My Personal Opinion

I know that this might seem like me touting the cars I sell, but watch the video and really listen, and watch the engineers who have been tasked with the responsibility of designing the flagship of Ford Motor Company. These are the unsung and behind the scenes people who go to work every day just wanting to build the best car they can. Notice the age of these people and notice they are not the same age as the management of Ford Motor. They provide a new perspective and mind set that leads to innovation and a better than yesterday attitude.

We the buying public take for granted the great products that Americans produce and allow ourselves to let our opinions become static when it comes to items that are familiar and American. Yet gravitate and buy things that because of the fact that they are foreign must be better in quality and value.

I recently sold Toyota's for a number of years and they are the new General Motors. By this I mean that I watched them do things that were based more in how profitable the car is as opposed to how innovative and cutting edge it is. They reached a pinnacle of reliability and are willing to slowly and purposely not rest on their laurels but slow innovation and stretch out the use of their reputation to maximize profits. Can't fault them for that. This is where competition leads to a better product. My point is that hunger is a basic human trait and in many cases leads to a better product and when a company like Toyota or General Electric reach a point of market dominance they tend to get comfortable and lazy. Maybe that's' our country's problem as well.

From a Recon Marine in Afghanistan

Found this over at Alternate Brain

From a Recon Marine in Afghanistan
I have no attribution or provenance for this other than I got it from our pal Bustednuckles, and that's good enough for me.

[It's freezing here. I'm sitting on hard, cold dirt between rocks and shrubs at the base of the Hindu Kush Mountains along the Dar 'yoi Pomir River watching a hole that leads to a tunnel that leads to a cave. Stakeout, my friend, and no pizza delivery for thousands of miles.

I also glance at the area around my butt every ten to fifteen seconds to avoid another scorpion sting. I've actually given up battling the chiggers and sand fleas, but the scorpions give a jolt like a cattle prod. Hurts like a bastard. The antidote tastes like transmission fluid but God bless the Marine Corps for the five vials of it in my pack.

The one truth the Taliban cannot escape is that they are human beings, which means they have to eat food and drink water. That requires couriers and that's where an old bounty hunter like me comes in handy. I track the couriers, locate the tunnel entrances and storage facilities, type the info into the handheld, shoot the coordinates up to the satellite link that tells the air commanders where to drop the hardware, we bash some heads for a while, then I track and record the new movement.

It's all about intelligence. We haven't even brought in the snipers yet. These scurrying rats have no idea what they're in for. We are but days away from cutting off supply lines and allowing the eradication to begin.

I dream of bin Laden waking up to find me standing over him with my boot on his throat as I spit into his face and plunge my nickel plated Bowie knife through his frontal lobe. I've said it before and I'll say it again: This country blows. It's not even a country. There are no roads, there's no infrastructure, there's no government. This is an inhospitable, rock pit shit hole ruled by eleventh century warring tribes. There are no jobs here like we know jobs.

Afghanistan offers two ways for a man to support his family: join the opium trade or join the army. That's it. Those are your options. Oh, I forgot, you can also live in a refugee camp and eat plum-sweetened, crushed beetle paste and squirt mud like a goose with stomach flu if that's your idea of a party. But the smell alone of those 'tent cities of the walking dead' is enough to hurl you into the poppy fields to cheerfully scrape bulbs for eighteen hours a day.

I've been living with these Tajiks and Uzbeks and Turkmen and even a couple of Pushtins for over a month and a half now and this much I can say for sure: These guys, all of 'em, are Huns Actual, living Huns They LIVE to fight. It's what they do. It's ALL they do. They have no respect for anything, not for their families or for each other or for themselves. They claw at one another as a way of life. They play polo with dead calves and force their five-year-old sons into human cockfights to defend the family honor. Huns, roaming packs of savages, heartless beasts who feed on each other's barbarism. Cavemen with AK47's. Then again, maybe I'm just cranky.

I'm freezing my ass off on this stupid hill because my lap warmer is running out of juice and I can't recharge it until the sun comes up in a few hours.

