Yo George - What's The Monroe Doctrine?

O: Hey man, I can't hear you too well, could you speak up Dubya?

W: I can't hear you much either 'Bama but I guess we can both talk louder.

O: Let me use my other phone...



W: That's much better, ah always wanted to get me one of them newer cell phones, that sounds so much better! I trip on the cord for this old thing more than you'd care tuh know!



O: Yeah, George - whateverrrr!



Say, I called because I had a question for you about foreign policy...



W: ???



O: What's this Monroe Doctrine thing?

W: You askin' me? Day-yam!



W: Well see those Russian soldiers goose-steppin' in Venezuela right now on the news?

O: Yeah, so...

W: That's your problem now, that's what it means! Hope you can keep one eye on the economy and one eye on your enemies without goin' cross-eyed buddy!

O: But I hath come to change things, the waters will part...



W: Hey 'Bama, they won't and besides, I knew Charlton Heston...



... and Buddy, you aint no Moses!



O: We'll see, I have a higher calling . . .



W: Sure buddy, good luck with Putin and Medvedev - and Chavez . . .

W: Laura and I are moving back to the ranch soon, we got a little do-it-yourself project to keep us busy for a while, I just hope we get it done before . . . uh, well soon (before the sh** hits the fan with this lefty!).

O: Nice talking to you George [grumble] Click!



W: Nice talkin' to you 'ole buddy' ha ha haaaaa . . .



TTFN,

Jim

Political Correctness & Thanksgiving

Greetings,

I know this isn't a Midwestern story, but in case you have not heard about it yet, a school in Claremont, California caved in to some oversensitive parent over an annual Thanksgiving celebration held at Condit Elementary School (not to be confused with former congressman Gary Condit I hope) by kindergartners:

The parent at the center of the controversy is Michelle Raheja, a university professor (of course!) of English who specializes in Native American literature. Raheja's mother is a Seneca Indian, and finds the annual custom offensive and said,

"It's demeaning, I'm sure you can appreciate the inappropriateness of asking children to dress up like slaves (and kind slave masters), or Jews (and friendly Nazis), or members of any other racial minority group who has struggled in our nation's history."

Now while any thinking person must admit that Native Americans were not treated well by later, successive European (broadly speaking) settlers, by all historical accounts, the New England settlers of Plymouth in 1621 held a common feast with the Wampanoag Indian tribe as neighbors, not as slaves and masters nor as an occupying army. In fact, the Pilgrims were Calvinists who came to the shores of what we now call America for refuge from England's policies of religious discrimination against non-Anglicans.

While things were not perfect between the early New England settlers and the Native Americans, they cannot be fairly compared to the Nazis and Jews or the slaves and their masters of the 17 and 1800s in this country - that's just ideological bombast. It is also worth noting the Native tribes were the majority population of the land at the time and the New England settlers lived to some degree at the Indian's pleasure as they could have been done away with at any time as they were in a clear minority of numbers.

It is a sad thing that this well-meaning (but misguided) person cannot accept this holiday for what it is - a holiday meant to promote thankfulness to God for His providence toward us and also of neighborliness to those around us. It is also really not fair to take a holiday which is meant to bring us together and make it an occasion of division. If you want to debate the finer points of what happened to Native American people over the succeeding years, especially during the westward expansion and so forth that is one thing but please do not take a holiday of goodwill and make it into a platform for something it isn't. It's like taking Christmas and using it as a platform for the evils committed during the Catholic Inquisition or the Salem With Trials, which happened a long time ago.

It is also worth noting that what is done is done and it cannot be undone. History is full of winners and losers and the atrocities they have committed against one another but after a while you have to accept the results and move on. The U.S. Federal government isn't going to fold and pack up any time soon and ask all of us who are not Native Americans to 'move back' to Europe. Since most of us are 'Heinz 57' Americans, people of mixed national backgrounds, such a program would be highly problematic.

Maybe what Professor Raheja needs to learn is that America, while having Anglo-European and Christian traditions is still a country that is not held together by ethnicity or religion but by an idea of Liberty - and that includes freedom from the bondage of the past. Our last election has proven that anyone can succeed, regardless of ethnicity, creed or color and a holiday that celebrates unity should not be a platform for opening the wounds of past tragedies.

