Changing America with Lawsuits

Lawsuits can and do have deleterious effects on the American Society. Today, most people regard the lawsuit as a way to game the system for money. Any businesses that willfully and knowingly harm people should be the object of civil lawsuits. The lawsuits that I am referring to in this piece are those that are harmful to both the American way and to society in general.
Before giving standing to a lawsuit, the actions taken by the plaintive as well as the motives of the defendants must be a part of the equation. I'll admit that some mistakes are tragic, but should not be regarded as a ticket to be rich nor a reason to send the defendant into bankruptcy.

Negligence is the common thread in most injury and medical malpractice lawsuits. These types of lawsuits are the cause celeb for tort reform. But look at the consequences of what these lawsuits have done to the fabric of America.

After two years of injuring her finger, a girl in Lubbock, Texas filed suit against a water park. Texas Water Rampage the only water park in Lubbock has gone out of business after 22 years because of the lawsuit and other factors.

A truffle shop in California with a small step leading into their shop have been sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act by a patron who claims he is being denied access because there is no ramp for his wheelchair. On Jan. 26, Gorce and his wife, Casimira, were served with an Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility lawsuit, in which the plaintiff, Patrick Connally, claimed he had visited the store on six occasions and was prevented from entering the shop in his wheelchair. The mom and pop truffle shop is now on the verge of going out of business. Financially they have laid off most of their employees in order to be able to defend themselves against the lawsuit.

The list is long and I only present these two examples. Thousands of these type cases are readily available to anyone wanting to take the time to read about them. But from the other side of the argument, when taken with a long view, these lawsuits bring about necessary changes to society and act as insurance against those rascally negligent businesses. That argument certainly has merit. Business owners are closing their doors to avoid crippling lawsuits. Manufacturers are quickly moving their operations overseas because of ridiculous product liability laws. City parks are closing to avoid potential lawsuits.

The Legislature saw fit to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act and with one stroke of the pen put thousands of businesses at risk. The Act appropriated no monies to help with compliance of the law, nor did it seek to notify those who might be in violation that they were in violation. Nope, most did not realize that they might be at odds with the law until a lawsuit landed in their lap. The Americans with Disabilities Act is nothing more than an example of 'feel good' legislation that resulted in doing enormous damage to our society. We all pay for such misguided efforts by politicians to ingratiate themselves with minority groups at the expense of the majority.

Medical malpractice suits are a topic for another day, but when the make up our legislatures is made up of lawyers, what else would you expect them to pass. Any law that passes Congress must be vague enough for other lawyers to be able to find grounds to sue.

Cheers,

-Robert-

Online Adventure Gaming

Online gaming is a place where you can meet other people and interact with them as you strive to elevate your character. Some people spend hours battling the never-ending supply of monsters. Online gaming can be a rich experience. Depending on the game, you will need help to battle the tough skeletons, trolls, dragons, giants, and other assorted baddies. And for that reason, you will need to form alliances with others facing the same problems as yourself.

My online gaming experience started with Ultima Online. I had already played their PC games and was familiar with the cast of characters. It was fun, but my people skills were not great so I languished trying to solo the game. Then there was EverQuest. I actually elevated a character to level 31 until solo playing became too difficult to go any further. But EverQuest combined several races with different religions and factions that made for interesting game-play. When the game became scattered with multiple versions, the places that were familiar no longer had much of a following as most had left those areas for the new. Playing the game requires enough people to keep some of the monsters occupied so that you can do what you need to do without attracting too much unwanted attention. And of course, there was a penalty for your character dying. Being ambushed was no excuse; you lost experience points for it. My brag list is long concerning EverQuest, but so is my gripe-list. When my gripe-list became longer than my bragging list, it was time to move along and try another game. I do not need to pay to be frustrated.

I tried other games; there was Anarchy, then Dark Age of Camelot, back to EverQuest and finally Pirates of the Caribbean. Every one of the online games that I have played all had common themes. Your character starts out weak, the monsters get progressively harder, and finally, you must develop alliances to reach the upper echelons of character development.

Pirates of the Caribbean make creating alliances very easy, even for someone with poor people skills such as me. A person on your friends list means communication, ability to teleport to that friend if he is in need of help and the ability to crew up for tasks. If you do not like anyone on your friends list, you can drop him or her. Just like in EverQuest, I have a gripes list and a bragging list. So far, the gripes list is shorter than my bragging list. I play online with my granddaughter and between the two of us and our online friends; we have sunk many a ship and killed scores of monsters. Retirement affords one the time to enjoy such activities.

