Obama’s Speech to School Children

I’ve been asked by several what I think about the noise surrounding the title of this post.  I find it completely inane that I even have to write a post addressing this issue.  It borders on a waste of my time because the basis of the noise you have been hearing is nothing more than conjecture and lies.

The noise is point blank ridiculous!  Socialist agenda???  Really?  You can’t be serious and you can’t think one speech that is a little more liberally leaning than the past eight years of Imperialist bull crap will drastically change your children.  Do you think your children are incapable of critical thinking and of considering there might be another perspective than that of the President of the United States of America?  If you really do, then I feel very, very, very sorry for your children.  You haven’t given them the tools needed to make it though life, if they are indeed so open to reacting to and completely believeing in one 18 minute speech.  Shame on you if your children are indeed this gullible!

More likely, these are people that are finding their loss of the White House a bit of sour grapes.  I fail to see why the media is even reporting something so pithy and worthless.  Time and again in the past, the US President has addressed the school children of the country and we didn’t see news reports about people keeping their children home or about them claiming: ‘The President is trying to brain wash my child into believing a socialist agenda.’  Come on!  This is the stupidest thing I have heard on the television this year and I have watched Big Brother and America’s Got Talent, and trust me, there is some stupid stuff on these programs!

My advice to those that are in the media . . . stop trying to make something out of the hollow words and lies talk show hosts continue to spew.

My advice to those that think there is some Socialist agenda that flows under the work our current government is trying to do: Please chew those sour grapes for the next 3 years and stop trying to sensationalize everything the current administration is trying to accomplish!  I’ve never seen such a collection of sore losers!  It makes me sad that you are more concerned for your personal OPINION and less concerned about the country’s future.  You ARE the problem and you ARE affecting the efficiency with which the government can get health care reformed and can get our economy back on track.

My advice to those of you that think this is a bunch of noise: Accept the thanks from me and ignore those that continue to pull BS from thin air.  And trust me, they will pull this same crap again soon.  It makes me sad and it shows the true colors of those that are purporting we are on the path to Socialism.

Thanks for reading.

BP

The Push for National Healthcare

My!  Such rhetoric and noise has cropped up around this subject!  Not a day goes by without some headline that states something about the state of health care in the USA.  Granted, I’m sure the media companies love it, but I’m not sure the public isn’t being done a disservice by this much coverage.

As with any important issue the more noise there is, the less likely it is those who need to know about the issue will actually know enough factual information to develop a good, well reasoned position on the issue.  We have had people literally screaming at “town hall” meetings that their health care shouldn’t change.  I’ve seen talk about “death squads” on web reports and heard the same on conservative radio shows.  I’ve seen people across all political spectrums state that we shouldn’t be messing with the system in ways some suggest we should.

What I’ve seen little of is: agreement.  What I’ve heard little of is: constructive ways we can discuss the issue like adults.  What I’ve read little of is: acknowledgements that someone is trying to address a system that is and has been broken for a long time.

Really, most of what I’ve experienced is nothing more than hyperbole and rhetoric and these, by their very nature, are not conducive to creating a good solution to the problem.  No.  Hyperbole and rhetoric serve to do nothing more than: worry people that need nothing more to be worried about, frustrate those that really are trying to find a solution, turn-off those that may have been able to suggest ways we can achieve something better and deflate those that don’t have the good fortune to have a health plan that doesn’t cost them more than their food for the month!

What do I want?  Read further . . .

I want these hyperbole/rhetoric spewers to shut up!  If your opinion is so “out there” that you must scream to get others to hear and understand you, then your opinion is very likely not of the mainstream.  Shut up and let those that are ready to talk and negotiate constructively work on the right solution.  If you find hyperbole is where you are most comfortable writing your article for MSN or USA Today – hold your pen/word processor!  You, yes YOU are much a part of this problem and you are only serving yourself by continuing your BS.  Why not research the issue and present fact-by-fact information that might help your readers understand the issue?  Your opinion, while important to you, is not important or helpful to solving this issue.

I want those that really do have good constructive input to provide it to the right people.  Can we say representatives and congress folks people?  Why are so many of us loathe to contact our legislators????  THIS IS WHAT THEY ARE THERE FOR PEOPLE!  Don’t say: “They never will read my e-mail.”  This isn’t true.  They have staffs that are assigned to do this.  The will read it.  But what they will not promise to do is vote the way you tell them to.  They may not even respond to your note.  But they will read it.  If you have a suggestion – SEND IT.  It just may be the thing your legislator needs to start a constructive discussion.

I want the rich, that frankly have had a super easy ride the last 8 years, to look at their rate of taxation as compared to the rates of taxation in other countries.  You have more.  You should be willing to support more  – and this is coming from someone that is moderately well off, thank you.  One only need look at: http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/250.html to see the top 1% of the wage earners in the US pay 40.4% of individual income taxes.  Sounds high doesn’t it?  Consider this though: the minimum AGI one must have to break into the top 1% of earners in the US is just above  $410,000/yr.  At the US’ highest nominal tax rate (35%) this would mean these folks have $266,500 left over to spend not considering other deductions like Social Security and other hits to income ($410,000*.65 = $266,500).  Even if the other hits took out $66,500, the person would still have $200,000 to spend as they please.  Remember, this is ANNUALLY and it is the MINIMUM needed to hit the top 1% of earners.  Doesn’t sound so bad any more does it?  Also remember these are the folks that have accountants that likely find ways to further decrease the amount of taxes these folks are paying.  So it is very likely they are actually paying 25% or less in taxes.  Lastly, please don’t tell me taxing the rich would affect the amount being “reinvested” in the country.  The last year of stock market performance shows these “reinvestors” will pull their investment out so fast it likely will make the markets to “fall down - go boom.”  To the rich in the US:  Stop whining and enjoy the fact that you have fared better than 99% of the people you see in your every day life.  Pay a little extra to build a good health care system.

I want the insurance companies to VOLUNTARILY abstain from lobbying their legislators on this subject!  There is no other industry that is more detrimental to providing good health care for everyone.  When the conservatives of the country started talking about “death squads” I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and chuckle.  Time and again the insurance companies REFUSED to pay for treatments that could have been the difference between life and death for a patient.  They had loop-holes in their policies that allowed them to refuse payment.  I don’t see how this isn’t exactly the same thing.  The result was the same thing . . . they just let the person die.  I’m not talking morals, I’m pointing out that we already have a form of death squad, so why are we worrying about another one?

I want us to come to a solution that we all can be proud of and that will move us toward a better healthcare system.

The real crime in this scenario is the fact that many forgo treatment because they can’t afford it and in some cases skipping the treatment or drug can decrease life span.  My own parents are a case in point.  Recently, my mother, who for years has had severe issues with the nerves and muscles in her body, fell and hit her head because she thought my father had a hold on her.  Once my dad realized my mother had fallen, he rallied my brother and they both were able to get her into the bed.  (Yes, they moved her.  I know – bad idea.  They have since been coached to do otherwise.)  In the mean time she was bleeding from where she hit her head and was having waves of pain running through her body from the fall.  It was then my brother an father started arguing over whether an ambulance should be called!  Why the argument?  Dad’s insurance doesn’t cover the ambulance call and he thought he could avoid paying the fee by taking her to the hospital himself – if he and my brother could get her out to the car.  I don’t blame my father - limited funds require you think this way all the time.  I’m very thankful he thought this way when I was growing up.  But when it had to do with the health of the family, I wish the situation would have allowed otherwise.

Let’s review:  mom falls, hits her head and bleeds from the site, hurts her hip and is yelling in pain each time she moves and dad is considering finances.  What is wrong with this picture?  There is a lot wrong with this picture!  If we truly had a health care system that worked, the cost of an ambulance call wouldn’t even enter dad’s mind.  This is a guy that served his country and worked very, very hard in a factory until he retired and now he gets to wonder whether he should call an ambulance when his betrothed is in pain.  Wrong, wrong, wrong!  How can we treat those that helped build this country this way?  THIS is what tells me we MUST reform health care.  No argument will sway me otherwise.  (They did eventually call an ambulance after my brother called me and I told them to call because they didn’t know what mom might have hurt.  Mom got stitches in her scalp and apparently wrenched her hip joint really well – but did not crack her pelvis.  She seems to be on the mend now)

While I despise the thought of government run health care – the US government does very little well and those things that it does do, it does at such an expense we should constantly look at ways to insert efficiency into the process, I cannot get around the fact that our health care system doesn’t work well for all of our citizens.  Don’t get me wrong, big government is not something I’m a fan of by any means.  But, I cannot stand idly by nor can I say that if I happen to earn more than others that I shouldn’t pay more into the efforts to bring all good, comprehensive health care.  Right now, not everyone gets the health care they need and that is not the way I want my country to treat its poor, elderly or veterans.  We can and should do better.

Mr. President – Who is it?

With the news of the two journalists released by North Korea making headlines today, I couldn’t help but hear the sound bytes from the press conference held in LA.

First I have to say I am glad these journalists are back home and are with their families.  I can’t imagine what they had to go through and I wouldn’t want to go through even 20% of what they have over the last several months.  Honestly, I think most every citizen of the USA would never, ever want to trade places with them.   (You can read about their release and their return home here:  http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-08-03-clinton-nkorea_N.htm?poe=HFMostPopular&loc=interstitialskip)

While I know much of what was said by these journalists today might be due to exhaustion, extreme emotions and stress, some of what was said kind of bothered me.  What is it that did this?  It was their reference to former president Clinton as “President Clinton.”  Yes, Bill Clinton WAS our president years ago, but he no longer is our president.  Again, I know this might be due to the stress these folks were under, but they are not the only guilty party here.

