Some info for airline travelers

Sorry for the long absence but I've been preoccupied otherwise, and really didn't have that much to say that was not better by others.

Today, while watching my twitter stream, I watched @guypbenson bitch and complain because his flight out of Orange County (SNA) airport had to be diverted because of fuel issues.  I frequently hear other passengers complaining when flying from airports with short runways on long (and even in some cases short) trips because of restricted takeoff weight. 

Guy claims to be an experienced traveler, but I'd rather call him a frequent traveler who really has no idea about the airports he flies into and out of.  An experienced traveler knows the lay of the land and knows the airports where he/she is going.  SNA has a short 5700 foot long runway ( legal size runway for a short flight, barely legal on a longer one), and if any weather related issue comes up on the flight plan or on the arrival to the destination, they have to have fuel to go to an alternate airport. 


I frequently fly to airports with less than ideal locations, and some of these are weight restricted, as well as have issues with bad weather.  I'm used to cancelled, diverted and delayed flights  from some of these places due to crappy weather, and it is just part of flying. 

I fly from small airports all the time like Key West (EYW), a seriously weight restricted airport, and some high altitude airports, that can have serious issues in the summer. 

Folks, try to understand that even though I agree that the airline industry is generally not our friend, and customer service is about as good as the Greyhound or Amtrak, they have operational issues too.

Now get off my lawn, Skippy!

Jury Duty

I got a summons in the mail today informing me to show up for jury duty on May 1.  Of course I'm happy to comply with jury duty is as it is American as baseball and apple pie.  However the information on the notification has a lot to be desired, especially for us who do not go downtown all that often.  I got called to a cattle call at the convention center to decide my eligibility to be a juror (of course by a political appointee). 

There is no street address as to where I need to appear other than the "Memphis Cook County Civic Center", a place where I have never been in 17 years I've been here, because there was never an event there that I was interested in participating in there.  Parking info and a map with a few directions might help a bit too.

Come on Shelby County Tennessee, you need to help us comply with the law.  I honestly do not mind serving, but help us out a little.  An address, a map to the parking garage and a diagram to the room where we have to meet in this massive behemoth of a building would be nice.

Random thoughts about the 99% versus the 1%

As President Obama and the Democrats continue to rail against the alleged unfairness of wealthy people being wealthy, while the poor in this country have to drive 5 year old cars, live in smaller apartments and houses, and forced to live on their our welfare money in the form of EBT debit cards; Americans need to be a bit less myopic and understand just who the 1% are in most of the 3rd world, and just how bad do the 99% have it in the worst of these countries.  Our poverty line would be considered middle class in most of the developing world.  When you can own a house, a car, have a steady income, however meager it might be, that is in no way, shape or form considered poor in 90% of the world.  These people are called consumers in countries like India, Vietnam, the Philippines and Mexico.

The idea that working hard, making your fortune, often creating many jobs and developing wealth, and getting to keep the fruits of your labor is not unfair in a free market economy, and the US constitution makes no provision for punitively seizing private property to redistribute to those who have not fared so well.  That idea is Marxist in origin and is alien to our society (at least until the age of Obama).  Unfortunately, in the past 50 years, the poverty pimps have propagated the idea that society owes the "poor" a certain standard of living, and in the current class warfare rhetoric of Obama, it has gotten some steam amongst the left leaning electorate, and certainly among unions, welfare, and some medicare and social security recipients.

 I've been fortunate to travel the globe since a young age, and got to see how things are elsewhere up close and very personal.  The violent anarchists, communists, hippies and slackers at the Occupy protests who claim to be the 99%, are wrong, just plain pure and simply wrong not only by American standards, but on a global standard, they are the 1%.  At their "camp sites" they had food, clothing, shelter, and allowed to protest, at least until they became violent law breakers.  Even then, in some cities, the police did nothing.  Good luck with that protest in 95% of the rest of the world.

Instead of working within the most open, just economical system in the world, they take the street to demand that we turn over our wealth to them, an unruly mob.  Meanwhile, the American mainstream media were celebrating these people while denouncing the Tea Party activists who want nothing more than a return to constitutional government that exerts minimal regulation on society based on the US constitution, as a bunch of racist, violent gun toting, inbred rednecks.

This clash between ideologies between limited government constitutionalists, and big government statists and socialists will be the crux of the upcoming election.

This brings be back to the truly poor people verses the rich people in the 3rd world.  I'm going to use the example of the Philippines, a country I know a lot about.  Roughly 2% of the population own 95% if the wealth in this country.  Imelda Marcos, the widow of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos and her children are still involved in government there, swindled billions of dollars out of the country, and own huge portions of the economy.  Another family, the Ayalas, literally owns the central business and shopping district of Makati in Metro Manila.

