I'll start the week off with a personal gun question; "How far do you routinely and regularly shoot a pistol?"
I ask this because the answer has a big, as in 'BIG', influence on what kind of pistol you work with on a regular basis or is considered among your harem of favorites? (I don't know what women call a collection of male paramours; hence the 'harem' reference, but I think you get the idea.)
Most folks shoot on the weekend either in a competition of some sort or as part of their personal recreational activity. I have always enjoyed IDPA (I was the Section Coordinator for Indiana and Michigan the first 3 years of its existence. Notice I didn't say I was a good Section Coordinator), but it seems like anymore I just don't have the time to par-take, if you will. The gun club of which I'm a member has a monthly match, but its always on a Saturday and so far this summer that's proven to be a problem. I really like the guys and the organization at the Porter Co. gun club in the northern part of the state where they hold a match once a month on Sundays, but that's still an hour away by motor-vehicle for me and then you have this stupid Mitch Daniels time thing between here and there, so I haven't done that one yet this year. And I wish I had.
People who routinely shoot handguns on square ranges have a tendency, I've noticed, to think in terms of 25 yards or less when discussing target distances. I'm still shooting on a semi-irregular basis, but it's in my back yard. In the mid to early 1980's I built my own personal range just behind the house. (It has now been 'grandfathered' by Indiana law, which I think is neat. I've used it on several occasions to train police officers and agencies.) It is a 100 yard range and comprises an area of 8/10th of an acre. (There are advantages to being in the country, owning your own land and having a farm.) Over a period of approximately three years I build an impact berm to 'catch' everything safely....as opposed to just using eastern Indiana and western Ohio. The dirt making the berm came from the county as they cleaned the roadside ditches in our area and I spoke for all of it I could get, due to the fact the lay of the land around my house more or less resembles that of a pool table. Yes, it's flat. Glaciers do that you know.
I have steel targets at intervals of 25, 50, 75 and 100 yards and the advantage to having steel already in place is time and convenience. Seldom do I shoot handguns......any handgun.....at a distance shorter than 25 yards on my home range. It always starts out a humbling experience if I lay off for awhile because handgun shooting is definitely a 'perishable' skill. Use it regularly, or LOSE IT! The advantage to this 'long range' handgun shooting on steel is if you do it regularly and as part of a training routine you will be surprised how quickly your 'accuracy' skills return or develop. You also have a tendency to lean toward the more powerful of calibers simply because they do a better job of getting the bullet from point "A" to point "B". I think you also tend to appreciate those calibers that have less of a 'rainbow' trajectory and are 'flatter' shooting; hence my appreciation of the 10mm Auto over the .45 Auto and in revolvers the .41 Magnum over most everything else. (Although I do enjoy working with the .357 Magnum on steel at 75 and 100 yards.)
So if you shoot indoors at 15 yards or less, I would highly recommend you find someplace where you can shoot some steel at far longer ranges during the warm weather months of this summer and autumn. It will broaden your shooting experience and if done on a regular basis has a big tendency to sharpen your hand/eye coordination skills.
As for me I usually catch up on my short-range indoor shooting once the temperature drops below 20 degrees F because the wind does make the eyes water when I'm shooting out doors in January.
Have A Good Week...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Monday, July 20, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
MOWER BROKE...
I was going to spend most of the day, today, mowing, but that came to a screeching halt when the highly valued 'GrassHopper' mower broke! The right control arm don't work no mo. Took it down the road and had to leave at the shop. Bummer.
It's a Bummer of a day any way because tonight the county fair starts and my wife and I will be giving away a scholarship in Valerie's name. Memory wise it's a tough place to go. I wanted to be doing something physical today, all day, instead being back here in the office.
So for right now I'm going to finish the last of three articles I promised New York. They are supposed to be in New York on Monday.
Later...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
It's a Bummer of a day any way because tonight the county fair starts and my wife and I will be giving away a scholarship in Valerie's name. Memory wise it's a tough place to go. I wanted to be doing something physical today, all day, instead being back here in the office.
So for right now I'm going to finish the last of three articles I promised New York. They are supposed to be in New York on Monday.
Later...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Friday, July 17, 2009
IS IT REALLY A 'HEALTHCARE' CRISIS OR A 'MEDICAL MALPRACTICE' CRISIS?...
President Unicorn is really, really, pushing his version and conversely the Democratic's party vision of Healthcare reform through Congress. In my opinion, it will be nothing short of a disaster for our economy and our country, but Hey, What Do I Know?
Acknowledging that I'm not a Doctor, nor do I portray one on TeeVee, I decided to do a little research on Al Gore's Internet. Considering that I'm working on a deadline for three AR-15 gun articles, I couldn't spare much time for this but it didn't matter because if you goggle "Tort Reform Medical Malpractice" you find enough information to fill the rest of your afternoon, day, week,.........er, the rest of your life.
