This is not on most people's radar, but the President of Honduras was ousted in a coup Friday.
This is interesting only because in a statement earlier today, President Obama seemed in my opinion to be supporting the democratically elected President. The problem with that is the Military removed him because he was trying to change election law in the way Hugo Chavez has in Venezuela -to basically become a dictator who is 'elected' (wink wink) over and over again. In Honduras the President is only allowed one term. One and done is how it's supposed to go in Honduras. President Manuel Zelaya thought that he was doing such a great job that he would change the Constitution of Honduras and go against the wishes of both Honduras' Congress and Supreme Court.
What is being said is that Zelaya wanted Honduras to be more like Socialist Venezuela. The monied and middle class along with Military leaders in Honduras weren't having any of that. The poor and the unions in Honduras were 100% behind President Zelaya. This is an interesting juxtaposition for President Obama as there are a lot of right wing talk radio listeners and Fox News watchers who believe with every fiber of their being that this is exactly what Obama trying to do here in America.
This happened over the weekend, but if you listen to Rush, Hannity or Boortz you're going to hear these boliviators selling this big time tomorrow. With Barack sorta/kinda defending the ousted President, you'll hear Socialist a lot this week. Republicans are of the thinking that President Obama wants to relieve them of their treasure and pass it on to the least amongst us. These people would love for the United States Military to oust our duly elected President before he seizes their treasure. These people believe this. The drum beat of Socialism will be beating loud this week, listen for it.
A plant tip: detoxify the air with houseplants. Scientific studies, including some conducted by NASA prove that tropical houseplants reduce indoor pollution. Plants like Peace Lillie's, Pothos spider plants etc. have been proven to extract pollutants from your indoor atmosphere.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Shook up the World
I liked Michael Jackson, especially the younger version. Michael was a nut at times, but he offset this with good works. I think this may be the key to life, (like a carbon tax for polluters) a person needs to do more good than bad in this life to assure some sort of decent after life. Just a thought. I am a little younger than Michael but I remember when the Jackson 5 first came out. We were both from the Midwest, he from Indiana, me from Iowa. So we felt as kids that we were kinda close to the Jacksons.
When I was kid, something like 7 or 8 we had started a group like the Jackson 5 with our neighborhood friends. Lots of practices, lots of dance steps and lots of folks wanting to be Michael Jackson. It's funny thinking about it now. Time flies, it just doesn't seem that long ago. When 'Off The Wall' came out my two older sisters were seniors in high school, I was a freshman. We would go to the school dances and all you would hear and all you would want to hear would be the "Off The Wall" album. When the prom came around folks wore the tux like Michael wore on the album cover, that was a fresh look at the time.
Celebrity is something else. I've interviewed a few celebrities when I wrote about the music industry. Not many of them enjoyed or were comfortable with their celebrity. It seems like the worst part of fame. I had a tiny bit of it, while working and writing in the music business and I hated it. You get people around you who think about you more than they should. Strangers and weird people wanting to do things for you for no reason.
Michael being Michael had gillions of hangers on, yes people and lawyers surrounding him, the trifecta of slime. I would bet money, that we're going to find out his doctor overdosed him on Demerol, -a super strong pain killer-doctors prescribe for cancer patients. Nothing you should be shooting up at home. I personally think Michael is in a better place, I doubt if he had 50 concerts (he had sold out 50 shows in London) in those skinny bones of his. The last time I had seen him on stage he seemed slow, he didn't want to go out like that. Michael Jackson is one of the few people like Muhammad Ali who could actually say "I Shook Up the World." Just the attempts to confirm the news of his passing were big enough to crash the entire internet. That's big.
Gardening Tip: To add fragrance to your walk around your home, add creeping Thyme to the cracks and between stones in your walkway. When you step on the thyme when moving through your walkway the Thyme smell is released. This aroma adds to the quality of your life.
When I was kid, something like 7 or 8 we had started a group like the Jackson 5 with our neighborhood friends. Lots of practices, lots of dance steps and lots of folks wanting to be Michael Jackson. It's funny thinking about it now. Time flies, it just doesn't seem that long ago. When 'Off The Wall' came out my two older sisters were seniors in high school, I was a freshman. We would go to the school dances and all you would hear and all you would want to hear would be the "Off The Wall" album. When the prom came around folks wore the tux like Michael wore on the album cover, that was a fresh look at the time.
Celebrity is something else. I've interviewed a few celebrities when I wrote about the music industry. Not many of them enjoyed or were comfortable with their celebrity. It seems like the worst part of fame. I had a tiny bit of it, while working and writing in the music business and I hated it. You get people around you who think about you more than they should. Strangers and weird people wanting to do things for you for no reason.
Michael being Michael had gillions of hangers on, yes people and lawyers surrounding him, the trifecta of slime. I would bet money, that we're going to find out his doctor overdosed him on Demerol, -a super strong pain killer-doctors prescribe for cancer patients. Nothing you should be shooting up at home. I personally think Michael is in a better place, I doubt if he had 50 concerts (he had sold out 50 shows in London) in those skinny bones of his. The last time I had seen him on stage he seemed slow, he didn't want to go out like that. Michael Jackson is one of the few people like Muhammad Ali who could actually say "I Shook Up the World." Just the attempts to confirm the news of his passing were big enough to crash the entire internet. That's big.
Gardening Tip: To add fragrance to your walk around your home, add creeping Thyme to the cracks and between stones in your walkway. When you step on the thyme when moving through your walkway the Thyme smell is released. This aroma adds to the quality of your life.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Those crazy Republicans
Some Rethuglicans aren't too bright. Let's take for example South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. The man leaves his wife and four boys on father's day to go lay up with his mistress in Argentina, now that's some bold shit. He's the Governor for state of South Carolina and just disappears like some drug addict with a big bag of dope. He did not want to tell apparently anyone where he was going for obvious reasons. You have to feel for the man's family. The one good thing - school's out for the summer- so the boys don't have to face down the classmates. Not yet, anyway.
Mr. Sanford had always been the "pious" type. He loved righteously scolding and wagging his finger at others who had engaged in affairs that became exposed to the public. Back when he was in Congress in the Clinton Years, Sanford was the first to yell "Impeach Clinton!" Governor Sanford was thought by many to be a front runner for the Rethuglican nomination for President in 2012, but that's over now. During his rambling press conference he talked about how he had tried to "help" his mistress with her marriage when she was having trouble with her husband. Let's be clear: the only thing that man was trying to help was himself get into their marriage bed. I understand that no one is perfect, Stamford's wife certainly seems to believe this, as she has held out a olive branch hoping they can work it out for the sake of the children. It's always for the children.
Gardening tip: Clean the blades of your pruning tools after each use either with denatures alcohol or a mild solution of bleach and water. This helps to prevent the spread of disease from plant to plant. People would be surprised how many diseases they spread from unclean tools.
Mr. Sanford had always been the "pious" type. He loved righteously scolding and wagging his finger at others who had engaged in affairs that became exposed to the public. Back when he was in Congress in the Clinton Years, Sanford was the first to yell "Impeach Clinton!" Governor Sanford was thought by many to be a front runner for the Rethuglican nomination for President in 2012, but that's over now. During his rambling press conference he talked about how he had tried to "help" his mistress with her marriage when she was having trouble with her husband. Let's be clear: the only thing that man was trying to help was himself get into their marriage bed. I understand that no one is perfect, Stamford's wife certainly seems to believe this, as she has held out a olive branch hoping they can work it out for the sake of the children. It's always for the children.
Gardening tip: Clean the blades of your pruning tools after each use either with denatures alcohol or a mild solution of bleach and water. This helps to prevent the spread of disease from plant to plant. People would be surprised how many diseases they spread from unclean tools.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
It's funny how money changes the situation
"It's funny how money changes the situation" a quote from Lauren Hill of the Fugees. This is one of the truest statements ever made. Many of us have been in a situation where we're doing a business deal or dealing with relatives and when the other party finds out you have a couple dollars in the bank, all hell breaks lose, deals that were already on the table, basically done- are all of a sudden back in negotiation with the other party trying to figure out how they can get every dime you got.
Today I was kind of half listening to the press conference President Obama was having. We as Americans have a chance to invoke some real change in this country. This is what the American people voted for back in November -wasn't it? But early on in President Obama's tenure, our will is being tested. The American people have always been weak willed and easily swayed, but I am surprised how fast the people have been swayed concerning healthcare. President Obama and his administration have been trying to make the case that if people don't get on the 'bus', concerning healthcare reform the Government and the private sector are going to be in for some tough choices in the near future. To hear Obama tell it- 'the very near future'.
You have to give the opposition kudos, they have muddied the argument on healthcare, claiming that America will be on a slippery slope to European style "rationed" healthcare, where people have to wait months to have simple procedures done.
I'm sorry to say the opposition does have a few points on their side. The mortality rate when dealing with colon cancer in Europe is 42% compared to 31% in America. The drugs that are approved in America to treat colon cancer are light years ahead of what is subscribed in Europe. This is because of MONEY, it changes the situation. When enacting a nationwide healthcare plan, we're talking about mucho dinero. Right now the entitlements of Medicare and Medicaid take up 21% of this country's budget. I think that our defense budget takes up just as much or more. People, were running out of money!
The American people have got to understand that 46 million Americans are uninsured in this country, that means that 255 million Americans are insured. This is a big point that needs to be pointed out every chance we get. I would guess that half of those 46 million could afford to buy their own insurance but just don't budget, don't care or feel like their bullet proof. This leaves us with about 23 million hardcore poor people who genuinely can't afford insurance. We need to concentrate on these people. Get them some sort of Medicaid type policy to make sure that this country is taking care of our less fortunate.
