October ended in an odd parody of Halloween where the old ugly witch from San Francisco has brewed up a ghastly caldron of socialism and the American people are running down the middle of the road as a ghost car chased them poised to run them down with income tax rates over 50% for business and promises of healthcare anyone with a brain and not zapped with lightning by a mad scientist of the dying main stream media can say will be massively expensive, not cost neutral.  The month marked the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China on this side of the Pacific.  An event that was marked by parades, plays, and a celebration full of unity and patriotism that is lacking in my home country now.  Iran is continuing to thumb its nose at the world, while in a few countries away we have an emboldened terrorist army killing at levels not seen in 4 years while the world’s most technically advanced military is in neutral while its commander in chief is debating the most politically safe move on dealing with something he doesn’t want to deal with.  With this as a backdrop lets get on with it.

Domestic Items – Our first item comes to us from the pages of yesteryear, trains.  Here is China trains are a good alternative to air travel as they are more reliable, cheap, and the nation’s rail network is fairly robust with standard and high-speed options.  The Chinese government runs the trains here and they run them well.  China of course is a communist country that is still running a hybrid socialism/capitalism system under total government regulation and control rules the day.  Why am I bringing this up?  Obama and many Democrat governors are clamoring for the installation of high-speed rail as a green alternative and a jobs creator.  How does this all tie together?  Amrtak, the US government run passenger railroad in America, this month announced having its second highest ridership in history last year, good news right, wrong!  The actual numbers were 27.2 million passengers from Sept 08 to Sept 09 but this year saw a 1 million passenger drop in ridership over last year.  This is a 5.1% increase over 2 years ago.  Of course that sounds good but what about the cost, as its a government funded entity?  Over the same period Amtrak lost $32 per passenger over the year, that is a loss of $870.4 Million dollars!  This figure is an average estimated from the Pew Economic Policy Group who was independently funded to run the estimate after Amtrak released a $8 per passenger average loss ($217.6 Million dollar loss) to validate the results.  Why the difference?  Pew added in depreciation on hardware where Amtrak didn’t (things like new cars, wheels, breaks, engines, etc.).  Some lines are actually profitable, like the high-speed line Acela Express which made $41 profit per passenger but is only 1 of 3 lines Amtrak operates that at a profit.  Thank means that 41 of 44 lines operate at a loss! What other entity can operate at a 6.8% profit margin, or 93.1% loss margin?  Take for instance the the Sunset Limited line, running from New Orleans to Los Angeles, that losses $462 per passenger.  Why is this line, and others that are such a loss generator, not shut down?  Are Obama and Democrat governors that believe in rail adopting a “Field of Dreams” approach to rail service?  If they build it he (the rider) will come.  Well, from the numbers that approach still is not working.  Don’t get me wrong, I love rail travel.  Traveling by train is less stressful, offers great photo opportunities, sight seeing, and time to relax while traveling then by air.  Cost wise, well that is up to the market.  If trains can compete with airlines and cars then the market will support them, if not, then let the natural process take place.  We are spending nearly a Billion dollars to prop up a transportation option that is only making a profit 6.8% of the time and has only seen increased ridership with high gas prices, this will not do.  If we are serious about cost savings, cutting government fat out of the budget we should look here for starters as I can not think of a another program with such a high failure rate, 93.1%.  The market will dictate where rail is a good transportation alternative, where it isn’t we should not fund it with dollars that can go elsewhere that impacts the nation better.  If the nation needs a government subsidy train let it be a national line that links the East to West, North to South and has stops in each state or every other state for high speed.  Just 4 line and 8 trains, not 44 lines.  Of all the highlighted budgets and figures we have seen in the news lately and the focus on healthcare we should not take our eye off the ball as it is all related, it is all tax payer dollars, its all our money, so it needs to be spent to benefit us all, not the 6,000 people a month who like to go from New Orleans to Los Angeles.