I found two pieces that were especially informative; one was published yesterday in "AMERICAN THINKER" and it was written by Jeffrey Folks. It's short, so it's easy to recommend. Whether you agree with his position or not, he makes a reasoned appeal for medical malpractice reform. Further research found an article at the CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS, and while it came to a different set of conclusions it still laid bare many of the problems afflicting our health care system.
The most important information I found however was in the 'Comments' section to the Folks' article in American Thinker many of which were written by people who identified themselves as physicians and they can be summarized as follows:
* Over 90% of the malpractice lawsuits filed in this country are found to be in favor of the defendant physician. (The American Progress piece reported that of all the suits filed only 5% go to trial, and of these 80% are found in favor of the defense. "A mere 0.9 percent end in a jury verdict for the plaintiff...")
If this information is correct, then capping the amount awarded to a plaintiff would have little effect on the overall national situation.
* Physicians, however, argue it is the effect of a malpractice lawsuit that is driving up the cost of healthcare in this country because once a lawsuit is started the doctor starts practicing "defensive medicine". In plain language, he orders every conceivable test for the patient to simply 'cover his ass' for the possibility of a lawsuit and this in turn raises the patient's bill by a factor three or four times the needed cost.
* In my view, the best solution to this perceived tort reform/medical malpractice problem would be a "LOSER PAYS ALL" situation, where in any lawsuit the party who loses the lawsuit would be responsible for ALL COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE LAWSUIT and if the plaintiff wasn't capable of paying these costs, then the responsibility for payment would transfer to their attorney of record....this would apply even to out of court settlements!
Many brought out the fact that with the present system; the lawyers and the medical malpractice insurance companies win regardless of the outcome because if they lose they just raise the doctor's premiums and if they win, they still raise the premiums.
Medical Malpractice Insurance Companies are certainly part of the healthcare problem in this country and of all the active participants they have probably suffered the least. One could even argue they have profited the most.
Obviously, trial lawyers absolutely refuse to entertain any kind of "Loser Pays All" tort reform, but tort reform is a key factor in the overall healthcare problem and to ignore it as President Unicorn and the Congress is, is to ignore a basic underlying cause to this situation. Lawyers always like to brag "They are Hired Guns..." Well, in real life 'Hired Guns' get killed when they aren't good enough, this would be the financial equivalent of such an end and equitable in my view.
* Another big factor in skyrocketing healthcare costs is the coverage provided to those without any coverage what-so-ever; specifically the illegal alien population throughout the United States, but primarily in the southern border states and California. One doctor commented these ER patients have learned to complain of "...abdominal pain..." which guarantees they get a 'Cover Your Ass' CT scan of the abdomen which in most cases is absolutely unnecessary and adds significantly to the overall bill.........which they don't pay!
What does this country do with patients who are seriously ill, but can't pay the bill? Should coverage be extended to those who are not citizens of this country?
At some point in this discussion, we as a country have to balance the realistic ability to pay for these services against the altruistic notion that everyone should have good medical services provided to them. In a Perfect World, YES, but we don't live in a Perfect World.
I personally don't believe that non-citizens have a 'RIGHT' to guaranteed healthcare coverage of any kind in this country, whether even citizens do is arguable in the extreme in my view.
One suggestion to solve part of this problem would be a "COMPLETELY HOLD HARMLESS" provision protecting any healthcare provider at any level against any kind of malpractice lawsuit when the patient is unable to provide insurance coverage or pay for his bill, which is an option I think makes sense but is sure to be ignored by our lawyer heavy Congress.
* Finally, a good percentage (perhaps the vast majority) of the population doesn't understand that we all are going to die at some point in time and regardless of what the doctor does, we still die. A good part of the medical malpractice problem seems to be the attitude if my loved one died it has to be someone's fault and the first place they look is the attending physician and the hospital. Nope, it was their TIME.
The thing I find most objectionable about the present debate in Congress is absolutely NONE of the above is even being hinted at in the committee testimonies or public debates. All of which makes my skin crawl when I imagine what we taxpayers are going to get hung with in the final Bill, both metaphorically and literally.
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Acknowledging that I'm not a Doctor, nor do I portray one on TeeVee, I decided to do a little research on Al Gore's Internet. Considering that I'm working on a deadline for three AR-15 gun articles, I couldn't spare much time for this but it didn't matter because if you goggle "Tort Reform Medical Malpractice" you find enough information to fill the rest of your afternoon, day, week,.........er, the rest of your life.
I found two pieces that were especially informative; one was published yesterday in "AMERICAN THINKER" and it was written by Jeffrey Folks. It's short, so it's easy to recommend. Whether you agree with his position or not, he makes a reasoned appeal for medical malpractice reform. Further research found an article at the CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS, and while it came to a different set of conclusions it still laid bare many of the problems afflicting our health care system.
