Archive for March, 2008

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Democrats seem intent on losing a presidential sure-thing, don’t they?

For many years I have been proud to call myself a Democrat. As a student of history, I decided that the Democratic Party, at least since the days of FDR, represents most clearly the “progressive,” “pro-people” approach to government which I believe is the right and the best way to run a country. (In my more “liberal” or “progressive” moments, I think I’m probably closer to a Socialist than just a liberal Democrat. That’s a whole story I won’t get into right now.)

The Republican Party, on the other hand, seems to be to have been pretty much “bought out” by the idiotic bunch of people who’ve called themselves, or been labeled, or both, “Neo-Conservatives,” or “neo-cons.” I cannot abide the smug, self-righteous, people-hating, hurtful, downright “silliness” that I hear spouting from the neo-cons. But, anyway, all that isn’t the point of my “rant” here.

The purpose of all this is to say: Why on earth does the Democratic Party seem so intent on losing the presidential election? Which is exactly what I think they’re going to do if Barack and Hillary don’t end this silly campaign and find a way to unite the party. Again today, I’ve seen some recent CNN polls (I think it was CNN?) indicating a substantial percentage of the registered Democratic voters surveyed will NEVER vote for either of them, but will vote for Sen. John McCain instead.

No, that doesn’t adequately explain the survey. Let me try again. Something like 19 percent surveyed said they would vote for McCain if Obama is the Democratic candidate. Something around 25-28 percent (that may be wrong; I don’t recall the exact numbers) said they would vote for McCain if Hillary is the Democratic candidate.

What a sorry mess. We have a country mired in a war in Iraq which we never should have started, we have obscenely large budget deficits because the Republican president doesn’t comprehend the basic idea that you CAN’T cut taxes while vomiting money into an obscenely large Defense budget and a multitude of other government spending. (He’s created, in my mind, a quaint counterpart to the old “tax and spend” adage Republicans always threw at Democrats. In Bush’s case, the phrase is “cut taxes and spend anyway.”)

Given all that, the Democrats should be a walk-in for the White House. But my best guess? If they pick Hillary, McCain wins in a landslide. If they pick Barack, McCain wins anyway, but probably in a closer election.

Cynical? Yup. As I mentioned last week, I probably am going to vote for Ralph Nader. Or stay home.

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Good old John McCain — trying to sound as much like a Democrat as possible

I just read that Sen. McCain, in a foreign policy speech, says America must not use it’s “great power to do whatever we want whenever we want,” but instead must “listen to the views and respect the collective will of our democratic allies.”

Remember back in the “glory days” of the Bush Administration as we ramped up to invade Iraq? Remember the flurry to tackle all those nations of the world out there who were urging us to step back and proceed with caution? Remember when “French fries” not-so-tongue-in-cheek were called “American fries” as a matter of patriotism?

Those were the days when all true patriots (by zealous neo-con standards, at least) knew America not only could rule the world and do exactly what she wanted — but was pretty much obligated to do that.

People who suggested then that America should show the sort of wisdom and restraint McCain spoke in this speak were labeled unpatriotic at least and liberal Democrats at worst.

Well, good for John McCain — if he means what he says. What I’m discovering, however, with John McCain, is that he’s perfectly eager to tailor his words to fit whichever group he’s trying to woo at the moment. Sounds like a politician, doesn’t he?

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Are body lights right for you? Another trend that leaves me in the dark

I was looking around the Internet at some odd or “novelty” fashion trends for some research I’m doing. I am well aware of the more prudish (??) stuff out there such as plain old lingerie and ho-hum (??) things like body stockings.

But body lights?? Blinking body lights at that???

Where have I been while the world of high-tech LED lights has taken such a bizarre turn and come up with body lights? As I understand it, they’re tiny little LED lights in a vast array of shapes, colors, and sizes — mostly tiny, mostly blinking — which can be fastened to your body and/or scanty clothing via magnets, hooks, or something.

Okay, I was kidding about lingerie and body stockings being “ho-hum” or “plain old anything.” A lovely woman in alluring clothing/costume certainly catches my eye — and I’ve been very happily married for more than 40 years. But what I’m having trouble imagining, really, is the use and appearance of blinking body lights. And the truly most bizarre blinking body lights I saw were teeth or mouth lights.

Sorry, but it simply made me cringe to see the animated video on that website. It was a close up of apparently a young lady’s mouth as she smiled and her teeth and the inside of her mouth glowed and blinked rapidly on and off.

Enough for me. End of discussion. Feel free to light up your body and blink away. In America, I’m proud to say, we allow freedom to do that. But just blink somewhere else and not around me, please.

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Once upon a time I really CARED about the 2008 presidential election — but now??

I’m sitting here listening to the tug of war going on right now over the Democratic presidential candidacy. I’ve simply gotten to the point that I’ve overloaded on politics and politicians.