Some useful and interesting links on Thanksgiving:

The Holiday Spot: A History of Thanksgiving

The History of Thanksgiving: The History Channel

Thanksgiving: Wikipedia

The First Thanksgiving: Christian Science Monitor

Plimouth Plantation: 1627 English Village

Plimouth Plantation: Wampanoag Homesite

Top 10 Myths About Thanksgiving

1863 Presidential Thanksgiving Day Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln

1941 Presidential Thanksgiving Day Proclamation by FDR

1981 Presidential Thanksgiving Day Proclamation by Ronald Reagan

2008 Presidential Thanksgiving Day Proclamation by George W. Bush

TTFN,

Jim

The Latest On Norm And The Recount

Despite all the chaos, the Coleman campaign feels confident they will win with 3/4 of the ballots counted so far.

Read it here on the official Coleman blog.

More here.



And as a bonus, if you haven't seen it yet already:



TTFN,

Jim

Neither A Borrower Nor A Lender Be

William Shakespeare

Neither a borrower nor a lender be, for loan oft loses both itself and friend, and borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. - Polonius, Hamlet Act 1, scene 3, 75–77

You ever get the feeling many of our modern day politicians have forgotten the prescriptive wisdom and life lessons of the classics? I am growing more and more convinced each passing day. Either that or they are just a permanent criminal class as Nock once asserted.

$85 Billion = AIG
$29 Billion = Bear Stearns
$25 Billion = Big 3 U.S. Auto Companies (Projected)
+
_______
$139,000,000,000.00

Cha-Ching!


I've been bailed out!

Now 2000 U.S. Census statistics say the total U.S. population was 281,421,906 people, the projected population at the time of this post is 305,738,895. Averaged out that is 293,580,400 people in the U.S.A. So these bailouts will cost everyone in the U.S. $473.46 right? Wrong.

All that money will have to be printed. We are already in debt now. Here are some government stats on the Bureau of Printing and Engraving:

Now the government is pretty mysterious about how many of each note printed and the cost for each of those notes. It is also possible that some of the money will be coined but I don't know for sure. Either way a lot of fiat currency will be printed causing the dollar to be further devalued.

Now this is not even counting the bailouts for housing ($1.3 to $1.6 Trillion) or student loans also being done. I'm not enough of a mathematician for that but here is another analysis by a sharper mind who says that the cost will be an average of $7,541 per U.S. taxpayer on average but interestingly enough, the more you make, the worse the figure:

Top 1% = $2,980,714
Top 5% = $89,992
Top 10% = $53,012
Top 25% = $25,937
Top 50% = $14,619
Bottom 50% = $463

This assumes a total bailout cost of an even 1 Trillion ($1,000,000,000,000) dollars. So if you work at McDonalds flipping burgers, this will cost you most of your 2 week paycheck. Now, lets say you are at the other end of the spectrum, you are making $250,000 - that ever so controversial bracket that may or may not see a tax cut or tax increase under our new president, it will take you almost 12 years to pay off the bailout. Now, closer to reality for some of us, lets say your family is making $100,000 a year, plus or minus a few grand - you are probably forfeiting your whole year's income to bail out these jerks.

The more I write, the more my head hurts just thinking about it all.

Let's face it, debt equals slavery and our government is making slaves of all of us and it may take time to buy back our freedom.

TTFN,

Jim

More Of The Same From Gov. Jim Doyle

3 state agencies say they can’t cut budgets by 10%

By SCOTT BAUER • The Associated Press • November 19, 2008

MADISON — At least three Wisconsin state agencies say they can’t meet Gov. Jim Doyle’s orders to come up with plans to cut spending by 10 percent, an ominous sign of the tough budget-balancing task ahead.

Secretary of State Doug La Follette said a 10 percent cut is “simply impossible,” in a letter sent to Doyle’s budget director.

Railroad Commission Secretary Roger Breske said such a cut would reduce his office to a “dog-and-pony show.”

The state Board on Aging and Long Term Care said meeting the governor’s order to cut “makes no sense.”

