JACK's HEART CONDITION

A week ago, Jack complained about his ear hurting. He has had four or five ear infections over the last three years. Pam called Kaiser [https://www.kaiserpermanente.org/] to get an appointment.

Kaiser has been our "Health Insurance" and Medical provider for almost ten years. Regardless of your opinion about HMOs or Corporate Medicine, Kaiser does a really good job. When Pam was pregnant, Kaiser tested her and monitored her progress unlike anything I have ever seen. The entire pregnancy and delivery cost $100 and it was Great Care.

Jack usually goes to see a Pediatrician. Pam got an appointment with Family Medicine with a Doctor we had not seen previously. I took Jack to the appointment. I expected it would take five minutes and we would get a 10 day supply of "Bubble Gum Medicine", the Pink penicillin in liquid. We got there and saw the Doctor immediately. They did the routine checking of Jack's weight and temperature then a quick check of his heart and lungs. The Doctor turned to me and said, "HAS HE ALWAYS HAD THIS HEART CONDITION"?

I have never felt the pain of having a child with a serious illness. Parents who have kids with cancer break my heart. Nothing on earth is a painful as having a child with an illness you cannot fix. You are helpless and as a father, inadequate. I almost fainted. No, Jack has never had any problems with his heart or otherwise. I stood there helpless. I asked, "Are you sure"? Dr. Tan said, "Here listen to this." I put on the stethoscope and listened to Jack's heart. Sounded loud with a swishing sound. Dr. Tan said that sound was a Heart murmur. She ordered an Echo Cardiogram and sent us out with the Bubble Gum Medicine.

Pam tried to set up the appointment for the Cardiogram. Kaiser said Jack needed to see a Cardiologist prior to the test. To me this sounded like a STALL technique and I insisted on the test. This led to several disagreeable phone calls in which I reminded everyone that Doctor Tan had ordered a TEST and NOT a Consultation. My last phone conversation included the threat that ..."if anything happens to this little boy, while we wait for this test, I will hold you personally responsible for acting "Against Medical Advice" of the ordering Physician." I was upset and pissed off. I was worried and Kaiser seemed to be stalling the test.

On Thursday, Kaiser called and said they would do the test Friday morning and we could see the Cardiologist next week for the results. I had won my argument to have Jack Tested. We went to the Hospital Friday and each of us worked real hard to make it as easy and unimportant as possible. During the test, in the dark, Pam cried and hid it from Jack.

Today, just a few minutes ago, Doctor Loo, the Cardiologist, [where do all the German, Irish and English Doctors practice?] called to say we did not need to come in for the Appointment. He had read the Cardiogram and looked at the film. Jack's heart was normal and the sound we heard was normal among children under 10 years old.

You never know how good things are until they change. I love this little Boy and I am so happy he is well....5 more days of Bubble Gum Medicine to go.

THE ONE PARTY SYSTEM

How much do we, as a nation, spend on the Post Office? NASA? AMTRAK? The Dept of Commerce? Best guess, it is over $300 Billion per year. Add to this cost, the cost of a pointless 10 year War in "Effenstan" and you can quickly see a way to save a Trillion dollars. The question is, Why isn't there a politician or party willing to support these cuts in government spending? The answer is the ONE PARTY System. Politicians are there to vote to spend money with their "friends" in Big Business. Nobody wants to cut spending because nobody gets paid off when we DON'T spend money.

Almost Daily I hear that President Urkel is a "socialist" or radical liberal. I am amazed at the way people view US Politics. There is really only a ONE PARTY system in Amerika. It is the party of Professional Politicians. They have tricked you in to thinking there are differences between Demopublicans and Republicrats. There isn't. Urkel said he would end the War.....what happened? He bailed out Wall Street and the Banks.....just like a Republicrat. Go to http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/ to see how we could cut spending on government and balance the budget. Which party supports these cuts? NONE.

