They came out of nowhere freely using donations from communist Chinese through the Lippo Group. Clinton had promised during the campaign not to grant China "most favored nation" status, and mere months after taking office, that is exactly what he did.
To me it signals quid pro quo.
Contributor Huang moved from the commerce department (thus corrupted by Clinton) to a role as fundraiser for the DNC. Huang raised a LOT of money for Clinton from Chinese Americans, and eventually (after LOTS of US taxpayer money was spent trying to chase him down) plead guilty to federal conspiracy charges for campaign fraud.
Neither Clinton has ever been held accountable.
Then there was Whitewater. No trial because there was not enough evidence to convict, although Hillary was mentioned 35 times in partner Webster Hubbell's indictment. Well, never mind that there was missing evidence that turned up AFTER the investigation, that testimony given by all Clinton "participants" in the fraud used the 5th amendment or "I don't recall" to keep from testifying, and that the famous Rose Law Firm records turned up in the White House after the statute of limitations was past. (Hillary said "I can't recall" 250 times during her testimony to congress)
Believe me all you Clinton Fans, it DID drive us crazy on the right, and while you were laughing the rule of law was raped. (And you think we don't know how mad you are that you can't seem to get the goods on Bush no matter how hard you try?). Ha!
Then there was Monica. Even top Democrat Leaders said that if Clinton lied he should resign. Then he didn't. Then they all (and I mean ALL) switched their tune, just so they could stick thumbs in conservative eyes. Well it worked. The man stayed in office.
But really, what was the cost? Really, think it through.
And Hillary came out with her famous "If you see a turtle on a fence post..." speech. And it turned out that the responsible parties for placing turtles on fenceposts were....The Clintons!
Bill lies to us, lies to a grand jury, and is disbarred. And not one Democrat will even scan the piles of evidence gathered for his impeachment. Not one.
Ahhhhh.
There's more. Much more.
Which brings us to today. I thought I was rid of Bill. I thought Hillary would lose to Obama. But now I am not so sure. Hillary's people can imply that Obama dealt drugs, and they get a pass. They can say Obama hasn't done the "spadework" necessary to be president. They get a pass. I can imagine what would have happened to Trent Lott - oh, wait...it DID happen to Trent Lott!
And I've tried to navigate Hillary's positions on the Iraq war - it is impossible.
These two are populists and opportunists. They are patently dishonest as well. They corrupt everyone around them, and their greed for power seems to have no constraints. How I wish they would go away, but I fear I must hope to outlast them physically if I am ever to experience that sublime reality.
How's Bill's heart?
(can't ask the same about Hillary, she doesn't appear to have one).
Monday, January 14, 2008
Why is the government so big?
I think we've hosed ourselves, truly I do.
My paycheck this period is $4,554
My taxes are $1,109
One fourth of what I make as income is tasken from me up front.
I live in Virginia.
5 percent is added to EVERYTHING I buy, and handed over to the state treasury.
I use electricity and phones.
Take a look at your phone bill and utility bill, and see all the fees and taxes added to them every month.
When you are all said and done, if you are in my tax bracket, you will find that you are spending nearly 40 percent of total income in taxes and fees.
40 percent.
Who needs all that money, really?
OK here's what got me. Savings and Loan companies got into trouble in the 80's. Somehow the federal government ended up bailing them out, costing us taxpayers abotu $124 billion (Amadeo, 2008) Could stagflation reoccur? http://useconomy.about.com/.
Why?
Terrorists attack and kill thousands. For being in the wrong place at the wrong time the federal government gives each of the surviving families over $1 million.
Why?
Old men want Viagra. Can't go without sex, now, can we?
Problem is they don't want to pay for it. So we do, through Medicare.
Why?
Now people are in trouble with their mortgages. THEY refinanced into variable rate loans, paying interest-only, so they could get TEMPORARY low payments.
Rates rise, loans default, banks tremble, housing prioces fall, and those people are in trouble for THEIR decisions.
So we want the federal government to bail them out. Can't wait to see the final bill for that, and what it will cost taxpayers.
Why?
Hey, I'm all for emergency care for people in trouble. Heart trouble? No assets? We'll give you a bypass and medication. Sick? No money? call one number - be assigned to a doctor. Go.
Guess what? It'll be our doctors and generics.
Could you get better treatment? probably, but it's welfare after all - at least you get it.
Can you get your teeth straightened so you will look better? No.
Can you get your boobs enlarged? No.