Fall is Homecoming at high school across America.  This is a special time, a time to celebrate school spirit with a football game, a beauty/popularity contest, a dance, and a week to highlight pride in the school.  It also allows kids to get over the initial shock of getting back to the school routine.  For the most part these annual events go off without a hitch or with few if any major problems.  Unfortunately we have seen this time of celebration turned into a horror show by a group of sub-human slime and the gutless and morally bankrupt youth in Richmond California, a crime ridden suburb of San Francisco.  A 15 year old girl went to the school dance, left and went with a guy to drink alcohol in a school campus courtyard.  After she had become drunk as many as 10 people raped, beat, and robbed the 15 year old girl.  Police are saying as many as 24 people watched, cheered, and took pictures/videos of the attacks.  This attack went on for 2 hours.  The girl’s father called numerous times to the girl’s cell phone which was never answered during the attack.  Only when a female student overheard a couple of males talking about the attack were the police notified.  We now have 5 people, 2 men and 3 boys, arrested for the attack, ranging in ages 15 to 21.  These are the facts reported numerous times over the month since the attack occurred.  This case is tragic and the circumstances remind me of the famous case of Kitty Genovese.  For those younger then 50 and not criminology or sociology majors Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death in Queens New York and none of her neighbors did anything to assist or report the stabbing.  The news report came under criticism for being inaccurate however the situation remained the same.  In psychology the situation became known as bystander effect or Genovese syndrome.  The case has been cited by everything from sociology journals to Hollywood movies, Boondock Saints.  In the opening scenes of Boondock Saints a priest is giving an impassioned sermon where he states “I am reminded of this holy day of the sad story of Kitty Genovese.  This poor soul cried out time and time again for help but no person answered her calls.  Though many saw, not one so much as called.  Her assailant wiped the bloody knife off on her lifeless little body.  They watched as he simply walked away.  Nobody wanted to get involved.  Nobody wanted to take a stand...  We must fear evil men and deal with them accordingly but what we must truly guard against, what we must fear most, is the indifference of good men.”  This is a good point and correct analogy here.  This 15 year old girl was raped on school grounds for 2 hours, beaten, half naked, and large groups watching, cheering, and egging on the ones raping her and nobody did a thing until a person heard second hand of it.  If just one person had went up to the door to talk to the school’s vice principal, security guards, or off duty cops there the extent of the assault would have been less.  The telling part of this news story is the indifference of the ones in the crowds watching it.  Now we can’t arrest people for watching a crime, but we can for those of knowledge of a crime and failing to report it, for those who watch police shows will recognize the term of accessory after the fact.  The law states, an accessory is a person who assists in the commission of a crime, but who does not actually participate in the commission of the crime as a joint principal. The distinction between an accessory and a principal is a question of fact and degree: The principal is the one whose acts or omissions, accompanied by the relevant mens rea, are the most immediate cause of the actus reus (guilty act). If two or more people are directly responsible for the actus reus, they can be charged as joint principals. The test to distinguish a joint principal from an accessory is whether the defendant independently contributed to causing the actus reus rather than merely giving generalized and/or limited help and encouragement.  For those bystanders they have better be glad I am not the DA because anyone that was there would be charged.  Why?  The amount of disconnect shown in this community is a sign general lack for any morality, decency, and respect for human life and welfare.  I understand the majority of people in the community do not condone this act but letting the morale atmosphere of the community to where bystanders act as cheerleaders to gang rape and beating of a child on a school campus.  Once kids get this far gone it highlights the highest degree of morale depravity of a community that points to one direction and one direction only.  These kids have no real fear.  No fear of consequences, no fear of the police, no fear of the family of this girl, her friends, etc.  No fear of the law.  No fear of jail or criminal punishment.  No fear of God or judgment after death.  I have talked about how things in American have fallen apart morally since the 1950’s in education, family, patriotism, honesty, and work ethic.  The effect of 40 years of socialists reforms and ideology that have destroyed the image of the nuclear family, righteous education, religion in public, truth in sentencing judiciously, and shifting from a self reliance mentality to an entitlement and lack of personal responsibility towards anyone’s actions.  The signs keep on coming, will se continue to sit by ideally or finally act?

Financial Items – As America barrels towards socialism faster then Obama can print money we are seeing some of the global impact of decoupling the US economy form the rest of the world.  I am of course referring to the 14 month low against the Euro that the US dollar hit this month.  The Dollar Index, used by Intercontinental Exchange Inc who track the dollar against the 6 major trading partners of the US, on course for a 7% annual drop in value.  Obama and his financial team have lauded the decline of the dollar as making US manufactured goods cheaper and more competitive and attractive to exporters.  The problem with this approach is that Europeans are seeing this as currency manipulation (something the US always charges China does) and have closed ranks to retaliate if it continues.  The second problem is that a weaker US dollar makes investment in our bonds by sovereign wealth funds and countries less attractive and drives them toward IMF bonds or other countries/currencies.  With oil at over $70/barrel now we are seeing some wanting to price oil with the Euro or stronger and more stable currencies.  This spells trouble as it shows a lack of confidence in our currency policies and those driving the economy.  As some of this is academic the majority of the discussion has far reaching consequences for more then just America.  This begs the question , what is Obama’s main objective, his endgame, his grand plan?  He seems too tied to the dead and dying labor unions who refuse to let the fact go that mainstream manufacturing in America is dead.  Look at our nation’s largest manufacturing sector, automobiles, and you will see how dead it is.  America can’t compete with China, India, or Eastern Europe on the labor front when unions insist American workers get $30/hour base starting salaries.  Even if you crash the dollar on purpose you will not be able to compete unless the US economy crashes as well and we reset everything back to 0.  