Justice at Last

Here's what I call Justice!

Talk about punishment fitting the crime.

Looks Like MN Needs the IN Voter ID Law

From John Hinderaker:

Minnesota makes no serious effort to prevent voter fraud. It has been reported that one-quarter of all the votes cast in Hennepin County, the state's largest, were same-day registrations. In most instances, not only are voters not required to show identification, it is illegal to ask them for it. So we have no way of knowing how many non-citizens voted; or how many students from Wisconsin voted there, then crossed the border to vote again in a college town in Minnesota; or how many people voted in another state and also cast an absentee ballot in Minnesota, or vice versa; or how many felons voted; or how many fictitious people registered by ACORN, the voter fraud organization that put on a major push in Minnesota this year, ostensibly showed up to vote; or how many residents of nursing homes voted without having any idea they had done so; or how many voted in two or more Minnesota precincts; or how many people voted for themselves and also for someone who they knew had died or moved out of a precinct by election day; or how many Franken ballots were slipped into voting machines by Democratic election judges when no one was looking. There is no way, at this point, to separate the legitimate ballots from those that were cast illegally. The legal and the illegal, the real and the fake, are being counted with equal precision.

The larger question for me is, how can it be possible that Minnesota would even consider electing Al Franken to the US Senate? It would seem that the cold (no global warming in those north woods, I can attest) has frozen their collective brains. Even if Norm Coleman is a jerk (and I have no information on that question one way or the other), how could anyone possibly believe Stuart Smalley is a legitimate replacement?

Then again, they did elect Jesse Ventura to be their governor once. Incomprehensible.

Incarcerated in the Zoo

The celebration moves into full swing, as an apparent majority of the population seem to have received their wish - full Democrat control of government.

So the celebrating individuals now feel free to examine me and the shrinking number of people like me, trying to figure out how any reasonably intelligent human being could possibly be disappointed or even frightened as the Messiah prepares to take over the government.

For what it's worth, here's the perspective of this oddity from the Zoo.

First and foremost, my objection is moral.

The "Freedom of Choice Act" is a nightmare. Fortunately I don't have any daughters, because all parental consent laws regarding abortions for minors will be wiped off the books nationwide. As will waiting periods, counseling, and any other measures passed by the states in an attempt to offer alternatives to women who think they might want to vacuum their developing baby out of their womb. My tax dollars will be used to help poor women kill their unborn babies, and quite possibly the occasional baby born alive by mistake. Any and all public expression of opposition will be harshly prosecuted.

Gay Marriage is a direct assault on Christianity. Because the movement, at it's root, isn't about marriage at all. Gays can get together right this moment with a group of friends and make any promises, personal or contractual, they want. No, it's about telling Christians that we dare not breathe a word of the most mild suggestion that the behavior is wrong. And it's about forcing all employers through the force of law to provide benefits to same-sex partners. It's fundamentally about supressing freedom of thought, expression, and the right to hire and fire people based on a moral standard.

Universal Healthcare will kill the healthcare system. I do not disagree there's a massive problem with healthcare in our country, but the problem is high cost, not the lack of government control. If the government provides my healthcare, then they also can deny me healthcare. I want the problem of cost solved so healthcare is accessible, but the voters said they want the government to confiscate money from those who have and give to those who have not. I struggle to keep up with my own crippling healthcare costs, but the last thing I want is for the government to swoop in and rescue me with their new freedom-sucking plan.

Socialism is government control over the citizens' lives. It replaces the corporate fat cats with a new group of government bureaucrat fat cats, leaving everybody else worse off than they were under free enterprise. Because, you see, socialism sucks all incentive and work ethic out of the population. Why should I work my tail off to get the exact same government check as the guy next to me who is drunk most of the time and produces practically nothing? Socialism knocks the rich down several notches, but actually knocks everybody else down a few notches as well, all in the name of "fairness". But of course, don't dare peek at the lifestyles of the political party bureaucrats, who somehow manage to maintain lavish lifestyles for themselves.

We've already lost the country envisioned by our Founders. Congress ignores the constitution with impunity. And the Messiah President will soon stack the courts with judges who will make sure that can continue through the next two generations.