Oh yeah! You like to write letters, right? Do me a favor, Bizarre. Write a letter to CNN and tell Wolf and Anderson and that awful, sneering, pompous Aaron Brown to stop calling the Taliban 'smart.' They are not smart. I suggest CNN invest in a dictionary because the word they are looking for is 'cunning.' The Taliban are cunning, like jackals and hyenas and wolverines. They are sneaky and ruthless and, when confronted, cowardly. They are hateful, malevolent parasites who create nothing and destroy everything else. Smart. Pfft. Yeah, they're real smart.

They've spent their entire lives reading only one book (and not a very good one, as books go) and consider hygiene and indoor plumbing to be products of the devil. They're still figuring out how to work a Bic lighter. Talking to a Taliban warrior about improving his quality of life is like trying to teach an ape how to hold a pen; eventually he just gets frustrated and sticks you in the eye with it.

OK, enough. Snuffie will be up soon so I have to get back to my hole. Covering my tracks in the snow takes a lot of practice but I'm good at it. Please, I tell you and my fellow Americans to turn off the TV sets and move on with your lives.

The story line you are getting from CNN and other news agencies is utter bullshit and designed not to deliver truth but rather to keep you glued to the screen through the commercials. We've got this one under control The worst thing you guys can do right now is sit around analyzing what we're doing over here because you have no idea what we're doing and, really, you don't want to know. We are your military and we are doing what you sent us here to do.

Jack

Recon Marine in Afghanistan
Semper Fi]

Keeping in mind that the only qualifications to be a Recon Marine are the ability to clap your hands, count to four, and run long distances, I will not swear to the authenticity or truth of that, but it's a good story.

Back When An 8 Ball Was In Fact An 8 Ball

Remember this? If not it's from when I was much younger. Enjoy.

8 Cars In A Week

I haven't sold eight cars in a week since last summer and it feels good, no! GREAT! I knew this economy would turn around. Even though I'm selling a different brand in a different town I'm glad I made the move. Actually it's my home town that I moved out of 28 years ago and it is comforting to be back. Did I tell ya' that I sold 8 cars this week? Oh, I did, anyways it feels good emotionally and I can use the money to get that new putter I have been eyeing on the E bay.

You know I believe as we look back on what has happened and all of the people who have had their lives uprooted and shaken like a milkshake filled with emotions, children, foreclosures, repoed autos, smaller 401K's and what ever you yourself can add. I believe this is the blood of patriot's that in today's terminology someone talked about. I see it as the bleeding that is produced mentally and emotionally that touching the ground and getting one's hands dirty metaphor that makes us grateful for what we have. Every body, be it human, economic or organic needs a time to rest and regroup and allow it to continue life.

Fun! Life Is Better With Fun

You know I believe that a companion in life is good. Sometimes it is another person and sometimes it is some guy in the clouds.

Both comforting and soothing. But both helpful to one's psyche, yet best kept close to the chest and never worn on one's sleeve.

Found this and it caused me to think that whoever wrote and sang this have devotion and are doing what they believe something or somebody wants them to do. In the end, just a good and compelling tune.

Small Areas Of Earth Where Crazy Things Happen

What is going on in Washington, DC? Man The crazy's are all over the place running around getting in front of the teevee camera's and saying things that have even me surprised as to how the residents change positions 180 degrees, tell lies that are easily refuted by You Tube and Twitter away jonesing to be hip and cool. WTF is going on? The only thing I can attribute this too is that maybe these two areas have something in common.

Movin' On Up

I never thought I would see a day when this guy would be trusted more...........








Than this guy..........

These guys are gonna be sorry forever that they involved the government in their business. Me, at least I moved up a rung on the ladder.

We Are All Skiers Now

Just thought you would like to know that we as Americans now on a ski area. OK, we only own 80% of it.

AIG's connection to Stowe started when C.V. Starr, the company's founder, invested in the resort in 1946. A $300m, 10 year expansion was started in 2005.

Get Away From All the Yadda Yadda Yadda!

These people do a great job in telling the history and culture of the Adirondack Park here in northern New York. Take a look. The blue line they speak of is the outer boundary of the park.

And Onefly that arrow points to this nine hole track that I'm jonesing to play.

A Behind The Headlines Look At What Is Going On

For those visitors who want to understand why it seems like we are kind of in a holding pattern when it comes to the banks go here and read. Scroll down and read some of the comments. If you are interested.

