There's a heated debate going on over at Facebook right now. Someone posted an Obama approval poll and so far he has a 68.8% Disapproval score (9.5% Disapprove, 59.3% Strongly Disapprove).
The comment section is scrolling faster than I can keep up with. Some well-thought out responses from both sides, but the usual flame war keeps rearing it's ugly head.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Undiscovered Talent...
A former high school classmate, Kevin Munroe, and I found each other on Facebook. No biggee. People are always finding former classmates there. Heck, we were little more than acquaintances at best back in the day. I never had anything against him. We just ran in different social circles that occasionally overlapped for parties and whatnot.
Anyhow, he started posting some photographs both on Facebook and at Zazzle, a site where you can market your own designs for a variety of things. I honestly don't know all that much about Zazzle.
Some of the images are heavily modified in some interesting ways, such as this picture of A Rustic Ford Tractor. The filters he used make it look like a painstakingly detailed oil painting, but it still maintains a rustic feel.
What I found the most intriguing are the nighttime, delayed exposure cityscapes that he took in and around Denver. Most of these have little, if any, post-production work yet they have an ethereal quality that just doesn't exist in the real world.
His nature photography is great too. He has a good eye for framing and lines, especially cosidering his limited artistic training.
You can check them all out here -->HERE<-- there.
Great stuff, Kevin.
Anyhow, he started posting some photographs both on Facebook and at Zazzle, a site where you can market your own designs for a variety of things. I honestly don't know all that much about Zazzle.
Some of the images are heavily modified in some interesting ways, such as this picture of A Rustic Ford Tractor. The filters he used make it look like a painstakingly detailed oil painting, but it still maintains a rustic feel.
What I found the most intriguing are the nighttime, delayed exposure cityscapes that he took in and around Denver. Most of these have little, if any, post-production work yet they have an ethereal quality that just doesn't exist in the real world.
His nature photography is great too. He has a good eye for framing and lines, especially cosidering his limited artistic training.
You can check them all out here -->HERE<-- there.
Great stuff, Kevin.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
My Palin Prediction...
After listening to Sarah Palin's resignation speech and reading the response from the Left, I'm starting to believe she has been seriously underestimated by everyone...myself included.
I applaud her decision to resign. It has to be extremely difficult to raise a family and run a state while constantly being forced to defend yourself from a highly aggressive media.
I can understand (but don't approve of) their attacks on her character during the 2008 campaign. What's a political race in the U.S. without a truck load of mudslinging? What has me baffled is why it continued so long after the elections?
She's up to something and the Liberals are veritably trembling in fear. Look at the total lack of substance to her announcement in the Comments section of this article. Lots of name calling, but nothing that really shows her being a bad governeor. I'll copy/paste some of my "favorites" here:
"Great speech, I did not know Trig was such a good speechwriter!" -b93950
"She brought it ALL upon herself. She didnt have to say yes to running for VP. And after the election was over. All she had to do was keep her mouth shut! Plus the fact that she was still parading her children around in public in thel ower 48, when she should have been in AK doing the peoples business. No sympathy from me." -Oldgeezer1
"More material for Stewart and Colbert! Yay!" -Harmony1812
And on and on...
Joe Biden doesn't believe she has been the target of a "political blood sport". There are simply way too many examples of this to site here. Do a google search and grab a sandwich.
None of this matters anymore. She's out of the political scene for good. There is no way she can hope to obtain political office after her resignation. I view that as a good thing.
Now she's free to say what she wants when she wants and to whomever she wants without concerning herself over GOP nominations. I, for one, can't wait until she does. I think, based on her resignation speech, she's really going to put the screws to the current regime.
I think the liberals know this too.
I applaud her decision to resign. It has to be extremely difficult to raise a family and run a state while constantly being forced to defend yourself from a highly aggressive media.
I can understand (but don't approve of) their attacks on her character during the 2008 campaign. What's a political race in the U.S. without a truck load of mudslinging? What has me baffled is why it continued so long after the elections?
She's up to something and the Liberals are veritably trembling in fear. Look at the total lack of substance to her announcement in the Comments section of this article. Lots of name calling, but nothing that really shows her being a bad governeor. I'll copy/paste some of my "favorites" here:
"Great speech, I did not know Trig was such a good speechwriter!" -b93950
"She brought it ALL upon herself. She didnt have to say yes to running for VP. And after the election was over. All she had to do was keep her mouth shut! Plus the fact that she was still parading her children around in public in thel ower 48, when she should have been in AK doing the peoples business. No sympathy from me." -Oldgeezer1
"More material for Stewart and Colbert! Yay!" -Harmony1812
And on and on...
Joe Biden doesn't believe she has been the target of a "political blood sport". There are simply way too many examples of this to site here. Do a google search and grab a sandwich.
None of this matters anymore. She's out of the political scene for good. There is no way she can hope to obtain political office after her resignation. I view that as a good thing.
Now she's free to say what she wants when she wants and to whomever she wants without concerning herself over GOP nominations. I, for one, can't wait until she does. I think, based on her resignation speech, she's really going to put the screws to the current regime.