Over the last several months I have heard time and again people referring to former presidents and even our current president incorrectly.  Bill Clinton should have been referred to as “former president Clinton” in this case and in any case where Bill Clinton is being formally referred to.  The same would apply to George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter.  Each is a FORMER president.  Referring to any of these men as “President” is an insult to the current sitting president and should not be done, unless you wish to honestly insult the current sitting president.

Now, let’s address the issue with President Obama.  Many times I have heard Barack Obama (which is proper because it is his name) referred to as Mr. Obama, even after he was elected to the office of the President of the United States of America.  Referring to him as “Mister” is absolutely improper.  Once it was determined that he had won the office, he should have been referred to as President-elect Obama.   And once he was installed, he should be referred to as President Obama, not Mr. Obama.  He was Mr. Obama before he was elected president but he lost that title once he was elected president.  And after President Obama serves  his term or terms, he will then be referred to as former president Obama.

So quickly: A person elected to the office of President of the United States is referred to as “President-elect [last name].”  Once this person is installed and is currently serving in the role, they shall be referred to as “President [last name].”  Once they have served their term as president, they are then referred to as “former president [last name].”  This concept is neither difficult nor obtuse and I fail to understand why so many folks can’t get this right, and on national TV no less.

Maybe I’m being unforgiving . . . but I’m almost positive I’m not the only one that has noticed this.

Lastly, for those of you that do this correctly:  Thank you!

BP

Judiciary Committee’s Approval of Sotomayor

Today the Senate Judiciary Committee approved judge Sonya Sotomayor as the next Supreme Court justice.  (Read MSN’s report on the vote here:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32176010/ns/politics-white_house/)  My first reaction to this news was “What’s the big deal?”

Jaded you say?  Why yes, I’m pretty jaded when it comes to much our government does, especially since we have for years been operating under a two party system that is set up to keep other parties from gaining any headway against the two major parties (republican and democrat for those of you that follow political issues less than I do).  But even as I kind of dismissed such news, I realized there was a kernel of news worthy of a short post . . . read on.

The committee, not surprisingly, voted to confirm Sotomayor along party lines.  Hmmmm, how many times have we heard this in the past 10 years????  No, I’m not blaming a party here.  I’M BLAMING BOTH PARTIES!!!  It makes me sick that our governmental system is set up to absolutely squelch any “free thinking” by any elected senator or representative.   This structure, completely circumvents the reason our fore-fathers tried to set up a governmental system that allowed our federal government to be a “melting pot” of opinions – a melting pot that allows the better solutions to percolate to the top of the morass of noise being proffered by split-0ff and myopic subunits.  No – - – instead we get you are either one or the other and not anything in between.  Bull pucky!!!  There are far more of us that are in between than are polar in our opinions and that is why I feel the “Repub-ocrat” government we have doesn’t truly represent the majority of us in the USA.

I must also note here that there is one incredibly bright spot in this particular vote and that is Senator Lindsey Graham’s vote to confirm Mrs. Sotomayor.  Here we see the one and the ONLY ONE senator that has the guts to look at his party and say ‘Look, I think for myself and my constituency.  You can vote the party line, but I’m going to vote my conscience.’  So it is with this in mind that I say “Bravo Senator Graham!  You are one of the only people representing folks in this country that I would even look at when it comes to voting for a national representative.  Thank you for truly THINKING about this particular vote.”

Please, if you disagree with what I have said, retort!  But if you do, you should also do so with references to why you feel my opinion and thoughts are wrong or at best, require some adjustment.  I welcome your comments.

BP

Barack Obama’s Citizenship – What?

Today I happened to see a clip of a lady going nuts on camera about Barack Obama’s citizenship.  She was claiming that Barack Obama is not a citizen of the USA much to the frustration of the Mike Castle, who is trying to have a town hall meeting.  He even goes so far to refute her insistence that President Obama is not a citizen of the USA.  You can see the video by going here:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/vp/32067291#32067291

So let me get this straight.  This person (the lady in the video) believes there has been a conspiracy to place Barack Obama as our president and the proof is the fact that Hawaii will not release his birth certificate???  Um.  Have you never heard of privacy laws lady??  Birth certificates are the epitome of privacy documents and once a spurious person gets their hands on it, might lead to the depletion of the owner’s finances and the seizure of their identity.  Governments should not go about willy-nilly giving out birth certificates because anyone requests them.   No wonder the certificate isn’t freely available to everyone.

Honestly, this seems like a blatant attempt to draw attention away from getting good things happening in our government.  As I sit typing this, our President is giving his 4th evening news conference and is addressing the things we would expect our President to:  Health care and the economy.  There is no doubt that some are out there chewing on sour grapes.  I’m betting these “sour grapes” people want to distract us from what is important in an effort to make current efforts seem like a failure.  Why?  Becuase if there is success, if Barack Obama does help get the economy turned around, they will have to reconcile the fact that the person they did not have faith in can actually be effective.  Where has our ability to accept a path that we are not exactly in alignment with gone?

Over my voting life, I have voted and many times had my presidential candidate lose.  Did I start looking for ways to make the winning candidate look bad?  No.  Did I agree with more than 30% of what the candidate chose to do?  No.  Did you hear me complaining loudly about it?  No.  True, I did discuss my opinions amongst my friends (Who doesn’t?), but I did not try to usurp a town hall to create my own show and to further publicize something that isn’t even news . . . that isn’t even TRUE.  Don’t believe me?  Read about it on Wikipedia here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_citizenship_conspiracy_theories  And yes, I know Wikipedia isn’t the end all and be all of factual truth.  So look here if you are still questioning this:  http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/barackobama/a/obama_citizen.htm

Why not ask the question: If Barack Obama has been placed in the presidential office by some grand conspiracy, to what end does the placement serve?  What is he going to do to the USA that is something worth creating such a scene???  Might he start a war in a country that is nothing short of a monarchy because there is a bad man in control of the country?   Oh, wait.  We’ve already been there, so that can’t be the motive.  Maybe President Obama is shuttled to his office by a bunch of rich folks so they can restructure the tax law to their advantage.  Could that be it??  Um, probably not, since some of the funding for the healthcare bill will be a hit to the taxation of the rich.  Why would they put someone in office that would take more money out of their pocket?  Could it be that he is there to help flood the USA populace with Arabic citizens?  What?  Some of you say yes?   Then open your eyes folks.  We have had Arabic migrants turned citizens for years and we currently continue to have Arabic people migrating to our shores.  If you believe this, then you are not paying attention to the current trends in who is becoming a citizen of the USA.  What I believe is this is a stretch to find something to hold on to that will allow you to convince yourself that Mr. Barack Obama didn’t win the election free and clear (don’t get me started on hanging chads from years before – a stolen election, if I have ever seen one)

I guess what I’m saying with this post is let this stupid, insane and irresponsible conspiracy theory die!  The information driving it is all false and it wastes the time we all should be using to try to find ways to get the economy back on track and to getting our country, the United States of America, back to a well respected, well liked and well managed country.

BP

Obama’s Approval Rating News

Today MSN ran a story about what Obama’s approval rating is and how his approval rating among Democrats has dropped almost 10 percentage points as compared to last month (read story here:   http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31983839/ns/politics-white_house/)

Oh come on people!  The man has only been in office approximately six months!  True, six months is equivalent to 1/8 of his term, but let us examine why several people in the article said they were less impressed with Obama . . . People are less impressed because there hasn’t been enough change in the economic downturn since President Obama took office.

What does this say to me?  It says that 10% of Democrats are flighty and belly-aching.  I’m sure some of these folks are looking for a job.  Well I have been (though slowly) since March and I’m not at all ready to give President Obama a negative approval yet.  Please, someone from this 10%, reply to this post and bless us with your wisdom.  Tell us why you think President Obama hasn’t made enough of a difference with our economy?

Careful there!  We all must remember changing how vibrant our economy is takes time and a steady and consistent approach.  Not only must our government shuttle cash to the right places, change interest rates and adjust how available cash is; time must also be given for these adjustments to make an impact.  There is absolutely no doubt influencing the economy takes many months, if not years.

We must also remember financial rescue dollars were doled out by the Bush administration and those dollars appeared to me to have virtually NO effect on the economy at a macroscopic level.  I believe the Bush stimulus ended up padding the pockets of financial CEOs and their cronies and I’ll admit that it apparently did keep the financial system of the USA from grinding to a halt.  Unfortunately, I didn’t see anything but an economic decline during the Bush stimulus package spend though.

Could it be that some of what this administration must deal with is bad spending of the first rescue package by the previous administration?  If yes, then correcting these bad decisions takes attention away from making sure the current stimulus is utilized correctly on new efforts.  It would be very presumptuous of anyone to assume we should see a change in our economy from either stimulus package before the end of this year.   Yes, I’m hopeful, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

All of us need to take a dose of patience and we need to weigh how we view the success of these stimulus packages carefully, especially if we are asked to comment on this publicly.  A nay-saying attitude only begets more worry for everyone dealing with this economy (which is actually all of us).  If you want this economy to turn around faster and if you want these stimulus packages to make an impact sooner, take a position of optimism and give President Obama the benefit of the doubt.  If we see no change to our economy or even a further decline in our economy by mid 2010, then I’ll be the first to say I’m disappointed in our leadership.  But for now, we’ve all got to do what we can to bring us back to a growing economy.  Stop the nay-saying and have some patience please.

BP

The passing of Michael Jackson

Sorry people, but I have to comment on the item I just saw on TV being offered to the public . . .

