Friday, April 30, 2010

Oil Slick

I know it is a serious matter. I couldn't help to think about the title. Of course, oil is slick.

Well, back to the seriousness of the matter. I can see how this could have a big impact on the area where it makes landfall. I hope they can do something. I do not put much stock in the mechanical devices they are using. They will perhaps protect small areas.

To began with, they must get the leak stopped. I think there should be more effort there and that they should bring in some of those scientific subs to deal with the problem.

So far as the oil on the surface of the water, it seems there should be something they could put on it (spray like in forest fires) to dissolve it or cause it to clump and fall to the sea bed. I was thinking of Dawn dish washing liquid. A gallon of the ultra ought to do it. :) Maybe some cat litter, maybe some of that Rid-x stuff with enzymes in it to eat up stuff.

I just think there should be some scientific help (and thinking) to assist those already working. I know for sure that politics will not get the job done.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Illegal

Our federal government seems to be having a little trouble understand the word. They apply it liberally to tax evasion, terrorist, jay-walking, etc but when it comes to protecting our borders the word illegal gets all wrapped up in racial profiling and constitutional bickering. Does the word have various meanings to be applied at the whelm of the user.

I interrupt the word illegal to mean against the law.

Now, I believe, in the oath of office for president and, I expect, in Congress that they promise to uphold the laws of our nation and to serve and protect our nation.

In my studies of criminal justice, which I admit are lacking in places, I could find no distinction in the written law that exempted anyone based on their color or national origin. There is, in fact, a clause on many documents that warn against taking any action based on race, religion or national origin and some others I don't remember.

Our borders must be protected. We go to great lengths to protect the borders of other countries. Why not ours? Why just some borders and not others?

Illegal is illegal, our federal government should act like they know what that means.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Twainees

In respect to Leeuna's request for a blog entry concerning the fine people who read blogs but do not post, I have here dubbed the name Twainees. Twainees are people who enjoy reading and would love to write and perhaps do but not in the same vain as some of the subject matter they ingest on a daily basis.

Twainee is not the same as trainee. A trainee is learning and suggest amateurism. Twainees on the other hand may be reading and not commenting for any number of reasons. They could be mining for ideas, checking out the progress of the writer or just enjoying something different from their daily diet of amazing words.

Twainee suggest a certain amount of sophistication and retains the connection with literary endeavor.

While the name will never catch on in the mainstream, it is perhaps different and certainly more friendly than lurkers or stalkers which have an air of being illegal. So, in that respect, I agree with those who have already made up their minds that this suggestion is poorly written and the name unimaginative. Being self-critical saves my readers, if there are any, the trouble of formulating a well-written response to my silliness and lazy grammar.

Hope

After watching the evening news and reading the stuff that search engines find important enough to put in front of, most likely, better reading, I often burn the pages of my blogs with some hot stuff about politics and our present administration in Washington DC. But I've been looking around lately and have found reason to hope.

Some new names and faces are seeking election to Congress and their ideas seem to be exactly what our country needs, i.e. integrity and doing right. I have also watched Facebook and seen some fine young people talking about family and things like that. There for a while I thought the whole world had gone after the "Idol" thing and were growing up to old age in the Arcades. But there are some young people who are not burning their brains out with drugs and other stupid things. So our future 'will' have some families and leaders with values to guide them.

I also thought about the pull, of elements in our society, away from the traditions which made our country great. Our religious faith for one. Then I thought of all the towns I've driven through in my lifetime. Almost without exception, there was a church or two which bore witness to the fact that there are people who still hold to those traditions of family and faith.

While the media would have us believe that the whole country is going the way of those they so often magnify on their programs, there are still millions who are not interested in all the hype about...whatever...and just go about the important business of raising their families and respecting their God.

