or so the local media here in central florida are reporting.
for those who haven't been bombarded with this sickening story. this wacky family living (who reminds me of the family from the texas chainsaw massacre part2) in orlando, florida...but mind you not from here originally...have a crazy compulsive lying whore daughter who got knocked up by some mystery man, who now is dead? ? and lost her kid. long story short they found bones in a bag in the woods/swamp near her parents home and it is being reported now that it is that little girl.
this whole family and story makes me sick. i always knew something stunk about this family, and it wasn't the supposed rotted maggot infested pizza left in their car trunk either. from the first newscast interviewing them, it had a certain lunacy, craziness to it. the kind that you only see from people from ohio and the west like oregon and washington state. anyways, then i come to find out they are in fact from ohio!!! warren ohio as some have reported.
it makes perfect sense. back in western pa, we always joke about how we needed a wall to keep the looneys from ohio from coming into pa. it was a joke, but not really. there is something in the water there or chemicals in the air from the manufacturering or whatever....that makes ohio people odd at the least and crazy at the worst.
so this soap opera story that in the end leaves a little girl dead/murdered?...has so many twists and plot changes...even hollywood couldn't come up with a better script. often the little girl.... formerly missing, now determined to have been killed... forgotten about and that is the ultimate tradegy. this anthony family behaved as poorly as people can behave. i don't excuse them from the circumstances as they raised their insane, lying, whore of a daughter who most likely killed her own kid, and went on drinking and partying for over a month without care. they obviously did a poor job raising their own kids and then they way they acted on camera....well it was all ohio.
so take note...these ohio yankee crazies aren't like most people in central florida. it's true that orlando is full to the brim with selfish, poorly behaved, and obnoxious people...but they aren't from florida. these are transplanted yankee clowns mostly from ohio and michigan. ironically they come down here because they couldn't make it in their home state and from day one all they do is complain about how horrible florida is. how nothing is like it is in michigan or ohio or enter your own crappy state. i think i may rename the rustbelt states to the "whiny belt". cause that is all these rust belt clowns do down here. whine, non stop. i've lived in central florida..most of my life...and i grew up with locals down here. people who are true floridians...not the kids of ohio transplants. you'll never meet a nicer bunch of well behaved and high moral group of people than these florida natives. it's a shame their state is being taken over by horrible people from ass backwards rust belt states. for those rust belters who take offense to the truth...how would you like it if we sent all the people from miami up to your town and let them take over it? i'd bet you'd be hoping mad. so sit back down and shut up. no one gives a shit what you think. go back to the bar to drink your poor miserable existence away.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
give the money to the people, not wallstreet.....
this is the battle cry of the uneducated in america. it's become fairly obvious to me that our education system has failed. we have tunred out people who do not know how to use a calculator. okay i'm going to help you people....
first we'll use the 150 billion stimulus package we all got a piece of awhile back as the mold to make our equation make sense and be accurate.
so all singles got $600.00 and married couples got $1200.00 so basically 600 bucks a head. we have a population of around 300,000,000 people right now. if we take 150 billion and divide it by 300 million what do we get? we get $500 bucks. that's pretty close to what we got per person for the stimulus package. so we can alter the amount of people to come to a more accurate number than the 300 million we used as a referrence point. if we take 150 billion and divide it by 250 million people we come to $600.00 per person. bingo the magic number the govt used to give the stimulus package!
okay so there is 350 billion dollars left of the 700 billion "bailout money". so if we take 350 billion divided by 250 million people..what do we get? go ahead use your calculator, i'll wait............................................................................................................................okay it comes to $1400 per person.
okay so 1400 bucks is a good chunk of cash right? so let's work through this new found dumbass economic belief of "the trickle up theory" as it's been dubed. american families on avg. owe over 9 to 10 grand in credit card debt alone. we know from common sense that most owe much more on their mortgage and car loans and other loans like home equity...but let's just stick to credit card debt to keep the example simple.
okay so we send out a check of 1400 bucks to singles and 2800 to married couples. who as a family all owe around 10,000 dollars to credit cards. so where does this money end up going...yep to pay down credit cards and catch up on the mortgage and car loans and other debts, etc. so basically it's handing the money to the banks. wait a minute...isn't this what the "wall street bailout" is doing? handing the money to the banks to help shore up/stabilize their toxic debt load? yep, that's right. so these trickle up dumbass theorists would rather make our govt spend millions to print out and mail checks so they in turn, can turn around and spend gas to deposit it and then turn back around and send it to the banks. that makes a hell of allot of sense...doesn't it?!? once the 1400 bucks is gone the people, even if they used it to pay down credit card debt alone, would still owe $7,600 bucks. so it didn't exactly do anything for the person did it? when you owe tens of thousands of dollars a mere 1400 bucks is like a crumb. it won't stop you from starving to death.
okay so have we finally put this stupid moronic idea to rest? please tell me everyone gets it now. giving this money to the people doesn't do any good. it won't save the economy or your job. even if you spent it on a big flat screen plasma or lcd tv at the walmart it still won't fix anything..because the debt load being carried by america as a whole has to be paid back and this is what we are seeing. people not investing their money into businesses or stocks or anywhere because they know america already owes too much money and can't ever pay it back.
so please people think through your ideas before you start rambling them all over the internet. this idea shows sheer stupidity as well as a shocking lack of overall underastanding of the economy and shows you are either too cheap or stupid to buy and use a calculator. it's embarrasing.
ps...this entry wasn't written towards my two readers/friends. i know they are quite smart and can use a calculator. it was written for you imbeciles that post non stop on aol and other comment allowing news story sites...and constantly spit out your stupid ideas to fix the world. one of the biggest mistake a person can make in life is to think they are smarter than they really are. likewise to think they are smarter than everyone else.
there si only one way to fix the economy...and no one is going to like it. it involves going back to proper lending strategies. saving not overpsending and borrowing, and working hard for realisitic wages. the days of making 50k while twiddling one's thumbs most of the day are over union boys. you cannot make low level unskilled jobs pay middle class wages. it doesn't work and we are seeing it come apart right now in the auto world. if you want to make more you have to increase you education and your skill level. there is no easy way out of this. it's gonna be hard on everyone and everyone will have to learn to live with less and while working more. the unions lied to you, you were never middle class pulling a lever and putting a tire on a car. it was a nice run, stop being bitter and be happy you got away with it for so long. now it's time to pay the piper. those who are strong will survive and get educated and skilled in professions that support middle class wages. those that are weak and lazy will fail and end up homeless and collecting welfare. you don't have to like it, but it is the way it is and will be.......
first we'll use the 150 billion stimulus package we all got a piece of awhile back as the mold to make our equation make sense and be accurate.
so all singles got $600.00 and married couples got $1200.00 so basically 600 bucks a head. we have a population of around 300,000,000 people right now. if we take 150 billion and divide it by 300 million what do we get? we get $500 bucks. that's pretty close to what we got per person for the stimulus package. so we can alter the amount of people to come to a more accurate number than the 300 million we used as a referrence point. if we take 150 billion and divide it by 250 million people we come to $600.00 per person. bingo the magic number the govt used to give the stimulus package!
okay so there is 350 billion dollars left of the 700 billion "bailout money". so if we take 350 billion divided by 250 million people..what do we get? go ahead use your calculator, i'll wait............................................................................................................................okay it comes to $1400 per person.
okay so 1400 bucks is a good chunk of cash right? so let's work through this new found dumbass economic belief of "the trickle up theory" as it's been dubed. american families on avg. owe over 9 to 10 grand in credit card debt alone. we know from common sense that most owe much more on their mortgage and car loans and other loans like home equity...but let's just stick to credit card debt to keep the example simple.
okay so we send out a check of 1400 bucks to singles and 2800 to married couples. who as a family all owe around 10,000 dollars to credit cards. so where does this money end up going...yep to pay down credit cards and catch up on the mortgage and car loans and other debts, etc. so basically it's handing the money to the banks. wait a minute...isn't this what the "wall street bailout" is doing? handing the money to the banks to help shore up/stabilize their toxic debt load? yep, that's right. so these trickle up dumbass theorists would rather make our govt spend millions to print out and mail checks so they in turn, can turn around and spend gas to deposit it and then turn back around and send it to the banks. that makes a hell of allot of sense...doesn't it?!? once the 1400 bucks is gone the people, even if they used it to pay down credit card debt alone, would still owe $7,600 bucks. so it didn't exactly do anything for the person did it? when you owe tens of thousands of dollars a mere 1400 bucks is like a crumb. it won't stop you from starving to death.
okay so have we finally put this stupid moronic idea to rest? please tell me everyone gets it now. giving this money to the people doesn't do any good. it won't save the economy or your job. even if you spent it on a big flat screen plasma or lcd tv at the walmart it still won't fix anything..because the debt load being carried by america as a whole has to be paid back and this is what we are seeing. people not investing their money into businesses or stocks or anywhere because they know america already owes too much money and can't ever pay it back.
so please people think through your ideas before you start rambling them all over the internet. this idea shows sheer stupidity as well as a shocking lack of overall underastanding of the economy and shows you are either too cheap or stupid to buy and use a calculator. it's embarrasing.
ps...this entry wasn't written towards my two readers/friends. i know they are quite smart and can use a calculator. it was written for you imbeciles that post non stop on aol and other comment allowing news story sites...and constantly spit out your stupid ideas to fix the world. one of the biggest mistake a person can make in life is to think they are smarter than they really are. likewise to think they are smarter than everyone else.
there si only one way to fix the economy...and no one is going to like it. it involves going back to proper lending strategies. saving not overpsending and borrowing, and working hard for realisitic wages. the days of making 50k while twiddling one's thumbs most of the day are over union boys. you cannot make low level unskilled jobs pay middle class wages. it doesn't work and we are seeing it come apart right now in the auto world. if you want to make more you have to increase you education and your skill level. there is no easy way out of this. it's gonna be hard on everyone and everyone will have to learn to live with less and while working more. the unions lied to you, you were never middle class pulling a lever and putting a tire on a car. it was a nice run, stop being bitter and be happy you got away with it for so long. now it's time to pay the piper. those who are strong will survive and get educated and skilled in professions that support middle class wages. those that are weak and lazy will fail and end up homeless and collecting welfare. you don't have to like it, but it is the way it is and will be.......
these idiot rioters......
what can you say about these idiots rioting over in greece and europe? not much except they are stupid and are acting like spoiled brats.
first off the same stores and banks they are burning and pilaging from are the source of heavy european taxing that supports their socialist leaning, free money society. where they get paid to sit at home and not work. they complain that there aren't high paying jobs available?!? huh...f'ing morons where in the world are their high paying jobs just handed to you. damn talk about stupid.
this is another example of how the world has tuned into a bunch of whiny violent crybabies. if they don't get a new toy handed to them weekly they cry and throw a temper tantrum...except these aren't little kids these are very spoiled and stupid adults.
ironically they are all against the globalization of business and all it stands for as well as technology which comes from these businesses, but they have no problem using it to organize. using the cellphones and the internet. surprise, surprise they are all super naive and moronic hypocrites. well i've had it with stupid people.
as soon as i'm able, i'm going to buy a large chunk of swampland and i'm moving away from the cities and the all the stupidity and laziness they breed, and getting off the grid for good. in the meantime i'm going to stockpile ammo, food , and water. if the world does collapse because or rioters and other stupid people...i'm not going to let them drag me down with them.
let this be a warning to you spoiled brats. if you show up in my neck of the woods and plan on causing trouble...you are going to be real sorry. i have a few shotguns with 00 buckshot ready for you. never forget florida is a right to stand your ground state. if you come at me, my family, business or property. with a torch or rock...you'll be in the morgue and i'll walk away free and clear of lawsuits filed by your idiots parents who did a crappy job raising you and jail free, because this great state defends citizen's rights to defend their property and themselves from violent morons like yourself.
i'll be damned if i worked this hard my whole life to let some brat take it from me either by stealing or destroying it. these brats have no repect for private property or anyone else. the world isn't fair and it never was, but you have to respect people and their property. if you can't understand that, than expect to get ewhat is coming to you. it won't be long before those who work hard to make a good living will come back at you full force and there won't be any police or other govt soldiers you despise to protect you.
there is an old saying...be careful what you wish for....you may just get it. think long and hard if you really want anachry. you might be real sorry when you get it and all these rednecks and country folk you laugh at who own all the weapons and ammo and farmland...decide you aren't worth keeping around.
first off the same stores and banks they are burning and pilaging from are the source of heavy european taxing that supports their socialist leaning, free money society. where they get paid to sit at home and not work. they complain that there aren't high paying jobs available?!? huh...f'ing morons where in the world are their high paying jobs just handed to you. damn talk about stupid.
this is another example of how the world has tuned into a bunch of whiny violent crybabies. if they don't get a new toy handed to them weekly they cry and throw a temper tantrum...except these aren't little kids these are very spoiled and stupid adults.
ironically they are all against the globalization of business and all it stands for as well as technology which comes from these businesses, but they have no problem using it to organize. using the cellphones and the internet. surprise, surprise they are all super naive and moronic hypocrites. well i've had it with stupid people.
as soon as i'm able, i'm going to buy a large chunk of swampland and i'm moving away from the cities and the all the stupidity and laziness they breed, and getting off the grid for good. in the meantime i'm going to stockpile ammo, food , and water. if the world does collapse because or rioters and other stupid people...i'm not going to let them drag me down with them.
let this be a warning to you spoiled brats. if you show up in my neck of the woods and plan on causing trouble...you are going to be real sorry. i have a few shotguns with 00 buckshot ready for you. never forget florida is a right to stand your ground state. if you come at me, my family, business or property. with a torch or rock...you'll be in the morgue and i'll walk away free and clear of lawsuits filed by your idiots parents who did a crappy job raising you and jail free, because this great state defends citizen's rights to defend their property and themselves from violent morons like yourself.
i'll be damned if i worked this hard my whole life to let some brat take it from me either by stealing or destroying it. these brats have no repect for private property or anyone else. the world isn't fair and it never was, but you have to respect people and their property. if you can't understand that, than expect to get ewhat is coming to you. it won't be long before those who work hard to make a good living will come back at you full force and there won't be any police or other govt soldiers you despise to protect you.
there is an old saying...be careful what you wish for....you may just get it. think long and hard if you really want anachry. you might be real sorry when you get it and all these rednecks and country folk you laugh at who own all the weapons and ammo and farmland...decide you aren't worth keeping around.