These are also the king makers in an incredibly corrupt series of governments that dates back to independence from the US in 1946.  There is no social safety network in any way, shape or form.  You either figure out how to survive or you die, plain pure and simple.  This is life in the 3rd world.  The odds of ever rising beyond abject poverty are against the 99% from birth, however, for those that do, they still have to deal with obstacles such as kick backs and corruption at every turn for a would be store keeper, business owner, and property developer.  Nothing happens without greasing the palms of politicians, and those who have lived off the backs of the 99% for decades.

For many people the way out of this poverty is to move abroad, either by observing the potential host country as legal immigrants or guest workers, or as illegal fence jumpers that continue to pose both economic as well as national security problems for the US and many other countries.

I have a good friend that I've written about here before, who in Barack Obama's own words was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth.  Unlike Obama, Ron did not go to Harvard and Columbia Universities.  He grew up poor, after Muslim jihadists burned down his family home and murdered his father in the Philippine province of Zamboanga del Sur in western Mindanao.

Ron worked hard throughout his teen years, got in a very good state technical university and graduated with honors.  He had a tough time getting work at first, took some crappy jobs working call centers, and eventually working as an Information Technology teacher at a local high school.  The money was not good, and through no help of the 1% or the government managed to get work in Singapore, at first being exploited by the 1% who run that autocratic island nation.  However, step by step, he has been making progress, and will soon start a new job, making better wages, though still not as good as citizens of Singapore, and hopefully this is yet another stepping stone to a better future. Ron is way too busy to Occupy Singapore (as if that would be permitted EVER) trying to build a future.

Getting ahead in the developed world, and especially the USA is a piece of cake compared to the obstacles that get in the way of smart, ambitious people in the 3rd world, but even they have opportunity in many places, with education and and hard work.

I won't publish his resume here, but it is impressive for a young man of 26.  Any serious inquiries can contact me on twitter @keith_martin2

The OWS people can all go to hell as far as I'm concerned.  They are slackers who want to live off the fat of the land and do nothing to earn it.

Is America Losing its Intellectual Edge?

Tina Korbe over at Hotair.com noted today that many people who immigrated to the US have been moving either back home or another country because the opportunity is just not here anymore.  The recession and anemic recovery have not provided many jobs for either native born Americans or those who decided to make the US home, and it is somewhat understandable that these folks will move away to pursue their dream.

To me the bigger question is, has America lost its edge?  Have we been so straddled by government regulations and work rules where neither a small scale inventor or a mega-giant company can no longer produce anything due to regulations upon regulations that unelected government bureaucrats impose on a daily basis, not to mention  royal decrees executive orders sent to us on a daily basis by "The Man of the People".

We no longer teach our children American history, geography, and civics, and instead teach touchy-feely things like social studies, that teaches nothing about American history, or our society as a special and unique civilization, but preaches that all cultures are equal.  Devout Muslims will not agree.  To them, reestablishing the caliphate and imposing Sharia Law, a 7th century code of law is foremost.  Many of them walk amongst us.  Leftists in our own country don't look at us as anything particularly exceptional, and routinely criticize the 18th century founding fathers for their failings, based on 21st century standards.  Hey lefties, how about a few comments about your leftist heroes like Marx, Lenin, Mao, Stalin and most notably from t-shirts, Che?  How many people did they murder.

Once we brainwash our children that America is not a special country, a constitutional republic, that limits what the government can not do, rather than one like the European Union that tells it's subjects exactly what rights they have, we are doomed as a country.   The public school system is well on the way to doing just that thanks to the teachers' unions and politicians who enable them.

Getting back to Tina's piece,  I think we lost a generation, with some notable exceptions.  Both of my 20-something nephews have rejected liberalism (unlike their father) and have worked for their spending money since they were both 14 at McDonalds and other minimum wage jobs in high school, and even throughout their college years.  They are products of a broken marriage, and neither parent has a lot of money, but these young men turned out well, because of their shear determination to do well and get a good education.

There is hope for America's youth, provided that they get back to the basics and learn about our history, learn subjects like science and engineering, and avoid useless degrees in a high tech society such as gay and lesbian studies, or literature from the Benin Kingdom. (look it up on your own).

I talk to young people all the time and I always encourage them to stay in school and get training in either a high tech job, some sort of business skill, or take up a trade where they can make more money than either of the 2.  When your furnace goes out on a -10 degree night, how much good will a professor in Anastasi studies do for you?  A HVAC technician, though not a sexy job, can make you very well to do, especially if you own your own business.