We should lift up our heads with the hope that there are still those who will stand for right.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Socialism

There are books on the subject of Socialism but I believe a simple definition of that form of government is when the government takes control of the resources of a nation and passes them out evenly to everyone. It sounds good on the surface but the only problem is that it does not work. Russia had socialism and their poor are among the poorest. The wealth went to building a giant military.

President Obama has been successful in taking over the health care. Now he is aiming at big business. He will attempt to put government control on the way businesses do business. You can do this but you cannot do that. It is beyond regulation where the government gets involved when there are safety concerns which effect workers or the public at large.

Free enterprise is a system where good business practices are rewarded and bad business practices are punished with no rewards. A rotten company will eventually go under except in the cases where the government propped them up. When the props go out, the same thing that brought them down to start with will still bring them down if they do not change. So in free enterprise there is a natural correction. The good businesses survive and the bad ones don't. Sometimes it takes time but the balance will come.

Socialism is not free enterprise. The government will pick which businesses survive. It may not be the best business but it will be the ones that benefit the government. Tax payers will pay the price to maintain bad businesses.

Now, I don't like the way some businesses are run. The ones I am aware of do not get my business. The loss of my little bit of money will not cause a company to crash but many people like me doing the same thing will. That is why they advertise to us because they need us. In the ultimate scenario, the government would not give me a choice. They would say these are the available companies that we approve and you must do business with them or do without the services.

Socialism is a scary thing. It takes away individual freedom. It hits people where it hurts and they must pay a price if they refuse to go along.

President Obama, for what ever reason, is trying to put everything under the umbrella of the federal government. You know how Washington runs things. Is that how you want to run your own budget? It will happen if they get control of your life and mine. We will no longer be able to sit around and discuss with our wife and family which way we want to do something. It will be mapped out the way the government wants it to happen. We can always count on them to do the right thing. So, we will be okay. IN OUR DREAMS!

If Democrats want to be socialist, they are in the wrong country. Come November, let's eliminate them from the system.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Financial Problems Good for Some

We had a bad year last year. It looked like things were going to fall down and stay down. The American spirit prevailed and things are turning around. We changed our lifestyle but kept on plugging along. Things have started to get better.

Here's the problem. Those people in high places, and I don't mean the government this time, just will not get the message. It's like "Wow, we dodged a bullet so let's get back at it." They did not dodge a bullet. The economy needed a change and the way things were done needed a change. All the government could do, in our form of government, is prop it up for a while. Big business must make changes or we are still in trouble.

No sooner had they gotten the tax payer boost, they started back on the same old road with outrageous bonuses and business as usual with 'stick it to the consumer' tactics. With them, it is all about how they can get the consumer to be gullible again and how they can get around government regulations.

The hearts of executives and owners of companies must change, if 'things' are ever to stabilize again. With many companies being publicly owned, the pressure is to give the investors back some money every quarter so they will dump more money into the system. So the heart of the investor must change as well. There needs to be a 'long look' at the economy and the future of our nation.

Even in these hard times, people are making money off the hardships of others. Banks have no reason to give people a break. They have already milked mountains of interest from the homeowner and they are probably down to paying on the principal which is not where banks make their money. It's the interest baby! They can resale a home and make the fees all over again and start off with a fresh batch of interest. Charge 8-10 percent and pay out .10 percent on savings, you gotta' make money like that. That was a point 10 interest on savings.

A collapse is big business for some who wait in the wings for just such a day. Buy up stuff for pennies on the dollar and wait it out, then sell at the current market value. Some people are out of a home but someone else is fat on the losses.

I do not have the answers. I just know that greed is alive and well and it is greed that got us in the mess in the first place.

Government cannot run everything or else it would not be a free country. There must be a fundamental change in the attitude of banks and big business. For that to happen, there must be a change in the heart of people. The attitude of making it to the top on the backs of others is just not right. It is not good business either in spite of what many think.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Book Review - Caught by Harlan Coben

Caught by Harlan Coben is a missing persons story and a conspiracy story. It follows a big time television reporter who in the absence of news is capable of creating some for her show. Ultimately, she is after the truth though and so we can see redemption for the star of this well developed story.

