OHIO.....I am not allowed to say it

Ohio.

How I wish you were an island, then maybe you could sink under the water.
I know this seems like a harsh statement and you would be right if I were saying it about anything but Ohio.

Now I can hear people say that it is because it is that I am from Michigan and I am just upset that we can’t beat Ohio St. in football and that would be wrong. I could care less about who wins that football game.

No the reason that I would like to flood Ohio is because politically it has to be the most idiotic state in the union.

It is a rust belt state, with a lower to middle class population. Many working class jobs and yet they vote Republican. I don’t understand how these people could constantly vote against their best interest.

They are voting for a Republican party that no longer exists. The party of Lincoln, of Roosevelt, of Eisenhower is not the party of today.

The Republicans no longer stand for American jobs, the Middle class, they don’t even stand for the Military (except to send our soldiers off to fight other peoples battles). And yet Ohioans still vote for these idiots.

Now I must say that I do like something about Ohio, and that would be Cedar Point. For those of you not familiar with Cedar Point it is an amusement park. If I had the ability I would take Cedar Point from Ohio and then use a scorched earth policy on the rest of the state.

Not only would that cleanse the Midwest of this ridicules political farce, but it will also give the earth a chance to recover from this parasite that clearly decays all that is good and proper.

Oh yeah it will also give U of M a chance at the big ten title.


Mr. Bush. It seems that your Political Terrorist have infested Ohio once again. And once again it might be Ohio that slaughters the election process of this once great nation. I hope you and your cronies are happy that you helped to destroy all that is decent in our country.

Stop this Prince insanity......

Here is another reason I dislike the television media.

Prince Harry.

Did you know that he has been serving in Afghanistan? Did you know he has been doing it in secret? Did you know that he was the first royal to serve in a war zone since his Uncle Andrew served in that huge Falklands Island war with Argentina?
Great now that we all know this important information can we please stop talking about it.

I mean I find it admirable that a member of the upper class would actually put themselves in harms way while rich people in this country (who actually support this war) refuse to sign their children up for it.

But that is where I draw the line. I am not a British citizen. The United States does not belong to the commonwealth of nations. So why must we over kill about a royal family that we no longer call our own.

I respect the young Prince, even though he had nothing to do in gaining the position and novelty that his life is, he has been trying for a long time to be in the midst of the situation that his fellow soldiers are in.

However again I must ask why why do we actually care about this story so much. He went, was found out, and now he is on his way home…. END OF STORY

Mr. Bush (your royal lame duck ness) do you see how that Prince went after the TERRORIST. Maybe your daughters will get the hint and help look for BOMBS instead of getting BOMBED themselves.

Ford tries one more time...

Well Ford motor is giving the choice of buyouts once again, and once again I am going to pass the buyouts up.

It’s not that I enjoy working on the assembly line, and it’s not that I will miss showing up everyday (ok most days)

The only reason that I will be turning down the buyouts is because I can’t afford to take the buyout.

I understand that to the rest of the world, at least those that listen to the news, think that the higher end payout is a good deal. So did a lot of the people who took it the first time around.

$140,000 as the top prize (for those who are 55 years of age, and have at least 10 years of service, and the ever popular $100,000 for those who don’t qualify for the $140,000 seems like a lot of money. However that is before taxes have been taken out.

A friend of mine who took the $100,000 package received just over $60,000 after taxes. Of that he had to use a portion to gain insurance for his family, some to get his bills in order and then quite a bit to keep the family going until he could find a job (which in Michigan is kind of hard at the moment) of which made nowhere near what he was making, and gave him no insurance.

Now some people did make out with their buyout. They however all had over 25 years, were given about $30,000 in cash, and were allowed to keep their benefits just as if they had retired at 30 years.

A few of my friends took the education buyouts, and a couple of them might have a chance of getting a good job after all is said and done, but there are a lot of rules surrounding these buyouts, and it is not like they just go to school, they still have to get jobs to pay their bills. The funds received for this buyout go mostly for education.

I wish I was in the situation to take a buyout. I would love to wake up in the morning and know that I wouldn’t have to go into the factory anymore. There are many of us that wish that same thing, but in the end we have no other choice but to stay where we are, and hope that the company can get their act together so we can all benefit from the future.

Mr. Bush you only have 328 days, 1hr 31min and 23.8sec left in office. Do you think you might be able to get some real TERRORIST before you leave office, or are you content to just continue to BOMB civilians because you can? Just a question.

I OWE WHAT ????

So there I am, doing my least favorite thing in the world, sorting through the days mail and opening up a bill.

It is the cell phone bill, one that I was sure was going to hold a surprise for me. Oh let me tell you that I wasn’t let down. The grand total was a whopping $603.

That’s right $603. I thought it was a type-o also, so after I pulled my jaw off of the floor, I checked it again. Nope I was seeing straight it said $603.

I couldn’t believe it. I grabbed the phone and went off to call the phone company. Lets call them the “running real fast” company.

After pushing a series of numbers to get through the system, I was finally able to gain access to a “very nice” (notice the quotes) Indian lady.

I must be fair she was nice, however she wasn’t very helpful. After giving me the run around about not being able to access my account I “kindly” (quotes) said thank you and hung up.

Ok so I just hung up on her.

At this time it was time to eat, and then take my daughter to play rehearsal. I then came home and tried to call the “running real fast” company again. Once again I ran through the push buttons from hell, and then found myself again talking to another “nice” Indian lady.

This one actually tried to help me figure out why my bill was so high. She placed me on hold a number of times, giving the impression that she was looking in detail at my account. Yet each time she came back on the line she was just as confused as before.

I knew what the problem was. We had just up graded to better phones and were supposed to receive in store rebates, but for some reason the company didn’t give us the in store rebate, and now she was telling me that I had to go back to where I purchased the phones to get a mail in rebate.

I tried repeatedly to explain the situation to her but she just didn’t understand what I was saying. I kept seeing the image of Jerry Lewis as the Chinese character in the movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” All smiles but no substance.

I finally had to hang up with her(of course I could put more quotes around the way I left that conversation), and decided that I will just go to the store tomorrow to see if I can get an understanding from someone who might actually be able to understand the situation.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not prejudice. I don’t dislike Indians. I don’t dislike people with accents, my Grandfather has a thick accent, and because of it I am able to understand what other people with accents are saying. What I am saying however is that I hate the fact that I have to talk to someone half way around the world, and then not be able to communicate the situation correctly.

All I know is that I better be able to get things straightened out tomorrow at the store or I am going to go ballistic 603 times. Once for each dollar they say I owe them.

