Olympics Observations

Watching the Olympics over the last couple of weeks has been fairly entertaining. The US has been impressive in events like basketball and volleyball, gymnastics, and track and field. It's actually been encouraging to see more overt patriotism from the American athletes than we've seen in previous games.

That patriotism seems to bug the NBC commentators. Chris Collinsworth seems to be one of them, based on his nauseating interview with Kobe Bryant. Too bad, because I've always thought Collinsworth was a pretty good NFL commentator. Maybe he fancies himself turning into the next Olbermann. Hope not.

The flap over the Chinese gymnasts, who certainly look closer to 12 than the minimum 16, is sort of interesting. Is anybody surprised that the Chinese cheat? Remember how the Soviets and East Germans were masters of cheating in the 60's and 70's? They had team scientists feeding their athletes all sorts of performance-enhancing drugs with the precision that guaranteed they wouldn't turn up positive when tested at the games. I remember the East German bearded women who were built like men taking the gold medals.

It's what communists do. They lie and cheat. Think anybody can prove those Chinese girls are under 16? Not in a society where the government can compel everyone to lie, and create all the false documents they want to "prove" whatever they need. The investigators have to find the evidence of cheating to make a charge, which won't happen.

It has been disappointing, especially in the case of Marion Jones, that US athletes have cheated from time to time. But at least that's because of their individual bad decisions, not because of a government athletic drug program.

Better than the Olympics, football is about to start.

My Gas Story

The gauge on my Volvo S80 was brushing the red at the bottom eighth, so I pulled into the station on the way to the office this morning. Despite the pain of the high gas price, I was still encouraged by the fact that the posted price this morning was lower than I've paid all summer.

I followed the usual procedure and began pumping the mid-grade fuel into my nearly empty tank. Things went along normally until I glanced at the pump. The dollars and cents were rolling along very slowly, which initially made me think the pump must be extremely slow. I had a mildly irritated thought that I'd have to wait a long time for my tank to fill.

But then I looked a bit closer, and noticed that the gallon counter was moving pretty fast. I quickly discovered that instead of $3.87.9, the gas was actually pumping at $0.387. When the tank was filled, I saw that instead of costing more than $60, the tank only cost a bit more than $6.

It didn't require much thought for me to conclude that the right thing was to inform someone at the station about what was obviously a mistake. So I walked into the convenience store and handed my receipt to the clerk, saying, "Either I just won some sort of contest, or the pump price isn't set right."

The clerk's eyes opened wide, and she said, "I can't deal with this." She immediately handed the receipt to someone else behind the counter, who must have been a supervisor.

The supervisor looked at the receipt with a sigh, apparently thinking she was about to have to handle some sort of customer complaint. She asked without looking at me, "What am I looking at?"

"The price."

Suddenly her expression changed, I heard "What!?", and she quick-marched over to the machine that I presume manages the gas pumps at the other end of the counter.

While the supervisor was busy punching buttons on the machine, I stood at the other end of the counter, unsure whether I should wait for her to return. After about a minute, I picked up my receipt, which she had put down on the counter in front of me, and walked to where she was continuing to work on the machine.

I asked her, "Do you need anything else from me?".

Again without looking up, she said, "Nope. Ain't nothin I can do with yours anyhow."

I thanked her and left, wondering a bit at the bizarre experience but thankful for the 1960's gas price.

Energy Truth

In the energy debate, Pelosi and Obama have both made anti-oil statements in defense of their blockade of any legislation that includes permission for domestic exploration and drilling. There are only two possible explanations for their outrageous statements; either they are astoundingly ignorant, or they are lying through their teeth.

They've been caught in some whoppers.

First, I heard Natasha spit a venomous statement about the group of GOP congressmen using the floor of the house to continue to demand a vote on their comprehensive energy bill. She called them the "handmaidens of the oil companies".

Mike Pence from Indiana is one of the leaders of the little energy revolt in the House. He's from Indiana, which is hardly an oil state. I looked up his political contributors - it's public information after all. He's taken in about a million dollars this past year, which is nothing in this age of big money politics. The top 5 industries contributing to his campaign?

Retirees
Israel Supporters
Real Estate
Investment
Lawyers

And the biggest group, retirees, barely topped $50K in contributions. So Ms. Pelosi, how again is Rep. Pence a Big Oil toady? Could it be you've told a whopper of a lie in that statement? You certainly have convinced me you're jaw-droppingly stupid, so I'll have to give you the benefit of the doubt that the statement wasn't an outright lie, just dumb.