The most important information I found however was in the 'Comments' section to the Folks' article in American Thinker many of which were written by people who identified themselves as physicians and they can be summarized as follows:
* Over 90% of the malpractice lawsuits filed in this country are found to be in favor of the defendant physician. (The American Progress piece reported that of all the suits filed only 5% go to trial, and of these 80% are found in favor of the defense. "A mere 0.9 percent end in a jury verdict for the plaintiff...")
If this information is correct, then capping the amount awarded to a plaintiff would have little effect on the overall national situation.
* Physicians, however, argue it is the effect of a malpractice lawsuit that is driving up the cost of healthcare in this country because once a lawsuit is started the doctor starts practicing "defensive medicine". In plain language, he orders every conceivable test for the patient to simply 'cover his ass' for the possibility of a lawsuit and this in turn raises the patient's bill by a factor three or four times the needed cost.
* In my view, the best solution to this perceived tort reform/medical malpractice problem would be a "LOSER PAYS ALL" situation, where in any lawsuit the party who loses the lawsuit would be responsible for ALL COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE LAWSUIT and if the plaintiff wasn't capable of paying these costs, then the responsibility for payment would transfer to their attorney of record....this would apply even to out of court settlements!
Many brought out the fact that with the present system; the lawyers and the medical malpractice insurance companies win regardless of the outcome because if they lose they just raise the doctor's premiums and if they win, they still raise the premiums.
Medical Malpractice Insurance Companies are certainly part of the healthcare problem in this country and of all the active participants they have probably suffered the least. One could even argue they have profited the most.
Obviously, trial lawyers absolutely refuse to entertain any kind of "Loser Pays All" tort reform, but tort reform is a key factor in the overall healthcare problem and to ignore it as President Unicorn and the Congress is, is to ignore a basic underlying cause to this situation. Lawyers always like to brag "They are Hired Guns..." Well, in real life 'Hired Guns' get killed when they aren't good enough, this would be the financial equivalent of such an end and equitable in my view.
* Another big factor in skyrocketing healthcare costs is the coverage provided to those without any coverage what-so-ever; specifically the illegal alien population throughout the United States, but primarily in the southern border states and California. One doctor commented these ER patients have learned to complain of "...abdominal pain..." which guarantees they get a 'Cover Your Ass' CT scan of the abdomen which in most cases is absolutely unnecessary and adds significantly to the overall bill.........which they don't pay!
What does this country do with patients who are seriously ill, but can't pay the bill? Should coverage be extended to those who are not citizens of this country?
At some point in this discussion, we as a country have to balance the realistic ability to pay for these services against the altruistic notion that everyone should have good medical services provided to them. In a Perfect World, YES, but we don't live in a Perfect World.
I personally don't believe that non-citizens have a 'RIGHT' to guaranteed healthcare coverage of any kind in this country, whether even citizens do is arguable in the extreme in my view.
One suggestion to solve part of this problem would be a "COMPLETELY HOLD HARMLESS" provision protecting any healthcare provider at any level against any kind of malpractice lawsuit when the patient is unable to provide insurance coverage or pay for his bill, which is an option I think makes sense but is sure to be ignored by our lawyer heavy Congress.
* Finally, a good percentage (perhaps the vast majority) of the population doesn't understand that we all are going to die at some point in time and regardless of what the doctor does, we still die. A good part of the medical malpractice problem seems to be the attitude if my loved one died it has to be someone's fault and the first place they look is the attending physician and the hospital. Nope, it was their TIME.
The thing I find most objectionable about the present debate in Congress is absolutely NONE of the above is even being hinted at in the committee testimonies or public debates. All of which makes my skin crawl when I imagine what we taxpayers are going to get hung with in the final Bill, both metaphorically and literally.
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Thursday, July 16, 2009
IRANIAN 'DRUMBEAT' INCREASES IN TEMPO...
The Times of London reports that two Israeli missile class warships sailed through the Suez Canal, ten days after an Israeli submarine which is capable of launching a nuclear missile strike.
This now means that Israel has at least three ships capable of striking Iran (only 800 miles away) in the Red Sea. It should be noted that Israel will conduct a test of a missile defence shield at a U.S. missile range in the Pacific later this summer.
What is really interesting in all these news reports are the attitude of many Arab countries and their cooperation with Israel with regard to the potential threat from Iran. Ahmed About Gheif, the Egyptian Foreign Minister said his Government explicitly allowed passage of the Israeli vessels and an Israeli admiral said the drills were "...run regularly with the full co-operation of the Egyptians."
An Israeli defense official said, "This is preparation that should be taken seriously. Israel is investing time in preparing itself for the complexity of an attack on Iran. These maneuvers are a message to Iran that Israel will follow up on its threats."
An increase in this drumbeat tempo can be seen in Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's remark made yesterday in New York when she issued an ultimatum to Iran to accept this administration offer of 'engagement'.
Clinton said, "Direct talks provide the best vehicle for presenting and explaining that choice (meaning this administratrion's attempts to engage in talks with Iran and others like Syria)." "That is why we offered Iran's leaders an unmistakable opportunity. Iran does not have a right to nuclear military capacity, and we're determined to prevent that (emphasis added). But it does have a right to civil nuclear power if it reestablishes the confidence of the international community that it will use its programs exclusively for peaceful purposes."
