stuck in the wonderful new world of socialized medicine. Congress is inept, they can't pass a budget let alone defunding this medical nightmare. Young people are going to suffer far more than I will from this. They are going to pay the bill for ObamaCare for decades to come. Fortunately I'm not poor and can pay to get decent health care, but we as a nation will suffer the fate of the UK and Canada. There is a large medical center in Plattsburgh, NY for nothing. It's a small town just an hour away from Montreal. It's full of Quebecois who can afford to pay cash.
In the end, this how we are going to get medical care in the US. Either pay up cash up front at medical centers in places like Singapore or Thailand, or wither and die on an ObamaCare exchange.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Have you ever met an astronaut?
Have you ever met an astronaut? I've met a few in my career, mostly from the Shuttle. But one encounter was more interesting and gave me some insight into the early, glory days of the Mercury astronauts.
I really did not like "The Right Stuff" movie for a lot of reasons, not the least the treatment it gave Gus Grissom. It portrayed his as a coward, and a bit of a dolt. He was neither, and he was slated to be the first man to pilot a moon landing by Deke Slayton before he was killed in the awful Apollo 1 fire, that killed the whole crew during a test on the launching pad.
I did have the opportunity to meet Gordon Cooper on a plane flight about 10 years. He and his wife were sitting across the isle from me on a flight I was lucky enough to get bumped up to first class. I recognized him, but he looked old and frail and his wife helped him to his seat. I was hesitant to approach, because I'm not an in your face type of guy first of all, and didn't want to get kicked back to the back of the plane between 2 fat ass women in row 36E, so I quietly sad hello. He smiled, said hello back, and then I got up the courage to ask him if he was Gordon Cooper. Well, he got this big shit eating grin on his face and told me that I was addressing the one and only. The old ego never went away, and he still liked to talk.
He told me that he really didn't like all these dramatizations and documentaries that really don't get what was happening in the space program, all the politics, internal and external to NASA, and how he got railroaded out of the program because of personality conflicts with Deke Slayton.
Cooper may have been old, but he had a good mind, and wasn't shy about giving me a piece of it. After we had a few drinks together, and his wife scowling at both of us, he went to the restroom, and I asked Mrs. Cooper if I was causing a problem or a distraction. Her answer was basically, no but don't get him too excited. He likes to talk, but he had a weak heart.
I tried to tone things down when when Col. Cooper returned, but he wanted to talk. Apparently not many people recognized him, and he liked talking about his experiences, and we talked for another hour. He was an interesting guy, was a real pioneer, both as a hot shit test pilot and a gutsy astronaut who flew a not too well tested spacecraft and lived to tell of it. Guys like this advanced American technology and allowed us to get to the moon, before the deadline that JFK gave them.
We can no longer put people in space, and have to rely on the Russians, who are not our friends, to get to the space station. We no longer have a space program that has goals, deadlines and objectives to either go back to the moon and establish something bigger, or do an interplanetary mission. NASA is now more about Muslim outreach, and just maintaining what we have up there. Gordon Cooper is turning over in his grave.
I really did not like "The Right Stuff" movie for a lot of reasons, not the least the treatment it gave Gus Grissom. It portrayed his as a coward, and a bit of a dolt. He was neither, and he was slated to be the first man to pilot a moon landing by Deke Slayton before he was killed in the awful Apollo 1 fire, that killed the whole crew during a test on the launching pad.
I did have the opportunity to meet Gordon Cooper on a plane flight about 10 years. He and his wife were sitting across the isle from me on a flight I was lucky enough to get bumped up to first class. I recognized him, but he looked old and frail and his wife helped him to his seat. I was hesitant to approach, because I'm not an in your face type of guy first of all, and didn't want to get kicked back to the back of the plane between 2 fat ass women in row 36E, so I quietly sad hello. He smiled, said hello back, and then I got up the courage to ask him if he was Gordon Cooper. Well, he got this big shit eating grin on his face and told me that I was addressing the one and only. The old ego never went away, and he still liked to talk.
He told me that he really didn't like all these dramatizations and documentaries that really don't get what was happening in the space program, all the politics, internal and external to NASA, and how he got railroaded out of the program because of personality conflicts with Deke Slayton.
Cooper may have been old, but he had a good mind, and wasn't shy about giving me a piece of it. After we had a few drinks together, and his wife scowling at both of us, he went to the restroom, and I asked Mrs. Cooper if I was causing a problem or a distraction. Her answer was basically, no but don't get him too excited. He likes to talk, but he had a weak heart.
I tried to tone things down when when Col. Cooper returned, but he wanted to talk. Apparently not many people recognized him, and he liked talking about his experiences, and we talked for another hour. He was an interesting guy, was a real pioneer, both as a hot shit test pilot and a gutsy astronaut who flew a not too well tested spacecraft and lived to tell of it. Guys like this advanced American technology and allowed us to get to the moon, before the deadline that JFK gave them.
We can no longer put people in space, and have to rely on the Russians, who are not our friends, to get to the space station. We no longer have a space program that has goals, deadlines and objectives to either go back to the moon and establish something bigger, or do an interplanetary mission. NASA is now more about Muslim outreach, and just maintaining what we have up there. Gordon Cooper is turning over in his grave.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
A really bad month
I've been pretty sick this past month. It started with what my doctor thinks was food poisoning, and it went downhill from there. I ended up seriously ill, in the hospital, and I didn't realize just how close I came to cashing it in at the time. Well, after almost a week in the hospital, under the good care of the doctors, nurses, and technicians at Methodist Hospital in Germantown, Tennessee, I was good enough to be released and although weak, just being home made me feel better. My elderly parents insisted that as soon as I was strong enough, they wanted me to travel to their home in northeastern Pennsylvania and recuperate there. So off we went. It was nice spending almost 2 weeks in that part of the world, getting some good food....mostly....I won't get in to the mostly part because I don't need the wrath of mom descending on me.
We went to the Harford Fair, one of the largest country fairs in the state of Pennsylvania, and it was crowded. Good food, interesting exhibits, and fun competitions like tractor pulls made the day worthwhile.
I came home to get some stern warnings from some of the pathology reports. Because I had hepatitis when I was younger, and I've not always treated my liver all that well in the past, I've been told in no uncertain words, never to take an alcoholic drink again. I can do it, but I won't like it. My white blood count is also very low, and one hematologist wants to get a bone marrow sample from me. This is an extremely painful procedure and may not yield any useful information. My PHP told me do not do it. (Next year when I get stuck under ObamaCare, it will probably not even be offered as an option, as it is expensive). That is advice I'm happy to follow.
So folks, I'm back, just feeling old at 56, and still trying to get over this really bad health crisis.
Thanks to my friends for your prayers and good thoughts during my illness, and know I appreciate you all. God bless!
We went to the Harford Fair, one of the largest country fairs in the state of Pennsylvania, and it was crowded. Good food, interesting exhibits, and fun competitions like tractor pulls made the day worthwhile.
I came home to get some stern warnings from some of the pathology reports. Because I had hepatitis when I was younger, and I've not always treated my liver all that well in the past, I've been told in no uncertain words, never to take an alcoholic drink again. I can do it, but I won't like it. My white blood count is also very low, and one hematologist wants to get a bone marrow sample from me. This is an extremely painful procedure and may not yield any useful information. My PHP told me do not do it. (Next year when I get stuck under ObamaCare, it will probably not even be offered as an option, as it is expensive). That is advice I'm happy to follow.
So folks, I'm back, just feeling old at 56, and still trying to get over this really bad health crisis.
Thanks to my friends for your prayers and good thoughts during my illness, and know I appreciate you all. God bless!
