Thursday, January 29, 2009

Partisan Politics Alive and Well

I see by the vote in The House that we've put partisan politics behind us and are moving forward for the good of the country, the average working family. Well that lasted a long time, didn't it? The Republicans ALL voted against the plan. That means not 1 in that entire group thought it might be a good idea and it might help their constituents. Not 1. Interesting. They all favor tax cuts instead of spending (we all know they're told how to vote by the few that run that particular party). Maybe we should have given Iraq a tax cut instead of pumping billions of dollars into that fiasco. I can't verify this but I think I read a week or two ago that the Iraqi government (such as it is) has an $8 Billion surplus. That's Billion with a B. So why are we spending our money? You'd think they'd be so grateful for us saving them from that tyrant Saddam that they would say "No, I insist! This war is on me!". To get back to my point, what the Republicans need to realize is that a tax cut isn't going to do a bloody thing for people that are out of work. It will sure help people with jobs making lots of money, but my guess is that they're not the ones needing help. If you get people back to work then they'll start paying taxes. See how that works? It's really not very complicated.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Low-Tech Solution

We've all obviously heard about the airplane that had to ditch into the Hudson River recently and I'm sure we would all agree that the pilot did an absolutely masterful job of avoiding a total catastrophe. I guess it has been pretty much determined that what brought them down was flying directly into a flock of Canadian geese which choked both engines. Well my son, who designs jet engines for a major manufacturer, told me how they test for something like that. They have a giant tube in the test lab where they set up an engine and start it running at normal speed. Then through that tube they shoot frozen chickens into the engine to see if it will stall. They're probably generic, not Perdue or anything like that. So if you're ever flying somewhere and you run into a batch of chickens at 20,000 feed that just returned from Alaska you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Glad I could help.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Football Fans

I will readily admit that I am a pro football fan, following my home team faithfully and watching the games and paying attention any news about the team. I assume that I'm one of thousands and thousands of pro football fans that share the same enthusiasm for their favorite teams. However in watching the playoffs this year I noticed what seemed to be an inordinate number of people in the stands that were wearing team jersey's with what I assume was the number of their favorite player. There were also lots and lots of people in the stands with their faces (or more) painted with team colors, favorite numbers, clever sayings, etc. And I'm not even going to get started on the signs encouraging their team to kill the bad guys. The spirit these fans show is great. However these are middle aged and older men! College kids can get away with this stuff, usually because they're generously lubricated and well, it's college! Little kids all have their sports hero's and always want so-and-so's jersey for their birthday or Christmas or something. I have to laugh when I see men at the home improvement store wearing a Tom Brady jersey. I almost want to ask them "Do you think you are Tom Brady?" or "Are you hoping Giselle will walk down the aisle from the lumber department and think you're Tom and take you home with her?". If you're middle aged or more you don't play football any more unless it's with your kids in the back yard or your relatives at a summer reunion. I don't care who or what you were in middle school or high school or even college - it's OVER! If I tried to play right now there would be a loud snapping sound and somebody would have to sit on the ground with me until the paramedics arrived. I think it's great that you enjoy the game and support your team but unless you're an Oakland Raiders fan - don't dress up. We can see you and you won't like what we're thinking.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Opportunity for US Oil Companies

Joe Kennedy, son of the late Senator Robert Kennedy, runs a company called Citizens Energy in Boston. They help supply free heating oil to those in need from oil donated by Venezuela. Well apparently there's a little unrest down there right now and coupled with the downturn in the global economy it doesn't look like they'll be able to come through this year, leaving many elderly and poor having to decide between heat and food. Now if I recall correctly didn't the big US oil companies report record profits recently? Considering how the general public feels about the oil companies and the politicians that are in their pockets wouldn't this be a great opportunity to get a little positive PR by donating some heating oil to those people that really need it? And it also makes me wonder why we had to obtain the free oil from outside the US in the first place!

Friday, January 2, 2009

Computer Viruses

Is there a valid reason why some very skilled and talented people spend their time attempting to make others miserable? My computer has been laid up recently because of a virus that I somehow caught. I bought and installed one of the leading anti-virus software packages and it's told me a number of times how it has found and removed a little gem called "Spyware Guard 2008" only to have it reinstall itself and reopen within a few minutes. Imagine what that talent could accomplish if used in a more positive direction!

A Little PR Needed

It's a given that consumers drive our economy. And we constantly hear that consumer confidence is way down and going lower. Apparently Holiday shopping this year was down by varying estimates, but I heard one the other night on a national news program saying it was down by 2-plus percent. So that means if a store made $100 last year this year it made around $98. Somehow this does not strike me as a major catastrophe. Both electronic and print media are repeatedly telling us that the worst is yet to come for the economy and that unemployment will rise by millions of jobs in 2009. Is it any wonder consumers are holding back on spending? Now I'm not asking those in the media to outright lie to us and tell us that our homes will be worth at least 3 times what they are now by midsummer or that there will be such a demand for any type of skill in the job market that we'll all be making at least 6 figures within weeks but maybe a little more positive depiction of things overall might help even if a little bit. If everyone felt a little better about the upcoming year then maybe they'd spend that little extra to get something that they wanted or needed, and then the snowball effect begins in the positive just like we've seen in 2008 going the other direction. Let's get away from the "gloom and doom" news every night and maybe things just might start to look a little brighter! Happy 2009 everyone!