There are some caveats to subscribing to any of the online games. The number one consideration is a connection that has very little lag. Long lag connections such as satellite internet have a long lag time and can reduce the playability of the game. Lag is the time it takes for you to take an action before the server can acknowledge whatever you did. With satellites, the signal can take up to 3 seconds traveling back and forth to the server. Your character can die without you knowing why in that interim lag cycle.

Online gaming is a great place to interact with others. Which game you play is all personal preference so try as many as you like. Most of the games have a tryout period that does not cost anything. So my advice would be to try before you spend the money.

Cheers,

-Robert-

Promises Promises

It is the political season. But it has been the political season for the last 3 years. We suffered through the mid-terms, and then the primaries, and now the main event, the presidential sweepstakes. The only losers in the political dramas unfolding across this land are the American people.

Did I say losers? Americans, fragmented over the different issues, all want their issues dealt with. Every different group has staked out their demands in such a way that the candidates, lacking issues of their own to champion, pander to these different groups for their votes.

The results are campaigns that run around playing 'gotcha' politics instead of providing leadership to the American people. Running for election depending on the opposition candidates 'gaffs' to get you elected is not leadership. A candidate that feels the need to agree with every special interest group is not leadership.

The packaging of candidates to appeal to everyone shortchanges the Americans out of knowing whom the person is that is running for office. If elected, the person who wins will have to make decisions. For help in making decisions, the elected person has advisers. But every decision made will also be filtered through the elected persons own experiences and bias's. It is our system.

Such a system is fine. But in today's world, we never get to know the candidate. This is especially true about a candidate who has a short resume. The candidates resume gives the electorate a glimpse into what the man stands for. His previous stands on a wide range of issues have more standing than the cheap pandering promises made to the different groups. Experience matters because it offers a window into the real candidate.

There was a time when the press dug into candidate's background to expose their true stand on issues. But today's press core is nothing but sycophants and in the process, cheats the voters with their bias towards a candidate.

This leaves only the promises of the candidates for the electorate to make a judgment about voting. But always bear in mind that candidates will, can, and do say anything to appease your interest. When there is no track record to look at, the voter plays a dangerous game in selecting a slickly packaged candidate. People packaging is a serious business with a track record for success. I only ask you to look beyond the hype and promises. Everything that glitters is not gold.

Cheers,

-Robert-

Winter Warning

There will be a winter to remember for the years 2008-2009. If you have preparations to make, now is the time. Some of those gotcha items include anti-freeze, engine heaters, heating oil, insulation, and warm clothing. Now is a good time to address these items.

If you use heating oil, you may want to invest in a larger tank and have it filled before the demand sends the price skyrocketing. Check your car engine heater and make sure it will function. Now is also the time to but anti-freeze, winter apparel, and have your home insulated.

Why am I so sure about the coming winter? It is the Solar cycle that is the tell tale about the coming winter. With the solar flux averaging in the mid-60's and with very low sunspot activity the stage is set. The current solar cycle was supposed to begin its active period but instead has remained quiet throughout this year.

What does it mean to have a less active solar cycle? Without the CME's (Coronal Mass Ejections) and magnetic storms on the Sun that cause the Sunspots to appear, there is less solar wind. A process not completely understood is how the solar wind affects the formation of clouds. We get more clouding during the times of a quiet solar period and more clouds mean we have an umbrella of sorts shielding us from the radiant energy of the Sun. Historical records positively link the solar activity with the Earth's temperature.

If you are one of the Kool-Aid drinkers that believe Al Gore and his nonsensical CO2 proposal, you are in for a rude awakening. The CO2 issue is a political issue and not a scientific one. The only standing that I will allow with the CO2 nonsense is that it brings awareness to our need for energy independence. Energy independence is a good thing and I am happy that it is being spotlighted even if fallaciously with the hype about global warming.

Only time will tell if this winter will be the last hard winter for a while. Monitoring the solar activity is easy and you can keep up with it by going to this website.

http://www.dxlc.com/solar/

Copy and paste into your browser if you cannot follow the link.

Cheers,

-Robert-

Obama's Grand Tour

I believe it was George Jones who sang about the Grand Tour. But his sad refrain does not top the Grand Tour by Obama. There was nothing substantive from Obama on this Middle East/European tour. This tour was nothing more than a backdrop for photo opportunities to look Presidential on the world stage.

