ashbylane

A 53-year-old woman by the name of Janet Contreras wrote this letter, and it's definitely worth a read.  She sums up how so many are feeling so well:

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AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR NATION'S LEADERSHIP:

I'm a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me?

Well, these are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:

One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This isn't to be confused with legal immigration.

Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.

Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.

Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.

Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!

Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don't you start there.

Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.

Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why ‑‑ what do you have against shareholders making a profit?

Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.

Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a Band‑Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.

Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try ‑‑ please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.

Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.

Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let's just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.

I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.

From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.

We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when hewill rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.

Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming.

 

As many of you already know, the Obama administration forced Chrysler into its current bankruptcy, and into the sale to Fiat.  While Chrysler had serious problems before the federal government stepped in, what the Obama administration has done should raise the hair on all of our necks.  There are so many things wrong with this situation, but the primary issue at stake for all of us is how Chrysler's secured creditors are being treated.

Investment 101 teaches us that bonds are a safer investment than stocks (albeit lower returns, etc.).  So, if you were the state of Indiana, and you invested in secured Chrysler bonds as part of your state's pension plan, then you have become a secured creditor for Chrysler.  This means that if Chrysler ever files for bankruptcy, you are first in line to get your money back.  However, with the Obama Administration, not so much.  Chrysler's secured creditors were owed roughly $6.9 billion, and the Obama administration put them in the back of the line - behind the UAW - and has told them they will have to deal with $.29 on the dollar.  This is such a devastating, short sighted and "cronyistic" move.  Indiana took their case to the Supreme Court (after the 2nd Circuit punted the ball), and it appears the Supreme Court is not going to hear the case (even after issuing a temporary stay).  Complicating this picture even further is the fact that members of Obama's team called the lawyer representing Indiana a "terrorist", they've taken other abitrary actions such as mandating a huge cut in their marketing budget, and the funds poured into Chrylser originated from the TARP bailout passed under Bush - which neither administration has used to buy up "toxic assets" as they were intended.  It's arguable that the use of TARP funds for auto bailouts its illegal (and the authority granted to the Treasury unconstitutional).

Aside from TARP being the biggest government finance sham in our history (and aside from it basically granting the executive branch their very own slush fund), the rule of law is being arbitrarily discarded in favor of special interests and political paybacks.  If this sale goes through as is, and the secured creditors get royally screwed (as it now appears they will), we are going to see investment capital flee our country at an alarming rate.  After all, who wants to invest in so-called "safe bonds" (whether it be a state or company) if the federal government can step in and 'dictate' that you will only get $.29 on the dollar as a secured creditor, but non-secured creditors who also happen to be big donors to your party will get much more?  Those investors will take their money to countries that actually honor private agreements.  As the situation with Indiana demonstrates, the flight of that investment capital from our nation, and the "rule by fiat" attitude on the part of our federal government will hurt the pensions, retirements, state & local government funds (and more) where each of us live.  The sad thing is, we've done all this before - in the 1930's.  We prolonged the Great Depression by "economic experimentation", protectionism and "punish investors" policies.  All three ingredients are present today as well, so buckle up and hold on tight.

Oddly enough, one definition for the word "fiat" reads: "an arbitrary decree or pronouncement, esp. by a person or group of persons having absolute authority to enforce it"

A good opinion piece (with many stats and facts) on this issue can be seen here.

Do you ever feel like you have to give your friends the diet version of yourself?  I'm a naturally intense person - and 99.999999% of the time I'm perfectly content and happy to be that way.  I am constantly in thought, whether I'm reading, driving, eating, sitting outside, sitting inside, putting my shoes on or gassing up the car.  The main issue seems to be the subjects upon which I dwell:  history, culture, politics, theology, philosophy, music, programming, education....  It is impossible for me to see those subjects as unrelated.  I often find myself trying to explain the cause and effect nature of those subjects (and typically along the lines of something happening in the real world) and then I sense the "eyes glazing over" effect with the person listening.  I get so excited about a particular book/subject/article/conversation/whatnot that I find myself "reeling me back in" since there is some default internal response of "C'mon Jim, they don't want to hear the unabridged version".  I completely get the need to be concise; to not overwhelm someone in conversation - and have worked a ton throughout my life to better my skills in that area.  But I gotta admit, the people with whom you can truly let your hair down...the ones that not only don't mind, but actually want to hear the 'unabridged version' of whatever is on your mind....those people are like that first breath you take when you come up from being underwater for almost too long.