Friday, December 5, 2008
this is how bad things are getting...short and sweet...
formula one the most expensive sport/motorsport in the world is having financial trouble. i was watching bbc america news this morning, and i saw a story that honda is pulling out of formula one and selling the factory team if they can find someone to buy it, if not they will liquidate it.
honda has sucked the last couple of years in formula one, so i can't say i'm surprised, but it holds a bigger meaning. all car companies around the world are hurting for sales. without sales spending hundreds of millions a year on motorsports seems pretty stupid. i fear it won't be long before we see more cuts......
for example indy car has honda motors. i think it's very possible, if things keep getting worse that honda will pull out of indy car.
nascar. need i say more. the detroit three are the big players in this sport. i think it won't be long before they pull all sponsorship from the teams, tv ads, etc..
sports cars....they may hold out since they are much smaller dollar amounts, but who knows....
it's not going to be a great racing season this year. i'm starting to fear this recession will turn into either a depression or massive super inflation, or something similar. either way my gut is telling me this downturn/crash is going to be much longer and harsher than we realize? let's hope my gut is wrong.
honda has sucked the last couple of years in formula one, so i can't say i'm surprised, but it holds a bigger meaning. all car companies around the world are hurting for sales. without sales spending hundreds of millions a year on motorsports seems pretty stupid. i fear it won't be long before we see more cuts......
for example indy car has honda motors. i think it's very possible, if things keep getting worse that honda will pull out of indy car.
nascar. need i say more. the detroit three are the big players in this sport. i think it won't be long before they pull all sponsorship from the teams, tv ads, etc..
sports cars....they may hold out since they are much smaller dollar amounts, but who knows....
it's not going to be a great racing season this year. i'm starting to fear this recession will turn into either a depression or massive super inflation, or something similar. either way my gut is telling me this downturn/crash is going to be much longer and harsher than we realize? let's hope my gut is wrong.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
is it a class war or a culture war?.....
i've been thinking about all the resentment on overpaid ceo's and high dollar people. now i'm a middle class guy. i do know some people who would fall into the upper crust based on tax percentages paid category. once you earn a certain amount you end up in the top tax bracket. so in my distinction they are in the same group. multi millionaires (not including real estate or non cash assets), not billionaires. yet there seems to be no real distinction in what is the line between the classes.
interestingly enough those multi millionaires, consider themselves middle class. a rare few who are quite arrogant and flashy call themselves rich...but in the people i know they tend to be the exception not the general rule.
so i started to think about who they were and if they were in fact evil and greedy.
most are very smart and quick with numbers. well educated. most have a mba. most own their own businesses or worked for large corporations and later started their own business when the corporate culture became too much for them. not one i know had it handed to them. all i know earned it through good decisions and hard work.
so i thought long and hard and tryed to be unbiased and i couldn't say anyone of them i would call "evil." nor would i say any of the ones i know are cold hearted. rather when i talk to them most seem to be too worried about their employee's self induced financial problems. which is an odd thing when you think about it because normally i always stereotyped rich people into being cold, distant, ruthless, and cheap. ironically when i really went back and thought through big decisions they made and even little events to get a better grasp of who they are...i realized that none of these stereotypes fit any of them. well maybe one...but he's a horrible person. if he saw an old lady hit by a train crossing the rail road tracks with a bag full of groceries and her purse. he'd take the groceries and purse and put them in his car, before he'd call 911. anyways....
so i started to think...we all complain about ceo's and such making huge salaries and bonuses...and we get really psised off about it and rightfully so...but then i thought of myself and other low earners i know. if our boss came to us and said i'm gonna pay you 150k and give you a bonus of another 100k...would i turn it down? or if i did turn it down would i really mean it? keep in mind let's say the job is only worth 50k market value, and a typical bonus in a good time might only be 20k....would i or anyone else put up much of a fight to recieve a lower wage package? i seriously doubt it. not to say i wouldn't be thinking at home how wrong it feels to get so much for so little. still i think i'd sleep okay if i was overpaid. which leads me to ceo's. i saw a survey once of 500 of the large corporations in america with questions asked to the ceo's. one of the questions was did they think they were overpaid. interestingly enough, over 80% something said yes they felt they were overpaid. so go back to my example. how many would refuse to accept an overly generous benefit package...not too many.
so i wonder is it really a class warefare that is going on...or is it really a culture war? what i mean is class war would be the poor against the rich. a typical battle of control and wealth that has plagued human civilization since the dawn of man. a culture war would be different in that we didn't hate each other based on wealth, but rather how it was obtained and what we did with it.
what one does with their wealth says allot about who they are. for example a typical avg. working guy wins a lottery. what do they do with the winnings most of the time? first they quit their job typically and tell their boss to stuff it. then they horde the money and buy cars and houses and boats and silly things. the people i know who earned their wealth not through the lotto...they open small businesses which create jobs that support more than just themselves with their money and they make money. which way is worse? giving money to dumb or unmotivated people doesn't help anyone but themselves. sure they buy things and that helps retailers and car dealers, etc...but truth be told they don't really buy enough to actually contribute back to society. now a guy who takes money he worked hard for to invest it in a small business with the chance he could lose it all...he is taking a big risk. with big risks come big rewards or failures. think along those lines and it's not hard to see how someone who makes allot of money might feel justified when their risk resulted in a good result. if it went the other way they now lost eveything they worked long and hard for. keeping a small business profitable isn't that easy. it's a constant struggle...it's not like you open it and make money and then sit back and watch as your fortune grows. you work longer harder hours than most even realize. weekends, become worktime...going over financials and sales reports trying to stay ahead of the competition and the curve of the economy. it's work...and when you go home it doesn't stop. it's your problem...so you can't go home and forget about it. the problems come home with you...you can't forget them as soon as you punch out. not to mention but other people, called employees, depend on you for their survival. so failing doesn't just affect you. it affects them as well. that's allot of weight to carry on one's shoulders 24hours a day 7 days a week. even when you take a vacation...it still involves calling everyday to make sure things are going smoothly and recievables are being collected and deposited...it's a never ending battle for survival and you never get any time off.
most decent people here would agree that someone who made millions by lying, stealing, and cheating is a horrible person and would deserve to lose that money, right? likewise most wouldn't be upset if someone made that money working hard and being smart, right?
so it seems to me we should be having a war...but with the culture in america of cheaters, deadbeats, and abusers. i'm not saying every ceo doesn't cheat or lie. i'm sure allot do. it's a tough market and there is only so many ceo jobs. so the competition is tough, and it brings the ugliest out in people...yet i also know some out there surely do a good job, work hard, and earn their money. i see a problem in our culture of greed and selfisness in not only the top but as well on the bottom. i'll give some examples.
i know people who collect disability checks from our govt and yet they go hunting and climb up tree stands and crouch all day to shoot a deer. they mow their own lawn. they take their kids to the beach and body surf and wrestle, etc. now to me this person could be working for a living. this is what i call abusing the system. if you look hard enough you'll see millions of examples of this going on. people taking govt aid in welfare, food stamps, housing, whatever they can get their hands on that don't really need it. in my eyes these people are no different than a greedy, selfish ceo. different dollar amounts of course, but isn't cheating and lying the same regardless of how much is being cheated, stolen, abused, etc? truth is, if these disability/welfare dirtbags were smarter they be taking big bucks rather than small bucks...it's just a matter of education and skill at that point.
so i think it's not a class war we need to face, it's a culture war. we need to shake down from the top to the bottom. weed out all the abusers and dirtbags. we need to set a precident, if you are not pulling your own weight you have to get off the ship. the hard working, weight pulling people of this country have been battling with each other over nonsense issues rather than addressing the real enemy within. greed and selfishness. it's not really money, that is the root of evil......rather it's the catalyst that brings the real evil from within. greed and selfishness.
so to end with i don't see class warfare as being our problem. i'm okay with a guy who works harder than me making more than i do...and i think most decent people do as well. i have a problem with people cheating, lying, stealing, abusing, and manipulating the system to make a buck or a fortune. being poor isn't an excuse. bad behavior is bad behavior..regardless of class, race, sex, creed, etc or income. never forget for every dirtbag wall streeter/ceo/executive who is doing this...there is probably 10 ,000 low level dirtbags doing the same exact thing.
interestingly enough those multi millionaires, consider themselves middle class. a rare few who are quite arrogant and flashy call themselves rich...but in the people i know they tend to be the exception not the general rule.
so i started to think about who they were and if they were in fact evil and greedy.
most are very smart and quick with numbers. well educated. most have a mba. most own their own businesses or worked for large corporations and later started their own business when the corporate culture became too much for them. not one i know had it handed to them. all i know earned it through good decisions and hard work.
so i thought long and hard and tryed to be unbiased and i couldn't say anyone of them i would call "evil." nor would i say any of the ones i know are cold hearted. rather when i talk to them most seem to be too worried about their employee's self induced financial problems. which is an odd thing when you think about it because normally i always stereotyped rich people into being cold, distant, ruthless, and cheap. ironically when i really went back and thought through big decisions they made and even little events to get a better grasp of who they are...i realized that none of these stereotypes fit any of them. well maybe one...but he's a horrible person. if he saw an old lady hit by a train crossing the rail road tracks with a bag full of groceries and her purse. he'd take the groceries and purse and put them in his car, before he'd call 911. anyways....
so i started to think...we all complain about ceo's and such making huge salaries and bonuses...and we get really psised off about it and rightfully so...but then i thought of myself and other low earners i know. if our boss came to us and said i'm gonna pay you 150k and give you a bonus of another 100k...would i turn it down? or if i did turn it down would i really mean it? keep in mind let's say the job is only worth 50k market value, and a typical bonus in a good time might only be 20k....would i or anyone else put up much of a fight to recieve a lower wage package? i seriously doubt it. not to say i wouldn't be thinking at home how wrong it feels to get so much for so little. still i think i'd sleep okay if i was overpaid. which leads me to ceo's. i saw a survey once of 500 of the large corporations in america with questions asked to the ceo's. one of the questions was did they think they were overpaid. interestingly enough, over 80% something said yes they felt they were overpaid. so go back to my example. how many would refuse to accept an overly generous benefit package...not too many.
so i wonder is it really a class warefare that is going on...or is it really a culture war? what i mean is class war would be the poor against the rich. a typical battle of control and wealth that has plagued human civilization since the dawn of man. a culture war would be different in that we didn't hate each other based on wealth, but rather how it was obtained and what we did with it.
what one does with their wealth says allot about who they are. for example a typical avg. working guy wins a lottery. what do they do with the winnings most of the time? first they quit their job typically and tell their boss to stuff it. then they horde the money and buy cars and houses and boats and silly things. the people i know who earned their wealth not through the lotto...they open small businesses which create jobs that support more than just themselves with their money and they make money. which way is worse? giving money to dumb or unmotivated people doesn't help anyone but themselves. sure they buy things and that helps retailers and car dealers, etc...but truth be told they don't really buy enough to actually contribute back to society. now a guy who takes money he worked hard for to invest it in a small business with the chance he could lose it all...he is taking a big risk. with big risks come big rewards or failures. think along those lines and it's not hard to see how someone who makes allot of money might feel justified when their risk resulted in a good result. if it went the other way they now lost eveything they worked long and hard for. keeping a small business profitable isn't that easy. it's a constant struggle...it's not like you open it and make money and then sit back and watch as your fortune grows. you work longer harder hours than most even realize. weekends, become worktime...going over financials and sales reports trying to stay ahead of the competition and the curve of the economy. it's work...and when you go home it doesn't stop. it's your problem...so you can't go home and forget about it. the problems come home with you...you can't forget them as soon as you punch out. not to mention but other people, called employees, depend on you for their survival. so failing doesn't just affect you. it affects them as well. that's allot of weight to carry on one's shoulders 24hours a day 7 days a week. even when you take a vacation...it still involves calling everyday to make sure things are going smoothly and recievables are being collected and deposited...it's a never ending battle for survival and you never get any time off.
most decent people here would agree that someone who made millions by lying, stealing, and cheating is a horrible person and would deserve to lose that money, right? likewise most wouldn't be upset if someone made that money working hard and being smart, right?
so it seems to me we should be having a war...but with the culture in america of cheaters, deadbeats, and abusers. i'm not saying every ceo doesn't cheat or lie. i'm sure allot do. it's a tough market and there is only so many ceo jobs. so the competition is tough, and it brings the ugliest out in people...yet i also know some out there surely do a good job, work hard, and earn their money. i see a problem in our culture of greed and selfisness in not only the top but as well on the bottom. i'll give some examples.
i know people who collect disability checks from our govt and yet they go hunting and climb up tree stands and crouch all day to shoot a deer. they mow their own lawn. they take their kids to the beach and body surf and wrestle, etc. now to me this person could be working for a living. this is what i call abusing the system. if you look hard enough you'll see millions of examples of this going on. people taking govt aid in welfare, food stamps, housing, whatever they can get their hands on that don't really need it. in my eyes these people are no different than a greedy, selfish ceo. different dollar amounts of course, but isn't cheating and lying the same regardless of how much is being cheated, stolen, abused, etc? truth is, if these disability/welfare dirtbags were smarter they be taking big bucks rather than small bucks...it's just a matter of education and skill at that point.
so i think it's not a class war we need to face, it's a culture war. we need to shake down from the top to the bottom. weed out all the abusers and dirtbags. we need to set a precident, if you are not pulling your own weight you have to get off the ship. the hard working, weight pulling people of this country have been battling with each other over nonsense issues rather than addressing the real enemy within. greed and selfishness. it's not really money, that is the root of evil......rather it's the catalyst that brings the real evil from within. greed and selfishness.
so to end with i don't see class warfare as being our problem. i'm okay with a guy who works harder than me making more than i do...and i think most decent people do as well. i have a problem with people cheating, lying, stealing, abusing, and manipulating the system to make a buck or a fortune. being poor isn't an excuse. bad behavior is bad behavior..regardless of class, race, sex, creed, etc or income. never forget for every dirtbag wall streeter/ceo/executive who is doing this...there is probably 10 ,000 low level dirtbags doing the same exact thing.
Monday, November 24, 2008
who is that in my "picture"?.....
this one i love. i grabbed it from a news story awhile back. believe it or not this was an arizona beaty queen at one time. now for those who think drugs and liquor don't take a toll on you...think again!!! for fun here was a before meth and drugs and well you've seen the after picture.......
my oh my how the beautiful have fallen.....so remember this kids....don't do drugs and drink alcohol. this is what will happen to you. if this wasn't enough to make you think twice...how about taking a trip to any bar not populated with young twenty year olds and take a look at those who have regular seats. once long ago they were good looking people too. i rest my case.........
straight out of england.........
i got this email from a buddy of mine over across the pond. i asked if i could post it on my blog for some entertainment value. this english bastard cracks me up. enjoy.....i know i did....especially the "working light saber" part. anyways, credit to the author who due to his wife maybe finding this blog entry on a google search with his first name and him ending up sleeping on the couch for the next few years over it...i'll refer to him as the "cranky english bastard,"
or something similiar with either "brit" or "english something or other" in the name.
these "rants/emails" will be a regular thing on my blog...assuming that irish loving, prince charles and harry worshiping brit keeps sending them. i have a few real nasty ones i kept in my email box...i may back post them...but of course i have to get permission first.
to the cranky englishman......thanks, mate. btw, we yanks love that we keep stealing the best brits like gordon ramsey, craig ferguson, sharon and ozzy osbourne, sir richard branson, etc. from you. the more the merrier...it won't be long before you go outside in your skivvies to get the morning paper....and realize your the only englishman left in england. well besides mel gibson who is only there to film another english embarrasing film like the american revolution sequel....where we chase those pansy brits back to england except this time on english soil....while biatch slapping them and knocking their powdered wigs off their big heads....or wallace prt2...where wallace's ghost comes back and pisses on the king's head.:)
Rant
Well, I can't rant to anymore else without fear of it getting back to someone so your it.
F**king wedding photos,
Now don't get me wrong, I loved my wedding day, it was without question the greatest day ever and I love my darling wife more then anything, well bar maybe a real fully working lightsaber, but bar that yeah anything.
But of my god the pictures are now starting to get right on my tits, there's 1303 in total, 1015 from the wedding day and the rest made up from honey moon snaps and other disposable cameras which were dotted around on the day.
So the nightmare starts with my wife and the in laws start looking at the pictures on the laptop each and every time we visit, which is around 3 times a week and its take almost 3 bast**d hours to look through them all. So if that wasn't bad enough having to enjoy this 3 months after the f*cking day 2-3 times a week is a tw*t of a pain in the ass, the real problems start when the mother in-law has finally chosen the 70+ pictures she wants printing.
So off we go to the shopping centre (or Mall in your case) with a CD full of pictures which this time of years like fishing for sh1t at a local pig farm, the cd I must adds been recopied 3 times already. I'm not sure how it works over your end of the pond but here you can take digital picture into a printing shop which has large touch screen computers allowing you to print picture off there and then in whatever size you want, then it's a simple case of taking the final bit case girl and paying, its very cheap and quick NORAMLLY
I would have rather gone navy seal training after telling the drill instructor within the first hour I thought he's northing more then a man loving sh1t eating interracial midget f*cking weirdo.
Yes it was that bad, 4 hours of – which size should I have that, Oh can we start again before we print. My brain was melting. Of course the hardest part is keeping a smiley happy face. I haven't even started on my wife's bast**d album yet and all the pictures have now been installed onto be beloved Playstation 3 so the pictures can be viewed f*cking anytime of the f*cking day.
Rant over – bar my cu*t of a roofs still leaking and my back door still pisses in like a tramp urinating against the door and I'm down to my last Million, its hard times in dark England these days with the massive fall in house prices and people not spending, company's going bust everywhere.
But at least you now have the right man in power from next year don't you buddy, oh hang on didn't you vote for the other guy – sorry buddy, to be honest I (we) over here don't really understand what it means for you guys (or us), most people in England just keep saying how he's going to be shot within the first week. Personally I really hope that isn't the case because it wouldn't help America, all it would do is portray American's as being very racist, I believe in treating everyone the same regardless of where or what country they are from. (With the exception of you)
Of and on a final note – Call of duty – World at war – stunning excellent game, I would love to shot your sad yank ass up with a German MP40.