His press conferences were no different. He gave his standard bland responses to all questions with more 'uhs' than words. He demonstrates a shallowness that is inconceivable in a U.S. President. He also does not demonstrate the courage of humility. He is an elite of the first order. Obama does not have the capacity to admit he was wrong about the surge.

The one anchorperson to ask Obama any probing questions was none other than Katie Couric of CBS. In a surprising interview, Katie tried her best to nail down an answer from Obama about his opinion of the 'surge'. Without the capacity for admitting that he was wrong in his failure to support the surge, he managed to finally give a tortured answer to the question without admission that the 'surge' was the main factor in stopping the violence in Iraq. My hat goes off to Katie with some newfound respect for her. She did not drop the subject when it was obvious that Obama was not going to answer the question. She actually was a good interviewer during the segment. The following is an excerpt from Katie's interview with Obama.

Couric: But talking microcosmically, did the surge, the addition of 30,000 additional troops ... help the situation in Iraq?
Obama: Katie, as … you've asked me three different times, and I have said repeatedly that there is no doubt that our troops helped to reduce violence. There's no doubt.
Couric: But yet you're saying … given what you know now, you still wouldn't support it … so I'm just trying to understand this.
Obama: Because … it's pretty straightforward. By us putting $10 billion to $12 billion a month, $200 billion, that's money that could have gone into Afghanistan. Those additional troops could have gone into Afghanistan. That money also could have been used to shore up a declining economic situation in the United States. That money could have been applied to having a serious energy security plan so that we were reducing our demand on oil, which is helping to fund the insurgents in many countries. So those are all factors that would be taken into consideration in my decision-- to deal with a specific tactic or strategy inside of Iraq.
Couric: And I really don't mean to belabor this, Senator, because I'm really, I'm trying … to figure out your position. Do you think the level of security in Iraq …
Obama: Yes.
Couric … would exist today without the surge?
Obama: Katie, I have no idea what would have happened had we applied my approach, which was to put more pressure on the Iraqis to arrive at a political reconciliation. So this is all hypotheticals. What I can say is that there's no doubt that our U.S. troops have contributed to a reduction of violence in Iraq. I said that-- not just today, not just yesterday, but I've said that-- previously. What that doesn't change is that we've got to have a different strategic approach if we're going to make America as safe as possible.

Obama also showed off his lack of understanding about the politics of the Middle East and particularly the Palestinian problem.

The trip's success will boil down to whether the American people listened to Obama or just looked at the photos. The photos were a resounding success. In images broadcast around the world, Obama is smiling and shaking hands with the leaders of those respective countries. With some audiences, images are enough to carry the day.

We urge you to take a closer look at Obama at his experience and listen to his ideas. I am not talking about the rhetoric of a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage. Because those who feel slighted by society will gravitate to the promises of more bling to their lives, but the real story is how he intends to provide the bling. It is fair to repeat an old saying, "The additional tax burdens on business and the wealthy will get transferred in the form of higher prices to the customers."

One last thought, Katie Couric may be worth another look on her evening news show. She demonstrates those qualities needed in a news anchor.

Cheers,

-Robert-

Hollywood's Shame

You would think that the stars of Hollywood would be supporters of the American worker but that is not the case.

The stars are very up front with their support for Democratic candidates. But do they really support the base of the Democratic Party? General Motors is almost bankrupt and laying off thousands of their workers. The Democratic Party blames the job losses on the Republicans and their policies, but they give their Hollywood donors a pass.

You may ask, "What does Hollywood have to do with U.S. autoworkers?" Well, the iconic gods and goddesses of Hollywood refuse to patronize American products. If you should get a glimpse of one of the rich and famous Democratic elite supporters, you will see that they do not drive American cars. Most opt for Mercedes and BMWs as their cars of choice with a few snazzy Italian sports cars thrown into the mix.

When American cars are no longer a part of the American dream, then there is no reason for anybody to purchase them. Hollywood has singlehandedly raised owning a foreign car to the epitome of car ownership and in the process diminished those American products made by the same workers that they claim to support.

The General Motors story might be different if the elites of Hollywood would have taken a leading role in advancing the stature of the American automobile instead of disdaining it for the foreign models.