Speaking of stupid, how about Obama's speech yesterday where he proposed a goal of eliminating oil completely in 10 years? Does he have the slightest clue how much of all our daily lives are impacted by oil, both for energy and in the products we use?

During this whole debate, Democrats across the board have been speaking loftily about eliminating fossil fuels in favor of clean, renewable energy. I've been wondering something - how many people drive cars that aren't powered by gas or diesel? Aside from an infinitesimal number using natural gas or batteries, pretty much nobody.

Do Obama and his disciples really believe we can eliminate all coal, oil, gas, and nuclear power and replace them with wind and solar? In 10 years? Hundreds of millions of Americans will have to scrap their gas-powered vehicles and buy new miracle cars within 10 years using what money? Millions will have to replace their oil and gas furnaces with new miracle solar panels that, last time I checked, didn't really work?

So Obama's either frighteningly stupid and naieve, or he's lying through his teeth. No other option is possible.

But his disciples have blind faith in The Great and Powerful OB. Will that faith continue when the country falls into a deep depression after access to energy is shut down by OB and his minions, Boris and Natasha?

Boris and Natasha

I loved Rocky and Bullwinkle when I was a kid. That's why it was so easy to figure out that the Democrat dictators of the House and Senate are actually Boris (alias Harry) and Natasha (alias Nancy).

What's hilarious about Boris is that he shut down all debate over domestic oil production while pretending he was being reasonable and the other side was the one playing politics. I'm not sure that would even be believed by his own base, although I'm sure that base is happy with anything he does to stop the evil "Big Oil".

But the biggest belly laugh was provided by Natasha, who vindictively shut down the House and turned the lights, cameras, and microphones off on the Republicans.

Meantime Barack has lost his lead in the Presidential race. Worthy of a chuckle is that Boris and Natasha are oblivious to the fact that their own actions blocking even debate of energy policy are responsible.

What a great corner Boris and Natasha have painted themselves into; if they allow debate and a vote on energy, they force the Great and Powerful OB to cast a vote that will be used against him in the campaign.

If they continue to block any votes, they are rightly vilified for doing so, taking the Great and Powerful OB down with them in public (dis)approval.

Just like poor Boris and Natasha, suffering defeat and humiliation every time they try to destroy that heroic little flying squirrel.

Warehousing Children

The front page photo in this morning's Republic newspaper sent a shiver down my spine. The image showed a baby lying in one of those infant carriers in the foreground, with a rank of infant cribs and a daycare worker sitting in a rocking chair with another infant in her arms.

The photo was intended by the newspaper to depict a positive image of the local daycare center that was the subject of the article. That made me shudder every bit as much as the image itself - most people seem oblivious to the terrible implications of these child warehouses.

The article itself decried the fact that this daycare center, perhaps the largest in Columbus, was closed indefinitely because of the recent flood. How were these mothers going to find "quality daycare" to replace what had previously been provided by the center?

My fervent hope is that at least some of these mothers will come to their senses and realize their children need them more than the big house and new car and fulfilling career.

I've blogged before about the epidemic level of narcissism we've reached in this country. This article hit me like a bolt of lightning with the primary root cause of our societal illness; children raised by minimum-wage workers in baby warehouses.

If there's one thing I know from my life experience, it's this simple fact. Children need their mothers. They need their mothers to feed them, teach them, protect them, love them.

What's the lesson a child learns when their mother races back to work within a few weeks of giving birth?

That Mom's car, the nice house, her career, the resort vacations, her social status, are all more important than you, her child. So you grow up ingrained with the idea that life means getting all you can for yourself. Children are inconvenient, so they must be warehoused in daycare, then preschool, then school, so you can be free to be, and get, all you can.

Relationships are fleeting, because there's no such thing as lifetime commitment to anybody else. Sacrificing for somebody else is unnecessary. Why commit to a husband (or wife) when somebody better might come along?

I grew up before this sickness took hold, but I fear my generation may be the the first to become infected with the narcissism virus. We were given prosperity by our parents and grandparents, who learned the importance of family and morality from the hard times of the Great Depression and WWII. But like the rebellious children we were, we rejected and ridiculed the lessons they tried to teach us and spawned the amoral "me first" disease with which the majority of Americans are now infected.

Those who run the child warehouses are nurturing the disease by teaching the children how to be good little narcissists so they can grow up to protect and nurture the virus for the next generation. These factory babies learn less about traditional skills like reading and math and history, and much more about celebrating diversity and Darwinian evolution and hatred for religion, capitalism, and the white male.