Friday, August 30, 2013
TSA and selective use of full body scanners
I've been traveling through a number of airports, both large and small over the past few months, and one thing that is omnipresent are the multitudes of TSA agents, even at the smallest airports. TSA has become an acronym for Thousands Standing Around in many of the small town airports.
One thing I'm beginning to notice is that TSA has removed the full body scan (back scan) machines at some of the small town airports, and restoring the tried and true metal detectors that don't require you to take off everything except shirt, pants and socks. The reason given to me by a TSA employee at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport (AVP) for removing them is that they are needed at larger airports. So, if the back scanners are not needed at AVP, why are they needed anywhere? There are direct flights to Philadelphia, Newark, Chicago-Ohare, Detroit, Atlanta and Charlotte daily from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and passengers are not required to be re-screened upon arrival at the major airport..
Does the Department of Homeland Security think that a potential terrorist would only consider using a major airport to initiate an airborne terrorist attack, and not pay any attention to more lacks security? (although, I tend to think these small town airports do look people over better than my hometown airport of Memphis International Airport)
So here is a suggestion to our friends at TSA, get rid of all the full body scan units, or use them everywhere there is scheduled commercial air service.. The back scan units are intrusive, leave x-ray radiation residue in the bones, that is accumulates and is a potential cancer threat, and now seems the use of these machines depends on your airport of origin.
With the removal of the back scan e-ray machines at secondary airports, the effectiveness of using them at all now approaches zero. Use them everywhere or better yet, get rid of these intrusive monsters.
One thing I'm beginning to notice is that TSA has removed the full body scan (back scan) machines at some of the small town airports, and restoring the tried and true metal detectors that don't require you to take off everything except shirt, pants and socks. The reason given to me by a TSA employee at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport (AVP) for removing them is that they are needed at larger airports. So, if the back scanners are not needed at AVP, why are they needed anywhere? There are direct flights to Philadelphia, Newark, Chicago-Ohare, Detroit, Atlanta and Charlotte daily from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and passengers are not required to be re-screened upon arrival at the major airport..
Does the Department of Homeland Security think that a potential terrorist would only consider using a major airport to initiate an airborne terrorist attack, and not pay any attention to more lacks security? (although, I tend to think these small town airports do look people over better than my hometown airport of Memphis International Airport)
So here is a suggestion to our friends at TSA, get rid of all the full body scan units, or use them everywhere there is scheduled commercial air service.. The back scan units are intrusive, leave x-ray radiation residue in the bones, that is accumulates and is a potential cancer threat, and now seems the use of these machines depends on your airport of origin.
With the removal of the back scan e-ray machines at secondary airports, the effectiveness of using them at all now approaches zero. Use them everywhere or better yet, get rid of these intrusive monsters.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Trust
Trust is not something that is a given thing, but must be earned. Ronald Reagan said about the once defunct Soviet Union, trust but verify. Under Vladimir Putin, an old KGB guy, Russia is not trustworthy once again. Trust is hard to earn, and it has to be earned, not by words, but by deeds.
A good and decent person who I've helped out for the past 11 years, not only with moral support, but monetary support at times told me I'm not trustworthy. It's a dagger in the heart to me. I'm not only sick in my heart, but have lost faith in people I used to think I knew.
I really don't like being like this, but my soul has been shattered. I guess I'll be trustworthy to people who are not afraid to have someone who loves them.
A good and decent person who I've helped out for the past 11 years, not only with moral support, but monetary support at times told me I'm not trustworthy. It's a dagger in the heart to me. I'm not only sick in my heart, but have lost faith in people I used to think I knew.
I really don't like being like this, but my soul has been shattered. I guess I'll be trustworthy to people who are not afraid to have someone who loves them.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Airplane accident
There was a bad airplane crash at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Airliner crashes have become very rare in recent years, largely because pilots are better trained, and modern airplanes have become more, for lack of a better expression, idiot proof.
I don't know what caused the Asiana Boeing 777 to crash short of the runway, and neither do you, or any of the "experts" and no nothings on the cable news channels, but their coverage and speculation is infuriating to me.
The weather at SFO was good, there were no windshear alerts or low visibility issues, yet, a B-777 managed to land well short of the normal touchdown area of runway 28R. From the videos and photos I saw, it hit the ground in the approach chevrons, and most of the wreckage there is the tail section. As an aviation professional, I'd hazard a guess it was a tail strike at a high rate of decent and a high angle of attack. Still I don't know, and the people speculating on CNN and FOX don't know either.
But what really ticked me off was immediately after the crash some reporterette at CNN said that the plane was cartwheeling down the runway. NO it wasn't. The plane is to the left of runway 28L and not far forward of the end of the runway, and nowhere near the touchdown zone that is 1500 feet from the runway end.
The NTSB will eventually determine the cause of this crash, and the authorities need to have long interviews with the Korean crew before they hightail it back to Korea. Covering up airplane accidents is what they do in South Korea, where saving face is more important than saving lives. Talk to these guys now, and do not let them out of the country until at least preliminary results of the crash are known.
In the meantime, you people in the so called news media need to shut up unless you are even remotely educated in the aviation industry.
Updated:
Because I keep hearing "journalists" saying that the airplane cartwheeled. IT DID NOT. Last heavy jet I've seen was the United Airlines Flight 232 Sioux City crash, where they lost almost all their hydraulic systems, and the fact that anyone survived was a miracle.
I don't know what caused the Asiana Boeing 777 to crash short of the runway, and neither do you, or any of the "experts" and no nothings on the cable news channels, but their coverage and speculation is infuriating to me.
The weather at SFO was good, there were no windshear alerts or low visibility issues, yet, a B-777 managed to land well short of the normal touchdown area of runway 28R. From the videos and photos I saw, it hit the ground in the approach chevrons, and most of the wreckage there is the tail section. As an aviation professional, I'd hazard a guess it was a tail strike at a high rate of decent and a high angle of attack. Still I don't know, and the people speculating on CNN and FOX don't know either.
But what really ticked me off was immediately after the crash some reporterette at CNN said that the plane was cartwheeling down the runway. NO it wasn't. The plane is to the left of runway 28L and not far forward of the end of the runway, and nowhere near the touchdown zone that is 1500 feet from the runway end.
The NTSB will eventually determine the cause of this crash, and the authorities need to have long interviews with the Korean crew before they hightail it back to Korea. Covering up airplane accidents is what they do in South Korea, where saving face is more important than saving lives. Talk to these guys now, and do not let them out of the country until at least preliminary results of the crash are known.
In the meantime, you people in the so called news media need to shut up unless you are even remotely educated in the aviation industry.
Updated:
Because I keep hearing "journalists" saying that the airplane cartwheeled. IT DID NOT. Last heavy jet I've seen was the United Airlines Flight 232 Sioux City crash, where they lost almost all their hydraulic systems, and the fact that anyone survived was a miracle.
Friday, July 5, 2013
Travels With Keith
I'm a hard time sleeping tonight. No, not from a guilty conscience but what I call "crazy leg syndrome" when I have a MS attack, and get a lot of twitches and spasms that interfere with sleep in a big way. When this happens, my mind starts thinking, and I got to thinking about an excursion I took when I was in the Philippines, back in the late 1990's.
A couple friends and I hired a car and driver to take us to Baguio and later the Banaue Rice Terraces in northern Luzon. Great places to visit, especially when the heat is on in the rest of the Philippines, being in the mountains meant a bit cooler temperatures.