What all of this signals to me is Israel is growing extremely tired of the threats of annihilation from the Dwarf to the East. You don't go around threatening a people, the majority of whom, lost parents, grandparents and many other relatives in ovens. It's not even good policy to go around denying their loved ones ever died in those ovens and death camps. The history of the country of Israel is one of serious military action when they 'get in the game'.
Let's just say they are MOTIVATED.
I'd say sometime in the next 60 days there is going to be some additional excitement north of the Indian Ocean and it won't involve Americans.........at least initially.
Just saying.....
All The Best,
Frank W. James
This now means that Israel has at least three ships capable of striking Iran (only 800 miles away) in the Red Sea. It should be noted that Israel will conduct a test of a missile defence shield at a U.S. missile range in the Pacific later this summer.
What is really interesting in all these news reports are the attitude of many Arab countries and their cooperation with Israel with regard to the potential threat from Iran. Ahmed About Gheif, the Egyptian Foreign Minister said his Government explicitly allowed passage of the Israeli vessels and an Israeli admiral said the drills were "...run regularly with the full co-operation of the Egyptians."
An Israeli defense official said, "This is preparation that should be taken seriously. Israel is investing time in preparing itself for the complexity of an attack on Iran. These maneuvers are a message to Iran that Israel will follow up on its threats."
An increase in this drumbeat tempo can be seen in Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's remark made yesterday in New York when she issued an ultimatum to Iran to accept this administration offer of 'engagement'.
Clinton said, "Direct talks provide the best vehicle for presenting and explaining that choice (meaning this administratrion's attempts to engage in talks with Iran and others like Syria)." "That is why we offered Iran's leaders an unmistakable opportunity. Iran does not have a right to nuclear military capacity, and we're determined to prevent that (emphasis added). But it does have a right to civil nuclear power if it reestablishes the confidence of the international community that it will use its programs exclusively for peaceful purposes."
What all of this signals to me is Israel is growing extremely tired of the threats of annihilation from the Dwarf to the East. You don't go around threatening a people, the majority of whom, lost parents, grandparents and many other relatives in ovens. It's not even good policy to go around denying their loved ones ever died in those ovens and death camps. The history of the country of Israel is one of serious military action when they 'get in the game'.
Let's just say they are MOTIVATED.
I'd say sometime in the next 60 days there is going to be some additional excitement north of the Indian Ocean and it won't involve Americans.........at least initially.
Just saying.....
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
MY TAKE ON PALIN'S RESIGNATION...
(Long Post Warning)
I was asked this morning at coffee by a friend, who is far more 'liberal' than I (but then many feel that Genghis Khan was more 'liberal' than I am) why I haven't commented on this blog about Sarah Palin's resignation as governor of Alaska?
I haven't mentioned it up to now primarily because I view it as something of a 'non-event'.
Many within the traditional 'Conservative' side of politics look to her as a future hope and beacon of light, but I view this move on her part as something of a forfeiture of her political future. After reading everything I can, that pertains to Mrs. Palin, I feel she believed the problems that her national posture and political stance had caused was beginning to become more trouble that it was worth. I'm sure as the mother of a very young 'special needs' child she felt that many of the attacks on her children were well 'below the belt' and on this point I agree emphatically.
But then many have recently criticized one of the Obama girls for wearing a peace symbol shirt in Moscow last week. My view is they are kids, and teenagers to boot, so it comes with the territory. They are going to make mistakes and occasionally stupid moves, but they are still kids. Comments about children whether they are Sarah Palin's or Barack Obama's, if negative in any way, should be "Off Limits" and 'Out Of Bounds'. Kids do stupid stuff. They make mistakes....like get pregnant, for instance, and to criticize them or their parents for these mistakes simply illustrates the fact the person making these dumbass and inappropriate comments has never tried to raise a teenager, or if they did they were probably just flat lucky their girls didn't get pregnant or their sons didn't wear some stupid t-shirt in the glare of the international media.
I feel Palin probably resigned more for financial reasons than anything else. It is rumored she can get $40,000 for a speaking engagement and it is also rumored she has legal bills totaling more than $500,000 from all the nuisance lawsuits that have been brought against her. It should be noted that none of them have proved a damn thing against her. Still, she had to defend herself and when you coupled these legal difficulties, together with the attacks on her family, it is understandable she felt the 'cost' of her political career was greater than the 'reward'.
But with everything in life there is a price. I think it was Harry Truman who said, "If you can't stand the Heat, Git Out of the Kitchen!" Sarah has left the kitchen and thereby in my opinion she has forfeited her right for a guaranteed political office on the national stage. Yes, she is more qualified than Caroline Kennedy for a Senate seat, but both of them MUST campaign for it and each shall have to suffer through the slings and arrows that comes with such an election and eventual political office.