All the while their parents trade partners and pursue their next big house, nice car, expensive vacation, and are irritated that their children come out of the warehouse so unruly.

Marketing Genius

Recent events in the presidential campaign have led me to conclude that the Obama campaign may be the best-organized and well-conceived marketing campaign ever. The armies of adoring media types who represent the vanguard of Obama's army have created an amazing image-making machine that is now telling the world that the great and mighty BH Obama is already a shoo-in for January's inauguration.

By comparison, McCain's marketing seems inept. If you were visiting the US from another country where you didn't know or care anything about American politics, a few minutes watching TV news would convince you that OB was already the country's president. And McCain's some old coot who snipes at the Great and Powerful OB now and then.

Interestingly, the marketing campaign has been very careful and successful at avoiding specifics. Keeping it at the level of "Hope" and "Change" without getting into any specific message about whose "Hope", or what "Change" seems to be working marvelously.

Not to belabor the obvious, but it's become painfully obvious that the marketing wizards behind the campaign includes all the major Television and Newspaper "news" outlets. It seems they're all donating their own free services to the marketing juggernaut so determined to place the Great and Powerful OB on the throne.

The election has become not between the Great and Powerful OB and John McCain, but a simple referendum, yes or no, whether the American people (plus the illegal immigrants and dead people the Democrats can find to vote) want the Wizard of OB as president.

The marketing campaign says the "Yes" votes are leading.

All Thumbs

I allowed myself to be cornered into a little home improvement project. Making the purchase of the needed materials at the local home improvement store, I spent the afternoon fretting over my usual fear that I would make a mess of the project.

And what a mess I made. Spending well into the evening, the project blunders got progressively worse. The only good news was that I had Chris to help me. With no experience with these things, he's already better at them than I. At least we got more accomplished than I would have on my own. Still, the project was a disaster. A day later, sitting at my computer, I'm still upset by the whole ordeal.

These little projects look easy when everybody else does them. Like on the TV home improvement shows, or when other people do it, or even when I help somebody else do it.

Not for me. I'm so horribly deficient in all things mechanical that I now have an ugly mess that I may have to pay somebody else to clean up. Nearly every step that looks so easy when done by others is for me a herculean task.

See, I married a fearless do-it-yourself-er who would never pay somebody to do anything to her home. But she'll happily browbeat her incompetent husband into making a fool of himself and making the project cost twice as much.

See, this is why I went to college (for 3 different degrees). So I wouldn't have to get stuck in these situations. So I could hire people who actually know how to do these things while I go to work pounding a computer keyboard and wrecking my eyesight all day.

Now I suppose anybody who happens to read this who also knows who I am now knows my terrible secret. I'm a mechanical idiot incompetent.

Our Societal Epidemic

Narcissism. Selfishness and self-centeredness. Ruthless and heartless disregard for others. Always asking, "What's in it for me?".

The somewhat sobering realization that has been taking hold of me lately is that it's not just a phenomena of the younger generation. Nor is it just the atheistic and non-religious. It seems just about everybody has contracted the disease.

It's understandable that the large and growing anti-religious crowd would tend to be self-indulgent. After all, where there is no morality there is nothing more important than oneself.

But these days it seems this disease also infects the religious. This is just an individual's observation, certainly completely absent any sort of scientific study, but it seems the more someone wears their religion on their sleeve, the more likely they are infected.

My own lifelong study in the Christian faith informs me that the behavior of those professing the faith is far more important than the act of profession itself. Those uber-Christians (or uber-Catholics) I encounter these days have confused Christian Witness with Pharisaic elitism. They show off their piety and austerity and moral superiority, while separating themselves from the world full of people less worthy. And in so doing, they lose the entire point of the Gospel.

Unfortunately, I have seen and experienced firsthand more backstabbing, slander, gossip, and plain meanness from the Pharisaic Christians than those without faith. It seems to come from the elitist attitude that gives them license to mistreat others whom they deem inferior.

The lesson I will try to reflect in my own dealings with others is simply to abide by the golden rule. I will neither bury my faith nor wear it on my sleeve, hoping that my decent behavior will somehow counterbalance that of my Pharisaic brethren.

The only hope for our way of life is that the citizens rediscover the light of faith and truth, and thus inoculate themselves against the epidemic of narcissism. To do so, the light must be rekindled by the few remaining who can reflect it.