Hey Mr. Bush, found any new Terrorist with Bombs lately. “Bad Muslim goes Boom” said Mr. Bush

What does the world think.

What I want to know is what people around the world think about what is happening in the United States? Not just those who might have spent time in the U.S. but also those who get their information from their local sources.

It is easy to see how things are going from a Michigan point of view, a California point of view, or even a Alabama point of view. But I want to know how people from Brighton England feel about the U.S.

I want to know how people in Tokyo see us, I want to know how people in Kiev see us.

I would like to know if we are truly perceived as the good guys, or the bullies. We in America always think that we act in the best interest of everyone when we act, however there are many times that we find out, after the fact, that we are not doing the right thing.

We also seemed to be vehemently outraged when ever anyone around the world says something against our judgment. (Freedom fries)

We here in America have to remember that every great nation will gradually fall from its power, and most of the time it is because they become singular in purpose while thinking that we are doing so much for others.

We can only be great leaders if we have the backing of those that follow us. We can only be a great world leader if we have the backing of the rest of the world. If we don’t then we look (as we have under the Bush Administration) like fools.


[This is for the wire tappers TERRORIST, BOMBS, ANTI-BUSH]

Exercising my 1st amendment right.

I am appalled at how my Government is attacking my 4th Amendment rights of protection against warrant less search and seizure. They want the power to tap into any phone line they wish, read any mail, e-mail or snail mail, regardless of content.

They say that they are trying to keep Americans safe from terrorist attacks, and that they will only use the taps on international calls. However I still don’t see what the problem is with getting a warrant. I know I have posted a blog about this subject before but it just blows my mind that my Government would do such a thing.

How are they going to determine which lines to tap? Are they going to grab lines of people they already think are tied to terrorist organizations? Or are they going to blanket the system in search of such words as terrorist, bombing, explosion ect…

I am tempted to use those words in every blog I write just so I know that there is somebody reading it.

Maybe if I am lucky I will get a letter from the President telling to stop being a pain in the Governments collective asses.

Please explain this to me...

I went to buy my son his very first baseball bat today. He wants to play little league and while he has had a mitt to play catch since last summer, we never got around to getting a bat. So off to the sporting goods store my son and I went. We knew we had to find a bat that was rated for little league.

How was I to know that there would be so many different kinds.

There were balls for little league, tee ball, youth league, softball, slow and fast pitch, and adult fast pitch baseball.

There were thin bats and thick bats, short bats and long bats, wooden bats and aluminum bats. Enough bats for a Dr. Seuss rhyme.

Now this alone was enough to shock me. When I was younger all they had were Louisville sluggers, and now they have bats from Japan and China, but this wasn’t the thing that shocked me the most. What was the biggest shock was the sticker price.
They ranged anywhere to $20.00 to $300.00. I had to pick my jaw off the ground. How in the world could a bat be so expensive. Granted the $300.00 was the adult bat, but the little league bats still topped out at about $180.00.

Of course I bought one that was on sale for $20.00, but even that one regular price was almost $50.00

I would love someone to explain to me just why a bat that a nine or ten year old would use has to cost so much. I asked one of the workers about it but he had no idea as to why this was the case.

It just floors me that a sport, which had once cost so little to participate in, now is beginning to creep up in price.

I just hope he is good enough at baseball as to one day be able to afford his own equipment.

President Bush makes me feel so safe. NOT

"Good morning. At this moment, somewhere in the world, terrorists are planning new attacks on our country."

This has got to be the worst statement Bush has yet to say in his term in office. I can't believe that the so called leader of the freest nation in the world would have the nerve to try and scare the American people this way.
He claims that if he doesn’t have the right to invade the privacy of the American people at his will then there is a problem. Has he never heard of the 4th amendment.

4th Amendment
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

There are many people out there screaming about “we have got to kill the enemy before he attacks us, and the only way to do that is to eves drop on peoples conversation.” There are many people out there that say “if you have nothing to hide then why should it matter?”

First of all.
There have been people since the creation of this nation that have wanted to attack us. There are people in this nation that if given the chance would aid in an attack on this nation. Yes the worlds terrorist are the new threat to us, but they are not the first nor will they be the last.

Second,
The "President" has the FISA court in which to gain his warrants.

What is the FISA court? The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act resulted from extensive investigations by Senate Committees into the legality of domestic intelligence activities. These investigations were led separately by Sam Ervin and Frank Church in the 1970s after certain activities had been revealed by the Watergate affair (see the Church Committee report). The act was created to provide Judicial and congressional oversight of the government's covert surveillance activities of foreign entities and individuals in the United States, while maintaining the secrecy needed to protect national security. It allowed warrantless surveillance within the United States for up to one year unless the "surveillance will acquire the contents of any communication to which a United States person is a party". If a United States person is involved, judicial authorization was required within 72 hours after surveillance begins.

It is a very simple procedure. The President, or the Government for those who wish to defend Mr. Bush, has to only ask the FISA court for the warrant. There has only been a few times in the courts history that they have refused to give a warrant to the Government.

Third
If the Government has the need for the warrant, a need that is so great as to go after the parties as quickly as possible, and they know that they have up to 72 hours after they start the wire tap then why should it be difficult to obtain the warrant. For heavens sake why start problems for yourself if you don’t have to.

I am in favor of going after those who would want to terrorize anyone in the world. However, I am also in favor of protecting the rights of the American people. You can say what you want about “if you don’t have anything to hide then why worry about it.” I don’t have anything to hide, but that doesn’t mean I want the Government to spy on me. That sounds more like the Soviet Union, or China than the United States of America.

People that claim they are for our freedoms but would allow this President to hold us down in fear, should prepare for your rights to be infringed upon. Believe it or not some of our enemies are not foreign at all but the may in fact be terrorist, and one of them may live at 1600 Pennsylvania ave.

Here is an opinion on the whole deal why Bush is getting mad at the House of Representatives. It is not for the surveillance portion of the Bill that Bush is upset about, the House seemed willing to work with Bush about that issue. What they didn’t want was to give the Phone companies immunity from lawsuits for turning over information on Americans to the Government without warrants.

The American people are going to have to wake up. They are going to have to start making their Government accountable for their actions. We don’t have to live in fear. There is a great chance that we will be attacked again, and God knows that the Republicans are hoping that the attack happens under a Democratic administration so that they can say “We told you so.”

We need to live by another motto’; “If you attack us you will awaken a wrath of such magnitude as to curse your people for many generations.” I guess it is a little bit much but we need to get back to we will defend ourselves, but we do not start the fight.