I have become a fan of Harlan Coben because of Caught. I did not read the end first so he kept me guessing and provided a nice surprise at the end.

Good story. Good writing.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Local Post for None Readers Friends

People who can't read don't know about this unless you tell them. We take reading for granted.

I am disabled and spent a lot of time at home. I have stuff to do so I'm not idle.

I can set aside an hour or so to help someone learn to read. One-on-one. I have taught a couple of men who were in their forties or fifties (I didn't ask) since I started having to stay home.

I do not teach folks who cannot watch their tongue. No smoking in the house. Stuff like that.

I can teach someone who wants to learn. First they must admit, at least to themselves, that they cannot read and need help. It is amazing how well non-readers are at hiding the fact. That makes them pretty smart. I've been around people for years and did not know that they could not read.

My methods may be different from a professional. Because I teach older people, I explain a lot about words. I show them how the words are broken down. I explain the difference in how people say words. You know what we read is not how we say it. We do shortcuts and that means the words in books don't look like the words we hear.

So, if you have a loved one or friend who can spend some time with me during the hours that my wife is at work (10 hrs Tues-Fri right now), I will give it a whirl to try to teach them. It won't be a college degree but they will be able to read children's books and find the bathroom in a public place that does not have pictures.

It takes three for a person to learn to read: the learner, the teacher and most important, the one who gets them to the teacher.

As I said, I am not a professtional but I care.

Everything Breaks or Comes Apart

I had to stop a leak yesterday. I want to put this simple. I hate plumbing.

I took the thing out of the wall and then took it apart. I wondered how it ever worked in the first place. Nothing was broken but there was a little piece of plastic that was preventing the water from turning off all the way. Obviously, to me, it was a piece of debris from the factory since nothing was broken in there.

These things are so fragile. They are made from stuff a baby could chew up in a minute. As I said, it didn't break but they look so breakable that I may start going to family and friends to take a shower to protect them. Maybe I'll just wrap everything in a big bubble and go stay in a motel or in a tent.

The part is a replacement for another one that already broke. It cost $50 and all the parts together would not make a plastic toy car.

I remember the day when you could trip over a water pipe. You could slip and grab it for support. It was made out of good stuff. Nowadays, if you are falling, you just as well grab a straw from the broom. Of yeah, they are plastic now, too.

You know, come to thing of it, if our temperature gets much higher, all evidence of this generation could disappear into a clump of something no one would recognize centuries from now. Those geologist will have nothing to study.

I guess all this makes no sense. You should have seen what it would have looked like if I had written it yesterday. Plastic pipes, fixtures and such could be better used in their original state and put in the gas tank. I do not like plastic. I do not like plastic. I do not like plastic.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Nothing to Say

Usually, when I have nothing to say, I just go ahead and say it. Today is different. My mind is a jumbled mess. I couldn't lasso a whole paragraph of thoughts if I was John Wayne. Did he use a rope? So here is at least one thought, I'll add others if I can think of any.

I get the show 24 with Kiefer Sutherland as Jack mixed up with the evening news with one exception...we don't have Jack.

There is survival without NASCAR as proven by this past weekend. Perhaps, it is good to skip a weekend of left turns once in a while.

I wanted to say that some blogs should be called 'blohs' or 'bloohs', you know bloh-bloh-bloh but I could not find the words in Websters dictionary. That brings me to a question: Is there a dictionary of the words we really use in everyday life? While I'm asking, is there a dictionary for those 'texting' messages that everyone is using? Leave answers in comments. They will not be graded.

The big freeze seems to be over and I will soon take the coats off the back of the kitchen table chairs. That can mean only one thing: Al Gore will be back on the talk show circuit soon. He keeps a low profile when the temperature is low. That reminds me of a Hitchcock show where someone was dreaming of desert like weather only to wake up with a fever and the world was freezing over.