America can return to excellence, but not so long as we are just another unexceptional country, no better or worse than, Germany, Egypt, Iran or the oh so wonderful Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Volunteer Radio

Is anyone else fortunate enough to have a volunteer radio station in your town?  I don't mean a NPR affiliate that carries highly charged leftist views, but a station that is listener supported and focuses on music programming.  My favorite drive time radio station has become WEVL, a totally volunteer station.  Everyone who works there has day jobs or is retired and either have shows as DJ's, produces programs, maintains the transmitter or helps out in other ways.  It's available on the internet at the station WEVL.org. 

I've helped out on various occasions, and really think that this kind of radio is a great alternative to obnoxious FM DJ's and talk radio, that quite frankly gets on my nerves after awhile. 

Living in Memphis, we are blessed with some great local musicians and they often appear on shows on WEVL.  Personally I've never seen another station like this.  It is not associated with NPR, or a university, and only runs 2 short pledge drives a year and always gets enough money to keep the station running....sometimes just barely, but this is non-profit, and people who host shows or other tasks do it for love of the job.  They get no government funding, no union donations and no K Street lobby money.

If you get a chance, check it out.

Success from a land of fail: Part 2

Last time I wrote about this subject, my young friend Ron had just moved from his hometown in the Philippines to take a job in Singapore.  Although it was an improvement in living conditions and pay, he is way underpaid compared to his Singaporean counterparts.  He got involved in a bad contract that had small print, and I mean really small, that is both blurred and unreadable, and in the US would not be enforceable.  The contract basically made him an indentured servant so long as his employer wanted his employment, even though the large print read that it was a one year contract.

There is some good news as of late.  Ron found a way to buy his way out of the contract and can leave in June.  He will have a job waiting for him that pays much more, and has good benefits.  Although he misses his family very much, he has adjusted to Singapore and does not live poorly.  His long term goal is to get a job in Australia, Canada or the US, and it looks like it will be doable in a few years, with a resume that has a few overseas jobs under his belt.

I was elated when we talked tonight and heard the good news.  This is a very positive development for a young man who had very little going for him as a young teenager.  I do admire Ron's fortitude and determination to succeed when the odds were always against him. 

We who are blessed to live in developed world really need to count our blessings despite how bad our economy is right now, and cheer those people who have worked hard to liberate themselves from poverty and become successful themselves.

There is a lot to learn from young people like Ron to the food stamp generation and those who feel entitled and government dependent in our own rich country.

Republicans: Change the way you do primary debates

Why does the GOP let the Democrats set the primary agenda?  For decades now, Republican presidential primary debates have been mostly moderated by liberal mainstream media Democrats. (When was the last time anyone called George Stephanopoulos anything but that?).  We've had umpteen debates almost all moderated by agenda driven liberal media types who's goal is to get Barack Obama reelected in November.  They pick out their Republican media darling who they think they can beat and boost up his/her credentials until the convention, the lower the boom.  They loved John McCain last time around, and now they all love Mitt Romney.

I know it is way too late to fix the GOP debates during this election cycle, so lets look to the future.  Why on earth should we have debates during our primaries moderated by people and networks who want to bring down our agenda?  That's madness.  Up until recently we were reliant on using the networks to broadcast our message, but this is changing rapidly.  The older generation who relies on the Big Three networks, are just a small portion of who is looking at the candidates or the news these days.  At 55 I'm no youngster, but I do not rely on, nor have for some time, on the mainstream media to tell me what is going on in my world in 18 minutes.  We now have a multimedia environment on the internet that can communicate our ideas without burdening ourselves to the Tiffany Network.  Without getting into details or endorsing any particular media format,  I'm making a modest proposal.  During the next primary cycle, lets skip the traditional media of the past, and as Republicans, have debates that are on subjects that are of interest to us.  I don't want to watch a debate where Rick Santorum gets brow beaten about his pro-life message or Mitt Romney on his "magic underpants" at a time when we as a country have very serious issues to deal with.  Foremost domestically is the economy, and abroad is the possible nuclearization of Iran in the near future.  Whoever is the president in 2013 is going to have to deal with both.  These need to be discussed, not Romney's Mormonism, or Santorum's conservative pro-life Catholic values.

The liberal media has one goal and one goal only, to get Obama reelected and maybe take back the House.  They have been using the Republican primary debates as a tool to get their people elected and at the very least set the agenda for decades, and it is past time for this to stop.  We now have the New Media capable of getting to voters without using the fossil networks to tell us where we need to focus.