Where can conservatives go?

I know this is a loaded question.
I know exactly where they can go, but what I am talking about is after the elections.

For years we have heard die hard liberals in this country swear that they would flee the country if Republicans like Bush won the Presidency. Now however the shoe is on the other foot.

When Sen. Obama becomes the President how will the die hard Conservatives continue to make it in this country.
I don't know if they can say the same things as Liberals. I don't think they can make the same statements about fleeing the country.

I mean where could they go.

Most of Europe and South American is more Liberal than we are. I can't see any of them fleeing to anywhere in Africa, I mean there are so many "black" people there. Australia has just elected a more Liberal government, and even though I would like them to all freeze in Antartica I can't see them going there either. This leaves Asia.

I think Conservative would like Asia.

The majority of people in Asia are treated like slaves, (or as Republicans like to call them CHEAP LABOR). Not to meantion that governments in Asia, (notibly China, Indonesia, Vietnam...) know how to crack down on anyone who disagrees with policy.

Asia would be a Conservatives paradise.

The rich are allowed to get richer, and the poorer understand that they are proclaimed by God to be poor and are willing to accept the fact. It is a place that Conservative can be free to be themselves.
They like Asia so much that they have been trying to turn the United State into a place similar to it. You would think they would have left (I mean exported themselves) to Asia a long time ago. I mean it would be cheaper for them to do with themselves as they have done with many of our jobs.

Ship them to Asia.


Obama for President

A letter to Governor Granholm.

Michigan and Florida voters were shafted during this Primary season. Now there is a chance for our voices to be heard but maybe not the way we want them to. This is my letter to Gov. Granholm.


Governor Granholm,
I am writing to you today about the possibility of a Michigan Democratic Caucus. I understand the hesitation you might have in holding another voting session. It cost a lot of money to put one of these events on, but I believe that there is something more important going on here. Your office released the statement "More people participated in the primary than in any other time in history and we want to respect those votes. We will work toward a resolution to get our delegation seated at the democratic national convention."

Now it is true that all our votes should be counted, however the problem I see is that under the current outcome my vote will not be respected. Both political parties forced a move of the primary date, something that the average voter had no choice in. The National parties then retaliated by telling the Candidates not to participate in our primary. Both Senators Obama and Edwards agreed to request, while Senator Clinton refused to remove her name from the ballot. Michigan Democrats and Independents were given the choice of uncommitted if our chosen candidate were not on the ballot. 40% of the voters took that option. Many other voters voted for Senator Clinton because they believed that their vote wouldn’t count if they voted for uncommitted.

I, myself, voted uncommitted, not so much out of dislike for Senator Clinton, but because of my anger with the Democratic party for placing Michigan voters in the position we found ourselves.

Now that the race is as close to a tie as can be everyone wants to seat our delegates. I want that also, but I, as well as many other Independents, feel that our votes are not being counted. We want to vote for a candidate. Had things not gone awry we would have been able to vote for the person in which we wanted, but it now seems that the Democrat party, especially in Michigan, doesn’t want that to happen.

The only fair thing to do is to allow us to have a Caucus so that all our votes can be counted. If Senator Clinton is successful in winning once again then at least no one can say that there was back room deals made to support one particular candidate over another. The voice of the people should be the only thing that matters in the process of electing our leaders.

Again our votes won't count.

Well just when we thought it had got as bad as it could the Democrats throw one more thing at us.

SUPER DELEGATES

For the first time in a long time people are energized about the whole election process. All over the country people are coming out in record numbers to vote in the Democratic primaries and caucuses.
They are life long Democrats and some cross over Republicans, but the biggest group is the Independent group looking to help make a change in this nation.

This should be a very exciting time for the Democrats. They seem to have the upper hand over the Republican party. Even though it seems that John McCain will be the Republican nominee the Democrats look to be poised to take the Presidency.

Once again though the Democratic party seems to be on the verge of losing their chance to win.

How can this be?

SUPER DELEGATES.

Even though people have been coming out in strong numbers it must be brought to everyone’s attention that the majority of independents are coming out for Sen. Obama. These are people who might not vote ordinarily, and will not be there for Sen. Clinton if she is the nominee.

Again I say SUPER DELEGATES.

These are the people in the Democratic party that have been given special voting privileges so that in case there is no clear winner for the Dems, then they can vote and help decide who will be the nominee. They are leading Democratic leaders, Senators, Congressmen/women, party leaders, and other specially picked persons.

Normally they wouldn’t be used, but this year Obama, and Clinton possibly be neck and neck going into the Convention. If this is the case then these people will help to decide the winner.

The problem is that there are over 800 SP’s. This means that if Obama is slightly ahead in the number of delegates and the party “faithful” feel that they don’t want to give the nomination to him then they can use their votes to give Clinton the win.

I, like many other independents, may feel betrayed by the Democrats. If this is the case then there is a good chance that most of those Independents will decide to stay home. Or for that matter switch over to McCain.
It doesn’t seem fair no matter which way one looks at it. The leaders in the Dem. Party will try as hard as they can to get who they want as the nominee (which seems to be Clinton.) It also seems that they might do what ever they have to, even if that means taking what the voters want and throwing it aside.

It may be the stupidest thing the Democrats can do.

Am I insane??

I sit here with a question in my head.

Should I run for the local school board or not?

I am one of those people who have a lot of opinions, and I get very mad at times at those in charge because I don't think they do their jobs correctly.

I guess that would qualify me to either put up or shut up.

Running for any sort of office has not really ever crossed my mind, and while this is a relatively small position, it is one that I have to be elected into.

I always thought of myself as the kind that would watch from the sidelines, give my opinion, have someone else say “hey that’s a great idea, let me get to work on that” and then go on my way.

I understand the concept of if you want something done you have to do it yourself, but I am not sure I am qualified for such a job.

It is not something that I do out of want, but with the situation as it is this may be something I do out of necessity.
I have a little time to think about it but I won’t take too long in making my decision. I just hope I know what I am doing (God help us all :-} )

Some good movie quotes

These are some of my favorite movie quotes. Some of them you might know some you might not, but I think they are all pretty good.

1. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. It smells like victory.Apocalypse Now, spoken by Robert Duvall

2. 'Where gonna need a bigger boat!' - chief Brody - Jaws

3.-"You a bounty hunter?"-"A man's got to make a living."-"Dying ain't much of a living boy
from Outlaw Josey Wales:

4. What you think of as pain is a shadow. Pain has a face...allow me to show it to you, Gentlemen...I AM PAIN. - Pinhead Hell Raiser II

5. “I don't wanna sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't wanna sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed, you know, as a career, I don't wanna do that...right now I just wanna be with your daughter, sir” - John Cusack - Say Anything

6. I'll shove that bat up your ass and turn you into a popsicle. - Ajex- The Warriors

7. Wait a minute, Doc. Ah... Are you telling me you built a time machine... out of a DeLorean? - Marty McFly - Back to the future

8. That's not a knife. [Dundee draws a large Bowie knife] That's* a knife. - Michael J. "Crocodile" Dundee

9. I used to play a little ball. I was small, but I made up for it by being slow.- Earl Pilcher, Jr. - A Family Thing

10. My Chevy shook a shit! -. Jimmer Negamanee - Escanaba in da moonlight

My plead to the west coast

I can’t stand this.

I am watching the SUPER DUPER ALLY OOPPER Tuesday Primary and I am about ready to pull my hair out.

I can’t believe that Clinton is winning in so many places.
What are people thinking?
How can we allow her to become the Democrat nominee?

Can’t anyone see that she will only hurt the chances of a Democrat becoming President.
She will only bring out the Anti-Hillary folks that might just stay home if Obama is the Dems candidate.

So this is my appeal to those on the great plains and the west coast.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE vote for Obama.

There is still time to save this nation. We need a person who can build bridges in Washington, not bring a new division to our nations capital.

Obama is that person.

Clinton will only force the two sides to work against one another, and give us another four years of nothing getting done.

So again I plead, vote for OBAMA.

If Clinton wins I might just have to stay home on election day.

REPUBLICANS=Less Government????

Someone please explain something to me.

I am constantly hearing how the Republican party is the party of less Government.

How they are the party who doesn't want Government to be able to tell you what to do.

I guess however that is unless the situation deals with what you do with your body (ex. Abortion), which Religion is correct(constantly calling us a "Christian nation), trying to make it that everyone should pray in school, telling you have no rights if you are gay(ex. marriage, adoption), who can have sex with who, and calling you out if you have an independent thought that goes against them.

Now we have the latest of the absurdities.

Mississippi Rep. John Read of Gautier (Republican) has called for legislation that would force restaurants to turn away customers on the basis of weight.
He would have it that people that are considered to be obese would not be allowed to eat in any restaurant in Mississippi.

How absurd is this notion?
First, he has tried to place further Government control over peoples daily activities.
Second, he is telling people that only certain citizens have rights.
Third, he has probably setting the state up for many lawsuits by people that will undoubtedly be offended by the proposal.

It is true that there are many overweight people in this nation,(30% of adults in Mississippi according to Rep. Gautier) but is it Governments job to regulate what a person eats, regardless of how bad it might be for the individual?

The Republicans are the same group that find it a travesty that Government would force a business to regulate what it places in the water or air, which hurts more then just one person.
Yet once again they find it ok to tell citizens what they can or cannot do with their personal lives.
I guess the Republican version of less Government means Government giving you less choice in how you live your life.

I am so glad we are protecting WHAT...

Three of the worlds largest oil companies had a very good year in 2007.

Chevron, the United States 2nd largest oil company, posted a record profit of $18.69 billion, while Americas largest oil company Exxon Mobil broke its own record for net income by any U.S. corporation, at $40.6 billion.

British Shell Oil profits for the whole of 2007 soared to $31.3bn from $25.4bn the previous year.

Now everything we have been told about why we actually went into Iraq makes so much sense to me.

The freedom of the Iraqi people, the Democratization of the Middle East, the Liberation of the WHOLE DAMN WORLD.

We have to send our soldiers around the world so that they can protect pipe lines, refineries, and of course GAS STATIONS.
This just in "the elite 101st airborne has taken up position around the Shell station in south central Baghdad."

Apparently President "Lame duck" is just holding out long enough to let this war become someone else’s problem, while the whole time his buddies are raking in the BILLIONS of dollars.

Oh yeah a few more Americans died this week, along with a over a hundred Iraqi civilians, but then again what am I thinking. What are a few hundred, or for that matter a few thousand lives compared to the Billions of dollars that can be made.

I guess Bush would call it a pretty good FAIR TRADE policy.

I don't know what I should do?

I, for the first time, don't know how I am going to vote this year.

I have already decided that I can't vote third party. I have seen the candidates for the Libertarians, and the Green party, and know that deep down I can't give either one of them my support.

I can't vote for the Republicans.

I can't get past that they are all idiots. When I watch them it is all I can do not to pull my hair out.All they have is to refer back to Ronald Reagan, who I believe one day people will realize that he wasn't as great as everyone tries to make him out to be.

That leaves me with the Democrats. We are now down to Obama, and Clinton.

Now I have said that I am leaning towards Obama. I believe that of all the candidates running he is the only one that can bridge the gap between parties and actually get things done.

Here, however, is the problem. Clinton cries and people feel sorry for her and gives her their vote. Clinton claims she is snubbed by Obama and the National Organization for Women come out and try to undermined Obama (which I am sure will give Clinton more votes). The more that happens to make Clinton look like a poor helpless victim the more votes she gets.

How can you be a helpless victim while claiming you were First lady of the United States. First Lady of Arkansas, a lawyer who has been fighting the system for over 35 years.

How does that person become a victim? I don't know, but I can tell you that if the Clintons (you know Bill is as much a part of this as Hillary) get the nomination for the Democratic party I might have to do the unthinkable and not vote at all.

No one in this years race, except Obama, has the real potential to be the President of the United States.

It is safe for me to say that this election year really blows.

We shouldn't let Florida vote anymore.

That's right I said it and I mean it. We should take all voting rights away from the people of Florida.

I don't get it, it should be an easy process, but no, not with Florida.

Just when we had thought that we had gotten away from the hanging chads.

Just when we thought we had seen it all with people being turned away because they may or may not have once been a criminal.

Just when we had thought Florida had cleaned up their election crap I just have to say

"OH COME ON"

What is wrong with this State? What is wrong with the people who live there? Do they get too much sun? Do they have sea salt on the brain? Or are they just idiots?
Oh I don't like to be this way but come on.
Here is what happened today.

1.In Delray Beach, voting was delayed about an hour and a half at a precinct after a poll worker turned off electronic machines, which deprogrammed them.

2.Some Democratic voters was turned away at an Orange County precinct near Orlando after being told there was no Democratic primary today.

3.Some precincts in Broward County had higher turnout than expected and didn't have enough pollsters to run the polls.