Sorry Detroit, your jobs, and families are not important to those elites that keep supporting a party that is anti-business. The stars of Hollywood keep their nose in the air behind the wheel of their shiny BMWs and Porsches. No Corvettes need apply.

So the next time a Democrat preaches jobs to you, tell them to get their buddies in Hollywood to stop glorifying foreign cars and maybe you can keep the job that you have. The condition in Michigan is a sad affair. It did not have to happen, but the elite Liberal leaders of Michigan thought that they had a never-ending supply of cash from the auto industry. But nothing spells the death knell to an industry faster than no business. Liberal policies of over taxation, Hollywood elitism, and greedy unions have all combined to decimate the American auto industry. The American produced automobile has finally reached the point where with the combined taxes, benefits and production cost create a product that is no longer competitive. It now cost more to produce than the competition. So with crippled sales, we all have to watch the sad disintegration of another fine American enterprise caused from Liberal policies.

Wake up America!

Cheers,

-Robert-

Obama: Reminiscent of P.T. Barnum

Step right up folks and see the ninth wonder of the world. The Barack Obama show is making its tour of the Middle East and Europe in true P.T. Barnum style. His entourage includes all three of the free media's news anchors. ABC, CBS, and NBC all sent their top anchors to help hype the event. But this show is only beginning as the Democrats pull out all the stops to get their candidate elected.

The Democrats will be holding their nominating convention in Denver this year and have been rewriting the book on largess. Hollywood stars will grace the convention from top to bottom. There will be no opportunities lost to showcase the Great Obama. Invesco Field, the location that Obama has decided to give his acceptance speech was a last minute adjustment to allow 75,000 adoring fans the opportunity to swoon and faint. The DNC will go along with moving the acceptance speech to the higher capacity stadium but that decision has heads turning. The move to Invesco Field will set the Dems back between 3 and 5 million dollars, but the show must go on. Step right up folks.

The major networks, who have already sold their advertising for the convention, will have to eat several hundred thousand dollars to cover the event. But the great show must go on.

Starting with this tour of the Middle East and Europe, we are starting to get a glimpse of the free spending Barack Obama. We fear that his insatiable ego will carry over to the Whitehouse as he encourages spending at an unprecedented rate. Can anybody say 'bankrupt'?

Step right up folks and witness the grand show. Just do not forget to bring your wallet. We might even see Dumbo himself fly through the air. Oops, I forgot, Dumbo was an elephant.

Cheers,

-Robert-

Microsoft Bloatware

The size and complexity of Microsoft products are astounding. Evidently, most of the good programmers must have jumped ship for Google. Or, we can blame it on the schools. Is it possible that the schools training these young programmers do not stress tight code? Do the professors just assume that PC users have gigabytes of memory with gigahertz processors and no longer need consider the bloat in software?

The largess of these programmers is also the reason for needing more and more bandwidth for the Internet. Microsoft has redefined 'Bloatware' in a way that is almost beyond description. It is hard for me to determine whether it is the product of a lazy programmer or, the result of some poor slob under the gun to just get something that works written.

Using Microsoft Word 2007, I wrote "Hello World" and saved it in .htm format. The resulting .htm page to describe those two words was 21,000 characters long. HTML is an elegant and simple way to describe a web page, but Microsoft includes in their page description everything that the page is not, as well as what the page is. The resulting code for those two words (eleven characters) is 21,000 characters long. Here is a snapshot of the Microsoft code to describe the display of "Hello World" Only the control characters <> have been omitted to prevent the code from activating.

How Microsoft Sees the Two Words "Hello World"

head
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Frightening isn't it! My columns that appear in this blog are written in Microsoft Word 2007. I then filter the column through 'Notepad' to strip all coding from what is written into a pure text format. 'Blogger' gives me the opportunity to add HTML code to emphasize how I want the column displayed.

You get this kind of bloat every time you compose an Outlook email in the HTML format. It is no wonder there is never enough internet bandwidth. It is time to get back to basics in programming. It is said that, "Brevity is the soul of wit," the same can be said of programming. The next time your internet bogs down, I want you to think about what Microsoft is dishing out onto the networks.

Cheers,

-Robert-

Who Is 'They'?

You hear it all the time, "They will not allow it" or "I wonder if they know what they're doing". Or how about, "They say things are going to get better."

'They' is a non-entity. It is the catchall when making an anecdotal point or when you are not sure who is responsible for an action. While construction of a dam was taking place, I heard my Aunt remark, "I sure hope they know what they are doing." She had no idea of who 'they' might be, but pinned whoever it was to 'they'.