Unions have killed the middle class they said they were fighting for by increasing production costs making our goods too expensive domestically and far too expensive internationally, which led to China’s rise in manufacturing.  A strong dollar allowed Americans to become addicted to low cost clothes, electronics, and everything manufactured.  This was evident in the death of Wal-Mart’s Buy American program that showcased American made products over cheap foreign alternatives.  We as a nation voted with out wallets and by now we are hooked, no matter of socialism or inflation will reverse this.  Unless we can stabilize the dollar and attract investors like China we will be in massive trouble.  Obama is spending the most in human history and is setting up the largest debts in human history all on the assumption others will continue funding these debts as they did before.  He fails to realize that the IMF bonds have created a clear alternative and China signaled this with a small $50 billion dollar purchase last month while Brazil purchased $10 billion dollars this month.  That is $60 billion dollars worth of investments we as a nation have lost, and a stipend Obama can’t spend.  As Obama explodes spending exceeding all US governments before him combined and rivaling all spending for all countries in the world combined, our ability to sustain such spending without confidence in future investments is poising us for a total collapse, unless this is his goal.  While all this spending and talk of more spending down the road continue who is watching the printing press Obama cranked up to ludicrous speed?  All of this printing has consequences in inflation, stagnation of the economy, or worse stagflation, the two combined.  Flooding the world with more paper money without getting people or countries to purchase our bonds, falling bond ratings, or sparking a trade war with Europe over their take on things will only make things worse.  We are headed down this path now.  Europe could start placing tariffs on our goods, reversing all of Obama’s hard work, or China could just replace all its bonds with IMF ones upon maturity, taking Japan with them.  If we continue to stand by and focus only on spending and not the impact of this spending on our currency we could find an angry world poised to retaliate, and no amount of flowery speeches or oratory gestures of idealism will save us from that backlash.

Remember the 3 little monkey statues, you know the ones, the monkeys holding their hands over their eyes, ears, and mouth.  The 3 Stooges did something similar, it all signifies hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.  Well, cover the kid’s eyes and ears because it seems the Obama administration has started to speak evil.  What!  This new ear of politics, getting rid of Washington insiders, transparency, accountability, and honesty change we were promised has evaporated quicker then the weekly listing of atrocities against misguided freedom fighters held at Gitmo or the daily body counts of US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan plastered on every media outlet in the nation this time last year.  It seems all those important and lauded jobs Obama himself personally created or saved were exaggerated 600%!  Balderdash you say, no seriously that was a bold faced lie by the administration.  Eager to get any good news or any kind of a political victory on any front the administration did the good old ‘fuzzy math’ on the jobs reports to state they created or saved 30,000 jobs with the porkulous spending package sold as some magic bean to right the evil capitalistic ways of Wall Streets greed and depravity.  Well, it didn’t, all it really did was inflate the already ballooning debt and create long range and long term government spending and expansion many will not see until 2012 or later.  It seems a minimum of 5,000 jobs were overstated in reports released this October.  The White House acknowledged the math errors and promised to correct them in future reports, just like he promised us ample time to review legislation, no hiring of insider lobbyists, an era of looking forward and new politics.  Examples of the overstated jobs include the AP reported: A company working with the Federal Communications Commission reported that stimulus money paid for 4,231 jobs, when about 1,000 were produced. A Georgia community college reported creating 280 jobs with recovery money, but none was created from stimulus spending. A Florida child care center said its stimulus money saved 129 jobs but used the money on raises for existing employees. A Wisconsin construction firm required to re-fill in its multimillion dollar construction project jobs reports falsely with directions from Midwest Regional director, 0 jobs created or saved but over 100 reported. A Texas contractor retained 22 employees for stimulus contracts but job count quadrupled to 88 by regional directors. Palm Beach water department hired 57 meter readers, customer service representatives and others to handle 2 water projects, but their job count was doubled to 114. A Colorado business' claim that its stimulus contract created more than 4,200 jobs actually hired 4,231 temporary workers for its stimulus project and most of them worked only 5 weeks or less and the rest no more than 5 months.  This equates to 1 in 6 reported jobs saved/created are bogus!  Robert Gibbs tried to explain the errors but made little sense.  The AP found errors of overstatement by 10 times in more then one occurrence.  As the White House tries to dismiss the errors the unemployment and lack of family sustaining jobs in America continue to reveal a reality opposite to the ‘hope and change’ promised and that of an out of control over spending, socialists, and lack of leadership government seen in D.C.  The shifting tides of world power and ebbing on America, as I have blogged before.  Europe is trying to muscle their way into being the next financial and economic center of the world.  The company I work for fled its listing in the Caribbean and went to the UK for tax purposes.  Europe is throwing open the doors to take corporate headquarters fleeing Obama’s anti-business, anti-capitalism, anti-free market, socialist and high tax policies and promises.  Obama’s health care is placing a burden of 43% federal taxes on small and medium businesses to pay for his public option healthcare and its associated government expansion and regulations, with state taxes that could exceed 50% total tax, like in Wisconsin the tax burden will be 53%!  What business is going to stay in such an environment?  Take this and add in the facts that the Obama led and inspired bureaucrats have lied and overstated the figures of his much lauded jobs package and you get lying, misleading, and ignoring of what happened for months by the very ones who state their reason for being is to inform us.  Stimulus jobs were so overstated that some companies were required to fill in the surveys again and again until they had numbers needed to support the government’s assumptions.  Take this into account that many of the jobs were budget negative, government jobs, and you get a classic political answer to a simple question.  Expanding the government is not creating a job, its creating a tax burden, increased debt, more dependency on red tape impeding efficiency and roadblock in government.