History

Maybe it's a sign of age, but my interest in history grows in direct relationship to my advance in age. I have been reading some historical books, and find it remarkable how little things have changed. Particularly remarkable is how people learn nothing from the experience of their forefathers.

The ancient Greeks were being invaded by the Medes and Persians. They had a sort of political party back then that strongly protested going to war against the invaders, preferring to negotiate peace. They didn't want to fight, did not believe their democratic society deserved to survive the invaders, and some of their numbers actually allied themselves with the invaders. Only the strong leadership and heroic exploits of some notable generals saved them from slavery and domination by the repressive rule of Darius.

But of course the Greeks still eventually lost their civilization to an increasingly comfortable and slothful population that was easily defeated later. But that civilization became at least an inspiration for the Romans, who of course also lost their empire due to the same sorts of sloth and decadence that brought down the Greeks.

The parallels with today's America are striking, and the enemies who would destroy this country all too evident. They may not be massing as armies along our borders this time, but with the technology of nuclear and biological weaponry, they don't need an army. And we have an entire political party that hopes to negotiate peace rather than fight for our continued freedom. Even some notable advocates in that party have gone so far as to ally themselves with the country's declared enemies while the government fears to even speak out against their seditious rhetoric.

America has reached the depths of the same sloth and decadence that led to the destruction of the Greeks and Romans. Citizens are no longer permitted to speak out against such things, lest they be persecuted as "intolerant". The decadent plurality now in charge of the government will not tolerate any call for return to the core values that founded America, nor will they tolerate any military action against the country's declared enemies.

The destruction of America and enslavement to a totalitarian government seems imminent. It may come to pass before I pass.

All substantially because the citizens have been systematically brainwashed by government schools that fail to teach history. In its place they teach a socialistic version of history that calls western society evil and repressive to all those who are not members of their race and religion.

My Chicago Adventure

I snagged a ticket to the Cubs versus Reds since I was in Chicago anyway. It turned into an interesting adventure that I mostly enjoyed, even the parts that I normally wouldn't normally find enjoyable.

About an hour before gametime, I went down to the hotel lobby and asked the bellman how to get to Wrigley field. He pointed to the stairway right outside the door and told me to take that train north. Wow, that was too easy.

The underground train station was like an urban cave. It was dirty, smelly, and full of a mix of other fans going to the game with businesspeople and others headed to their own destinations.

The train arrived, the doors opened, and people crowded in. I held back a bit, and feared I wouldn't make the train because it didn't look like there was room for everyone on the platform. But somehow, right before the doors closed, I saw a small gap and jumped in.

The ride was maybe 20 minutes, and I stood in the aisle with the crowds the entire way. If a seat opened up, I tried to be chivalrous and help any nearby woman take over the seat. Handholds were minimal, and it was challenging at times to stay on my feet when the train rounded corners, accelerated, or braked. At the same time I had to focus on keeping my big feet from stepping on the feet of the seated passengers.

Arriving at the Addison Street stop, I emerged from the train station to find the stadium only a block away. I found the ticket window and picked up my "Will-Call" ticket and proceeded to my seat on the lower level, third base side.

The stadium was packed. I didn't see a single empty seat anywhere, including the rooftops outside the stadium. I wondered how that worked, buildings outside the Wrigley outfield placing bleachers on their roofs and selling tickets. I wonder how much the building owners have to pay to the Cubs for selling tickets to their rooftop bleachers.

The game was fairly entertaining, with some highlight-quality defensive plays and a couple of home runs. The fans were enthusiastic, and more into the game than any other sporting event I can recall attending.

Remarkably, as the game approached its end with the Cubs leading 7-1, I looked around and saw very few heading to the exits. The vast majority of the crowd stayed to the last pitch. Another unique observation, as pretty much every other professional sporting event will see the stadium or arena empty out as soon as the outcome is settled.

Then there's the singing. The CSI actor William Peterson led the crowd in "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh inning stretch, and it was remarkable to hear the whole stadium singing the song loudly and enthusiastically. And as soon as the last out was made in the 9th inning, a Cubs song began, and I was astounded to find nearly everyone around me singing it loudly, with many dancing to the song. And the crowd began moving toward the exits, but there was no sense of any racing to be first out of the park.

The huge crowd jamming into the train station caused me to wonder how long it was going to take for me to get a spot on the train. Surprisingly, it wasn't as long as I expected, and once again I was jammed into a train car where I tried to keep from stepping or falling on someone as it transported me back to my hotel.

I think I'd do it again. It would be a lot more fun if somebody was with me next time, but I still enjoyed my little Chicago adventure.