I think the liberals know this too.
The Cigarette Tax...
The cigarette tax in Florida went into affect this week. Combined with the earlier federal tax increase, that brings us close to an additional $2.00 a pack on smokes. Mind you, there was no additional tax placed on cigars.
It's forcing me to quit. With the price per pack now at a state average of $5.50 it's just becoming too cost prohibitive.
Here's the thing that's always bothered me about these tobacco tax hikes. If the government is out to get the big tobacco companies so desperately, why do the tobacco companies continue to support poilticians? On the surface it seems like paying someone to shoot you in the foot.
With the addition of tobacco to the FDAs portfolio, it really seems as if the government is looking out for our best interests. They'll be able to closely monitor the nicotine levels in the cigarettes and keep the addictive properties down to a minimum.
The tax hikes are also a measure taken to encourage people to quit. This is a no-brainer. If they cost more, you're less likely to buy them. Especially people with low incomes...who ironically make up the majority of smokers.
Why is it, then, that the elected officials talk about the revenue they expect to generate as a result of the tax increases? Governor Crist seems really excited about how much money Florida stands to rake in as a result of the increase.
If everyone is being encouraged to quit, how does the government expect to generate any additional revenue?
That's when it all started making sense.
You see, the FDA is so effective at their job that I have heard of no less than three food recalls this week. In addition, there's a lot of hub-bub about acetaminophen and it's destructive capabilities to the liver.
Remember how safe Tylenol was supposed to be?
With the FDA now looking over big tobacco's shoulder (and into its wallets), it's a fairly safe bet that nicotine levels will continue to increase in the future, making the product even more addictive. A more addictive product garners a more loyal following who will pay any price to get their hands on that product.
The government then raises taxes on this highly addictive product under the guise of looking out for your best interests, but knowing full well that people...even extremely poor people...will continue to buy the product that they are so addicted to.
The tobacco companies are then "forced" to raise their prices to cover the costs of these new taxes.
More profits for the tobacco companies, more political contributions to the politicians and more government employees to oversee this fiasco.
I saw a similar transition amongst cocaine dealers back in the 1980's. Their product wasn't pulling in quite enough capital to satisfy everyone involved, so they made a more addictive product...Crack.
It seems as if our politicians are taking lessons from their dealers now.
It's forcing me to quit. With the price per pack now at a state average of $5.50 it's just becoming too cost prohibitive.
Here's the thing that's always bothered me about these tobacco tax hikes. If the government is out to get the big tobacco companies so desperately, why do the tobacco companies continue to support poilticians? On the surface it seems like paying someone to shoot you in the foot.
With the addition of tobacco to the FDAs portfolio, it really seems as if the government is looking out for our best interests. They'll be able to closely monitor the nicotine levels in the cigarettes and keep the addictive properties down to a minimum.
The tax hikes are also a measure taken to encourage people to quit. This is a no-brainer. If they cost more, you're less likely to buy them. Especially people with low incomes...who ironically make up the majority of smokers.
Why is it, then, that the elected officials talk about the revenue they expect to generate as a result of the tax increases? Governor Crist seems really excited about how much money Florida stands to rake in as a result of the increase.
If everyone is being encouraged to quit, how does the government expect to generate any additional revenue?
That's when it all started making sense.
You see, the FDA is so effective at their job that I have heard of no less than three food recalls this week. In addition, there's a lot of hub-bub about acetaminophen and it's destructive capabilities to the liver.
Remember how safe Tylenol was supposed to be?
With the FDA now looking over big tobacco's shoulder (and into its wallets), it's a fairly safe bet that nicotine levels will continue to increase in the future, making the product even more addictive. A more addictive product garners a more loyal following who will pay any price to get their hands on that product.
The government then raises taxes on this highly addictive product under the guise of looking out for your best interests, but knowing full well that people...even extremely poor people...will continue to buy the product that they are so addicted to.
The tobacco companies are then "forced" to raise their prices to cover the costs of these new taxes.
More profits for the tobacco companies, more political contributions to the politicians and more government employees to oversee this fiasco.
I saw a similar transition amongst cocaine dealers back in the 1980's. Their product wasn't pulling in quite enough capital to satisfy everyone involved, so they made a more addictive product...Crack.
It seems as if our politicians are taking lessons from their dealers now.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Tonight We Get Environmental...
With all the Cap & Tax and Cap & Trade talk fluttering around I figured this would be a good time to put in my 2 cents (plus an additional $.50 to cover Obama's Freedom of Expression Tax).
First a little environmentalist anecdote. My wife and I were in traffic the other day and scrawled across the back of an SUV (with only one person in the vehicle) was the phrase "South American Oil is destroying the Rain Forests"...or something to that effect. Think about that for a second.
It gave us a good chuckle.
Environmentalists like to spout off about how we're "destroying the world". It's one of their favorite slogans. "Shame on you! You're destroying the world!"