Stress Test vs IMF Audit One In The Same

Mark to market is important because it establishes a floor for the value of our larger banks. Notice that some banks have already announced that they would return TARP money. They must have got the memo that they will not be part of the stress test. When you are attacked you circle the wagons and fight and this is what the banks have done, all banks! There are banks that were not in compliance with International Banking reg's and have recieved money from the Fed that would allow them to have a chance to pass stress testing. Just watch. Once the stress testing is over, maybe in 4 to 5 weeks they will magically announce (TARP recieving banks) that they wany no part of TARP and the controls that they bring to compensation and control. AIG will have to pay aprice yet survive. Talk to me in July................

Mark-to-Market – Keeping the Banks Honest
Posted on March 16th, 2009 at 4:03 pm by Scott Boyd
First off, let me say that mark-to-market did not cause the economic crisis despite what some bank CEOs may tell you. A series of risky investments and lending money to borrowers with no prospect of ever repaying their loans brought us to our present situation. So with that cleared up, let’s look at some of the discussion around current bank valuations and the question of mark-to-market accounting.

Mark-to-market – also known as the fair value rule – is an accounting regulation that requires companies to assign a value to both their assets and their debts each quarter based on current market prices. This rule was implemented to ensure that companies provide a true representation of their financial standing so that regulators and investors can accurately determine the viability and profitability of each publically-traded company. While the goal of this rule is to eliminate “creative accounting”, the concept of mark-to-market has been exploited in the past, perhaps most famously by Enron.

Enron specialized in energy futures and created a series of new securities including long-term gas futures contracts which often traded without a quoted market price. This permitted Enron to develop their own “discretionary” pricing model for derivatives to arrive at marked-to-market pricing. Given such wide latitude to set their own market prices, and knowing what we do now about the Enron culture, it is hardly surprising that these prices were a bit inflated – more like mark-to-make believe really – and this allowed Enron to show a series of massive profits. Naturally, these artificial prices could only be sustained for so long before crashing, which Enron did in spectacular fashion. This is why it is somewhat alarming to hear bank execs and even some politicians suggesting that the mark-to-market should be abandoned to “help revive” the banking system.

The banks claim that the mark-to-market rule will force them to report massive losses on their balance sheets for assets that have lost most of their value, but which the banks have no intention to sell at this time. They feel that these “paper losses” should not be counted against them until the assets are actually sold. Apparently, the banks still believe that all these aptly-named toxic assets will someday regain their value, at which point investors will be lined-up to buy and everything will return to normal again.

Right – as appealing as this delusional bit of thinking may be to the banks, millions of private investors have seen these “paper losses” tear their own portfolios to shreds so I’m thinking there is not a lot of support for the banks on this question right now. However, on one front, an argument could be made for easing the fair market rules – for the time being at least. Now don’t read this as me being soft on the banks – for reporting purposes as described above, I say fair value all the way, but for regulatory purposes, perhaps we should examine the question more closely.

That’s because, when providing valuations for disclosure or reporting, no additional action is required on the part of investors or the public in general, but for regulatory assessments, the losses could have important implications. If banks marked assets to market prices when determining capitalization levels, there is little doubt that the losses would cause many of the large banks to fall short of the minimum regulated targets. These banks would then be forced to find investors willing to provide enough capital to bring their reserve funds up to acceptable levels, but given the lack of credit within the system – matched only by the lack of trust the banks have for each other right now – it seems likely that the taxpayer would ultimately have to provide the funds.

Secondly, doing away with capitalization level requirements could actually lend more credibility to the ongoing bank stress tests – which quite frankly, are already suffering from a credibility shortfall. The purpose of the stress tests is to determine how much capital each of the major banks needs to remain solvent should the economy follow the scenario predicted by the Treasury Department – could this not serve as the regulatory check on bank solvency? Make the banks complete their quarterly report using mark-to-market accounting to ensure full transparency and disclosure but use the findings of the stress test to confirm capitalization needs.