I am of the opinion that if America were to go to a single payer healthcare plan. (a plan where the government picks up the tab) we would be on a slippery slope to companies dropping their employer subsidized healthcare plans. This would lead to more and more people deciding that they don't want to be responsible for the own health needs and pass it on to the tax payers. Remember folks, as I mentioned in a past blog, only 55% of the American people pay income taxes. These 55% are already up to their ears paying for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid etc. The top 5% of Americans pay 37% of all the taxes in America. The top 5% starts at about 100 to 150k dollars. If you and your spouse are making any moves in life, you are making that or are closing in on it. That's something to think about. If we're smart, and I think President Obama is very smart we better start focusing on that 23 million Americans that flat out can't afford healthcare.
Garden tip of the day: First Aid for ailing shrubs. To keep your shrubs in the best shape, you are going to have to give them a hard prune. A hard prune is exactly what it sounds like, cut them back 5 or 6 inches, 'a good prune' not a little prune. You should do this after the growing season of that shrub has past. You should look at the shrub and prune out any dead branches or foliage. When you hard prune a shrub, what you're doing is letting light down into the shrub. Light in the shrub is the healer. Hard pruning can be done all at once or it can be spread out over two or three years. If done correctly your shrub should heal itself by the beginning of the next growing season.
Today I was kind of half listening to the press conference President Obama was having. We as Americans have a chance to invoke some real change in this country. This is what the American people voted for back in November -wasn't it? But early on in President Obama's tenure, our will is being tested. The American people have always been weak willed and easily swayed, but I am surprised how fast the people have been swayed concerning healthcare. President Obama and his administration have been trying to make the case that if people don't get on the 'bus', concerning healthcare reform the Government and the private sector are going to be in for some tough choices in the near future. To hear Obama tell it- 'the very near future'.
You have to give the opposition kudos, they have muddied the argument on healthcare, claiming that America will be on a slippery slope to European style "rationed" healthcare, where people have to wait months to have simple procedures done.
I'm sorry to say the opposition does have a few points on their side. The mortality rate when dealing with colon cancer in Europe is 42% compared to 31% in America. The drugs that are approved in America to treat colon cancer are light years ahead of what is subscribed in Europe. This is because of MONEY, it changes the situation. When enacting a nationwide healthcare plan, we're talking about mucho dinero. Right now the entitlements of Medicare and Medicaid take up 21% of this country's budget. I think that our defense budget takes up just as much or more. People, were running out of money!
The American people have got to understand that 46 million Americans are uninsured in this country, that means that 255 million Americans are insured. This is a big point that needs to be pointed out every chance we get. I would guess that half of those 46 million could afford to buy their own insurance but just don't budget, don't care or feel like their bullet proof. This leaves us with about 23 million hardcore poor people who genuinely can't afford insurance. We need to concentrate on these people. Get them some sort of Medicaid type policy to make sure that this country is taking care of our less fortunate.
I am of the opinion that if America were to go to a single payer healthcare plan. (a plan where the government picks up the tab) we would be on a slippery slope to companies dropping their employer subsidized healthcare plans. This would lead to more and more people deciding that they don't want to be responsible for the own health needs and pass it on to the tax payers. Remember folks, as I mentioned in a past blog, only 55% of the American people pay income taxes. These 55% are already up to their ears paying for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid etc. The top 5% of Americans pay 37% of all the taxes in America. The top 5% starts at about 100 to 150k dollars. If you and your spouse are making any moves in life, you are making that or are closing in on it. That's something to think about. If we're smart, and I think President Obama is very smart we better start focusing on that 23 million Americans that flat out can't afford healthcare.
Garden tip of the day: First Aid for ailing shrubs. To keep your shrubs in the best shape, you are going to have to give them a hard prune. A hard prune is exactly what it sounds like, cut them back 5 or 6 inches, 'a good prune' not a little prune. You should do this after the growing season of that shrub has past. You should look at the shrub and prune out any dead branches or foliage. When you hard prune a shrub, what you're doing is letting light down into the shrub. Light in the shrub is the healer. Hard pruning can be done all at once or it can be spread out over two or three years. If done correctly your shrub should heal itself by the beginning of the next growing season.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
I have a good father
It's fathers day in America, and to me there are two groups of fathers, those that father and those that don't. The latter group gets the most attention. This is because their seeds are out here in the world messing things up. These are the fathers that have unleashed murders, robbers and rapist on our streets.
I think that if these so-called fathers had remotely did their job, our society as a whole would be in a lot better shape than it is. I would love to know the statistic's of the amount of people in prison or on the run that didn't have their fathers in their lives. How many are high school dropouts, drug dealers or just hanging out on corners. It's interesting how many men, who aren't shit, have 3, 4 or 5 children. These men give no support to their children's mothers or society in general. It's crazy. But the mothers have to take some blame in this. Why would a woman have a baby with a man they know isn't shit. This to me, is one of the great questions of our time.
President Obama is a great symbol of fatherhood in America, if the man does nothing, he takes care of his family and holds out a great example of how this father thing is suppose to be done. My own father Ronald, was a very good father and role model. At first a high school dropout, with three children and a 3 year Army stint behind him, he figured it out and made something of hs life. My father had 16 brothers and sisters, but they also had a good mother and father. A father who set a good example for his sons and daughters, a father woke early in the morning and went to work, to feed those 16 children.
My father, after leaving the Army went back and got his high school diploma and after working for years at the local factory, decided that he couldn't support his growing family with the wages of a factory worker. I also think he had had enough of being a lowly factory worker, so at the age of 31, he went and got a college education. The times were the early 70's and black men just didn't do this. Men were happy to be working at the factory, (my dad had 6 brothers working at this factory), back then that was good money. In hindsight it was great money. But he wanted to be an example to his family. So while still working at the factory and cleaning offices at the local Telephone Company at night, he enrolled in college. When I think about it now, I wonder if I could do it, with 5 kids at home. Men like that are a rare breed these days. My father graduated from college four years later and through the new affirmative action laws that were just put in place, was recruited out of college to be a executive for the John Deere Company.
I can only tell you-things changed in our families lives drasticly. We lived good before, always had a new car in the driveway, always were homeowners. But when my dad graduated college we went to the next level. The sense of pride are family felt when my father was transferred to another town and we moved into our 'new' house was off the charts. The house-complete with underground swimming pool was a amazing thing. Nobody black or white we knew had a 'underground' pool, or to our knowledge a indoor grill, like the one we had, amazing stuff for kids from Davenpot Iowa. Truly Amazing !
This to me is what a father is, that's all I know, fathers that do big things. So when I see these cats that can barely visit their children or who drop bullshit gifts off on Christmas and Birthdays and then brag about being fathers, I think to myself, dude I have someone you should meet.
I think that if these so-called fathers had remotely did their job, our society as a whole would be in a lot better shape than it is. I would love to know the statistic's of the amount of people in prison or on the run that didn't have their fathers in their lives. How many are high school dropouts, drug dealers or just hanging out on corners. It's interesting how many men, who aren't shit, have 3, 4 or 5 children. These men give no support to their children's mothers or society in general. It's crazy. But the mothers have to take some blame in this. Why would a woman have a baby with a man they know isn't shit. This to me, is one of the great questions of our time.
President Obama is a great symbol of fatherhood in America, if the man does nothing, he takes care of his family and holds out a great example of how this father thing is suppose to be done. My own father Ronald, was a very good father and role model. At first a high school dropout, with three children and a 3 year Army stint behind him, he figured it out and made something of hs life. My father had 16 brothers and sisters, but they also had a good mother and father. A father who set a good example for his sons and daughters, a father woke early in the morning and went to work, to feed those 16 children.
My father, after leaving the Army went back and got his high school diploma and after working for years at the local factory, decided that he couldn't support his growing family with the wages of a factory worker. I also think he had had enough of being a lowly factory worker, so at the age of 31, he went and got a college education. The times were the early 70's and black men just didn't do this. Men were happy to be working at the factory, (my dad had 6 brothers working at this factory), back then that was good money. In hindsight it was great money. But he wanted to be an example to his family. So while still working at the factory and cleaning offices at the local Telephone Company at night, he enrolled in college. When I think about it now, I wonder if I could do it, with 5 kids at home. Men like that are a rare breed these days. My father graduated from college four years later and through the new affirmative action laws that were just put in place, was recruited out of college to be a executive for the John Deere Company.
I can only tell you-things changed in our families lives drasticly. We lived good before, always had a new car in the driveway, always were homeowners. But when my dad graduated college we went to the next level. The sense of pride are family felt when my father was transferred to another town and we moved into our 'new' house was off the charts. The house-complete with underground swimming pool was a amazing thing. Nobody black or white we knew had a 'underground' pool, or to our knowledge a indoor grill, like the one we had, amazing stuff for kids from Davenpot Iowa. Truly Amazing !
This to me is what a father is, that's all I know, fathers that do big things. So when I see these cats that can barely visit their children or who drop bullshit gifts off on Christmas and Birthdays and then brag about being fathers, I think to myself, dude I have someone you should meet.
Friday, June 19, 2009
I did a Poll...
Republicans, Special Interest Groups and the National Media working in concert, have always been able to game the system and the American People in general. It's happening again, the New York Times ran a headline yesterday, stating the American people have no confidence in President Obama's handling of the economy. Now this headline is on top of the masthead screaming, no confidence for our newly elected President. But when you read the story under the headline, 57% of the people say they have full confidence and like 20% say-they-somewhat have confidence in his handling of the economy's.
What gives, that's 77% of the people polled, who are still behind the President's plans . But the Times runs a sensational headline, to readers of -'headlines' to think the exact opposite. The man's been in office 5 month's. A few month's back all I heard was that this mess was going to take a long time to fix. Now 5 months into the President agenda, these I-guess-you-would-call them media types come out with these polls micro-managing every fly swat of the Presidents- Presidency.
