Blame the Oil Companies?

If you are a Democrat, the object of your ire for the high price of gasoline is the oil companies. But no one has stepped forward and said how more taxes on the oil industry will produce more fuel.

The stockholders of more than 5 billion shares of Exxon-Mobil will receive approximately 8.5 billion dollars this year in stock dividends. Those stocks are in the portfolios of most with an IRA account, retirement fund, and private investors. Taxing the energy companies such as Exxon will only hurt everyone involved. A tax will not increase the oil supply, nor will it reduce the price of gasoline. More than likely it will increase that price.

Why then does a Liberal congress want to screw the American public? For one thing, there is the global warming swindle. Manipulating the idea of manmade global warming into a power grab is at the root of the problem. That is why we are prevented from achieving energy independence. Drilling and exploration off the continental shelf, ANWR, and failure to take advantage of the plentiful shale oil formations in the Rocky Mountains has created the shortages we see now. The power hungry Liberals sell this crazy scheme to the public as saving the planet by forcing us to use less fuel. Preventing the predicted catastrophe of global warming takes precedent over the national economy, or the well being of the citizens. The application of logic is not in their system. The Liberals insatiable thirst for power is at the root of their stupidity.

The coming winter is going to be even harsher than the previous one. What are the mindless Liberals going to do about heating homes this winter, raise taxes again on the oil companies? Like that will solve a shortage problem. Liberals can't resist any excuse to raise taxes. It should be obvious that they want power and control, and he who has the money, has control. If left to the Liberals, the Government will control the capital and they will control the Government.

Cheers,

-Robert-

Dooming the United States

No, it will not be atomic weapons, nor will it be terrorism. The straw that kills the greatest country on Earth will be ignorance.

All a person has to do is look around you and see what we are doing to ourselves. We are the most self-absorbed bunch of Ostriches on the planet. The current population does not even want to tender the thought that others are plotting the demise of this Nation. No, we are too absorbed with our own preoccupations to care and even get hostile to those trying to prevent our annihilation.

If whatever is going on in the world interferes with our 'tanning booth' appointment or other such nonsense, we get mad. We get mad at any distraction of our normal activities. Because of our preoccupation with our personal selves, we see the world through rose-colored glasses. If another country does not like us, then we must have done something that made those other countries mad at us. After all, we do not hate anybody. To quote Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?"

There is a leadership vacuum in this country. On one side, there are the environmentalists, conspiracy theorists, Bush haters, and socialists. The leaders of these groups take advantage of the ignorant and work them up into a frenzy over baseless ideas. They are the banner carriers, and the demonstrators, well intentioned, but their protestations are generally unfounded. There has been no leadership to guide these people except from the left. Remember, that these are not people prone to examining issues for validity. Instead, they listen to what they hear through the media. The majority of the mass media only presents one side of a story in a good light. If the media mentions the other side of the issue, it is presented in the most unfavorable light possible.

Most of the mass media is agenda driven and nothing but the propaganda arm of the Liberal extremists. The goal is to take control of you and your freedom. Every day you as a person have to make small decisions that affect your daily lives. The decisions you make can be either inconsequential or serious.

Whenever I speak of stealing your freedom, I am not speaking of incarceration. But little by little you are losing the ability to decide on details of your life. Instead of you making the decision on what type of light bulb to use, liberals use the heavy hand of Government to make that decision for you. Liberals are not satisfied with just educating and letting you make the decisions, no, they want to reserve those small decisions for themselves.

The fat police want to use taxation to control your diet. Never mind that education and giving the population reasoned logic for not abusing fatty foods would solve this problem. No, the Liberal elites have no faith in you to make up your own mind.

The freedoms that we have lost so far were lost because of hype from a Liberal media. The template is always the same and uses the guise of either saving people from their disgusting habits or saving the world from a bogus global warming threat. Liberal proposals are always presented in a way that frames the good that they will do. Never do you hear that giving the government the power to make these small decisions for you is stealing your freedom.

If we don't get our schools in order and put discipline back in the classroom, we are going to be consumed by ignorance. People need to know how to think and not have to rely on others to make decisions for them. All you have to do is read some of the left-wing blogs like 'The Daily Kos', 'Media Matters', or 'Move On.org" to see just how ignorant we are becoming as a society. Dumbing down our population is a disaster in waiting for this nation.

Cheers,

-Robert-

McCain Will Not Learn

Even though McCain is against the premature exit from Iraq, his lack of core conservative principles clouds the air with indifference to many of the questions that have real consequences to this nation. McCain's willingness to compromise on important issues brings back memories from the past about leaders who were willing to accept less than suitable solutions to problems because of popular beliefs that these problems would just go away if they would just 'reach out' to their enemies.

Are we destined to never learn? Caving in to the demonstrators instead of taking a strong principled stand, we left Viet Nam prematurely. The power vacuum created by our premature exit there was responsible for the destruction of millions of innocent people. The appeasement of Hitler by Neville Chamberlain was a green light to savage Europe and Russia. Through appeasement, Hitler was able to determine that Germany's old adversaries would not get in the way of rearming Germany.