There is now a Michael Jackson limited lithograph being offered by the American Historic Society for $10 and is limited to “30 printing days.”  Please don’t misconstrue my thoughts here.  I too have oodles of respect for Michael Jackson’s skills and vision.  He was truly an amazing talent.  This post is NOT specifically about Michael Jackson’s life.  It is about what has occurred since his passing.

Why this commercial (Here is a link to the commercial:  http://www.mjlitho.com/index.html?directLoad&uid=E301A47731E14BB9E98A895825C493CB&campaignID=14953)  caught my attention is it smacks of “We’ve got to get these things printed and sold while his death is fresh in everyone’s mind.”  And to me it almost borders on taking advantage of the demise of a great man.

It disturbs me that someone in the American Historic Society most probably thinks that this lithograph honors the memory of Michael Jackson.  I’m not sure I would see it this way.  First of all it is a lithograph of pictures that were taken for publicity or an album cover.  For lack of a more refined way of describing this $10 offering, I’d say these lithographs are nothing more than posters, nice posters maybe, but posters none-the less.  Let’s think about this . . . a man that had a net worth of tens of millions of dollars is immortalized by posters.  I’m prone to think that this is not how Michael Jackson would have preferred to be remembered.

Actually, I want it known now that if I ever become famous and I pass away, I do not want to be immortalized in poster form.  And I’m pretty sure I would haunt the person responsible for creating the poster, if this actually happened!  I don’t have anything against posters.  Even I had the requisite Farrah Fawcett (sadly, another great person that has recently passed away) poster when I was a young teen ager.  But I don’t think something that one can win by shooting water into a plastic clown’s mouth honors the memory of a great person.  The least the “Society” could have done would be to have contracted with an artist to recreate the picture in an artistic manner; either in pen and ink, an enhanced painting or something of the like.

My second point is this seems to be nothing more than people trying to make a quick buck.  I find this unsavory and quite disrespectful.  Yes we are a capitolistic country, but this somehow crosses a line for me.  I’m curious to know whether there are others out there that find themselves feeling the same way.  Maybe the question should be: Is it appropriate that we begin marketing items honoring a remarkable person almost immediately after their death?  Let me and others know what you think.

BP

Electronic “Service” Plans

Hi folks:

Yes, yes.  I know it has been months since my last post.  My apologies for that.  My laptop was recomissioned and finding a comfortable and conducive place to write wasn’t happening until recently.  Again, I’m sorry.

Actually, it was the very event of buying a new laptop that brings me to this post.  Like many, I’m a sensible shopper and I watch for sales, especially when I realize I’m in need of something new.  This week, the numbers finally made sense to me and so I moved on a deal listed by a retailer that I will not name.  The name of the company does however relate to an item that is used to hold sheets of paper together.  After working hard to save the various coupons, rebates and gift cards I was able to get about $360 off of the sticker price for the laptop. 

The remaining part of this post needs to be framed by the following:

1. I’m not by any means a professional secret shopper.
2. I have a marketing degree and I understand that much of what I discuss here could be construed as some form of “marketing.”‘
3. I cannot fault anyone for wanting to make a buck – I love capitalism and I’m happy I live in a country that is governed by it.
4. Nothing in this post is meant to describe anyone involved as stupid, idiotic or unintelligent.

Now back to the story . . . I walk into the establishment and request the laptop.  This then generates some activity from the worker I’m interacting with.  He has to go into the store room to pull the item I’m buying.  On my first attempt, we start ringing up the laptop and during this brief interaction I was asked about a number of options like a ’super-duper, neato, keen in-store setup and virus protection’ and the opportunity to get an “Extended service plan that will replace the laptop regardless of what happend.”  I know there were more options to try to pump me for more money, but these are the two that stuck in my mind.  I politely decline these and proffer my coupons and gift cards and we then find I have neglected to use one of my gift cards (a $75 one) early enough.  ”This gift card expired at the end of June sir.”

Ugh!  This is one of my pet peeves with gift cards and you should look for a future post on this subject.   How can a company give you credit for money spent and then say “Well, after this date that money isn’t yours any more?”  What a huge pile of goat dung!

Anyway, I tell them to hold the laptop because they only had three on hand and I knew the deal they were advertising was one of the better ones I have seen in recent memory.  I knew I had another gift card at home and now I had to use that one.  I had hoped to use the back-up card on any modificati0n I’d like to make to this laptop – like upgrading the wireless functionality to Draft “N” capability.

Later in the same day, I returned to the store and once again requested the laptop.  Again they had to go to the store room, wich took at least 10 minutes this time.  Once the box has been brought out we once again go through the “Sir, would you like to get the Extended Service Plan?”  And yes, all of the other options were once again offered.  Frankly, it was frustrating and it was patronizing.  The clerk, who by the way was at least 20 years younger than me and probably knows much less about PC/laptop hardware than I do, continued to press me with things like ‘These things really save a lot of regret when the frequent accident or technical glitch happens.’  Even after a good stern look from me, I got a couple of more comments from the young man on why these glorified insurance policies were just the bee’s knees.

Granted the set-up of your PC can be annoying to some.  There are a lot of prompts to answer and registrations to deal with.  So I can see where some folks would want the set-up service.  I also understand folks that make large investments into their technology wanting to protect that investment and maximize the “up time” they have.  So in some very limited cases, I understand the utility of the extended service plan.  But I’m in neither of those camps.  I can easily handle my own PC set-up.  After all, all you do is follow the prompts and instructions given when you buy the unit.  Additionally, if I can handle upgrading my memory or changing my wireless hardware, I’m more than capable of troubleshooting most issues with the unit.  I really don’t need a technician to help me.  And if something happens within the first year of ownership – the PC maker will be on the hook for helping me through the issue again, IF I need the help.

My beef with this whole process is the fact that the young man selling me the machine couldn’t take a hint.  I was very clear that the laptop, and only the laptop was what I wanted.  I didn’t need any plans or services outside of someone getting the box for me when I came to purchase the thing.  Please look at your customers and guage whether you need to pull out your “hard sell” techniques.  If this guy had done so, he would have wasted less of his and my time, which would have made him a BETTER worker.  He would have then been able to move on to someone that would have purchased all the flippin’ plans and services they offered.

Please don’t tell me that these folks are “incented” to sell these plans.  I know that and I know they make extra money this way.  So to me, their constant selling is nothing short of asking me to give them an extra fiver.  This seems to border on begging when you get a clerk that pushes over and over the extended service plan route.  I don’t like extended service plans for the vast majority of the purchases I make and those that I have purchased have never paid off.  I’ll offer up the GE refrigerator I have as an example.  This refrigerator stopped providing water and ice within the first six months of ownership and several (on the order of 5-6) calls were made to GE to get a repair person out to the house to fix it.  Guess what?  GE never came out to the house and the refrigerator, 6 years later, still doesn’t provide water and ice.

So even when a product is in warranty and you complain multiple times you still don’t get the service you really should be getting.  Yes this is another issue and another opportunity for a blog post.  So I won’t go into the “getting home service for a broken unit” subject any further.  But I must say it works the same with these extended service plans.  The companies that offer these plans are in business to find a way to NOT provide you the service they supposedly sold you when you bought the policy in the first place!  It is how they make their money.  These plans are simply an insurance policy on a microscopic level.  Now let me ask you this: How many insurance companies do you know of that don’t work to try to find a way to not pay out when a claim is made?  (BTW – I have nothing against insurance companies – we all should know what we are getting when we buy the policy, including loopholes and exeptions)

I’ll close with the whole point of this post – the way we are sold or marketed these products is horribly poor, condescending and nauseatingly annoying.  I would be thrilled if those of you who are of the same mind as me start your electronics purchase interaction with a statement of: “I’m here to buy a new [fill in the blank], but you must know that if you try to sell me an extended service plan during this interaction, you will lose the sale at the moment you or any other person in this store offers it to me.”  If we all do this, maybe these companies will get the message that not all people want to waste their time saying “No.” multiple times during our efforts to buy the item we want.

Purchase wisely!

- Badpenny

Rescue Package – Who you Kiddin’?

Hi folks.  I know it has been a long time since I’ve written.  Real life and work has taken me away from my own ruminations on the current state of this world.  Alas, life requires attention at times.   Sorry.

I have to write on what has commonly been called “the bail-out” but folks let us not forget that the efforts of our federal government have NOT been singular.  Both the Bush and Obama administrations have ponied up our money to ‘keep the USA up and running.’  Not only should the decline in the economy be blamed on both parties, but I fear we are going to be able to blame both administrations for throwing, no, pissing away good money after bad.  Let me explain.

We have for years allowed the dumbest of the dumb-arses to run the corporations and banking systems of our country.  Here we have written mortgages for not just 100% of the value of the home, but these dumb-arses wrote mortgages for 125% of the value of the property.  In essence, on a $100,000 home, these companies were handing over $25,000, without any backing or collateral.  Now ask yourself, would you just hand thousands of dollars to someone you barely know in the hopes of getting paid back with interest???  Literally, these banks only knew a credit rating on these folks and consistently, year over year, lowered their requirements for credit to write these loans.  So one year you would have to have a credit rating of 700, and then the next they would “stretch” the requirements down to 675.  This means not only were they writing unsecured loans but they were requiring less and less creditworthiness as time went by.

Even a high-school educated person could tell you, THIS WAS BAD BUSINESS!  This was as bad, if not worse than the “cigarettes aren’t harmful” line from the tobacco industry.  Yes, one took and still takes lives in horrid and family destroying ways.  But both defeat the person who made the bad decision to take a loan that was too great for them to handle or who decided to start smoking in the first place.  Whether it is life or the ability to live life, both should be protected by having businesses in our society that are not predatory and damaging to the customers they are supposed to be “serving.”