Doyle’s administration issued the order in light of a projected $5 billion budget shortfall by July 2011. All agencies were originally asked to submit a plan by Monday, but Doyle waived the deadline saying deeper cuts may be needed.

It’s not uncommon for smaller agencies to bristle when asked to come up with 10 percent cuts, said Doyle’s budget director Dave Schmiedicke. His office will work with all agencies in the upcoming weeks on their budgets, including those that said they can’t come up with cuts.

“It’s going to be a difficult budget, there’s no question about that,” Schmiedicke said today. “We’re going to have to look at all programs and there will have to be reductions.”

Doyle warned last week that solving the budget problem will require job reductions, cuts in state government and possibly tax increases, although he said he would do “everything humanly possible” to avoid raising general sales or income taxes.

Not everyone within state government seems prepared to give up anything to help solve the problem.

Breske, the railroad commissioner who was appointed from the state Senate by Doyle earlier this year, said he had serious concerns with the order to come up with 10 percent cuts. He said that would amount to a $48,700 cut that would require laying off one of two full-time safety analysts.

The analysts are responsible for investigating rail crossing sites, drainage, bridge, clearance and other safety compliance issues across the state. Laying off one of them, in order to meet the budget cut, would put public safety at risk and “reduce this office to a dog-and-pony show and undermine Wisconsin’s strong railroad tradition,” Breske wrote.

Breske was at a meeting today and did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

La Follette, in his 30th year as secretary of state, was even more blunt in a Nov. 14 response to Schmiedicke.

“This office is operating on the absolute minimum in terms of staffing and funding, and it is simply impossible to offer a functional plan at a 10 percent reduction,” he said.

La Follette was out of the office today and did not immediately return an e-mail message seeking comment.

Heather Bruemmer, executive director of the Board on Aging and Long Term Care, said the cut would have to come from its ombudsman program, which is state-funded and charged with looking after the rights and welfare of people utilizing long-term care.

“In light of the importance of the agency’s programs to the public health, welfare and safety, it makes no sense to follow through with the plan to reduce this agency’s operating expenses by 10 percent,” Bruemmer said. She asked that the agency be exempted.

Agencies this week also submitted their plans showing where they would cut roughly $500 million in the current fiscal year. No agencies said they would not comply with that cut, Schmiedicke said. That cut was required under the budget passed into law by the Legislature earlier this year.

Doyle’s next budget, covering July 2009 through June 2011, will be released in February.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Gov. Jim Doyle just pisses me off. Bad enough I have to share the same 1st name with this bozo. This jerk who besmirched the good name of congressman Mark Green, his Tammany Hall / Boss Tweed style of 'pay-for-play' and interest group governance - it just drives me to drink! Good thing this is Wisconsin where having a drink is still OK.

Of course I can understand Roger Breske's concerns about budget cuts to his department, he can't afford a pay cut right now since he might have some campaign fines to pay for his illegal contributions to a 3rd party group who favored Jim Holperin over Tom Tiffany in the recent 12th State Senate race.

Maybe now that Doyle has succeeded in his usual Machiavellian way of getting Breske out of the way to pass his anti-smoking bill - a bill that will outlaw even smoking in taverns, he can save the taxpayers some money by just cutting out Breske.

TTFN,

Jim

Update: America The Stupid

Greetings,

I took it and received an A-. I answered 30 out of 33 right for a 90.91% correct.

You can take it yourself here.

TTFN,

Jim

PS: If you take it, I'd be interested in having you post your score in the comments.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Greetings,

One more reason to read the side links I have put on my blog, a civics test was given to 2,508 randomly chosen Americans and 71% flunked! The average score was just 49 out of 100 -- a solid F. While just 2.6 percent scored Bs on this quiz, only 0.8 percent earned As.

Read it and weep.

Finally, the Obama victory and the Norm Coleman / Al Franken recount are explained!

America The Stupid

Greetings,

One more reason to read the side links I have put on my blog, a civics test was given to 2,508 randomly chosen Americans and 71% flunked! The average score was just 49 out of 100 -- a solid F. While just 2.6 percent scored Bs on this quiz, only 0.8 percent earned As.

Read it and weep.

Finally, the Obama victory and the Norm Coleman / Al Franken recount are explained!