Coming back to Manila, it was getting to be lunch time, and none of us wanted to stop at a McDonald's or worse yet a Jollibee so our driver searched out a local restaurant he knew of in Tarloc City, best known for the end of the Bataan Death March, but is actually not a bad town. By not a bad town, you have to realize that the Philippines is a relatively poor country and the infrastructure may not be up to the standards of a modern US city, but I bet it is better than any place in Egypt these days.
Well, the driver happened to be from that part of Luzon, and knew a good place to get a good lunch. I would have never found it on my own, or would have stopped there even if I had. It was a simple outdoor terrace with plastic patio tables and chairs, and had a menu only in Tagalog on a blackboard, probably a good sign of fresh food.
The owner saw us there, and came over to the table, apologized for not having an English menu, and went on to explain what she had that was fresh. I had one of the best meals that afternoon I ever had on that trip. The fish was fantastic, fresh, the veggies were good, and the San Miguel Beer tasted better than ever.
When I asked the lady for the check, she said that she will never charge Americans for a meal in her restaurant, because they liberated her and her family from the Japanese during World War II. According to the story she told me, the Japanese made her parents slaves, beating them frequently, and forcing her older sister into prostitution for the Japanese soldiers. To her the Americans were and still are liberators to her.
I insisted on paying, but the nice old lady would not accept anything. Well, before we left, I stuffed 1000 Pesos under the plate (about $20 dollars at the time) under the plate and quietly left after thanking the people for their hospitality.
One thing I've discovered over the years is that some of the kindest and most generous people are those who really do not have all that much themselves.
This is just one reason I'd rather visit places like the Philippines far more than countries where they don't like us, have bad attitudes and snooty unionist attitudes. Yes, Western Europe I'm talking to you.
A couple friends and I hired a car and driver to take us to Baguio and later the Banaue Rice Terraces in northern Luzon. Great places to visit, especially when the heat is on in the rest of the Philippines, being in the mountains meant a bit cooler temperatures.
Coming back to Manila, it was getting to be lunch time, and none of us wanted to stop at a McDonald's or worse yet a Jollibee so our driver searched out a local restaurant he knew of in Tarloc City, best known for the end of the Bataan Death March, but is actually not a bad town. By not a bad town, you have to realize that the Philippines is a relatively poor country and the infrastructure may not be up to the standards of a modern US city, but I bet it is better than any place in Egypt these days.
Well, the driver happened to be from that part of Luzon, and knew a good place to get a good lunch. I would have never found it on my own, or would have stopped there even if I had. It was a simple outdoor terrace with plastic patio tables and chairs, and had a menu only in Tagalog on a blackboard, probably a good sign of fresh food.
The owner saw us there, and came over to the table, apologized for not having an English menu, and went on to explain what she had that was fresh. I had one of the best meals that afternoon I ever had on that trip. The fish was fantastic, fresh, the veggies were good, and the San Miguel Beer tasted better than ever.
When I asked the lady for the check, she said that she will never charge Americans for a meal in her restaurant, because they liberated her and her family from the Japanese during World War II. According to the story she told me, the Japanese made her parents slaves, beating them frequently, and forcing her older sister into prostitution for the Japanese soldiers. To her the Americans were and still are liberators to her.
I insisted on paying, but the nice old lady would not accept anything. Well, before we left, I stuffed 1000 Pesos under the plate (about $20 dollars at the time) under the plate and quietly left after thanking the people for their hospitality.
One thing I've discovered over the years is that some of the kindest and most generous people are those who really do not have all that much themselves.
This is just one reason I'd rather visit places like the Philippines far more than countries where they don't like us, have bad attitudes and snooty unionist attitudes. Yes, Western Europe I'm talking to you.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Happy Independence Day
Happy Independence Day one and all. The United States has been a bless nation for a long time now, and I hope God's blessings continue to shine down on us. But there are many signs of moral decay in our country perpetrated in the name of "fairness", "inclusion", and "rights" that were never imagined by our founding fathers. Abortion on demand, gay marriage, government imposed mandatory schemes like ObamaCare, the current administrations war on Christian religious institutions and their objections to all the above, are not good signs for the long term survival of our republic. Remember, Rome did not lose its empire because they lost military superiority at least initially, they lost it due to decadence and moral decay from within.
We are quickly losing moral high ground both at home and abroad. President Obama has demonstrated weakness in his foreign policy. The Middle East is on fire largely because of his failed policies of encouraging revolutions against traditional allies, as well as enemies. For the 2nd time in 3 years, Egypt has overthrown their government, Libya is a failed state, Syria has a civil war going on now for 2 years, where there is no good guy in the fight. The Libyan fiasco has spilled in to Mali, where Al-Qaeda is trying to overthrow the not so good regime, but much better than the current alternative, and they threaten their neighbors in Niger and Senegal. For a guy with African roots, Obama has done a good job setting the continent on fire, along with much of the Arab middle east.
We have politicians singing the virtues of 3rd trimester abortions, free contraceptives for all, and by free, meaning paid by me and all tax payers. I don't my money going for these things, but I'm being "intolerant" for opposing those things, and so is my church. More cultural rot.
We have under the Obama government, NSA domestic spying at will, the IRS targeting political opponents of the administration, a corrupt Attorney General who gave guns to drug lords in Mexico to somehow propagandize for more gun control in the US, while in Eric Holder's home city of Chicago, they have the most strict gun control laws in the country. And guess what, parts of Chicago are war zones, with the highest number of gun related murders in the country. Congrats, you finally beat out Detroit, DC and Memphis.
So dear reader, although I'm still celebrating our independence, at least for a few more years, unless we turn things around and quickly, this will soon be Government Dependence Day, and the barbarians will once again be at the gate. Sept. 11, 2001 was a wake up call, but it appears many Americans just rolled over and went back to sleep, dreaming of unicorns, free stuff and fairy dust.
In the meantime, anyone in the neighborhood, stop on bye for some BBQ pork shoulder, ribs, brisket and Samuel Adams Beer. We all need another Samuel Adams today
We are quickly losing moral high ground both at home and abroad. President Obama has demonstrated weakness in his foreign policy. The Middle East is on fire largely because of his failed policies of encouraging revolutions against traditional allies, as well as enemies. For the 2nd time in 3 years, Egypt has overthrown their government, Libya is a failed state, Syria has a civil war going on now for 2 years, where there is no good guy in the fight. The Libyan fiasco has spilled in to Mali, where Al-Qaeda is trying to overthrow the not so good regime, but much better than the current alternative, and they threaten their neighbors in Niger and Senegal. For a guy with African roots, Obama has done a good job setting the continent on fire, along with much of the Arab middle east.
We have politicians singing the virtues of 3rd trimester abortions, free contraceptives for all, and by free, meaning paid by me and all tax payers. I don't my money going for these things, but I'm being "intolerant" for opposing those things, and so is my church. More cultural rot.
We have under the Obama government, NSA domestic spying at will, the IRS targeting political opponents of the administration, a corrupt Attorney General who gave guns to drug lords in Mexico to somehow propagandize for more gun control in the US, while in Eric Holder's home city of Chicago, they have the most strict gun control laws in the country. And guess what, parts of Chicago are war zones, with the highest number of gun related murders in the country. Congrats, you finally beat out Detroit, DC and Memphis.
So dear reader, although I'm still celebrating our independence, at least for a few more years, unless we turn things around and quickly, this will soon be Government Dependence Day, and the barbarians will once again be at the gate. Sept. 11, 2001 was a wake up call, but it appears many Americans just rolled over and went back to sleep, dreaming of unicorns, free stuff and fairy dust.