Another reason I haven't commented on Palin is because of my earlier post where I no longer define myself as a 'Conservative'. I know I'm NOT a 'Liberal', nor am I a 'Libertarian'.
I'm not a 'Libertarian' because of their positions on illicit narcotics and recreational drug use. I'm convinced there is NO solution to our national drug problem; criminal or otherwise. Nothing we can do will erase it or correct this terrible plague affecting our society. And I certainly don't believe that 'liberalizing' current criminal statues is going to improve the situation and for those who think such things would make our country better....I ask you a simple question,
"Show me one country in the world, NOT even the western world, but the entire world where liberalizing criminal penalties for drug possession lowered the overall crime rate, raised tax revenues, improved property values and made their Gross National Product index improve?"
And don't give me this crap about the Netherlands and their Pot laws. Show me something where liberalizing the possession of cocaine, heroin, crystal meth and other hard narcotics made even one of the previous mentioned indicators improve for the country in general over the long haul?
Don't think for a second, however, I endorse the present policy of 'asset forfeiture' that many police agencies and prosecutors use in their personal wars on illicit narcotics. My view is Law Enforcement should not be a 'For Profit' Enterprise.
Law enforcement should always be viewed by the public and government officials as a "loss leader". Just like the soda pop that is sold in the grocery store at well below cost in order to get people to walk in their store. Law enforcement when effective should make the community safer, a better place to transact legitimate businesses and raise families, but it should always be an acknowledged government 'loss leader' in terms of profit, not one where specific agencies hoard the financial windfalls from asset confiscation involved in a criminal drug transaction.
I know I'm not a 'Liberal' because I know enough about economics to understand you can't tax yourself back into prosperity. You can't spend more than you take in whether you are a private individual or a governmental entity, despite all the references to FDR and his economic policies. What everyone who mentions FDR and his borrowing conveniently forgets or fails to mention is the rationing (of just about everything) and forced savings (through war bonds) this country endured during World War Two. It was these two things combined together that made FDR and his Democratic Congress economic policies break the Great Depression and work in the long run.
Four years without consumer goods like electric stoves, refrigerators, even radios, not to mention things like automobiles (fuel efficient or otherwise), Ipods, computers or big screen TVs is what made the policy of the government borrowing and spending money (it didn't have) work. (My dad needed a truck for the farm, but it wasn't allowed, so he bought the 'bed' for it in 1943. He didn't get the truck itself until 1946 when the government permitted Detroit to sell such things to private citizens. I still have it. It sits on the 1957 model that he traded the 1946 for years ago.) Additionally, the pent-up demand for all those consumer goods that were denied during WWII drove the domestic economy so far forward during the late 1940's and early 1950's that it made firms like General Motors look absolutely invincible. (My dad once told me his federal income tax in 1950 or '51 was only 3% of his total income. It was so low because the economy was SO STRONG.) Was GM's management any better back then than it is today? I don't think so, but forcing the nation to conserve through rationing and buying government bonds is an essential part of the economic policies of the past that many 'Liberals' today like to ignore with the current 'tax and spend' Congress and President. I know I'm NOT a 'Liberal'.
I don't think history in terms of conventional 'Conservative' definitions will be kind to George W. Bush. He wrapped himself in the cloak of a 'Conservative'. He maintained their position on low taxes to stimulate the economy, but he so totally mismanaged the fiscal side of the house that he made inebriated sea-farers leaving a whorehouse look like seasoned and successful investment managers. In my opinion, he damaged the 'Conservative' label so badly the hangover continues still.
This is where I feel Sarah Palin's future may lie. She needs to redefine the standards and definitions of a 'Conservative' because she is good at attracting attention and getting people to discuss, if not ridicule, her talking points, but the important point for future reference is she is seldom ignored.
I was asked this morning at coffee by a friend, who is far more 'liberal' than I (but then many feel that Genghis Khan was more 'liberal' than I am) why I haven't commented on this blog about Sarah Palin's resignation as governor of Alaska?
I haven't mentioned it up to now primarily because I view it as something of a 'non-event'.
Many within the traditional 'Conservative' side of politics look to her as a future hope and beacon of light, but I view this move on her part as something of a forfeiture of her political future. After reading everything I can, that pertains to Mrs. Palin, I feel she believed the problems that her national posture and political stance had caused was beginning to become more trouble that it was worth. I'm sure as the mother of a very young 'special needs' child she felt that many of the attacks on her children were well 'below the belt' and on this point I agree emphatically.
But then many have recently criticized one of the Obama girls for wearing a peace symbol shirt in Moscow last week. My view is they are kids, and teenagers to boot, so it comes with the territory. They are going to make mistakes and occasionally stupid moves, but they are still kids. Comments about children whether they are Sarah Palin's or Barack Obama's, if negative in any way, should be "Off Limits" and 'Out Of Bounds'. Kids do stupid stuff. They make mistakes....like get pregnant, for instance, and to criticize them or their parents for these mistakes simply illustrates the fact the person making these dumbass and inappropriate comments has never tried to raise a teenager, or if they did they were probably just flat lucky their girls didn't get pregnant or their sons didn't wear some stupid t-shirt in the glare of the international media.