What a thought
Your best pal
or something similiar with either "brit" or "english something or other" in the name.
these "rants/emails" will be a regular thing on my blog...assuming that irish loving, prince charles and harry worshiping brit keeps sending them. i have a few real nasty ones i kept in my email box...i may back post them...but of course i have to get permission first.
to the cranky englishman......thanks, mate. btw, we yanks love that we keep stealing the best brits like gordon ramsey, craig ferguson, sharon and ozzy osbourne, sir richard branson, etc. from you. the more the merrier...it won't be long before you go outside in your skivvies to get the morning paper....and realize your the only englishman left in england. well besides mel gibson who is only there to film another english embarrasing film like the american revolution sequel....where we chase those pansy brits back to england except this time on english soil....while biatch slapping them and knocking their powdered wigs off their big heads....or wallace prt2...where wallace's ghost comes back and pisses on the king's head.:)
Rant
Well, I can't rant to anymore else without fear of it getting back to someone so your it.
F**king wedding photos,
Now don't get me wrong, I loved my wedding day, it was without question the greatest day ever and I love my darling wife more then anything, well bar maybe a real fully working lightsaber, but bar that yeah anything.
But of my god the pictures are now starting to get right on my tits, there's 1303 in total, 1015 from the wedding day and the rest made up from honey moon snaps and other disposable cameras which were dotted around on the day.
So the nightmare starts with my wife and the in laws start looking at the pictures on the laptop each and every time we visit, which is around 3 times a week and its take almost 3 bast**d hours to look through them all. So if that wasn't bad enough having to enjoy this 3 months after the f*cking day 2-3 times a week is a tw*t of a pain in the ass, the real problems start when the mother in-law has finally chosen the 70+ pictures she wants printing.
So off we go to the shopping centre (or Mall in your case) with a CD full of pictures which this time of years like fishing for sh1t at a local pig farm, the cd I must adds been recopied 3 times already. I'm not sure how it works over your end of the pond but here you can take digital picture into a printing shop which has large touch screen computers allowing you to print picture off there and then in whatever size you want, then it's a simple case of taking the final bit case girl and paying, its very cheap and quick NORAMLLY
I would have rather gone navy seal training after telling the drill instructor within the first hour I thought he's northing more then a man loving sh1t eating interracial midget f*cking weirdo.
Yes it was that bad, 4 hours of – which size should I have that, Oh can we start again before we print. My brain was melting. Of course the hardest part is keeping a smiley happy face. I haven't even started on my wife's bast**d album yet and all the pictures have now been installed onto be beloved Playstation 3 so the pictures can be viewed f*cking anytime of the f*cking day.
Rant over – bar my cu*t of a roofs still leaking and my back door still pisses in like a tramp urinating against the door and I'm down to my last Million, its hard times in dark England these days with the massive fall in house prices and people not spending, company's going bust everywhere.
But at least you now have the right man in power from next year don't you buddy, oh hang on didn't you vote for the other guy – sorry buddy, to be honest I (we) over here don't really understand what it means for you guys (or us), most people in England just keep saying how he's going to be shot within the first week. Personally I really hope that isn't the case because it wouldn't help America, all it would do is portray American's as being very racist, I believe in treating everyone the same regardless of where or what country they are from. (With the exception of you)
Of and on a final note – Call of duty – World at war – stunning excellent game, I would love to shot your sad yank ass up with a German MP40.
What a thought
Your best pal
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
timeliness and the cultural change in america....
i was reading an old online friends blog and it made me realize she is absolutely right. there is a change in culture in america. well actually there are lots of changes, but this is one i am going to focus on.
being on time and actually showing up when you say you are. when i was a kid...it was uncommon at best to not show up when you said you were or to show up late. my parents raised me this way and i was never good at it, but i just knew it was the way things were done in america, so i battled with it my whole life. somethings i'm always on time for like doctor appointments, dentist, haircuts, business meetings, movies, etc. other things i am always late. things like family gatherings, getting to work. in my defense...i've never been a morning person. normally this would be a typical excuse...but if i could start work at 10am...i'd always be on time and i don't mind working until 10pm at night. i just can't get up in the morning no matter how early i start. part of this came from just always sucking at it. as a kid i was always being shoved out the door by my mom and running to catch the school bus, every morning. as an adult out of school...i worked two jobs. one was at a defunct builder's best pushing cart and loading cars...and my shifts were always the afternoon and early evening. my second job was repaving parking lots and asphault work..which we didn't start until after midnight...so as to not affect the business of the parking lot owners. plus asphault is nasty hot work and doing it in the daytime was really harsh. not only would you get sunburned, but also chemical burned from the asphault. we did a few parking lots on the weekends during the daytime and it was harsh.
anyways...this night work maybe didn't help set my internal clock to mornings, and i've never really adjusted.
anyways......
my mom was always timely..and would jump all over me if i was running late to anything...but things have changed. people, even my mom nowadays...just don't show up on time anymore. often they don't show up at all. i think part of this is a laziness blanket that has been coveirng and smothering america...but i also think this is some cultural invasion from s. america. where timelimess doesn't even exist in some countries. i remember in school reading about some idians in s. america that don't get time. if they showed up late, it was because that was their destiny. hence their culture was where ever you are is where you are supposed to be. this fit my natural lean well. of course as an adult now and a small business owner...you can't really do that. you have to lead by example. if i show up late, then it's nbot long beofre my employees follow suit. so i have to fight everyday with myself to get to work on time...so i am setting a good example.
there is allot of pressure being a leader. i'll be the first to admit i suck at it. i don't want to lead. i just want everyone to do their job and put in their best effort. riding on people's backs is not my thing. i hate to micro manage. even the best workers need to be patted on the back once in awhile and pushed a little harder to do better. it's just human nature to fall back into a comfort zone. i don't think it's done purposely, rather just a trait of humans and this culture we are in. i alos don't think, most times, it's done on purpose to hurt someone. rather time management is one of the hardest things to master. you are never done learning and doing it. it's a thankless task/skill. there is no finish line...so you never get to win at it or just stop.
so i noticed it first in my generation. we sucked as a whole at timeliness and showing up at all. now it's spread somewhat to the older generations....like the baby boomers. i'm not sure if it's a follow the leader type of event and the older crowd figured...why bother no one else is trying...or if it's just because society has been overloaded with events and obligations...that we just can't get everything done anymore...or even if it's just the lsot art of time management? i think its a little bit of all three.
of course...if youa re the one soldier pushing on for on time and fulfilling your oblgiations...it does become personal and frustrating. it's never easy to be the last man/woman standing.
so long term this is a bad direction for america. sure it's easier...but it makes things unreliable. n one would be ahppy showing up at a store to get a last minute gift for someone at 10am and the store sign says 10am, but the employees/manager don't show up until 11am. some with resturants. what has happened in america is the worst of both worlds. we expect everyone else to be on time and to fulfill their obligations...but when it comes to ourselves...we think we are exempt. this is more of the fall out and social disasters created by the hippie generation and the 70's me attitude in america. these morons (hippies) created a social house of cards. without reliability things just don't work. so my friend is right....if you say your going to be somewhere...be there. if you can't call ahead and cancel...not 1 hour after you should have been there or not at all. being late and not showing up seems easier...but reaaly it's not. you end up spending more time fixing the problem later when you piss off everyone you know, than had you jsut showed up and put in your 30 minutes. or called ahead and cancelled or even just said maybe another time...i can't right now.
being on time and actually showing up when you say you are. when i was a kid...it was uncommon at best to not show up when you said you were or to show up late. my parents raised me this way and i was never good at it, but i just knew it was the way things were done in america, so i battled with it my whole life. somethings i'm always on time for like doctor appointments, dentist, haircuts, business meetings, movies, etc. other things i am always late. things like family gatherings, getting to work. in my defense...i've never been a morning person. normally this would be a typical excuse...but if i could start work at 10am...i'd always be on time and i don't mind working until 10pm at night. i just can't get up in the morning no matter how early i start. part of this came from just always sucking at it. as a kid i was always being shoved out the door by my mom and running to catch the school bus, every morning. as an adult out of school...i worked two jobs. one was at a defunct builder's best pushing cart and loading cars...and my shifts were always the afternoon and early evening. my second job was repaving parking lots and asphault work..which we didn't start until after midnight...so as to not affect the business of the parking lot owners. plus asphault is nasty hot work and doing it in the daytime was really harsh. not only would you get sunburned, but also chemical burned from the asphault. we did a few parking lots on the weekends during the daytime and it was harsh.
anyways...this night work maybe didn't help set my internal clock to mornings, and i've never really adjusted.
anyways......
my mom was always timely..and would jump all over me if i was running late to anything...but things have changed. people, even my mom nowadays...just don't show up on time anymore. often they don't show up at all. i think part of this is a laziness blanket that has been coveirng and smothering america...but i also think this is some cultural invasion from s. america. where timelimess doesn't even exist in some countries. i remember in school reading about some idians in s. america that don't get time. if they showed up late, it was because that was their destiny. hence their culture was where ever you are is where you are supposed to be. this fit my natural lean well. of course as an adult now and a small business owner...you can't really do that. you have to lead by example. if i show up late, then it's nbot long beofre my employees follow suit. so i have to fight everyday with myself to get to work on time...so i am setting a good example.
there is allot of pressure being a leader. i'll be the first to admit i suck at it. i don't want to lead. i just want everyone to do their job and put in their best effort. riding on people's backs is not my thing. i hate to micro manage. even the best workers need to be patted on the back once in awhile and pushed a little harder to do better. it's just human nature to fall back into a comfort zone. i don't think it's done purposely, rather just a trait of humans and this culture we are in. i alos don't think, most times, it's done on purpose to hurt someone. rather time management is one of the hardest things to master. you are never done learning and doing it. it's a thankless task/skill. there is no finish line...so you never get to win at it or just stop.
so i noticed it first in my generation. we sucked as a whole at timeliness and showing up at all. now it's spread somewhat to the older generations....like the baby boomers. i'm not sure if it's a follow the leader type of event and the older crowd figured...why bother no one else is trying...or if it's just because society has been overloaded with events and obligations...that we just can't get everything done anymore...or even if it's just the lsot art of time management? i think its a little bit of all three.
of course...if youa re the one soldier pushing on for on time and fulfilling your oblgiations...it does become personal and frustrating. it's never easy to be the last man/woman standing.
so long term this is a bad direction for america. sure it's easier...but it makes things unreliable. n one would be ahppy showing up at a store to get a last minute gift for someone at 10am and the store sign says 10am, but the employees/manager don't show up until 11am. some with resturants. what has happened in america is the worst of both worlds. we expect everyone else to be on time and to fulfill their obligations...but when it comes to ourselves...we think we are exempt. this is more of the fall out and social disasters created by the hippie generation and the 70's me attitude in america. these morons (hippies) created a social house of cards. without reliability things just don't work. so my friend is right....if you say your going to be somewhere...be there. if you can't call ahead and cancel...not 1 hour after you should have been there or not at all. being late and not showing up seems easier...but reaaly it's not. you end up spending more time fixing the problem later when you piss off everyone you know, than had you jsut showed up and put in your 30 minutes. or called ahead and cancelled or even just said maybe another time...i can't right now.
Monday, November 17, 2008
why the auto bailout won't work.....
well looks congress is going to give the auto makers a bailout. this is another idea in stupidity.
first gm and the like have been broke on paper (accounting) for years. even during the suv craze where they sold not so bright american's unsafe, cheap truck frames, with toppers, leather seats, and lots of airbags and cup holders at a premium...all that cash still didn't work. thworing more money at them now won't do much. it will keep them alive a little longer but at ythe rate of burning up around 2 billion a month. 25 billion won't keep them alive for much longer. it cetrtainly won't let them weather through this recession.
no thereis a greedy reason congress is so gun ho on keeping gm and the other two alive. the ofrst is pretty obvious. their heavy campaign contributors. the uaw and other unions. without jobs the uaw and the like don't get cash. so the pressure is on the queen bee and the mortitican to keep these failed companies alive at any cost. the second not so obvious reason is tax revenue. without the big three and their large workforce...the federal govt would stand to lose around 60 billion a year in taxes. so from a govt standpoint a mere 150 billion would pay for itself in less than three or four years. it's no wonder they are saying anything they can to hit taxpayers emotion hot buttons to throw more of our monye into a failed systems laps.
you are hearing all kinds of bullshit like..."for every autoworker job...they provide 6 more jobs." this is exaggeration at best and lying at worst. it's true the economy is hinged on one another...but the closer truth is for every autoworker job they creat maybe 3 or 4 subcontractor jobs..meaning parts manufacturers...not 6 outside of the industry jobs. no just like when new orleans shut down after katrina and the govt said our economy would topple without it...the truth was it survived just fine without it. you also hear stuff like if gm fails it will shuit down the economy...once again not true. we have plenty of auto manufacturers here in the usa that can fill the gaps. companies like toyota, honda, bmw, hyundai, etc. these companies could easily fill the hole where gm and the like left.
then let's go to good old fashioned common sense, on why throwing more money won't fix anything. the economy is bad, right? so people are not buying cars and trucks. so it would appear obvious that gm , ford, and chrysler should be laying off people and shutting down plants that is creating more supply (cars/trucks) then there is demand(buyers). well since their union contracts won't just let them lay off workers an close plants..this puts them in an uncompetitive position against honda, toyota and the like. by tossing gm more money all we are really doing is providing welfare to autoworkers and white collar workers. i don't know about you, but i have had to cut back hard in my lifestyle and continue to do so. i don't see where i should be providing welfare to an industry that can't pull it's own weight. no one is throwing money at me and my small business...nor at my day job. so my boss can keep running things as is, without changing to meet the market.
no the harsh reality is that gm and ford, etc are goijng to have to change. the uaw is going to have to change. to throw more money at them is not fixing the problem. thr truth is they way these entities ahve been run and the uaw's position had this coming for a long time. it woupd have happened regardless of the bad economy. the govt is trying to do what it thinks is best..but they aren't thinking this through, imho. if we the tax payers are going to have to shove more monye over to help them then they need to give something back and do the right thing. it's time for a full overhaul of the automakers and the uaw. if they refuse then i say f' em! let them fail. a quick failure won't be as painful on us as long drawn out govt supported failure...that last decades. think of it like a bandaid. which is worse? a quick pull off your hairy leg...or a slow painful pulling that lasts a few decades? i've tried both ways, and i know a quick pull is far better than a long, slow painful one.
we have to get govt back on the taxpayers side. i have no sympathy for autoworkers, unions nor gm. they knew this was coming and they all were too greddy and stubborn to change when they ahd the chance. now the shit has hit the fan and they want us the real hard working americans...who take care of ourselves to lower our standard of living even further to help them....sorry i don't think this is right! michigan and the auto industry has been a ball and chain around america's leg for too long. fix your mess on your own and will give a hand. sit in your own shit and whine and i'm going to keep walking.
sometime si get so pissed at the greed in america. form the ceo tothe line worker. we truly ahev become a whiny do nothing nation of complainers. no bailouts for anyone. it's time to act like men and women, not children.
first gm and the like have been broke on paper (accounting) for years. even during the suv craze where they sold not so bright american's unsafe, cheap truck frames, with toppers, leather seats, and lots of airbags and cup holders at a premium...all that cash still didn't work. thworing more money at them now won't do much. it will keep them alive a little longer but at ythe rate of burning up around 2 billion a month. 25 billion won't keep them alive for much longer. it cetrtainly won't let them weather through this recession.
no thereis a greedy reason congress is so gun ho on keeping gm and the other two alive. the ofrst is pretty obvious. their heavy campaign contributors. the uaw and other unions. without jobs the uaw and the like don't get cash. so the pressure is on the queen bee and the mortitican to keep these failed companies alive at any cost. the second not so obvious reason is tax revenue. without the big three and their large workforce...the federal govt would stand to lose around 60 billion a year in taxes. so from a govt standpoint a mere 150 billion would pay for itself in less than three or four years. it's no wonder they are saying anything they can to hit taxpayers emotion hot buttons to throw more of our monye into a failed systems laps.