Sealy's (Sealy, TX) new entrance and exit ramp on I-10 was finally built, and everyone just assumed that the reason for waiting so long to build it was that 'they' would not allow it before now.

Politicians are still trying to figure out who is pulling the strings on the price of oil. Congress does not even know if there is a bad guy or not. And in this case 'they' is a consortium of big oil, speculators, and people who use too much of the stuff. Yes, 'they' is a big tent. 'They' can represent individuals or groups of people. Anytime you cannot be sure about the identity of the responsible party, it becomes 'they'.

Whenever you hear such remarks, do not assume the person uttering the statement knows anymore than you do about the subject. Be inquisitive and explore that person's knowledge on the subject. Such statements can cause problems especially when left for you to fill in the blank. Be of good cheer though, we can all have a wonderful life if only 'they' will let us. They are always watching so try not to think about it -- too much.

Cheers,

-Robert-

A Nation of Petty Thieves

Are you a petty thief? Do you pilfer pens, paper clips, tape, and other office supplies from where you work? If so, you are not alone. American businesses spend millions replacing pilfered office supplies. Any one act alone does not amount to very much, but when multiplied by thousands, the costs accelerate dramatically.

Petty thievery is not limited to office supplies. Department stores have had to adopt desperate tactics to combat pilfering. Why do you think we have to put up with those hard to open molded plastic wrapped items? People will steal anything not nailed down. Thieves find that wearing new clothes underneath the clothes that they wore going into a department store a way to get clothes without paying for them. Non-paying customers discard their old shoes in the aisles of the shoe section and simply wear the new ones out of the store.

People who allow their children to rummage through the toy department to play with and destroy the toys on display represent another form of pilfering. Purchasing an item just for a one-time use and then returning it for a full refund after using the item is pilfering.

There are those who will open boxes, take some of the contents out of the box, and leave the now incomplete package on the shelf. Grocery stores have resorted to giving free snacks in hopes of selling a product to combat the compulsive snackers as they wander through the store.

Anytime a person acquires the property of another without permission or paying for it is stealing. Pilfering is just a nicer way of describing stealing. The word pilfer has connotations of something that is no big deal such as taking cookies out of the cookie jar without permission. But truthfully, the amount of petty thievery that takes place in this country is shameful.

RFID tags are beginning to gain inroads to combat the stealing out of the stores. But that is just an added expense to the item. The extra packaging surrounding those small items adds expense to the items. The people that wind up paying for the stealing epidemic are the legitimate customers. Yes we the customer underwrites the measures taken to combat the effects of thievery and in effect underwrite thievery itself.

So the next time you acquire a tune for your iPod that you have not paid for, think about what you are doing. Digital rights abuse by the public only serves to condition us to stealing. Over pricing merchandise is for another blog. Just remember that whenever you steal, no matter how small the item cost us all in the end.

Cheers,

-Robert-

Obama's Judgment

Do not take it to heart that Obama has changed his mind on several issues. Changing one's mind is the American way. After all, as a Nation, we changed our mind about slavery, integration, abortion, good education, being thrifty, and putting a premium on becoming an America Citizen. Yes, as Americans we do change our minds about issues, so whenever Obama changes his mind about an issue, he is just demonstrating that he is no different from the rest of us.

A person's judgment is different. What you do in life is a product of the judgment you use. We all have to make those tiny little decisions that demonstrate good or bad judgment. "You have chosen wisely," rings through my head whenever I manage to make the right decision. The quote is from an old Indiana Jones movie, but I think it says a lot. Obama has demonstrated that his decisions are based on ego and emotion rather than rational thought. Those past decisions are the only indicator we have at deciding the character of the man who wants our vote for President. I believe that those past judgments are an indicator of the type of decisions he would make if he became President.

Obama evidently liked those fiery anti-American and anti-white rants so much that he remained in that church for twenty years. What else are we to conclude? You would think that he would have exercised good judgment as a parent and not expose his children to the influence of such hatred. Or, one might conclude that Obama feels the same way as Reverend Wright and wanted his children to adopt that anti-white mindset.

Even if he was just using the Church as background cover for a political career, he should have known that belonging to such a biased and racist church could hurt him and his career. Obama demonstrated poor judgment in both his selection of a church and his choice to stay and be a part of the congregation. That accusation does not even address what his children may have absorbed there during their formative years.