I feel Palin probably resigned more for financial reasons than anything else. It is rumored she can get $40,000 for a speaking engagement and it is also rumored she has legal bills totaling more than $500,000 from all the nuisance lawsuits that have been brought against her. It should be noted that none of them have proved a damn thing against her. Still, she had to defend herself and when you coupled these legal difficulties, together with the attacks on her family, it is understandable she felt the 'cost' of her political career was greater than the 'reward'.
But with everything in life there is a price. I think it was Harry Truman who said, "If you can't stand the Heat, Git Out of the Kitchen!" Sarah has left the kitchen and thereby in my opinion she has forfeited her right for a guaranteed political office on the national stage. Yes, she is more qualified than Caroline Kennedy for a Senate seat, but both of them MUST campaign for it and each shall have to suffer through the slings and arrows that comes with such an election and eventual political office.
Another reason I haven't commented on Palin is because of my earlier post where I no longer define myself as a 'Conservative'. I know I'm NOT a 'Liberal', nor am I a 'Libertarian'.
I'm not a 'Libertarian' because of their positions on illicit narcotics and recreational drug use. I'm convinced there is NO solution to our national drug problem; criminal or otherwise. Nothing we can do will erase it or correct this terrible plague affecting our society. And I certainly don't believe that 'liberalizing' current criminal statues is going to improve the situation and for those who think such things would make our country better....I ask you a simple question,
"Show me one country in the world, NOT even the western world, but the entire world where liberalizing criminal penalties for drug possession lowered the overall crime rate, raised tax revenues, improved property values and made their Gross National Product index improve?"
And don't give me this crap about the Netherlands and their Pot laws. Show me something where liberalizing the possession of cocaine, heroin, crystal meth and other hard narcotics made even one of the previous mentioned indicators improve for the country in general over the long haul?
Don't think for a second, however, I endorse the present policy of 'asset forfeiture' that many police agencies and prosecutors use in their personal wars on illicit narcotics. My view is Law Enforcement should not be a 'For Profit' Enterprise.
Law enforcement should always be viewed by the public and government officials as a "loss leader". Just like the soda pop that is sold in the grocery store at well below cost in order to get people to walk in their store. Law enforcement when effective should make the community safer, a better place to transact legitimate businesses and raise families, but it should always be an acknowledged government 'loss leader' in terms of profit, not one where specific agencies hoard the financial windfalls from asset confiscation involved in a criminal drug transaction.
I know I'm not a 'Liberal' because I know enough about economics to understand you can't tax yourself back into prosperity. You can't spend more than you take in whether you are a private individual or a governmental entity, despite all the references to FDR and his economic policies. What everyone who mentions FDR and his borrowing conveniently forgets or fails to mention is the rationing (of just about everything) and forced savings (through war bonds) this country endured during World War Two. It was these two things combined together that made FDR and his Democratic Congress economic policies break the Great Depression and work in the long run.
Four years without consumer goods like electric stoves, refrigerators, even radios, not to mention things like automobiles (fuel efficient or otherwise), Ipods, computers or big screen TVs is what made the policy of the government borrowing and spending money (it didn't have) work. (My dad needed a truck for the farm, but it wasn't allowed, so he bought the 'bed' for it in 1943. He didn't get the truck itself until 1946 when the government permitted Detroit to sell such things to private citizens. I still have it. It sits on the 1957 model that he traded the 1946 for years ago.) Additionally, the pent-up demand for all those consumer goods that were denied during WWII drove the domestic economy so far forward during the late 1940's and early 1950's that it made firms like General Motors look absolutely invincible. (My dad once told me his federal income tax in 1950 or '51 was only 3% of his total income. It was so low because the economy was SO STRONG.) Was GM's management any better back then than it is today? I don't think so, but forcing the nation to conserve through rationing and buying government bonds is an essential part of the economic policies of the past that many 'Liberals' today like to ignore with the current 'tax and spend' Congress and President. I know I'm NOT a 'Liberal'.
I don't think history in terms of conventional 'Conservative' definitions will be kind to George W. Bush. He wrapped himself in the cloak of a 'Conservative'. He maintained their position on low taxes to stimulate the economy, but he so totally mismanaged the fiscal side of the house that he made inebriated sea-farers leaving a whorehouse look like seasoned and successful investment managers. In my opinion, he damaged the 'Conservative' label so badly the hangover continues still.
This is where I feel Sarah Palin's future may lie. She needs to redefine the standards and definitions of a 'Conservative' because she is good at attracting attention and getting people to discuss, if not ridicule, her talking points, but the important point for future reference is she is seldom ignored.