Can you get your tummy stapled? Liposuction? An abortion? A face lift? No. No. No. and No.
Can you get antibiotics for Strep Throat? Yes.
Can you stay in a hospital overnight? Yes.
Can you live in a hospital? No.
Bet this would cut Medicare costs by billions.
Hungry?
No problem.
Warehouse in the town you live in. Stocked to the roof with balogna, eggs, cheese, milk, canned vegetables.
Go there. Or ask someone else to go there for you.
Guess what? You will eat what is provided. Total nutrition.
It will always be the same thing.
But you will be full.
No place to live?
No problem.
Homeless shelter in your town. 30 day passes, reviewed every month.
Oh - they don't feed you - you go to the warehouse for food.
Bet this would cut welfare costs by billions
Yeah I know - I sound so cruel.
But I believe at this point throwing money at people and their problems to assuage our guilt isn't helping. It is making matters worse. We have "fought the war on poverty" for more than 40 years now by throwing money at it. All we have done is made more poverty, broken up families, and increased the government's iron grip on our pocket books.
I don't think we can change it now.
It's too bad, but Will Durant (I think) said it best: "Nations are born stoic, and die Hedonistic" - or something like that.
Meaning we strive in the beginning to take care of ourselves, and after a while we grow to expect someone else to take care of us at little or no cost to us.
So we go out, whining and crying, big babies without the will or means to wipe our own heinies.
What a way to go.
My paycheck this period is $4,554
My taxes are $1,109
One fourth of what I make as income is tasken from me up front.
I live in Virginia.
5 percent is added to EVERYTHING I buy, and handed over to the state treasury.
I use electricity and phones.
Take a look at your phone bill and utility bill, and see all the fees and taxes added to them every month.
When you are all said and done, if you are in my tax bracket, you will find that you are spending nearly 40 percent of total income in taxes and fees.
40 percent.
Who needs all that money, really?
OK here's what got me. Savings and Loan companies got into trouble in the 80's. Somehow the federal government ended up bailing them out, costing us taxpayers abotu $124 billion (Amadeo, 2008) Could stagflation reoccur? http://useconomy.about.com/.
Why?
Terrorists attack and kill thousands. For being in the wrong place at the wrong time the federal government gives each of the surviving families over $1 million.
Why?
Old men want Viagra. Can't go without sex, now, can we?
Problem is they don't want to pay for it. So we do, through Medicare.
Why?
Now people are in trouble with their mortgages. THEY refinanced into variable rate loans, paying interest-only, so they could get TEMPORARY low payments.
Rates rise, loans default, banks tremble, housing prioces fall, and those people are in trouble for THEIR decisions.
So we want the federal government to bail them out. Can't wait to see the final bill for that, and what it will cost taxpayers.
Why?
Hey, I'm all for emergency care for people in trouble. Heart trouble? No assets? We'll give you a bypass and medication. Sick? No money? call one number - be assigned to a doctor. Go.
Guess what? It'll be our doctors and generics.
Could you get better treatment? probably, but it's welfare after all - at least you get it.
Can you get your teeth straightened so you will look better? No.
Can you get your boobs enlarged? No.
Can you get your tummy stapled? Liposuction? An abortion? A face lift? No. No. No. and No.
Can you get antibiotics for Strep Throat? Yes.
Can you stay in a hospital overnight? Yes.
Can you live in a hospital? No.
Bet this would cut Medicare costs by billions.
Hungry?
No problem.
Warehouse in the town you live in. Stocked to the roof with balogna, eggs, cheese, milk, canned vegetables.
Go there. Or ask someone else to go there for you.
Guess what? You will eat what is provided. Total nutrition.
It will always be the same thing.
But you will be full.
No place to live?
No problem.
Homeless shelter in your town. 30 day passes, reviewed every month.
Oh - they don't feed you - you go to the warehouse for food.
Bet this would cut welfare costs by billions
Yeah I know - I sound so cruel.
But I believe at this point throwing money at people and their problems to assuage our guilt isn't helping. It is making matters worse. We have "fought the war on poverty" for more than 40 years now by throwing money at it. All we have done is made more poverty, broken up families, and increased the government's iron grip on our pocket books.
I don't think we can change it now.
It's too bad, but Will Durant (I think) said it best: "Nations are born stoic, and die Hedonistic" - or something like that.
Meaning we strive in the beginning to take care of ourselves, and after a while we grow to expect someone else to take care of us at little or no cost to us.