you are hearing all kinds of bullshit like..."for every autoworker job...they provide 6 more jobs." this is exaggeration at best and lying at worst. it's true the economy is hinged on one another...but the closer truth is for every autoworker job they creat maybe 3 or 4 subcontractor jobs..meaning parts manufacturers...not 6 outside of the industry jobs. no just like when new orleans shut down after katrina and the govt said our economy would topple without it...the truth was it survived just fine without it. you also hear stuff like if gm fails it will shuit down the economy...once again not true. we have plenty of auto manufacturers here in the usa that can fill the gaps. companies like toyota, honda, bmw, hyundai, etc. these companies could easily fill the hole where gm and the like left.
then let's go to good old fashioned common sense, on why throwing more money won't fix anything. the economy is bad, right? so people are not buying cars and trucks. so it would appear obvious that gm , ford, and chrysler should be laying off people and shutting down plants that is creating more supply (cars/trucks) then there is demand(buyers). well since their union contracts won't just let them lay off workers an close plants..this puts them in an uncompetitive position against honda, toyota and the like. by tossing gm more money all we are really doing is providing welfare to autoworkers and white collar workers. i don't know about you, but i have had to cut back hard in my lifestyle and continue to do so. i don't see where i should be providing welfare to an industry that can't pull it's own weight. no one is throwing money at me and my small business...nor at my day job. so my boss can keep running things as is, without changing to meet the market.
no the harsh reality is that gm and ford, etc are goijng to have to change. the uaw is going to have to change. to throw more money at them is not fixing the problem. thr truth is they way these entities ahve been run and the uaw's position had this coming for a long time. it woupd have happened regardless of the bad economy. the govt is trying to do what it thinks is best..but they aren't thinking this through, imho. if we the tax payers are going to have to shove more monye over to help them then they need to give something back and do the right thing. it's time for a full overhaul of the automakers and the uaw. if they refuse then i say f' em! let them fail. a quick failure won't be as painful on us as long drawn out govt supported failure...that last decades. think of it like a bandaid. which is worse? a quick pull off your hairy leg...or a slow painful pulling that lasts a few decades? i've tried both ways, and i know a quick pull is far better than a long, slow painful one.
we have to get govt back on the taxpayers side. i have no sympathy for autoworkers, unions nor gm. they knew this was coming and they all were too greddy and stubborn to change when they ahd the chance. now the shit has hit the fan and they want us the real hard working americans...who take care of ourselves to lower our standard of living even further to help them....sorry i don't think this is right! michigan and the auto industry has been a ball and chain around america's leg for too long. fix your mess on your own and will give a hand. sit in your own shit and whine and i'm going to keep walking.
sometime si get so pissed at the greed in america. form the ceo tothe line worker. we truly ahev become a whiny do nothing nation of complainers. no bailouts for anyone. it's time to act like men and women, not children.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
one idea on how to handle the union problem in america......
ahhh unions. love them or hate them we seem to be stuck with them, for now. so instead of debating on how to shut them down or expand them...we should address how to reform them and make them fair to the worker and business.
one idea i have, came from the free market philosophy. there are many problems with unions like corruption, and blackmailing, black listing, and intimidation...so many to list them all could take forever. so rather than spend an entire article on this...here is my solution. there isn't enough competition in unions. think about it. competition makes things cheaper, better, and more useful, among other things. if unions had to compete for workers...then they would have to lower their member rates. they would have to do a better job of negotiating with management. they would have to treat their lower tiered and lower senority members fairly and equally. rather than work by gaining members by corrupt policies made to force people into joining....it would force union mangement to do a better job of addressing real concerns of their members and how to do a fair job for a fair price. this is a win for both workers and company management.
it seems so simple doesn't it? to fix this long running middle class killing entity of america. the union. then why won't it happen and why hasn't it? well because it's all about big money. everyone talks about big oil, and big auto, etc. rarely do you hear mention of big labor, but you do from time to time. labor is a huge money machine. one of the biggest money makers in this country...little do you realize. these current unions know this far too well and have done everything they can to keep control of it and expand it. they don't like press and exposure and are notorious for using physical force and threats to put a clamp on anyone who tries to shake their tree of money.
the real facts are...forget all that union propaganda they shove down your throats. they need you more than you need them. their leaders make huge money and they only really negotiate to help themselves. this is an absolute fact. in right to work states...if you refuse to join the union...you still get the same pay and benefits the union negotiated for their paying members. you don't get less and you pay the union nothing in your weekly check. this is a fact. look it up. the union isn't stupid though, they will tell you propaganda like if we didn't negotiate those wages and benefits then you wouldn't get them. the company would pay you in pennies if you were lucky. they also try to say things that aren't relevant anymore like if it wasn't for us you'd get no vacations, no holidays, and no benefits. the also things like without us, the company would have you working 100 hours a week, 7 days a week...with no lunch breaks, etc. well i can tell you this is not true. it's made up history. the facts are there are worker rights laws thast have been passed over the decades. you would get all these things without the union today. not to mention the free market has set up things like paid vacations on their own. while not all private compaines do them most do and it's due more to the workers not wanting to work jobs without these benefits than any union. the federal work laws do everything the union does and more in some cases. add in trial lawyers and this keeps companies in line with the fear of multi billion dollar lawsuits. the market truly sets wages and benefits. it's a pretty simple concept. as an example if no one will work a 7 dollar an hour job with no benefits...then the pay has to go up and always does. eventually the right pay and beenfits will attract workers and when it does it's set. the market (meaning the people/workers) did the work. not the union.
so the truth is you don't need them....but if we can't get rid of them earning money off your sweat, and hard work. then we may as well force them to modernize and compete with one another to lower the cost to you the worker. after all this is about you, not them. it's about getting the most money and benefits for the hard work you do. if you need a union to get this for you, fine. it only seems fair though that you should have some choices on who you want to use to do your labor negotiating, so you can pay the least out of your check to them and get the most for you. after all, you need all the money you can get to feed your family, pay your rent, and clothe your kids.
i'd start my own union to comete with the uaw and the like, to drive down fees and money from your paychecks and the like...but it wouldn't be long before i ended up at the bottom of a river or bay with my feet in a concrete bucket. no one likes their easy money machine messed with....and the unions are no different. they would kill rather than do the right thing and change and reform for the sake of the workers and american industry.
one idea i have, came from the free market philosophy. there are many problems with unions like corruption, and blackmailing, black listing, and intimidation...so many to list them all could take forever. so rather than spend an entire article on this...here is my solution. there isn't enough competition in unions. think about it. competition makes things cheaper, better, and more useful, among other things. if unions had to compete for workers...then they would have to lower their member rates. they would have to do a better job of negotiating with management. they would have to treat their lower tiered and lower senority members fairly and equally. rather than work by gaining members by corrupt policies made to force people into joining....it would force union mangement to do a better job of addressing real concerns of their members and how to do a fair job for a fair price. this is a win for both workers and company management.
it seems so simple doesn't it? to fix this long running middle class killing entity of america. the union. then why won't it happen and why hasn't it? well because it's all about big money. everyone talks about big oil, and big auto, etc. rarely do you hear mention of big labor, but you do from time to time. labor is a huge money machine. one of the biggest money makers in this country...little do you realize. these current unions know this far too well and have done everything they can to keep control of it and expand it. they don't like press and exposure and are notorious for using physical force and threats to put a clamp on anyone who tries to shake their tree of money.
the real facts are...forget all that union propaganda they shove down your throats. they need you more than you need them. their leaders make huge money and they only really negotiate to help themselves. this is an absolute fact. in right to work states...if you refuse to join the union...you still get the same pay and benefits the union negotiated for their paying members. you don't get less and you pay the union nothing in your weekly check. this is a fact. look it up. the union isn't stupid though, they will tell you propaganda like if we didn't negotiate those wages and benefits then you wouldn't get them. the company would pay you in pennies if you were lucky. they also try to say things that aren't relevant anymore like if it wasn't for us you'd get no vacations, no holidays, and no benefits. the also things like without us, the company would have you working 100 hours a week, 7 days a week...with no lunch breaks, etc. well i can tell you this is not true. it's made up history. the facts are there are worker rights laws thast have been passed over the decades. you would get all these things without the union today. not to mention the free market has set up things like paid vacations on their own. while not all private compaines do them most do and it's due more to the workers not wanting to work jobs without these benefits than any union. the federal work laws do everything the union does and more in some cases. add in trial lawyers and this keeps companies in line with the fear of multi billion dollar lawsuits. the market truly sets wages and benefits. it's a pretty simple concept. as an example if no one will work a 7 dollar an hour job with no benefits...then the pay has to go up and always does. eventually the right pay and beenfits will attract workers and when it does it's set. the market (meaning the people/workers) did the work. not the union.
so the truth is you don't need them....but if we can't get rid of them earning money off your sweat, and hard work. then we may as well force them to modernize and compete with one another to lower the cost to you the worker. after all this is about you, not them. it's about getting the most money and benefits for the hard work you do. if you need a union to get this for you, fine. it only seems fair though that you should have some choices on who you want to use to do your labor negotiating, so you can pay the least out of your check to them and get the most for you. after all, you need all the money you can get to feed your family, pay your rent, and clothe your kids.
i'd start my own union to comete with the uaw and the like, to drive down fees and money from your paychecks and the like...but it wouldn't be long before i ended up at the bottom of a river or bay with my feet in a concrete bucket. no one likes their easy money machine messed with....and the unions are no different. they would kill rather than do the right thing and change and reform for the sake of the workers and american industry.
Monday, November 10, 2008
stem cell research? what's the big deal?.........
a big yeah to obama for looking at undoing bush's crazy lock down on stem cell research. look people i don't get the backlash on using stem cells? these are frozen donated few cell structures. they can't become live humans unless you find a donated uterus to grow them in. they are going to stay frozen and unused. they will enver become live, so what is the deal?
okay let's think this through using logic. okay so life begins at conception. when a sperm enters a egg. okay fair enough. it's a life...but it still needs a uterus to gorw in to survive to birth. where are you going to get uteruses from? then once the kids are born...who is going to raise them and feed them and clothe them, etc? we have already in america tens of thousands of unwanted children from ages 2-17, who no one wants. so now we are going to pour another 100,000 or whatever children into the market that no one wants?
let's think of it another way...okay so the foren cells are alive, and we cannot kill life, right? okay so life is composed of a sperm and an egg? so going by the logic, everytime a man or boy masturbates and a girl or woman has her period....they are flushing life down the toilet or shower floor drain, right? i mean shouldn't we hold these components of life to the same standard? after all these frozen ones weren't put together naturally. they are made in a lab. also following your warped logic, then all kids from puberty on should be banging all day every month to not waste life, right? i mean this is what your silly arguement is saying? think it thorugh and you'll see i am right.
understand these foraen cells are not stripped froma woman who wants kids. these are extra from fertitly clinis where the parents could concieve naturally so they had donated eggs and sperm to make these cell clusters and the ones not used and never were going to be used are donated to science to study. then you relgious nutballs get involved and say they are life and cannot be studied, but give no plan on how to bring them to unfreeze and give them life?
so basically they sit in limbo and bills are being paid to keep them in frozen storage...notice no religious nutcases is handing their money over to pay these bills, to keep them in limbo. also notice these nutcases won't say what their plan is on how to handle this? i guess being in limbo is what everyone wishes how they would end up?
man talk about stupid! look here is my opinion. it's really easy to be on a high horse and have high ideals if you aren't sick or in a wheel chair for life. it's funny how when someone who demands no research is done, changes their tune very quickly once they end up paralyzed or their kid does or their wife or father gets parkinsons, etc. i got news for you. if you are not sick, dying, or in a wheel chair...your opinion doesn't count. you have no right to punish those who are ill because you don't like it. last time i looked god didn't come down and say we couldn't try to work on stem cells. if you have proof please show me and no the bible doesn't count. as no where in it's archaic language does it talk about stem cells or frozen cells being life.
look we have two choices. we can either go back to the way god intended us to be...which means no medicine for anyone. no helping couples who can't conceive on their own out with science. bascially, the strong survive the weak die off and only those who have the right genes live to reproduce. or we can do what we have been doing which is we keep those who are wanted by their parents alive. those who are injured. those who's genes allowed them to get sick and weak. and we try to make their lives better. you can't have it both ways. it's one or the other. to try to pick and choice is not only just plain stupid, but it holds us back as a civilization. so be careful what you pick. you may be strong, but your kids and wife or husband may not be and when they get sick and no antibiotics are around to help them...after you've dug enough holes to bury them all........you may find yourself all alone.
okay let's think this through using logic. okay so life begins at conception. when a sperm enters a egg. okay fair enough. it's a life...but it still needs a uterus to gorw in to survive to birth. where are you going to get uteruses from? then once the kids are born...who is going to raise them and feed them and clothe them, etc? we have already in america tens of thousands of unwanted children from ages 2-17, who no one wants. so now we are going to pour another 100,000 or whatever children into the market that no one wants?
let's think of it another way...okay so the foren cells are alive, and we cannot kill life, right? okay so life is composed of a sperm and an egg? so going by the logic, everytime a man or boy masturbates and a girl or woman has her period....they are flushing life down the toilet or shower floor drain, right? i mean shouldn't we hold these components of life to the same standard? after all these frozen ones weren't put together naturally. they are made in a lab. also following your warped logic, then all kids from puberty on should be banging all day every month to not waste life, right? i mean this is what your silly arguement is saying? think it thorugh and you'll see i am right.
understand these foraen cells are not stripped froma woman who wants kids. these are extra from fertitly clinis where the parents could concieve naturally so they had donated eggs and sperm to make these cell clusters and the ones not used and never were going to be used are donated to science to study. then you relgious nutballs get involved and say they are life and cannot be studied, but give no plan on how to bring them to unfreeze and give them life?
so basically they sit in limbo and bills are being paid to keep them in frozen storage...notice no religious nutcases is handing their money over to pay these bills, to keep them in limbo. also notice these nutcases won't say what their plan is on how to handle this? i guess being in limbo is what everyone wishes how they would end up?
man talk about stupid! look here is my opinion. it's really easy to be on a high horse and have high ideals if you aren't sick or in a wheel chair for life. it's funny how when someone who demands no research is done, changes their tune very quickly once they end up paralyzed or their kid does or their wife or father gets parkinsons, etc. i got news for you. if you are not sick, dying, or in a wheel chair...your opinion doesn't count. you have no right to punish those who are ill because you don't like it. last time i looked god didn't come down and say we couldn't try to work on stem cells. if you have proof please show me and no the bible doesn't count. as no where in it's archaic language does it talk about stem cells or frozen cells being life.
look we have two choices. we can either go back to the way god intended us to be...which means no medicine for anyone. no helping couples who can't conceive on their own out with science. bascially, the strong survive the weak die off and only those who have the right genes live to reproduce. or we can do what we have been doing which is we keep those who are wanted by their parents alive. those who are injured. those who's genes allowed them to get sick and weak. and we try to make their lives better. you can't have it both ways. it's one or the other. to try to pick and choice is not only just plain stupid, but it holds us back as a civilization. so be careful what you pick. you may be strong, but your kids and wife or husband may not be and when they get sick and no antibiotics are around to help them...after you've dug enough holes to bury them all........you may find yourself all alone.