In the meantime, anyone in the neighborhood, stop on bye for some BBQ pork shoulder, ribs, brisket and Samuel Adams Beer. We all need another Samuel Adams today
Sunday, June 30, 2013
The Nobel Peace Prize, A Legacy Of Dictators, Frauds and Liars
I was perusing Hotair.com today and was checking out the headlines, and saw this little piece from a British leftist at The Guardian, who thinks Bradley Manning should get the Nobel Peace Prize. At first my eyes rolled, then on second thought, why not. He'll be in good company. The Nobel Peace Prize has been a bad joke for years, awarded to dictators, terrorists, frauds, and pretty much anyone who represents anything that opposes America and American power. I'm not sure how Albert Nobel would like some of the people who have been given this award in his name.
So let have a look at a few prize winners over the past few decades, shall we?
2012 - The European Union
Wow, oh wow, they have done so much to promote world piece. Let me count how many things they have done to reduce tensions and make the world a safer place? Hmmmm....well they supported getting rid of Khadafy in Libya, and you know how that worked out. It's a thriving democratic society now...oops, not so much. It's a failed state that Al Qaeda has pretty much overrun, and taken their jihad to neighboring Mali and Niger and threatens Senegal. Way to go EU! And President Obama is on the hook for this particular act of peace.
2009 - Barack Obama
Received the prize for doing nothing other than not being George W. Bush. How did this work out for you Nobel Committee? Your guy went on an unauthorized war against a country that had been working with us to contain Al Qaeda terrorism during the Bush administration, and unleashed hell on Libya and neighboring Mali and Niger. Launches countless drone attacks on out supposed ally Pakistan as well as Afghanistan, and killed many people who were not terrorists, just collateral damage, and threatens more of the same in Syria. Obama forced out the dictators of Tunisia and Egypt, who were allies of the US and maintained stability in the region, and they were quickly replaced with revolutionary Islamic regimes who are hostile to the west and promote worldwide jihad against non Muslims. Arab Spring came compliments of a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Well done.
2007 - Al Gore and the IPPC
Yet another poke in the eye to George W. Bush, and an award to total fraud and hypocrite. The climate change models that Gore and his buddies at the IPPC have been largely discredited. There has been no rise in global temperature for over 15 years, the seas are not rising, and there is no impending doom from carbon dioxide. Still the "progressives" and statists around the world want to impose penalties on countries who have successful states, produce useful products and agriculture and give us all a global carbon tax, to "save the world". Gore is a billionaire, both from the family fortune, decades in government, and his carbon offset business, where he sells indulgences to people who are guilty about their carbon footprint. He's a fraud, and so is the IPPC, but they fit right in with the Euroweenies who think they are just wonderful.
2005 - Mohamed ElBaradie
I can sum this fraud up in one quick sentence. Iran Nuclear Program. Well done dude. We are a lot safer because you stopped the mullahs from pursuing nuclear weapons. Oh wait, that did not happen. But he meant well, so I guess that is important to Norwegians.
2002 - Jimmy Carter
Wins the prize for not being George W. Bush. Yet another slap in the face to the American people by giving this prize to an anti-semite and washed up loser.
2001 - Kofi Annan and the United Nations
Really? An organization that is full of dictatorships, thug dictators, and has 2 basic goals, condemning Israel and diminishing American power wins this esteemed award. Well done Euroweenies.
1994 - Yasser Arafat
Nothing screams peace more than this now deceased terrorist who walked away from a peace agreement with Israel that would have given him and his people a state, because he and his people do not want peace, until all the Jews in the world are dead. Another worthy award winner.
1990 - Mikhail Gorbachev
Yay!!!! A communist who ruled the Soviet Union and it's satellite states with an iron fist suddenly became a democrat and liberated all the people of the former USSR and Eastern Europe, just out of the goodness of his heart. Of Course, Ronald Reagan standing up to the Evil Empire and bankrupting them with large defense spending and the SDI had absolutely nothing to do with the demise of communism in Europe. Well, I speak too soon, it seems the Europeans really do like socialism and big government, so maybe Gorby was right. Still this was yet another slap in the face to the USA.
I could go on but you get the picture. There are many other frauds, communists, and sell-outs in this bunch. As a parting shot I'll give you this
1973 - Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho
They brought peace to Vietnam, didn't they? Ummm not quite. They negotiated a deal where the US would leave, and the communist North Vietnam would invade in a year and take over the entire country, killing hundreds of thousands and sending more to "reeducation camps". But the Euroweenies loved it and gave these guys the European version of an Oscar.
This award is a parody unto itself, and should never be taken seriously, but the mainstream media treats this like it is defining annual moment of peace makers of the year.
So let have a look at a few prize winners over the past few decades, shall we?
2012 - The European Union
Wow, oh wow, they have done so much to promote world piece. Let me count how many things they have done to reduce tensions and make the world a safer place? Hmmmm....well they supported getting rid of Khadafy in Libya, and you know how that worked out. It's a thriving democratic society now...oops, not so much. It's a failed state that Al Qaeda has pretty much overrun, and taken their jihad to neighboring Mali and Niger and threatens Senegal. Way to go EU! And President Obama is on the hook for this particular act of peace.
2009 - Barack Obama
Received the prize for doing nothing other than not being George W. Bush. How did this work out for you Nobel Committee? Your guy went on an unauthorized war against a country that had been working with us to contain Al Qaeda terrorism during the Bush administration, and unleashed hell on Libya and neighboring Mali and Niger. Launches countless drone attacks on out supposed ally Pakistan as well as Afghanistan, and killed many people who were not terrorists, just collateral damage, and threatens more of the same in Syria. Obama forced out the dictators of Tunisia and Egypt, who were allies of the US and maintained stability in the region, and they were quickly replaced with revolutionary Islamic regimes who are hostile to the west and promote worldwide jihad against non Muslims. Arab Spring came compliments of a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Well done.
2007 - Al Gore and the IPPC
Yet another poke in the eye to George W. Bush, and an award to total fraud and hypocrite. The climate change models that Gore and his buddies at the IPPC have been largely discredited. There has been no rise in global temperature for over 15 years, the seas are not rising, and there is no impending doom from carbon dioxide. Still the "progressives" and statists around the world want to impose penalties on countries who have successful states, produce useful products and agriculture and give us all a global carbon tax, to "save the world". Gore is a billionaire, both from the family fortune, decades in government, and his carbon offset business, where he sells indulgences to people who are guilty about their carbon footprint. He's a fraud, and so is the IPPC, but they fit right in with the Euroweenies who think they are just wonderful.
2005 - Mohamed ElBaradie
I can sum this fraud up in one quick sentence. Iran Nuclear Program. Well done dude. We are a lot safer because you stopped the mullahs from pursuing nuclear weapons. Oh wait, that did not happen. But he meant well, so I guess that is important to Norwegians.
2002 - Jimmy Carter
Wins the prize for not being George W. Bush. Yet another slap in the face to the American people by giving this prize to an anti-semite and washed up loser.
2001 - Kofi Annan and the United Nations
Really? An organization that is full of dictatorships, thug dictators, and has 2 basic goals, condemning Israel and diminishing American power wins this esteemed award. Well done Euroweenies.
1994 - Yasser Arafat
Nothing screams peace more than this now deceased terrorist who walked away from a peace agreement with Israel that would have given him and his people a state, because he and his people do not want peace, until all the Jews in the world are dead. Another worthy award winner.
1990 - Mikhail Gorbachev
Yay!!!! A communist who ruled the Soviet Union and it's satellite states with an iron fist suddenly became a democrat and liberated all the people of the former USSR and Eastern Europe, just out of the goodness of his heart. Of Course, Ronald Reagan standing up to the Evil Empire and bankrupting them with large defense spending and the SDI had absolutely nothing to do with the demise of communism in Europe. Well, I speak too soon, it seems the Europeans really do like socialism and big government, so maybe Gorby was right. Still this was yet another slap in the face to the USA.