The many faces of appeasement are bi-partisanship, reaching out, inclusive, crossing over, and a plethora of other terms to gloss over the fact that a politician sells his soul for what generally becomes a watered down effort. We choke on mediocrity. Neither political party is willing to allow a successful effort by the 'other side' without stabbing the effort in the heart with 'compromises'.

The presidential elections in November will usher in a new paradigm. The Liberals will be in control of Congress and with the help of RINO Republicans, will be able to push their agenda on the American society. They will appease their 'big-tent' party. Some of these 'goodies' denied them by conservatives include same sex marriage, abortion on demand, legislating judges, higher taxes, carbon offsets, and open borders.

This will all be possible because of McCain's misguided notion of how to win the election for President. He sees as his ticket to the Promised Land a campaign based on bipartisanship and compromise instead of standing on principles. Even the Bible comments on the half-and-half believers with the statement about it being better to be hot or cold because, "The tepid ones shall be spat out of the mouth of the Lord". Personally, I cannot accept a fence straddler. They do not stand for anything. It is like being in the middle of the river without the firm footing on either side. I disagreed with Ted Kennedy politically and morally, but I did respect him because of his strong defense of his liberal views. Misguided leadership is dreadful, but those who do make a stand for their beliefs and not just political whimsy will always win respect.

Cheers,

-Robert-

Modern Liberalism Hurts

Liberalism Eludes Me

No matter how diligently I search, I can find no logical reason for being a Modern Liberal. Today's Liberals have skewed the attractiveness of this philosophy into a scheme for the accumulation power.

For this scheme to work, the Liberal elites have to keep baiting the under classes with promises that glitter. But glitter is all they ever get. The followers of the Liberal never get the gold unless they are one of the elite leaders. Power and money all come to those who make themselves part of the governing class. This can be any public office from local District Attorneys to the President.

Have you ever seen a poor political office holder? The power brokers elected by we the people use their power for self-aggrandizement. They constantly need money. They constantly look for ways to extract money from those they govern. The art of raising money, honed over time, always gives the impression that someone else pays. That is why we have so many different taxes. Certain groups are targeted for taxation, for instance, the Hotel Tax. The hotel tax is a favorite of local politicians who want to give the impression that the 'visitors' and not the local people will pay for the latest "needs" of a community. The sin taxes only target those who smoke, and drink.

The more money that the politicians rake in, the more powerful they become. The politicians can use the money for any cause. The more causes they raise money for, via taxes; the more prominent, and important the politicians become. The money is all green so it does not matter where it comes from. Those who finance and contribute to the campaigns of the politicians expect and receive a quid-pro-quo favor for their support.

Both political parties exploit the citizens in their care, but the Liberals are the worst offenders. Today's Liberals are modern day Robin Hoods. Their taxation schemes have run most of our manufacturing jobs into business friendlier countries. One of the guiding principles of business is to be competitive. Any manufactured product has to be attractive to a customer. The product will not sell if not priced competitively. Manufacturers cannot make a competitive product with Liberal politicians constantly breathing down their necks with taxing schemes.

Like previously stated, taxation is a shell game. Instead of the politician selling his scheme to the voters and increasing the voter's taxes, he taxes the corporations and brags how he held down the taxes for the folks. But the voters pay in the end. Either the manufacturer's product is more expensive or the manufacturer takes the manufacturing jobs that pay good wages and moves them to a country that appreciates the opportunity to have good paying jobs. Or the business owner can just go out of business. The citizen cannot win in the long run from the onerous taxation policies of the Modern Liberal.

So I keep looking for a way to appreciate Liberalism. I read and digest thousands of pages, but have not found one redeeming reason to be a Modern Liberal.

Cheers,

-Robert-

Quotes From the Wise

The following were accumulated from the IDG Connect Newsletter. Send them an email to subscribe to their news letter at tech_newsletters@online.idgconnect.com . I hope that you find these quotes as amusing as I did.

1.) "Ability will never catch up with the demand for it."
- Malcolm Forbes

2.) "Always render more and better service than is expected of you, no matter what

your task may be."
- Og Mandino

3.) "The American Indians found out what happens when you don't control immigration."

4.) "Ahhh. A man with a sharp wit. Someone ought to take it away from him before he cuts himself."
- Peter da Silva

5.) "Your theory is crazy, but it's not crazy enough to be true."
- Niels Bohr, to a young physicist

6.) "Don't aim at success - the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are
going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue...as the
unintended side-effect of one's personal dedication to a course greater than oneself."
- Viktor Frankl

7.) "All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure."
- Mark Twain

8.) "The most likely way for the world to be destroyed, most experts agree, is by
accident. That's where we come in; we're computer professionals. We cause
accidents."
- Nathaniel Borenstein

9.) "Drive thy business or it will drive thee."
- Benjamin Franklin

10.) "Imagination is more important than knowledge..."
- Albert Einstein

11.) "I'm not concerned about all hell breaking loose, but that a PART of hell will break
loose...it'll be much harder to detect."
- George Carlin