So we go out, whining and crying, big babies without the will or means to wipe our own heinies.
What a way to go.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Java
Holy Lord, what have I gotten myself into?
I'm 50 years old. I grew up on COBOL, network databases, and text-based on-line applications. I moved OK to GUI (Windows) front-ends, relational databases, and interactive programming. Then I got waylaid into doing systems analysis and project management. In a seeming few years my skill set was hopelessly outdated.
So I asked to move to the web development team, got some training from one of those exorbitantly-priced off-site classrooms, and joined a small team working on enhancing an existing system.
Then it all fell apart.
I mean literally! They showed me the development tool (Eclipse). But wait! I need to load the Sun development kit! I need WebLogic. Oh - we have version 9 but I can only get 10. No problem, we will be aswitching to 10 soon. Oh, but current development is all 9, so I'm incompatible.
As we worked that out:
here's the java code
here's the JSP's
here's the custom tags
here's the oracle-stored procedures
here's the DAO's
here's the EJB's
here's the database
Huh?
me: OK - I need to change a screen message - where do I start?
mentor: Oh - you have to kind of figure that out
me: OK - I did - it isn't formatted right
mentor: check everywhere the table columns are defined
me: how do I do that?
mentor: Oh - you have to kind of figure that out
me: help, please
mentor: OK - (he searches) - done
me: why are the email addresses wrapping like that?
mentor: oh, that needs to be clipped, fixed, and put in a scroll-over
me: how do I do that?
mentor: I'll do it - you watch
me: OK
me: why do the fonts change like that?
mentor: I'll look into it
mentor: (phone conference with users) we're still trying to get the fonts right - it's being a pain in the butt...
and on, and on, and on it goes.
I am used to contributing, but folks I am out of my league here :)
I hope I can get up to speed, but the urgency of all the development makes that unlikely anytime soon, because we have to keep going back to the experts.
I am scratching my head and wondering how Java happened. Who was sleeping? Why does changing the heading on a screen take touching 7 different parts and redeploying an application?
Oh, and let's not even TALK about testing.
I just learned about something called J-Unit. I was frightened worse than when I snuck in to see "The Exorcist" at a tender young 13.
Realize please that I am ranting because I am scared.
I'll learn this stuff eventually, but this is the first time in my career that I've felt completely out of my depth.
Maybe I should ask for my old job back, instead, and wait 15 years 'til retirement
I'm 50 years old. I grew up on COBOL, network databases, and text-based on-line applications. I moved OK to GUI (Windows) front-ends, relational databases, and interactive programming. Then I got waylaid into doing systems analysis and project management. In a seeming few years my skill set was hopelessly outdated.
So I asked to move to the web development team, got some training from one of those exorbitantly-priced off-site classrooms, and joined a small team working on enhancing an existing system.
Then it all fell apart.
I mean literally! They showed me the development tool (Eclipse). But wait! I need to load the Sun development kit! I need WebLogic. Oh - we have version 9 but I can only get 10. No problem, we will be aswitching to 10 soon. Oh, but current development is all 9, so I'm incompatible.
As we worked that out:
here's the java code
here's the JSP's
here's the custom tags
here's the oracle-stored procedures
here's the DAO's
here's the EJB's
here's the database
Huh?
me: OK - I need to change a screen message - where do I start?
mentor: Oh - you have to kind of figure that out
me: OK - I did - it isn't formatted right
mentor: check everywhere the table columns are defined
me: how do I do that?
mentor: Oh - you have to kind of figure that out
me: help, please
mentor: OK - (he searches) - done
me: why are the email addresses wrapping like that?
mentor: oh, that needs to be clipped, fixed, and put in a scroll-over
me: how do I do that?
mentor: I'll do it - you watch
me: OK
me: why do the fonts change like that?
mentor: I'll look into it
mentor: (phone conference with users) we're still trying to get the fonts right - it's being a pain in the butt...
and on, and on, and on it goes.
I am used to contributing, but folks I am out of my league here :)
I hope I can get up to speed, but the urgency of all the development makes that unlikely anytime soon, because we have to keep going back to the experts.
I am scratching my head and wondering how Java happened. Who was sleeping? Why does changing the heading on a screen take touching 7 different parts and redeploying an application?
Oh, and let's not even TALK about testing.
I just learned about something called J-Unit. I was frightened worse than when I snuck in to see "The Exorcist" at a tender young 13.
Realize please that I am ranting because I am scared.
I'll learn this stuff eventually, but this is the first time in my career that I've felt completely out of my depth.