The Financial Account Standards Board (FASB) – the private sector organization responsible for establishing US accounting standards – has scheduled a vote on April 2nd to look at the possibility of easing mark-to-market requirements. No doubt, the banks would like to see fair value suspended across the board for both reporting and capitalization assessments, but this seems unwarranted with the stress tests due for the end of April. It is not yet clear which way the FASB is leaning, but the idea of the status quo for reporting, while easing the regulatory side of the issue, may be worthy of consideration.

Want A Feel Good Monent? Here's One.. I almost cried.

Tiger's Got to Go To Left To Win

I posted this awhile ago and think there might be some time b4 Tiger has enough confidence in his new knee to get to the left side and finish the swing.

Read this


Watching Tiger tonight on the Golf Channel and he's having difficulty getting to his left side. ACL surgery is tough to deal with. IMO

Almost Democratic But Still Republican

CHRIST UPDATE
For those of you unfamiliar see my earlier post

By Steve Bousquet, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
In Print: Wednesday, March 4, 2009


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Gov. Charlie Crist addresses a joint session of the state Legislature on Tuesday.
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TALLAHASSEE — In a short and perfunctory State of the State speech, Gov. Charlie Crist urged the Legislature on Tuesday to rally behind his plan to spend billions in federal stimulus money as "a bridge to better economic times" in Florida.

Crist called his address "a dose of reality," muting his usual cheerfulness to state the obvious: An epidemic of foreclosures and business failures and the highest unemployment rate in 17 years has ravaged state revenues. Crist used the deepening economic crisis to justify injecting $12.2 billion of federal money into the budget over three years.

"Some argue the politics of the federal stimulus plan," Crist said. "My friends, while our people worry, we cannot put politics over their needs — the needs of our students and teachers, the sick and the infirm, or those out of work."

In his third year in office, Crist is in the awkward spot of facing resistance within his own party in seeking to use stimulus money to jump-start the economy and get people back to work. Underscoring that point toward the end of his speech, Crist said: "We have to be willing to put solutions above who gets the credit."

Let's Hope For A Return To Responsible Banking

I have not borrowed much money in my life, but what I have borrowed was done when I was young and when I had very little savings. Duh? So when I wanted to buy that gorgeous '73 Jeep I went to the Bank of Lake Placid and sat down with someone in the back of the bank and behind a wooden desk who had a spartan office devoid of personal items such as pictures of their children or husband. And contrarily asked that I wanted to borrow the money to buy a Jeep. They asked how I planned to repay the loan, and I said that I had two jobs working at the ski shop down the street and pumped gas on Saturdays and Sundays at the gas station across the street. After a few phone calls to verify my employment and discussion with the bank president (he lived next door to us) would return and give their decision. This time, yes.

I guess where I'm going with this is that when we as a country make it so easy to borrow money and allow it to be done either over the phone or over the Internet we reduce it to gambling. Some person takes your information. Looks up your credit score online with Experion or some other credit reporting agency and based upon your score determines your ability to repay the loan and the amount of risk you present and based upon both factors assigns an interest rate for the loan. No direct eye contact, sound of your voice, your value as a customer etc. that would allow the loan officer to make a valued judgement.

The reliance on Your FICO score has changed all of this. Somebody years ago sold the banks on the reliability of scoring and the unintended consequence of this and is part of what contributed to what we are presently dealing with.
Let's see!
And this makes my point and I guess he wants to keep his job, can't blame him for that but the damage that is done by loaning money to people you don't know is risky and only allows mathematical decision and not those based on ability to pay and NEED. I could be all wet on this but somehow I see the 50's and 60's model being less risky and better for society as a whole. Just saying.......

Something's Wrong here! $$$$$

Here is all the money everyone borrowed......












Here is how we are trying to repay all the money we borrowed and it looks to me that many people have not had a significant raise in awhile.

Making Money Up & Down

Short selling needs to be outlawed!! Case in point

Make money on the upside, or long positions. And make money on the downside, short positions. One of these bets must be eliminated. These people on Wall Street cannot be allowed to bet and make money no matter what happens to stocks. This makes me think that many Republicans have taken short positions. Think about it!