Friday, November 7, 2008
how to kickstart the economy...a piece of advice for obama...
i see a great way to start the economy and kill two birds with one stone. energy independence. which we really need. so i say let's start drilling here in America for both natural gas and oil. also allowing our massive coal reserves, shale oil, and oil sands to be turned into Nazi style diesel fuel. while we are at it, allow federal lands in the south west in states like Arizona, new Mexico, and Nevada, and the California high desert to have solar plants built. tell the environmentalists....we will address their concerns, but for now...we need the economy fixed and the energy issues fixed. then we should ramp up our use of methane from livestock farms and trash landfills. not to mention city sewer systems. man o man we have so much energy it's sickening we are sitting still and doing nothing with any of it.
the beauty here besides the obvious is it will create good paying American jobs that cannot be outsourced. this will put cash into energy workers pockets who in turn besides paying down debt will go out to eat, buy new clothes, buy new homes to live where they work and the list goes on and on. this will have a trickle effect both up and down the pay scales. workers at retail stores and restaurants will get tips and more business..meaning more hours to help them pay down debt and spend more. independent businesses will get more business which will lead to job security to those who are still employed in small business and more jobs being added as well. this will help banks because they will be able to get deposits from newly cash rich energy workers depositing their paychecks. it will also help banks to find a nice group of steady income/low risk earners to loan money to. which in turn makes them money. also the more energy there is the cheaper it becomes which frees up hard pressed citizens with some more cahs in their pockets to help pay down debt, etc. wall street eventually will become happy as money will be flowing around again and it will lift the doom and gloom sentiment that is helping to drive stocks down to nothing. as the market grows investors will become less gun shy and they will start to pour their cash back into the markets to make money.
the beauty of energy is it's a business we cannot do without.
then we get to world politics. remember every war is tied to money in one way or another. lots of myths and propaganda are made up to justify a war...things like "freeing slaves", "stopping communism", the list of propaganda goes back to the beginning of America...when you actually study the real reasons a war started it boils down to money.
so we are in Iraq and the middle east to spread democracy right? maybe so, but that is not the real reason. the real reason is the world runs on oil. the middle east has the most and it's very unstable. the reasons they are unstable is because of the oil. piles of money in raw commodity form brings the worst out of people and their desire to control it. so we are in the middle east and Iraq or help stabilize the regions so the oil can flow freely. this is not a conspiracy...it's actually a very good reason on its own. people don't like to hear wars are about money and they are giving their lives for money stability....so propaganda phrases and made up to give people something to latch onto to make it all make sense to denote ones life to a just cause. somehow money just doesn't seem worthy of a life.
if we can get our energy independence, it allows us to change our direction in world politics. we can accept being the world police for real reasons if we so choose. or we can stick our middle finger up at those same unthankful regions we have made wealthy while spilling good American blood. this gives us much more leverage in world matters in things like trade, etc.
yes, it seems so easy on paper doesn't it. the truth is it really is this easy. industry is biting at the bit waiting for congress and the president to allow it to go forward and get things rolling. the only thing holding us back is a small group of vocal Americans, who can't see the big picture and think that drilling for natural gas and oil is damaging to the planet. yet if they sat down and really sued their brains for a minute. drilling in America makes the most sense to the environment. we have a epa, and rules and regulations that other countries do not have. we can do it better and more safely. either way the oil is coming out. whether it's off the coast of Florida or in saudi arabia. the only real differences are. if we do it...we create American jobs. we keep the monye made here in American corporations. we can make sure it's done safely. this really isn't that hard.
sure we can adapt to better fuels as they become more of a reality. right now we only really have so many to work with. all involve some environmental impact. some better than others. we can also cut back on use and use it more efficiently. what we can't do it continue as is doing nothing. there is no magic beans to make free energy with no impact. no matter what you think this technology doesn't exist and likely never will. so let's be smart and stat suing what we know works and we have access to. i don't know about you people, but i'm sick of doing nothing. let's grab the bull by the horns and let industry do what it does best. get to work freeing us from foreign energy and rebuilding our economy on a real industry that isn't going to die.
the beauty here besides the obvious is it will create good paying American jobs that cannot be outsourced. this will put cash into energy workers pockets who in turn besides paying down debt will go out to eat, buy new clothes, buy new homes to live where they work and the list goes on and on. this will have a trickle effect both up and down the pay scales. workers at retail stores and restaurants will get tips and more business..meaning more hours to help them pay down debt and spend more. independent businesses will get more business which will lead to job security to those who are still employed in small business and more jobs being added as well. this will help banks because they will be able to get deposits from newly cash rich energy workers depositing their paychecks. it will also help banks to find a nice group of steady income/low risk earners to loan money to. which in turn makes them money. also the more energy there is the cheaper it becomes which frees up hard pressed citizens with some more cahs in their pockets to help pay down debt, etc. wall street eventually will become happy as money will be flowing around again and it will lift the doom and gloom sentiment that is helping to drive stocks down to nothing. as the market grows investors will become less gun shy and they will start to pour their cash back into the markets to make money.
the beauty of energy is it's a business we cannot do without.
then we get to world politics. remember every war is tied to money in one way or another. lots of myths and propaganda are made up to justify a war...things like "freeing slaves", "stopping communism", the list of propaganda goes back to the beginning of America...when you actually study the real reasons a war started it boils down to money.
so we are in Iraq and the middle east to spread democracy right? maybe so, but that is not the real reason. the real reason is the world runs on oil. the middle east has the most and it's very unstable. the reasons they are unstable is because of the oil. piles of money in raw commodity form brings the worst out of people and their desire to control it. so we are in the middle east and Iraq or help stabilize the regions so the oil can flow freely. this is not a conspiracy...it's actually a very good reason on its own. people don't like to hear wars are about money and they are giving their lives for money stability....so propaganda phrases and made up to give people something to latch onto to make it all make sense to denote ones life to a just cause. somehow money just doesn't seem worthy of a life.
if we can get our energy independence, it allows us to change our direction in world politics. we can accept being the world police for real reasons if we so choose. or we can stick our middle finger up at those same unthankful regions we have made wealthy while spilling good American blood. this gives us much more leverage in world matters in things like trade, etc.
yes, it seems so easy on paper doesn't it. the truth is it really is this easy. industry is biting at the bit waiting for congress and the president to allow it to go forward and get things rolling. the only thing holding us back is a small group of vocal Americans, who can't see the big picture and think that drilling for natural gas and oil is damaging to the planet. yet if they sat down and really sued their brains for a minute. drilling in America makes the most sense to the environment. we have a epa, and rules and regulations that other countries do not have. we can do it better and more safely. either way the oil is coming out. whether it's off the coast of Florida or in saudi arabia. the only real differences are. if we do it...we create American jobs. we keep the monye made here in American corporations. we can make sure it's done safely. this really isn't that hard.
sure we can adapt to better fuels as they become more of a reality. right now we only really have so many to work with. all involve some environmental impact. some better than others. we can also cut back on use and use it more efficiently. what we can't do it continue as is doing nothing. there is no magic beans to make free energy with no impact. no matter what you think this technology doesn't exist and likely never will. so let's be smart and stat suing what we know works and we have access to. i don't know about you people, but i'm sick of doing nothing. let's grab the bull by the horns and let industry do what it does best. get to work freeing us from foreign energy and rebuilding our economy on a real industry that isn't going to die.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
america is saving it's self into poverty......
ameircans love to save money. not save in the bank, but find products cheap and low cost wise. the problem is this is a big part of the reason wages and benefits are shrinking, and jobs are being sent overseas to china, etc. how you ask....it's simple....
a company who makes goods has two major variable costs they can control somewhat. materials and labor. well if you cut back on materials you end up with what happened in the american suto industry in the late 70's, 80's, and 90's. you end up producing junk and poeple will find other brands that fill this gap. brands like honda, toyota and the like. so once you've beaten down your supplier on quality materials and value engineered all you can do this cost cannot be lowered without afecting quality. whihc in the long run costs you sales as pissed off customers won't buy your product ever again. i have simplified it on purpose to make it easy to follow...
let's move on to labor. labor is a huge expense. meaning not only the wages, but work comp, 401k or pension contributions, health care benefits, and the like. it costs allot more than you realize to employ you. contrary to most people's beleifs, healthcare is extremely expensive. i'll give you an example. i had to switch to cobra since i was on my wife's insurance and she quit. well in florida you can keep your insurance if you pay what the compnay pays for your coverage. now we all kno we pay so muhc out of our paycheck each week for coverage. waht most of us don't realize is that is peanuts compared to the real cost. in cobra youpay what the company pays. we went from around $240 bucks a month in cost, when she was employed to over $1800 bucks a month on cobra paying the full amount. yeah big bucks!!! we have great insurance that covers eveything and almost no co-pays...but it costs money and allot of it.
anyways...labor is expensive. now to cover amterial, labor, and overhead costs and produce a small profit to keep the door of the business open...you have to price what you sell to cover all of that. if you rpcie the items too high people will hunt for cheaper versions of the same quality. so contrary to popular belief. companies don't make huge money per item. it's the volume that makes the numbers people toss around without really understanding how it all works.
let's take hamburgers for an example and use mcdonalds. their sales are in the billions a year right? but how many $1.00 hamburgers does it take to get those sales figures? more than billions. becuase you have to pay the suppliers and maintain the locations and pay the staff and pay the electric company, and the list goes on and on.
in business you have two basic angles to make money. either sell high volume at low margins, or low volume at high margins. that is dictated on what the market (aka customers) are willing to pay.
so my favorite example of a business which is brilliant in business at scraping together rpofts from low margin sold items in volume is walmart. love them or hate them they are very smart and innovative. they use many strategies to "trick" customers. they will move into a small town and sell everything at a loss or break even. they do this to get customers to shop at their store and not the local owned hardware and grocery, etc. once they are out of business...they slowly, but sometimes qucikly raise the prices to the top of what the market will pay. that depends on the income levels and cost of living as well as what competition (other stores) is left.
they also are most manufacturers biggest customer. when you are the biggest customer it gives you lots of power and pull. they have forced manufacturers to lower the quality of the items they sell in their stores to help add more monye to the bottom line as well as make customers think they are getting the best deal. truth is whatever the product..itcomes in the same box, but it's made cheaper and of lesser options or cheaper materials. this is a well known fact, not conspiracy. walmsrt admits it, but they spin it to say they are making the manufacturers do a better job of helping to save their customers money. this is hardly true.
they also continue to lower workers wages and benefits. as they run off and put out of the business the competition...they can quickly lower the market wages and benefits. people will work for less rather than starve or end up homeless. likewise walmart is advising their workers to use govt benefits to make ends meet like wic for babies, govt housing assistance, medicaid, you name it. they are pushing the costs of their employees back on the tax payers of that state. this frees up big bucks. you are paying these costs in your taxes. you may be saving money on bread, milk, and a vaccuum cleaner at walmart on the front end, but you are paying for that couple of bucks and more in your taxes. so it's pay now or pay later.
they also strong arm small cities and counties into giving them tax breaks to locate their stores in their district or if the city refuses they will put the store right across the city/county limits and then the city gets no taxes from them. they also force the city/county into expanding public
roads to accomidate them, things that normal businesses have to pay for themselves.
there are so many tactics they use to save money and post bigger profits. for good reason too. let's look at why. it's a publicly traded company. that means stock holders own the company. yeah the big one sare the family of the walmart founder...but also 401k holders make up a big ownership batch as well as things like teacher pensions and state run pensions and even union pensions. so it's held by lots of people like us. last time i looked no one was happy losing money in the 401k. so there is lots of pressure to make money at any cost. if they don;'t people wills ell their stock and buy other stock and without good stock prices to raise cash a bsuiness is in big trouble. this is ownership pressure from regular americans to make these ceo's figure out a way to cut costs and increase profits.
so they do things we talked about in this entry. tey do it because americans have this preconceived idea that it is stupid to pay too much for anything. which is true, but there is a price to be paid. we are paying it. when a company can't get fair market value for it's goods...it means they lower wages, send american jobs overseas, sometimes cut materials and quality. so directly we (consumers, stock holders in our retriement funds) are a big part of the problem. they could charge mre for the itesm they sell, but america is very competitive and it's not long beofre someone else comes in and does what walmart does and sells well below the market value and does it because they can sell a crap load at low margins and make a bundle. keep in mind a bundle for a small few, not for 100,000 employees.
now i always hear the ceo makes too much give his pay to the workers. well it sounds good, but truth be told it wouldn't raise their pay by much at all...even if the top management worked for free...which they wouldn't. take the number of employees from store staff to headquarters like secretaries and file stuffers and then take the top managements bonuses and pay and spread it evenly. this is public record on these numbers. it's not hard to find out. when your done you'll see no one is moving up the pay scale with that ceo money. no the truth is the ceo's need to earn less, but it's not solving the problem, rather only addressing a symptom.
so when shoppers shop at place like walmart and other lowest priced, best deal places...they are directly contributing to lost american jobs, but pay rates, lowered benefits, jobs sent overseas and to mexico, a overall lowered standard of living for everyone.
now i'll move on to unions and how unions are helping make america poor. first off i support good liveable wages and benefits...but these unions demand more. thsi is not a debated issue. they ask for much higher than fair market prices and added jobs to add more ranks paying into to the fat cats pile of money. they demand ridiculous pensions and medical coverage. i'll give you an example of ridiculous. one of my old man's buddies father in law..worked for gm. he worked there for 25 years. he retired at age 55. he never spent one dime of his own money for medical coverage or co-payment...anything for the restof his life. he is dead, now, buthe got decades of free coverage. he aslo recieved a pension that paid him over 55k a year every year. now he worked 25 years...but that means the company paid him over $1.6million in just salary for 30 years...30 years of retirment not working. that isn't including medical benefits. now that is silly. in fact these types of silly union demands add over $2800 bucks per car you buy from gm now. so if you own a chevy or pontiac you can thank these retirees for that 2800 bucks you had to overpay.
so i understand what unions are trying to do, but they aren't see the forest through the trees. if you have to raise prices so high to cover all this silliness...then no one can afford it. not even the union members themselves. this would assume tney could get foreign makers blocked from selling much better and cheaper priced cars like toyota, honda, and the like. as salaries and income rise, so do the prices since the price of the items has to cover the high labor prices. so there it's not as easy as everyone thinks it is to just raise workers pay and benefits.
so ultimately you have to find a middle ground. which means fair market prices. the only way to accomplish this is for the consumers to support and spend their hard earned moeny at businesses that provide decent pay and benefits to their employees as wel as fair pricing. thye won't be the cheapest, but you also won't be sending jobs overseas and cutting pay and benefits of american workers. if everyone did that you'd see companies change quickly as if we don't buy their items, no matter how much they cut the price, they'd have to change.
so let's be smart shoppers and rather than looking for the drop dead cheapest price...be a svay shopper and look for a business that sells the prodcut and provides good pay and benefits for it's workers, but alos is competitive in price. even if you end up paying a little more...you are stopping yourself from saving yourself poor.
the only exception when shopping is some sneaky businesses know that their are some very smart shoppers out there who won't entertaitn the lowest bid, because of what i jsut discussed. you have to do your research when hunting down service providers. like a/c guys, electricians, plumbers, and the like. make sure they are licensed by your state, carry work comp insurance, carry libaility insurance so you are not responsible if their guy gets hurt at your home and they sue you and your insurance. also get referrals from trusted and business smart friends and family. all referrals are not equal. i've gotten great referrals from people and i went to look at the work done at their home and i was shocked at how badly it was done and great they thought it was...but i work in construction and i know the right ways and the wrong ways...and allot of people don't. so be wary. it is a harsh market out there. you ahve t be smart and take your time. it never pays to rush through things without doing research. whether it's service work or retail. think things through. don't shop at the walmart and places like it. you are truly saving yourself poor overall.
a company who makes goods has two major variable costs they can control somewhat. materials and labor. well if you cut back on materials you end up with what happened in the american suto industry in the late 70's, 80's, and 90's. you end up producing junk and poeple will find other brands that fill this gap. brands like honda, toyota and the like. so once you've beaten down your supplier on quality materials and value engineered all you can do this cost cannot be lowered without afecting quality. whihc in the long run costs you sales as pissed off customers won't buy your product ever again. i have simplified it on purpose to make it easy to follow...
let's move on to labor. labor is a huge expense. meaning not only the wages, but work comp, 401k or pension contributions, health care benefits, and the like. it costs allot more than you realize to employ you. contrary to most people's beleifs, healthcare is extremely expensive. i'll give you an example. i had to switch to cobra since i was on my wife's insurance and she quit. well in florida you can keep your insurance if you pay what the compnay pays for your coverage. now we all kno we pay so muhc out of our paycheck each week for coverage. waht most of us don't realize is that is peanuts compared to the real cost. in cobra youpay what the company pays. we went from around $240 bucks a month in cost, when she was employed to over $1800 bucks a month on cobra paying the full amount. yeah big bucks!!! we have great insurance that covers eveything and almost no co-pays...but it costs money and allot of it.
anyways...labor is expensive. now to cover amterial, labor, and overhead costs and produce a small profit to keep the door of the business open...you have to price what you sell to cover all of that. if you rpcie the items too high people will hunt for cheaper versions of the same quality. so contrary to popular belief. companies don't make huge money per item. it's the volume that makes the numbers people toss around without really understanding how it all works.