Maybe I should ask for my old job back, instead, and wait 15 years 'til retirement
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
University of Phoenix
I completed an MBA at University of Phoenix in 2007. While the UoP is known as an online school, I took the entire course "on the ground" (in the classroom). I compared the program with a workmate who was taking an MBA at Johns Hopkins at the same time. The program and the individual courses were very close. The level of instruction in both was superb. I did FAR more writing than my friend, and did not have to write a final thesis because I wrote one at the end of every class - 30 pages or more. Think about it. Content, quality, proper APA format, grammar, spelling, and substantive research (peer-reviewed, scholarly resources) required for each paper - one every 6 weeks.
Gahhhh
Well - I got the degree in 21 months. Some weeks I thought I'd quit. Some weeks I thought I'd die. Sometimes I wanted to kill members of my learning team(s). Always, I felt like I was 2 steps behind.
So what? I got the MBA with a 4.0 GPA.
Yes, I am proud of myself, and gained enough respect for the UoP that I decided to go on for a doctorate there.
This program is strictly online. What a difference. But so far, the same quality, same rigor, and at the same time, more fun. The school seems to have more respect for me as a doctoral student than it did as a mere post-graduate.
If you want a degree, want it to mean something, want to learn, want to work hard and get it in record time from an accredited university, then I recommend University of Phoenix.
The MBA will cost you over $36K.
The doctorate around $50K
So it ain't cheap.
And in my opinion, you DO get what you paid for :)
Gahhhh
Well - I got the degree in 21 months. Some weeks I thought I'd quit. Some weeks I thought I'd die. Sometimes I wanted to kill members of my learning team(s). Always, I felt like I was 2 steps behind.
So what? I got the MBA with a 4.0 GPA.
Yes, I am proud of myself, and gained enough respect for the UoP that I decided to go on for a doctorate there.
This program is strictly online. What a difference. But so far, the same quality, same rigor, and at the same time, more fun. The school seems to have more respect for me as a doctoral student than it did as a mere post-graduate.
If you want a degree, want it to mean something, want to learn, want to work hard and get it in record time from an accredited university, then I recommend University of Phoenix.
The MBA will cost you over $36K.
The doctorate around $50K
So it ain't cheap.
And in my opinion, you DO get what you paid for :)
Terry Goodkind
I started reading Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. I like them. Pretty bloody. Very bloody. Sort of like Stephen King, but not as scary. The book jacket describes characters as "flawed" heroes. I agree. Sometimes too flawed, though.
The one thing. Well, I think Goodkind writes like he is a girl. The interactions between the sexes, and the introspection of the male characters is decidedly female to me. Can't completely put my finger on it, because if I mention any one example, say like guys projecting outcomes of conversation, you may say "well sometimes guys do that". True, but it happens far too much in this writing. Most guys I know, including me will talk only until it seems action is better.
Also Goodkind's descriptions of things; food, scenery, male and female bodies, buildings, decorations, creatures, and such. Well - it seems to be coming from a female critic writing for the Washington Post Magazine, or something like that. "...the rich brocade of velveteen bordered in double braided cord spun of golden ropes completed the complement of the majestic uniform perfectly fitting his sculpted body..." (not a real quote, but you know...)
Anyway, aside from that I am enjoying the series. My wife looked in the back cover and said "whoa, weird looking guy...intense!"
If you've a strong stomach and a "tolerant" mind and enjoy action adventure with too much interrelationship wordplay, I recommend the series.
The one thing. Well, I think Goodkind writes like he is a girl. The interactions between the sexes, and the introspection of the male characters is decidedly female to me. Can't completely put my finger on it, because if I mention any one example, say like guys projecting outcomes of conversation, you may say "well sometimes guys do that". True, but it happens far too much in this writing. Most guys I know, including me will talk only until it seems action is better.
Also Goodkind's descriptions of things; food, scenery, male and female bodies, buildings, decorations, creatures, and such. Well - it seems to be coming from a female critic writing for the Washington Post Magazine, or something like that. "...the rich brocade of velveteen bordered in double braided cord spun of golden ropes completed the complement of the majestic uniform perfectly fitting his sculpted body..." (not a real quote, but you know...)
Anyway, aside from that I am enjoying the series. My wife looked in the back cover and said "whoa, weird looking guy...intense!"
If you've a strong stomach and a "tolerant" mind and enjoy action adventure with too much interrelationship wordplay, I recommend the series.
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