Sean Hannity is always bringing up Obama's associations. Whom you associate with speaks volumes about your character as a person. But a young Obama seems to have sought out associates with a dislike for this country. There is no middle ground here. You can only make one of two conclusions about his associations. Obama also believes the way his associates do or he just has poor judgment when it comes to choosing friends.

Obama has decided to deliver his plan for Iraq before he travels there to assess the situation. This is really a scary decision. It conveys that he has already made his decision without firsthand knowledge of the situation there. How much more of his poor choices in judgment do we allow this bitter egotistical candidate?

Do you really want this man to be making the decisions for our country? It really is your choice. The way you decide also says something about your judgment.

Cheers,

-Robert-

A Tribute to Tony Snow

I've been a fan of Tony Snow for years. Even though I knew of his battle with cancer, his death was still a shock to me. Even on the early morning, Fox News' Fox and Friends show the news of his death caught everyone off guard. Sure, they were expecting it, but when it actually happened, it was still a surprise.

Tony Snow was one of the most decent people to ever grace the television screen or broadcast a word on the radio. He exuded decency. He was a conservative, but not the 'gotcha' type. His forte was in articulating from logic in a way that did not offend those who were in opposition to his views. He never tried to make an opponent feel personally assaulted. Tony Snow genuinely liked everyone. His respect for the correspondents at his daily briefings was on display for all to see.

People like Tim Russert and Tony Snow are huge losses to the National News and Information outlets. Fairness, originality, and decency are hard to come by within the TV organizations. To lose two giants in such a short time span is disheartening to those who value these core elements in people.
Personally, I will miss hearing Tony's voice or seeing his smiling face on television. You could always trust what he said to be truthful. Hedging and dodging questions were just not Tony. He was not deceitful. You could disagree with him and never elicit a snide or curt response.

He was a family man whose main preoccupation was being with and enjoying his family. He was a Christian of strong faith which made for a rarity in the television news business. We offer our prayers to his grieving family in hopes that they can find consolation during these sad times.

Tony, you will be missed. God speed.

Cheers,

-Robert-

Does McCain Really Want to Be President?

So far, there has been very little indication of a desire on McCain's part to really want to be President. But the Moderates have their man. McCain is a moderate, non-confrontational dink that refuses to stand on his hind legs.

McCain's poor leadership and lackluster campaign are burying the Republican Party. The Democrats talk about this being their year, and McCain is doing all he can to make sure that it happens. People are asking, "Who is the real Obama?" But the real question should be, "Will McCain stand and be counted?" Already the polls are swinging to Obama. The latest figures show an increase of 2 points giving him an 8 point lead. McCain is drowning in his own milk toast.

McCain's speech to La Raza gave no reason to vote for him. He just delivered a bunch of flowery compliments to Latinos. On issues that are important he sends out surrogates instead of stepping up to the plate and taking the issues on. One reason he does that is for cover just in case taking a position proves to be unpopular. When a surrogate says anything that draws the ire of the press, McCain publicly chastises that surrogate or fires him.(or her)

All of this would be fascinating if he were not running against a leftist elitist who sees the United States at fault for everything. Listen to what Obama says. Every criticism that comes out of his mouth condemns the United States in some way. It does not matter the problem, it is our fault according to Obama. He condemns our health care system. What an idiot! No, our health care system is not perfect but it beats the socks off the ones he wants to pattern it by. He also thinks he can tax us into prosperity. The man is not fit to be President and yet John McCain refuses to mount an effective campaign.

OK, I will stop complaining, but I do not like being forced to support a candidate without the gumption to step up to the plate. McCain's candidacy gives me an empty, hollow feeling. Certainly it is not an inspiring nor uplifting campaign that brings the voters to the polling booth.

Cheers,

-Robert-

Winning: A Lost Strategy

Whatever happened to the will and desire to win. We exhibit those traits at our sports events, but certainly not in the political arena.

This small tribute to Jesse Helms celebrates his conservatism. Jesse was not interested in compromising just for the sake of political gain. He had his principles and whether you agreed with him or not, he could be reliable in the way he dealt with an issue. A proponent of smaller, less oppressive government and individual freedom were his hallmark. He presented his issues with backbone and stuck to his guns to either win or lose. No compromises for Jesse! Other than Ted Kennedy, I cannot think of another with the determination to see his point of view prevail. That mindset is sorely missed today. God speed Jesse, may you come to rest in Conservative heaven.