I did a poll today of myself, my wife and our dog (with a margin of 3% +/-) and were 100% for giving the President a couple of years to sort this mess out. People have to understand that the man has a lot of plates in the air and the American economy is like a Aircraft Carrier, it doesn't turn on a dime.
Personally, I'm glad it's taking a long time, just like all the experts and pundits said it would. It makes people change bad habits and start new ones. If there was no pain during this recession, people would be quickly, back to their charging and borrowing ways. It's not healthy for a civilization to be leveraged like Americans are. We need to chill.
Gardening tip: If your a fan of African Violets this ones for you. If you want to propagate and make new baby african violets just bury one of the leaves with about a inch of the petiole (stem)connected to the leaf. Keep your leaf and stem moist but not wet and after a few days, you should start growig and new plant for you.
What gives, that's 77% of the people polled, who are still behind the President's plans . But the Times runs a sensational headline, to readers of -'headlines' to think the exact opposite. The man's been in office 5 month's. A few month's back all I heard was that this mess was going to take a long time to fix. Now 5 months into the President agenda, these I-guess-you-would-call them media types come out with these polls micro-managing every fly swat of the Presidents- Presidency.
I did a poll today of myself, my wife and our dog (with a margin of 3% +/-) and were 100% for giving the President a couple of years to sort this mess out. People have to understand that the man has a lot of plates in the air and the American economy is like a Aircraft Carrier, it doesn't turn on a dime.
Personally, I'm glad it's taking a long time, just like all the experts and pundits said it would. It makes people change bad habits and start new ones. If there was no pain during this recession, people would be quickly, back to their charging and borrowing ways. It's not healthy for a civilization to be leveraged like Americans are. We need to chill.
Gardening tip: If your a fan of African Violets this ones for you. If you want to propagate and make new baby african violets just bury one of the leaves with about a inch of the petiole (stem)connected to the leaf. Keep your leaf and stem moist but not wet and after a few days, you should start growig and new plant for you.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Center and a little left for me
Yesterday, my wife thought I was a bit harsh describing Bill Maher. After further thought, I may have been. I hope I don't come off as a conservative, I'm not. You see I was raised in Iowa and Illinois in the early 60's. I was a young black kid, in the great white world. There were black folks in the parts of Iowa and Illinois I was brought up in, but not many. During my high school days in Iowa, if they hadn't bussed in blacks folks from across town there would not been any. Except me, a pretty girl name Jill and my partner Kevin. Growing up with a mother and father in the house, was also normal. I can't remember anyone, growing up- tell I was fourteen, that didn't have their mother and father living under the same roof.
Our father Ronald, was strict, as simple as that. He didn't like to see kids have a lot of spare time on their hands. This led to him constantly trying to find something for his five children to do. For me as the oldest boy in the family, I was always busy. And if that meant going out on our acre of land and pick weeds out of the cracks in the sidewalk, so be it, that's what we were doing on a Saturday morning. We grew up attending bible study classes with our grandmother. This happened twice a week, if I remember correctly. We were in all the church programs, as a child I was the Youth Minister on youth day, imagine that. I was good.
Growing up along the Mississippi River in Davenport wasn't bad though, we would ride our bikes from morning tell dinner. We would be everyplace with our neighbors the Pearls-- Gary and Nancy. Growing up in Iowa the boys started Little League baseball, Midget Football, City Park Track League all at 8 years of age. This would go on until you were 12 and then you would start Jr High School Sports and then off to High School Athletics. That's the way it was growing up in Iowa. I didn't really know any real thugs, and now that I know what a 'real' thug is, there were no thugs in Iowa, where I grew up. No crack mammas and if someone was on welfare I had no idea. That was Iowa, a good place to grow up and leave or stay- your choice.
So when people, assume that I'm Liberal because I'm a Democrat, I didn't have that experience and the black folks that I grew up with didn't have that experience. This is especially true having met real liberals after leaving Iowa and moving to the big city. First Atlanta and then a short pit stop in NYC. I've met real card carrying liberals and they were decent enough people. What I've found out is that most liberals that I've met have been wealthy or came from homes of privilege but they didn't know it, or had been raised like this so long that they thought everybody else was raised like this. The liberals I've met over the years have almost, always went to Ivy League Schools. Most had traveled through Europe. And the new young ones, they're traveling to Hong Kong and exploring Africa, Europe doesn't do it for them anymore. No I'm no Liberal, nothing against liberals.
Our father Ronald, was strict, as simple as that. He didn't like to see kids have a lot of spare time on their hands. This led to him constantly trying to find something for his five children to do. For me as the oldest boy in the family, I was always busy. And if that meant going out on our acre of land and pick weeds out of the cracks in the sidewalk, so be it, that's what we were doing on a Saturday morning. We grew up attending bible study classes with our grandmother. This happened twice a week, if I remember correctly. We were in all the church programs, as a child I was the Youth Minister on youth day, imagine that. I was good.
Growing up along the Mississippi River in Davenport wasn't bad though, we would ride our bikes from morning tell dinner. We would be everyplace with our neighbors the Pearls-- Gary and Nancy. Growing up in Iowa the boys started Little League baseball, Midget Football, City Park Track League all at 8 years of age. This would go on until you were 12 and then you would start Jr High School Sports and then off to High School Athletics. That's the way it was growing up in Iowa. I didn't really know any real thugs, and now that I know what a 'real' thug is, there were no thugs in Iowa, where I grew up. No crack mammas and if someone was on welfare I had no idea. That was Iowa, a good place to grow up and leave or stay- your choice.
So when people, assume that I'm Liberal because I'm a Democrat, I didn't have that experience and the black folks that I grew up with didn't have that experience. This is especially true having met real liberals after leaving Iowa and moving to the big city. First Atlanta and then a short pit stop in NYC. I've met real card carrying liberals and they were decent enough people. What I've found out is that most liberals that I've met have been wealthy or came from homes of privilege but they didn't know it, or had been raised like this so long that they thought everybody else was raised like this. The liberals I've met over the years have almost, always went to Ivy League Schools. Most had traveled through Europe. And the new young ones, they're traveling to Hong Kong and exploring Africa, Europe doesn't do it for them anymore. No I'm no Liberal, nothing against liberals.
Bill Maher's a sucka
Bill Maher, what a ultra-bedwetting-liberal sucka. I was watching his show-Real Time w/Bill Maher on HBO last Friday. So I'm watching him and out of the blue he went on this rant about President Obama. He claims that Obama spends to much time in front of the camera's playing TV and not enough time pushing through Maher's vision of health care reform. These guys like Maher crack me up. Maher thinks Obama is watering down health care reform, he believes Obama had a mandate from the people in this last election to reform health care to his liberal fantasy, where people just show up at Cedar Sinai and everything just gets fixed-damn the cost. What Obama is trying to do is, get something that everyone on both sides of aisle can somewhat live with, go back to their district and not get tarred and feathered.
If you look at the agenda the President has presented since being in office, this has been his pattern, Obama doesn't want to get something to the floor, and then have it die in committee or Congress. I see a person, who first off, goes back and looks at past failures and then tries to not make those same mistakes. He saw the short comings of Hillary care and he doesn't want to repeat them.
In my opinion to achieve his goals, he's going to have to do what he's been doing --proceed cautiously, but deliberately and have some sort of conservative carrot written into his policy or bill. He needs to listen and talk to everyone who has skin in the game, and try to make them all feel like winners in the final outcome. Just like dealing with children. I like the way he put Tort Reform (stopping people from suing for scratches) on the table yesterday. This is what conservatives want. Liberals want a Public -single payer government insurance plan. This is where, people who are not insured, just sign their name and the government picks up the tab. I doubt in the end, this will pass Congress, too many center-right Democrats.
I think it will be a mostly, if not exclusively -private insurance companies picking up the tab, with the hospitals and doctors trading tax breaks and maybe help on their malpractice insurance in trade. Other than that, Health care has zero chance of passing.
This brings me back Maher, he seems like a bright enough guy, but I just don't think he understands that America is a center/right country. I also don't think he understands that Obama is not a liberal, most black people are not liberal, to be truthful. Almost any black person brought up in a two parent home is pretty much conservative, or black people who have a college educated parent. They vote democrat, because the alternative sucks. Republicans are seen as racist. But if Republicans didn't have the racist stigma hanging around their necks, I truly doubt most blacks would vote democrat. Just my opinion.
Landscape tip of the day. Put a specimen plant near your front door. This will highlight your homes main entrance and is something that landscapers do to draw the eye to the front door. A specimen plant is a eye catching plant usually the best plant in the yard. Something with lots of flowers or some sort of dwarf evergreen variety. This will guide your guest straight to the front door.
If you look at the agenda the President has presented since being in office, this has been his pattern, Obama doesn't want to get something to the floor, and then have it die in committee or Congress. I see a person, who first off, goes back and looks at past failures and then tries to not make those same mistakes. He saw the short comings of Hillary care and he doesn't want to repeat them.
In my opinion to achieve his goals, he's going to have to do what he's been doing --proceed cautiously, but deliberately and have some sort of conservative carrot written into his policy or bill. He needs to listen and talk to everyone who has skin in the game, and try to make them all feel like winners in the final outcome. Just like dealing with children. I like the way he put Tort Reform (stopping people from suing for scratches) on the table yesterday. This is what conservatives want. Liberals want a Public -single payer government insurance plan. This is where, people who are not insured, just sign their name and the government picks up the tab. I doubt in the end, this will pass Congress, too many center-right Democrats.