The original idea of Representative Government was to have one person go vote for the State or District. This job of voting was seen as a part time job. The Constitution did not plan for the Professional Politician. Today we have people in congress and government who have made their entire careers as politicians. Robert Byrd comes to mind from West Virginia. The only real goal for these Politicians is to make money for their friends who donated to send them to Washington or the State Capitol. Over the last 100 years as the Professional Politicians have established themselves in government, we have seen budgets explode. More and more government money is spent on Departments and government projects. This money they are spending is OURS. Do you really feel like you are getting your money's worth from the Department of Energy?

The Federal Energy Dept spends $38 Billion per year and employs 16,000 workers. This works out to $320 in Taxes to each family in Amerika. In 1977 Jimmy Carter asked that the Department of Energy be created to help Amerika reduce the need for foreign oil. It has not worked and we have spent over $500 Billion on an Energy Department in the last 30 years. The same is true for the Department of Transportation. Since 1967 this Department has cost us over a TRILLION dollars. It will cost each family $700 dollars in taxes this year. Are you getting your money's worth?

Real Change in Amerika won't come until we end the ONE Party system of Professional Politicians and begin to manage the government.

JERRY.....Again

California is a mess. Like Japan, Spain and the UK, California spent more than it earned for the past ten years. California is NOT poor. California has a GDP [Gross Domestic Product] of $1,846,757 millions for 2009. This ranks California as the seventh largest economy in the World. Please see the Chart below for 2009 GDP information. California has more GDP than Brazil.
So the problems facing California [and the US, Japan, and Europe] are less about income and all about how to spend the money they earn in Taxes. Nearly every major country has overspent for the past ten years. This is best compared to the Family who charges too much to Credit Cards and then cannot pay the bills. It cannot continue, and California needs a real Leader who can control expenses.

California has no real choice for Governor. The two major candidates are clear. Meg Whitman for the Republicrats and Jerry Brown for the Demopublicans. I call these parties by these names since, in my view, they are really no different. The "two party system" is designed to fool voters into thinking they have a choice. They do not. There is really only ONE PARTY. This is the party of the Professional Politicians. In almost every other country on earth there are multiple parties and candidates for public office. In the US we have only the PROFESSIONAL CAREER POLITICIAN PARTY.

So, since we have no real choice, whom do we vote for as Governor of California? I cannot support a Mormon for public office. Meg Whitman is part of the vast Mormon conspiracy to take over America. I simply cannot trust anyone who believes the crap the Mormon Church calls "faith." It's simple for me: Any person who believes in holy underwear and god on another planet is a cult member and a nut case who should not lead us.

So, I am voting for ex-Governor "Moon Beam". Jerry Brown has experience and he is just crazy enough to make this work. I have said this before: "What does it say about the Two Party System when the best Candidate for Governor is a 70 year old Hippie?"

THE PURSE

Call off the search. After several weeks of looking and numerous sketches on napkins, the PURSE has been found.

We went to Dooney & Bourke to buy a purse and ended up buying two. But, they did not meet the exact need. Now the new Kate Spade is here and things are back to normal.

Dear Dad,

Happy Memorial Day. I know how you always felt about Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Veteran's Day. They all made "your ass hurt." You used to tell me there were two kinds of soldiers, Parade Soldiers and Killers. I understood that you did not like Parades.

I been reading a book that reminds me of you: SHIT MY DAD SAYS. It is so funny to read the crazy stuff Dad's tell their kids. I laughed my ass off thinking of the things you used to say. I only wish I had wrote them all down.

Anyway, Thanks. Thanks for fighting in World War II. Thanks for landing on Okinawa. I still have the sword. Thanks for spying on the Russians when we lived in Alaska and Germany. I think you made a difference. Neither the Japanese or the Russians ever invaded. Thanks for trying to get me into Air Force Flight school. Sorry I was color blind. I have the flag that covered your coffin. That was a real sad day for me. I still miss you.

I tell Jack all about you. We come visit when we are in Saint Louis. Thanks again for all those Breakfasts you cooked, the times you walked me to school, the tree house we built, the 22 rifle, and the time you took me to the doctor. I guess it wasn't a urinary tract infection....but you never brought it up. I love you Dad, and I'm working hard to be as good as the example you set.