4.Some Democratic voters were given independent slips because pollsters and voters didn't realize the mistake.

5. Daytona Beach City Island had voting numbers were off so pollsters had to re-insert the ballots to find the missing numbers.

6. How many absentee ballots we filled back in December? How do you get to vote a month before the election day, do you really know everything about a person to vote that early.

The process should be easy. 1.Go to the polling place, 2.Get a ballot, 3.Vote. How hard can it be.

We are in the mess we are today because people in Florida can't vote. Do we need to buy them a guidebook so they can vote? Maybe we can buy a whole bunch of "Voting for Dummies," books so that the dummies in Florida can finally get it right.

Thank goodness this is his last....

I sit here typing this with my nose, as I have been tied up so that I cannot hurt myself or others, as I get ready to watch "President" Bush's final State of the Union speech. I have to say that I wasn't going to watch the speech, I am sure I can find some mold growing or paint drying that will more exciting, but I decided that I might as well watch the idiot the one last time.

I, however, am already feeling the heat rising. I have read the excerpts, that the administration has handed out to the press dealing with tonight's speech, and if this is what he is going to say we have been even dumber then we thought by re-electing him.(Of which of course I voted against him)

1. He wants to spend 300 million on helping school age children in struggling school districts get grants to go to private schools or to go to better districts outside of their own. I just don't understand why he has a problem helping the struggling school districts in the first place. Maybe it is because the private institutions are run by wealthier entities that usually treat their staff more unfair then public districts.

2. He plans on calling on Congress to work on the issue of Social Security so that it will be around for our children, and grandchildren. Isn't this the man who spent a great deal of time trying to throw the SS system out, and now he wants to save it. Please.

3. He is calling for Bipartisan relations between the two parties to get things done. This is the same guy who use his majority Republican congress to pass everything he wanted and then if and when the Democrats fought back attacked them as not being relevant to the situation.

4. He will of course talk about the Iraq conflict (we have not declared war on them) and will surely say how well the situation is now. Yet he will not tell us how long we will be there, how much it will cost in lives and money, and if they will have a civil war on our hands when we finally pull out.

5. He will talk about the United States need to use green technologies to help with our dependence on foreign oil. Wait a minute isn't he a TEXAS OILMAN with close ties to the SAUDI ROYAL FAMILY. What part of that relationship says he cares about green technology.

6. He wants countries of the world to band together to help overcome the problem on green house gases. Are you kidding. One of the first things that he did was pull out of the Kyoto agreement that was the worlds attempt to overcome the effect of green house emissions.

7. He will call for the end to pork barrel projects and will say he will veto any of these that come across his desk. Wait a minute. He didn't veto anything during his first six years (how about that bridge to no where) his first veto only came after the Democrats came to power and wanted to pass something of their own.

8. He will try and support his U.S. Middle East policy, even though he didn't try for middle east peace until his Iraq policy fell into the toilet.

9. He will want to make permanent his tax cuts even though they don't help the middle and lower class.

10. He will talk about how jobs have been created, but he will not say that these jobs pay very little and can't help raise a family.

11. Last and not least he will try and make himself look like less of a failure then he really is. But alas he will still look like the idiot more then before the speech.

Like I said thank goodness this is the last time we have to listen to the Idiot in Chief give this speech.

Why haven't we learned yet?

On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade the two sides of the abortion cause have gotten no further then they were on that day 35 years ago when the Supreme Court decided on the case.

The Pro-Life side wants to abolish the procedure totally, while the Pro-Choice want to expand it.

So why is it so hard for this thing to be solved? who knows.

I myself have to side with the Pro-Choice group.

While I detest the practice of abortion I cannot for the life of me tell a woman what to do with her body.

Nor can I hold a doctor responsible for murder if he/she has no choice but to abort a fetus in the saving of a mothers life.

I understand that the pro-life side is heavily involved in religion, and that most of their views come about from trying to think about how God would deal with this. However that way of thinking is not going to solve this problem. God apparently has decided to not answer the question of abortion, seeing that abortions have been going on for a lot longer than Roe v. Wade has been around.

Now that doesn't mean that the other side is doing a very good job at solving this issue either.

While they are trying to keep the practice legal, they seem to be putting less time into stopping the problem of unwanted pregnancy.

Actually neither side is handling the issue of unwanted pregnancy very well.

We have to bring ourselves into the new century. We have to understand that just "say no" doesn't work in the real world. In the real world young adults are having sex and in the real world they are not being told about prevention.

It should be our ultimate goal to get kids to follow the abstinence route. Not only because of unwanted pregnancies, but also because of sexually transmitted diseases. But it is unrealistic to assume that simple words, or for that matter ancient scripture, is going to do any good.

We have to be prepared to take all avenues in this battle, both sides are going to have to realize that they need to work together to solve this problem. Even then both sides are going to have to understand that the issue will never fully go away.

If abortion is outlawed then women will just go back to back alley procedures, and we remember how those turned out.

For the sake of all women we must keep the procedure legal, but also for the sake of all women we must come up with sensible ways to stop the pregnancies from occurring in the first place.

Kwame, Kwame, Kwame....

I cannot believe that it's "here we go again."

The Mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick is finding himself in hot water once more. This time it seems that Kilpatrick and Chief of Staff Christine Beatty have been found to have lied under oath about having an on going affair. Now many people have been saying that this is a personal matter between the Mayor and his wife, and that he should continue to serve as Detroit's top official.

Here however is the problem with that.

The reason he had been under oath in the first place was because of a lawsuit filed by two police officers who alleged they were fired for investigating claims that the mayor used his security unit to cover up extramarital affairs. The lawsuit ended with the jury giving the police officers more then 8 million dollars in damages.

Now these are not the only controversies that Mayor Kilpatrick has been involved with:

In 2005 the Mayor received an expensive SUV for his family to be chauffeured around in. At first the Mayor had Detroit Chief of Police Ella Bully-Cummings claim that the SUV was actually to be use in drug enforcement stings. Eventually the Mayor had no choice but to admit that he had ordered the vehicle for personal use.

In May 2007 Kilpatrick used $8,600.00 from a secret civic fund, to take his family on a vacation to a 5 star California resort. The fund was controlled by his sister and some friends that was intended to be used to improve the city through educational means. When confronted about this Mayor Kilpatrick grabbed and threw the microphone of the reported asking the questions.
In August of 2007 the situation of the fired police officers came to light with the awarding of the 8 million dollars. The Mayor blamed the verdict on White Suburbanite jurors that were using Racism as a tool against the cities Black Mayor.