And don’t get me started on the US auto industry.  For years and years and years the US auto industry made vehicles that were of far less quality and were completely milquetoast from an aesthetic perspective.  What did the CXOs of these auto companies expect the public to do?  Did you expect them to spend their dollars on something that they didn’t like the looks of and that they would likely have in the shop within the first year of ownership?  Were you smoking peyote?  Marijuana?  Taking too much OxyContin?    And while we are thinking about this, where was the research and development the US auto industry used to do to differentiate their vehicles from the vehicles from other countries?  The last cutting edge auto technology I remember being a US developed auto technology was anti-lock brakes.  How long ago was that?  15 years?  Any idiot knows that if you are in an established industry you have to constantly innovate lest you be left behind and dry up like a maple leaf in the fall.  Geez I can’t believe these industry leaders had the moxie to actually sit in front of our legislators and say: “We need more money to keep our doors open.”  And how much does the average line worker make in the US auto industry????  $70,000/year?  I don’t fault the folks working on the line.  They have every right to negotiate what they can get for building a vehicle.  But I DO blame the big wigs that buckled under the pressure of a union that years ago priced themselves out of the market.

 

Now for the crème de la crème . . . 9 out of 10 of these industry leaders are STILL IN THE POSITIONS they held when they ran the damn companies into the ground – no – ran these companies so far into the ground that the flames of hell licked the balls of every single employee in the company!  And here we all sit, reading this bit of neophyte writing, as we shake our heads and say “This is a farking load of crap!” 

Well yes!  You are right.  We are putting up nearly $4 trillion to “rescue” these companies AND we are handing it over to the exact same people that pooped on the pristine white carpet in the first place!  I can’t believe our government really thought these are the right people to bring us back around to a vibrant economy!  I’m pained beyond anything I’ve ever known about this governmentally sponsored program.  There is no way I would have voted for either of these packages unless all boards accepting bailout cash were disbanded and were reformed with a maximum of 25% of the folks that ran the company in the first place!  (You’ve got to have a small portion that knew how things worked before)

Then there is the issue of being able to tell us where the cash went.  There are banks that have literally said ‘Even if we could tell you where the money went, we wouldn’t do so.’  WHAT?????!!!!!  These people would be put in jail, if I were in control.  Did it go to a golden toilet?  Did it get used to butter the bread of an incompetent, totally out of touch with the reality of a regular Joe, pompous dolt?  Was it used to pay for an off-site retreat to figure out how much more you can screw the public of the USA while we are vulnerable and willing to grab at what appears to be a life-ring; a life ring that has no more substance than a smoke ring blown by a life-long smoker?

The only comfort I can take from this situation is we will have to meet our maker at some time and I’m wondering where these people will be in the line – if they will even get to the line at St. Peter’s pearly gates.  Maybe and I say MAYBE these people are just a tick below Bernie Madoff.  All of them should have to make restitution for what they have done to the people of the USA.  We can’t get them out of these positions fast enough!  Write everyone – even the dead – and let them know how much you find these rescue packages just as much fun as a colonoscopy without the drugs!  To those of you that do . . . Thank you!

This Is Not Just a “Stub of the Toe”

It’s September 15, 2008 – historic in one very specific way.  Wow!  It has been AGES since I’ve made a post to my blog, yet alone the first entry to a new blog!

Why the sudden need to write?  I’ll answer that question in a moment.  First let me qualify what I mean by the “historic” adjective I just used:  I’m not sure this day in history truly will be noted in the history books as important as Black Monday or The Great Depression, but for the financial market in the United States of America (reminder – more than one “United States” exists – respect the sovereignty of all of them by using the full name of my country when you refer to it) this day held some particularly nasty news.

For a good recap of the happenings that occurred on the USA’s stock exchanges click here: http://www.reuters.com/article/usMktRpt/idUSN1530561520080915.

The essence of the crap that hit the fan today was the bankruptcy filing by Lehman Brothers AND the acceptance of a woeful offer by the Bank of America to buy Merrill Lynch.  While the younger set of the populace might read this blog entry and comment: “So?”  Those of us that are 30 years old or older will, at a minimum, raise an eyebrow to this news.  For nearly all of my life I have known these names as the bastion of the banking and securities market.  These company names would have conjured up the words “secure” and “respected” in most middle-aged adults’ minds before today.

For those that are still reading and don’t follow the financials market, let me draw a parallel: This is like finding out Proctor and Gamble has filed for bankruptcy AND that Levi Strauss has been sold to Abercrombie and Fitch for pennies on the dollar.  Frankly, I can’t understand how any financials share-holder wouldn’t feel like the child that received a stocking full of coal on Christmas morning when they expected a new Nintendo Wii!

This bad news sent the USA’s markets reeling, adding not just “salt,” but also a measure of pure Hydrochloric acid to the wounds of the USA’s financial markets.  Young savvy investors feeding from the market’s 10-Qs, 10-Ks and news releases in the hopes of scoring a double or triple return on their investment, middle-aged mothers and fathers trying desperately to put enough money back to put their children through college, while leaving enough to actually retire and the retired elderly continuing to be dismayed by the piteous performance of their retirement investments; all investor classes have been completely perplexed as they watched their heard-earned money disappear.  It is my opinion that all of these people have been completely duped by people who should have never, ever been put in the positions they were in.

Oh sure, it would be terribly easy for me to do exactly what many, many others will do: blame the current government of the United States of America.  This is a cheap shot and it doesn’t really get at the meat of the matter, so I’m not going to do this.  What I will do though, is ask for everyone reading this to contact their representatives and the President of the United States of America imploring them to do something about preventing this from ever happening again.

Don’t think that a single person’s entreaty can’t make an impact.  Frankly I think discounting this part of the democratic process is heinous and a lazy cop-out.  Look.  Is it not true that regardless of the sum of the denominations of the bills you have in your wallet or purse, the total dollar amount still is a multiple of pennies?  Then the same applies to writing letters in an effort to affect the democratic process.  The pennies in my example equate our letters to our legislators.  Until our legislators get enough pleas on their desk (pennies), they don’t pay attention to the issue.  Every single letter makes a difference.  En masse, our letters compel our elected officials to react.

Never mind that I could have predicted these events more than 10 years ago when I was a branch manager and loan officer for a Mid-west bank.  When I first heard banks were writing 80% loan-to-value (LTV) first mortgages at the same time a partner bank was writing a 20% LTV second mortgage I knew something was going to go South sometime in the future.  As time went by I heard about 110% LTV mortgages and even crazier still, a few years later I discovered companies writing 125% LTV loans.  Each of these finance companies were depending on the “assured” appreciation of the home the loan was written against.  Even with my admittedly less than stellar financial markets understanding, I could tell transactions like these were firecrackers with short fuses.

The old saying goes ‘The only sure things in life are death and taxes.’  I think this leaves out one factor that we all are made painfully aware of throughout our lives.   Why didn’t someone add “change” to this old-fashioned posit?  There is nothing in life that we can assume will never change (I’m talking non-spiritually here).  Statisticians will tell you that the longer something stays exactly the same, the chance change will occur continues to go higher and higher.  Obviously, at this point in time, this applies to the real estate market.  The absolutely %^(%^&(* thing is, this is all history.  We can’t waste time or effort crying over something we can’t change.

What our legislators must do is ensure laws are written to minimize the amount of risk any financial company is allowed to take on.  The government of the United States of America should monitor all of the companies involved in the financial transactions that occur in this country.  Deregulation is part of the problem here, but so too is the lack of good fiscal responsibility within these companies.  Lastly, I think the lack of repercussion for such white-collar frivolity is at least 50% of the problem – but first the fundamental regulations have to be written and passed before the repercussion can be applied to the guilty parties.

What form do I think the repercussion should take?  The courts of the United States of America must charge the management and boards of each of these companies with any law that they can currently be prosecuted with.  Any person with the title of President, Executive Vice President of Finance, Board Member, CEO, CFO and investment officer(s) should be prosecuted to the maximum extent of the law.   Why the boards of these companies????  The board is the “check” or “balance” to the power the CEO and other officers hold.  The boards of these companies didn’t do the job they were supposed to do and I bet, in some cases, the board encouraged the irresponsible behavior they should have been keeping in check!  All of the company big wigs outlined above should be fined enough to take them down to a financial net worth equivalent to the lowest of the middle class members of our society.  Liquidate their houses; confiscate their boats, cars and bank accounts.  Put them in the same financial straits they have placed many of their investors in.  Utilize the proceeds from these fines/penalties to solidify the company they ruined.  No executive should be able to say “I still did ok.” as a result of their callous disregard for their shareholders’ interests.

Actually, this is one of the exceedingly rare cases where I believe retroactive application of any new oversight law should be considered.  I firmly believe jail time should be an element of the punishment these people receive.  Just as Ken Lay learned from his complete and utter disregard for practicing good accounting practices at Enron, so too should these fat cats at the top of the banking/mortgage/investment market.  Folks, we can’t let these folks just walk away from the mess they have made!  Do we want our children or grand-children to experience the exact same thing?  Write your senator, representative and anyone else you think might help us make our point in Washington D.C.!

The Ice Just Got Thinner

I’m sorry – but the fact that George Bush announced more moves to sure up the financial markets doesn’t do anything for my faith in the economy right now.