TTFN,

Jim

Pat Is Right On This One

Greetings,

I have often disagreed with Pat Buchanan but when Pat is right, he is really right. Read his take on the death of the Detroit auto industry. It's really worth the read.

TTFN,

Jim

Obama - Investigator in Chief

Well, you gotta give Obama credit for being an equal opportunity snoop, he is going to give any White House job applicant the same treatment he gave Joe 'the Plumber' Wurzelbacher. I wonder if the ACLU will repeal their support for Obama? Nah. Why is it that whenever I hear about Obama or his followers digging into other people's business I am reminded of the cold war?

Oh yeah, that is why. I keep thinking of the STASI and people who read the mail, tapped the phones, etc. I wonder whether the Democrats will now repeal the PATRIOT Act or abuse it for political gain? I seem to recall Bill Clinton used the FBI and IRS as a tool of political intimidation, will Obama be above doing things like that? If I were Joe, I'd change my name changed , get a hair transplant and move.

TTFN,

Jim

On The Lighter Side - Dennis Miller on Sarah Palin

WARNING!

This brief clip is not for the prudish-of-heart, but it sure makes a point about the sissified state of Liberalism. I mean conservatives in both the United States and the United Kingdom have more sex than their liberal counterparts:

There are some tees that just say it all:



TTFN,

Jim

GOP Inside Baseball - Establishment Wins - Wisconsin and Nation Loses

Read it here

I guess Mike Pence sold out his RSC (Republican Study Committee) colleague, congressman Paul Ryan in exchange for helping re-elect John Boehner as head of the House GOP.



Smile for the camera now Mike.



Lookin' out for #1, that's me.

I mean after 2006 and 2008s horrible losses in the House, the man should step down. If this man were a sports coach who had lost this big 2 seasons in a row - he'd be gone.

Who didn't get the job?

Paul Ryan - A Man Of Character and Integrity With Ideas

Paul doesn't represent my district (unfortunately, Dave Obey has a lock on that job for now) but I have met with him several times and discussed small business concerns I had and he did not just listen, he took action. He cared enough to listen to another citizen of his own state who was told by his own congressman (Dave Obey) that "Your issue really doesn't matter". Pretty shocking huh? But that is Dave Obey. But back to Paul, although he certainly is photogenic, he is not the guy you see every single week on FOX News or the Sunday Morning talk circuit - but he is doing well by Wisconsin and the nation.

Check Out His Roadmap!

TTFN,

Jim

Revisited - The Road To Serfdom

Greetings,

Here is a series of cartoons with captions created in the 1940s to sumarize Hayek's Road To Serfdom, just keep your finger of the pause button because the verbal captions go by a little fast.

You can also see a still version of it here.

You can also read an abridged version of the book here, it won a Nobel Peace Prize so trust me, it is worth the read.

While this was aimed at Nazism, keep some of this in the back of your mind as we watch our new president propose more and more programs to 'help' us.

TTFN,

Jim

New Look & New Issues

Greetings,

Since we are not in election mode anymore and since the Republican Party's loony lurch left left us wanting for voters (Obama got 20% of the 'conservative' vote?) I thought it was time to add some valuable links to the blog. Right now, the currents of conservatism are led by talk radio and while it is fine we have a message with popular appeal, I think we have drifted away as a party from sound ideology in part because some of those wielding the mike are not as conservative as I would like on some issues (Civil Liberties) where conservatives sounded like they trusted government far too much and more conservative on others (Immigration) to the point of sounding reactionary.

I think that if we were reading MORE and listening and watching LESS we might have the proper intellectual ammo rather than sound bites and talking points.

I would recommend Frederic Bastiat's The Law (a great antidote to Obamanomics!) and John Locke's classic The 2nd Treatise of Civil Government as they are both quick reads and yet are so well written and so foundational. I would also recommend checking out the archive links at ISI as these have so much good writing in them. I read ISI journals back in the 1990s when I was in College Republicans during the Gingrich Revolution.

- - - - -

2 other thoughts - with this new President we can play this one of 2 ways as I see it. We can try to find common ground and cooperate or we can go on the offensive like we did in the 1990s. If Obama really raises taxes and moves left on a variety of things, we can have a replay of 1994. If relations are collegial, we might as well make the best of our historic President and ask for two things:

1) An end to affirmative action, for Obama to have the support he had in Iowa where there are very few 'people of color' I'd say the rationale for any race-based system of preferences is now dead.