let's take hamburgers for an example and use mcdonalds. their sales are in the billions a year right? but how many $1.00 hamburgers does it take to get those sales figures? more than billions. becuase you have to pay the suppliers and maintain the locations and pay the staff and pay the electric company, and the list goes on and on.
in business you have two basic angles to make money. either sell high volume at low margins, or low volume at high margins. that is dictated on what the market (aka customers) are willing to pay.
so my favorite example of a business which is brilliant in business at scraping together rpofts from low margin sold items in volume is walmart. love them or hate them they are very smart and innovative. they use many strategies to "trick" customers. they will move into a small town and sell everything at a loss or break even. they do this to get customers to shop at their store and not the local owned hardware and grocery, etc. once they are out of business...they slowly, but sometimes qucikly raise the prices to the top of what the market will pay. that depends on the income levels and cost of living as well as what competition (other stores) is left.
they also are most manufacturers biggest customer. when you are the biggest customer it gives you lots of power and pull. they have forced manufacturers to lower the quality of the items they sell in their stores to help add more monye to the bottom line as well as make customers think they are getting the best deal. truth is whatever the product..itcomes in the same box, but it's made cheaper and of lesser options or cheaper materials. this is a well known fact, not conspiracy. walmsrt admits it, but they spin it to say they are making the manufacturers do a better job of helping to save their customers money. this is hardly true.
they also continue to lower workers wages and benefits. as they run off and put out of the business the competition...they can quickly lower the market wages and benefits. people will work for less rather than starve or end up homeless. likewise walmart is advising their workers to use govt benefits to make ends meet like wic for babies, govt housing assistance, medicaid, you name it. they are pushing the costs of their employees back on the tax payers of that state. this frees up big bucks. you are paying these costs in your taxes. you may be saving money on bread, milk, and a vaccuum cleaner at walmart on the front end, but you are paying for that couple of bucks and more in your taxes. so it's pay now or pay later.
they also strong arm small cities and counties into giving them tax breaks to locate their stores in their district or if the city refuses they will put the store right across the city/county limits and then the city gets no taxes from them. they also force the city/county into expanding public
roads to accomidate them, things that normal businesses have to pay for themselves.
there are so many tactics they use to save money and post bigger profits. for good reason too. let's look at why. it's a publicly traded company. that means stock holders own the company. yeah the big one sare the family of the walmart founder...but also 401k holders make up a big ownership batch as well as things like teacher pensions and state run pensions and even union pensions. so it's held by lots of people like us. last time i looked no one was happy losing money in the 401k. so there is lots of pressure to make money at any cost. if they don;'t people wills ell their stock and buy other stock and without good stock prices to raise cash a bsuiness is in big trouble. this is ownership pressure from regular americans to make these ceo's figure out a way to cut costs and increase profits.
so they do things we talked about in this entry. tey do it because americans have this preconceived idea that it is stupid to pay too much for anything. which is true, but there is a price to be paid. we are paying it. when a company can't get fair market value for it's goods...it means they lower wages, send american jobs overseas, sometimes cut materials and quality. so directly we (consumers, stock holders in our retriement funds) are a big part of the problem. they could charge mre for the itesm they sell, but america is very competitive and it's not long beofre someone else comes in and does what walmart does and sells well below the market value and does it because they can sell a crap load at low margins and make a bundle. keep in mind a bundle for a small few, not for 100,000 employees.
now i always hear the ceo makes too much give his pay to the workers. well it sounds good, but truth be told it wouldn't raise their pay by much at all...even if the top management worked for free...which they wouldn't. take the number of employees from store staff to headquarters like secretaries and file stuffers and then take the top managements bonuses and pay and spread it evenly. this is public record on these numbers. it's not hard to find out. when your done you'll see no one is moving up the pay scale with that ceo money. no the truth is the ceo's need to earn less, but it's not solving the problem, rather only addressing a symptom.
so when shoppers shop at place like walmart and other lowest priced, best deal places...they are directly contributing to lost american jobs, but pay rates, lowered benefits, jobs sent overseas and to mexico, a overall lowered standard of living for everyone.
now i'll move on to unions and how unions are helping make america poor. first off i support good liveable wages and benefits...but these unions demand more. thsi is not a debated issue. they ask for much higher than fair market prices and added jobs to add more ranks paying into to the fat cats pile of money. they demand ridiculous pensions and medical coverage. i'll give you an example of ridiculous. one of my old man's buddies father in law..worked for gm. he worked there for 25 years. he retired at age 55. he never spent one dime of his own money for medical coverage or co-payment...anything for the restof his life. he is dead, now, buthe got decades of free coverage. he aslo recieved a pension that paid him over 55k a year every year. now he worked 25 years...but that means the company paid him over $1.6million in just salary for 30 years...30 years of retirment not working. that isn't including medical benefits. now that is silly. in fact these types of silly union demands add over $2800 bucks per car you buy from gm now. so if you own a chevy or pontiac you can thank these retirees for that 2800 bucks you had to overpay.
so i understand what unions are trying to do, but they aren't see the forest through the trees. if you have to raise prices so high to cover all this silliness...then no one can afford it. not even the union members themselves. this would assume tney could get foreign makers blocked from selling much better and cheaper priced cars like toyota, honda, and the like. as salaries and income rise, so do the prices since the price of the items has to cover the high labor prices. so there it's not as easy as everyone thinks it is to just raise workers pay and benefits.
so ultimately you have to find a middle ground. which means fair market prices. the only way to accomplish this is for the consumers to support and spend their hard earned moeny at businesses that provide decent pay and benefits to their employees as wel as fair pricing. thye won't be the cheapest, but you also won't be sending jobs overseas and cutting pay and benefits of american workers. if everyone did that you'd see companies change quickly as if we don't buy their items, no matter how much they cut the price, they'd have to change.
so let's be smart shoppers and rather than looking for the drop dead cheapest price...be a svay shopper and look for a business that sells the prodcut and provides good pay and benefits for it's workers, but alos is competitive in price. even if you end up paying a little more...you are stopping yourself from saving yourself poor.
the only exception when shopping is some sneaky businesses know that their are some very smart shoppers out there who won't entertaitn the lowest bid, because of what i jsut discussed. you have to do your research when hunting down service providers. like a/c guys, electricians, plumbers, and the like. make sure they are licensed by your state, carry work comp insurance, carry libaility insurance so you are not responsible if their guy gets hurt at your home and they sue you and your insurance. also get referrals from trusted and business smart friends and family. all referrals are not equal. i've gotten great referrals from people and i went to look at the work done at their home and i was shocked at how badly it was done and great they thought it was...but i work in construction and i know the right ways and the wrong ways...and allot of people don't. so be wary. it is a harsh market out there. you ahve t be smart and take your time. it never pays to rush through things without doing research. whether it's service work or retail. think things through. don't shop at the walmart and places like it. you are truly saving yourself poor overall.
casey anthony fan on craigslist......
recieved a link from a buddy for a local craigslist posting. if you don't know her. casey anthony is the young compulsive lying lunatic mom who is on trial for killing her daughter. this girl has dominated local news down here for awhile now. anyways, not only is she crazy, but her entire family from what i have seen on the news makes you shake your head.
they have said some crazy stuff. like that there are govt and/or ufo's entities out to get them and...well so many lunatic things you almost can't believe there is a clan of fucked up people this bad in your neck of the woods. the scary part is casey's mom is a nurse!!! she has talked like a lunatic in front of the news cameras. if i was in the hospital or doctor's office where she worked i'd walk right back through the door and find another hospital. even if blood was gushing from my head. mentally unstable is a good overall assessment of this entire family. maybe better said, "all crazier than a shit house rat," sums it up better.
hollywood couldn't write a script this crazy. even if they could, people would leave the theatre saying, that was so unbelieveable. no real people would ever act this way and do that many crazy and stupid things. it's too fake and over the top.
back to this message on craigslist....damn, there are some creative people out there. to the author, thanks for the laugh! i'm always serious in my posts, so it's time for some fun and a laugh, at a not funny at all situation.
Casey - good times ahead! - m4w
Reply to: mailto:pers-907800592@craigslist.org?subject=Casey%20-%20good%20times%20ahead!%20-%20m4w [?]Date: 2008-11-06, 5:01AM EST
I saw you in the courtroom and it was lust at first sight. How could anyone not be taken by the sight of you in your chic pink handcuffs and snappy blue jump suit? For a moment, I almost forgot about the whole murderous sociopath thing. Who else but you could execute a perp walk with the grace and beauty of a stripper grinding one out in an attempt to separate boner toting sleazebags from their hard earned dollars? I think all it would take for this relationship to really take off is a bottle of chloroform and some zip ties. I'll even throw in a ball gag lest anyone mistake your screams of ecstasy for something more sinister. I close my eyes and can hear your soft voice whisper those words I long to hear, "Please...let me go and I won't tell anyone...I'll do anything you want, just don't hurt me." You will always find me to be a perfect gentleman - I'll even hold the trunk lid open for you as I push you in. And since you like to party, the roofies are on me. As the object of my affection, I will shower you with gifts (a pearl necklace for starters!). So turn that frown upside down Casey! Good times are right around the corner.
they have said some crazy stuff. like that there are govt and/or ufo's entities out to get them and...well so many lunatic things you almost can't believe there is a clan of fucked up people this bad in your neck of the woods. the scary part is casey's mom is a nurse!!! she has talked like a lunatic in front of the news cameras. if i was in the hospital or doctor's office where she worked i'd walk right back through the door and find another hospital. even if blood was gushing from my head. mentally unstable is a good overall assessment of this entire family. maybe better said, "all crazier than a shit house rat," sums it up better.
hollywood couldn't write a script this crazy. even if they could, people would leave the theatre saying, that was so unbelieveable. no real people would ever act this way and do that many crazy and stupid things. it's too fake and over the top.
back to this message on craigslist....damn, there are some creative people out there. to the author, thanks for the laugh! i'm always serious in my posts, so it's time for some fun and a laugh, at a not funny at all situation.
Casey - good times ahead! - m4w
Reply to: mailto:pers-907800592@craigslist.org?subject=Casey%20-%20good%20times%20ahead!%20-%20m4w [?]Date: 2008-11-06, 5:01AM EST
I saw you in the courtroom and it was lust at first sight. How could anyone not be taken by the sight of you in your chic pink handcuffs and snappy blue jump suit? For a moment, I almost forgot about the whole murderous sociopath thing. Who else but you could execute a perp walk with the grace and beauty of a stripper grinding one out in an attempt to separate boner toting sleazebags from their hard earned dollars? I think all it would take for this relationship to really take off is a bottle of chloroform and some zip ties. I'll even throw in a ball gag lest anyone mistake your screams of ecstasy for something more sinister. I close my eyes and can hear your soft voice whisper those words I long to hear, "Please...let me go and I won't tell anyone...I'll do anything you want, just don't hurt me." You will always find me to be a perfect gentleman - I'll even hold the trunk lid open for you as I push you in. And since you like to party, the roofies are on me. As the object of my affection, I will shower you with gifts (a pearl necklace for starters!). So turn that frown upside down Casey! Good times are right around the corner.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
gun and ammo sales are up, but why?.....
plenty of news stories stating that gun sales and ammo sales are up. questionaries filled out by buyers of both state two basic reasons. one being that obama will ban or make buying guns very hard or impossible. the second that he will support new taxes on ammo and/or weapons. well it appears that obama will be our next president so let's analyze his gun record. if mccain pulls it off, and i have major doubts i will go and review his stances on guns. fair is fair, right? for now let's assume an obama victory and see what he thinks.....
well i can't comment on those theories. i can only go upon obama's record/statements on gun control issues. here they are......
FactCheck: Yes, Obama endorsed Illinois handgun ban Obama was being misleading when he denied that his handwriting had been on a document endorsing a state ban on the sale and possession of handguns in Illinois. Obama responded, "No, my writing wasn't on that particular questionnaire. As I said, I have never favored an all-out ban on handguns."
Actually, Obama's writing was on the 1996 document, which was filed when Obama was running for the Illinois state Senate. A Chicago nonprofit, Independent Voters of Illinois, had this question, and Obama took hard line:
35. Do you support state legislation to:a. ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns? Yes.b. ban assault weapons? Yes.c. mandatory waiting periods and background checks? Yes.
Obama's campaign said, "Sen. Obama didn't fill out these state Senate questionnaires--a staffer did--and there are several answers that didn't reflect his views then or now. He may have jotted some notes on the front page of the questionnaire, but some answers didn't reflect his views."
Source: FactCheck.org analysis of 2008 Philadelphia primary debate Apr 16, 2008
form this fact check it appears that the gun buyers might be right...but let's look further....
Respect 2nd Amendment, but local gun bans ok Q: You said recently, "I have no intention of taking away folks' guns." But you support the D.C. handgun ban, and you've said that it's constitutional. How do you reconcile those two positions?
A: Because I think we have two conflicting traditions in this country. I think it's important for us to recognize that we've got a tradition of handgun ownership and gun ownership generally. And a lot of law-abiding citizens use it for hunting, for sportsmanship, and for protecting their families. We also have a violence on the streets that is the result of illegal handgun usage. And so I think there is nothing wrong with a community saying we are going to take those illegal handguns off the streets. And cracking down on the various loopholes that exist in terms of background checks for children, the mentally ill. We can have reasonable, thoughtful gun control measure that I think respect the Second Amendment and people's traditions.
Source: 2008 Politico pre-Potomac Primary interview Feb 11, 2008
this statement leaves out that the dc gun ban also basically banned legal handgun from law abiding citizens for the most part. it pretty much made them useless for defending one's self at their home. so i perosnally think obama is way off on this issue. the solution isn't banning guns..the solution is punishing those who possess illegal gun with lifetime prison sentences. the facts are that crimes commited with weapons in cities are done with illegal weapons...and hence gun bans only stop law abiding citizens from owning them...not criminals who do not follow thew rules anyways. this is hardly rocket science. how these politicians miss this amazes me. so maybe the gun guyers are right, but let's look further to be fair....
Provide some common-sense enforcement on gun licensing Q: When you were in the state senate, you talked about licensing and registering gun owners. Would you do that as president?
A: I don't think that we can get that done. But what we can do is to provide just some common-sense enforcement. The efforts by law enforcement to obtain the information required to trace back guns that have been used in crimes to unscrupulous gun dealers. As president, I intend to make it happen. We essentially have two realities, when it comes to guns, in this country. You've got the tradition of lawful gun ownership. It is very important for many Americans to be able to hunt, fish, take their kids out, teach them how to shoot. Then you've got the reality of 34 Chicago public school students who get shot down on the streets of Chicago. We can reconcile those two realities by making sure the Second Amendment is respected and that people are able to lawfully own guns, but that we also start cracking down on the kinds of abuses of firearms that we see on the streets.
Source: 2008 Democratic debate in Las Vegas Jan 15, 2008
fair enough. is don't see a problem with this. it also gives me some hope that obama does respect the 2nd amendment somewhat...not as much as i'd like, but hey you can't have everything, right? let's keeping looking though....
Concealed carry OK for retired police officers Obama voted for a bill in the Illinois senate that allowed retired law enforcement officers to carry concealed weapons. If there was any issue on which Obama rarely deviated, it was gun control. He was the most strident candidate when it came to enforcin and expanding gun control laws. So this vote jumped out as inconsistent.
When I queried him about the vote, he said, "I didn't find that [vote] surprising. I am consistently on record and will continue to be on record as opposing concealed carry. This was a narrow exception in an exceptional circumstance where a retired police officer might find himself vulnerable as a consequence of the work he has previously done--and had been trained extensively in the proper use of firearms."
It wasn't until a few weeks later that another theory came forward about the uncharacteristic vote. Obama was battling with his GOP opponent to win the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police.
Source: From Promise to Power, by David Mendell, p.250-251 Aug 14, 2007
well this bothers me. i supoort concealed permits for those who take the required classes and certifications. once again criminlas don't care they will carry concealed law or no law. it only stop slaw abiding citizens from meeting brute force with brute force and protecting themselveas and the families. sorry obama, but i think you are missing the forest throuhg the tress on this issue. as for retired police officers being able to carry them...what's the difference. once retired a plice officer is no longer a police officer. they are a reguler tax paying citizen no different thean me or the like. why should they get the ability to protect themselves and i can't?
let's keep looking...