Obama is dropping in popularity. I know because sometimes the evening news folks say a whole sentence, sometimes two if there is a disaster someplace, before they mention him. If Tiger Woods slips again, I expect Obama to get booted off the evening news. Give the guys a break you news hounds.

To top all that off, one of the light bulbs went out in the bathroom and I'll have to change it today, or tomorrow, or next week, or... I got to mow the weeds in my yard (of course, in my yard) so the grass can see the sun...a part came in the mail for my second car (actually it was one of a long string of cars) if I can find out where to put it.

Like I said, I had nothing to say so I'm out of here (actually I'm still here, it's a figure of speech, although my English teacher would not agree). Bye.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Wabbit

It ain't about the wabbit (rabbit).

I have no problem with the children having some fun. Easter bunnies, eggs, chocolate candy and pretty clothes make it a special day for the children. We certainly enjoy watching them hunt the eggs, all decked out in new dresses and little suits.

Easter is about life. We all dread the day when we are old and that stranger hangs around our house just waiting for us to get sick-to-death so he can come in and take us away from our family and friends. I look forward to heaven but I hang onto this big round ball, called earth, like a child with his or her stuffed animal or comfort blanket. I do not want to let it go. I like the flowers, the trees, the animals, the smell of fresh soil turned when it is gardening time. I like the smiles of my wife and the happy stories from the children about their children. There's a lot I like about our home in space. If you have ever worked on cars, even the sound of all eight cylinders firing at the right time can be beautiful.

Leaving all this is what we know as death. That stranger that lurks waiting for the right time.

Something happened on that first Easter. A way was made to take away the fear associated with death. Death was put in handcuffs and is controlled by a higher power.

We were always victims. Death had his way with us. Jesus came to earth and lived a perfect life. Since it was sin that gave death the victory. Jesus lived without sin. Because of that perfect life, he had the power to take up his life again after death had done his best. Death's best was not good enough to hold down the righteous one. On the third day, he arose out of the grave. He took his life again. And so we have Easter. The celebration of life. The celebration of victory over death.

We do not much like to talk about death but trusting in the real Easter story gives us a peace that we can have the same victory that rolled away the stone on that first Easter. Gifts of candy and toys are nice. It is a joy to see the smiles they bring. Teaching children the true meaning of Easter will give them peace for a life time. They will know that death is but a doorway to a brighter future.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

I Don't Like Change

Okay, I said it. I don't like change. Perhaps, there was a time when I found it exciting when things got shook up a bit and I could watch where it all landed. Not any more. When I look for something, I expect it to be where I left it. I like for things to have a place and for them to be put back in that place. Grumpy? Well, I reckon.

Recently, the neighbors cut down the trees across the road. We liked those trees. They got all green in the spring and summer and sometimes the deers would venture into those woods to munch on the persimmons. I had to look that up because we always said 'simmons'.

Anyway, it looks all bare now. I reckon they are going to do something with it. It's their business and the American way.

Looking out this morning, I noticed that I could watch the sun come up over the mountain. It was beautiful to watch. Then the brightness became so great that I had to turn away and look at the places the rays of the sun hit. We have a yellow bell bush, several in fact along the front. They love the sun and just light up when it hits them.

That led me to Easter and the resurrection. It led me to when Paul the apostle encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. It tells of the brightness of the Lord. Then I thought, we cannot look directly on our earthly sun and the Bible tells us that the brightness of the Lord was too great to look upon. But as with the sun rays on the yellow bells, we can see the effects of the Lord on other people and events. We can still understand the beauty of that which we can not look directly at.

Change is still not my favorite thing. I suppose, though, that I can still find some excitement over it if I put it in the right perspective. Easter made the difference for the world. It can still be a rough place but there is beauty to see in the effects the Son has on it.

My books.

Followers