She can bring attention to subjects like fiscal responsibility, a national policy on energy (something I feel she is knowledgeable on because of her experiences in Alaska) as well as a number of other issues. What she needs to avoid are social issues like gay marriage (it's nobody's business what two consenting adults agree to do behind closed doors. Children, however, are another issue altogether.) and the previous 'Conservative' engagement of marriage between church and state. There has always been a separation and for good reason, I feel if it is not firmly re-established by those calling themselves 'Conservatives', it will come back and bite many of us (who consider ourselves Christians) enormously in the posterior.
Right now I considered myself a political J-Walker, but Palin could help return 'Conservatives' to something I respect, if she realizes she has forfeited some of her creditability. Yet, she remains someone I would prefer to listen to, as opposed to say.....Rush Limbaugh.
Currently I still view her resignation as a 'non-event'. What she does in terms of orchestrating those like me who used to think of themselves as 'Conservatives' will really prove to be the pivotal event.
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
PETS ARE INHERITED FROM YOUR KIDS...
Today is the day our household Persian gets her routine 'grooming & bath'. She is actually our daughter's kitty as I gave her to Valerie when she was 13. She is a pure-bred and you would think from living with her in our home all these years that she knows it and uses that background as a standard of comparison for everyone and everything else in her life. The cat is now 16-1/2 years old and more or less interaction on a daily basis with her is akin to dealing with a 90 plus year old Socialite from Blue Blood Old Money!
She is also the smartest cat I've ever encountered. No, she's not real good at math or quantum mechanics, but she can read my moods and emotions better than any human, including my wife and son. She knows immediately when I'm suffering from bouts of melancholy and works her level best to let me know she loves me and 'encourages' me to take a nap with her in the middle of my lap. Aside from that, she also lets me know when her food dish is 'low' or she thinks the water level needs to be raised on her water dish. She also disapproves of me 'sleeping in' on a summer's morning. She is extremely fussy about our home.....well, actually it's HER home, we are just the staff who takes care of it for her. She gets terribly out of sorts whenever the wife does the re-arranging routine or a thorough deep cleaning of the family room or front sitting room. "Why wasn't I consulted about this?" seems to be her universal reaction. Whereupon she disappears up the stairs only to return when all 'activity' has ceased.
She won't be happy about the bath today and if they trim her long hair too closely, she reminds me of my wife's grandmother who used to complain terribly when they didn't get her blue hairdo just so-so. Yet, the funniest thing is she has gradually come to accept the presence of our son's miniature dachshund, even if she gives him a look each and every time that more or less says "...that DAMN dog!" And something to the effect "....the neighborhood is just going to Hell."
Yet, through it all she has been a lovely creature and one of the most soft-spoken felines I've ever been around. After her grooming and bath she will come home and then do her 'pretty kitty' routine where she will lay and roll on her back in the middle of the family room, stretching all the while to get our attention.
The cat is a vital member of our family and while I don't have the pleasure, the wonder or the love of our daughter on a daily basis I still enjoy the love of her kitty.
All The Best,
Frank W. James
She is also the smartest cat I've ever encountered. No, she's not real good at math or quantum mechanics, but she can read my moods and emotions better than any human, including my wife and son. She knows immediately when I'm suffering from bouts of melancholy and works her level best to let me know she loves me and 'encourages' me to take a nap with her in the middle of my lap. Aside from that, she also lets me know when her food dish is 'low' or she thinks the water level needs to be raised on her water dish. She also disapproves of me 'sleeping in' on a summer's morning. She is extremely fussy about our home.....well, actually it's HER home, we are just the staff who takes care of it for her. She gets terribly out of sorts whenever the wife does the re-arranging routine or a thorough deep cleaning of the family room or front sitting room. "Why wasn't I consulted about this?" seems to be her universal reaction. Whereupon she disappears up the stairs only to return when all 'activity' has ceased.
She won't be happy about the bath today and if they trim her long hair too closely, she reminds me of my wife's grandmother who used to complain terribly when they didn't get her blue hairdo just so-so. Yet, the funniest thing is she has gradually come to accept the presence of our son's miniature dachshund, even if she gives him a look each and every time that more or less says "...that DAMN dog!" And something to the effect "....the neighborhood is just going to Hell."
Yet, through it all she has been a lovely creature and one of the most soft-spoken felines I've ever been around. After her grooming and bath she will come home and then do her 'pretty kitty' routine where she will lay and roll on her back in the middle of the family room, stretching all the while to get our attention.
The cat is a vital member of our family and while I don't have the pleasure, the wonder or the love of our daughter on a daily basis I still enjoy the love of her kitty.
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Monday, July 13, 2009
SCREWED UP BLACKBERRYS, ASBOs, AND OTHER NONSENSE...
Not quite a year ago I 'upgraded' to a Blackberry STORM and I've learned to appreciate many of its benefits, although I think it is loaded with far too many extra features. I really don't need 'games' or some dingbat music channel and the only time I need the 'camera' feature is after an auto-accident so there is some sort of physical evidence as to who did what to whom.