I could go on but you get the picture. There are many other frauds, communists, and sell-outs in this bunch. As a parting shot I'll give you this
1973 - Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho
They brought peace to Vietnam, didn't they? Ummm not quite. They negotiated a deal where the US would leave, and the communist North Vietnam would invade in a year and take over the entire country, killing hundreds of thousands and sending more to "reeducation camps". But the Euroweenies loved it and gave these guys the European version of an Oscar.
This award is a parody unto itself, and should never be taken seriously, but the mainstream media treats this like it is defining annual moment of peace makers of the year.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
TSA's Double Standards
This past week I flew out of Memphis International Airport and had to strip down to my pants and shirt for the full body x-ray scan, and then a groping because my right ankle has pins in it that go back to an athletic injury when I was 17 years old. I've never been happy with this, but grudgingly have come to live with it, as a frequent traveler. I'm not sure it has stopped or ever will stop a terrorist attack on an airplane, as I've always been a fan of the Israeli model of (the horrors) profiling of potential terrorists. But in our current politically correct environment, it is not going to happen until there is a nuclear or chemical attack on the US.
But I digress......
Today I was also going through TSA screening at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport (AVP), whose name is bigger than the airport. TSA at AVP lost their full body scanner to a larger airport that needed it, supposedly because of sequester, and I was "forced" to walk through just a plain old metal detector that I've been dealing with all my flying life. My checked bag was searched by hand and the poor bastard got to see my dirty undies. I did not get patted down, and it seemed like the good old days before some TSA person got his/her jollies comparing penis and breast sizes from the x-ray photos.
Ok, I'm making fun of those hard working unionized government "workers" who spent hours standing around waiting for a flight to depart or arrive, but there is a bigger issue here.
If these full body scanners are supposed to be the end all, be all of airport security, why has a small town airport like AVP lost theirs. All terrorists need to know if they have something that can get through the metal detector in podunk USA, they can board a major airline flight and reek havoc at their next stop.
The real problem is that the full body scanners have not done a damn thing to make our country more secure, and just hassles legitimate travelers. So business travelers, if you want to avoid long lines in the northeast airports with the intrusive searches, try some places that don't have them anymore like Scranton, Binghamton, and Ithaca.
And don't worry about ethnic profiling in those places, the Dagos, Micks, and Pollacks ain't gonna put up with a raghead showing up in their airport without a cavity search. No scanner needed.
But I digress......
Today I was also going through TSA screening at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport (AVP), whose name is bigger than the airport. TSA at AVP lost their full body scanner to a larger airport that needed it, supposedly because of sequester, and I was "forced" to walk through just a plain old metal detector that I've been dealing with all my flying life. My checked bag was searched by hand and the poor bastard got to see my dirty undies. I did not get patted down, and it seemed like the good old days before some TSA person got his/her jollies comparing penis and breast sizes from the x-ray photos.
Ok, I'm making fun of those hard working unionized government "workers" who spent hours standing around waiting for a flight to depart or arrive, but there is a bigger issue here.
If these full body scanners are supposed to be the end all, be all of airport security, why has a small town airport like AVP lost theirs. All terrorists need to know if they have something that can get through the metal detector in podunk USA, they can board a major airline flight and reek havoc at their next stop.
The real problem is that the full body scanners have not done a damn thing to make our country more secure, and just hassles legitimate travelers. So business travelers, if you want to avoid long lines in the northeast airports with the intrusive searches, try some places that don't have them anymore like Scranton, Binghamton, and Ithaca.
And don't worry about ethnic profiling in those places, the Dagos, Micks, and Pollacks ain't gonna put up with a raghead showing up in their airport without a cavity search. No scanner needed.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Being a conservative in the twitter world
Most people who know me, understand that I'm a Christian conservative. I don't tend to bad mouth people or bring up their family heritage when we have disagreements. Apparently a twitter link set off a some trip cord that just brought all the leftist west coast "friends" out to have their say.
Bryan Y @technor
@Keith_Martin2 You're an idiot. The sequestration happened because of GOP obstructionism in congress. It was a self-inflicted wound.
@Keith_Martin2 You are a terrible person.
Bryan Y
Was kind enough to reinforce what I know. Yes I'm an idiot. I'm an aerospace engineer who has worked in the flight simulation industry for over 3o years. But yes, Obama's original proposal for sequestation got acted on by the Republicans, passed the Democrat controlled Senate and Signed by Obama is a GP problem. Thanks foe helping with that.
Yes, I am a terrible person. Thanks for point that out. How many old ladies did you push in front of a car today? I never had an interaction with Phil before, but he seems to be a good judge of character. Phil, have you ever worked in the public sector or been in the military, or just because you are a union thug, you can judge people?
I could go on with this. but it is pointless. The ever so tolerant left is nothing more than 2013 brown shirts who just want to shut down anyone who disagrees with them.
Marx, Lenin and Mao are not dead, they just hide in our political system as people who want to purseu their agenda, "For the Children (tm)".
Bring it on twitter fans, I'm happy to hear from all of you.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Who is Edward Snowden?
Who is Edward Snowden? I have no idea, and the media and bloggers don't seem all that interested. All I know is he was a data analyst contracting at the NSA. He was only in his current job for 3 months, and dumped the data he had access to and promptly fled to Hong Kong. Hong Kong is "Special Administrative Region" of China, meaning a place where Beijing pulls all the puppet strings. He has since disappeared, not likely without the secret police knowing his whereabouts. So where is he, and who has him now? I have no idea, and neither do you, and nobody seems to care too much.
Today I'm seeing people calling Snowden a hero or a traitor, but they are missing the bigger question. Who the hell is this guy? How did he get a crypto clearance as a contractor, and where did he get this clearance before working at his last job at the NSA? This sort of clearance takes upwards of a year to receive, if you get one at all from the DoD. They don't just hand these out. I have a clearance that is somewhat lower than the one to deal with NSA data and it took 9 months, so he must have been employed by the DoD or CIA in some way prior to his last assignment. Why are no journalists looking in to this guys background? This is a big deal, and nobody seems to care.
Next question, is why did Snowden chose Hong Kong for refuge? This is not exactly the bastion of free speech and democracy. I don't know and apparently the media doesn't seem to care enough to pursue that question too much. There are many other countries closer to home that do not have extradition treaties with the United Stated and are far less hostile to us where he could have taken flight. Is he a Chinese agent? Is he hoping to get the big bucks for turning over information to the Chinese? Still nobody knows.
So now Snowden has turned up missing in Hong Kong. A high level visitor, and he could not make a move there without the secret police knowing his whereabouts. So, where is he and who has him? These are things the media ought to be pursuing rather than trying to pass judgement on the guy before all the facts are known.
This is indeed a strange story, but the real questions are not being asked.
Update: After reading his interview at the South China Daily Post I'm thinking that Snowden is a bullshitter. He wasn't at the NSA to get the data he claims he has, unless he is a hacking genius, and he is talking too much to the press without revealing anything. Ok he is in hiding supposedly. Are the ChiComs protecting him or laughing at him? A contractor just does not get access to data that Snowden claims he has after just 3 months, or at least is did not used to be that way.
It will be interesting to see when the US sues in Hong Kong for his extradition, and the Chinese response.
If he ends up in China he will be a useful idiot for awhile and then sent to the rice fields of Harbin province to feed the rural peasants or more likely managing an Apple manufacturing facility.
