Life is Good

I realize I haven't blogged in several weeks and that is not typical of me.  It is not that I lost interest in bloviating over the Internet, nor that I ran out of ideas.  Instead, it seems that my work is finished. 

In reading the letters to the Kansas City Star I find the IQ of the Kansas City residents who write the Star has mysteriously risen enormously.  Since I haven't had many quarrels with the letters, which took away my DS of the Week material.  Maybe my criticism of their stupid ideas has finally worked?

And just look at what is happening in Washington!  Congress and the president are seriously working on cutting the federal budget and getting our fiscal house back in order.  Obama has proposed a spending reduction plan that will only required 6,000 thousand years to reach balance.  I imagine if he is successful at raising taxes on the "rich", he can cut that number to 5,500 years.

So the country is again on the path to prosperity.  Conservatives will likely win the White House (if they don't pick another McCain) and a majority in the Senate.  Life is good, and it will only get better.

Cigarette Warnings

Smokers are pigs, digusting, stink, and often put their rights above those of non-smokers.  However the new warnings to be put on cigarette packages next year are just another example of an overbearing federal government.  The sad news is that it won't do any good.

Any smoker with an IQ higher than tap water knows that smoking is bad for them.  They got the clue when they coughed up part of their lung yesterday, or when a single flight of stairs leaves them breathless.  They get the message.  So why haven't they quit?

To understand why smokers don't quit, you need to understand what motivates people to change, or not change.  It is all about risk and reward.  Any bad habit that provides an immediate benefit will be difficult to kick.  Smoking gives the smoker immediate pleasure.  It also provides other side benefits, such as commradre as they stand outside with other smokers.

Now couple that immediate benefit with a negative consequence that is both delayed and uncertain.  Not all smokers become sick.  Hardly any become sick immediately.  So a habit that provides immediate pleasure with a delayed and uncertain negative consequence is the reason that smokers will ignore these new warnings and continue to smoke.

The entire government approach has a Clockwork Orange flavor to me.  In the movie the main character, Alex, is in prison for violent crimes that he committed.  He is selected as a candidate for an experimental treatment called Ludovico’s Technique, a form of brainwashing that incorporates associative learning. After being injected with a substance that makes him dreadfully sick, the doctors force Alex to watch exceedingly violent movies. In this way, Alex comes to associate violence with the nausea and headaches he experiences from the shot. The process takes two weeks to complete, after which the mere thought of violence has the power to make Alex ill.

 Our government is attempting the same mind control on a smaller scale.  They have passed a law that will force smokers to see painful visuals every time they light up.  Sounds like the Ludovico Technique to me. I don't see it working given the risk/reward equation that is so powerful to a smoker.  But I do worry what may be next.  Will we begin to see dead butterflies on our power bill?  Or pictures of murdered children at stores that sell weapons?

Demonize the Poor

Liberals has consistently and successfully parried all conservative attempts to jump start the American economy by claiming they only want to give money to the rich.  This has become known as demonizing the rich, or promoting class warfare.  It really enrages me.

First, its not giving money to anyone.  It is not taking as much as they planned to.  Remember the money being "given" to the rich is their own money.  Money that was earned, saved or invested.  If the government doesn't take it, is that really constitute giving?  I don't think so.

Second, assuming it really is giving money to the rich, who else would you want to give money to?  The rich has shown an ability to turn a buck into two, and create a few jobs while doing it.  If the intention is to jump start the economy, who else would you give money to?

Since Obama has taken office, entitlements to the "poor" are risen.  Where are the jobs?  It's not working.  In fact, it is a drag on the economy.  As those who pay federal income tax as fallen below 50% of all citizens, our economic problems have compounded.  As entitlements continue to grow and be funded using borrowed money, the value of our dollar has plummeted.  As unemployment payments have been extended up to 2 years, unemployment has continued to run over 9%.

Sounds to me that our problems are not caused by the rich, who pay federal tax, and do not draw on entitlements or unemployment compensation.  The problems are caused by the poor.  At least I have never met a rich person who collects welfare.  I am waiting for a candidate to state the obvious.  Our current problems are in large part due to so many people collecting off the public dole.  Just like with a Ponzi scheme, when more people collect than contribute, catastrophe is near.  Let's demonize the poor for a while.

DS of the Week - Reggie Marselus

This week's DS comes from Reggie Marselus, someone I have crossed paths with in the last 10 years.  Here is Reggie's gem published by the KC Star.

Obama’s puny critics



You can tell a lot about a public person’s job performance by examining the critics. That’s why we can conclude that President Barack Obama is having success in his first term in office. His critics have nothing.


There is no substantial footing on which to construct accusations. Opponents’ complaints are trivial and sophomoric. Even those who consider themselves serious thinkers find no solid footing.


No comprehensive policy discussions find their way into valid and thoughtful critiques. It’s all just goofy rallies, inane costumes, phony patriotism and insincere flag waving.