Trying to Buck Up

Hopelessness, helplessness, a little fear. All of it I'm feeling lately. Because apparently it's true that ignorance is bliss, as a plurality of Americans appear to be in a state of pure bliss. That bliss named Barack Obama, of course.

My discomfort comes from many areas of observation and conversation, what I read, and what I experience directly. For the first time in my adult life, I truly believe we have reached a crossroads. To the right lies freedom and security and continued prosperity. To the left lies misery, war, and oppression.

Don't get me wrong, as I'm neither a McCain supporter nor an Obama detractor. The bottom line is that both are poor choices for the most powerful office in the world. It's not just those two individuals, though. The fact is that our entire democratic system of government has been co-opted. It has been taken over by the elites in both political parties who, I am now convinced, are driven by a long-term vision of a single, socialist, worldwide government.

No more pride in American exceptionalism. No more freedom. America will become indistinguishable from Canada or Europe. The European Union started something that will gradually lead to the North American Union, African Union, Far East Union, and eventually the model of global governance. Which will be oppressive, restrictive, and brutal to its detractors.

And political talk around this presidential election centers around whether McCain is too old (maybe) or whether his captivity and torture in Viet Nam is an asset or detriment to his ability to hold the presidency (I think asset); or whether Obama is a "flip-flopper" on issues like Iraq (I think he said whatever made his audience happy) or if his association with Rev. Wright is an indication that he shares his pastor's rather extreme anti-American views (I think he pretty much does).

Nobody has much of anything to say about actual policy. And the news there is bad. Both are open borders advocates, both are globalists, both are environmentalists demonstrably willing to destroy the economy in the name of stopping the mythical "global warming". And, as far as I can tell, both are socialists. McCain just a bit less than Obama.

But nobody seems to understand issues and ramifications. Those who want an immediate withdrawal from Iraq are naieve both about what such an action will cause in terms of terrorism and war and genocide, but also naieve that their candidate (Obama) will grant their wish. Those who think we can somehow eliminate oil as a source of energy in the forseeable future are jaw-droppingly naieve, and unfortunately both candidates and a plurality in Congress share in that mass stupidity.

Of course, when the topic of the war on terror comes up, an entire political party says either "what war? there's no terrorism." or "America is the real terrorist!".

It doesn't take much. All anybody has to do is a bit of reading. It is possible to find facts, as long as you exercise a bit of discernment between fact and spin (or lie). Then just apply a bit of logic and common sense to carry forward the facts and analyze the political positions and figure out how they'll impact the country and its citizens.

Evidence is clear. We are in for an extremely painful, expensive, difficult, divisive, and possibly disastrous next four years. Almost certainly under President Obama. Very probably also under President McCain.

Defining Social Justice

As the left continues its political ascendancy, their boldness increases to the point where I'm hearing more and more about how they plan to wield their power. One of the catch-phrases I keep hearing is Social Justice.

I've been hearing the term for just about as long as I can remember, but never really figured out how it was defined. My vague understanding was that it must have something to do with treating everyone fairly and not allowing the poor to be abused by evildoers.

Ask me to define Social Justice, and I might suggest it might be efforts at insuring that everyone have fair access to freedom and the American Dream. Nobody should be forced to live anywhere, told where or when to travel, what to eat or drink (aside from reasonable restrictions on public drunkenness), what they read or believe, or with whom they associate. Pretty much the Bill of Rights.

But as I've come to understand it, the prevalent definition of Social Justice by the Left is simply Socialism. They seem to be saying that Socialism is the only "fair" path to Social Justice. But Socialism by its very nature is opposed to freedom.

When the government bestows the "rich" label on certain citizens and proclaims all "rich" are evil and deserve to have their wealth confiscated, that's antithetical to Justice. When the government takes over half the income of the majority of its citizens, keeps most of it, and gives the rest to those who do not produce anything, that's not Justice.

When the government decides to give special privileges to certain people based on their skin color or behavior, threatening to prosecute churches who preach the behavior is immoral and businessmen who don't hire specific quotas of those groups regardless of qualifications and suitability for the jobs, that certainly isn't Justice.

We will always have poor. It seems to me that Socialism simply makes the poor minimally less poor in return for complete and total dependence on the government, while making everyone else much more poor by confiscating their wealth and taking their freedom.

It seems to me that instead of promoting Socialism and its direct opposition to the American Constitution, maybe government should focus on working with the citizenry to make sure the doors are open for anyone from any race, class, or gender to walk through if they're willing to work hard and prove themselves. Then perhaps others would be inspired to achievement based on the pioneering example of those who successfully pulled themselves up from poverty to success and happiness.