As I have said before, I knew we were doing REALLY stupid things in our financial markets years ago.  We’ve seen cracks in the economy over the last year, but I in no way believe we’ve seen all of the financial failures that are to come.  The USA’s financial markets depended on continuous growth and we, the USA’s public, are now paying the price for over-loaning and over-building.  Geez!  Why couldn’t the government see this was going to happen?  As much as I liked and understood Alan Greenspan’s gesticulations during his time leading the Fed, I have to wonder whether he left because he had a president that wouldn’t listen.  So many times our president has been nothing but a reactionary president rather than looking at the indicators years ago.  I have to wonder whether he is either too lazy or too unsophisticated to understand the analyses that we all know had to cross his desk.  Scary!

Saying that the Fed is now going to insure money market funds is something we should probably not be doing.  Because most of the money market funds are nothing more than a mass volume, diversified purchase of stock, there is hardly more than a petite amount of decreased risk for the holders of the fund.  Many times money market funds are focused on a particular sector of the market.  If we examine the market and the different sectors of the market over time, we will notice that stock market sectors ebb and flow in sympathy with each other; thus my belief that risk is only moderately decreased for money market funds.  If we are going to insure money market funds, then we might as well insure single stocks, which would open the door to insuring just about any financial instrument.  Before, cash was cash (savings, checking, CDs), but now we are beginning to walk down a path that may truly put billions of tax payer dollars at risk.  Not smart in my mind.

Please don’t misunderstand me.  It isn’t that I think action isn’t necessary.  I just think we are focusing on the wrong thing.  The government is focusing on how to fix the issue, but not on what caused the issue in the first place!  Yes, lets fix the problem and strengthen the markets any way we sensibly can.  But I also want to see at least one legislator saying “I want these guys’ heads on a platter!!!!”  In this case “these guys” are the leaders of the companies that have completely screwed their customers.  There are some fat pockets walking around that should be thread-bare.  Their money should have been seized by the government to help offset the losses their customers took.  But what our administration is doing is saying “How can we spend more taxpayer dollars to help fix this issue?”  Hear me Mr. president!  The public of the USA is not a magic piggy-bank.  We cannot continue to provide the fat cats of the country insulation.  LET THEM TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR ACTIONS!

Please, my fellow USA citizens, now is the time for a peaceful revolution!  Make a noise!  Discuss this issue with everyone you know.  Write, call or visit your representatives and make sure they know you want the financial markets to take responsibility for their completely idiotic, unscrupulous raping of the public of the United States of America!  Push, push, push as hard as you can to get them to understand that we know what they are doing – using us, using our tax dollars, to clean up a mess we should never have had in this country.  If they will not commit to holding folks responsible, then you must strive and struggle to understand why your representative feels they can’t make an impact.  Let them know the result of their non-committal position is the loss of your faith in their ability to represent you and your family in Washington.  What do I mean?  No commitment = no vote.  Make an impact, PLEASE!

The Palpable Pall

There exists a truly nasty, nearly gelatinous pall oppressing almost every person I know, made evident to me since I have started posting my thoughts to this blog.

While some of my friends believe this whole debacle started many years ago – going back to the Wilson and Roosevelt administrations, laying the blame squarely at the feet of the Democrats over the last dozen or so administrations.  Other friends see this as the fault of the Republican administrations because the Republican administrations took advantage of every possible loop-hole over the last dozen or so administrations to pad their pockets rather than try to moderate effects of the socially-sustaining structures the Democrats put in place.

Neither of these positions is driven by absolutely pure, completely unbiased research.  We all see what we want to see and we all discount what we want to discount.  This doesn’t imply that any of my friends didn’t think through or completely consider as much as they could, the alternative viewpoints to their own.   My friends are some of the most brilliant people I know.  And I DO NOT say this because I worry about disagreeing with my friends.  They are good enough friends to disagree with me 100% and still remain great friends.  I say this because I think none of us can possibly determine where all of the blame for this financial ca-ca should originate.  What we succeed in doing when we do try to find the source is we make ourselves feel better.  But this better feeling doesn’t help us solve the issue sitting in front of us now.

Maybe the current administration’s proposal will solve the problem and maybe our economy and financial markets will stabilize.  If it does work, bully for all of us.  But there is no way anyone can convince me the way this “rescue” was done, was done right.  The people of the United States of America should not be shouldering the burden of bailing out incredibly bad business decisions made by a few rich and privileged people.  If the people of the United States of America are to pick up the pieces simply because the economy of the country would come to a screeching halt if something weren’t done, we should then have the satisfaction of seeing all of the executives deemed responsible for lending money on nothing be called out and punished.  We should get to see them relegated to places in history equivalent to mediocrity, if not something less.  Their assets should be locked down and used to help rescue the companies they gutted on their whims.  They should have a criminal record that prevents them from ever being in a position of power in any company, including one they would form on their own.  The citizens of this country should never have to worry that this person could repeat the same feat again.  The government should ensure the executives responsible both didn’t profit from and never will profit from the results of their poor decisions.  They should never, ever be considered “rich,”  from an asset perspective, for the rest of their lives.

String-‘em-up!  Tar and feather them!  Let them suffer as much possible!  It will never be enough to equate to the suffering they have caused the people of this country!

Beauty is Only Skull Deep?

As a change of pace, I’m going to write about a commercial that I saw for the first time a couple of days ago.  This commercial is, from a computer graphics perspective, quite elegant and well done.  But for some reason, when I first saw the commercial I had a kind of icky feeling.

The commercial starts out with a single (as in one), rather lovely, young, brunette lady staring out of the screen at something unseen.  As the seconds tick by, her mouth begins to curl into a smile and the camera begins to pan to her right side.  Then, as more of the side of her head is visible you realize that most of the back of her head is missing.  Finally as the 180 degree pan finishes its sequence, you see that the back-side of her head is really a stage set up for what appears to be a pretty rockin’ concert.  Then a splash of X-Box 360 comes up on the screen and the commercial ends.

I get the point of the commercial – that X-Box 360 will unleash your ideas and imagination.  The take on doing that is unique and interesting.  But I’m pretty sure the commercial elicits this “icky” response from me because the picture of a beautiful person with the back half of their head missing while at the same time there isn’t a brain in the space shown, makes me think on some subconscious level that the commercial is showing a dead person as a fantastical, fun and enjoyable thing.  Or, it is simply a response from my brain on seeing a hollow head.  Don’t get me wrong, I love imagination and I lament the fact that as an adult I’ve had much of my imagination beaten out of me or the same has been replaced by something more “utilitarian.”  But I can’t get past the haunting thought of that picture – the picture of the lady without ½ of her head.

Am I the only one in the world that has found this commercial at a minimum odd and at a maximum disturbing?

Mr. Paulson, We are not Stupid!

Yesterday Henry Paulson gave a little ground by telling the House Financial Services Committee:  “The American people are angry about executive compensation, and rightfully so,” He went on to say: “Many of you cite this as a serious problem, and I agree. We must find a way to address this in legislation without undermining the effectiveness of the program.”  See more of the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/business/economy/25cong.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Really?  So we should hand over BILLIONS of dollars to save the economy because hundreds of millionaires couldn’t tell the difference between a good and a bad credit risk?  We should do this through legislation that won’t affect the bail-out plan as it stands now?  Mr. Paulson, you are completely unaware of how many people in the United States of America really understand what this plan is going to do:  As these erstwhile respected companies fail or move into an insolvent position, these same irresponsible, immoral, completely out-of-touch with reality, market rapists get a “golden-parachute” pay out of millions.  I find Mr. Paulsen’s position, one that is blatantly protective of his “Skull & Bones” or Illuminati cronies, exceedingly unsavory.  The protection this plan offers ensures the silver spoon, the 120’ yacht and the 30,000 square foot house stays in the possession of people that don’t deserve more than a bowl of Campbell’s tomato soup!  These are the same silver spoons, yachts and houses that the taxpayers and shareholders should benefit from when the assets of those responsible for this mess are seized.

Maybe I have been hallucinating the last 20 years, but the last time I checked, if I drive my projects into the ground I don’t get a nice comfy reward for completely failing!  What about you?  The last time you had a review at work did your boss say: “Well I see you have completely failed on every measure we have looked at and you have cost the company more than 100 times your annual salary.  Look, we don’t want you here any longer, but just so you have something to soothe the wound of the separation, we are going to give you 150% of your annual salary.  Have a good life.”  I suspect that none of us reading this have heard this.  So why do these privileged jerks get this type of treatment?  Why have shareholders allowed this to occur over and over and over?  Why are we allowing our government to even consider bailing these pecker-heads out?  It makes no logical sense!  Golden parachutes for CEOs, Executive Vice Presidents or any manager in a company should be made illegal.  No executive of any failing business should be rewarded for allowing the company to fail.  They are being paid to work and make good decisions on behalf of the employees and share holders of the company they are leading, not to say “Oh well. I tried.  Now give me my $15 million.”  If I were less sensitive to the readers I have I would state my response to this demand without changing the form of my statement.  But since I don’t know who might read this, I’ll say my response would be the shortest version of: ‘Go perform a genitally related, yet probably physically impossible act upon yourself!’

Mr. Paulson has also stated that he doesn’t believe it would be good for the government to take part ownership in the companies the plan bails-out because it would cause those in control of the sunk companies to hesitate in utilizing the benefits of the plan.  Well boo-hoo.  What do the taxpayers of this country get for the $700 billion we will spend?  A thank you from Billy Bucksquanderer from the deck of his boat while it is moored in Spain?  We all should say “Thanks, but no thanks.”  We, the folks that make up the poor through middle classes, have paid enough to keep the rich in clover.  Let them cry over their spilled milk and let them lie in the bed they made!  I’ll never say my tax dollars should be spent to bail out AIG, Merrill Lynch, Countrywide or any other company that made decisions an average high-schooler would have known was not well analyzed.  I’m ok when mistakes are made, but not when very obvious data shows the decision contributing to the mistake was made at a time when there was more than enough data saying the decision should not be made.  We should not bail out these companies and leaders without severe repercussions to the leaders, boards and companies.  Take ownership of the companies, lock down and seize the assets of the leaders and liquidate all of the personal assets to help bail out the share-holders and to keep the company alive so the employees might work to see another day!