I think it will be a mostly, if not exclusively -private insurance companies picking up the tab, with the hospitals and doctors trading tax breaks and maybe help on their malpractice insurance in trade. Other than that, Health care has zero chance of passing.
This brings me back Maher, he seems like a bright enough guy, but I just don't think he understands that America is a center/right country. I also don't think he understands that Obama is not a liberal, most black people are not liberal, to be truthful. Almost any black person brought up in a two parent home is pretty much conservative, or black people who have a college educated parent. They vote democrat, because the alternative sucks. Republicans are seen as racist. But if Republicans didn't have the racist stigma hanging around their necks, I truly doubt most blacks would vote democrat. Just my opinion.
Landscape tip of the day. Put a specimen plant near your front door. This will highlight your homes main entrance and is something that landscapers do to draw the eye to the front door. A specimen plant is a eye catching plant usually the best plant in the yard. Something with lots of flowers or some sort of dwarf evergreen variety. This will guide your guest straight to the front door.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Thorny Roses of Iran
There's something percolating in Iran. The Iranian people aren't going to roll over for this sham election anytime soon. This is a good thing, everyone with half a brain knows the elections there were a sham. The problem the people there have now -is gunplay. Seven people were killed overnight in Iran, The Iranian protesters were trying to enter a military facility and were met with hot lead. This happened while the opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi was leading a march through the streets of Iran, the protesters snaked through the streets for 5 miles, that's a insane amount of people.
The Obama Administration is playing it close to the vest, they don't want to be seen as stoking the fire against the ruling Iranian Government. They are also concerned that Iran will do something spectacular elsewhere, like set off a missile or drop a bomb someplace else in the Middle East to draw the attention of the media off of the story. That's something we would do. I'm sure the CIA is in full create -chaos-in-Iran-mode, to see if they can get the current mullah regime removed. It's interesting how all of this plays out.
Democracies are fragile- people. If you don't nip unrest in the bud, you could find yourself living in a hotel room in France or Somali. It would be a coop for the Obama Administration if they could get these crooks overthrown. This would quiet the Israeli's and the Republicans simultaneously, or until the next media created disaster happens.
Mir Hossein Moussavi wants a whole new elections in Iran, the mullah in charge don't agree they have said that they will do a partial recount. It all seems like smoke and mirrors to quiet the kids in the streets. Short of a new elections, I think what's going on in Iran is going to be going on for a while. President Obama will probably over the next couple of days make more and more provocative statements, calling for new elections and denouncing the current regime, as petty dictators.
The one good thing as come of this; the youth in Iran have made good use of the social networking sites Facebook, Twitter and Myspace to get the story out to the world. You can't hide anything anymore in this world, as long as a person has a phone he or she can go worldwide in minutes, if not seconds, it's a beautiful thing.
Spraying Roses over the next couple of days, I have to get out ahead of the Japanese Beatles. Terrible little bastard, can chew up a rose bush in the blink of an eye. I'm using something made the aspirin maker Bayer. Bayer is leader in pesticides for plants, who knew. I'm interested to see how it works. In the past I have used a product called Savin that worked just fine. This year I'm trying something new because of cost. I'll report how it works. Ciao
The Obama Administration is playing it close to the vest, they don't want to be seen as stoking the fire against the ruling Iranian Government. They are also concerned that Iran will do something spectacular elsewhere, like set off a missile or drop a bomb someplace else in the Middle East to draw the attention of the media off of the story. That's something we would do. I'm sure the CIA is in full create -chaos-in-Iran-mode, to see if they can get the current mullah regime removed. It's interesting how all of this plays out.
Democracies are fragile- people. If you don't nip unrest in the bud, you could find yourself living in a hotel room in France or Somali. It would be a coop for the Obama Administration if they could get these crooks overthrown. This would quiet the Israeli's and the Republicans simultaneously, or until the next media created disaster happens.
Mir Hossein Moussavi wants a whole new elections in Iran, the mullah in charge don't agree they have said that they will do a partial recount. It all seems like smoke and mirrors to quiet the kids in the streets. Short of a new elections, I think what's going on in Iran is going to be going on for a while. President Obama will probably over the next couple of days make more and more provocative statements, calling for new elections and denouncing the current regime, as petty dictators.
The one good thing as come of this; the youth in Iran have made good use of the social networking sites Facebook, Twitter and Myspace to get the story out to the world. You can't hide anything anymore in this world, as long as a person has a phone he or she can go worldwide in minutes, if not seconds, it's a beautiful thing.
Spraying Roses over the next couple of days, I have to get out ahead of the Japanese Beatles. Terrible little bastard, can chew up a rose bush in the blink of an eye. I'm using something made the aspirin maker Bayer. Bayer is leader in pesticides for plants, who knew. I'm interested to see how it works. In the past I have used a product called Savin that worked just fine. This year I'm trying something new because of cost. I'll report how it works. Ciao
Monday, June 15, 2009
Haters
"Their minds are filled with superstition, prejudice, and fantasy, and their ability to distinguish reality from fantasy is poor. The right-wing media provokes these individuals and gives their delusions the patina of legitimacy". I found this quote in the comments section of a Frank Rich column in the New York Times. The article about the Obama Haters, I had read, gave me chills. The extent of what people think and do because they don't agree with a Democratic President is insane. (They did the same nonsense with Clinton as President)
I've had a eye on these types of people since before the election. They were in the crowds of the the McCain/Palin rallies during the campaign, these weak minded people who get their knowledge mostly from ring wing websites and Fox News are becoming more of a problem for America than Al Qaeda ever was. These are the Von Brunn's of the world (the Museum Killer) They stockpile guns at their homes buying more and more even though they already have twenty, thirty, forty guns, they also stockpile ammunition as if the world was coming to a end.
It doesn't scare me, per se, most aren't to bright. Easily fooled, look at where they get there information from. But it does give me concern for President Obama and his family. I feel like the Secret Service takes the threats seriously and are acting accordingly, but these lone wolf racist are a squirrelly bunch, that are hard to pin down. I keep thinking about a rational way for Obama and Administration to get through to these people and let them know that all isn't lost for these idiots, That alot of the policies he's enacting help these people and their families, but their minds have been hijacked by the Rush Limbaughs, Sean Hannity's and Glen Becks of the world.
Before Ronald Reagan came into office there was a law called the Fairness Doctrine that outlawed hate speech over the public airwaves. When Reagan came into office he repealed it. This was the beginning of right wing talk radio. There is talk brewing these days that Obama needs to pull this old law out of the moth balls and reenact it. I would, but I believe this would only incite these fools further. Americans should be aware that the Middle Easterners, Koreans are the least of this Republics problems, we need to be focused like a laser on home grown right wing terrorist. If something happens to Obama, I seriously doubt that the Republic will survive.
Today, I'm doing some shopping for weed control products, specifically Preen and Round Up extended control. With these two products a person should almost never have to bend over and pull weeds out of the garden or the cracks of their sidewalk. Preen is a slow release granular and Round Up is a spray. With a spreader walk through your problem areas and let it fly, in areas that a granular would not appropriate spray the RoundUp. For 2 to three months you should be good to go.
I've had a eye on these types of people since before the election. They were in the crowds of the the McCain/Palin rallies during the campaign, these weak minded people who get their knowledge mostly from ring wing websites and Fox News are becoming more of a problem for America than Al Qaeda ever was. These are the Von Brunn's of the world (the Museum Killer) They stockpile guns at their homes buying more and more even though they already have twenty, thirty, forty guns, they also stockpile ammunition as if the world was coming to a end.
It doesn't scare me, per se, most aren't to bright. Easily fooled, look at where they get there information from. But it does give me concern for President Obama and his family. I feel like the Secret Service takes the threats seriously and are acting accordingly, but these lone wolf racist are a squirrelly bunch, that are hard to pin down. I keep thinking about a rational way for Obama and Administration to get through to these people and let them know that all isn't lost for these idiots, That alot of the policies he's enacting help these people and their families, but their minds have been hijacked by the Rush Limbaughs, Sean Hannity's and Glen Becks of the world.
Before Ronald Reagan came into office there was a law called the Fairness Doctrine that outlawed hate speech over the public airwaves. When Reagan came into office he repealed it. This was the beginning of right wing talk radio. There is talk brewing these days that Obama needs to pull this old law out of the moth balls and reenact it. I would, but I believe this would only incite these fools further. Americans should be aware that the Middle Easterners, Koreans are the least of this Republics problems, we need to be focused like a laser on home grown right wing terrorist. If something happens to Obama, I seriously doubt that the Republic will survive.
Today, I'm doing some shopping for weed control products, specifically Preen and Round Up extended control. With these two products a person should almost never have to bend over and pull weeds out of the garden or the cracks of their sidewalk. Preen is a slow release granular and Round Up is a spray. With a spreader walk through your problem areas and let it fly, in areas that a granular would not appropriate spray the RoundUp. For 2 to three months you should be good to go.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Health of Elections
I've been cooking breakfast and listening to the morning news shows. Health care and the Iranian election are the news du jour. I spoke about health care last last time I wrote in this blog, I want to clear my stance on 'health care for all'. I'm not against it, I think it's needed, there are a lot of people out there paying outrageous premiums for themselves and there families. There needs to be a solution on the horizon. My problem is that I want there to still be a private insurance market that can compete with the public option that people will be offered.
This has to be watched carefully. Do I like that this is the Rethuglican stance- no, not really, but so be it. More and more, I hear pundits speaking about the Massachusetts Insurance Plan. This is where the American people are covered by private sector insurance companies and the Government kind of subsidizes citizens in getting their own plan and are basically mandated to do so. In Massachusetts 98% of the citizens are insured and the premiums have been cut in half. I can live with that. But we have to make sure that we create more competition amongst insurers not less.