Sadly, it seems that most of our citizens have decided they are willing to lose their constitution, freedom and wealth to a corrupt Socialist government that will become the new "rich". And by then it will be too late to go back.

Stream of Consciousness

Even though I have work to do, it's mid-evening and I'm avoiding it.
So here I am on my blog, but I don't really have any burning topics to write about.

There's the flight yesterday where I was stuck on the plane while it sat on the tarmac in Indy for about 3 hours. Believe it or not, I actually arrived at my destination, even though it was about midnight.

TV is the default passive activity for the evenings out of town. But the primetime lineup is inane, and baseball's the only sport available. And I care about baseball, well, not really at all.

Something that worries me lately is that I find most of the people I meet on the road nice enough, but mostly stupid. Today I had a sort of secret panic that I might somehow let that attitude show, which doesn't bode well for a consultant. Are people really getting more stupid, or am I just getting intolerant? I really don't know.

Something sort of related to that last ramble is that lately everything has taken on a certain clarity. I feel like I understand things on an incredibly deep level, and suspect nobody else has a clue. It's not some sort of sudden arrogance; I despise arrogant people and hope never to come across as such. But I seem to have gained some weird insight on the world and God and history and people. But at the same time I feel constrained against sharing it.

I was really hungry last night. Probably from traveling 12 hours without the benefit of a meal. But tonight my survival instinct must have kicked in, because I've had dinner but still think I could eat another one. So part of the blogging is trying to stop thinking about eating, but you can see how well that's working.

Many times I have thought, wouldn't it be cool if I could go back to about age 14 and relive my life knowing everything I know now? But that's not the way life works, and instead of thinking about that, maybe I should start thinking about living the rest of my life the way I could look back and be pleased about. So when I realize how difficult that is, at least for me, I realize the whole going back to childhood idea wouldn't work.

Iyam what Iyam and thats All that Iyam. - Popeye the Sailor Man.

What I Know

Given the many years I've been around so far, there are a few things I know.

People are capable of great good or great evil. Most of us are a little bit of both.

There is a God. Everybody knows it; some merely spend their lives hating or avoiding Him.

The world is an incredibly beautiful and amazing place.

Everybody mostly wants intimacy. I don't mean sex. Happiness is family and close friends.

Careers don't matter, unless you have one that impacts people in a significant positive way. Most of us have jobs to provide our family a roof, food, clothing, and hopefully a decent education and occasional nice vacation.

People live until they're done. Somehow it makes sense for most I've known who have passed.

We don't mourn our dead. We mourn for ourselves because we miss them terribly. Or didn't say or do something we should have before they passed.

Hatred is born of misunderstanding. Hateful people usually are too proud to put it aside.

Women and men are quite different. By design, to complement each other, not to fight over dominance.

Life is hard. If it were not, what would be the point? Then again, if we think we have it tough, we should try living 200 years ago. Or 1,000 or 2,000 or 4,000.

Even those who reject God adopt their own religions. Atheism seems the most dogmatic of religions.

Conflict is inevitable. It exists everywhere, only separated by degree. Conflicts cannot be resolved when the resolution chooses a winner and loser. We model conflict through sport, where each participant gives their all in a fair arena and the best competitor wins. The loser is able to say, "we'll get them next time". More serious conflicts don't offer that option.

The best legacy most of us could ever leave behind are our children. We don't take enough time to realize this fact and act accordingly.

America the Mental Hospital

Things continue to spiral out of control in this country, and it seems most of the citizenry is enjoying the ride.

Not me. It's already having an effect on my livelihood. Six months ago I had more work than I could accept. Suddenly I have to take less attractive assignments and go digging to just try to keep my calendar full enough to make ends meet.

Who is at fault? Our very own elected government. Yes, the same government that responds to $4 gas by promising to confiscate the profits of the oil companies while they stand guard over fields of oil and gas reserves within our own borders. They promise to raise taxes on me so everybody else can have free healthcare and college and whatever else buys them the votes of the ignorant.

Oh well, pretty soon there won't be anything left of me to tax. I suspect the same will be true of lots of other evil businesspersons. The cynic in me wonders whether it's all by design - once we're all forced to place ourselves at the mercy of our government for our very lives, they have achieved their objective.