As of January 2008 the Mayor, his Chief of Staff Beatty, and Chief of Police Bully-Cummings were all named in a slander lawsuit brought on by two other police officers dealing with an incident in 2004. This is when "Beatty" was pulled over for speeding. An irate Beatty asked the officers if they "knew who the f**k she was," and then called Chief Bully-Cummings to call the officers off. When the news got a hold of the story Kilpatrick, Beatty, and Bully-Cummings all claimed that the pull over had to have been a set up to harass Beatty.

So this latest report, which could lead to perjury charges that could give up to 15 years in prison, and the disbarment of the Mayor.

I along with many other people in the Detroit area had high hopes for the Mayor. A young African American male, with politics in his blood, and many new ideas seemed to be a bright light for the future of a failing city. It didn't take long to destroy those hopes, at least from the suburban stand point. With his fancy clothes, and his street sense attitude, many got the impression that he was nothing more then a well dressed bully. Now with everything that has come to light about how he really is I believe that the man needs to step down.

The city of Detroit has too many problems without having it's leader causing more illegal activities.

If there is anything decent in this man he would leave and allow the city to overcome yet another obstacle that has been placed before it.

Who the hell are these people...

Has any one ever heard of the Westboro Baptist Church. If not everyone should find out about them. These have to be the most idiotic, back water, and ill-willed members of society that have ever been produced.

These so called "Christians" have made it their sole purpose to go to funerals of fallen soldiers and protest. They say that it is because of homosexuals in the United States that these soldiers were killed.

Now they wish to protest the funeral of actor Heath Ledger because he played a gay character in the movie "Brokeback Mountain."

I cannot for the life of me understand the whole concept behind this groups actions. I have seen pictures of them and I have to admit that if there ever was a stereotype for inbreeding they would qualify.

What makes this all the worse is that people mistake this idiot group as anti-war Liberals. They are by far not Liberals. They have to be the most right-winged conservative pro-war group out there. Their only reason for protesting the deaths is homosexuality.

If this is what Christianity is all about then I have to be happy to say that I don't include myself in this religion.

How can anyone believe in a deity that is so angry, so jealous, so hateful. I hear a little about peace and love but it is always in the context of "only if you are another Christian," and that also means if you are the right kind of Christian.

If God really wanted to lend a hand with this situation then he wouldn't allow people like the members of the Westboro Baptist Church to hurt so many innocent people.

What I should be doing

I sit here before this computer trying hard to figure what to say tonight. There are so many different subjects that I am interested in yet I have no idea which subject should take tonight's place in blog world.

Yet writing this blog is not what I should be doing at all.

What I should be working on is one of the many stories that I have laying around the house. My wife, as patient as any one person can be, must look at all the papers and just roll her eyes. Though she loves me too much to actually question me about any of the stories, I know she would love it if I finally could finish one of them.

I have no clear reason for why they are all still unfinished,( laziness, procrastination, lack of real creative ability) I really have no idea why. Anything at this point would be nothing more than just an excuse, and just any excuse is not good enough.

Any way there is a character or two that feel like they might wish to speak to one another and I am the only one that can translate for them. At least that is what I am going to attempt to do anyway.

Rambling on...

Some days I don't have much to say. Now if you ask anyone who knows me they would say that me not having anything to say is an impossibility, but alas this is one of those days. I could sit here and discuss politics but I am more then a little tired of the process at this moment. I could talk about the atrocities that are going on around the world, but I don't feel like being angered about the lack of help. I could talk about the pain in the ass news stations that say there is something to be worried about but they won't tell you what that is until 11pm something. Yes there is so much I could talk about but like I said I don't have much to say today.

It saddens me...

It saddens me to know that I would never be able to run for the Presidency of the United States.

It has nothing to do with what has gone on in my past, nor does it have to do with many of the opinions I hold on all the important issues. The reason that I can never run for the office is because of one thing and one thing only.

I am not, at least I do not consider myself, a Christian.

Yes that's right, in this great country of ours the only thing that would keep me from winning the position is my religious, or lack there of, preference. I see every single candidate in the race, both on the Democrat and Republican sides, call out that they are Christians, that they firmly believe in Jesus as their personal savior, and how many times their faith has gotten them through hard times.

I can't say any of that. I can't stand in front of the American people and say that I firmly believe in the Christan belief. I can't and won't claim that this is a Christian nation, even though many of the principals of the two systems are the same, I don't believe that is was the Christian fundamentals that were the building blocks for the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

I don't fault most of the Candidates in trying to express their beliefs in the attempts to "buy" the votes of other"believers", although a few of them seem not to good at making us believe that they are very religious.

I do fault a system however that allows only members of a certain religion to actually have a chance at becoming President. I can sit here and claim my belief in God, that I freely admit that I have, but it is not the hateful, dishonest, jealous, bull headed one of the Christian Bible.

That is why it saddens me to know that even though I would be an honest candidate, one that would do his best at helping the American people, I would never be allowed to do the job because of one certain belief that would keep me out of the White House.

REPUBLICANS

RACIST
EGOMANIACS
PURPOSELY
USING
BLATANT
LIES
IN
CONTROLING
AMERICA’S
NAIVE
SENSES

should we be worried.

Russian Chief of Staff Yuri Baluyevski declared today that Russia "could and would use nuclear arms pre-emptively if under serious threat." Why should we even be concerned about this statement? Because it is the first time that the former Soviet Republic has ever stated that is would use such weaponry as a first move.

Even when the USSR was a superpower, and our chief enemy, their military doctrine stated that they would not use nukes against the west as a first strike option.

This is clearly a major change of their policy.

Now we can all assume that the Soviet Unions words could only be taken at face value. There was always a chance that they would have used their weapons if the need arose. Fortunately we never had to face that option.

So why all of a sudden do they take this new attitude.

One could assume that it is because they no longer have the military they once had. That they realize they are no longer have the means to assert their authority over others as they did during the cold war. (As we have seen in the recent past they have had a very hard time dealing with the small State of Chechnya)

Or maybe we can see yet another result of the failing policy of the Bush administration with their pre-emptive rhetoric.

Maybe the Russians have just been looking for a reason to announce this chance in their policy and the U.S. policy in dealing with Iraq was the prime opportunity for them to do it.

The Russians have never been our friends, Ally's maybe during the end of WWII, but never our friends, and it would be foolish to assume that they didn't have a pre-emptive policy in place.

However now we have to worry about whether or not the Russians will attempt to even try to settle a situation before such military force is applied.