Glenn Beck has apparently been reading up on one of my favorite authors: Thomas Sowell.  Sowell just released a new book, "The Housing Boom and Bust" - and having read much of his other material, I can say his writing is thorough and detailed, yet accessible and understandable.

  I highly recommend any work of Sowell's, but especially one so relevant to the issues we're facing today.  This is a great "quick summary" video that includes snippets of Sowell discussing the housing market boom and bust:

At the heart of the Civil Rights movement was the demand that people be judged NOT by the color of their skin, or whether they were male or female - and most importantly that our government had no right to explicitly single out a race or gender for special treatment.  The genius of Martin Luther King, Jr. gave the modern Civil Rights movement the voice it needed to press hard for the goal of equal treatment under the law, and what takes the cake is he led the movement to non-violent protest and it worked beautifully.

Contrast that to today.  "Civil Rights" leaders today have been pushing for "hate crimes" legislation (which, in fact, singles out a particular group for special treatment under the law).  Phrases like "social justice" and "judicial empathy" are the verbal soup du jour....when the implementation of those aims perverts the purpose of law in a vain and destructive attempt to guarantee "equal results" instead of "equal treatment under law".  In a recent post on NBC regarding President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Judge Sotomayor, the writer's even questioned "would Republicans dare vote against the first Hispanic?"  What happened to judging someone by their merits and abilities?  If a Republican or Democrat in the Senate votes against this nominee, that somehow makes them racist/anti-Hispanic?  And if that Senator is listening to a majority of constituents who happen to say "no" to her confirmation, does that make those citizens racist?  I contend that the elitists in our culture are still looking down their nose at the average American as ignorant and racist.  How dare they label anyone racist when they, apparently, are the ones obsessed with categorizing everything along racial lines.  How ironic that these elitist racists pine for days or real equality, when they are the very ones labeling anyone with a legitimate difference of opinion as racist.

Don't get fooled by all this talk of "empathy" and "caring" when it comes to judicial appointees.  What we need are people who will interpret the law with (pardon me for yelling) IMPARTIALITY!  Our executive and legislative officials can conjure up all the tears and empathetic responses they want.  However, once the law is written, it needs to be interpreted in a consistent and impartial manner.  The fact that our courts have strayed far away from this view of the law (especially since the "Warren Court") is a direct culprit of the capricious nature of court decisions today.  Ask yourself, why do businesses not want to take most cases to trial, and instead prefer to settle even if they are 110% sure they are in the right?  They have no idea what kind of judge they will get - and since law is not being interpreted consistently and impartially, they can't gamble their fortunes (literally and figuratively) on the whims of someone who may think it's their job to right all the real or imagined wrongs of society instead of simply applying the law to a concrete situation.

It is incredibly dangerous for judges to embed & entrench their own bias in the law.  It undermines both the reliability and predictability of our judicial system, as well as erodes the democratic process by drowning out the voice of the people and their elected officials who made the law to begin with.  A judge that wants to "make policy" is in the wrong job.  They should have become a legislator...or a lobbyist.

but I absolutely LOVED watching Desmond beat the you-know-what out of Ben on Lost.  Anyone else?

Among my other random Lost musings:

• Loving the fact that Locke has Ben confused and scared
• Wishing that Alex had suddenly turned into the smoke monster and devoured Ben (hmmmmm....sensing an anti-Ben theme here.), but that would rob us of one of the best "spawn of Satan" characters on TV.
• Wondering when they'll bring Farraday back into things...