Michael

IMMIGRATION - Again

I keep hearing about the Arizona Law. Let's be clear; The New Arizona law is just an extension of exiting Federal Law.

The bigger questions that need answers are these:

• Why doesn't the Federal Government enforce the existing law?
• Why doesn't the Governor of Arizona send Arizona National Guard Troops to patrol the Arizona boarder with Mexico?
• Why do these illegal immigrants come to America?

First, this current immigration "blow up" is a hoax. It is designed to rally the far right anti government crazies to come out and vote this fall. Nobody really cares about illegal immigrants. Yes, I wrote it: NOBODY REALLY CARES ABOUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. If anyone cared this would have been stopped twenty years ago.

EXAMPLE: Arizona cares about speeding on the Highway. They have hundreds of speed cameras set up on the interstate highways designed to catch speeders. Arizona has ZERO cameras or troops on the Mexican Border. If Illegal Immigration is so important, send troops to the border. Or better, send the Highway Patrol. They don't care or they would do something.

Second, George Bush tried to fix the Illegal Immigrations problem with a guest worker program. Nobody would support it. Why? Because we need cheap non union labor to run this country. The Hotel and Foodservice business in America depends on cheap labor. Construction likes cheap non union skilled labor. Agra-Business likes cheap farm workers and plant workers.

EXAMPLE: If we want to stop this problem. Business needs to pledge that it will not hire illegal workers. Has MacDonald's, Marriott, Tyson Foods, or Conagra come out to say this? NO!

Third, Hispanics come to America because of two things. California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas were all part of Mexico until we stole the land. Europeans moved into this land and then voted to become part of the United States in 1848. This land was originally Mexico. Most of it looks like Mexico. Many of the local families can trace their ancestors back prior to it being the United States.

In 1942 America was at War and we needed cheap labor to help with Farming. Most able bodied men were in the Army fighting. So we began the Bacero Program with Mexico. This was an approved Guest worker program that did not end until 1967. For over twenty years we had an official program with Mexico to import cheap labor into the United States.

EXAMPLE: Families in Mexico grew up sending relatives to the United States to work in the Bacero Program. Many later settled in the original Mexican areas of Texas, Arizona, and California. Now we say they should not be here after we asked them to come for over twenty years to help us.

Who would you like to do the non skilled service work in America? Landscaping, farm work, cooking food, making beds in hotels. In Europe it is done by Muslims from Turkey, Pakistan, and Morocco. The truth is we are too far into this situation to turn back. America wants and needs these workers and the current talk is designed to get votes this fall. Don't be fooled by talk radio. Real Conservatives can think for themselves.

Oh Baby

Yesterday was Mother's Day. Pam spent time with Jack playing in his room and at the park. They really like each other. Pam is a great mother and Jack is a wonderful boy. Two things happened related to mother's day and I'm concerned about both. First, Pam told me she would like to have another child. Second, Pam called her mother, Becky.

When I met Pam, I was 46 years old with four daughters. This was in the summer of 1994. Pam had recently graduated from University of Illinois. She told me then that she did not want to have children. She saw children as "getting in the way" of having an interesting life. That was Ok with me. I had four girls and they were each wonderful, but yes, they can spend money and take up your time. I was looking forward to semi retirement and spending time riding the motorcycle, skiing and traveling. I had raised four children and felt fulfilled.

Later, after 9/11 and while on Vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Pam said she wanted a child. We did the math and it seemed clear that I would die and Pam would be alone and 60. She felt like she wanted a "family" of her own. So, we had Jack. Jack is the son I never had, and the boy who is expected to grow up and care for his mother after I am gone.

Now I'm 62. Pam will be 39 and Jack will be 5 this fall. I am past semi retired and heading into full on retirement. A new Baby would be 20 when I'm 83, if I live so long. I'm not Larry King or Donald Trump. I have five children and a wonderful wife. I don't really need more work or additional expense. I have a dozen good books I would like to read and there is that motorcycle sitting in the garage. Please call Pam and tell her this is crazy. We really do not need another child. We are too old and too lazy to start over. I love Pam and want her to be happy but this is a bad idea.