Take every aerosol can currently in existence and start spraying. Put every single factory on full-tilt production until the chimneys are belching smoke. Crank up every car in the world and gun the engine until the tank is empty. Guess what? The world won't even blink an eye.
We're not destroying the world. We're just making it really difficult to continue living on it. The world could care less what we do during our brief stay on it's outer crust.
Global warming is a good one. We've been told over an over how our emmisions are causing the world to heat up. This, despite the fact that we've been in a cooling trend for the last 15 years and have just had two years of extremely harsh winters.
By the way, take some time to go through the article I linked above. There is some interesting reading in there. All of which can be researched for authenticity.
Now on to Cap and Trade.
What this silly bit of legislation does is allow companies to buy their way out of the emissions standards set up by the EPA by purchasing waivers from the government. Buy enough waivers to cover your emissions and it's business as usual.
Unfortunately, there aren't enough of these waivers to go around. They go to the highest bidders first in an online auction. Those who can't afford them must refit their facilities to comply with the government regulations or be seriously fined. For private industries this means they have to cover these increased costs through some other means. Higher prices, layoffs or a reduction in quality of their goods. Many will choose to take the less expensive option and relocate to a more forgiving country.
For companies that provide energy (electricity, natural gas, home heating oil, etc) relocating isn't an option, so they are forced to drastically increase their rates. This is felt first by the individual consumers in higher electric bills and home heating costs. The trickle effect is that the manufacturers...even those with waivers to cover their emissions...have to pay much more for their energy, thereby causing an increase in the price of their product, increased layoffs or moving their operations overseas.
Yeah, a 50-90% increase in your home electric bill is pretty staggering, but imagine how much it costs to power the average auto plant or grocery store. I've personally seen electric bills for relatively small factories that top $100,000 a month.
On a related note, hospitals are huge consumers of electricity. Is there room in Obama's Health Care Plan to cover these increased costs?
All of this to "help the environment" and "reduce our carbon footprint". You can see that it really does nothing at all, environmentally speaking. The environment is just as screwed as ever. More people (or carbon-based life forms to you Trekkies) in the US are without jobs. The economy sinks even further. More people line up for the government bailout.
It's a vicious cycle he's trying to put into effect. One that will surely bring about the financial and political collapse of our nation within our lifetime.
Hmm...maybe we can all cross the border into Mexico. Turn-about is fair play after all.
First a little environmentalist anecdote. My wife and I were in traffic the other day and scrawled across the back of an SUV (with only one person in the vehicle) was the phrase "South American Oil is destroying the Rain Forests"...or something to that effect. Think about that for a second.
It gave us a good chuckle.
Environmentalists like to spout off about how we're "destroying the world". It's one of their favorite slogans. "Shame on you! You're destroying the world!"
Take every aerosol can currently in existence and start spraying. Put every single factory on full-tilt production until the chimneys are belching smoke. Crank up every car in the world and gun the engine until the tank is empty. Guess what? The world won't even blink an eye.
We're not destroying the world. We're just making it really difficult to continue living on it. The world could care less what we do during our brief stay on it's outer crust.
Global warming is a good one. We've been told over an over how our emmisions are causing the world to heat up. This, despite the fact that we've been in a cooling trend for the last 15 years and have just had two years of extremely harsh winters.
By the way, take some time to go through the article I linked above. There is some interesting reading in there. All of which can be researched for authenticity.
Now on to Cap and Trade.
What this silly bit of legislation does is allow companies to buy their way out of the emissions standards set up by the EPA by purchasing waivers from the government. Buy enough waivers to cover your emissions and it's business as usual.
Unfortunately, there aren't enough of these waivers to go around. They go to the highest bidders first in an online auction. Those who can't afford them must refit their facilities to comply with the government regulations or be seriously fined. For private industries this means they have to cover these increased costs through some other means. Higher prices, layoffs or a reduction in quality of their goods. Many will choose to take the less expensive option and relocate to a more forgiving country.
For companies that provide energy (electricity, natural gas, home heating oil, etc) relocating isn't an option, so they are forced to drastically increase their rates. This is felt first by the individual consumers in higher electric bills and home heating costs. The trickle effect is that the manufacturers...even those with waivers to cover their emissions...have to pay much more for their energy, thereby causing an increase in the price of their product, increased layoffs or moving their operations overseas.
Yeah, a 50-90% increase in your home electric bill is pretty staggering, but imagine how much it costs to power the average auto plant or grocery store. I've personally seen electric bills for relatively small factories that top $100,000 a month.
On a related note, hospitals are huge consumers of electricity. Is there room in Obama's Health Care Plan to cover these increased costs?
All of this to "help the environment" and "reduce our carbon footprint". You can see that it really does nothing at all, environmentally speaking. The environment is just as screwed as ever. More people (or carbon-based life forms to you Trekkies) in the US are without jobs. The economy sinks even further. More people line up for the government bailout.
It's a vicious cycle he's trying to put into effect. One that will surely bring about the financial and political collapse of our nation within our lifetime.
Hmm...maybe we can all cross the border into Mexico. Turn-about is fair play after all.
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