12.) "The reason lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place is that the same place
isn't there the second time."
- Willie Tyler

13.) "Statistics: The only science that enables different experts using the same figures to
draw different conclusions."
- Evan Esar

14.) "No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one."
- Elbert Hubbard

15.) "You kids today have it easy. When I was a kid everything was HUGE. My dad
was nearly four times bigger than me. You couldn't even see the tops of counters...
Then gradually everything became smaller until it was the manageable size it is today."
- Bizarro (comic strip)

16.) "The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment you get up in the
morning and does not stop until you get into the office."
- Robert Frost

17.) "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free."
- Michelangelo

18.) "Inanimate objects are classified scientifically into three major categories - those
that don't work, those that break down and those that get lost."
- Russell Baker

19.) "Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons."
- R. Buckminster Fuller

20.) "I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're going
and hook up with them later."
- Mitch Hedberg

21.) "You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty."
- Sacha Guitry

22.) "Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad
judgment."
- Unknown, quoted by Jim Horning

23.) "Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory."
- Albert Schweitzer

24.) "If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people
ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions?"
- Scott Adams

25.) "Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines."
- John Benfield

26.) "There is nobody so irritating as somebody with less intelligence and more sense
than we have."
- Don Herold

27.) "When you encounter seemingly good advice that contradicts other seemingly good
advice, ignore them both."
- Al Franken

28.) "He attacked everything in life with a mix of extraordinary genius and naive
incompetence, and it was often difficult to tell which was which."
- Douglas Adams

29.) "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
- Benjamin Disraeli

30.) "Employ thy time well, if thou meanest to get leisure."
- Benjamin Franklin

31.) "Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish."
- Euripides

32.) "A witty saying proves nothing."
- Voltaire

Cheers,
-Robert-

Primary Season Ends Today!

Nope, not Iowa or New Hampshire It turns out that none other than South Carolina shifted the balance of power. South Carolina was the place where the Black voters would stand up for Barack Obama. South Carolina was the place where the voters would decide the fate of John McCain.

Yes, South Carolina was the big momentum springboard for the rest of the primary season. Barack Obama solidified his position with the Black community, and John McCain was elevated to the top spot for the Republicans.

Today is thankfully the end of the primary campaigns. The primaries in Montana and South Dakota mean a pause in the political ads, at least until after the Political Conventions. This primary season has been unmercifully long and has dominated the airways since 2006. We have had an endless stream of debates, talk shows, and campaign rallies.

One has to wonder how the candidates are able to withstand the grueling schedules that they have to meet. The candidates give their stump speeches at every hamlet, town, and city. They give the speech so often it imprints on the candidates subconscious. One also has to feel for the reporters who follow the candidates. The reporters have to endure the stump speeches repeatedly.

The primary trail is a real life 'Groundhog Day' and I can't help but marvel at the way the candidates make their speeches sound as if they are giving them for the first time when actually, it is probably the hundredth.

Well, wind the clock back up, it is almost time for the kick off of the main event, the contest between the two primary winners. Back to the political ads until were sick of listening to them or one could take the opposite view that maybe we want those ads. After all, we send the money that finances all those ads. Our campaign contributions will give us another several months of entertainment TV, the talk shows, the late night comedy shows, and the daily news programs, not to mention all of those ads.

Cheers,

-Robert-

Knocking out the Democrats

Issue that Knocks Out Dems

The Republicans are going to come out on the short end of the stick if they don't give the voters a reason to vote for them. The Iraq War that McCain is hanging his hat on is a hard sell mainly because the Dems are not going to simply surrender if elected. They do not want a defeat on their watch. Already Obama is talking about no
immediate withdrawal. A trip to Iraq in Obama's future will yield what he already suspects, that we are very close to winning there. When that happens, there will not be enough difference in McCain and Obama about the war. The only differences will be that Obama will claim a new strategy for getting us out. His new strategy will be what is already happening, just wrapped up in a different wrapper. So if he is elected, Obama will be able to claim credit for the victory and bringing home the troops.

The Obama camp will tar McCain as a continuation of the Bush strategy. But there is an issue out there, that the Dems cannot run away from. That issue is 'energy'. The Democrats have prevented us from both developing new oil fields and building new refineries for making gasoline and other refined products.

The Democrats have prevented us from building more nuclear power houses. The reason we have these high-energy costs is directly attributable to the Democrats and their policies. The only solution we hear from the Dems is a windfall profits tax. Yes, it is the same Democratic solution they offer for all problems, more taxes. The Republicans should be all over the energy issue. If ever there was a knockout issue, it is the energy issue. Maxine Waters stated publically that her answer was to "Socialize" the oil industry.

These paragons of elitists and ignorance do not deserve to win again in November. They do not deserve either the Whitehouse or the Congress. The main achievement of the Democrats since 06 when they won a majority has been obstructionism.

Cheers

-Robert-