Today I'm seeing people calling Snowden a hero or a traitor, but they are missing the bigger question. Who the hell is this guy? How did he get a crypto clearance as a contractor, and where did he get this clearance before working at his last job at the NSA? This sort of clearance takes upwards of a year to receive, if you get one at all from the DoD. They don't just hand these out. I have a clearance that is somewhat lower than the one to deal with NSA data and it took 9 months, so he must have been employed by the DoD or CIA in some way prior to his last assignment. Why are no journalists looking in to this guys background? This is a big deal, and nobody seems to care.
Next question, is why did Snowden chose Hong Kong for refuge? This is not exactly the bastion of free speech and democracy. I don't know and apparently the media doesn't seem to care enough to pursue that question too much. There are many other countries closer to home that do not have extradition treaties with the United Stated and are far less hostile to us where he could have taken flight. Is he a Chinese agent? Is he hoping to get the big bucks for turning over information to the Chinese? Still nobody knows.
So now Snowden has turned up missing in Hong Kong. A high level visitor, and he could not make a move there without the secret police knowing his whereabouts. So, where is he and who has him? These are things the media ought to be pursuing rather than trying to pass judgement on the guy before all the facts are known.
This is indeed a strange story, but the real questions are not being asked.
Update: After reading his interview at the South China Daily Post I'm thinking that Snowden is a bullshitter. He wasn't at the NSA to get the data he claims he has, unless he is a hacking genius, and he is talking too much to the press without revealing anything. Ok he is in hiding supposedly. Are the ChiComs protecting him or laughing at him? A contractor just does not get access to data that Snowden claims he has after just 3 months, or at least is did not used to be that way.
It will be interesting to see when the US sues in Hong Kong for his extradition, and the Chinese response.
If he ends up in China he will be a useful idiot for awhile and then sent to the rice fields of Harbin province to feed the rural peasants or more likely managing an Apple manufacturing facility.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
The Castle
I was doing a bit of late night trolling for a good movie to watch on Netflix last night, and came upon a movie I remember seeing years ago, but has long dropped off the DVD sales or rentals. "The Castle" is a funny and clever independent Australian film from 1997 with a cast of people most of us never heard of yet all turn in good performances.
It's the story of a family who lives in a small subdivision "conveniently" located at the end of a runway at Melbourne International Airport. The land is not worth much, and the houses are.....well lets just say not castles. The local council has decided to declare eminent domain and pay off the owners what it considers reasonable property value and sell off the land to a developer who wants to put up a commercial business that would be tied to the airport.
Most normal people would have quietly taken the offer and accepted the offer. But the politicians, and the corporation that wanted the land never met Darryl Kerrigan. What followed was a man who fought all the legal battles, often with poor legal consul against both the government and a thuggish company.
Darryl and his family are not the brightest people in the world, but are decent people who just want to stay put, and they are also a good loving family who care about each other, even the son who is in prison for doing something stupid, and didn't have good legal consul.
On the Ed Morrissey scale, I'd give this a solid 4. Rent it or watch it on Netflix streaming video. There is currently no DVD available.
On a slightly more serious note. Back in the mid 1980's I purchased a small condominium in the far northern city of Queensland city of Cairns. It is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, and a nice city. At the time there was an ordinance against high rise buildings, a wise thing. There really is not a good beach there, and you have to drive an hour north to Port Douglas to get to a really nice beach.
A thousand miles south of Cairns is an area south of Brisbane called Surfer's Paradise that was ruined, in my opinion by high rise hotels and condos that totally blocked out the sun on a very nice beach in the afternoon, and Cairns wanted nothing of that....for a while.
Well, as usual, money talks. The Nikko Hotel chain of Japan wanted the piece of land where my very nice condo complex in Cairns was located, and paid off enough of the people on the local council to get the property condemned. Most owners were people from out of state and had their condos either as vacation properties or mike me used it for investment properties. We were offered pennies against the dollar for the value of the property, and told that is what the condos were worth. This was not an old run down property and was only 10 years old at then time and well maintained. The condo association tried to fight it in court, after trying to get our properties reassessed, but Nikko had better lawyers and politicians in their pockets. Of course few of us were permanent residents of Queensland, let alone Cairns, so the local politicians didn't give a damn about us.
We eventually settled for substantially more money after a protracted legal battle, but still we all lost money.
Two years later I got a letter from my former next door neighbor who's home is in suburban Melbourne, not at the end of a runway at Tullamarine Airport though, and said what was left of the condo complex was a big pit with concrete and rebar in it and that the hotel developers went bankrupt. Also 2 of the councilmen got indicted for taking bribes and had trials coming up, on something unrelated to this development.
I'm not a vindictive person, but that certainly brought a smile to my face.
It's the story of a family who lives in a small subdivision "conveniently" located at the end of a runway at Melbourne International Airport. The land is not worth much, and the houses are.....well lets just say not castles. The local council has decided to declare eminent domain and pay off the owners what it considers reasonable property value and sell off the land to a developer who wants to put up a commercial business that would be tied to the airport.
Most normal people would have quietly taken the offer and accepted the offer. But the politicians, and the corporation that wanted the land never met Darryl Kerrigan. What followed was a man who fought all the legal battles, often with poor legal consul against both the government and a thuggish company.
Darryl and his family are not the brightest people in the world, but are decent people who just want to stay put, and they are also a good loving family who care about each other, even the son who is in prison for doing something stupid, and didn't have good legal consul.
On the Ed Morrissey scale, I'd give this a solid 4. Rent it or watch it on Netflix streaming video. There is currently no DVD available.
On a slightly more serious note. Back in the mid 1980's I purchased a small condominium in the far northern city of Queensland city of Cairns. It is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, and a nice city. At the time there was an ordinance against high rise buildings, a wise thing. There really is not a good beach there, and you have to drive an hour north to Port Douglas to get to a really nice beach.
A thousand miles south of Cairns is an area south of Brisbane called Surfer's Paradise that was ruined, in my opinion by high rise hotels and condos that totally blocked out the sun on a very nice beach in the afternoon, and Cairns wanted nothing of that....for a while.
Well, as usual, money talks. The Nikko Hotel chain of Japan wanted the piece of land where my very nice condo complex in Cairns was located, and paid off enough of the people on the local council to get the property condemned. Most owners were people from out of state and had their condos either as vacation properties or mike me used it for investment properties. We were offered pennies against the dollar for the value of the property, and told that is what the condos were worth. This was not an old run down property and was only 10 years old at then time and well maintained. The condo association tried to fight it in court, after trying to get our properties reassessed, but Nikko had better lawyers and politicians in their pockets. Of course few of us were permanent residents of Queensland, let alone Cairns, so the local politicians didn't give a damn about us.
We eventually settled for substantially more money after a protracted legal battle, but still we all lost money.
Two years later I got a letter from my former next door neighbor who's home is in suburban Melbourne, not at the end of a runway at Tullamarine Airport though, and said what was left of the condo complex was a big pit with concrete and rebar in it and that the hotel developers went bankrupt. Also 2 of the councilmen got indicted for taking bribes and had trials coming up, on something unrelated to this development.
I'm not a vindictive person, but that certainly brought a smile to my face.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Growing old and dealing with aging parents
My 56th birthday is next week and good friends are taking me out to see the Triple A Redbirds play at AutoZone Park, arguably the best baseball stadium in the minor leagues. I know it will be a good time. But growing older has me thinking more and more about my mortality.
My 83 year old dad does a "Meals On Wheels' run every Thursday in a town near him home in suburban Scranton. Many of these people really need this service, but a few of his "Customers" are just lazy welfare people supposedly recovering from some sort of addiction, or a bad marriage, or has a herd of kids. Still most appreciate dad and let me know it when I helped him with his route this past week.