International Items – One of my earlier TV and cultural memories was my nation’s bicentennial celebration.  1976 was a magic year full of pomp and celebration especially on July 4th, our nation’s birthday.  All of the parades, concerts, and events on TV and in local communities were not what I had seen of the PRC’s 60th anniversary celebration.  As I was watching the events unfold on TV, this year we stayed at home instead of travel due to pregnancy and the family all being here, an odd question struck me.  In the west when we have public parades the patriotic themes are focused on historical events and themes.  In communists countries the national parades are 100% military.  Its a public display of power and review of the military, hardware, and divisions I have never seen in a democratic country.  This got me asking myself why.  Why do countries controlled by the government always parade their military might in public?  For the average peasant or commoner in these countries, or any country for that matter, can’t tell the difference between a tank, an armored personal carrier, an amphibious assault vehicle, or armored artillery vehicle.  They can’t tell the difference between marching infantry, cyber warfare troops, special forces, or marines.  In most countries they all wear the same uniform or the differences are so slight few can tell.  To the vast majority everything looks the same, people, equipment, uniforms.  In America we have military parades, but they are few and no where near the scope of the ones here, Russia, North Korea, Iran, etc.  Here the military is seen as a protector and the people like to see them in their full dress and see all the hardware they have, it makes them feel more safe.  In America we hold a qusi-respect for the military that is akin to how families treat an adopted step child.  If we have a huge military parade for all 4 branches, maybe the Coast Guard, and associated hardware it would draw ire and protests from thousands, here they draw awe and admiration.  Of course it is a police state here and a supposed democracy there.  As much money as we spend on our military we should see more of them and take pride in them, not pay them token support and hamper their missions with endless debate on the most humane ways to win the hearts and minds of those in the line of fire.  In China a resurgence of patriotism swept the nation since the Sichuan earthquake in May 2008, followed by the Olympics and now this 60 year celebration.  China as unified on its theme of achievements, determination, and unity.  In America we have become so fractured is seems there is little if anything left to hold unity with.  Conservatives and liberals have such opposing views and beliefs now there is no common thread.  The ideal of American and the American dream are not even the same among people who are ideologically minded anymore.  Religions are fractured within themselves, and stuck in the middle are those who have thought they know what it all meant but now feel lost.  We have become a nation divided amongst ourselves.  The great Republican president Lincoln once stated a house divided against itself can not stand, well that is where we are now.  The views of government here in China by the Chinese is something we can not import, nor can we import their brand of patriotism or self acceptance.  This was a hard thing to ponder as I watched China display its military might, its ethnic unity, its unique cultural talents all to celebrate its 60th anniversary of its current governments founding.  Sure, there is dissent here, there are opposing views and sometimes the police state reacts with an iron fist and heavy handedly, yet the trust and belief in the government is way ahead of ours and their hopes for the future are grounded and tangible.  For all of China’s problems and struggles ahead all the people are still fiercely Chinese and proud of that fact.  Nothing in their past detracts for all they have achieved recently.  How did a country that could rally around similar themes become so fractured and so hostile towards itself if is no longer able to agree on anything, from what a family, marriage, holiday, or what is acceptable for kids to take to school or learn is, heck we can’t even agree on what a holiday is or isn’t anymore.  The Chinese accept their government for what it is, and they accept their culture for what it is, they are not hung up on separating themselves into special little pockets of counter culture that expresses their innermost fantasies and warped views of reality.  We seriously need to look at how our greatest strength got turned into our biggest weakness, our melting pot ideal.