Speaking of bad ideas, Pam called Becky. I did not know she planned to call. I think any contact with Becky is like touching the ebola virus. Since last Thanksgiving, I have been happy not to talk with or visit Becky. In my view Becky is a gossip who discusses family members who are not present, in an effort to make herself look good. I prefer we never see them or speak to them again. Pam wanted to "do the right thing" and call Becky on Mother's Day. I believed it was unnecessary since Becky is a very poor excuse for a mother, and may not qualify for Mother's Day.

Strange, Pam is a great mother and wants more children. Where could she have learned about being a mother? Clearly, not at home growing up.

It is only a matter of time.

These guys are terrorist. All three tried to kill Americans. Two are US Citizens. Nothing...Nothing, the US government did protected us from these three, or from the hundred like them that are coming to kill us. It is just a matter of time before they succeed.

Since 9-11-2001 we have spent a "Ka-zillion dollars" fighting terror. We are strip searched at the airport, Disneyland, and Baseball games. We are told there are secret "NO FLY" list and every passenger is screened prior to coming into America. Our mobile phones are tapped and email is scanned by the government. You have heard all of this bull shit for years.

In spite of the money and time spent on counter terrorism, these three [and hundreds more] have traveled to terrorist camps, sent emails to terrorist leaders, flown into the US, and become US citizens. They could not be more obvious. The Major on the right repeatedly expressed anti-American and anti military comments while in the Army. NOTHING was done. He was issued a gun and allowed to continue to serve. He went on to kill people.

We need to face facts: Our government is not capable of fighting terror while they continue to want to be seen as politically correct. Obvious terror suspects are not being watched. The latest Times Square Bomber was an idiot. Still, it was a "Tee Shirt Vendor" who pointed out the car bomb to police. No FBI or Homeland Security personnel were even watching this guy. He flew to Pakistan several times. He brought over $18,000 in cash back to the US. It could not be more clear that he should be watched.

My point is, these guys are stupid and poorly trained. Still they were not watched or prevented from acting. The really good terrorist, who are planning to blow up the Superbowl or White House are not going to get caught. Our government can not catch a Muslim Major in the Army who is emailing terrorist leaders and saying anti American crap. They could not stop a guy in New York who tried to blow up a car bomb with fireworks and left his keys in the car. He almost got away on an airplane.

Each of us need to be more like the "Tee Shirt Vendor" in Times Square. We need to watch out for our selves and our families. Sooner or later one of these nuts is going to blow up a shopping mall and we need to be prepared. Our government can not protect us from these guys. Watch what goes on around you. Know where the exits are located. Learn first aid. There is a day coming when you will need to know how to save your own life.

Chicago May 22-23

It's that time again. Spring is in the air and the National Restaurant Show is May 22-25 in Chicago. Pam, Jack and I are planning to attend. Pam and Jack are going to the museum of science and industry while I walk the Show floor. We hope to meet up with Amy, Pam's cousin and have a great dinner at Spagia.

I will post photos for the NRA Show. Let me know if you plan to attend.

Mother's Day

This coming Sunday is Mother's Day. You must be wondering, "whatever happened to Pam's mom"?

Nothing. She never called or wrote again. I personally believe she was called back to her home world for refitting with an emotion module. Regardless, It has been almost six months and NOTHING.

It's like a dream coming true for me. Like never having to shop at Wal-Mart again. Let's hope my luck holds through Christmas.

Is it just me?

Big news out today. Microsoft announces the release of their new phones the KIN ONE and KIN TWO. Both use the KIN software.
I read the news report searching for some scrap of "newness" about these phones. They use a type of cloud computing that sets up a web site for your phone and stores all data pictures and music at this site. Nice, but similar to iTunes.

What I came away with was this: Apple is the world leader at game changing technology. All these other companies are trying to catch up and throwing out new devices to attempt to catch a piece of the growing market. Nothing....nothing compares to the iPhone and iPad for fresh new ideas and great execution.