Stop unscrupulous gun dealers dumping guns in cities Q: How would you address gun violence that continues to be the #1 cause of death among African-American men?
A: You know, when the massacre happened at Virginia Tech, I think all of us were grief stricken and shocked by the carnage. But in this year alone, in Chicago, we've had 34 Chicago public school students gunned down and killed. And for the most part, there has been silence. We know what to do. We've got to enforce the gun laws that are on the books. We've got to make sure that unscrupulous gun dealers aren't loading up vans and dumping guns in our communities, because we know they're not made in our communities. There aren't any gun manufacturers here, right here in the middle of Detroit. But what we also have to do is to make sure that we change our politics so that we care just as much about those 30-some children in Chicago who've been shot as we do the children in Virginia Tech. That's a mindset that we have to have in the White House and we don't have it right now.
Source: 2007 NAACP Presidential Primary Forum Jul 12, 2007
hummm...i agree except for one thing not being said. sure you can stop the gun dumping, but would there be gun dumping if there wasn't a market for it? the answer is no. the harsh reality is that the gun dumpers aren't creating a market, rather they are just fulfilling a "need." the real truth is to stop this you have to change the culture and stop the demand for guns. hard to do since a large population of these people are criminals. we already know criminals don't care about laws...so no law will stop this. it seems to me the gun banning advocates want to try to solve the symptom of the pronblem and not the problem itself.
let's keep reading...
Bush erred in failing to renew assault weapons ban KEYES: [to Obama]: I am a strong believer in the second amendment. The gun control mentality is ruthlessly absurd. It suggests that we should pass a law that prevents law abiding citizens from carrying weapons. You end up with a situation where the crook have all the guns and the law abiding citizens cannot defend themselves. I guess that's good enough for Senator Obama who voted against the bill that would have allowed homeowners to defend themselves if their homes were broken into.
OBAMA: Let's be honest. Mr. Keyes does not believe in common gun control measures like the assault weapons bill. Mr. Keyes does not believe in any limits from what I can tell with respect to the possession of guns, including assault weapons that have only one purpose, to kill people. I think it is a scandal that this president did not authorize a renewal of the assault weapons ban.
Source: Illinois Senate Debate #3: Barack Obama vs. Alan Keyes Oct 21, 2004
first off i like Mr. Keyes who ran agiasnt Mr. Obama for the seat. his view of assulat weapons i agree with, but we are addressing obama's views not mr. keyes. well my issue hewre is the myth that assualt weapons are desinged only to "kill" people. first what describes an assualt weapon. what i consider one someone else might not. for example to me a semi-auto 30-06 is an assualt weapon. not much different than an ar-15...except the 30-06 will kill, better an faster than a .223 or a 5.56mm nato round will. in reality what defines an assualt weapon? a caliber? how mnay bullet the cartridge holds? i'm at a loss on how to determine one. most semi auto hunitn rifles could be considered assualt weapons...but instead it tends to fall on ar-15's and ak-47's and other such weapons that have been used in wars. the legal definition breaks down into a detachable magazine, and selective fire, and a few other points. it basically targets ar-15's and the like. for now anyways, who's to say that won't change? anyways...ironoically, history shows shotguns were the preferred weapon in the american civil war and most southerners brought their own shotguns to battle. so weapons desinged to kill humans could be applied to shotguns. truth be told what is a .22lr 2.5" barreled semi-pistol used for? you aren't hunting with it. it's wouldbe crap at target shooting for sport. well the reality is it's would be used for protection at close range. basically a weapon desinged to kill a human. before you rant on about how a .22lr wouldn't kill a cockroach...remember that the viginia tech shooter/looney sicko used as one of his weapons a walther p22 .22lr pistol. also remember that more lives have been taken with .22lr rounds than any other. in a rifle it is a deadly caliber. at close range in a pistol 10 rounds from a .22lr at 3-4yards would be devasting. so yes it can kill and has. my point is all guns are deisnge dwith one fucntion to kill. regardless of claiber size...banning one semi auto seems pretty stupid to me. once again....law abiders should be able to own weapons including semi -auto assualt rifles and even fully auto ones.. but i do support a license situation and certification and training. next issue.....
Ban semi-automatics, and more possession restrictions
Principles that Obama supports on gun issues:
Ban the sale or transfer of all forms of semi-automatic weapons.
Increase state restrictions on the purchase and possession of firearms.
Require manufacturers to provide child-safety locks with firearms.
Source: 1998 IL State Legislative National Political Awareness Test Jul 2, 1998
okay this scares me. banning all semi autos. including your handguns. well obviously mr. obama didn't pay attention in constitutional amendment day in class while at law school. that amendment clearly states that citizens are to be able to own weapons to defend themselves from a overpowering govt running out of control. now hw is one going to do that against a trained military with m-16's and you can't even own a 9mm semi-auto pistol. i guess a revolver is a fair match aginst a sniper rifle. come on! it doesn't amtter if times were different then or not the constitution is wrotten ins tone and cannot be changed. our forefather's forcasted this would happen and they decided to allow us to protect not only ourselves and our property from an out of control govt, but also from politicians like obama who want to strip it from us. sorry obama....this one is enough that i am tried of researching you. the gun buyers are right. we will do everything you can to punish those who follow the rules, while allowing criminals who commit violent crimes with weapons to get a pass. no where did you mention increasing penatlies on these criminals. this i ahve a big problem with. punish those who break the rules, not thsoe who follow them. well we will do one more as this one defies logic unless your a lawyer.....
Voted NO on prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers. A bill to prohibit civil liability actions from being brought or continued against manufacturers, distributors, dealers, or importers of firearms or ammunition for damages, injunctive or other relief resulting from the misuse of their products by others. Voting YES would:
Exempt lawsuits brought against individuals who knowingly transfer a firearm that will be used to commit a violent or drug-trafficking crime
Exempt lawsuits against actions that result in death, physical injury or property damage due solely to a product defect
Call for the dismissal of all qualified civil liability actions pending on the date of enactment by the court in which the action was brought
Prohibit the manufacture, import, sale or delivery of armor piercing ammunition, and sets a minimum prison term of 15 years for violations
Require all licensed importers, manufacturers and dealers who engage in the transfer of handguns to provide secure gun storage or safety devices
Reference: Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act; Bill S 397 ; vote number 2005-219 on Jul 29, 2005
sorry i know lawyers need new money rich targets with deep packets to shake down and steal from, but there is no way that the shop, distributor, nor manufacturer can be responsible for what a perosn does with their weapon. this is nothing more than a scheme to shake down deep pockets. the criminal who commited the crime has nothing to get. they are poor and have no insurance to chase after for a big payout. so typical trial lawyers is we have to get the law to allow us to shake down the deeper pockets further up the line. this obama supported. sorry but i think law has it's palce and being a lawyer deos as well, but i refuse to allow legal blackmail be commited on those who have something to lose. the reality is if someone who was dirt poor beat the living crap out of you with their fists in your yard, and ended up causing your permanent damage for life. you couldn't find a lawyer anywehere to take this case...the reaon why is there is no money to get from the dirtbag who attacked you. no insurance, no investments...nothing. now have that same dirtbag commit the same crime in a super market or walmart parking lot...well the lawyers will line up to get a chance to do you justice. they will sue the walmart or grocery store and their insrucance company for not having proper security to protect you, etc. the point is and the relity is lawyers aren't doing squat for you they are making themselves money. in this country the lawyers have set it up to allow those who have nothing to lose get away with trouble and those who have something to lose...they will come after you like a starving pitbull. well that's enough for me to know that the gun buyers might be right. who knows until we have a new president and what they actaully do or don't do, but i sure hope common sense gets stuck into obama's mind and he remembers laws only hurt law followers, not criminals. nothing will be fixed with more gun laws.
well i can't comment on those theories. i can only go upon obama's record/statements on gun control issues. here they are......
FactCheck: Yes, Obama endorsed Illinois handgun ban Obama was being misleading when he denied that his handwriting had been on a document endorsing a state ban on the sale and possession of handguns in Illinois. Obama responded, "No, my writing wasn't on that particular questionnaire. As I said, I have never favored an all-out ban on handguns."
Actually, Obama's writing was on the 1996 document, which was filed when Obama was running for the Illinois state Senate. A Chicago nonprofit, Independent Voters of Illinois, had this question, and Obama took hard line:
35. Do you support state legislation to:a. ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns? Yes.b. ban assault weapons? Yes.c. mandatory waiting periods and background checks? Yes.
Obama's campaign said, "Sen. Obama didn't fill out these state Senate questionnaires--a staffer did--and there are several answers that didn't reflect his views then or now. He may have jotted some notes on the front page of the questionnaire, but some answers didn't reflect his views."
Source: FactCheck.org analysis of 2008 Philadelphia primary debate Apr 16, 2008
form this fact check it appears that the gun buyers might be right...but let's look further....
Respect 2nd Amendment, but local gun bans ok Q: You said recently, "I have no intention of taking away folks' guns." But you support the D.C. handgun ban, and you've said that it's constitutional. How do you reconcile those two positions?
A: Because I think we have two conflicting traditions in this country. I think it's important for us to recognize that we've got a tradition of handgun ownership and gun ownership generally. And a lot of law-abiding citizens use it for hunting, for sportsmanship, and for protecting their families. We also have a violence on the streets that is the result of illegal handgun usage. And so I think there is nothing wrong with a community saying we are going to take those illegal handguns off the streets. And cracking down on the various loopholes that exist in terms of background checks for children, the mentally ill. We can have reasonable, thoughtful gun control measure that I think respect the Second Amendment and people's traditions.
Source: 2008 Politico pre-Potomac Primary interview Feb 11, 2008
this statement leaves out that the dc gun ban also basically banned legal handgun from law abiding citizens for the most part. it pretty much made them useless for defending one's self at their home. so i perosnally think obama is way off on this issue. the solution isn't banning guns..the solution is punishing those who possess illegal gun with lifetime prison sentences. the facts are that crimes commited with weapons in cities are done with illegal weapons...and hence gun bans only stop law abiding citizens from owning them...not criminals who do not follow thew rules anyways. this is hardly rocket science. how these politicians miss this amazes me. so maybe the gun guyers are right, but let's look further to be fair....
Provide some common-sense enforcement on gun licensing Q: When you were in the state senate, you talked about licensing and registering gun owners. Would you do that as president?
A: I don't think that we can get that done. But what we can do is to provide just some common-sense enforcement. The efforts by law enforcement to obtain the information required to trace back guns that have been used in crimes to unscrupulous gun dealers. As president, I intend to make it happen. We essentially have two realities, when it comes to guns, in this country. You've got the tradition of lawful gun ownership. It is very important for many Americans to be able to hunt, fish, take their kids out, teach them how to shoot. Then you've got the reality of 34 Chicago public school students who get shot down on the streets of Chicago. We can reconcile those two realities by making sure the Second Amendment is respected and that people are able to lawfully own guns, but that we also start cracking down on the kinds of abuses of firearms that we see on the streets.
Source: 2008 Democratic debate in Las Vegas Jan 15, 2008
fair enough. is don't see a problem with this. it also gives me some hope that obama does respect the 2nd amendment somewhat...not as much as i'd like, but hey you can't have everything, right? let's keeping looking though....
Concealed carry OK for retired police officers Obama voted for a bill in the Illinois senate that allowed retired law enforcement officers to carry concealed weapons. If there was any issue on which Obama rarely deviated, it was gun control. He was the most strident candidate when it came to enforcin and expanding gun control laws. So this vote jumped out as inconsistent.
When I queried him about the vote, he said, "I didn't find that [vote] surprising. I am consistently on record and will continue to be on record as opposing concealed carry. This was a narrow exception in an exceptional circumstance where a retired police officer might find himself vulnerable as a consequence of the work he has previously done--and had been trained extensively in the proper use of firearms."
It wasn't until a few weeks later that another theory came forward about the uncharacteristic vote. Obama was battling with his GOP opponent to win the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police.
Source: From Promise to Power, by David Mendell, p.250-251 Aug 14, 2007
well this bothers me. i supoort concealed permits for those who take the required classes and certifications. once again criminlas don't care they will carry concealed law or no law. it only stop slaw abiding citizens from meeting brute force with brute force and protecting themselveas and the families. sorry obama, but i think you are missing the forest throuhg the tress on this issue. as for retired police officers being able to carry them...what's the difference. once retired a plice officer is no longer a police officer. they are a reguler tax paying citizen no different thean me or the like. why should they get the ability to protect themselves and i can't?
let's keep looking...
Stop unscrupulous gun dealers dumping guns in cities Q: How would you address gun violence that continues to be the #1 cause of death among African-American men?
A: You know, when the massacre happened at Virginia Tech, I think all of us were grief stricken and shocked by the carnage. But in this year alone, in Chicago, we've had 34 Chicago public school students gunned down and killed. And for the most part, there has been silence. We know what to do. We've got to enforce the gun laws that are on the books. We've got to make sure that unscrupulous gun dealers aren't loading up vans and dumping guns in our communities, because we know they're not made in our communities. There aren't any gun manufacturers here, right here in the middle of Detroit. But what we also have to do is to make sure that we change our politics so that we care just as much about those 30-some children in Chicago who've been shot as we do the children in Virginia Tech. That's a mindset that we have to have in the White House and we don't have it right now.
Source: 2007 NAACP Presidential Primary Forum Jul 12, 2007
hummm...i agree except for one thing not being said. sure you can stop the gun dumping, but would there be gun dumping if there wasn't a market for it? the answer is no. the harsh reality is that the gun dumpers aren't creating a market, rather they are just fulfilling a "need." the real truth is to stop this you have to change the culture and stop the demand for guns. hard to do since a large population of these people are criminals. we already know criminals don't care about laws...so no law will stop this. it seems to me the gun banning advocates want to try to solve the symptom of the pronblem and not the problem itself.
let's keep reading...
Bush erred in failing to renew assault weapons ban KEYES: [to Obama]: I am a strong believer in the second amendment. The gun control mentality is ruthlessly absurd. It suggests that we should pass a law that prevents law abiding citizens from carrying weapons. You end up with a situation where the crook have all the guns and the law abiding citizens cannot defend themselves. I guess that's good enough for Senator Obama who voted against the bill that would have allowed homeowners to defend themselves if their homes were broken into.
OBAMA: Let's be honest. Mr. Keyes does not believe in common gun control measures like the assault weapons bill. Mr. Keyes does not believe in any limits from what I can tell with respect to the possession of guns, including assault weapons that have only one purpose, to kill people. I think it is a scandal that this president did not authorize a renewal of the assault weapons ban.
Source: Illinois Senate Debate #3: Barack Obama vs. Alan Keyes Oct 21, 2004
first off i like Mr. Keyes who ran agiasnt Mr. Obama for the seat. his view of assulat weapons i agree with, but we are addressing obama's views not mr. keyes. well my issue hewre is the myth that assualt weapons are desinged only to "kill" people. first what describes an assualt weapon. what i consider one someone else might not. for example to me a semi-auto 30-06 is an assualt weapon. not much different than an ar-15...except the 30-06 will kill, better an faster than a .223 or a 5.56mm nato round will. in reality what defines an assualt weapon? a caliber? how mnay bullet the cartridge holds? i'm at a loss on how to determine one. most semi auto hunitn rifles could be considered assualt weapons...but instead it tends to fall on ar-15's and ak-47's and other such weapons that have been used in wars. the legal definition breaks down into a detachable magazine, and selective fire, and a few other points. it basically targets ar-15's and the like. for now anyways, who's to say that won't change? anyways...ironoically, history shows shotguns were the preferred weapon in the american civil war and most southerners brought their own shotguns to battle. so weapons desinged to kill humans could be applied to shotguns. truth be told what is a .22lr 2.5" barreled semi-pistol used for? you aren't hunting with it. it's wouldbe crap at target shooting for sport. well the reality is it's would be used for protection at close range. basically a weapon desinged to kill a human. before you rant on about how a .22lr wouldn't kill a cockroach...remember that the viginia tech shooter/looney sicko used as one of his weapons a walther p22 .22lr pistol. also remember that more lives have been taken with .22lr rounds than any other. in a rifle it is a deadly caliber. at close range in a pistol 10 rounds from a .22lr at 3-4yards would be devasting. so yes it can kill and has. my point is all guns are deisnge dwith one fucntion to kill. regardless of claiber size...banning one semi auto seems pretty stupid to me. once again....law abiders should be able to own weapons including semi -auto assualt rifles and even fully auto ones.. but i do support a license situation and certification and training. next issue.....