For our first year anniversary (in 2001), I got two cats for Steph.  Both were just barely weaned, and oddly enough, they bonded with me and totally got under my skin even though I was mostly an anti-cat guy up to that point.  Their personalities couldn't have been more different.  Oreo is a "dog in a cat's body" (I even taught him to "speak" on command).  Brewster (our orange tabby) is shy and skittish, but super affectionate and probably the sweetest cat I've ever met.  They both grew up together in our home, and our friends are always amazed at how people-friendly they are.
Unfortunately, I missed some signs that could have warned me that Brewster was having liver and kidney issues in the last few weeks.  By the time we'd realized, things had progressed so far, and there was no guarantee that even surgery would give him a chance.  All that led up to today, where I had to make the heart-wrenching decision to have him put to sleep.  I've owned four pets in my life, but this is the first one I was with when it died - and boy did I cry like a baby.  I snuck him one of his favorite treats and gave it to him while I held him a minute or so before he feel asleep for the last time.  The bond between human and pet is an amazing thing - but times like it now it really sucks.  I will miss that cat and all his crazy quirks - from the fountain of drool that would come out his mouth as you petted him, to the hilarious image of him trying to jump up onto our bed and haul his very large butt up without falling.  He had a good eight years with us, and as much that I hate it that he's gone, I'm glad his last moments were with me.

Brewster in a nutshell:

Oreo's best friend:

Able to sleep in nearly any position:

He never quite knew what to think of James:

He definitely didn't exercise enough (we tried!) - and so there was "more" of him to love:

An all around handsome guy (even when he was near the end):

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about technology – specifically social networking.  I’ve been a software developer for the last nine years and I’ve watched with amazement the dramatic changes in how the web is both produced and consumed during that time.  I quickly learned the importance of staying current (believe me, it’s a full time job).  I am a classic “geek” – I truly enjoy what I do.  However, I’ve noticed a growing trend in my life:  The longer I work in software, the more I attempt to insulate myself from certain effects of technology in general. 

The “All Style and No Substance” Effect

Out of all the blessings and curses of modern technology, this one worries me the most.  I think that so-called “Social Networking” is potentially causing much more harm than good.  Before you write me off as some “backwards naysayer” who just doesn’t get it – remember – I work in this industry!  Through some business connections a few months ago, I had some inside information on what was going wrong with Twitter as the user base grew exponentially.  Nearly every aspect of what I do is geared towards providing our customers the information they need via the web.  Before I lay out my concerns, understand that I think there are some great aspects to sites like Facebook, Vox, Twitter, etc.  My wife and I have met some wonderful people – many of whom have become friends (albeit, mostly long distance).  However, none of that shakes my conviction that the great casualties of our age are substantive conversation, accountability and robust intellect.

Dumbing-Down Conversation

One of the aspects of Twitter touted by friend and foe alike is “you’ve got to work hard to say a lot in 140 characters”.  Right - and those same people have their blogs auto-Tweet when they post new entries, since, after all, some things (try ‘most things of substance’) simply can’t be said in 140 characters.  Facebook status updates are not much different (and many, like me, have Facebook and Twitter linked).  Whether we “tweet”, leave a response on a blog or reply to forum threads, there’s a certain anonymity – even when we use our real name – that subconsciously buffers us from the consequences of harsh words or banal comments.  The more recent joke comes to mind “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Hitler or the Nazis approaches 1”.  Just watching the scathing political comments on Twitter is proof enough.  Even worse, some of those I follow have made sweeping generalizations about people whose heritage, faith or accent I share – all in a nicely packaged 140-characters-or-less insult.  It’s easy, I guess.  If you don’t like the heat, you don’t have to leave the kitchen, you just un-follow someone, or boot them from your friends, un-link them or otherwise block them.  In a world where we’re not talking directly to an in-the-flesh person, and where the usual means of consequences and accountability aren’t present, it’s easy to begin to treat people as usernames to be demeaned & discarded.  I was amazed to hear a comment one responder left saying “These conservatives scare me.  Can’t we just get rid of these Fascists?”  While that statement might be under 140 characters, I’d question who the Fascist is really. 

We are in danger of allowing all our conversational exchanges to boil down to the lowest common denominator.  Real ideas take time to develop and discuss.  While I’ve seen great uses of Twitter and Facebook along these lines, the vast majority of our technological options lend themselves to short, superficial and often rude ‘conversation’.  Seriously!  If you’ve made it this far in this blog entry alone, you are in the minority.  There’s so much downward pressure on the quality of relationship and exchange:  “no one reads long blog entries”, “keep your tweets pithy and intriguing”, “always leave comments on the blogs you read”, “how many followers do you have?”, etc.  Should we be so worried about how hip our status messages sound?  Can we really discuss anything of weight in less than 140 characters?  Is the content we’re trying to direct our Twitter followers to just an expanded cotton-candy version of the “nothingness” so often “tweeted” about, or is it constructive, personal, helpful and perhaps educational?  Too often it’s all style and no substance – a sad & empty flash in the pan of human experience.