Earlier last week (June 7th) the Lebanese Christians defeated Hezbollah in the general elections there. A surprise for the Obama Administration. Some believe that this was do in part to the speech that President Obama delivered in Cairo Egypt earlier this month. The speech by the American President lit a fire under the youth and intellectual crowd in Lebanon, enough to defeat the favored Hezbollah Party. This leads me to the Iranian elections, first off, in the Iranian election process, candidates are only able to campaign for 2 weeks prior to the vote. So over the past couple of weeks incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has had his hands full with his challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi they've called each other everything but a child of Mohammad. In the end Ahmadinejad stole the election from his challenger declaring victory with only 40% of the vote counted. This election had the largest turnout of voters ever in a Iranian election. People need to realize that 70 to 80 percent of the Iranian people are under 27 years old. A young country.
Just like in our recent American elections the Obama Administration was hoping the youth could deliver a different regime over there. It wasn't to be, but they (Obama) stills sees a opening concerning these elections. I predict they will try to discredit the election outcome and declare that Ahmadinejad stole the election, maybe creating some unrest in Iran, maybe even a coo, maybe some blood gets spilled, maybe someone kills Ahmadinejad. Maybe....
This has to be watched carefully. Do I like that this is the Rethuglican stance- no, not really, but so be it. More and more, I hear pundits speaking about the Massachusetts Insurance Plan. This is where the American people are covered by private sector insurance companies and the Government kind of subsidizes citizens in getting their own plan and are basically mandated to do so. In Massachusetts 98% of the citizens are insured and the premiums have been cut in half. I can live with that. But we have to make sure that we create more competition amongst insurers not less.
Earlier last week (June 7th) the Lebanese Christians defeated Hezbollah in the general elections there. A surprise for the Obama Administration. Some believe that this was do in part to the speech that President Obama delivered in Cairo Egypt earlier this month. The speech by the American President lit a fire under the youth and intellectual crowd in Lebanon, enough to defeat the favored Hezbollah Party. This leads me to the Iranian elections, first off, in the Iranian election process, candidates are only able to campaign for 2 weeks prior to the vote. So over the past couple of weeks incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has had his hands full with his challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi they've called each other everything but a child of Mohammad. In the end Ahmadinejad stole the election from his challenger declaring victory with only 40% of the vote counted. This election had the largest turnout of voters ever in a Iranian election. People need to realize that 70 to 80 percent of the Iranian people are under 27 years old. A young country.
Just like in our recent American elections the Obama Administration was hoping the youth could deliver a different regime over there. It wasn't to be, but they (Obama) stills sees a opening concerning these elections. I predict they will try to discredit the election outcome and declare that Ahmadinejad stole the election, maybe creating some unrest in Iran, maybe even a coo, maybe some blood gets spilled, maybe someone kills Ahmadinejad. Maybe....
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Healthy Pot
Health Care for all huh...maybe I'm the mean guy, I'll be the devil's advocate concerning health care for all. What does that even mean- for all ?. Don't we have health care for all now ?. Any person hurt, sick or seriously injured can go to any emergency room of any hospital and get medical attention. The problem with that is that people, (a good number of them, illegally in this country) go to the Emergency room for minor things like colds and cuts. This clods up the system for folks who are legitimately sick or having broken bones.
The Obama Administration is pushing a boulder up hill right now concerning health care. I've read conflicting stories about how much this is going to cost the American taxpayers. People have to always remember that only about 55 percent of the citizenry pay income taxes. So this will fall on their backs, another entitlement for the unwashed masses, just like; Social Security, Medicare and Welfare. I personally can deal with it, if it is implemented properly. I think Kathryn Sibelius Health and Human Service Secretary is a pretty sharp stick. I'm interested to see what she comes up with. 'But' -you knew there was a 'but'. We the 55 percent of the taxpayers can't have this become like Social Security or Medicare, we can't afford it. In ten, fifteen years, companies won't offer insurance at all and everyone will have to use Government Insurance -bad idea.
People will be waiting in line, not be able to get procedures done or even simple physicals. There are too many people in America for this, they barely have a working health care system in Countries like Canada and Great Britain. Folks wait months for procedures, that we here in America can get done tomorrow. My wife and I have great insurance, we want no parts of government insurance. And we don't want to be forced into using the Governments Insurance, nothing against the Government.
Today I've planned to up-pot some plants, I've had in the backyard. These are plants that are still in the pot I bought them in. I haven't found a place for them in our landscape but the roots need room to breath. If you have this problem, where the plants have been around for 3 months in the same take home pot from the nursery. Consider up potting to a bigger pot, not too big, just one pot size bigger, add fresh dirt, pull the roots out so there not just winding around the pot and hit them with a little fertilizer and water. Then watch them jump out of the pot.
The Obama Administration is pushing a boulder up hill right now concerning health care. I've read conflicting stories about how much this is going to cost the American taxpayers. People have to always remember that only about 55 percent of the citizenry pay income taxes. So this will fall on their backs, another entitlement for the unwashed masses, just like; Social Security, Medicare and Welfare. I personally can deal with it, if it is implemented properly. I think Kathryn Sibelius Health and Human Service Secretary is a pretty sharp stick. I'm interested to see what she comes up with. 'But' -you knew there was a 'but'. We the 55 percent of the taxpayers can't have this become like Social Security or Medicare, we can't afford it. In ten, fifteen years, companies won't offer insurance at all and everyone will have to use Government Insurance -bad idea.
People will be waiting in line, not be able to get procedures done or even simple physicals. There are too many people in America for this, they barely have a working health care system in Countries like Canada and Great Britain. Folks wait months for procedures, that we here in America can get done tomorrow. My wife and I have great insurance, we want no parts of government insurance. And we don't want to be forced into using the Governments Insurance, nothing against the Government.
Today I've planned to up-pot some plants, I've had in the backyard. These are plants that are still in the pot I bought them in. I haven't found a place for them in our landscape but the roots need room to breath. If you have this problem, where the plants have been around for 3 months in the same take home pot from the nursery. Consider up potting to a bigger pot, not too big, just one pot size bigger, add fresh dirt, pull the roots out so there not just winding around the pot and hit them with a little fertilizer and water. Then watch them jump out of the pot.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Tax Dwarfs
It has to be frustrating for the Obama Administration, they were dealt some terrible cards from the Bush Administration. Bush and his cronies spent like drunken sailors over the past 8 years and now, some weak minded Americans think that it's his fault that were in the mess we are in. As time goes on- 2010 and beyond, more and more people will blame Obama for this mess.
What people don't know is -Cheney, Wolfowitz and Bushes planned all of this from the beginning. The Conservative playbook from the beginning was to run up the national debt of America so they couldn't afford to pay benefits to Americans, they wanted the govt. not to be able to pay Social Security, Medicare and all of America's obligations to their people. As the Rethuglicans saw it -the worst thing that happened before Bush was that Clinton balanced the budget and had a surplus. These people want to starve the Government. If you go to website like 'American Enterprise Institute', they as much as say it. This is a tactic in a large strategy to pass more of the load of funding government on the middle class. Some, but not all wealthy Americans feel like that they pay way to much in taxes. And to a point -they do.
America taxes system is punitive, I'm sorry to say. It punishes high achievers, which is not fair. The top 5 percent of tax payers pay almost 50 % of the taxes in America, that's a problem people. In states across America the wealthy are fleeing states like California and New York.
I'm sorry, if your wealthy and live in NYC or LA you'd have to be crazy. I believe the tax rate for the top 4 or 5 percent if you count city, state and federal taxes is closing in on 55%, that's unacceptable. States like Florida, Nevada and to some extent GA. have little to no state tax, no city tax, so a person only has to worry about federal tax. As time goes on, we are going to see a exodus of the wealthy from high tax states to tax friendly states for personal and business reasons. This is why companies left the Northeast and Midwest, taxes and unions. People need to be aware. One day if you keep achieving your going to be in that top 5% and they're going to be taxing you at 55%. believe me your not going to like it.
Just got back from the Plant Nursery, beautiful as usual. saw some nice evergreen material. I personally love dwarf evergreen plants. Dwarf meaning plant that grow very slowly- like 2 or 3 inches a year. Our yard is full of them. These species mostly come from the Northwest parts of our country and their pricey. The reason - their rate of growth. Plants --all plants are priced by how fast they grow. If a plant grows fast they are usually pretty cheap. But if their slow growers their going to cost more. Bottom line.
What people don't know is -Cheney, Wolfowitz and Bushes planned all of this from the beginning. The Conservative playbook from the beginning was to run up the national debt of America so they couldn't afford to pay benefits to Americans, they wanted the govt. not to be able to pay Social Security, Medicare and all of America's obligations to their people. As the Rethuglicans saw it -the worst thing that happened before Bush was that Clinton balanced the budget and had a surplus. These people want to starve the Government. If you go to website like 'American Enterprise Institute', they as much as say it. This is a tactic in a large strategy to pass more of the load of funding government on the middle class. Some, but not all wealthy Americans feel like that they pay way to much in taxes. And to a point -they do.
America taxes system is punitive, I'm sorry to say. It punishes high achievers, which is not fair. The top 5 percent of tax payers pay almost 50 % of the taxes in America, that's a problem people. In states across America the wealthy are fleeing states like California and New York.
I'm sorry, if your wealthy and live in NYC or LA you'd have to be crazy. I believe the tax rate for the top 4 or 5 percent if you count city, state and federal taxes is closing in on 55%, that's unacceptable. States like Florida, Nevada and to some extent GA. have little to no state tax, no city tax, so a person only has to worry about federal tax. As time goes on, we are going to see a exodus of the wealthy from high tax states to tax friendly states for personal and business reasons. This is why companies left the Northeast and Midwest, taxes and unions. People need to be aware. One day if you keep achieving your going to be in that top 5% and they're going to be taxing you at 55%. believe me your not going to like it.