I know, I know, you want me to get to my point. Patience grasshopper. There is more.
My youngest nephew, Ben, graduated from Shippensberg University with a perfect 4.0 GPA over 4 years and was top of his class. I'm so proud of him.
That is not necessarily off topic, but let me continue. The day before we had drive from my parents home in a Scranton suburb (which is much nicer than Scranton), there was a huge wreck on I-81 at a major interchange in Harrisburg and all traffic got diverted to another route. Driving through there was awful. It only took a little under 2 hours to get to Harrisburg, but took almost almost 4 hours to get around the mess. Dad insisted on driving, although I implored him to let me drive. Neither of us see well. I'm blind in one eye, from an old accident and dad just has old age issues with vision. Well we survived the mess. Got to out motel in Carlisle, met one of my nephews and brother for dinner at my parents favorite crappy chain restaurant Cracker Barrel. I personally hate these places and think they have lousy food and service, but mom and dad like it.
It poured all night, and my brother called me up early Saturday morning to tell me that the graduation was moved indoors to the field house and the M-Z's were going to be at 3PM. Dad's idea of driving home on Saturday were shattered.
We all had a nice time, Ben got his degree and his honors, and we all had a nice dinner in a very good restaurant.
Here's where it gets serious. From what I observed, Dad has early Alzheimers onset. When not engaging with people, he hums, and hums loudly. He hummed at the graduation, hums at church in the middle of prayers and the sermon. Mom is no help. She just shrugs it off, but every person from my grandmother's side of the family who lived into their 80's had dementia. I may very well fall in that category someday. Dad certainly is in early stages, though very aware of everything once you speak to him.
My problem here is how do I get my mom to understand or at least acknowledge that there is a problem? And he really should not be driving anymore.
I know that the day is coming and soon I'm afraid where I'm going to have to put my parents in assisted living, and they will hate me for it. Being the good son sometimes means doing things that may get you cut out of the will.
My 83 year old dad does a "Meals On Wheels' run every Thursday in a town near him home in suburban Scranton. Many of these people really need this service, but a few of his "Customers" are just lazy welfare people supposedly recovering from some sort of addiction, or a bad marriage, or has a herd of kids. Still most appreciate dad and let me know it when I helped him with his route this past week.
I know, I know, you want me to get to my point. Patience grasshopper. There is more.
My youngest nephew, Ben, graduated from Shippensberg University with a perfect 4.0 GPA over 4 years and was top of his class. I'm so proud of him.
That is not necessarily off topic, but let me continue. The day before we had drive from my parents home in a Scranton suburb (which is much nicer than Scranton), there was a huge wreck on I-81 at a major interchange in Harrisburg and all traffic got diverted to another route. Driving through there was awful. It only took a little under 2 hours to get to Harrisburg, but took almost almost 4 hours to get around the mess. Dad insisted on driving, although I implored him to let me drive. Neither of us see well. I'm blind in one eye, from an old accident and dad just has old age issues with vision. Well we survived the mess. Got to out motel in Carlisle, met one of my nephews and brother for dinner at my parents favorite crappy chain restaurant Cracker Barrel. I personally hate these places and think they have lousy food and service, but mom and dad like it.
It poured all night, and my brother called me up early Saturday morning to tell me that the graduation was moved indoors to the field house and the M-Z's were going to be at 3PM. Dad's idea of driving home on Saturday were shattered.
We all had a nice time, Ben got his degree and his honors, and we all had a nice dinner in a very good restaurant.
Here's where it gets serious. From what I observed, Dad has early Alzheimers onset. When not engaging with people, he hums, and hums loudly. He hummed at the graduation, hums at church in the middle of prayers and the sermon. Mom is no help. She just shrugs it off, but every person from my grandmother's side of the family who lived into their 80's had dementia. I may very well fall in that category someday. Dad certainly is in early stages, though very aware of everything once you speak to him.
My problem here is how do I get my mom to understand or at least acknowledge that there is a problem? And he really should not be driving anymore.
I know that the day is coming and soon I'm afraid where I'm going to have to put my parents in assisted living, and they will hate me for it. Being the good son sometimes means doing things that may get you cut out of the will.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Why does everyone hate America, and why should I care?
My friend Ron, who is a Filipino, has been working in Singapore for
the last few years and likes his job. He has to endure this lunchtime
"conversation" with his colleagues every Wednesday though, and is
requires to participate. Usually he endures through the ordeal where the
boss starts conversations very Piers Morgan style, about what is wrong with the
West. Last week it changed a bit, the topic was, "Why does the world
hate the United States of
America".
Ron is not only pro-American but had the guts to tell this group who were overly in the "America is the cause of all the ills in the world" opinion. He cited how the US never colonized a country for gain, although they were in the Philippines for 50 years. President McKinley did not want to have foreign colonies, like Spain maintained, but perhaps knew if we just let the go they would be swallowed up by the Dutch or the Chinese. And we fought a short war against their nationalists, and more so Islamists, General Pershing knew how deal with Islamists in a way we can not do these days. I personally don't give a damn if they love us or hate us. We are not a superpower because everyone loves us.
Getting back to the topic, he cited how the US took basically a slave culture under the Spanish, who kept them impoverished and uneducated and introduced public education, English as a second language and brought tons of industry to the Philippines. We also introduced democratic institutions there and established self rule on all but foreign affairs. This is now what imperialists do. Total independence was scheduled for 1946. WWII got in the way and the Japanese had different ideas. We Americans sacrificed many lives liberating the Philippines, and much of the pacific islands, and do not have an empire to show for it. We do however have the largest overseas cemetery and it is in Manila. In 1946 they became an independent republic. They haven’t done all that well since independence and the Marcos regime chased a lot of business out of that country.
Well after Marcos was overthrown the incoming governments courted foreign investment and a commercial trade zone at Subic Bay was established, and FedEx went in there in a big way. Well, they had elections, like all democratic republics, and the people elected what is best described as the Bruce Willis of the Philippines. Joseph Estrada is an uneducated actor but was able to buy an election based on his popularity. First thing he did was fire the administrator of the Clark and Subic Bay free trade zones and replace them with cronies, and their job was to shake down foreigners. Bad decision, Erap. Don’t fuck with Fred Smith. FedEx called his bluff, built a new Asian hub in Guangzhou China and left the Philippines.
This gets me back to the original topic. “Why does the world hate America?”
Ron talked about the American history in the Philippines and basically told his colleagues that the US is not the problem, and it is mostly envy.
He did not get a warm reception on his comments, and got called into his bosses office and was told to write a letter of apology for offending his colleagues.
Singapore is not the USA, and thank god we are not them yet. But with political correctness run amok we may not be too far from that.
Ron is not only pro-American but had the guts to tell this group who were overly in the "America is the cause of all the ills in the world" opinion. He cited how the US never colonized a country for gain, although they were in the Philippines for 50 years. President McKinley did not want to have foreign colonies, like Spain maintained, but perhaps knew if we just let the go they would be swallowed up by the Dutch or the Chinese. And we fought a short war against their nationalists, and more so Islamists, General Pershing knew how deal with Islamists in a way we can not do these days. I personally don't give a damn if they love us or hate us. We are not a superpower because everyone loves us.
Getting back to the topic, he cited how the US took basically a slave culture under the Spanish, who kept them impoverished and uneducated and introduced public education, English as a second language and brought tons of industry to the Philippines. We also introduced democratic institutions there and established self rule on all but foreign affairs. This is now what imperialists do. Total independence was scheduled for 1946. WWII got in the way and the Japanese had different ideas. We Americans sacrificed many lives liberating the Philippines, and much of the pacific islands, and do not have an empire to show for it. We do however have the largest overseas cemetery and it is in Manila. In 1946 they became an independent republic. They haven’t done all that well since independence and the Marcos regime chased a lot of business out of that country.