Dumbing-Down Intellect & Losing Time

I love that Facebook has re-connected me with childhood friends.  But at some point or another I have to come to the realization that I can’t respond to everyone who super-pokes me, I can’t read everyone’s tweets, I can’t take the 25^th meme I’ve been tagged on – you name it.  It’s fun, sure.  But my close friends are the ones that I talk to – in person, on the phone and yes, even IM.  Two-hundred years ago Americans actually met and talked – in taverns, churches, schools, etc.  They argued about principles and ideas.  They watched each other’s backs.  They actually knew their neighbor’s names.  They could certainly be a raucous bunch, but there was a level of civility and integrity which I believe we have lost.  Today, instead, we allow the great potential of our minds and hearts to be wasted on an overload of TV, web and ever-present-marketing.  We have forgotten the joy of working to be entertained – like reading up on a subject that actually requires thought, learning a game or pursuing a hobby.  We – and I’m right there in the middle – have preferred, instead, to have even our entertainment spoon-fed to us, no thought or assembly required.  We think that a night of “vegging” is just what the doctor ordered, but at what cost and is that truly rest?

While the web has made it easy for anyone to publish “information”, the quality of that information is questionable, and the respect for the veracity of the author hinges on the whim of the reader, not fact-checking, peer-review or other means of accountability.  Many schools have banned (rightfully so) the use of Wikipedia as a source on essays, but Googling abounds.  I love Google, but is anyone contemplating the cumulative effect it will have on an entire generation currently developing the habit of not retaining information over the long term, much less knowing how to look it up if the internet connection is down?  Prior to MS Word, students were taught to outline their points before writing their paper.  This wasn’t just to help the writing process, but the thought process.  Today we are encouraged to just simply write and we can edit it later.  The initial thought process to refine your ideas happens less and less.  Intellect is like any other thing in life – without use, it breaks down.

My encouragement to you (and if you made it this far, thanks!) is to use the technological tools we have at our disposal to make it easier to do substantive things in life, rather than be sucked in by the appealing “brightness” of the brief flash in the pan.  Re-learn what it was to live life prior to the iPhone or CrackBerry temptation of being “always on, always available”.  Take a walk and think, reflect and enjoy your own company.  Then do the same with friends and family.  Go and introduce yourself to your neighbors.  Don’t feel the ridiculous pressure to keep up with every Facebook status change, Tweet, Linked-In update that crosses your computer screen.  Determine for yourself and your family that when the world finally gives up serious individual thought altogether for the sake of entertainment , that someone will be left in the world who is actually qualified to run it.

A while back my mom gave me my grandfather's .38 revolver.  I cleaned it up and had the chance to take it shooting with my brother-in-law (Scott) in Georgia soon after, and I have to say that gun is tough and accurate.  I consider myself a decent shot, but this revolver made me look better than I am (although Scott puts me to shame in general).  I absolutely adored my grandfather (who passed away when I was 10), and having both his wallet - and now - his gun is very sentimental to me. (I jokingly tell people I have his wallet and gun and ask them in what order do they think I got them....)  I also love target shooting, so his .38 will accompany on many more outings to come.  My wife, being incredible as always, agreed to let me acquire an "heirloom" of my own with some of our tax refund money: A Ruger Mark III (on the right below).  This Ruger is a .22LR ("22 Long Rifle"), so the ammunition is about the only ammunition that's anywhere near affordable right now thanks to the run on ammo and some other not-so-smart-and-quickly-rescinded decisions made by certain people in Washington - in fact the ammo is dirt cheap.  It's a perfect match for target shooting (or "plinking" as they say).  I absolutely love the design - it fits my hands like a glove, and seems built to last a long time.  As one reviewer said "If you want something that's accurate, and that you can pass on to your son, get the Ruger."  I took his advice and cannot wait to take it to the local outdoor range in my town and see it in action....  Now that I have two sons, does that mean I should buy two of everything?! :-)