How is that Iran policy going?  Velvet glove approach seems to be working.  Unclenching the fist and offering an open hand really turned Iran around.  For those not aware of how international politics plays out its kind of like racing.  When a new driver comes onto the circuit everyone wants to test him out to see how he can handle himself and how he races.  Iran tested Obama in June with the elections and its fallout.  Obama weighed and measured the acts, reactions, and options before he spoke out against it, in a benign manner.  This emboldened Tehran and signaled that it was in the driver’s seat, so to speak.  Over the months there was political posturing, gestures, and signals that things were progressing.  Sanctions were blocked as they were before and Obama and his team began to feel comfortable with some work results between Russia and China, then Iran threw a fast breaking curveball.  The announcement of secret uranium processing plants was not Earth shattering, Israel know of them and speculation is we did too.  The announcement however was significant as it showed Tehran was feeling confident they could push people around, and they did.  Obama and his team saw support for sanctions after the announcement fade.  Iran allowed in IAEA inspectors in and promised full access to all sites, sound familiar (thing Saddam Hessian).  Obama had his camp felt pretty good about themselves as they came up with the perfect solution, having Russia, a stout alley of Iran, receive 90% of its uranium and process is and ship it back to their testing reactors.  Well, Tehran smiled and said, no.  Their nuclear products were theirs, a strategic national asset and would not be released to anyone or under any terms other then their own.  Check Mr. President, your move.  Iran has just run Obama in to the high way in turn two and is watching him spin out in the rear view mirror.  We have seen this movie before, in Iraq and in North Korea.  The outcome is different in each one as each was unique, you can’t really compare them, however if you don’t think North Korean and Iran are playing off each other’s successes and seeing how the US reacts to the other you would be dead wrong.  Iran is in a high stakes game.  The last time this got started down this road Israel blew up their reactor, to no real consequences.  Now they are doing it again and on a much grander scale.  We have allowed ourselves to be placed in this situation by Bush’s inability to contain Iran after it was pretty much left out in the cold under Clinton.  Bush tried but didn’t get the support from Russia or try to get enough from China to put enough pressure on the Iranians, else these facilities would not have been built in the first place.  Ok, I have started to play Obama’s favorite game, when anything goes wrong or gets tough just blame Bush, its all his fault anyway.  Aside from the childish and petty behaviors of a toddler the facts remain Iran is serious and the longer we sit on the sidelines and mull things over the closer they get to figuring out how to make a bomb and refine the materials they have on hand to mass produce it.  This is a hard case, Obama has all the ‘best’ people and resources around him to assist, but he HAS to do something, anything to signal to Iran that he was serious when he pledged a nuclear free world in Europe this spring.  The clock is ticking and the longer we wait the more we look like passengers on this ride.

Science Items – NASA finally got their Aries I rocket off the launch pad.  The rocket was being tested as a delivery vehicle for the space agency’s next generation delivery vehicles and to get Americans back to the moon, possible to build a base for deeper solar system explorations.  The recent news of water found on the moon make this sound all that much more promising, well until the White House shot it all down.  The rocket test was quite dramatic.  Weather delays, wayward ships, and technical issues all cam into play.  The rocket itself, the tallest rocket ever, finally lifted off and make a successful test flight.  There was an issue with the parachutes not slowing down the booster stage before impact into the ocean so we don’t know the extent of the damage there yet but all else was good.  The issues are not longer feasibility, but the will to continue with this program.  The Aries I is cheaper then Saturn V in comparison, mainly because it is using existing technology from the space shuttle boosters where Saturn V was built from scratch.  The next rocket proves NASA is able to still built viable rockets and get the stages to work teh way they want them to.  Now the program is under the knife.  Why?  Well there is not real socialists need for space travel.  Rockets are environmentally bad.  Or NASA is too inefficient of a government agency to warrant much more then launching robots after the shuttle fleet is retired in the next few years.  Getting back to the moon is a lofty goal, but one that makes little financial sense.  Space exploration is more a statement about national pride and unity toward a more loft goal.  American has lost that and now it is China and Russia’s game, with India, Japan, and South Korea close behind.  Obama has essentially given the kiss of death to the future of NASA as they are too expensive, too innovative, too pollution productive, and will consume the entire nations annual allotment of carbon credits in just one launch, this will not due.  There is no really new science to be gained by our return to the moon.  The event may just even detract from the attention spend on our first half breed, non slave ancestor African-American president and that just won’t do.