Well after Marcos was overthrown the incoming governments courted foreign investment and a commercial trade zone at Subic Bay was established, and FedEx went in there in a big way. Well, they had elections, like all democratic republics, and the people elected what is best described as the Bruce Willis of the Philippines. Joseph Estrada is an uneducated actor but was able to buy an election based on his popularity. First thing he did was fire the administrator of the Clark and Subic Bay free trade zones and replace them with cronies, and their job was to shake down foreigners. Bad decision, Erap. Don’t fuck with Fred Smith. FedEx called his bluff, built a new Asian hub in Guangzhou China and left the Philippines.
This gets me back to the original topic. “Why does the world hate America?”
Ron talked about the American history in the Philippines and basically told his colleagues that the US is not the problem, and it is mostly envy.
He did not get a warm reception on his comments, and got called into his bosses office and was told to write a letter of apology for offending his colleagues.
Singapore is not the USA, and thank god we are not them yet. But with political correctness run amok we may not be too far from that.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
The Stupidity of Earth Hour
I was talking to my good friend Ron this evening, who has been visiting his hometown in northern Mindanao, Philippines. Iligan is a small city, not a rich place by any means, but has a good university. Ron lives and works now in Singapore, not too far by air, but a million miles away in many ways.
He mentioned how the city had daily black outs of electricity because of decaying infrastructure and an increasing demand on electrical power. Since Earth Hour is upon us, it really seemed ironic. Here we are in a country that still has abundant energy resources, that the green weenies and the current Obama regime want to suppress, the Philippines is a poor 3rd world country that would love not to have imposed blackouts because they have no infrastructure that they can maintain.
Ron is now back in Singapore, a place that was a 3rd world backwater as recently as the late 1960's that got kicked out of the Federation of Malaysia, because it was a drain on their economy and is an economic powerhouse now, outshining all its neighbors. I doubt the people there, especially from the generation of Lee Kwan Yoo's generation want to celebrate Earth Hour.
It's easy for liberals and green weenie activists who have never lived in a 3rd world country to celebrate Earth Hour. Most have never had to endure in a country with no electricity, heat, air conditioning or food. Earth Hour is a daily celebration is North Korea, Laos, Burma, and most of Africa.
Go there and ask them how they like Earth Hour
He mentioned how the city had daily black outs of electricity because of decaying infrastructure and an increasing demand on electrical power. Since Earth Hour is upon us, it really seemed ironic. Here we are in a country that still has abundant energy resources, that the green weenies and the current Obama regime want to suppress, the Philippines is a poor 3rd world country that would love not to have imposed blackouts because they have no infrastructure that they can maintain.
Ron is now back in Singapore, a place that was a 3rd world backwater as recently as the late 1960's that got kicked out of the Federation of Malaysia, because it was a drain on their economy and is an economic powerhouse now, outshining all its neighbors. I doubt the people there, especially from the generation of Lee Kwan Yoo's generation want to celebrate Earth Hour.
It's easy for liberals and green weenie activists who have never lived in a 3rd world country to celebrate Earth Hour. Most have never had to endure in a country with no electricity, heat, air conditioning or food. Earth Hour is a daily celebration is North Korea, Laos, Burma, and most of Africa.
Go there and ask them how they like Earth Hour
Friday, March 22, 2013
ObamaCare and its consequences
I had an appointment with my neurologist who has been treating my multiple sclerosis problem for the past several years. He informed me that he is closing down his practice and moving back to India. I was unpleasantly surprised to hear this news. His reasoning is all the coming ObamaCare regulations and rules, makes his practice untenable and he'd be much better just closing up shop. He moved here from Montreal a long time ago, just for the same reasons that he is moving back to India, bureaucrats telling him he can treat his patients, what treatments to give them, and reduced income. He told me he can open up a practice in Hydrabad, his home town, not make half what he makes here, and still live like a king.
I really can't blame the guy. He has options, and is taking them. He is not alone. Many physicians are planning to retire early and give up their practice rather than submit to a federal government scheme that is guaranteed to raise costs for everyone, and restrict doctors more than anything that private insurance companies are doing now.
Fortunately my current neurologist is making sure all his patients are matched with competent doctors after he shuts down his practice later this year. Still my story is just one of many. It's going to get a lot worse once ObamaCare gets fully implemented next year. We are heading down the road to perdition, and Obama and the Democrats are pushing to hurry that process.
My exit question: Who will the low information voters blame once their health costs double or triple, their ObamaPhone stops working and the EBT card dries up?
I doubt they even heard of Cyprus, let alone know what is going on there now. We are going down that same "golden road to socialism".
I really can't blame the guy. He has options, and is taking them. He is not alone. Many physicians are planning to retire early and give up their practice rather than submit to a federal government scheme that is guaranteed to raise costs for everyone, and restrict doctors more than anything that private insurance companies are doing now.
Fortunately my current neurologist is making sure all his patients are matched with competent doctors after he shuts down his practice later this year. Still my story is just one of many. It's going to get a lot worse once ObamaCare gets fully implemented next year. We are heading down the road to perdition, and Obama and the Democrats are pushing to hurry that process.
My exit question: Who will the low information voters blame once their health costs double or triple, their ObamaPhone stops working and the EBT card dries up?
I doubt they even heard of Cyprus, let alone know what is going on there now. We are going down that same "golden road to socialism".
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Memphis Fast Food
Normally on Wednesdays a few of us retirees from my old place of employment, have breakfast together at a local diner. Unfortunately it is closed for renovation and expansion, so we picked a local fast food joint. We got there, ordered our food, and waited, and waited, and waited. Finally the food
came out. Nobody there seemed to know what the other was doing, and
there seemed to just be a bunch of people milling around behind the
counter, and hollering loudly to each other above the loud rap "music". Oh well, we got the food,
went to a table, and low and behold they gave us someone else's order.
We waited, and waited and waited again, and finally the food came out.
We checked the order at the counter, and this time they got it almost
right. A few items were missing. I asked for a manager, who came
over and rudely wanted to know why we were hassling his employees, but fixed
the order.
Got to the table, and I want to fill up my ice tea. There are two dispensers, one marked sweet and one marked unsweet. I don't like sweet tea, southern style because it is just sugar water. Well, I fill up the cup with the one marked unsweetened and low and behold it was sweet tea, so was the one marked sweet tea! I went back to the counter to complain, and was told by the clerk, "I aint got no nuttin bout no sweet and unsweet." I told her one was marked unsweetened. She repeated her gibberish answer, so I figured she not only couldn't speak, she could not read. Where was Barbara Billingsley when I needed her.
Apparently because we complained about the bad service, we were told that we were a bunch of redneck racist crackers, or something.
We all decided at that moment that we will not be back to this place. Unfortunately this is all too typical here for fast food.
Got to the table, and I want to fill up my ice tea. There are two dispensers, one marked sweet and one marked unsweet. I don't like sweet tea, southern style because it is just sugar water. Well, I fill up the cup with the one marked unsweetened and low and behold it was sweet tea, so was the one marked sweet tea! I went back to the counter to complain, and was told by the clerk, "I aint got no nuttin bout no sweet and unsweet." I told her one was marked unsweetened. She repeated her gibberish answer, so I figured she not only couldn't speak, she could not read. Where was Barbara Billingsley when I needed her.
Apparently because we complained about the bad service, we were told that we were a bunch of redneck racist crackers, or something.
We all decided at that moment that we will not be back to this place. Unfortunately this is all too typical here for fast food.
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