However, it seems the Blackberry STORM has had a troubled birth so to speak and therefore my version desperately needed a software upgrade. I tried to do it with the wireless features of the phone and after an entire day of downloading I finally got a message that it had to delete 2.5 megs of 'personal data'. To which I replied solid "NO!!" From that moment on, the life expectancy of my Blackberry was being measured in minutes.
Okay, so the whole thing last Wednesday evening went Tango Uniform. I could get calls coming in and some email messages, but because something reconfigured the control panel into something no one could recognize my ability to call out flat disappeared. I spent over two hours on Friday at my Verizon dealer trying to fix it....to no avail and over four hours on Saturday talking to a Verizon IT guy in South Carolina trying to correct its problem, but again all for nothing. I'm supposed to be getting a new phone sometime this week, but if you are someone who routinely calls me on my cell phone.....FORGET IT! All you can do is leave a message and hope it gets transferred on the memory card when we boot up the replacement Blackberry. Otherwise, call me back in a week......that is, if the replacement Blackberry works better than this one.
After dealing with this bout of mis-performing technology, I found an item on FoxNews.com interesting where it seems some guy with a "...Matrics..." antenna and a Motorola reader drove around San Francisco 'reading' the identity characteristics and serial numbers of the new electronic passports belonging to complete strangers.
As many are aware the government is embedding an identity chip in the new United States passport coming out now and several states are doing the same thing with latest driver's licenses. This new chip supposedly enables them to process people faster and more conveniently than the old system through border control because they can read the chip when it gets within 20 or 30 feet of the scanner. Chris Paget in San Fransico, however, was able to download all the vital information on the chip simply by driving near the individuals and then subsequently downloading their info onto his notebook computer....all without leaving his automobile or picking their pockets.
See the government does make things more convenient......for those who want to steal your identity!
And finally, under the category of "YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP", it seems a woman in Jolly Ole England has been put in jail for violating an "Asbo". When I first read this, I thought "What the Hell is an Asbo?" It turns out 'Asbo' stands for "Anti-Social Behavior Order". Okay, what did she do?
Well, it seems Caroline Cartwright, 48, was too loud during sex with her husband and the neighbors complained about all the '...groaning and bed banging...'
You know when you put too many pigs in a small space they will often begin to eat each other's tails. For humans, I think they degenerate into the lowest forms of 'whiners' and abuse the legal system to the point if we still had 'tails' most of us would willingly chew them off.
What a bunch of petty nonsense...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
However, it seems the Blackberry STORM has had a troubled birth so to speak and therefore my version desperately needed a software upgrade. I tried to do it with the wireless features of the phone and after an entire day of downloading I finally got a message that it had to delete 2.5 megs of 'personal data'. To which I replied solid "NO!!" From that moment on, the life expectancy of my Blackberry was being measured in minutes.
Okay, so the whole thing last Wednesday evening went Tango Uniform. I could get calls coming in and some email messages, but because something reconfigured the control panel into something no one could recognize my ability to call out flat disappeared. I spent over two hours on Friday at my Verizon dealer trying to fix it....to no avail and over four hours on Saturday talking to a Verizon IT guy in South Carolina trying to correct its problem, but again all for nothing. I'm supposed to be getting a new phone sometime this week, but if you are someone who routinely calls me on my cell phone.....FORGET IT! All you can do is leave a message and hope it gets transferred on the memory card when we boot up the replacement Blackberry. Otherwise, call me back in a week......that is, if the replacement Blackberry works better than this one.
After dealing with this bout of mis-performing technology, I found an item on FoxNews.com interesting where it seems some guy with a "...Matrics..." antenna and a Motorola reader drove around San Francisco 'reading' the identity characteristics and serial numbers of the new electronic passports belonging to complete strangers.
As many are aware the government is embedding an identity chip in the new United States passport coming out now and several states are doing the same thing with latest driver's licenses. This new chip supposedly enables them to process people faster and more conveniently than the old system through border control because they can read the chip when it gets within 20 or 30 feet of the scanner. Chris Paget in San Fransico, however, was able to download all the vital information on the chip simply by driving near the individuals and then subsequently downloading their info onto his notebook computer....all without leaving his automobile or picking their pockets.
See the government does make things more convenient......for those who want to steal your identity!
And finally, under the category of "YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP", it seems a woman in Jolly Ole England has been put in jail for violating an "Asbo". When I first read this, I thought "What the Hell is an Asbo?" It turns out 'Asbo' stands for "Anti-Social Behavior Order". Okay, what did she do?
Well, it seems Caroline Cartwright, 48, was too loud during sex with her husband and the neighbors complained about all the '...groaning and bed banging...'
You know when you put too many pigs in a small space they will often begin to eat each other's tails. For humans, I think they degenerate into the lowest forms of 'whiners' and abuse the legal system to the point if we still had 'tails' most of us would willingly chew them off.
What a bunch of petty nonsense...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
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