Yes, long ago I drank the Apple Kool Aid. It began with Mac. Then came Powerbook and Mac II. I admit I lost my way for a time. I had two Treo phones. But since iPhone 3G I am back. Our new iPad is just short of breathtaking. Jack loves it and even Pam......a Blackberry user at heart, likes the iPad.

Show me your papers

Are you a US Citizen? Can you prove it? Show me your "Papers"

Like the line from an old Nazi War movie, America is becoming increasingly more like the evil empires we have defeated. The recent passage of the Arizona law requires proof of US Citizenship. My guess is that over 50% of all Americans cannot prove their citizenship if asked.

The Arizona law is an extension of US Law which defines citizenship by showing proof in one of three ways.
• By certified birth certificate
• By Naturalization Certificate
• By US Passport

It is currently estimated that less than 25% of all Americans own a US Passport. I believe even fewer have a certified copy of their own Birth Certificate. It would seem that only Naturalized Citizens have the documentation needed to prove US Citizenship. Is it just me or does this whole thing seem silly and completely unnecessary.

Who cares about citizenship? Some say we elected President who has trouble proving he is a citizen. Is this issue of citizenship all that important? Almost anyone who wants to can buy a ticket and fly to America to visit Disney World. Once your here you can blend in and soon become as American as Hot Dogs, Pasta, and Tacos. This is a big country full of foreigners. The only "real Americans" were the natives we stole the land from.

My solution is to set up offices at ports of entry for people to register, get finger printed, and have a photo taken. Then like they did at Ellis Island, turn them loose to go make a better life for themselves and their families. This is what America stood for, for over a hundred years. It was a place where the Italians, Irish, Germans, Chinese, and many others could come to make a better life. So what's changed? What have we got to fear from the "New Americans" who are following in my grandfather's footsteps? Nothing. Over 12 million illegal's are here now and they are all around us. I say we should make them welcome and thank them for picking strawberries, making beds, and cleaning my house. I can't find any "real Americans" who want those jobs.

Show me your Papers!

It's Just Math

For the past five years we have been paying for Colleen and Meredith's cars. Meredith has a VW Cabrio [Convertible]and Colleen a Mini Cooper Convertible. Each car has been costing about $300 per month and with repairs included, almost $10,000 per year for the two cars. To pay about $10,000 per year for cars you need to earn about $12,500. Ya, it's a lot of money. I made a promise to both Meredith and Colleen that I would pay for their cars and we have.

Well things have changed. Meredith's car is finally paid off completely and we signed the car over to her. It is her car now to care for. This left Colleen and the Mini Cooper for Pam and I to pay off. Pam has driven her 2002 BMW 325i Convertible for 8 years and loved it like a baby. It looks almost brand new and remains one of the coolest cars around. I decided, if we have been paying $800 per month to keep Meredith and Colleen's cars running, why not buy a new car for Pam and let Colleen have the BMW 325? Meredith and Colleen really don't understand how much these cars have cost and they don't really appreciate what we have done. Moreover, they have never taken good care of these cars. I think they see cars like CDs, shoes, or magazines. Sort of disposable.

BMW has a deal in March to try to sell more cars. They are offering $1500 credit if you buy a new car. We took Colleen's Mini Cooper over to Irvine BMW and after three days we have a new BMW 128i Convertible. The lease if $474 per month. This is much lower than the two car payments we were paying. They took the Mini Cooper in trade. Colleen agreed to drive Pam's paid off 325 Convertible and Pam....the Saint in all of this.....drove her new 2010 BMW 128i to work today.

Pam has supported me and everything I have agreed to do for Meredith and Colleen. She spent thousands of her own dollars to help me pay for trips, cell phones, clothes, and cars so I could fulfill my responsibility to Meredith, Colleen, and even Julie. I think it's time that Pam gets something out of this deal for herself.

Pam, I hope you like the new car. You deserve it for all the years you put up with crazy stuff from me and the girls. I want you to know that I appreciate everything you have done and the new car was not....just about the math.

BOSTON SEAFOOD SHOW

I went to Boston on Saturday night March 13. I flew JetBlue from Long Beach to Boston Logan on a Red Eye flight that got me into Boston at 7:00 AM. Weather was awful. Storms almost kept us from landing. Still I made it.