Don’t get me wrong, a bail-out is sorely needed, lest our economy get even more unstable.  We are already suffering from a very weak dollar and an energy cost that has increased by more than 25% in the last year.  Bail out the companies with our tax dollars, but don’t even think about doing so without trying everything we can to minimize the amount of tax dollars used.  Go and get the money where it is right now – in the assets of those that ran these companies into the ground.  Mr. Paulson, we know what you are doing and we find your actions to be just another raping of the taxpayer’s money.  We do not approve.

Troubling Republican Information

I don’t have a lot of guile for any political candidate right now, but the more things I find out about John McCain and Sarah Palin, the more I worry that these two are the people the Republican Party hope will run my country.  I’m also troubled by the fact that some of my friends will have an issue with that I will say in this post.  To them, I’m sorry, but this stuff has been weighing on my mind for the last 24 hours and I need to get it out of my system.

True, Barak Obama and Joe Biden aren’t what I would call the greatest set of Democrats ever assembled, but I’m beginning to feel they are several shades better than the McCain/Palin ticket.  Let me explain some of the things I have heard/discovered over the last few days . . .

A good friend sent me this video about John McCain:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLWEDMLmjKk

In this video a fellow POW describes the John McCain he knew while they were both prisoners.  He talks about Mr. McCain’s temperament (even outside of the time he was held prisoner).  He talks about Mr. McCain’s cavalier attitude toward religion during the time he knew Mr. McCain.  While I openly admit this could be a payback from a slight McCain gave him years ago, I also realize he may be sincerely worried about his country and as a consequence he decided using the video was his way to provide his opinion to more than just his neighbors and friends.

In another instance David Letterman, who I proudly say is Hoosier born and bred, was slighted by John McCain providing him a personal phone call to tell him ‘I’m sorry but I can’t be on your show.  I’m going to Washington to help with the bail-out.’  Letterman then found that McCain didn’t leave New York and was indeed still in New York.  In essence, McCain ditched his appearance on Letterman, probably because he knew how popular he is with the demographic that watches Letterman.  But that doesn’t excuse the lie he gave Letterman for the reason he was blowing off the appearance.  Troubling.

Then, flying back to Indianapolis from Denver, I was blessed with a video clip of Sarah Palin participating in a “laying-on of hands” with a minister, Thomas Muthee, who apparently has a severe preoccupation with witch-hunting.  So much so that he has made trips to Africa to participate in “real” witch hunts.  While the laying on of hands isn’t damning in any way to me, the fundamentalism of a church that believes witch-hunts are necessary truly disturbs me on many, many levels.  The people we elect are supposed to represent the people.   Would someone who sits on the fringe of the Christian religion, who would be likely to have the same dogmatic, over-zealous need to save those who have gone astray, be able to truly impartially consider all the thoughts and opinions a leader of our country must consider to do a good job for our country?  What’s that you say?  ‘A vice-president doesn’t really make the decisions that set the policies of our country.’  Well, if Sarah Palin is elected our vice president, she will be just one heartbeat away from being our president.  Remember, John McCain is 70 years old.  And consider . . . the vice president we currently have was VERY influential in the policies set the past eight years; many of which should have never been made in the first place.

There are things I don’t particularly get all warm and fuzzy about with Barack Obama either.  His ties to Islam trouble me a bit.  His constant insistence that our jobs are being sent overseas also makes me think that he is ignoring the evidence that we truly are a large player in a world marketplace rather than an isolationist state.  Jobs being sent overseas are a troubling trend and I truly feel for those that have lost their jobs because the market demands inexpensive goods, but we as a country will do better spending dollars on retraining our workers, not on keeping jobs that may only stay here another couple of years.

All in all though, Obama and Biden are both far more in touch with the change that is needed for this country.  As a result, my advice to anyone that wonders who they should vote for, if they must vote either Democrat or Republican, I say vote the Obama/Biden ticket.  Why?  With an Obama/Biden win you’ll have a person in the White House that will listen to your thoughts and opinions.  What you won’t have is someone that is going to tell you how you should live your life or worship.

Let’s Hope we go to the Dogs!

One could ask me if I think I’m better, more informed, possess a greater understanding, am more learned or am more “in tune” with the world around me and I would steadfastly and confidently say that “No, I’m none of these.”  Frankly, I’m not sure anyone should be able to say they exceed the skills of another without a doubt.

Someone could argue by pointing out Olympians – those gold-medalists in any sport can say they are the best of those competing.  But honestly, they cannot say they are “the best in the world” because they really cannot know whether another human, one that didn’t compete, abides in a regular existence somewhere on the earth’s face.  Thus my reason for saying without doubt, that I’m no better than anyone else on the earth.

What I have to believe though, is that I have a very high level of empathy for others; others including humans and animals.  Time and again, I have experienced the depth of my empathy.  I’ve been in an emergency room and found that I began to pass out from watching someone getting an IV inserted.  I know I truly cannot watch a human or animal, especially a dog or cat suffering on a television without having a true and physical reaction to the suffering.  I literally feel a part of the pain each entity is experiencing.  Sometimes, it sucks.

I’m writing this post because I find the thought of dog-fighting to be reprehensible, so much so that I would treat the encouragement of such behavior as drastically as we normally punish rape and molestation.  In some ways, I find such encouragement worse.  Many people ask “How can someone even think of doing this with dogs?”  Then answer is quite simple: “It is all about money!”  Simply put, it is just another way to gamble in the hopes that you will come away a winner.  It is a microcosm of Las Vegas.  Think about this for a moment . . . the life, love and soul of a canine is sacrificed just so a person can dream of increasing their store of cash!  It is done simply because the people promoting the dog-fight think they are better than the animals they are pitting against each other.  For those of you that feel the same way as I do, please click on the following link to help fight dog-fighting and prosecute those that encourage it:  http://www.hsus.org/acf/fighting/dogfight/what_you_can_do.html

The other thing I’d ask is that we as humans consider changing our language a bit.  Many, many times we’ll label a particularly disgusting person as a “dog” or a “cur.”  I submit that we are complementing these people far too much by labeling them as such.  Over years and years and years, man has had a special relationship with the dog.  Why would we want to give these people such a compliment?  Why not call these people a “chigger?”  I can’t think of nothing more annoying and more useless.  The utility of a chigger is what we mean by calling someone a “dog!”  However, we use the word incorrectly because we don’t think of the myriad of ways the dog has been a boon to the human race.  So start calling people that you find reprehensible a chigger!  Stop downgrading the honor of the dog and increasing the standing of people that should be compared to the worthlessness of a grain of sand!  Please help me correct the off-the-cuff and inaccurate references to the most honorable of animals – the dog.

USA Polisicks . . . I mean Politics

 

Hey all.  Sorry I’ve been quiet for a few days – work has been a primary concern the last week.  Don’t misconstrue this comment – it isn’t because of the economic morass the country is in.  It simply is because I like doing a good job.  I have the good fortune to have really good people at the other end of what I deliver, which makes producing my best much, much easier.  The drawback is I tend to overwork.  Ah . . . each thing in balance I say.  Ha!  Ha!  That was funny.  I wish I could keep that type of balance.  Anyway, work has taken a lot of my time.

The other reason I haven’t written is the presidential race has completely turned me off to even thinking or writing about the race.  I’m desperately trying to find reasons to appreciate the work and sacrifices John McCain has made for our country.  I respect any person that has served our country in the military, much less dealt with the crap any Senator or Representative has had to deal with.  But each time I see the negative ads being run by McCain and the Republican Party, I find I’m unable to even consider the man as a serious contender for the position of President of the United States of America.  There is such a skew to these commercials that I ignore everything the Republican party puts out.  I will also grant that Obama and the Democratic party have done their share of negative campaigning too.  I don’t pay attention to these ads either.  This whole bollus of campaigning ca-ca is enough to make me ask:  “Are we not better than this folks?”

Look.  Whether we like it or not, we are still a world leader in many ways.  With such tactics being used in the presidential campaign, can we expect the other world leaders to take any candidate seriously after the election?  If it were me trying to weigh whether I should take the President of the United States of America seriously, I’d have some serious concerns.

 Instead of talking about the TRUE issues of the country, the USA public is forced to dig through layers and layers of complete bull crap to even begin to understand what each candidate really believes.  Then, after the election, we are forced to sit back and wonder whether we really did understand the issues when we voted.  In a strange way I wish we could completely remake the way we elect our leader.

There are many of us that will take the time to dig and weigh and consider all of the factors for each candidate; by ‘many’ I mean hundreds of folks.   The rest of the public (translate as MILLIONS) will listen to commercials, watch debates and review what the press in the United States of America puts out and then they will make their decision.  Thus our problem in this country:  the USA press.  No matter how carefully the press tries to report on what the USA’s candidates and VP candidates say publicly, a skewed presentation results.  Fox news, PBS, NBC, ABC, etc.: each and every one of these networks would like to think they are “neutral” or “unbiased,” but they aren’t.  Show me an ‘unbiased’ report and I’ll show you how it is biased.  Yes, some are better at reaching for unbiased, but none do it in a tit-for-tat form.