Yet here is another concern. What if Americas policy pf pre-emption, and Russia's new policy of pre-emption cause such countries as China (for security reasons) to pre-empt an attack on Taiwan, or for that matter India or Pakistan pre-empting an attack on the one another.

We are at another cross roads in the human experience. We have the power to not only attack and destroy our enemies, but also everyone in the general area, and now in the name of "security" many nations will have the excuse to assault anyone they wish in a very devastating first strike.

Show me the money.

Well it seems that the inept Bush administration and the mentally challenged Congress are trying to put together a incentive package that is supposed to help jump start our failing economy.

I just have to say here we go again with "a little late to the game aren't we folks."

For how long has Washington been saying that "oh no we are not in a recession," and "the economy is doing very well."

Apparently Washington was wrong.

Here in Michigan we have been feeling the rough road of the down turning economy for quite a while now. We have been losing jobs left and right as companies continue to send their business to cheap labor in third world countries.

So what is the magic bullet that Washington is thinking about sending to the common citizens of the great nation. A check for about $800 for single people and about $1,600.00 for married couples.


Now I know that some people are thinking WOW!!! that seems like a lot of money, but if you really think about it you might understand that it really isn't much of anything. I can tell you that most people will use this money to pay some bills. While it might help to alleviate the burden of some of their bills that is money not being spent in the economy.


If Washington really wanted to get things going I think they would need to do more then just this. I believe that they will have to do things that might make many in the upper levels of our Government squirm.


The first thing would be to raise the amount of money that they want to give to everyone. If the checks are less then $5,000.00 then things will not change. If the Government had the nerve to try that much money they might be pleasantly surprised. The majority of people would have all that money spent within the first few weeks. which means that all the money will make it through each level of the economy until it once again rests in the hands of the wealthy. So it's not really a "handout" (God forgive us if we actually help the middle class, especially when the rich will get the money back with more then they could get with interest included.)


The second thing that Washington has to do is realize that the main reason that we get into this situation is the fact that we are losing jobs, good paying jobs. We can talk all we want about the economy growing but if the jobs that are being created are $6.00-$7.00 an hour jobs then we are not really making any progress. Yes these may be honest jobs, but they are not the kind that will allow a family to make the advancements that a consumer economy desires for its growth.

A third thing that the Government must realize is that the old way of doing things is no longer going to work. I am not calling for isolationism but we have to admit that if we continue to to allow so called American business to send jobs to third world countries for the sake of profit alone then we shall never be what we once thought we were. America is facing serious trouble from other countries without beating ourselves at the game. We can only be great if we are working. We can only be great if we are able to take care of ourselves. We can only be great if the average American can look into the eyes of his children as confidently say "things will be alright."

Another quote that makes sense.

We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.

Thomas Jefferson3rd president of US (1743 - 1826)

I guess when we look back at our history we tend to think about it in a romantic frame. However if President Jefferson said this quote then I can only assume that non-participation was a problem in his time as it is in ours.

Here comes the train wreck once again

Another season of American Idol is upon us again and all I can say so far is hold on tight because when this train hits the wall it isn't going to be pretty. Again there are so many people that think that they can sing and help us all they can't. I know that many of these people are now only going on the show to get their fifteen minutes of fame. At least that is what I hope they are doing because if they truly believe they have talent things are sadder in this world then I thought they were.

This is what I want to see

I would love to see these placed in every school room in America. These are the lessons that every American child should learn from the earliest age because this is what sets them above all other people in the world.

Bill of Rights

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

We are so worried about the Pledge of Allegiance, and whether the Ten Commandments should be in schools that we forget what is really important.

Just another example...

My Letter to MSNBC:


To my former favorite news station;

I can't believe that the one station that I watch for the most balanced news reporting has sunk to the level of FOX news. The whole Dennis Kucinich debacle is just one more confusing item in the course of this election year. How is it that a major debate can be held with out all the candidates being apart of it. How dare an outside entity proclaim who the American people can watch when it comes to the process of choosing their leaders. Kucinich may not have a chance of winning the nomination, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have valid points to make. I don't know if MSNBC made the decision to give an invitation to him to come to the Nevada debate and then take that invitation away because they wanted to focus on the top three candidates, or if they did it because they thought that he would just make a fool of himself. Maybe MSNBC pulled the invitation because their parent owner General Electric decided that their other interest (defense contracts, and nuclear energy) would be targeted. Rep. Kucinich is opposed to the building of any nuclear facilities, and he is definitely against the War in Iraq where major defense contractors are making their money. Maybe GE wouldn't like their money making machine to have any blemishes placed on it if Kucinich calls them out on their ventures that may not be very popular. I don't know what the motives of MSNBC to go this route, to not include all candidates, were. I am sure though that they would never tell us the real truth behind the decision but now I am afraid I will now have to go back to watching another news source as MSNBC has now fallen to FOX status.

Sam Reams (Disappointed in Michigan with in MSNBC)

My top ten....

I heard someone on a podcast discuss who they would like to meet if they were able to meet anyone in history. I thought about it and I decided to create my own list of the top ten people I would like to meet if I had the chance to.

Thomas Jefferson 3rd President of the United State
James Burke British Historian
Mark Twain American Writer
Theodore Roosevelt 26th President of the United States
Mahatma Gandhi Indian Political and Spiritual Leader
Martin Luther King, Jr Civil rights leader
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart German Composer
Lt. Gen. "Chesty" Puller Most decorated U.S Marine
Bruce Lee Chinese American Martial Artist
Sun Tzu Chinese General/Author of the "Art Of War"

These are the top people I would like to talk to and learn from their experiences.

Pakistan gives out a warning...

Today we learn that we will never get Osama Bin Laden. Today we find that the man who has created Al-Quida, who helped to plan the attacks of 9/11, and who constantly calls for his followers to attack the west will never be brought to justice.

And why is this?

It is because today Pakistani President Musharraf has said that any action into his country, which includes the tribal regions in the north where Osama has been hanging out, would be seen as an invasion of Pakistan's sovereignty.

That means regardless of who becomes President of the United States, if they get a clear shot at Osama it would be seen as an invasion.

What will Pakistan do to retaliate? That is something we should think about. I don't believe they would use their nuclear arsenal on us. Not if they didn't want a quick death from ours. But then would we use such things knowing that there is a possibility that we could affect India in the process?

Would they help the Taliban to rise up against the Afghanistan government and our troops there?

Would they decide to join with Osama, to save themselves, and support the terrorist actions that we are "trying" to stop?

We can't be sure what this means. There is just no telling what some one like Musharraf would do to save himself. He is hated in his country. There have been assassination attempts on his life, and I am pretty sure he wouldn't want to do anything that would increase those.