Few conservatives have seized on the fiasco know as H1N1 flu shots this season.  We were told, promised, and reassured by every level of the Executive branch that we would have enough doses by mid September to give to all those in need, this was stated publicly numerous times as high up as the President in March at the end of last flu season.  Well guess what, it didn’t happen.  We have shortages, regulation problems, distribution uncertainties, supply mismanagement, and even deaths resulting from the fiasco yet this is not being reported on.  This is actually the equivalent of Hurricane Katrina in scope of Federal mismanagement, understaffing, underfunding, and underestimating the scope and complexity of the problems needing to be overcome to achieve success.  There are seniors, kids, and sick people forced to stand in the cold and rain for more then 10 hours waiting on a shot that does not exist!  Seniors being turned away by nurses who state they look healthy and don’t have enough shots for white people.  All the while pregnant women are not positive if they can get the shot or should.  Hospitals and clinics are getting daily calls but have no clue when or how much they will receive.  Take a good hard look at this folks, this is Obamacare in its full glory.  All his czars and policy chiefs have their names and works all over this.  This is what Pelosi and Reid’s big-box, one size fits all, public option socialists healthcare system will be like.  Rationing, red tape, inefficiencies, and people dying because nobody can get the system to work.  All of this and at a cost so large the weight of the world will seem like a small feather pillow in comparison. Of course this is Bush’s fault, Obama has already said this, its his and the left’s only way of dealing with adversity and hardship.  I wonder how much longer the press will be buying that shtick?  The current crisis of vaccinations and their lack of control of any portion of the process is what we all have to look forward to in Obamacare.  Every level of the administration promised we would have enough vaccine by September as early as last March, well here we are in November and what do we have?   Nobody knows what is going on.  Clinics and hospitals are getting calls for information yet they have not been told anything.  I worked in big government before, in the military.  Ask anyone who has worked for the federal government how efficient and responsive it is.  There are rules, regulations, forms, and procedures you HAVE to follow and can not be deviated from.  In Wisconsin a clinic had federal workers make people file into a room until exactly 80 people were there, then they were given forms and 10 pens to fill them out with.  Nobody could leave until everyone was finished.  Then they went to the next room as a group to have the paperwork reviewed, again waiting until everyone was cleared.  Then it was a shot.  See this is the efficiency, creativity, and innovation your choices for socialism have created.  This is just for a simple shot!  We are seeing these scenes play out all over the nation.  One size does not fit all, flexibility and circumstances matter, and healthcare is something you can not box up and replicate across the nation in a big box fashion.  Meanwhile the media is all focused on the flu itself and not the countries first glimpse at the efficiency and workability of Obamacare.  Sure they are now calling it Pelosicare but who cares, its ALL SOCIALISM!  Madam Speaker has finally confessed her bill is $1.2 trillion and is 1,990+ pages and includes all the controversial items of H.R.3200, like death panels, federally funded abortion, universal coverage, mandates, tax increases, penalties including jail time, etc AND created 111 NEW federal agencies!  All this and she made it public Friday night so the 72 hour rule for review expired at the beginning of the week, allowing them to take a vote pronto.  Welcome to communism folks and thanks to you for not getting out and demanding your elected representatives listened to you the voters and not the Party and special interests who funded their campaigns.  This measure will pass thanks to spineless blue-dog Democrats and yellow-bellied RINOs like Olympia Snow.  When the real program starts to hit full force the waiting in line for a flu shot will be a God sent, try filling out 20 forms and seeing 50 people just to have your kids appendix taken out because it hasn’t burst yet.

Sports Items – Andre Agassi admitted to taking crystal meth and then lying about it to ATP officials in his new book.  Why is this getting so much sports coverage?  Its not like he admitted to taking PEDs or anything that would give him an edge on the court.  The press is all over the place on this, interviewing present and past players, talking to ATP officials, asking questions.  Ask yourself why.  Seriously, Agassi did something stupid in the 1990’s, got away with it and staged one of male tennis’s great comeback stories.  Is it any wonder he would do drugs?  Remember Agassi’s old image, the one he had when he had hair.  He was a rebel, an image maker, a rule breaker!  His motto was image is everything, well he fell into the trap of that and did some meth a few dozen time.  Its not like he played at Wimbledon or the US Open stoned.  His accomplishments on the court are exceptional, his play hard.  His honesty is now shot as is his creditability but who really idolized him off the court, well after the Brook Shields break up anyway?  He did some recreation drug use off the court.  The big deal is the organization he worked for had a strict drug policy in place and he violated it then lied to cover it up.  They bought it and let him pass.  The only reason this is being made into a big deal is he is still relatively remembered and the main stream media is losing so much subscribers, viewers, readers, etc. that they have to get some back anyway possible.  This is being made into a big deal as a way to make old main stream media seem relevant again.  Tell all books always spark a little controversy, remember Wilk Chamberlains conquest stories?  Agassi was living up to his bad boy image for the time he was in it.  The media is unable to reach people on real news items now as the trust in the media is almost as low as its trust in Congress, which is really really really low.  We have a World Series going on, basketball and hockey starting, football half way through (how about Farve and those Vikings win), yet it is a big story to cover the book of a retired tennis player on an incident we already knew about and some believed he lied anyway, all we got was confirmation.  If the ATP takes any actions then there will be news.  This story is of little interest other then why it was made into such a big deal, it's the human drama behind the sports. 