I cringe whenever I hear the word compromise. No matter if the issue is Republican or Democratic, the spirit and terms of the issue should remain intact. But the process of 'compromise' waters down any hope of letting an issue stand or fall on its merits. Compromise is one of the ways that both sides buy into an idea. It is a way of spreading the blame so that neither party is injured if bad or that both sides can take credit for if the idea is a success.

The problem with the compromising is that we never get to test the issue as first proposed. Sometimes poison pills are inserted into legislation that has the appearance of being a good idea if it appears that one side or the other will be able to claim success. Either way, the American people are cheated out of being able to judge whether their Congressman or Senator is a winner, loser, or just another ambitious politician.

The whole idea of compromises by today's standard are designed to help incumbents win re-election.

Cheers,

-Robert-

We Need a Guest Worker Program Now

The longer we put off instituting a guest worker program; the chances of amnesty for the Illegals in this country go up.

Let us face the fact that we need the workers. What we do not need is granting citizenship to millions of unassimilated migrants. But both of our political parties want the situation to continue. The Democrats see future voters if they can, by hook or crook, pass legislation that would make them eligible. The Republicans, on the other hand, have many supporters that like the status quo because they get cheap labor without having to pay the usual taxes and benefits for them.

I say enough of the political posturing over this issue and think of what is best for the country. American citizens are tired of supporting these Illegal immigrants without them having to pay their share in their upkeep. The American taxpayer pays dearly to educate and furnish health services for these people. Not to mention the security angle of not knowing who is in the country and where they are located.

In a previous article, I stated that there are two things that Congress does exceptionally well and that is 'argue' and 'nothing'. There is no body of Government better at doing those two things. Will Rogers had a line that pretty much sums up the Congress; "When they make a joke, it becomes a law, and when they pass a law it is a joke."

A guest worker program would do a lot:

1.) It would allow us to know who is in the country.

2.) Those in need of laborers would have them legally.

3.) Reduce the tax burden on the American taxpayer.

4.) The now 'Legal' guest workers would have status so that they do not live in constant fear of deportation.

5.) A guest worker program would prevent granting citizenship to millions of unassimilated people.

No, I do not believe that there is a good solution to the problem, but a guest worker program properly organized could be a real benefit to both the worker and the American Citizen.

Cheers,

-Robert-

Stampede to Embrace Global Warming

It seems that everybody wants to get in on the gold rush of 'Global Warming'. Each of the participants has their own reason, none of which really involves global warming.

Global warming is just the vehicle used to skin more money out of the believing public. There's gold in them thar global warming hills.

But most of the gold is going to the foreign energy brokers that have a strangle hold on this nation. Currently we are paying foreign suppliers over $700 billion per year for their oil. That is four times what we are spending in Iraq. These foreign energy brokers then purchase U.S. Securities and now own a significant part of our treasury and private businesses.

It is sad to think that we are selling our country down the river for a plentiful product we have here at home. We cannot develop our resources because of the crusaders who are out to save the world by bankrupting this nation, and all for a bogus supposition.

The disciples all see a benefit in supporting the false theory of manmade global warming.
1.) The scientists who advocate for the theory are rewarded handsomely with research money.

2.) The Government is desperately trying to slow the hemorrhage of money to foreign interests.

3.) Environmentalists want a transition to alternative fuels that are not able to compete with the more efficient and cheaper oil.

4.) The public wants to stop the predicted disasters from global warming.

5.) The traders want to buy and sell carbon credits.

6.) The farmers want to plant and market the bio-fuels that are being hyped.

Only a partial list but you get the idea. On the surface, it all looks like a win-win for everybody. As usual though, it is the details and poor planning that kills you.

First, there is such a thing called air-pollution. It is important to not confuse pollution with global warming. Pollution is real. Is pollution causing the planet to warm? No!

At the present, fuel alternatives are all expensive, and not in sufficient supply to provide this nation's energy needs now or in the foreseeable future. We can phase out fossil fuels but an abrupt cessation of fossil fuel use would be disastrous for this nation. If no fossil fuels were being used in the world, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere would not change much. Humans are not the big contributors of CO2 to the atmosphere. That dubious honor belongs to the oceans of the world. What do we do, ban oceans?