Once I landed I went straight to the Westin Boston Harbor. It is attached to the new Boston Convention Center. The Westin was great. The let me check in at 7:30 AM. I changed cloths and met Charlie Decker.

Charlie and I have similar Businesses. He is a Seafood Broker in the New York market and he sells the same items I sell. Charlie is also a great guy. We had several appointments set up and met with many seafood importers. These companies are interested in Charlie and me selling their seafood in the US.

I spent Sunday and Monday meeting people and flew back to LA on Monday evening. It was a good opportunity to meet new clients and to work with Charlie.

The truth about Haiti

After a month of listening to the awful situation in Haiti, I am finally fed up. I just don't care about Haiti. There I said what most of America is thinking.

Haiti is an awful place. It has been the poorest country in the Americas and it is almost 100% the French who are to blame for this mess. In my view Haiti is in serious problem but it is NOT my problem or the problem for the US Government. I think France should step in and fix the mess they created in 1804. 95% of Americans do not know their own history let alone the history of the world. So here is a crash course.

Haiti was founded by the Spanish in 1504 and called Hispaniola. In 1520 Spain had most of the island's residents move close to the Capital, Santo Domingo, on the south side of the island. French Pirates developed land bases on the north coast which was uninhabited and in 1664 France claimed the Northern half of the island as French territory. France used Haiti to produce great wealth and by 1750 it was producing half of all the coffee and sugar consumed in Europe. This was done on French Plantations which contained an estimated 700,000 slaves. When the French Revolution began in 1789 the slave population revolted against the local French Masters. By 1804 Haiti had declared itself independent of France. France imposed a blockade on Haitian exports and the economy struggled until Haiti agreed, under duress, to pay France 150 million gold Francs in 1825.

This amount of 150 million gold Francs was an impossible amount to repay. It took Haiti over 100 years to pay France and it destroyed the Haitian economy. Haiti is poor today because of French greed, slavery, and the French blockade. It is important to understand this amount paid to France. The United States bought the Louisiana Purchase, most of the Central US, for 60 million Francs in 1804. France forced Haiti to pay an impossible amount and the result has been over a century of poverty.

Today, there is no question that Haiti is poor and needs help. Regardless, Haiti is not an American problem and the French should be held responsible for the last 150 years of poverty and devastation. The recent earthquake is a good opportunity for France to begin to rebuild Haiti. As for the American tax payers....this ain't your fight. Let France pay for Haiti.

V-DAY

It was five years ago today. I was working at Slade Gorton and Pam was working for Cargil. We lived in the Shadow Canyon condo, the "Trailer in the Sky". Pam and I met for lunch at Elephant Bar. I knew somethings was up when Pam sat down and ordered diet coke.

She told me she had tested positive and was going to have a baby. Pam never wanted children. After two days of drinking in Cabo we decided to have a child. Our age differences, carried to the extreme, means that Pam will be alone after I am dead. Pam's family have never supported or understood her. It became clear....she needed to create her own family for her long term future.

Little did we know that on that day, five years ago, we would be having Jack. Today, Pam has the family she has always wanted. A son who loves her more than anything and who tells her, ..."Mommy, we are best friends". Best Friends at the Beach on Valentines Day. I love you both. Thanks Pam for the son who reminds me of myself and my Dad.

WAR CRIMES

Today, February 13, is the anniversary of the Allied firebombing of Dresden Germany. 65 years ago on February 13, 19445 the Allied forces, led by the British Royal Air Force, night bombed Dresden with high explosives and incendiary devices. The result was a fire storm that burned 15 square miles in the city center of Dresden and, by some estimates, killed over 250,000 civilians and refugees. The actual death count is unknown due to thousands of refugees who had fled to Dresden so as to avoid bombing in Western Germany.