Just got back from the Plant Nursery, beautiful as usual. saw some nice evergreen material. I personally love dwarf evergreen plants. Dwarf meaning plant that grow very slowly- like 2 or 3 inches a year. Our yard is full of them. These species mostly come from the Northwest parts of our country and their pricey. The reason - their rate of growth. Plants --all plants are priced by how fast they grow. If a plant grows fast they are usually pretty cheap. But if their slow growers their going to cost more. Bottom line.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The GOP are Stoned
Republicans on Capitol Hill think they’ve finally found Obama's Achilles' heel. The national debt. In the near future you will hear the Rethuglican party harping about how much debt the country is in. For some reason they don't remember Dick Cheney claiming, "deficits don't matter". They don't remember that George W. Bush passed 1.3 trillion dollars of that debt onto the new administration. They don't remember that were fighting two wars, while trying to lift the country out of the worst downturn since the Great Depression. All that's water under the bridge for the Rethuglicans.
If you look at polling being done these days, you will consistently see that around 68 percent of the American people support the Obama administration on 95% of their initiatives. You will also find that around 25 to 32 percent of the polled will disagree with Obama on EVERYTHING. These to me are the Sarah Palin voters, the hard right that think Pres. Obama can do no right. It is what it is.
These people were silent as a church mice when GWB and Cheney were dragging the American people into wars and ruining the economy, but now, when Obama is trying to make the hard decisions to right America's ship they are moaning about how America has all of sudden acquired all of this debt. and we want the books balanced- now.
Yesterday, President Obama announced a initiative to Congress to adopt a 'Pay As You Go System', meaning that for every dollar the Govt. or Congress spends they need to cut a dollar somewhere else in the budget. This is the way it was done during the Clinton Era, adopting this strategy led to America racking up budget surplus's and retiring most of our National Debt. I personally think it's a great strategy that should bare fruit soon. But lets see if the dumb m'asses' can get behind him.
These days I'm really into stone, boulders, slate chips in the landscape. They are a beautiful addition to a landscape that add a sense of grandness and richness to a homeowners or businesses landscape. Here at our home we have boulders, stack stone, and slate slabs in our landscape, and I want more. It's not cheap though, the people who sell this stuff , know they have something that usually more affluent customers want and they price accordingly. If your dong a landscape project at your home and you want to take it to the next level. I always suggest to my customers; drop some stones on it.
If you look at polling being done these days, you will consistently see that around 68 percent of the American people support the Obama administration on 95% of their initiatives. You will also find that around 25 to 32 percent of the polled will disagree with Obama on EVERYTHING. These to me are the Sarah Palin voters, the hard right that think Pres. Obama can do no right. It is what it is.
These people were silent as a church mice when GWB and Cheney were dragging the American people into wars and ruining the economy, but now, when Obama is trying to make the hard decisions to right America's ship they are moaning about how America has all of sudden acquired all of this debt. and we want the books balanced- now.
Yesterday, President Obama announced a initiative to Congress to adopt a 'Pay As You Go System', meaning that for every dollar the Govt. or Congress spends they need to cut a dollar somewhere else in the budget. This is the way it was done during the Clinton Era, adopting this strategy led to America racking up budget surplus's and retiring most of our National Debt. I personally think it's a great strategy that should bare fruit soon. But lets see if the dumb m'asses' can get behind him.
These days I'm really into stone, boulders, slate chips in the landscape. They are a beautiful addition to a landscape that add a sense of grandness and richness to a homeowners or businesses landscape. Here at our home we have boulders, stack stone, and slate slabs in our landscape, and I want more. It's not cheap though, the people who sell this stuff , know they have something that usually more affluent customers want and they price accordingly. If your dong a landscape project at your home and you want to take it to the next level. I always suggest to my customers; drop some stones on it.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
My Jewish Brethren
I wrote a blog this morning, a long blog, about the problem that the Obama Administration is having with Israel. For some reason I lost my connection with the Internet and lost my work. For a moment, I thought it was because, I was being a bit harsh with our Jewish brethren, but it couldn't be that, could it.
I was listening to the news this morning and the actor John Voight appeared on the TV, he was ripping President Obama about not protecting America and Israeli's from radical Islam. That Obama was setting the world up for another holocaust, if we didn't watch out. He went on for some time about how it was America's responsibility to basically put the Muslim's in there place.
Right now the Israelis are building housing on disputed land, that had before been Palestinian territory. The Obama administration has asked Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu's to stop this practice and come to the table and set up a two state solution . This would provide land for a Palestinian and Israeli state. Something that would for now, make both side of this mess happy.
It seems though, that Israel is going to keep building. Probably until they have accomplished their goals, for their people to take over this land. Then they'll come to the bargaining table and split the land . By then, they will have already moved their people onto this disputed land, they will claim ignorance that this land was ever in dispute, and then claim-- 'lets just go from here, were already on this land and were not moving'. It doesn't seem fair but what can the Palenstians or American's do, were in their pocket.
Lets talk about pruning, I just sign on a new client, a couple from New Jersey who just moved to Atlanta. They've bought themselves a find home but they have a severely overgrown landscape. At one time this was a very expensive design and installation. Now though it's a overgrown mess that needs to be reigned in. When surveying your own landscape people should being looking if they are walking around bushes growing out into their egress, or are ducking under branches from trees that have drooping branches. You should not be doing that. Also you should see if bushes are hiding other shrubs that are behind them. That's not the way it was suppose to be .
When the designer and landscape personnel installed the landscape they were counting on the homeowners, 'maintaining' the landscape. Huge problem. I've seen excellent landscapes installed only to go to the garbage because the homeowner never maintained it. Stuff grows people. grass and weeds are going to appear even if you do put down landscape fabric. Prune your shrubs, cut back low hanging branches on your trees, so you don't have to duck to walk through your property. And spread "Preen" a weed prevention granular that kills weeds. It isn't that hard.
I was listening to the news this morning and the actor John Voight appeared on the TV, he was ripping President Obama about not protecting America and Israeli's from radical Islam. That Obama was setting the world up for another holocaust, if we didn't watch out. He went on for some time about how it was America's responsibility to basically put the Muslim's in there place.
Right now the Israelis are building housing on disputed land, that had before been Palestinian territory. The Obama administration has asked Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu's to stop this practice and come to the table and set up a two state solution . This would provide land for a Palestinian and Israeli state. Something that would for now, make both side of this mess happy.
It seems though, that Israel is going to keep building. Probably until they have accomplished their goals, for their people to take over this land. Then they'll come to the bargaining table and split the land . By then, they will have already moved their people onto this disputed land, they will claim ignorance that this land was ever in dispute, and then claim-- 'lets just go from here, were already on this land and were not moving'. It doesn't seem fair but what can the Palenstians or American's do, were in their pocket.
Lets talk about pruning, I just sign on a new client, a couple from New Jersey who just moved to Atlanta. They've bought themselves a find home but they have a severely overgrown landscape. At one time this was a very expensive design and installation. Now though it's a overgrown mess that needs to be reigned in. When surveying your own landscape people should being looking if they are walking around bushes growing out into their egress, or are ducking under branches from trees that have drooping branches. You should not be doing that. Also you should see if bushes are hiding other shrubs that are behind them. That's not the way it was suppose to be .
When the designer and landscape personnel installed the landscape they were counting on the homeowners, 'maintaining' the landscape. Huge problem. I've seen excellent landscapes installed only to go to the garbage because the homeowner never maintained it. Stuff grows people. grass and weeds are going to appear even if you do put down landscape fabric. Prune your shrubs, cut back low hanging branches on your trees, so you don't have to duck to walk through your property. And spread "Preen" a weed prevention granular that kills weeds. It isn't that hard.
Monday, June 8, 2009
IL grass
These days, for a reporter to move up in the ranks of a newspaper or news outlet the reporter has to put themselves in ever more precarious positions in ever more dangerous places. Sometimes they have to ask politicians or heads of states shocking questions in public arena's. These days you are likely to find Anderson Cooper (CNN) or Anne Curry (NBC) anyplace around the world with a camera crew; Iran, Somali or North Korea.
This brings me to my point, Currrent TV reporters Enua Lee and Laura Ling were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor by the Courts in North Korea. I don't know how I feel about that, it's like a person poking a stick at a lion through a cage and then being mad that the lion bit them. As we have all witnessed from watching the evening news, Kim Jong Il is a flat out nut. Why would you be over in North Korea messing with that man's people. Someone had to have told these two journalist that if your caught over there, "your on your own". Now I see Ling's sister Lisa (the more famous reporter for (National Geographic and NBC fame) on the evening news crying and asking the Obama administration to intervene.
America and North Korea are anything but friends, we have no juice in North Korea, quite the contrary. Jong Il probably relishes in being able to hold these two young journalist over the American people heads. He makes Obama have to ask for favors from people he 's trying to ostracize right now, for the missile they've been launching as of recently. It's a shame.
To me, this has a lot to do with reporters going to more and more dangerous lengths to try to make a name for themselves. The problem is, when things don't work out, America has to come and grovel to despots for their releases. The same scenario just played out in Iran, where a female reporter was jailed for spying/reporting in Iran. They released her, but only after the Obama Administration had to come with hat in hand.
America may have to start to new policy where they say to reporters if you go to dangerous inhospitable places you may have to suffer the consequences of your actions.
It's going to be hot in Atlanta this week, bordering on 90 degrees everyday. I'm concerned with the grass at all my clients properties. I don't have tremendous amount of grass on my properties, but the grass I do have is fescu, a dark green, year round grass, that doesn't do to well when the sun beats down on it for long periods of time. I also have fescu at my own home.