That’s because Fox News would rather air coverage of a circus than a policy forum. No real solutions, just name calling.


President Obama is an honorable man doing an honorable job. And no number of infantile cheap shots will derail his considerable accomplishments.


Reggie Marselus
Lenexa

Unemployment - up, national deficit and debt - up big, energy prices - up big to name a few.  But Reggie considers these true measures of a president's job performance trivial, sophomoric, goofy, inane, phony, insincere and infantile cheap shots.  How can an individual come to this delusional conclusion?  Probably because after 2 and a half years of the Obama administration, Reggie still blames everything bad on George Bush.

I have seen Reggie's letters to the star several times over the past few years.  Based on content, he is a left wing radical liberal that is completely out of touch with reality.  My eye catches his letters because he once applied for an open position on my team.  I know that something in his resume disinterested me from pursuing him.  I guess I can trust my gut.  Reggie is now proven himself to be an idiot.

Vacation 2011 - One Final Video

Make sure to turn the volume up.

Vacation 2011 - Coming Home

Around 7AM on Saturday morning, we loaded up the rental van and started the long trek back to Nashville.  The trip seemed shorter this time.  The only notable event was our lunch break.  Around noon, I pulled off the highway to fill up with gas.  The GPS indicated there was a few local restaurants so we tried to achieve consensus on the lunch location.  As with the entire vacation, the conversation always went something like this:

• Where does everyone want to eat?
• I don't care. 
• I don't care. 
• Neither do I.
• Okay, what do you want to eat?
• I don't care.
• I don't care.
• Neither do I.
• Okay, how about [insert restaurant name here]?
• I don't care.
• I don't care.
• Neither do I.

My attempt to avoid this conversation was to find any local restaurant and just stop.  It worked.  We found the Black Bear Diner, with adjoining Sugar Bear Ice Cream parlor.  It was definitely local flavor, reminding me of the many drive in restaurants that were around when I was a kid. 

After consuming a $5 cheeseburger, fries with ice tea, we were back on the road.  We pulled into Robin's and NILB's house 5PM.  I have shared a few pictures of our vacation, but the story is the picture that I missed.  Similar to the surprising of Lyndy with her cousin Heather last summer when I snapped a picture of my feet, I missed a once in a lifetime shot while in Nashville.  Robin and NILB had vacationed a few days in Florida while we were in North Carolina.  They had boarded their two dogs.  Both dogs contracted diarrhea upon returning home.  The picture I missed was after Robin had taken one of their dogs out to "potty".  When returning to the house, Robin wiped the dog's butt.  What I would give to have a picture of that. 

Vacation 2011 - Sunset Beach

After an 11 hour hour drive, we arrived at our condo around 6:30 PM eastern time.  This year we reserved a 3 bedroom condo on the Oyster Bay golf course, a departure from past years when we stayed at Sea Trails or Brunswick Plantation.  The condo was nice and very large. 

By 9:00 PM we began to notice that it wasn't getting any cooler inside.  A quick inspection found that while the fan was running, the outside compressor was not.  It was not a big deal since temperatures that night were in the low 80's outside and high 70's inside.  But with the forecast of heat moving in, a quick fix was the only thing that would save the vacation.  Luckily, the homeowner we rented from realized the critical nature of AC at a vacation condo and was able to get a repairman out on Sunday morning to fix the problem.  Disaster was narrowly averted.

The six days from Sunday through Friday were remarkably similar.  The only things that changed much were the golf courses we played at and the restaurants we ate at.  Golf and seafood are the attractions of Sunset Beach.  Our condo was located within 5 miles of 10 or more courses, and about the same number of seafood restaurants. 

Terri shanked it right

We played at The Pearl East, The Farmstead (above), Oyster Bay, The Meadowlands, Lion's Paw, Panther's Run, and The Valley.  All were great courses in primo condition with the exception of The Valley, a par 70 executive course that had just aerated their greens.  We played there as a second round of the day on our final day in Sunset Beach.  Each of us had our good days and our bad days.  All of us had a bad day on The Valley course as our golf muscles were complete worn out by then. 

There are more seafood restaurants in Calabash (seafood town near Sunset Beach) that time enough to eat at each.  We made a valiant attempt.  In order, we ate at Twin Lakes, Emma's, Southern Gravy, Captain Nance's, Damon's, Oyster Bay Clubhouse, Greenside(?), Southern Gravy (again), The Grapevine, Granny Allyn's Diner, Crabby Oddwater's, Sunrise Pancake House, and Dockside. Between the 4 of us, we didn't have a single bad meal.  Twin Lakes, The Grapevine and Southern Gravy were the best in my opinion. 

Thursday evening on the beach

We did find the time to spend one afternoon at the pool, another in Myrtle Beach, and one evening walking the beach.  Otherwise, our time was spent golfing and eating.  It is what old people do.  Our last night in Sunrise Beach was used to make our third trip to The Creamery - it has become a tradition to spend our last evening there.

Is SILC trying to smack BILL?