2) If being black in America is no longer to be considered a sentence to life in the ghetto, how about working to clean up the culture? With an African-American President, is there any reason for there to be 'gangsta-rap' anymore? How about widespread single moms with delinquent dads? I don't expect an overnight Utopia (or any Utopia for that matter) but how about some room for real improvement in our urban culture?

Enough of reading me, go read the 'heavy stuff'.

TTFN,

Jim

It's Mourning In America

Greetings,

I know there is one significant upside to last nights election, it is that African-American / Black citizens of this country can now have the hope of breaking clean with the past, breaking the final bonds of slavery by having a sense of pride and enjoying a moment of vicarious accomplishment through the successful Presidential campaign of Barack Obama. I just feel it is coming at a high price.

No, I am not talking about Barack Obama's tax policies or spending ambitions, I am talking about the fact we have just elected the most pro-abortion candidate for President ever according to NARAL. We can expect the Freedom Of Choice Act (FOCA) to become law and for 1 to 3 Supreme Court Justices to be appointed by a President who does have a litmus test.

America is in trouble, the Word of The LORD says,

Genesis 4:10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

Isaiah 1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you: yes, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

Ezekiel 23:37 They have committed adultery. Their hands are covered with blood. They commit adultery with their idols. They have sacrificed the children they gave birth to for me as burnt offerings to idols.

Roe -Vs- Wade has been the law of the land since 1973, but there has long been a sustained effort to overturn it or at least chip away at it ever since. Is the overwhelming landslide won by the Democratic Party in 2008 a rejection of that? Has our love grown cold? Have we the Church lost our zeal and conformed to the world rather than the mercy of our Saviour?

Only God knows and only time can tell.

Lord have mercy on us, Christ have mercy on us, Lord have mercy on us.

Jim

Brit Hume & Dave Obey

What do they have in common?



They have both been in Washington D.C. for 39 years!

TTFN,

Jim

Happy Halloween - The Unholy Trinity of Terror

THINK ABOUT IT


A President who is a Chicago, machine politician (graft, corruption, cronyism, etc) who has a propensity for squelching dissent with armies of lawyers like he did when he bumped all his competitors off the ballot on legal technicalities in his 1st race for office.

Add on Nancy Pelosi

A politician from San Francisco, the kookiest place in the United States, OK, that's not Nancy, that's one of her 'male' admirers.

Here's Nancy

Peace, Love, Dope babe!

And then throw in the U.S. Senate's own Elvis impersonator

OK, not exactly a hunka' hunka' burnin' love but you get the idea.


CHICAGO ----------- SAN FRANCISCO --------- VEGAS?

Is the American people thinking about the skewed set of values (Chicago, San Francisco, Vegas?) these people will bring to running the country with a possible Democratic supermajority that would have the power to do anything they want including killing a filibuster?

WAKE UP AMERICA!

If you are voting for McCain, consider voting straight ticket Republican and IF you are voting for Barack, consider splitting your ticket or you are giving Barack a blank check.

Give it some thought gentle readers, this election MAY COST YOU!

TTFN,

Jim

The 1st US Bailout - Courtesy Early American Auctions

Just an interesting little piece of Americana to show we have been down this road before!




I guess one man's 'worthless paper' is another's collectible !

TTFN,

Jim

Feingold & Kohl Split The Difference On Bailout

From Freedom Eden

Senate Passes Bailout: Feingold - No, Kohl - Yes

You think Herb and Russ flipped a coin?

Another "Bail-Out" Video Well Worth Watching

There is no way around this -

The Dems caused and enabled this problem.

The Republicans repeatedly called to reign in Freddie, Fannie and other lending institutions and were ignored or blocked by the Dems.

Watch it and decide for yourself -


Kudos to Lowell H. for bringing this one to my attention.

Also see my earlier post.

If either video is dead, I suspect the Barack Obama "Truth Squad" volunteers will have flagged it for partisan reasons. BO is big on killing free speech when it does not serve his purposes:







If you want to live under a lawyerocracy, be sure to vote BO, if you want freedom, vote McCain.