I'm thinking that I need to (unfortunately) turn on the irrigation at a few of my properties. This isn't as easy as flipping a switch. Some light weight computer programming of the systems is necessary. Also testing to see if everything is working properly from the year before, if you have a few large properties like I do, it's going to take all day. It's all good though, that's why a person gets paid the medium bucks. Caio
This brings me to my point, Currrent TV reporters Enua Lee and Laura Ling were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor by the Courts in North Korea. I don't know how I feel about that, it's like a person poking a stick at a lion through a cage and then being mad that the lion bit them. As we have all witnessed from watching the evening news, Kim Jong Il is a flat out nut. Why would you be over in North Korea messing with that man's people. Someone had to have told these two journalist that if your caught over there, "your on your own". Now I see Ling's sister Lisa (the more famous reporter for (National Geographic and NBC fame) on the evening news crying and asking the Obama administration to intervene.
America and North Korea are anything but friends, we have no juice in North Korea, quite the contrary. Jong Il probably relishes in being able to hold these two young journalist over the American people heads. He makes Obama have to ask for favors from people he 's trying to ostracize right now, for the missile they've been launching as of recently. It's a shame.
To me, this has a lot to do with reporters going to more and more dangerous lengths to try to make a name for themselves. The problem is, when things don't work out, America has to come and grovel to despots for their releases. The same scenario just played out in Iran, where a female reporter was jailed for spying/reporting in Iran. They released her, but only after the Obama Administration had to come with hat in hand.
America may have to start to new policy where they say to reporters if you go to dangerous inhospitable places you may have to suffer the consequences of your actions.
It's going to be hot in Atlanta this week, bordering on 90 degrees everyday. I'm concerned with the grass at all my clients properties. I don't have tremendous amount of grass on my properties, but the grass I do have is fescu, a dark green, year round grass, that doesn't do to well when the sun beats down on it for long periods of time. I also have fescu at my own home.
I'm thinking that I need to (unfortunately) turn on the irrigation at a few of my properties. This isn't as easy as flipping a switch. Some light weight computer programming of the systems is necessary. Also testing to see if everything is working properly from the year before, if you have a few large properties like I do, it's going to take all day. It's all good though, that's why a person gets paid the medium bucks. Caio
Sunday, June 7, 2009
'Press' the Grapes
I was checking out this months Vanity Fair Magazine, I like Vanity Fair, good reporting and writing, something very hard to find these days. They are running a story this month about how well the Obama Administration handles the press, compared to other Administration's. I was also watching CNN and they were reporting basically the same thing. I like when President can control the spin coming out of the White House. Over the years I've seen this done badly. Where the press has the administration chasing their tail and explaining after every little cliche that happens through the course of a day.
President Clinton comes to mind, during the Lewinski debacle, Clinton would be a state functions or sitting with world leaders and the press would ask him about the most nonsensical things. Those people had no leash on the dog, (that is the press). You have to keep a tight leash on the press in my opinion or they will muddle your message and lead you to places you don't want to go. In the VF article they talk about how disciplined and smart Obama and his people are concerning the media. and how the administration strategically releases information that they need for the press and the American people to know. I think Rahm Emanuel has had big hand in this, he has always been a person who could mold the media to his liking.
I was outside this morning checking on the grapes, blueberries, peppers and Kiwi's, I have growing in my yard. everything is great. But while I was out, two of my neighbors were passing and admiring our landscape. So we strike up a conversation and I take them on a tour of the yard. This has happened about 9 or 10 times his season, it's interesting because we have virtually no blooming flowers in our landscape all Agave's, dwarf evergreen materials, some climbing Roses for our only burst of color, and vining grapes, blueberries, kiwis and cherry tomatoes. This season I built four bamboo trellis about 5 feet high for the roses, grapes and kiwi to climb. From the street the look is fresh, I've never seen anyone do it. I'm sure I'll see it everywhere next year, but by then, I'll be on to something new. This is what I do.
President Clinton comes to mind, during the Lewinski debacle, Clinton would be a state functions or sitting with world leaders and the press would ask him about the most nonsensical things. Those people had no leash on the dog, (that is the press). You have to keep a tight leash on the press in my opinion or they will muddle your message and lead you to places you don't want to go. In the VF article they talk about how disciplined and smart Obama and his people are concerning the media. and how the administration strategically releases information that they need for the press and the American people to know. I think Rahm Emanuel has had big hand in this, he has always been a person who could mold the media to his liking.
I was outside this morning checking on the grapes, blueberries, peppers and Kiwi's, I have growing in my yard. everything is great. But while I was out, two of my neighbors were passing and admiring our landscape. So we strike up a conversation and I take them on a tour of the yard. This has happened about 9 or 10 times his season, it's interesting because we have virtually no blooming flowers in our landscape all Agave's, dwarf evergreen materials, some climbing Roses for our only burst of color, and vining grapes, blueberries, kiwis and cherry tomatoes. This season I built four bamboo trellis about 5 feet high for the roses, grapes and kiwi to climb. From the street the look is fresh, I've never seen anyone do it. I'm sure I'll see it everywhere next year, but by then, I'll be on to something new. This is what I do.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Water Devils
Morning came a bit too soon this morning, our dog Juniper has got himself into a pattern of waking at 5:30a to go outside and just roam a bit. About half the time my wife wakes and takes her in the backyard. When I wake and take the dog out, I take her to the front yard. I sit on one the front porch chairs and check out the roses while Juniper sniffs out new smells from the night before and hopefully squeezes out a piss and poo. Dog stuff.
In rained hard for quite a while yesterday and last night in Atlanta. I love it, he keeps me from having to turn on the sprinkler system at one of my largest clients property. Gotta conserve the water. Speaking of water, people think that just watering a plant indoors or out until the plant is floating is the key to healthy plants. It isn't. Over watering is probably the no.1 way that indoor plants die. Too much love. In the plant world it's much easier to cure a plant that's dry than wet. Plants can recover from being too dry, water them, and they will usually snap back good as new.
Letting a plant go dry (not dessert dry) but almost to wilt, and then watering it is the best way to make a flowering plant create flowers, try it. Same for non flowering plants, let the plant go almost to wilt and then water it and the plant will grow new shoots. Now too much water is the problem, plants cannot recover from too much water, it rots the roots, leading to death of the plant. Simple way to avoid this, for house and outdoor plants; feel the soil before watering. Stick your finger about two inches into the soil around the plant if it's wet or moist don't water. This will also eliminate gnats in the home. The gnats are attracted to the moistness, This is the reason that gnats fly around your face, they are attracted to the wetness in your mouth. hmm...
The critics are in on President Obama's speech in Cairo. It was the usual nonsense, but the thing that struck me is that they had a problem with Barack saying Assalamu Alaikum, (peace to you) I believe. What !. They've got to have something better to do. The president touched on many subject during his hour long address to the students and faculty at Cairo University. The speech seemed to be well received by most Muslims which is a start. It's good he recognized the educated masses in Cairo. What is interesting to me is that Egyptian Universities graduate 900,000 students a year. That's alot of educated people. many more than their economy can support. Someone needs to come up with a plan to put these graduates to work, or were going to have a problem with the old saying "an idle mind is the devils playground".
In rained hard for quite a while yesterday and last night in Atlanta. I love it, he keeps me from having to turn on the sprinkler system at one of my largest clients property. Gotta conserve the water. Speaking of water, people think that just watering a plant indoors or out until the plant is floating is the key to healthy plants. It isn't. Over watering is probably the no.1 way that indoor plants die. Too much love. In the plant world it's much easier to cure a plant that's dry than wet. Plants can recover from being too dry, water them, and they will usually snap back good as new.
Letting a plant go dry (not dessert dry) but almost to wilt, and then watering it is the best way to make a flowering plant create flowers, try it. Same for non flowering plants, let the plant go almost to wilt and then water it and the plant will grow new shoots. Now too much water is the problem, plants cannot recover from too much water, it rots the roots, leading to death of the plant. Simple way to avoid this, for house and outdoor plants; feel the soil before watering. Stick your finger about two inches into the soil around the plant if it's wet or moist don't water. This will also eliminate gnats in the home. The gnats are attracted to the moistness, This is the reason that gnats fly around your face, they are attracted to the wetness in your mouth. hmm...
The critics are in on President Obama's speech in Cairo. It was the usual nonsense, but the thing that struck me is that they had a problem with Barack saying Assalamu Alaikum, (peace to you) I believe. What !. They've got to have something better to do. The president touched on many subject during his hour long address to the students and faculty at Cairo University. The speech seemed to be well received by most Muslims which is a start. It's good he recognized the educated masses in Cairo. What is interesting to me is that Egyptian Universities graduate 900,000 students a year. That's alot of educated people. many more than their economy can support. Someone needs to come up with a plan to put these graduates to work, or were going to have a problem with the old saying "an idle mind is the devils playground".
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Orchids in Cairo
Ours is a floral home, a house that's as close to tropical as you can be indoors in Atlanta. We have Marginata's, Neon Janet Craig's, Orchids you name it. It's good, it adds an aliveness to a home. I assume everyone knows indoor plants clean the air in a home. In Canada high rises are required to have a certain amount of plants for each floor of the structure.
People make the mistake of thinking that companies put plants in offices for adornment. To make it pretty. No... There is a hierarchy when it comes to plants in offices, Usually the most important people have the biggest and best plants in their offices. This is because NASA Research has proven that any plant but the (bigger more leafy plants are better), cut down on a person becoming sick at the office. Companies put great plants in the boss and the moneymakers offices because they want them to show up for work. Here's a tip Cold and flu germs stick to plants. The more plants, the cleaner the air and less sickness in the home. Google it.