Those little puffs of white you see in the sky are the valves that turn the CO2 production up and down. Clouds are the natural umbrellas for the earth. They reflect the Sun's radiant energy back into space before it has a chance to warm anything. The less cloud cover, the less shade, and therefore more radiant energy hits the Earth. During periods of little cloud cover, the Earth warms. As the ocean temperature rises, they give off more CO2. The rising ocean temperatures are responsible for the majority of increased CO2 in the atmosphere. CO2 does not cause a rise in temperature; that increase is a result of rising ocean temperature.

But the fix is in to curtail us from using the world's cheap and abundant energy. By not addressing our supply of fossil fuel needs until there is a good alternative, we are putting our nation in grave danger. The issue is not small. We stand a chance to lose this nation if we continue to pursue this faulted notion of manmade global warming and ignore energy independence with regard to our domestic supply of energy.

The bandwagon is filling up with entrepreneurs who see a benefit in embracing the theory of manmade global warming. But the euphoria will not last long after we kill the greatest nation the world has ever known. Because we refuse to develop the energy in our country, we will become just another bankrupt nation. Can you see the day that you will be chasing after animals for dung to burn so that you can have some warmth? Our 'clean energy' will be too expensive to use. Our competitive edge will have been lost along with most of our jobs as we bask in our expensive 'clean energy'. And by the way, the Earth will still have cycles of CO2 rises and falls no matter what becomes of America.

Cheers,

-Robert-

Phasing out God and Christianity

Liberalism cannot exist with the existence of God. Belief in God represents another authority to compete with, so the Liberals have sought to remove God and especially Christianity from the public arena.

On June 17,1963, the Supreme Court of the United States kicked reverential Bible reading and prayer recitation out of the nation's public schools. The Madalyn Murray (O'Hair) Murray v. Curlett decision gave preferential standing to Atheism over Christianity. In Murray's petition they contended that the reading of a verse from the Holy Bible and recitation of the Lord's Prayer put a premium on belief in God over a non-belief in God. Here is a quote from that decision:

"The petition particularized the petitioners' atheistic beliefs and stated that the rule, as practiced, violated their rights "in that it threatens their religious liberty by placing a premium on belief as against non-belief and subjects their freedom of conscience to the rule of the majority; it pronounces belief in God as the source of all moral and spiritual values, equating these values with religious values, and thereby renders sinister, alien and suspect the beliefs and ideals of your Petitioners, promoting doubt and question of their morality, good citizenship and good faith."

More importantly, that Supreme Court decision rejected "majority rule" in favor of rule by edict from the Supreme Court. In one decision, the Supreme Court decided that the American people had no voice as to whether they could give thanks to God within their educational institutions.

The Liberals seized the moment with that decision to outlaw any invocations at school functions, the use of school facilities by neighborhood churches, and any references to God in the classroom.

This new definition of separation of Church and State gave impetus to other Liberal wedges against religion regarding the public display of the Ten Commandments, Nativity Scenes, and the rejection of the name Christmas, a national holiday.

To the extent of Liberal 'tinkering' with what is taught in our public schools, the quote by Patrick Henry is just one example. The "new" textbooks quote Henry's famous line, "give me liberty or give me death", but no longer include the full statement giving context to those words. The full quote, no longer permitted in the History textbooks leaves no doubt as to how the founding fathers felt about their faith.

Quote:
"An appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that is left us. But we shall not fight our battle alone. There is a just God that presides over the destinies of nations. The battle sir, is not of the strong alone. Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death."

The following year, 1776, Patrick Henry wrote this, "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here."

With cool calculation, the Liberals (Democrats) have sought to not only revise history but to replace any authority that dares to compete against them. Their God is the Government (as long as they control it). In their elitist view, people are not competent enough to conduct their lives without the express permission from the government.

Freedom is at stake in this election. Do not be absorbed with the hoopla over the Presidential election. That is only a cape dangled in front of you much as the Matador uses on the bull for distraction. The Liberals do not want you to focus on the more important races for the Congress. The Democrats are more focused on winning a veto-proof majority in both houses of Congress than winning the Presidency. They could care less who is the President as long as they get that super majority in the Legislature. With a veto-proof majority, it does not matter who the President is. That super-majority will guarantee passage of the Liberal agenda without any opposition. That super majority does not have to be all Democrats. There are a lot of liberal Republicans who see the world the same as the Democrats and for political reasons will vote with the Democrats on a lot of issues.

Cheers,

-Robert-