182 MPH? WTF It's a Death Bike! Still Cool....

Remember years ago when Yamaha made the motor for the original Taurus SHO? Well it looks like the people over at Ford may have learned something years ago that will pay dividends in the future and they have a history of gleaning technology from partners[Volvo][Yamaha]. When Ford can engineer their EcoBoost four-cylinder engine that displaces around 2.5-liters and produces 260 hp and 300 lb.-ft. of torque, they must have paid attention to what their partners were doing because these are V8 numbers! The in line 4 cylinder engine offers a new dimension in linear throttle action. This is achieved through the cross plane crankshaft and the 90 degrees phase positioning of its four crank planes. The torque is solely produced from the engine combustion. However the total engine output produced or the composite torque is nothing but the torque produced by the engine combustion and inertial torque produced by the rotation of the crankshaft. Inertial is nothing but the combustion torque. Inertial torque is generated by the rotation of the crankshaft. Combustion torque can be operated by the operator through the throttle but inertial torque grows larger and proportional to the speed of the crankshaft rotation and thus prevents linear throttle action from being achieved. There is some out of phase reaction between these 2 torque patterns which should not happen. The motor needs smooth torque for smooth acceleration. This is achieved by this cross plane crankshaft by differing the adjacent crankshaft by 90 degrees. By this method inertial torque fluctuation is eliminated. I don't mean to get tech'y but this is really big advancement. No commercial automobile engines have offered this in line four cylinder cross plane crankshaft but maybe Ford will. Pretty simple:

So watch the KPH speedo on the left (digital) and I converted the speed to MPH and it is 182 MPH!! Oh! And watch how he bumps the Honda's back tire as they turn around as if to say " you're mine". Enjoy

Love Look What You've Done To Me

He sounds the same today as he did 39 years ago. Amazing. Enjoy.

Found This Funny

This Is Interesting...IMF Audit of U.S.

The International Monetary Fund Is About
To Audit The US Financial System
The Shrinking Influence of the US Federal Reserve
By Gabor Steingart in Washington

Humiliation for Mr. Dollar: Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the United States Federal Reserve Bank, faces a general investigation by the International Monetary Fund. Just one more example of the Fed losing its power.

The United States Federal Reserve Bank, or Fed, seems as much a part of America as Coca-Cola or Pizza Hut. But at least one difference has become apparent in recent days. While the pizza chain and soft-drink maker are likely to expand their scope of influence in the age of globalization, the US central bank is finding that its power is shrinking.

No Fed chief in US history has been forced to submit to the kind of humiliation that Ben Bernanke is facing.

Maybe they are using our money to balance their checkbooks for the imf?

This is partly down to circumstances. Inflation is going up and up, and this year's average will likely top 4 percent. But this time Mr. Dollar is also Mr. Powerless. He can raise interest rates in the fall, or he can pray, which would probably be the better choice. At least prayer would not prevent the US economy from growing, a highly likely outcome if interest rates go up.

After years of growth, the United States is now on the brink of a recession, one that is more likely to be deepened than softened by a tight money policy. Investments will automatically become more expensive, consumer spending will be curbed and economic growth will slow down, immediately affecting unemployment figures and wages.

The textbook conclusion is that this will stabilize the value of money, because no one will dare demand higher wages or higher prices. But the macroeconomics textbooks are no longer worth much in the age of globalization. Modern inflation is driven by the global scarcity of resources. Nowadays purchasing power exceeds purchasing opportunity. Most of all, there is not enough oil, and too few raw materials and food products. These increasingly scarce resources are becoming the focus of disputes among many people and billions of dollars are at stake.

This is why the price of a barrel of crude oil (159 liters) has increased from $25 (¤16) in 2002 to $135 (¤87) in 2008. And it is also why the price of corn has tripled in the same time period, while that of copper has almost quintupled.

If the inflation introduced in the United States is excluded, a small miracle is revealed, namely something approaching price stability. Adjusted for inflation, prices are in fact rising by only 2.3 percent. If this were the extent of it, the Fed chief could simply blink like an old watchdog and go back to sleep. Instead, he is barking loudly, which is his job. But he has lost his bite, because the Fed's interest rate policy can do nothing about the scarcity of goods.

Embarrassing Investigation

Some of Bernanke's personal adversaries are also contributing significantly to his current humiliation. In the past, the chairman of the Federal Reserve was a pope among the priests of the financial elite. But unlike his predecessor Alan Greenspan, Bernanke is finding that his policies are not universally accepted, even within the Fed.