One of my favorite radio shows was going on and on about the Rush Limbaugh and NFL Saint Louis Rams things when he made a really good point.  If it had been Kane West (remember his embarrassing escapades at the MTV awards among others – racially motivated) who was trying to buy the Rams?  What about other hate filled liberals who called for Bush’s assassination or wished death upon GOP officials and spokesmen where to buy a major sports team?  As it turns out Kanye West owns the Fatburger fast food chain in the Chicago area, 2 stores open and 2 more slated for next year, where is the outrage and Congresswomen calling for a boycott and to yank his food service license?  How about Joy Behar, where was the outrage against her children’s book?  She has had open letters of reprimand from the Anti-Defamation League for her attacks against Rumsfeld, and the Catholic League of Civil Rights for her stating all priests are drunks?  Speaking of the View, What about Rosie O’Donnell, where was the outrage and public furor over her now defunct magazine or her also defunct TV show?  Why were her sponsors not boycotted like Glenn Beck’s were (bad choice as his TV show draws more viewers in its time slot then CNN, MSNBC, and HLN combined!) and his radio show continues to draw millions of listeners a week.  Do you see a pattern here?  Limbaugh was not allowed to continue being a financial backer for a group interested in buying the Rams because of a comment he never made and because he is a conservative.  So what does this have to do with sprots?  Well, you caught me.  Its more political then sprots related but it is telling none the less.  The NFL is a private organization, not publically traded.  They decide who can and can't own a team.  This decision however should be left up to them and them alone.  If people have a problem with what is going on then they take it up with the league.  The curious thing is who leaked this and why?  Limbaugh is a huge NFL fan.  He has tried to get on MNF before and wanted to join in this investment group for the same reason others do, to make money and own something you like.  The reactions were overboard especially when you take into consideration he NEVER said any of the things the people protesting his involvement in the investment group were saying!  It was pure B.S. and nobody covered that in the press or public, other then him.  Sure there is a price to be paid for free speech and Rush is a big boy who can take care of himself but when there is such a blatent railroad job with pure hypocracy going on I have to call it for what it is.  Sure he is controversial but nowhere near as offensive as Behar or O’Donnell, both called for the death of GOP people and continue to publicly assail anyone who thinks conservative to this day with vulgar and hate filled speech?  They really said those things, it is well documented, Rush's words were made up, he never said them and everybody knows that as much as he is hated and the media continues to hound him, if he had said anything racist 10 years ago it would have come out before now!  I wonder if conservatives can fall under the new Hate Crimes legislation Obama just signed?  It was up to Goodell to say yea or nea on the purchase, not the media or the Congress.  Why is it that this was made into a national outrage and Behar can continue to get away with her hate speech, oh yea... nobody is watching her stupid show or network!   

Political Items – With the world falling down around the White House, Afghanistan War review, Iran nuclear weapons program, jobs reports being false, Dem governors losing in the polls, etc., what is the White House doing?  Starting a war of words with Fox News.  In the military we call this a pissing contest.  It is a war or words and one which that nobody can win.  It all started with Obama’s polls getting hammered again and again and Fox News sniping on Robert Gibbs, Obama’s Press Secretary.  Gibbs essentially put Fox News in time out by not allowing them to cover the Press Pool interviews in their respected rotation.  This action resulted in a rare moment of press solidarity with Fox, they all protested and Gibbs had to yield.  During all this guess what happened, come on guess?  Fox News ratings, that were already killing the competition, rose another 9 points.  So where is all the ratings Fox News is netting off of this spat with the White House?  Ask CNN, dead last for cable news programs, followed closely by MSNBC.  Most of Fox News programs are viewed more then the competiting time slots of all other news channels COMBINED!  Even Fox News re-runs of shows are beating CNN’s first run of Anderson Cooper 360 and other first CNN and MSNBC first run shows, re-runs getting better ratings!  Silliness aside there is a real problem with the White House’s policy to ban a news agency because of its political opinion programs.  CNN and MSNBC also have politically biased opinion shows, yet they were never blocked, boycotted, degraded by name in public by every level of the Executive Branch.  In DC the favoritism is show in press leaks, exclusive interviews, advanced screening of memos, etc.  It is borderline unconstitutional to outright block a press outlet you see as critical or opposed to your ideology.  When you fear criticism, fear opposition, fear dialogue, fear debate on the issues, fear positions you are taking you are doing something wrong, immoral, unethical, and/or illegal, period.  If you are doing the right thing, and you know it, and others do not agree with you or your actions it is your responsibility to communicate your intent more clearly.  If you are instituting change that is needed and have to change the establishment you have to communicate the inefficiencies of the status quo and explain all the benefits and trials of the change and how this will better all concerned.  You can not do this by blocking a news outlet for the sole reasons you do not agree with their take on your actions and policies.  The funny thing about the truth and the right path is that it is obvious.  There are a whole bucket of examples of White House disapproval of the press for over a century, yet how many have boycotted a press outlet?  No open, democratic, and free government is so afraid of the press that they begin to control the press by dictating who can and what news is able to be covered and released for public review.  This is dangerous, reminiscent of Russia, China, Cuba, North Korea, pre-war Iraq, Iran, Myanmar, and others who have long and infamous cases of press manipulation and oppression of the news and views seen as critical or against the will of the government.  Control of the press is one of the first subtle steps toward totalitarian governance which is never good for the citizens of the country so unfortunate to have this happen.  Facts are facts, Obama blocked Fox News, the real issue here is why, to what end, if Fox now who in the future, what signals are they sending to editors of news outlets, what is the end game they are trying to achieve?  I have my opinions on this, but Robert Gibbs won’t return my emails or calls.