Jim

We Will Never Forget - UPDATE

Greetings,

It appears Ms. Jopek (the mother of fallen soldier Ryan Jopek) approves now of the mention of her son and use of his bracelet by Senator Barack Obama. No comment about the gaffe however - Read it here:

Soldier's mom defends Obama's mention of bracelet

Also here

If that is how she feels . . . that is how she feels. I live in town and I have no other comment to make other than my thoughts and prayers are with her.

The words and works of politicians are often like the grass that withers and the flower that fades. It is the things that last and endure that matter.

TTFN,

Jim

Pass This Video On!!!

Greetings,

I watched this, researched it and OMG! Don't just pass this on to your Republican friends - pass this one on to your liberal / Democrat friends and relatives too.

Hats off to Todd for passing this one on to me.

More info:

Community Reinvestment Act

Carter More To Blame Than Bush or McCain

Carter And Democrats To Blame

The Trillion-Dollar Bank Shakedown That Bodes Ill for Cities

The Government-Created Subprime Mortgage Meltdown

Jim Johnson (Fannie Mae and Goldman Sachs Exec & Democratic Activist)

Jim Johnson, Former Fannie Mae CEO, To Begin VP Search for Obama

Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae Exec, Clinton Crony & Barack Obama Advisor

Equal Opportunity Corrupters (Story about Obama, Raines & Johnson)

Campaign CA$H Received By Barack Obama From Goldman Sachs

John McCain Was Right In 2005 About SubPrime Crisis. Where was Obama?

John McCain Warned Of Mortgage Collapse In 2005

S. 190 [109th]: Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005

So Carter started it, Clinton expanded it, Bush & McCain both tried to reign it in and Barack Obama has gotten both advice and campaign CA$H from several of the principle people to blame for the current crisis.

TTFN,

Jim

We Will Never Forget

Greetings,

As someone who lives in Merrill, Wisconsin - this was the most unbelievable moment. You see, the Jopeks - I am sure, are still mourning the loss of Ryan. Their house is on the 'main drag' in Merrill and is a place where you can pick up a Barack Obama campaign sign here in town. Merrill is a small town of about 10,000 people where everybody knows everybody and I am sure many families here in town feel very sorry for them and were surprised when Barack Obama signs appeared in their lawn. At the same time, no one could blame them after losing their son in the war for feeling how they feel. I don't know the family well myself but there have always been patriotic, pro-military signs in their lawn as long as I can remember.

When their son died, the whole town came to the funeral. Cars and motorcycles lined the roads all the way up to the cemetary for as far as the eye could see. The whole town wept and mourned for Ryan and the Jopek family. I'm getting a little teary just writing about this now.

Tonight like many election-minded Americans I was watching the Presidential debate on TV and Senator John McCain was relating a story about the mother of Matthew Stanley and how she gave him her son's bracelet. Barack Obama chimed in clumsily saying, "I've got a bracelet too." It was one of those 'me too' moments and then Barack Obama stuttered and stammered and finally looked down to see the name - the name he couldn't remember. It was Ryan Jopek. I hit the rewind button on my DVR over and over again to watch the moment. Each time I saw it I got a queasy, gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I have four young children and the thought raced through my mind of how it would feel to be actively supporting a candidate and to have given him a personal possession of my deceased child and then see that politician not remember his name on national TV. For their sake, I hope none of the Jopek family was watching.

Thoughts and prayers,

Jim

One More Reason To Be Mad As Hell About The Bail Out

Greetings,

The Bail-out might end up subsidizing groups that are responsible for election fraud. It's like Pelosi and Reid got together and said, "How do we use this situation to get Barry elected and stick it to the American people? I know! Let's use some of the money to fund groups that go door-to-door for our Party!"

This is EXACTLY why we need to elect Senator McCain, a man who has never accepted an earmark or a pork barrel spending project in his entire career in Washington. The Democrats are faced with a bail out of the financial services industry and use it to try to fund door-to-door get out the vote efforts for their party. AMAZING! It is just a new level in vulgar, banal opportunism and 'we-can-get-away-with-anything' hubris for the Democratic Party to pull a stunt like this.