Ban semi-automatics, and more possession restrictions
Principles that Obama supports on gun issues:
Ban the sale or transfer of all forms of semi-automatic weapons.
Increase state restrictions on the purchase and possession of firearms.
Require manufacturers to provide child-safety locks with firearms.
Source: 1998 IL State Legislative National Political Awareness Test Jul 2, 1998
okay this scares me. banning all semi autos. including your handguns. well obviously mr. obama didn't pay attention in constitutional amendment day in class while at law school. that amendment clearly states that citizens are to be able to own weapons to defend themselves from a overpowering govt running out of control. now hw is one going to do that against a trained military with m-16's and you can't even own a 9mm semi-auto pistol. i guess a revolver is a fair match aginst a sniper rifle. come on! it doesn't amtter if times were different then or not the constitution is wrotten ins tone and cannot be changed. our forefather's forcasted this would happen and they decided to allow us to protect not only ourselves and our property from an out of control govt, but also from politicians like obama who want to strip it from us. sorry obama....this one is enough that i am tried of researching you. the gun buyers are right. we will do everything you can to punish those who follow the rules, while allowing criminals who commit violent crimes with weapons to get a pass. no where did you mention increasing penatlies on these criminals. this i ahve a big problem with. punish those who break the rules, not thsoe who follow them. well we will do one more as this one defies logic unless your a lawyer.....
Voted NO on prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers. A bill to prohibit civil liability actions from being brought or continued against manufacturers, distributors, dealers, or importers of firearms or ammunition for damages, injunctive or other relief resulting from the misuse of their products by others. Voting YES would:
Exempt lawsuits brought against individuals who knowingly transfer a firearm that will be used to commit a violent or drug-trafficking crime
Exempt lawsuits against actions that result in death, physical injury or property damage due solely to a product defect
Call for the dismissal of all qualified civil liability actions pending on the date of enactment by the court in which the action was brought
Prohibit the manufacture, import, sale or delivery of armor piercing ammunition, and sets a minimum prison term of 15 years for violations
Require all licensed importers, manufacturers and dealers who engage in the transfer of handguns to provide secure gun storage or safety devices
Reference: Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act; Bill S 397 ; vote number 2005-219 on Jul 29, 2005
sorry i know lawyers need new money rich targets with deep packets to shake down and steal from, but there is no way that the shop, distributor, nor manufacturer can be responsible for what a perosn does with their weapon. this is nothing more than a scheme to shake down deep pockets. the criminal who commited the crime has nothing to get. they are poor and have no insurance to chase after for a big payout. so typical trial lawyers is we have to get the law to allow us to shake down the deeper pockets further up the line. this obama supported. sorry but i think law has it's palce and being a lawyer deos as well, but i refuse to allow legal blackmail be commited on those who have something to lose. the reality is if someone who was dirt poor beat the living crap out of you with their fists in your yard, and ended up causing your permanent damage for life. you couldn't find a lawyer anywehere to take this case...the reaon why is there is no money to get from the dirtbag who attacked you. no insurance, no investments...nothing. now have that same dirtbag commit the same crime in a super market or walmart parking lot...well the lawyers will line up to get a chance to do you justice. they will sue the walmart or grocery store and their insrucance company for not having proper security to protect you, etc. the point is and the relity is lawyers aren't doing squat for you they are making themselves money. in this country the lawyers have set it up to allow those who have nothing to lose get away with trouble and those who have something to lose...they will come after you like a starving pitbull. well that's enough for me to know that the gun buyers might be right. who knows until we have a new president and what they actaully do or don't do, but i sure hope common sense gets stuck into obama's mind and he remembers laws only hurt law followers, not criminals. nothing will be fixed with more gun laws.
Friday, October 31, 2008
racism or is it culturalism??....
first this has nothing to do with the election. this has been a thought bouncing around in my head for awhile now.
okay, is racism as rampant as everyone thinks it is or is it really better called something like culturalism? of course there are racists. like the kkk, the aryan nation, the skinheads of america...whatever else they are called. btw, i made up the skin heads of america as i don't follow these groups so i don't really know their names. anyways, there is no doubt racism is alive and well...but is it as widespread as allot of americans think?
well i am of the belief that it isn't racism, but rather more based on culture. people as a general rule tend to surround themselves with like minded people. meaning a yuppie tends to like other yuppies around them. i have noticed in the last 15-20 years or so that race isn't so much a factor. it's more of what the indivdual likes, how they think, and what they participate in. i see lots of yuppie/preppie looking golfers with black, spanish, asians in the group. when observing the whole group they tend to dress alike somewhat. they tend to get each other's humor. other social things seem to fall in line. it seems to me that race isn't the barrier to being part of their group, it's more based on who one is and likes, and how they think and dress, etc. that was one example. i also see this trend quite a bit in business, social events, theme parks, you name it. like minded people seem to get along with each other. race seems to not be an issue. culture does.
so i wonder if someone who tries to enter a group that is not like minded with them and a minority(meaning the one different race in the group, whether the white person in a black group or the black person in a white group, etc.) would consider the shunning as a racist action...rather than a cultural outcasting. my bet is it would be percieved as a racism..not they there were outcasted because they dressed different, talked different, and liked different things.
of course there are exceptions to every rule. sometimes i do see a minority outsider who dresses differently, and the like comapred with the group. i think this type of exception is more of that the outsider is so unique and confident that the differences get overlooked or ignored. meaning like a great sense of humor or a fun attitude on life and event, type of personality, or some other trait(s) that overpower the stick to your own kind human nature drive. everyone likes to be around those who always have a good time and are just fun to be around, even if the event sucks.
i know me writing about this is a touchy subject and i have to walk a fine line. i'm doing my best to speak freely and openly without having my words come across as an excuse for something horrible like racism...which as i stated we know does exist. this is only on how rampant is it really versus people shunning others based on culture.
well i have thought about me, myself. i tend to surround myself with some like minded but also some that are very different from not only me but the others i know. i like lots of outside views as i feel it helps give you a better overall picture of topic and issues. i've always been that way. my only demand is that someone is honest and decent. those traits themselves are the hardest and rarest to find. so i myself might be a "racist" when it comes to character traits? well race has never been an issue to me. i tend to hate people for who they are, not what they are. i learned long ago, to judge each person individually. not an easy task as i find myself lumping people into preconceived groups quite often. i really believe that racism and culturism is something that has to be worked on constantly. the human brain is setup for survival. survival would force us to identify like objects as dangerous if they were. for example a multi colored snake. back when man was in the jungle...i imagine when a snake bit and killed a member of the tribe and you saw it, you would record in your mind, subconciously, that all snakes are bad. i think it also applies back to when tribes would battle one another and commit horrible things to each other. the characteristics of the opposite tribe i would bet would be locked in your mind as "bad."
i know this is somewhat true as i work with a bosnian who was in the war in the 1990's. he was a christian...but he was captured in his own city while in a traditionaly muslim occupied area and put in prison. i asked him why? he said because the muslims and christians have been around so long they can't tell each other apart from looks...really only by names. he didn't have proper i.d., so they considered him a muslim. he convinced a guard that he was a christian and so that guard let him go. so he fled to america. so even in modern times we still think very animalish. both sides of that war suffered. i wont go into who did what worst...cause it's not the point of my article..but i will say to this day he is very racist/culturalist against those who have a bosnian muslim name. ironically he likes one guy who is a muslim bosnian that works at another location . he met and they had allot in common, later he learned this guys name and relaized he was a muslim bosnian. well long story short they get along becuase of the cultural similarities...but that battle betwene the two groups has long and deep bitter roots and so they don't hangout, but are friendly to each other. point here is.....similarities beat racial perceptions.
i am convinced for the bulk of america what seperates us is cultural differences. less about race itself.
okay, is racism as rampant as everyone thinks it is or is it really better called something like culturalism? of course there are racists. like the kkk, the aryan nation, the skinheads of america...whatever else they are called. btw, i made up the skin heads of america as i don't follow these groups so i don't really know their names. anyways, there is no doubt racism is alive and well...but is it as widespread as allot of americans think?
well i am of the belief that it isn't racism, but rather more based on culture. people as a general rule tend to surround themselves with like minded people. meaning a yuppie tends to like other yuppies around them. i have noticed in the last 15-20 years or so that race isn't so much a factor. it's more of what the indivdual likes, how they think, and what they participate in. i see lots of yuppie/preppie looking golfers with black, spanish, asians in the group. when observing the whole group they tend to dress alike somewhat. they tend to get each other's humor. other social things seem to fall in line. it seems to me that race isn't the barrier to being part of their group, it's more based on who one is and likes, and how they think and dress, etc. that was one example. i also see this trend quite a bit in business, social events, theme parks, you name it. like minded people seem to get along with each other. race seems to not be an issue. culture does.
so i wonder if someone who tries to enter a group that is not like minded with them and a minority(meaning the one different race in the group, whether the white person in a black group or the black person in a white group, etc.) would consider the shunning as a racist action...rather than a cultural outcasting. my bet is it would be percieved as a racism..not they there were outcasted because they dressed different, talked different, and liked different things.
of course there are exceptions to every rule. sometimes i do see a minority outsider who dresses differently, and the like comapred with the group. i think this type of exception is more of that the outsider is so unique and confident that the differences get overlooked or ignored. meaning like a great sense of humor or a fun attitude on life and event, type of personality, or some other trait(s) that overpower the stick to your own kind human nature drive. everyone likes to be around those who always have a good time and are just fun to be around, even if the event sucks.
i know me writing about this is a touchy subject and i have to walk a fine line. i'm doing my best to speak freely and openly without having my words come across as an excuse for something horrible like racism...which as i stated we know does exist. this is only on how rampant is it really versus people shunning others based on culture.
well i have thought about me, myself. i tend to surround myself with some like minded but also some that are very different from not only me but the others i know. i like lots of outside views as i feel it helps give you a better overall picture of topic and issues. i've always been that way. my only demand is that someone is honest and decent. those traits themselves are the hardest and rarest to find. so i myself might be a "racist" when it comes to character traits? well race has never been an issue to me. i tend to hate people for who they are, not what they are. i learned long ago, to judge each person individually. not an easy task as i find myself lumping people into preconceived groups quite often. i really believe that racism and culturism is something that has to be worked on constantly. the human brain is setup for survival. survival would force us to identify like objects as dangerous if they were. for example a multi colored snake. back when man was in the jungle...i imagine when a snake bit and killed a member of the tribe and you saw it, you would record in your mind, subconciously, that all snakes are bad. i think it also applies back to when tribes would battle one another and commit horrible things to each other. the characteristics of the opposite tribe i would bet would be locked in your mind as "bad."
i know this is somewhat true as i work with a bosnian who was in the war in the 1990's. he was a christian...but he was captured in his own city while in a traditionaly muslim occupied area and put in prison. i asked him why? he said because the muslims and christians have been around so long they can't tell each other apart from looks...really only by names. he didn't have proper i.d., so they considered him a muslim. he convinced a guard that he was a christian and so that guard let him go. so he fled to america. so even in modern times we still think very animalish. both sides of that war suffered. i wont go into who did what worst...cause it's not the point of my article..but i will say to this day he is very racist/culturalist against those who have a bosnian muslim name. ironically he likes one guy who is a muslim bosnian that works at another location . he met and they had allot in common, later he learned this guys name and relaized he was a muslim bosnian. well long story short they get along becuase of the cultural similarities...but that battle betwene the two groups has long and deep bitter roots and so they don't hangout, but are friendly to each other. point here is.....similarities beat racial perceptions.
i am convinced for the bulk of america what seperates us is cultural differences. less about race itself.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
absentee ballots....not such a great idea...
the absentee ballot issues is already popping up in floriduh again. so far it's south florida as usual when these issues rear their ugly head.
i'm against absentee ballots. for many reasons. the biggest reason is they allow voter fraud to occur easily. they pretty much are the easiest way to commit voter fraud. here's how. first anyone can get online and sign up for an absentee ballot. i would tell you how, but i do not want to help or encourage anyone to trying to commit voter fraud. trust me with absentee ballots it easy and almost impossible for the supervisor of elections to track back who did it unless the person doing it is stupid. also it invalidates legal ballots as well such as what is going on in south florida right now this election. people make mistakes and/or don't follow the directions. they forget to sign the envelope, or vote for more than one candidate things that if in person they did the poll workers would be able to flag immediately and send them back to get a new ballot and do it properly.
i have thought long and hard about this. military. i don't see why the military as much as the states fund them can't do early voting or election day voting on the bases or camps. for those who live and work overseas...let them vote at the u.s. consulate office. the reason i like in person voting is for many reasons but the biggest is it helps stop voter fraud. it's much harder to make a fake id and vote in person as someone else than it is to forge a piece of paper and mail it in form an anonymous mailbox. plus it helps catch those who commit voter fraud by having them there in person to arrest and send straight to prison. it also stops dead people from voting. it's a win/win.
for those who think overseas americans and military would be too complicated...well i disagree. make it federal elections only. after all if you don't actually live in the state and work why should your input count. some people live overseas there entire lives, and are registered at a parents home. i hardly think a full time absent citizen should have input on local issues..when they aren't even there. at the minimum....let them vote state as well. setup a way to fill out a form at the base or consulate to get the proper ballot send from their poll area ahead of time. even better do it electronically. they can check ids at the door and then let them enter their info so they can vote for their district and cover everything a full time living in america american does.
if people care so much about voting, they will take time off to make sure they are home and in line for either in person early voting or election day voting. businesses wouldn't be sending people across the country on election day. people would learn to not take vacations election day. it would work and help stop allot of fraud. fraud needs to be stopped, and those who commit it need to be punished and stripped of their own rights to vote in local, state or federal election. besides long jail time and fines. let's up the stakes and put a stop to the corrupting of our democratic voting process.
i'm against absentee ballots. for many reasons. the biggest reason is they allow voter fraud to occur easily. they pretty much are the easiest way to commit voter fraud. here's how. first anyone can get online and sign up for an absentee ballot. i would tell you how, but i do not want to help or encourage anyone to trying to commit voter fraud. trust me with absentee ballots it easy and almost impossible for the supervisor of elections to track back who did it unless the person doing it is stupid. also it invalidates legal ballots as well such as what is going on in south florida right now this election. people make mistakes and/or don't follow the directions. they forget to sign the envelope, or vote for more than one candidate things that if in person they did the poll workers would be able to flag immediately and send them back to get a new ballot and do it properly.
i have thought long and hard about this. military. i don't see why the military as much as the states fund them can't do early voting or election day voting on the bases or camps. for those who live and work overseas...let them vote at the u.s. consulate office. the reason i like in person voting is for many reasons but the biggest is it helps stop voter fraud. it's much harder to make a fake id and vote in person as someone else than it is to forge a piece of paper and mail it in form an anonymous mailbox. plus it helps catch those who commit voter fraud by having them there in person to arrest and send straight to prison. it also stops dead people from voting. it's a win/win.
for those who think overseas americans and military would be too complicated...well i disagree. make it federal elections only. after all if you don't actually live in the state and work why should your input count. some people live overseas there entire lives, and are registered at a parents home. i hardly think a full time absent citizen should have input on local issues..when they aren't even there. at the minimum....let them vote state as well. setup a way to fill out a form at the base or consulate to get the proper ballot send from their poll area ahead of time. even better do it electronically. they can check ids at the door and then let them enter their info so they can vote for their district and cover everything a full time living in america american does.
if people care so much about voting, they will take time off to make sure they are home and in line for either in person early voting or election day voting. businesses wouldn't be sending people across the country on election day. people would learn to not take vacations election day. it would work and help stop allot of fraud. fraud needs to be stopped, and those who commit it need to be punished and stripped of their own rights to vote in local, state or federal election. besides long jail time and fines. let's up the stakes and put a stop to the corrupting of our democratic voting process.
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