Solving the Big 3

Evidence of the sheer stupidity of the Big 3 CEO's, riding their Gulfstreams to DC to beg for cash, is the additional fact that they didn't really have a case to make.

Unless you call "please bail us out, we're going under" a case.

Here's an idea.

Federal Government, just say no.

Big 3 shareholders, fire your boards of directors and CEO's and put actual intelligent businesspeople in charge.

Management, get in a room with the UAW and hammer out a deal. They give back on some salary and benefits in the short run in return for employee ownership in the company. If and when the company makes money again, so will the union membership.

Make more deals with the union in the areas of quality and productivity. The more productive each union member and the better quality of the product, the more they stand to make from improved sales. Actually ask the Union bosses to allow the company to cut loose the dead weight.

Not to mention cutting loose the dead weight in the executive suites and the engineering departments and the administrative departments.

That sounds to me like a company that could survive and prosper.

Instead of the company that's asking the government for billions in bailout dollars that will end up funding union pensions and management golden parachutes.

America, where have ye gone?

Repeating History

Back to the future.

Economic troubles are so similar to the 30's it's amazing. Even more amazing is how few of our leaders in Washington seem to understand anything about our conditions. They certainly don't seem to have learned anything from the experiences of the "Great Depression". Mostly they seem be focused on making sure they and their buddies prosper, not caring much at all about the country as a whole.

And we've elected a president who fancies himself a pacifist version of FDR.

Only those able to pay off all their debt as soon as possible have a chance at survival over the next dozen years.

Personally, I have to try everything I can to keep income going. I know a regular job isn't going to happen, so I've got to find every possible way to keep the business bringing in revenue. Then make the payoff of the mortgage #1 on the agenda.

Maybe I'll have to actually start farming.

New Airport Over the Top?

I got my first look at the new Harvey Weir Cook International Airport when my flight got in late Friday night. It is certainly an impressive new facility for Indy.

I can't help but wonder just how much in tax dollars went into this new showpiece for the Indiana capitol. Was the old airport really that bad? I didn't think so.

I'm pretty happy that they named it after the old WWI Ace H. Weir Cook. It's refreshing that Indiana can actually remember their heroes from that far in the past.

They're certainly saving money on TSA employees, as I observed on Sunday as I flew out of the new airport on Sunday. The new combined security checkpoint has maybe 8 or more (I didn't count) security lines, but only had 2 open Sunday. So instead of my usual 5-10 minute trek through security at the old airport, this time it took almost 30 minutes. And I was in the new "expert traveler" line.

Woo Hoo.

I must also adjust to the fact that walking to the terminal from the parking lot is no longer an option. The new parking lots, which seem to go on for miles, are pretty much inaccessible to or from the terminal on foot. So waiting for the bus, then waiting as it stops at every shelter in the lot, is no longer optional.

Some things that made me chuckle a bit:

After only a few days, the carpet near the gates and on the jetbridges is already stained. Won't be long before it's every bit as disgusting as the carpet at the old airport.

The terminal is somewhat reminiscent of Detroit's on the inside, albeit a bit smaller and without the train. Like Detroit, there are flat-panel televisions on the walls. But unlike Detroit, they're small flat-panel televisions you can't really see unless you get very close. It's pretty clear somebody decided to save money on the TV's but might has well have saved all of it, since nobody can watch them anyway.

The bottom line for me is there's this beautiful new airport that takes longer to drive to, longer to get into from the parking lot, and longer to get through security.

They call that progress?

Like Conspiracy Theories?

Here's one that's about as plausible as any.

Just imagine that the current financial crisis was carefully planned and executed by the government, with willing accomplices among a few key CEO's from Wall Street.

Paulson, Bernanke, Cox, Reid, Pelosi, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Franklin Raines, and several others conspired to create a financial crisis by strong-arming major banking and investment firms into making a high number of bad loans. Included in their arm-twisting was an implied promise that when all came tumbling down, the powerful government leaders would see to it the executives involved would escape with very sweet parachutes.

Why was this crisis engineered?

Here's where the conspiracy theories really come into play.

The obvious motive: Destroying the public's confidence in capitalism to usher in a statist/socialist government controlled by the same people named above.

But how about this one: Decimating American's 401K's and Pensions to head off a Social Security crisis just when the peak of the Baby Boom generation are reaching retirement age. Millions of people who were planning to retire in the next 5-10 years have lost an average of 40% of their retirement assets, and the volatile stock market may move even lower.