TTFN,

Jim

A Corny Story About Sarah Palin

Greetings,

I'm just not imaginative enough to make this stuff up folks:

------------

Farmer Creates Corn Maze Out of Sarah Palin's Image

Last Edited: Wednesday, 24 Sep 2008, 10:39 PM CDT

Created: Wednesday, 24 Sep 2008, 10:39 PM CDT

A farm in Ohio has created a corn maze of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. (MyFoxToledo) From MyFoxToledo Reports WHITEHOUSE, Ohio -- From the helicopter you can see it clearly, Republican vice-presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's face in a corn maze (video: MyFoxToledo). Duke Wheeler of Whitehouse, Ohio, who owns the Butterfly House and surrounding farm, said he did it to bring people to the farm this fall. "She created a lot of excitement and we would like to see a lot of excitement out here at the maze," Wheeler said. It wasn't an easy process. "We contracted with an artist in Idaho who drew the picture and entered it into a GPS system, flew in and cut it with a John Deere tractor," Wheeler said. "It took him about 8-10 hours to cut it. We saw it from the helicopter it's just a great image of her. I think she'd be proud." Wheeler expects thousands to come out and check out the corn maze, Butterfly House, and other activities he has planned for the season.

AIG, Goldman Sachs - Screw Them - Bail Out The American People! - UPDATED

Greetings,

I do not like "pass it on" emails but this one below is an especially good idea and I think it is an idea that should appeal to anyone regardless of political party. I would just add this - pass it on to your friends but ALSO - send it to your House Rep and Senator. You can find out how to contact them through this website:

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

Not that I am so naive as to think Congress would do this but I do think it is important for the people who allegedly represent us to know *HOW WE FEEL* about them tossing $70 BILLION - $3 TRILLION of our tax dollars at a 'problem' created by reckless financial 'wizards' who came up with things like the 'NINJA' home loan (No Income No Job) etc.

There should be 2 *unbargainable* parts of any bail out plan (and face it, we are going to get stuck with one):

1) Absolutely NO GOLDEN PARACHUTES whether funded by company monies or tax monies - these fat cats blew it and they have made plenty already - let them sell a yacht or a 2nd home if they are short on cash.

2) Any money borrowed to these companies should be paid back in full with interest to the government at the least, better yet, once it is collected in the future, send back the interest to the taxpayer as a 'dividend' for carrying the burden. Why? because we will see either a cut in government services or a rise in taxes and/or fees - or both to make up the hole in the treasury.

If the Government of Mexico can pay us back ahead of schedule when we bailed it out, Wall Street can certainly do better and we should settle for no less.

On a personal (vengeful) note, if the government comes up with a payment schedule at an interest rate of say . . . 9.5% and they (AIG, Goldman Sachs, et al) make a late payment, I say let the U.S. Treasury jack up the interest rate to 24.99% or 31% and see how they like it when the shoe is on the other foot.

Jim

------------

I'm against the $85,000,000,000 bailout of AIG.

Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in

a ""We Deserve It Dividend"".

To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000

bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.

Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman

and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..

So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion that equals $425,000.

My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a

"We Deserve It Dividend".

Of course, it would NOT be tax free.

So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.

Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.

That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.

But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500 in their pocket.

A husband and wife has $595,000.

What would you do with $297,500 to $595,000 in your family?

Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.

Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads

Put away money for college - it'll be there

Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.

Buy a new car - create jobs

Invest in the market - capital drives growth

Pay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improves

Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean - or else

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks

who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company

that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed

Forces.



If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of

trickling out a puny $1000.00 ("vote buy") economic incentive that is

being proposed by one of our candidates for President.



If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every adult

U S Citizen 18+!



As for AIG - liquidate it.

Sell off its parts.

Let American General go back to being American General.

Sell off the real estate.

Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.

Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't.



Sure it's a crazy idea that can "never work."

But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!

How do you spell Economic Boom?

I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion

"We Deserve It Dividend" more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in

Washington DC.



And remember, The Family plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because

$25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.



Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.



Kindest personal regards,



A Creative Guy & Citizen of the Republic.