Then we have the VP candidates to consider on top of the presidential candidates.  The VP debate, in my opinion, was automatically unfair.  How can a fair debate result when you have a person that has barely managed the affairs of a moderate state (yes Alaska is large in area, but in fiscal totals it is nothing more than average) that came from a Mayor’s office debating against a very seasoned, erudite and practiced Senator.  How can this be fair?  There were times during the debates that Senator Biden used words and concepts that I seriously doubt Governor Palin even understood (Mullah for instance).  Add to this the slang terms Palin used during the debate, like ‘betcha’  -  as in ‘I betcha.’  And when referring to Alaska, she referred to her governed area as “up there.”  Up there?  Can Sarah Palin not muster the fortitude to refer to the state of her governorship by saying ‘Well, in Alaska . . ?’  Her use of pseudo-English made her sound arm-chairish and completely unprepared to debate or argue on the world stage.  With John McCain being 72 years old, I’m very concerned Sarah Palin could be representing all of us on the world stage.

If there are reasons why I should believe taxed healthcare benefits and direct-to-insurer payout of USA tax dollars shouldn’t be a concern for me, please comment on this post.   If there are reasons why I shouldn’t be concerned that John McCain voted as George Bush wanted him to, more than 90% of the time, please comment on this post.  If there are reasons why I shouldn’t consider John McCain a ‘hot-head, ‘ please comment on this post.  If there are reasons why I shouldn’t be concerned that Sarah Palin’s religious beliefs will influence her construction of public policy, please comment on this post.  If there are concrete reasons why I should consider Sarah Palin more worldly-wise than Joe Biden, please post a comment to this post.

I guess I’m asking all of those folks that are steadfastly for the McCain/Palin ticket to help me change my mind.  Tell me why I should change my mind!  Why is McCain’s plan a good plan for the USA?  Tell me how McCain’s plan will help balance the distribution of wealth in this country?  Tell me how the Republican policies of the last eight years haven’t ruined the economy of this great nation?  I’m open minded, but don’t approach me with refutational information if the refutational information isn’t true, confirmed and anything but hyperbole!  Show everyone reading this BLOG that you have done your work and have truly researched and looked for the truth for each point you are going to make.  I’ll thank each of you in advance for being conscientious in your serious and thoughtful response to my post.

BP.

A Thief in an Armani Suit

I bet all reading this understand the meaning behind the phrase: “He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”  Alas, it seems the vast majority of people on Capitol Hill don’t understand this over-used saying.  While the government has decided for us that we each need to spend approximately $2,300 per United States of America taxpayer, those we have “bailed-out” are left to decide whether they will do the right thing when offered huge bonuses or golden parachutes.

Case in point:  This last week Martin Sullivan, the former CEO of AIG, refused to give up his $5 million “performance” bonus.  Reader, realize the Martin Sullivan was the CEO that was leading AIG for the last three years; which is the vast majority of the years of the completely dismal performance for AIG!  And yet, while the company is twirling down the toilet, while the executives of the company are being called to Capitol Hill to testify before a government committee, while Joe Schmoe is getting up at 4:00am to go stamp out factory parts, this absolutely brain-less, moral-lacking, just a shade better than a child-molester, gets a $5 million bonus for throwing AIG away like a used diaper!  Mr. Sullivan, feel lucky that you live in a civilized society.  In lesser societies, you would have been shot the moment you walked away from your testimony.  Frankly, I’m not sure that isn’t what you deserve for having such a lack of moral fiber.

This is such an example of the inequalities between the middle/lower and upper classes in the US.  Let’s go back to Joe Schmoe.  Here is a man that probably has a wife and two kids, a small house, two cars and a good chunk of debt, some of which would be at 20% interest if a payment were late.  Joe works 5 days a week doing the same thing over and over.  If his mind or body suffers a lapse in judgment, the cost of the fouled parts get deducted from his earnings.  Joe will be exceptionally lucky to retire and maybe put one child through college.  If you’ll notice, Joe really does work in a pay-for-performance environment.  You make something right and quickly, you gain.  You make a mistake and you are dinged for it.  This is true “pay-for-performance.”  Giving someone $5 million for ruining a company is in NO WAY a pay-for-performance structure.  The middle/lower classes are required to own up to their performance.  But the upper-crust, the Martin Sullivans of the world, they seem to believe their performance shouldn’t affect how much they get.  In essence, they have made it to the insulated class, the class that predetermines their puffy-pocket benefit regardless of whether their efforts are successful.  My friends, there is nothing right about this structure in a capitalist or a fair and just society.

Martin Sullivan shouldn’t have even been given the choice to accept or refuse the $5 million.  It should have been forcibly ripped from his list of perks.  And don’t think I believe Mr. Sullivan is the only one.  I DO NOT.  I believe every executive from these bailed-out companies should have been forced to liquidate all of their assets after they were seized by the federal government.  Said liquidation would then get applied to the wounds of each failing company.  Each executive would then be given an average middle-class salary for their last year of service.  Then we tell them to hit the street.  They shouldn’t have had the job in the first place.  Why would we keep them as part of the company they ruined?

I imagine some people would say: “Aren’t you being a bit hard on the upper echelon of these failed companies?  Not all the blame rests on their shoulders.”  Are you serious?  Come on folks!  Do you think for even a blasted second these “upper echelon” movers and shakers would hesitate to do the same to us if they thought it might make it easier to pad their pocket?  Yeah that’s what I thought . . . that is exactly what they would do to us, if the tables were turned; if we were in control of a portion of the company losing so much money!  They have already done it to thousands of people every day!  Have you seen the lay-offs?  The redistribution of workers?  The lack of even a cost-of-living raise?  Do you think these companies, the companies that didn’t give their employees a cost-of-living raise, held back on the bonuses their upper management received?  Take a moment and read the news on Yahoo finance or E*Trade.  You’ll find they didn’t.  CEOs salaries and benefits this last year have been at the highest point ever.  Some have had salaries of greater than $10 million (What in the heck does someone do that is worth $10 million?).  The double-standard in this case is so disparate that most citizens don’t understand how all of their world works.   The poor and middle class game has rules and it has repercussions.  The game of the elites, on the other hand, is made up as they go along.  Unfortunately there is no fairness in this game.  We are screwed and they do the screwing.

It is people like Martin Sullivan that make our society morally bankrupt – the “I’ve got mine” approach to caring for mankind.  It is people like our Senators and Representatives that buy into the game by voting for a rescue package that didn’t punish harshly those responsible for it in the first place.  These Senators and Representatives show our government is just an extension of the upper class rather than a unit of advocates for the majority of the USA public.  It is your neighbor who doesn’t ever talk to or write their Senator or Representative that has contributed to this most heinous (and probably worthless) solution to a problem that was caused by a very elite few.  It’s the person that doesn’t vote because “my vote doesn’t matter.”  All of these people contribute to a structure that exists in a form that shouldn’t be allowed by our government.

Everyone, in an earlier post I stated it was time for a revolution and I feel even more strongly this is the case!  How can you sit there on your butt and allow the statement: “The richer a single person gets the less responsibility they have to take for their own actions” to be correct?  Even though we each are now responsible for paying $2,300 to bail out some rich person’s ass, we still should flood our Senator’s and Representative’s in-boxes with e-mails expressing our absolute anger and dismay at their acceptance of such a pack of BS.  A plethora of other measures need to be taken to ensure this will not happen again.

Our representatives should be working overtime to craft laws that retroactively punish those responsible.  We should have laws on the books that state a “performance” bonus is exactly that; if the company doesn’t make a profit during your tenure, you get nothing, nil, nada, zero!  And pay scales that grant more than 2 million in a year for an executive of a publicly held company should be outlawed.  No executive really “needs” more than this to paint the right picture of themselves for the public.  There are so many ways we can prevent the screwing of the little guy!  Why are we not doing it now????

Write, call or send smoke-signals to your representatives.  It will take all of us.  Please don’t assume your communication doesn’t matter.  It matters now more than ever!

Oh, and if Mr. Martin Sullivan ever reads this: “Shame on you Mr. Sullivan!  Absolute shame on you!”

BP

The Remarkable Election of 2008

Folks – I have never been more proud to be a citizen of the United States of America than I am this morning.

Having been raised in an environment where racism and bigotry were a part of my life at high frequency when I was younger and less so now, I’m amazed and edified by the results of the presidential election yesterday.  No.  This does not say that the United States of America is a bulwark of racial equality.  We have MUCH further to go.  There are still pockets, backward as they may be, that believe the color of someone’s skin or the twist of their DNA should factor into whether they believe a man or woman could effectively lead our country on the world stage.  But what this DOES say is we collectively are beginning to see past the skin and DNA factor; that this was “one giant step” for the collective psyche of the citizens of the United States of America.  I’m very moved we have reached this milestone during my lifetime.  Wow!

Not only am I proud of our choice for our president, but I’m also proud of the way the honorable Senator, John McCain delivered his concession speech.  His speech was poised and gracious.  For me though, this was one of the first speeches I’ve seen him deliver during this campaign that seemed real and heart-felt.  His congratulations to the Obama/Biden campaign felt almost like a “You did it!” and Senator McCain’s tribute to Obama’s grandmother was touching and authentic.  Maybe this observation, that Senator McCain never seemed comfortable speaking in the campaign, is a part of why he and Mrs. Palin lost.  I didn’t feel his conviction through his words, until last night.  I didn’t see one moment of relief or acquiescence on Senator McCain’s face, until last night.  I didn’t see realism in his speaking . . . until last night.