For many, the Bombing of Dresden remains a little known example of Allied War Crimes in which the military bombed civilian populations with little or no value as a military targets. At the time of the Dresden bombing, Germany was near defeat and the war ended on May 5, 1945. Among the refugees in Dresden were US Army prisoners of war. The book Slaughter House 5, written by Kurt Vonnegut, tells of living through the bombing. In the introduction to his book he writes; "The Dresden atrocity, tremendously expensive and meticulously planned, was so meaningless, finally, that only one person on the entire planet got any benefit from it. I am that person. I wrote this book, which earned a lot of money for me and made my reputation, such as it is. One way or another, I got two or three dollars for every person killed. Some business I'm in." Kurt Vonnegut

TODAY
German protesters stop neo-Nazi march in Dresden
By Dirk Mueller-Thederan 2-13-2010
DRESDEN, Germany (Reuters) – At least 10,000 Germans formed a human chain in Dresden on Saturday and stopped neo-Nazis staging a funeral march to remember victims of the Allied air raid that flattened the city 65 years ago. About 5,000 neo-Nazis, clad in black, had gathered at Dresden's Neustadt station -- where Nazis once packed trains with Jews bound for the Auschwitz concentration camp -- hoping to stage Germany's biggest far-right march since 1945. In the past few years, the February 13 anniversary of the destruction of Dresden, in which 25,000 people were killed, has become a focus for neo-Nazis who describe the blanket bombardment as a "bombing Holocaust."

Eine Deutchland, eine Welt, Deutschland uber alles.

The Good old Days

Ahhh, remember when your house was worth something and Toyota's were great cars. The only thing to worry about back then was Global Warming. Now it's freezing in Washington and Toyota's are being recalled. And why are we sending millions to Haiti when they won't release those people from Idaho? Where is George when you need him?

Folks in Min-A-Soda put up this sign to make you think. Have you had enough "Hopey Changey" for a while?

Surfs up

Storms out on the Pacific are pushing waves ashore. These storms in the Northern Pacific will bring more rain to California and more snow to the Midwest. It is amazing to see the power of these waves. Laguna Beach was half as wide as it was just two weeks ago. Sand had piled up nearly 15 feet high with waves coming close to the Basketball courts.

PEW RESULTS - Public's Priorities for 2010

This Wednesday, the President will give the State of the Union address. Mr. Obama has been in office for just over one year. He was elected to bring "CHANGE" to Washington. The Pew Research Group has studied the Priorities of Americans for years. Here is a the latest summary below. You can read more at: http://people-press.org/report/584/policy-priorities-2010.

As Barack Obama begins his second year in office, the public’s priorities for the president and Congress remain much as they were one year ago. Strengthening the nation’s economy and improving the job situation continue to top the list. And, in the wake of the failed Christmas Day terrorist attack on a Detroit-bound airliner, defending the country from future terrorist attacks also remains a top priority.

At the same time, the public has shifted the emphasis it assigns to two major policy issues: dealing with the nation’s energy problem and reducing the budget deficit. About half (49%) say that dealing with the nation’s energy problem should be a top priority, down from 60% a year ago. At the same time, there has been a modest rise in the percentage saying that reducing the budget deficit should be a top priority, from 53% to 60%.

Other policy priorities show little change from a year ago. For example, despite the ongoing debate over health care reform, about as many now call reducing health care costs a top priority (57%) as did so in early 2009 (59%). In fact, the percentage rating health care costs a top priority is lower now than it was in both 2008 (69%) and 2007 (68%).

In addition, the percentage placing top priority on providing health insurance to the uninsured stands at 49%. That is little changed from a year ago and off its high of 61% in January 2001. Notably, there is now a wider partisan gap in opinion about this issue than for any of the other 20 issues in the survey: fully 75% of Democrats rate providing health insurance to the uninsured as a top priority compared with just 26% of Republicans.

More than six-in-ten Americans say securing the Social Security system (66%) and securing the Medicare system (63%) should be top priorities for Obama and Congress. About as many (65%) say that improving the educational system should be a top policy priority. For all three items, public evaluations are not significantly different than they were one year ago.

In the wake of the financial crisis, the public does not place increased financial regulation among its top policy priorities. Fewer than half (45%) say stricter regulation of financial institutions should be a top priority for the president and Congress.