Why, except for the price of gas, aren't millions of Americans converging on Washington to surround Capitol Hill to blockade congress until they come to their senses? Like opening up every possible source of energy to drilling and mining. Like allowing new refineries to be built across the country to meet the needs of our citizens and economics. Like putting a stop to the ridiculous spending that's killing every one of us.

Instead I see the masses of zombies drooling at the very sight of Barack Obama. They cannot possibly be using any faculties of reason, or they would understand he promises to make our lives much worse, not better.

Zombies, a few basic questions. Are you better off having your healthcare paid for by other people, but being unable to afford the car that would take you to the hospital? Are you better off having more of your paycheck confiscated by the government than already is today? Are you better off with all the new rules about what you can drive, eat, drink, do with your property, what ideas you may see on TV or listen to on the radio, or even where and when you can travel?

How do you like the ideas of illegal immigrants being given special rights, possibly even taking your job? In a broader sense, how do you like the idea of people getting preference over you for jobs and benefits based on their skin color or sexual orientation? How do you feel about new laws that punish your church for its "intolerant" teachings?

Don't believe me? Try reading some stuff. Not just blogs like mine, but actual statements by people like Obama, Clinton, Reid, Pelosi, and the rest of the gang on Capitol Hill.

Or you can continue the zombie thing. Maybe somebody from the government will take pity on you someday and reward you with a free appendectomy. Or lobotomy.

Fooling People is Easy

While at lunch yesterday, I happened on a speech Barack Obama was giving, I believe in Troy, Michigan. And I got a first-hand reminder of what serves as a winning strategy for winning the Presidency these days.

Speak clearly, sound intelligent, look good, and most importantly, promise heaven on earth.

Barack's message is simple. End war, improve education, give healthcare to everyone, give jobs to those who don't have one and higher wages to those who do, give every child a great education and pay for their college tuition, solve energy and environmental problems, right every wrong and punish every evildoer.

It's mesmerizing and easy to be fooled by a smooth-talking candidate. He tells us it won't cost us anything - the money will come from ending war and making the evil rich pay taxes.

I imagine that's the sort of rhetoric that led to the rise of the Soviet Union and Communist China. Since they don't really teach history in the schools anymore, I suppose most of the foolish people worshiping at Obama's feet don't know anything about such things.

It seems we're all about to get a firsthand look at what happens when Socialist/Communist politicians take control of government. Maybe I'll get to spend my golden years in some Alaskan Gulag where the Obama government hopes to get my mind right.

Sounds chilly.

Stupid Pop Culture

While flying home this weekend, the flight attendants were discussing the Sex in the City movie that must have just hit theatres. They were gushing over it, talking about how the women cheered and clapped. They also said the vast majority of people in the theatre were women, with only a few unhappy boyfriends that got dragged in and some gays.

As an actual guy, I clearly don't get it. And if you're guessing I won't be caught anywhere near that movie, you can bank on it.

I admit I've never invested time in the HBO series on which this thing was based, other than surfing past it enough to pick up my perception that it's a shallow, amoral, hedonistic and narcissistic portrayal of single women in New York. If it's anything close to an accurate portrayal of actual women in New York or anywhere else, well, I'm glad I'm not young and single.

Why can't there be movies that both men and women can see where they're cheering and applauding heroic or uplifting stories instead of a gang of NYC rich single sluts?

Just asking.

Misplaced Anger

Tell me whether any of this is factually untrue:

The United States has vast untapped oil reserves in Alaska and just off our coastlines.
We also have vast coal reserves that can be converted to a synthetic oil for well under half of today's market price.
There's oil shale in the west ready to be dug up and added to the oil supply.
Refinery capacity has been exceeded, forcing the US to import refined gasoline to make up the difference in demand.

I think I've got the facts right.

So why aren't we exploiting every possible option like those listed above to ease the burden on every one of us of $4 a gallon gas?

Because our own Congress won't allow it.

OK, so why haven't millions of Americans marched on Washington and blockaded Capitol Hill until our elected representatives finally pass changes to the laws that would permit us to use our own country's oil reserves?

Could it be because the country is populated by idiots who think the high prices are nothing more than "big oil" greed? The same idiots that will vote for Barack Obama, thinking when he slaps down those greedy oil companies with confiscatory "windfall profits taxes", that will somehow bring back $1 gasoline?

In the meantime, the same congress mandates most of our food go to making ethanol, driving food prices through the roof and starving people all over the third world. And they're proud of that!?

The congress and their elitist minders try to tell us that we will just stop using gasoline when the new "alternative" fuels are ready? Does anybody out there drive a car or truck that will run on any of these mythical "alternative" fuels? No, the only way we get to move to, say, a Hydrogen Fuel Cell or Electric vehicle is to buy one after they come on the market.