The last seven decisions reached by the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets monetary policy, were accompanied by a growing number of dissenting votes. Bernanke's critics say that with his policy of cheap money -- in other words, recurring rate reductions -- he in fact helped fuel the inflation problem he is now trying to combat.

Another problem for Mr. Dollar is that it will be several months before his actions take effect. Officials with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have informed Bernanke about a plan that would have been unheard-of in the past: a general examination of the US financial system. The IMF's board of directors has ruled that a so-called Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) is to be carried out in the United States. It is nothing less than an X-ray of the entire US financial system.


Stress tests are really IMF audit?

As part of the assessment, the Fed, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the major investment banks, mortgage banks and hedge funds will be asked to hand over confidential documents to the IMF team. They will be required to answer the questions they are asked during interviews. Their databases will be subjected to so-called stress tests -- worst-case scenarios designed to simulate the broader effects of failures of other major financial institutions or a continuing decline of the dollar.

Under its bylaws, the IMF is charged with the supervision of the international monetary system. Roughly two-thirds of IMF members -- but never the United States -- have already endured this painful procedure.

For seven years, US President George W. Bush refused to allow the IMF to conduct its assessment. Even now, he has only given the IMF board his consent under one important condition. The review can begin in Bush's last year in office, but it may not be completed until he has left the White House. This is bad news for the Fed chairman.

When the final report on the risks of the US financial system is released in 2010 -- and it is likely to cause a stir internationally -- only one of the people in positions of responsiblity today will still be in office: Ben Bernanke.

Original Article

This can be done!!!

Someone needs to create a accessable list of U.S. senators that can be copied and pasted to our email address line so with just a few clicks we can send emails and maybe Twitter all of the Congress in one motion.

Who wants it?

Think of it. Spend less than one minute and email all members of Congress.

Produce a perfect storm whenever need be.

Follow The Money

So now all the FBI needs do is verify the accuracy of the USA Today map and find out who managed the mortgage companies in these counties and prosecute all of the people who commited mortgage fraud.

Interesting Map of Foreclosures

What I find interesting about this is that I think that as more and more newspapers fold, those that want to survive will have to do what they should have been doing all along. Report the news by going out and finding things to report on that are relevant and newsworthy and not just parrot whatever Entertainment Tonight's lead story is or whatever is handed them by uninformed sources in Washington. Hence USA Today must have spent a size able sum to do this map. And as you look at the map, the areas with a little red have had foreclosure's at a high rate for several years.

90 Percent, Well at Least 80 Percent

“Believing that you could put together bad stuff with good stuff, mix it up, and make it great stuff, is the debauched, debased, phony belief system that brought down Wall Street.

Believing that you could create real wealth with capital, technology, hard work, a willingness to take risk-is the belief system that is the foundation of true economic progress.

Not all the financial news is bad.

For example, in the United States, 90% of mortgagors are meeting their payments, and more than 90% of the eligible workforce have jobs. Don’t believe Barack Obama, that this is a new Depression. Besides, he doesn’t believe it himself anymore, now that he has got three trillion dollars in spending approved.

It’s easy at a time like this, to focus on the bad side of things, but in fact this gives you a chance to regroup and reload.

So take advantage of the opportunities that are out there.

More here

Is This All You Got! No, I Got Hope!

There is certainly alot of bad news that we all encounter every day be it teevee, radio, newspaper and online that drags our thoughts of tomorrow down. We have been dealing with all of this stuff for many months and as every day goes by we become accustomed to the bad news and we start to think that it will never end. Well,it will and it might be tomorrow or next week or next month, but it will end someday and I for one am not going to let all of the bad things that many people did over the last 3 decades affect my belief in this countries abilities to again prosper. We will figure this out. And when it turns around and gets better we will be better a stronger country.

We have been lied to, robbed, watched our soldiers die, seen those responsible not yet been held accountable, had our wages suppressed for decades, taken our mothers from housewives to second income earners, been told to trust the and invest in Wall St. because that's where all the smart and rich people put their money and allowed ourselves to be content with news of Brittany instead of news of that requires additional study and thought.