------------

FURTHER COMMENTARY:

The person who wrote the middle part did not do his math and I did not double check it (it only equals out to $425 per person, somebody brought this to my attention) but I still like the basic idea!

So True Isn't It?

TTFN,

Jim

A Long, Long Day On The Campaign Trail

Saturday, September 13th 8:55 AM



I wake up to the sound of my 2 youngest children arguing in the bathroom. My 5 year old was taking too long . . . never mind, too much information.



I get up, no Diet Coke, my wife got the last can, no coffee made (OK, I admit, I'm a caffeine user, too much blood in my caffeine stream and I don't work well) and so I must wait until after I leave the house to get that first jolt of caffeine.



Shave, shower, shake head, dress, tell my wife I don't know when I'll be home.

9:50 AM

In car and heading for our soon-to-be headquarters. An old Burger King restaurant across from the local Walmart / strip mall in town. A positively dynamite location - but 1st pick up 2 cans of Monster Energy drink.



10:05 AM

Arrive at HQ, good crowd - 6 teenagers, about as many adults. After some visiting we get down to business and divide up and map out where we will go. I get to go out with 3 of the teens. We cover a sizeable corner of town in spite of some rain. It started raining lightly and steadily at 11 AM and never really quit the entire time . . . all the way up to 8 PM but I am getting ahead of myself.

We get way too far from our cars and at 11:30 at the rain starts getting heavier, we start working back toward the cars. By 11:50 it is coming down harder, at this point we are just walking back to the car (a mile away) as fast as we can. I have 2 teenagers with me but their ringleader is still out working. I drive around the neighborhood and track him down and we head back to HQ for the promised Pizza (teenagers will work for Pizza you know!) lunch.



12:15 Noon-ish

We roll in and eat and visit. Some locals see us all there and stop in for campaign signs (Don Friske for Assembly, Tom Tiffany for State Senate, Dan Mielke for Congress but hence - no McCain signs yet - Sigh!) and I give several out before going back out to do more doors.

1 PM

The literature drop resumes. More doors, more rain, I am keeping pace with a 20 year old after keeping pace with 3 teenagers - and I'm 42 and not too fit for my age. I'm wearing a hooded, knit Brewers jacket and still getting soaked. It's muggy so I can wear my hood (to keep the lenses of my glasses dry) and sweat or I can be cooler but not be able to see too well, hmm... decisions, decisions...



2:50

We head back, the county party holds a meeting at 3 PM and then we clean. Floors are mopped, bugs are killed, power switches are deciphered, more signs are handed out and then we go out again to drop more literature.

4 PM

Rain, rain, go away . . . This is the last and longest jaunt out. I head out with a candidate staffer (Gary) who I've knocked many, many doors with and we 1st grab some soda then proceed to disburse more literature. We cover a lot of pockets, not too many big, long streets (the kind I like) until the very end. The weather vacillates between raining and misting. Either way it is umbrella weather but it is hard to hold and umbrella when you are distributing literature. We joked that what we needed were some of those goofy looking hats with an umbrella on top . . .



. . . but then people would stare at us like we were weirdos and not vote for our candidate . . . this in a state where people wear Cheese hats on their heads, but I digress.



7 PM

One last long street to do, 2 actually but 2 other guys are going to do that one. We finally are near the finish line, all but 1 or 2 small pockets will be done - and in one day! Most people are inside watching TV, kicking back in their recliners (like I want to be) and taking it easy. I'm out in the dark sticking literature in peoples doors with my right big toe and my back saying, "ENOUGH!"

8 PM

WE ARE DONE! The 2 other guys give us a ride back to Gary's car in their pickup. We all exchange pleasantries then Gary and I go out for a bite at a nearby Mexican restaurant and DRY OUT. You could wring us out like rags. We are pretty much soaked to the bone. What we really need is a fireplace-type restaurant but chips, salsa and burgers are welcome treats. WE have earned them!

9 PM

We're full and we are talked out, we go our separate ways. I get home to an unusaully clean, dark and quiet house. My wife Kris is reading a mystery novel, all is quiet - she must have ran the kids ragged cleaning and playing. I describe my long day for about 5 minutes until I 'get the hint' that she is unwinding from her long day.

I descend to my office, read emails and write this.

The End

Jim