Take the Democrats for example. Between Obama’s efforts to speak and double-speak to get around his former pastor’s ranting and Clinton’s “mispeaking” to dramatize her Bosnian trip by injecting non-existent sniper fire, I’m more convinced than ever that they’ll say or do anything it takes to be president. So, let’s also look at the Republicans. John McCain, who spent years standing against torture tactics based on his experiences as a P.O.W. in Vietnam, stood on the floor of the Senate a couple of months ago and urged rejection of a bill that would forbid and/or halt torture tactics by the C.I.A. Few saw the hypocrisy in that, but I did.

What are we left with? We’re left with a reality about our country that we try bravely to ignore or reject: People running for the presidency are at a point in their lives where they will indeed say or do anything to anybody anywhere to become president.

I’m convinced of that. I’m so convinced that I cannot honestly say I think there is ANY good choice for the presidency.

As it stands now, I’ll probably either 1) vote for perennial independent candidate Ralph Nader, or, 2) simply not vote for a presidential candidate this election.

I’m someone who has voted in every presidential election in which I have been legally able to vote. My first presidential election (the minimum legal age to vote back then was 21; I was 21 that year) was 1968. I’ve voted for Republican presidential candidates twice over the years and the rest of the time for Democrats.

But this year … ?

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Easter Sunday — musings on a special day and what it meant to me and my family

I’m not trying to get preachy or sermonize here, but this is a special day for my family, Easter Sunday, and this particular Easter has been very “up and down” for me.

On the upside, church was really encouraging for me this morning. We’ve never been among people who get up before sunrise to attend special church services on Easter. And, no, we didn’t do that today. But I did make it to church this morning for the first time in a couple of weeks, and it was encouraging to hear the timeless truths of Jesus’ death, burial, and RESURRECTION all over again.

On the downside, I started the day by accidentally ripping a towel holder off the bathroom wall. Not as disastrous as it could have been — I didn’t damage any shower faucets or anything spectacular or plumbing related. Just extremely irritating.

On the upside, we live in a country where we can find quick, easy access to so many consumer goods that it’s almost ridiculous, even on Easter Sunday. We stopped at a nearby W*l-M*rt Big Box Store and found a very cheap, durable, hook-over-the-door towel holder that’s more useful than the one I broke.

On the downside, I discovered our wise (?) friends (??) at Google shot down the PR rating on one of my blogs for very unfair, unreasonable, uh, reasons. I won’t go into the details, but that move is going to eliminate a large chunk of my monthly income. Nevertheless, I won’t give up all hope.

On the upside, my son came by for a visit just a while ago and he and my wonderful wife, Shirley, managed to lift my spirits after the Google slap. Life will indeed go on.

And, finally, also on the upside, we had a few minutes after church to visit with our wonderful daughter who doesn’t get by as often as we’d like. Her life’s going well, she’s looking good and feeling good, and she’s doing some mighty important work with her life — far more important than my lamo efforts at blogging.

So, tally for the day: 4 upsides and 1 small downside, 1 BIG downside = Overall, a pretty upbeat, good day.

How about your day? Tell us about it.

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Wheat prices, oil prices near all-time highes — no wonder it costs so much to live

Waaaayyy back in the Dark Ages — okay, it was actually 1991 — I had a small amount of money to invest in an obsession I had developed. Wheat futures contracts, I thought, were the name of the game that would make me a fortune.

If you don’t understand commodity markets, commodity brokers, and all the rest, you only need to understand two things to figure out my sad tale: 1) commodity futures trading has no limit to the down-side, i.e., you can lose far more than you put into the “investment,” and, 2) see number 1.

I bought one (yes, only one) wheat futures contract when wheat was trading for, I think, $3.58 a bushel. I had heard rumors and even learned the rudiments of reading trading charts (big mistake) and was pretty sure we were entering an all-time bull market for wheat futures.

I was right about the bull market part. Within four days, the price had shot up, I don’t remember how much now, but it had shot up enough that I had made $350+ profit on my lowly little wheat contract. Of course, looking back on the next three months, I see I should have held onto that single contract then sold it about three months after I’d bought it. I would have made something over $2,500 or some other ridiculously huge (at the time) profit figure.

Nope. I was caught up in the whole buy/sell commodity futures craze. As sure as addicted gamblers are spanked and humiliated by the casinos, I was broken and shamed by the wheat futures market. I simply couldn’t stop trying to reap daily and weekly profits so I got caught up in repeatedly buying and selling, hoping to “guess” the next big up or down turn.

My downfall came when I had to leave town on a business trip. I promised my good wife not to have any wheat trades open during the trip. But, hey, as it happened I was headed to Chicago for a week — and I would be able to actually visit the gallery and watch wheat contracts trading at the Chicago Board of Trade: Mecca for wheat futures traders. I couldn’t resist the fascination of buying two contracts and watching the prices move while I was actually there to see the pits and the boards and all that stuff.

But after I placed my order, I was pulled away for a conference I was required to attend.

By the next morning, wheat had taken some big plunges. Later that next day, wheat plunged again. I wasn’t watching all that because I was busy with the business trip which took me to Chicago.

We lost almost $3,000 on the wheat futures market that week before I could straighten it out and get out of the market. Since I had started the week with only something like $1,800 in my trading account — can you say, hello loan company.