I was listening to President Obama this morning, he was speaking in Cairo at one of the University's there. I liked, that he seemed at ease, something he wasn't yesterday with the Saudis, he had a very closed stance and energy. The last time I saw him in the Middle East he seemed a bit closed. One of his strategies in the Middle East is to reach out to the youth, the college students and academics amongst them. These people set the tone for a society, they are the trend setter, leaders and moneymakers in Societies. I think in looking at Mr. Obama's administration and how they do business, they've noodled this out, as the best way to reach out and change the future in the Muslim World.
People make the mistake of thinking that companies put plants in offices for adornment. To make it pretty. No... There is a hierarchy when it comes to plants in offices, Usually the most important people have the biggest and best plants in their offices. This is because NASA Research has proven that any plant but the (bigger more leafy plants are better), cut down on a person becoming sick at the office. Companies put great plants in the boss and the moneymakers offices because they want them to show up for work. Here's a tip Cold and flu germs stick to plants. The more plants, the cleaner the air and less sickness in the home. Google it.
I was listening to President Obama this morning, he was speaking in Cairo at one of the University's there. I liked, that he seemed at ease, something he wasn't yesterday with the Saudis, he had a very closed stance and energy. The last time I saw him in the Middle East he seemed a bit closed. One of his strategies in the Middle East is to reach out to the youth, the college students and academics amongst them. These people set the tone for a society, they are the trend setter, leaders and moneymakers in Societies. I think in looking at Mr. Obama's administration and how they do business, they've noodled this out, as the best way to reach out and change the future in the Muslim World.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Politics and Palms
I was sitting on are stoop, (our front porch) this morning. Thinking. Last night the sorority house (literally) next door to us had a party, Pretty little hard belly's playing loud rap and R&b music, imagine that. My wife complain to me about what we should do, but what could I say, I use to do the same thing.
I was surveying my back forty this morning and I've acquired some Palms-Silver palms, King Palms, and a Banana Palm. They are what 2 or 3 feet tall, not big at all. I'm thinking I'll put one up front and the rest around our backyard which is about to be under construction.
I try to explain to customers that it would actually be much more cost effective to buy smaller less expensive plant material, (unless you just have to have it). The Palms I got came from a nursery for 5bucks a piece. I see these Palms at Home Depot maybe a foot or two taller for 80, 90 dollars. Buy small , put the plant in the right light (very important) and it will jump out of the ground the (second) year. Not gonna get much the first season but the second and third year, golden.
I was watching President Obama with Nancy Reagan yesterday and it struck me that Barack always seems so reassuring in his decision making. He was cool as cucumber, Nancy Reagan was holding onto his arm like it was a life preserver in the Ocean, it was cute.
I see that Tom Pawlenty Republican Governor of Minnesota is not running for re-election. Very impressive man, people are talking about him running for the President as the Republican nominee in 2012. Between Pawlenty and Mitt Romney, Baracks gonna have his hands full if everything isn't running smooth and folks aren't working. I'll still take Barack.
I was surveying my back forty this morning and I've acquired some Palms-Silver palms, King Palms, and a Banana Palm. They are what 2 or 3 feet tall, not big at all. I'm thinking I'll put one up front and the rest around our backyard which is about to be under construction.
I try to explain to customers that it would actually be much more cost effective to buy smaller less expensive plant material, (unless you just have to have it). The Palms I got came from a nursery for 5bucks a piece. I see these Palms at Home Depot maybe a foot or two taller for 80, 90 dollars. Buy small , put the plant in the right light (very important) and it will jump out of the ground the (second) year. Not gonna get much the first season but the second and third year, golden.
I was watching President Obama with Nancy Reagan yesterday and it struck me that Barack always seems so reassuring in his decision making. He was cool as cucumber, Nancy Reagan was holding onto his arm like it was a life preserver in the Ocean, it was cute.
I see that Tom Pawlenty Republican Governor of Minnesota is not running for re-election. Very impressive man, people are talking about him running for the President as the Republican nominee in 2012. Between Pawlenty and Mitt Romney, Baracks gonna have his hands full if everything isn't running smooth and folks aren't working. I'll still take Barack.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Blueberrys, Kiwis and the Middle East
It's Tuesday and I just checked out the blood Japanese Maple tree I installed on one of my clients locatons. THis is a big tree sitting on the side of a hill, I had to hire five people to lug it up the hill and put it in the hole. This is not a game. I'm on the hook for a year, if it dies I'm out 700 dollars to replace it.
I planted seedless grapes, kiwis, cherry tomatoes, and blueberrys on the side of our home, they look beautiful, if I say so myself. With the rain Atlanta's has had over the spring the roots have had a chance to grow deep which is what you want, it makes for a strong and durable plant in the summer months.
Speaking of roots running deep, I see that President Obama leaves for the Middle East tonight. It's interesting that alot of people feel a slight sense of nervousness about this trip. I sort of hate that people know his agenda, it gives bad people the chance to plan bad things before the President arrives. I know the Secret Service is watching his back, but I don't put anything past America's and the President's enemy's--- even home grown enemy's. To me this would be a pefect time for these fools to try something. He's over in the Middle East, it would be easy for govt. assassins to try something and then blame it on the Middle Easterners. Or it would be a opportune time for Bin Ladin's people to advance there agenda while the president is on their soil.
I just hope that all goes well and the President does what he came to do and leaves. If something was to happen, I don't think the Republic could survive.
I planted seedless grapes, kiwis, cherry tomatoes, and blueberrys on the side of our home, they look beautiful, if I say so myself. With the rain Atlanta's has had over the spring the roots have had a chance to grow deep which is what you want, it makes for a strong and durable plant in the summer months.
Speaking of roots running deep, I see that President Obama leaves for the Middle East tonight. It's interesting that alot of people feel a slight sense of nervousness about this trip. I sort of hate that people know his agenda, it gives bad people the chance to plan bad things before the President arrives. I know the Secret Service is watching his back, but I don't put anything past America's and the President's enemy's--- even home grown enemy's. To me this would be a pefect time for these fools to try something. He's over in the Middle East, it would be easy for govt. assassins to try something and then blame it on the Middle Easterners. Or it would be a opportune time for Bin Ladin's people to advance there agenda while the president is on their soil.
I just hope that all goes well and the President does what he came to do and leaves. If something was to happen, I don't think the Republic could survive.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Reagan, Clinton and the mortgage mess
I was reading Paul Krugman the economist who writes a Op-Ed column for the New York Times this morning. The jist of his column this morning lays out a line of thinking, that the whole mess that the country is in goes back to the Reagan Era bank deregulations. Before Reagan deregulated the banks, People had to put down a nice chunk of money to buy a home. It makes sense that people were required to have some skin in the game before being allowed to make quarter , half, three quarter million dollar purchases. I have no problem with that.
This practice was expanded during the Clinton era, with Freddy Mac and Fanny May. Clinton's famous call to homeownership for all Americans was a percursor for scary things to come Well as a homeowner, I'll use the words of the great wordsmith Jay-Z, "It ain't for everybody." I remember back in 2005-2006, seeing my 21 year old nephew buying a 200,000 piece of property while selling Newspaper subscriptions for the local newspaper, right then I new something was amiss with this whole homeownership thing. Folks who I wouldn't loan 20 dollars were coming up with 300k mortagages like they were buying bikes.
But that's wasn't the worst of it, after they had acquired these loans they were able to pull 10s of thousands of dollars out of the property after only being in them for months, I always thought this is money musical chairs, I was just wondering who was gonna get caught standing with no chair. 99% chance it would be the small guy.
After a bit of research I had found out that the banks were selling these loans as fast as they were making them, so they really were assuming little-to-no-risk in the transaction. Real estate Agents, Mortgage Brokers, Appraisers and the banks were running a much bigger Ponzi scheme than Madoff ever imagined.
What's interesting or criminal to me is if I figured this out within like two days why didn't the govt. regulatators or the banks or the Brokers or the appraisers understand what was going on. I get it now... We... yes we.... not all but a good portion of the American people are greedy. We saw that the Jones were stackin piles of money , putting pools in their back yard, buying new cars and off on exotic vacations and we wanted some of that. And if we had to fudge some numbers, defraud a bank, lie to a loan officer so be it. It's the American way...right.
This practice was expanded during the Clinton era, with Freddy Mac and Fanny May. Clinton's famous call to homeownership for all Americans was a percursor for scary things to come Well as a homeowner, I'll use the words of the great wordsmith Jay-Z, "It ain't for everybody." I remember back in 2005-2006, seeing my 21 year old nephew buying a 200,000 piece of property while selling Newspaper subscriptions for the local newspaper, right then I new something was amiss with this whole homeownership thing. Folks who I wouldn't loan 20 dollars were coming up with 300k mortagages like they were buying bikes.
But that's wasn't the worst of it, after they had acquired these loans they were able to pull 10s of thousands of dollars out of the property after only being in them for months, I always thought this is money musical chairs, I was just wondering who was gonna get caught standing with no chair. 99% chance it would be the small guy.
After a bit of research I had found out that the banks were selling these loans as fast as they were making them, so they really were assuming little-to-no-risk in the transaction. Real estate Agents, Mortgage Brokers, Appraisers and the banks were running a much bigger Ponzi scheme than Madoff ever imagined.
What's interesting or criminal to me is if I figured this out within like two days why didn't the govt. regulatators or the banks or the Brokers or the appraisers understand what was going on. I get it now... We... yes we.... not all but a good portion of the American people are greedy. We saw that the Jones were stackin piles of money , putting pools in their back yard, buying new cars and off on exotic vacations and we wanted some of that. And if we had to fudge some numbers, defraud a bank, lie to a loan officer so be it. It's the American way...right.
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