Who but the elites will have the cash to pay, what, double? triple? the price of a gas-powered new car if and when these amazing new vehicles appear?

Does anybody out there have a brain?

What, me worry?

Worry is a waste of emotional energy, but many of us do it anyway.

How much time is spent stewing about things that might or might not happen? I wonder, if someone were to keep track of everything they worried about for a year, what percentage of those worries actually came to pass? And those that did, were the consequences worthy of the amount of time and emotional energy spent worrying about them?

I wonder how often our worries become self-fulfilling prophecies?

Sure, it's easy for me to point out a number of very legitimate worries in my own life. After all, I'm self-employed with no guarantee I'll have enough work to pay the bills. Health insurance is a nightmare. I'm one lawsuit or accident or illness away from bankruptcy.

I'm pretty sure this year's elections will install a government that will be hostile to business. The new President and congress are most likely going to be socialists who may damage the economy enough to dry up my business, not to mention will probably raise taxes to a level I can't sustain.

But do I lose sleep over all that? Ha! Me, lose sleep? You probably don't know me if you think that.

Sure, I think about those things sometimes. I also have a variety of concerns about my family. But I don't let any of it dominate my thoughts or interfere with my day.

I've learned this simple truth about worrying. There's absolutely nothing worry can do to help avoid something bad. If you work hard and pay attention to detail, you've already done all you can to keep the bad things you can control from happening. All that's left are the bad things you can't control. If those happen, you just deal with them. Worrying didn't help.

So now the economy has slowed considerably, and it's beginning to show in my business activity. Sure, I'm concerned, and it is only prudent to begin thinking about what options I should consider if things slow down to the point where I have to close down. But I'm not worrying or stressing over any of it.

Maybe it's time to think about getting a job to tide me through to retirement anyway. All will work itself out in time.

Web Control

The various companies I visit in the course of my profession range across the entire spectrum when it comes to granting employees access to the internet.

At one extreme, I have a client that only allows web access to Managers and above. They won't even give email to the rest of their staff.

At the other extreme are clients who place no restrictions at all on their employees related to internet activities. However, I believe some of those clients do monitor web activities of employees and will deal with excessive browsing or visits to inappropriate sites.

For me, the restrictive companies seem counterproductive. I've directly observed the inefficiency of being unable to communicate with staff members in the company that denies all web access to employees.

Many companies restrict access to certain types of sites, such as game sites, porn sites, social networking sites and blogs.

It reminds me of when an old employer of mine implemented a no-smoking policy. Employees could not smoke in the office, but could only smoke in designated outdoor smoking areas.

There was a high percentage of smokers in the operations department. Since it was a trucking company, those employees were responsible for taking customer and driver calls, coordinating pickups and deliveries and giving instructions to drivers.

So the smoking ban sent those folks outside for their nicotine fix. Problem was that they were spending almost as much time away from their post on smoke breaks as at their desk performing their duties. Naturally, their non-smoking co-workers became offended by a perceived special treatment that allowed the smokers much longer and more frequent breaks.

Of course, technically those smokers were not permitted any more or longer breaks than anyone else. They simply were taking them on their own initiatives to feed their nicotine addictions.

So rather than dealing with the problem by cracking down on enforcement of scheduled breaks, their managers decided to rescind the non-smoking policy for that department. By allowing the smokers to resume their habits at their desks, important calls were no longer missed and business went back to normal.

One little problem with their approach to that problem: People were hired during the non-smoking policy under the promise of a smoke-free workplace. Some of those people were intolerant of cigarette smoke with specific respiratory problems. Guess what happened when the managers of the operations department rescinded the non-smoking policy.

I think restriction of web access for employees is something of a parallel to the smoking ban. Shutting down web access is lazy management. Managers don't want the responsibility or the conflict of having to deal with an employee who might be abusing the priviledge of web access at work, so they choose to shut it down completely.

I like to listed to web radio at work, which is blocked by many companies. Perhaps if it's blocked due to a possible bandwidth problem, I could see the logic of that policy.

But otherwise, employees should be treated like adults. Tell them up-front that they will have web access, but are expected to limit web browsing and avoid inappropriate sites. If they visit inappropriate sites or their web browsing affects their job performance, they will be verbally warned the first time, receive a written warning to go into their Personnel file the second time, and will be terminated the third time.

Very simple, but lazy managers don't want to be bothered.