Today, I see that wheat is trading around $10.74 a bushel. Wow. With $10+ wheat and $110+ oil, is it any wonder the economy is in the tank? Think of how all that impacts the cost of a loaf of bread and getting that loaf to the store to sell it.

Maybe this time, when I get fleeced by wheat, corn, oil, natural gas, etc., I’ll have to borrow money again. Only this time, instead of borrowing to pay off terrible investing decisions, I’ll have to hit up the loan company just to put groceries on the table??

Ah, well, what do I know? I’m just a guy who reads the papers.

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No matter how they spin it, Obama’s campaign has a problem over sermons

There was a blog excerpt in our local newspaper today in which the blogger (not a local blogger) tried hard to explain that Obama can’t be held accountable for the extreme ideas of those with whom he associates. THEY are accountable for their expressions of hate or whatever, not Obama.

Strictly speaking that blogger is right. But — the case of inflammatory, even hate-filled remarks by Obama’s pastor of 20+ years, that doesn’t work. Pastor Wright is someone Obama has called his spiritual mentor. At the very least, he was the spiritual leader where Obama spent a good deal of his life and listened to a great number of sermons.

It’s unfortunate that this whole mess has surfaced. In real life, I’m sure Barack Obama, a duly elected and very courageous, active U.S. senator, has no agenda involving hatred toward America, toward white people or any ethnic group. It’s insane to attribute the hate-filled statements of Pastor Wright which are making the rounds via media and Internet in any way to Obama.

At the same time, the average person seeing and hearing any of those videos cannot help but wonder 1) exactly how has 20 years or so of sitting at the feet of this “spiritual mentor” affected Obama’s attitudes and behavior, and, 2) how is it that Obama only distanced himself from these remarks and videos AFTER they hit the media and the Internet?

As for the first point — we cannot begin to know that any more than we can know how the various pastors and spiritual leaders in ANY candidate’s life had truly shaped that candidate. As for the second point, I’ve read at least one online source which says Obama started the “distancing” process a year or more ago, but that it wasn’t a big issue in the media at the time.

What will happen to Obama’s candidacy? Who can tell at this point. Should the inflammatory remarks by Pastor Wright have any serious influence on Obama’s run for the presidency? Certainly not any more than John McCain’s acceptance of Pastor John Hagee’s endorsement for his candidacy. Which is not to say the two situations are the same, though they certainly are similar.

We have this major flaw in our presidential selection process in America: We cannot really decide whether we’re electing a president or a First Moral Leader. In some elections it becomes a big problem, others not so much.

Should be interesting to see which position we’re holding an election for this year.

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OOPS! My mistake on the meat thief story earlier today

I wrote a post about the restaurant owner who clubbed a potential meat thief with a ham, driving the would-be crook away and getting his frozen meat back. The problem, however, was that I placed the incident in ENGLAND, when actually it happened in Gloucester, Massachusetts, NOT in England.

So consider this a correction. But, hey, I was only a few thousand miles, a different country, and a different culture off. Other than that, I had it right.

Okay, so maybe next time I’ll get it right.

How about it — do weight-loss supplements work? What works for you?

For those of you who know me, you know I’m an Old Balding Fat Guy. No getting around it, I’ve struggled to lose weight all my life. For those of you who don’t know me — I’m still an Old Balding Fat Guy, and, no, I’m not getting ready to tell you how a particular weight loss “magic lotion or potion” helped me lose 30 pounds in 30 days while I continued to stuff doughnuts down twice a day. Nope. That doesn’t work.

I’ve read about a ton of weight-loss products, from SlimFast to Orovo detox, from the scrambled eggs and stewed tomatoes diet my grandma put me on three days a week when I was a kid, to popping six safflower oil capsules a day and exercising vigorously when I was a teenager. (The eggs and tomatoes really weren’t that bad; the safflower capsules were tasteless and the exercise did me good.)

So what do you think about weight-loss supplements? Have you tried any? Did the work? I’m just curious about this because every time I turn on the television for a newscast, it seems like there’s something going on about the latest how-tos for losing weight or now-we-must-or-we-all-die prophecies of doom about American obesity.

What works or doesn’t work? Tell us about your experiences, please.

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Meat thief halted by ham to the face — those Brits know how to have fun

This is an amusing, sort of, story about an attempted meat theft in England. You can read the details here, about how the restaurant owner hammed it up and foiled the bad guy.

Apparently, the thief, arms loaded with 20 pounds of frozen meat — two bags of linguica, a prosciutto log and a ham — takes advantage of the lunch rush and cruises out the outside cellar door of this restaurant in Gloucester, England. But the restaurant owner, no chump himself, knows he’s the only one who should be going out that door. Racing to the street, he sees one of his waitresses returning from break. “Who’s that guy carrying the meat down the street?” she asks her equally puzzled boss.

When the restaurateur cornered the guy, the guy swung the 5-pound, frozen solid log of prosciutto above his head in a threatening way, so the restaurateur slammed the guy in the face with the ham.

End of theft. End of story. (The police never found the suspect. He apparently is still on the lamb — I mean, lam.)

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