So all these baby boomers are rethinking their retirement plans because they no longer have the money they counted on to see them through a comfortable retirement. Millions will have to postpone retirement, thus delaying their applications for Social Security Retirement Benefits.

There's a story running around that the new President Obama may introduce a plan that would offer Americans a sort of guaranteed defined benefit retirement pension in return for what's left of their 401K or IRA accounts, representing a massive government confiscation of the personal savings of the American population. I'm not yet sure whether it's true.

Sound plausible? I think it's frighteningly plausible.

When Empires Fall

The best civilization in the history of the world may soon die.

Founded by a small group of incredibly courageous and brilliant leaders, it's been overall a great 233 years for a nation carved out of the wilderness. No society in history has seen the heights of prosperity and military might of the place known as the USA. Never has there been a place where people from all four corners of the planet yearned to emigrate for a life unimaginable in their home countries.

But democratic rule has become mob rule. Anyone feeling a slight from this open society, whether real or imagined, finds a government receptive to granting them special treatment. Instead of encouraging and helping lift those on the bottom of the economic ladder, we make sure they don't succeed by redistributing wealth to give them a meager subsistence, while keeping their government-run schools abysmal.

Now the government moves to "rescue" the nation by taking over private industry, starting with the banks. The mob installs political leaders not based on their efforts for the good of all, but for the goodies they promise to take from others and hand out.

And the once-mighty military will be decimated by naive leaders without any apparent understanding of history or of the enemies who are bent on the destruction of this country.

In the meantime the population is lulled by hedonistic entertainment, hyped sporting events, and celebrity worship.

When the safety and security of the USA is gone, it will be too late.

My concern isn't much for myself. I've lived my life in the greatest era of technological and living standards progress in the history of the world. But what will my children be left to face within their adult lives? I fear the next decade or two will not be pleasant.

But I fervently hope and pray that somehow those fears will not be realized.

Trying to Avoid Election News

But it's very hard. Even listening to music on the radio during my drive to Nashville did not protect me from election reporting. I got to my hotel room and decided to just watch ESPN, but even there I have to hear at least a little bit about the election.

I did a quick channel surf and noticed that CNN and MSNBC were already celebrating an Obama victory with only two states called (KY for McCain and NH for Obama). All they're missing are the party hats and streamers.

Think Happy Thoughts. Before we descend together into the new Dark Ages.

Another Airline Misadventure

I'm increasingly in favor of letting these major airlines collapse under the weight of their own incompetence. Which leads me to my latest story of my own maltreatment by Continental Airlines.

We finished early on Friday. Checking online, it would cost me $400 to book an earlier flight, so I thought I'd try standby. So I headed to the George Bush International Airport, turned in my rental car and took the overcrowded rental car bus to the terminal.

Checking in, I paid the $50 fee for the priviledge of standing by for the 4:10 flight to Indy, endured the TSA shakedown, and trekked to the gate. I grabbed some lunch and settled in for the wait for my flight.

Finally the gate agent boarded the flight, but never made any announcements regarding standby passengers. So I approached her as the last few passengers boarded and showed her my standby document. She checked the computer and couldn't seem to find my record, then shrugged and told me the flight was full.

Just full. No apologies, no explanations, no eye contact. She then took off down the jetway to send the plane on its way.

So I'm used to rude gate agents, and didn't think twice about her appalling lack of customer service skills. Disappointed, I made my way to the other concourse to settle in for the 3 hour wait for my originally booked flight.

The agent working that 7:15 flight was somewhat friendlier and more helpful than the previous one. But when I gave her my documents and she looked for me on the computer, she frowned and said, "I can't seem to find you in here".

A few more keystrokes later, she found me. "This shows your standby cleared on the earlier flight. Were you late or something?".

Of course, I told her no, I wasn't late. That the agent told me the flight was full and turned me away.

She shook her head and sighed, asked me where I would like to sit, and printed me a boarding pass for an exit row aisle seat.

I got home after midnight instead of early evening because of a Continental Airlines employee who was uncaring and incompetent.

Would I care much if Continental ceases to be a viable airline?

The answer is obvious.