Well, when it turns around I for one am going to be a different person. Money will take a back seat to personal responsibility and happiness. I am going to make do with less am be proud of it. I will look at those who adhere to lifestyles of the past as not only cheating themselves but as greedy individuals who are selfish and unwilling or unable to learn from the past. I see a day coming when personal responsibility and looking out for my fellow man will be the norm and not something viewed as odd or naive.

So watch as Hope goes from bad to good!

The Integration of Congress

I believe that when we call for the integration of congress and instead of reaching across the aisle we make them reach right next door to the Democrat or Republican that sits next to them. Just think of the conversations that will take place over time. Look at the problems that occur in prison with the gangs. They are segregated by affiliation and plot amongst themselves how they are going to take down their opponents. Sound familiar? I remember in grade school Mrs. Colby used to make kids who dislike each other to be seated next to one another so familiarity solved whatever problem that caused the disagreement. Can you imagine John Beohner having to sit next to Peter Welch every day? Great theater............just a thought.

They Are Smarter, The Teens Today

I asked my two sons the other day about drugs, mainly weed and they said," Dad, drugs are really gay (bad) and anyone who uses them are losers". Justin is 17 and Loren is 15 and not really great students in high school but have alot of common sense. These young people have no voice in the decisions that are made on a national level but will soon, and they will change the country, just like "we" have.

This Needs To Be Said......

The following comment points out the American public's misperception of what socialism really is. Just like communism. I view Republicanism as something I fear!

So you don't like "socialism"..think its evil..? Our Military, Police and Fire Departments are all "socialistic" public use entities...so since you hate socialism..next time your mugged, your house is on fire, or our country "invaded" don't call any one to help you...our schools, our libraries, our roads are also "socialistic public use" entities..(you stay off and out of) ...no public drinking fountains for you.....or public restrooms along the highway....stay out of our National, State and city (public)parks..no more "public" transportation...you think a dollar is enough to run your fat ass all around town on a bus..? When you get old and ill..can't work any longer go die in the street..don't ask for any "socialistic" public help like social security, social services or medicare..get into legal trouble..can't afford a Lawyer?..no Pro-Bono or court appointed legal aide for you either,...you worthless turd! You don't like socialism, try life in this country with out using our (socialistic) "common public" facilities just one day!..or go to the countries that have no form of it.....Iraq or Saudi Arabia, maybe even India. comment by chabuka over at Raw Story.

Socialists mainly share the belief that capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital, creates an unequal society, and does not provide equal opportunities for everyone in society. Therefore socialists advocate the creation of a society in which wealth and power are distributed more evenly based on the amount of work expended in production, although there is considerable disagreement among socialists over how, and to what extent this could be achieved

E Trade Baby Very Funny

I've watched it 8 times and I still laugh.

Leonard Cohen a Montrealer to the end.

I heard about Cohen years ago and because he lives in Montreal which is just north of here. And of all his songs Chelsea Hotel is my favorite, a little risque'and maybe not suitable for playing at work. I believe what draws me to him is his reputation for non conformity.

I lifted this bio from Pandora.
One of the most fascinating and enigmatic -- if not the most successful -- singer/songwriters of the late '60s, Leonard Cohen has retained an audience across four decades of music-making interrupted by various digressions into personal and creative exploration, all of which have only added to the mystique surrounding him. Second only to Bob Dylan (and perhaps Paul Simon), he commands the attention of critics and younger musicians more firmly than any other musical figure from the 1960s who is still working at the outset of the 21st century, which is all the more remarkable an achievement for someone who didn't even aspire to a musical career until he was in his thirties. Cohen was born in 1934, a year before Elvis Presley or Ronnie Hawkins, and his background -- personal, social, and intellectual -- couldn't have been more different from those of any rock stars of any generation; nor can he be easily compared even with any members of the generation of folksingers who came of age in the 1960s. Though he knew some country music and played it a bit as a boy, he didn't start performing on even a semi-regular basis, much less recording, until after he had already written several books -- and as an established novelist and poet, his literary accomplishments far exceed those of Bob Dylan or most anyone else who one cares to mention in music, at least this side of operatic librettists such as Hugo Von Hoffmanstahl or Stefan Zweig, figures from another musical and cultural world.