This is just another example of how the Bush administration has dropped the ball when it has come to something important. We had Osama trapped in the beginning of this mess. We had the chance to get him and bring him to Justice but decided to go into Iraq instead.

Herbert Hoover gave us the Great Depression.

Richard Nixon showed us just how even the President of the United States could be a crook.

Ronald Reagan proved that we can outspend our enemies while sacrificing the future of our children who will have to pay for all his programs.

George Bush the elder showed us that giving all the money to the rich doesn't mean it is good for the middle and lower classes.

And now the current administration has given us the glimpse of how America can lose its position in the eyes of the world, and for the first time fall from our leadership roll to that of the bumbling idiot.

How many more Republican leaders will it take before the America that we know and love becomes the next Roman empire.

something to think about...

We are constantly being told that we can't pull out of Iraq. What will the world think if we leave now? How many people will die in the carnage that will follow when we leave?

Both of these questions are legitimate.

Maybe others will think we are cutting and running, but maybe they will just say it's about time. Maybe others are waiting for us to leave so that they can go in and give assistance. I don't know what others think, nor at this point do I care.

I am not sure how many people will die if we pull out now or later. The "innocent" people are dying in the streets right now. Maybe our surge has put a damper on some of the bombings but lets be real, civilians are still being killed. We are only slowing the process down, not stopping it.

I know that there are many people who will start screaming OH WE CAN'T PULL OUT YET THE IRAQIS AREN'T READY FOR US TO LEAVE!!!!!

Maybe if we decide to start exiting their country maybe they will start killing one another, or maybe they will decide that it is time to get their acts together and solve some of their own problems themselves.

Or we can be like the President and his blind followers and say we can be there another 50 years, or McCain and his 100 years.

Lets think about that for a moment. We have been in Iraq for six years now and, as of Jan. 7th, 3911 members of our military have died. That's an average of just under 55 deaths a month. Even if we half that to around 25 a month, and we project it out for 50 years that number becomes 12,000 US military deaths. Of course that is if the insurgents don't pick up their pace during that time.

According to the Military we have around 30,000 wounded soldiers. That averages about 416 per month. Project that out 50 years and that gives us about 249,000 more injured.

I have heard those who support the war say that we have had troops in Germany and Japan since the end of WW II but to this I must respond that both the Germans and Japanese were all German and Japanese. When we defeated them they were both defeated peoples. There was very little fight left to stage insurgent attacks on our troops.

The people in Iraq are Iraqi because that is what we call them. People must remember that some of them are Arab, some are Persian. Still again some are Kurd. Many are still living in tribes. They are Sunni, and they are Shia and they do not get along. They have never gotten along and in all reality they will never get along.

What we have to think about is this. We have lost nearly 4000 men and women to this war. We have had roughly another 30000 men and women injured. We have spent a trillion dollars on this conflict with no end in sight to the cost. While failing to pay for the things that are needed in this country for our people to survive.

We have damaged the reputation of our nation, and the way things are going it will take a long time to rebuild that.

We have to ask ourselves how much more are we going to sacrifice before we decide that it has been enough. Our military has done everything we have asked of them, now it is time to ask them to come home.

I like this saying.

This is a nice little saying in German "sobald Ihr Ruf dann zerstört wird, können Sie ziemlich frei leben" which roughly translates as "once your reputation is ruined then you can live quite free."

That makes a lot of sense to me, and it's kind of funny also.

I don't get it?

I wish someone could explain this to me. I am watching the New Hampshire Primary and with only 12% of the polls counted NBC has called John McCain as the projected winner. Now I really don't care who wins the Republican side of this Primary. It just bothers me that they project it so early.

I understand that news stations all do their own exit polling to get a sense of how people may have voted, but they shouldn't be able to call a winner until at least half of the votes have been counted. There was supposed to be over four hundred thousand votes going to the Republicans and only about twenty thousand counted. How they hell can you determine the winner yet?

Like I said I really don't care who wins that race, but I would love it if Romney could come back with a win just so I could laugh at NBC and their projected winner.

Just wait five minutes..

There is a saying in Michigan "If you don't like the weather just wait five minutes and it will change." This is the week to prove it.

As of January 1st we had nearly half a foot of snow. It has been bitterly cold, with the kind of chill that enters into your bones and doesn't want to let you go. Today however the temp was a high of 62 degrees. Almost all the snow is gone, all that is left is small mounds that just yesterday were large mounds, but I am sure that will be totally melted by tomorrow.

Tomorrow is supposed to 51 and thundershowers, but that will give way to winter again and by the weekend we are supposed to back in the high 20's/ low 30's and snow.

If you live in Michigan and you don't get headaches that fluctuate with the ebb and flow of the weather patterns, then you need to get your head examined. As for me, my head is pounding and I can't wait for winter to be over. Which should be in about five more minutes.

Mark Twain had a great way with words

Whether or not he meant to, Mark Twain seems to have agreed with me on this subject.


THE BIBLE
It is full of interest. It has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies.- Letters from the Earth

I really like this one.

My letter to the Michigan Democratic Party

I have to say that I am very upset with the Democratic party right now. I can't believe that I am being asked to vote "uncommitted" because my candidate of choice has decided to make Iowa and New Hampshire happy and not put his name on the Michigan ballot. I have voted for independent candidates in the past and now when I have decided to throw my vote in for a Democratic candidate I am told I can't. Also am I understanding it correct that if "uncommited" gets enough votes then the delegates that are sent can still vote for a candidate that I do not wish to vote for. If this is the case then maybe I should start a campain of the "uncommited" to vote for Mr. Dodd since he is still on the ballot and make the delegates go to the convention and vote for him.

It's a start.....

Iowa has come and gone. The Caucus is over, the confetti is being swept up, and the candidates are now on their way to New Hampshire. I have to say that I think I finally have a leading candidate in mind. As of right now I am leaning toward Sen. Barack Obama. I listened to his winning speech and I was impressed by what he said. I know he is a politician, but what he is talking about, change, American unity, a better life for all Americans, putting America back as the world leader that we are, that is what we need.
We are at a cross roads. As Americans we have to really start to look at the world around us. We need to realize the broader spectrum that exist. We have to get a handle on the problems that face this country and know that the way things are currently going are not working.
Of all of the candidates out there only Obama really seems sincere in his effort to get the job that needs to be done done.
So as of right now I throw my support behind Sen. Barack Obama. Now everyone can go on with their lives secure in the knowledge that I have made my decision.