Finally, from the Washington Post: The White House has told Congress it will reject calls for many of President Obama's policy czars to testify before Congress - a decision senators said goes against the president's promises of transparency and openness and treads on Congress' constitutional mandate to investigate the administration's actions… White House counsel Greg Craig told her in a meeting Wednesday that they will not make available any of the czars who work in the White House and don't have to go through Senate confirmation... At issue are the 18 positions Mr. Obama has created since he took office. Of those, 10 are in the executive office and not subject to Freedom of Information Act requests or requests for testimony.  This is from the promise of the most open and transparent administration ever!  This all came up when Chairman for the Government Affairs Committee, Joe Lieberman, Ind., requested the White House produce all ‘czars’ involved in the climate control negotiations with GM and Chrysler as well as others for the bail-out/assistance given to them.  So what is going on here?  Well, if it walks like a duck and sounds like a duck it is most likely a duck.  Despite all the public discussions, debates on Obama’s experiment with socialism, Pelosi and Reid’s demands for public options, publicly funded abortions, etc. then why is he continuing to add fuel to the socialism talk fire?  The big difference here is his pledges, promises, and declarations on transparency, honesty, accountability, trust, and pride in our government.  We are seeing none of it in these actions.  Preventing people who are essentially making policy decisions, changes, etc. to be held accountable is a dangerous thing.  The Congress is held accountable to the voters and will hear from those who’s district they represent or they chair a committee that is making federal policy.  The President is held accountable by popular opinion polls and strength given to or taken from his party during off year elections.  What Obama and his Chief of Staff have done is circumvent all established channels and instituted a mechanism that is making high level decisions without any recourse for the people to voice their approval or dissatisfaction of.  We are seeing trust in government plummet to lower levels then when Bush was President.  Sure Obama himself is still popular, but his policies and direction is not.  We are seeing a shadow government rise up and control all levels of the country to such a degree that is frightening.  We have the government telling private business how much money it can pay its employees.  We have a government dictating how, where, and when vital medicine is made and distributed to counter a potential health crisis.  We are seeing the government cut the countries ability to produce goods by controlling the levels of carbon to combat an unproven theory.  All of this without the normal channels of debate and selection of the best points through legislative shaping of a bill, as it was done for 233 years prior.  It was not enough to have a majority party government hell bent to change the course of the nation from freedom to socialism and government control of everything.  If this is where the majority of Americans want to go they can step back and allow to happen.  But this government was too impatient so they created a shadow government that is doing more then just change.  You see this is what our forefathers were warning us about.  Our constitution was written for one purpose and one purpose only, to limit the government and ensure citizens have defined rights the government can not infringe upon.  The Constitution is not to give power to or road map for the government but a limitation on what the government can and can not do.  When the President publically states the Constitution has blind side and hole in it there is a problem.  His powers and abilities are limited for a good reason, just as Congress powers are clearly outlined and limited as well.  The real issue here is just how Constitutional all this is.  There is talk of the public option in the current health-care bill being unconstitutional, the Democrats reply was, who cares, we will MAKE it constitutional after it passes.  This is beyond arrogant, this is beyond dangerous, this is beyond treason.  We are seeing 2 branches of the government set the nation on a collision course with debt and spending exceeding GDP.  The end game is coming into focus, it is becoming clear the Democrats want to bankrupt the nation, bring it to its knees, weaken it to the point everyone is dependent upon it for life and then alter the government to become master of the people, not servant of the people it is today.  Fellow Americans, the republic is under grave danger, the country is being destroyed from within.  When a shadow government is put into place, one that is independent to do as it pleases without any checks or balances as outlined by the constitution, and it begins to operate contrary to the will of the people AND is it hidden/protected by one branch then we have the largest threat to the republic since secession and I not kidding or exaggerating one bit.  We are at the precipice, how we fall will be determined soon, time to shift our weight now else we will fall straight into Hell.