No doubt, I have much respect for Senator McCain.  I can’t imagine the hell he went through as a POW.  I can’t imagine giving my country as much of my time and effort has he has given.  I can’t imagine having the energy level to run a presidential campaign at the age of 72.  Senator McCain is not party myopic, as many of our elected officials are.  Yes, some say he was in lock-step with George W. Bush 90% of the time.  But I realize, and we all should realize, Senator McCain was and is NOT a blind voting machine.  The man thought about the measures he voted on.  For voting his thoughts and conscience; this alone deserves all of our respect.  Then add the formidable physical and mental strength of the man and you have the makings of a person that represents the greatness of the United States of America. If we were a nation of John McCains, I firmly believe we would be an unstoppable force.  This alone however, was not enough for me to feel he deserved my vote.  Sadly, I can’t say a lot positive about Mrs. Palin.  She is charismatic, yes.  But beyond charisma, I see very little to allow me to think she would ever be the right person as either the President or Vice President of the United States of America.

Barack Obama has a HUGE, looming bolus of issues to deal with, even if the Bush administration somewhat successfully mitigates the financial meltdown we have experienced over the last two months.  If it were me, I’d have moments of panic, anxiety, fear and cries for help.  Addressing the difficulties we have with Iraq and Afghanistan alone would make a person pause for a head-shake of disbelief.  Beyond the ability to have these feelings and then get past the feelings to really get the right minds together to solve these issues, President Obama will also need to have the cool head and the fortitude to address a myriad of world leaders to begin to solve the active insurgencies in both of these countries.  I have no doubt he can do this and do it with aplomb and skill.  I’m not sure John McCain’s temper would have allowed him to be as successful as I feel Barack Obama will be.

Many in the financial sector say that President Obama will have to play a centrist role.  Maybe yes, but maybe not.   I like thinking of President Obama’s plans on taxation not as centrist, but more of moving the taxation of the USA public much closer to a balance of taxation between rich and poor.  We have for too long lived under a taxation structure that minimized the taxation of the rich and placed far too much of the taxation on the lower-middle class and the poor.  We all know that putting more money at the top of the pyramid doesn’t translate to an even distribution of wealth down and through the pile.  Think about how most responsible consumers utilize their bonus dollars . . . Yes, a bonus prompts spending, but 99% of the time some of the money is held back to ensure there is cash for a future “hard time.”  The stimulus effect of lowering taxes for the rich only minimally affects the investment in utilizing the massive amount of productivity that rests in the lower and middle classes.  However, if the taxation is moved to the rich and business sectors of the populace, which frees up some dollars for the lower and middle classes, you get a larger flow of dollars through a greater number of the entire population, which is a better way to get dollars flowing.  Through this type of spending we get a greater diversity of purchase, which is precisely what drives a larger demand for more people to make or service more things.  This was mainly my reason for providing Barack Obama my vote.

I could go on and on with more reasons for why I voted the way I did, but time and reader attention span demands I stop now.  Please, I beg all citizens of the United States of America; do what you can to help make the next four years a successful and fortunate time for ALL citizens.  If your taxes will rise, I’m sorry.  But please look at the fortune you DO have and then consider: Is the new level of taxation REALLY too cumbersome or is this just something you don’t like?

Thank you, the people of the United States of America, for taking a leap on the diversity continuum!  Thank you John McCain for being so selfless with your life and efforts and for such a beautiful concession speech.  Thank you to all people that have and will rally around the future President of the United States of America: Barack Obama.  Oh, and thank you George W. Bush for leaving office on January 20^th.

BP

Why So Squeamish?

A few nights ago, I was doing some late night work.  When I work late at night, I oftentimes have the TV going with some type of mindless cartoon or comedy program like South Park, Family Guy, Futurerama or King of the Hill.  I find these programs provide the short, sound-bit humor that can make a person chuckle without fully drawing my attention away from the work I’m trying to get done.  On the occasion I’m writing about, it was probably 12:30AM and I happened to have South Park on.

I can’t remember exactly where I was in my work that evening, but what I do remember is something that makes me think the “decency” sensors in the United States of America have gone too far.  In the South Park episode I’m referencing some of the characters are at Cave of the Winds in Colorado.  During the cave tour, the tour guide points out a stalactite that they have named “the mushroom.”  The stalactite in the cartoon though, is blurred out.  Obviously, the object in question in some way must have resembled a part of the male anatomy.  Those of you that know South Park, know that any number of times during the show a cheap shot at humor will be taken.  This was just one of those times.  Frankly, with South Park, I kind of expect this level of crudeness.

Now, this brings me to what I stated earlier: the censors in the USA have gone overboard.  I can’t begin to tell you the number of times items in everyday life resemble a part of the anatomy.  From the nose on “Joe Camel” to the Washington monument, just about anything can be mentally contorted to resemble something sexual.  Have we gone so far protecting our children that we must censor something that jokingly, yet unmistakably resembles a penis at 12:30AM?  Are we making much ado about nothing considering the more we restrict and shelter our children from all things sexual the more attractive that same subject becomes for the child?

Remember when you were a kid?  Most of us can.  Do you remember when Mom or Dad said: “Don’t do X!?”  Don’t you remember a little part of your brain started wondering why you were not supposed to do X?  Oh sure, you assumed something bad might happen to you if you did X, but you had to find out for yourself.  I got cuts and bruises and I earned some regrets from doing what I was told not to do, but that is how a kid/child learns.

Years ago, when a boy would swim at the “Y” he would swim naked (many families couldn’t afford a swimming suit) – and the kids thought nothing of it.  I don’t see where this caused huge amounts of exhibitionism or wanton sexual abandonment for said generation.  Actually I see the opposite.  During these times, teen age pregnancy was a rarity and I’m betting a “flasher” back then was a turn signal on your car.  But now that we have squelched, censored, sheltered and cocooned our children from anything sexual, we are seeing results that folks two generations ago would have said are unconscionable.

The human body is what it is.  Some parts are for building, some parts are for thinking and communicating and some parts are for reproduction and private pleasure.  Rather than shelter our children from the pieces and parts of life, we should be teaching them of the responsible ownership of the pieces and parts they were given.  We should not sensationalize nor should we completely shelter them from all items sexual on TV.  The Swedes have had much more graphic TV for years and their society isn’t falling apart.  In fact, by many measures, Swedish society has much on the ball when compared to society in the USA.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a nudist and I don’t enjoy the thought of being nude in public.  Nor do I want to see nudity all over my television.  But censoring something because “it looks like a penis” in a show that is known for such crudeness is going too far.  It is making mysterious something that we shouldn’t be making mysterious in the first place.  What’s next?  Will we start bleeping legitimate words like knob, breast, prick and hole?  Come on people!  Get over yourselves!

Have we learned nothing from Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit?  How many more years will we have to go down this path before we see the wisdom in less censorship and more responsibility for the parent(s)?

 BP

Always Respect your Elders – ALWAYS!

Ok, it has been more than a week since I’ve experienced the heinous disregard for respect that I experienced.  I thought, ‘Well . . . if I wait some time and if the feelings I had at the time ebb, then it wasn’t really an issue worth blogging about.’  My feelings did not ebb.  Sorry.

It was during the half-time break at the Colts/Ravens playoff game that I experienced one of the worst displays of disregard for the respect one should have for those who are elders.   Though I know the subject that must be addressed in this blog is uncomfortable for some readers, I have to explain the scenario to make the point I need to make.

As one would expect, Lucas Oil Stadium, like many other stadiums, does not have enough urinals to handle the influx of bladder distress during half-time.  Therefore, lines form behind each urinal as men try to relieve themselves in the short window of time provided by half-time.  It was during this time I experienced a (and I use this word extremely loosely) “man” heckling what I had to assume was an octogenarian who was trying to relieve himself.  (It sounds funny.  Trust me, it was not.  It was painfully embarrassing.)

The man said, and I quote: “You’ve got to be kidding me!?  10 minutes!  What is going on with this guy?”  Ok, I understand that someone who had consumed a good portion of beer might really need to pee.  Hell, I would probably need to pee.  But there is NO WAY, regardless of how drunk or bloated I was, that I would heckle a roughly 80 year old man that was having an issue peeing.  I would have moved to one of the other 10 lines behind urinals that had youthful folks in the line.

Not only did this man loudly chastise a man that was trying to enjoy a football game, but he continued and said “I think he is dead.” loud enough for everyone near me to hear it.  If you were 80+, would you want to hear that behind you while you were trying to take a leak?  It was painfully embarrassing and someone should have kicked the heckler in the nuts!  As I said before, there were at least 10 other urinal lines that the man could have moved to, but no.  This baboon had to heckle an elderly gentleman.  How “big” or “adult” is that?

I was taught to respect my elders when I was young, and that phrase really hit home during this experience.  We all will be elderly some day, if we are lucky, and we will have the health problems that go along with aging.  I should have chastised the man.  I should have punched him in his stupidity-spewing gob!   If I were a bigger man myself, I would have.  But I didn’t.  I honestly feel ashamed I did not say something to him like:  “Shut up you ass!  The man is doing the best he can.  Do you think that will never happen to you???  Change lines already!”  But I did not and I have suffered for it since it happened.  I still feel bad for the man.  If anyone reading this ever experiences something like this, and you have the guns to do something about it, do me a favor – deck the guy!  He deserves it in spades.  Thanks everyone for letting me get that off my chest.
If you are the man that was taking to the elderly gentleman (Section 145 at Lucas Oil Stadium) then I value you as much as I did the dog turd I stepped on during my walk downtown.  If you are the elderly gentleman that was heckled – I apologize for the fact that the Neanderthals were allowed into the stadium to experience a Colts playoff game.  Please do not let this brain-less baboon’s words dissuade you from coming to another Colts game.  If I have to, I’ll give you my seat.

Thanks for reading!    BP