tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62577568309940007342011-11-27T16:40:23.507-08:00Random thoughts as they cross my mind. Mostly political, but it could be anything.MGrafiushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10118698144604130661noreply@blogger.comBlogger131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6257756830994000734.post-46100396741449399562009-07-10T20:00:00.000-07:002009-07-10T20:06:51.170-07:00

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.

MGrafiushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10118698144604130661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6257756830994000734.post-65576525222388441182009-07-08T12:19:00.000-07:002009-07-08T12:38:45.243-07:00

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

MGrafiushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10118698144604130661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6257756830994000734.post-20618927822084355452009-07-04T15:48:00.001-07:002009-07-04T17:53:04.801-07:00

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

MGrafiushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10118698144604130661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6257756830994000734.post-65316312781238263932009-07-04T00:53:00.000-07:002009-07-04T01:56:11.177-07:00

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

MGrafiushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10118698144604130661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6257756830994000734.post-3913536810173750992009-07-03T21:43:00.000-07:002009-07-03T23:59:34.338-07:00

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

MGrafiushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10118698144604130661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6257756830994000734.post-30941759756989359032009-06-23T02:22:00.000-07:002009-06-23T02:52:00.669-07:00

John McCain really pisses me off. It's not his political views that have me so upset. It's not his stance on the economic issues currently plaguing our nation. It's not his stance on the Iran situation.Let me preface by saying I don't think John McCain would have been a great president. I believe he would have been a stabilizing element at a time when we needed stability.What pisses me off about

MGrafiushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10118698144604130661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6257756830994000734.post-23824409464115875052009-06-23T02:02:00.001-07:002009-06-23T02:13:25.014-07:00

My father has begun posting a blog now that he's retired. I would be remiss in my duties as a son if I didn't do my part to help him get some traffic.He also does some foreign language courses...or are they courses for foreigners who wish to learn English? Either way, his blog and links to his other websites can be found HERE.Read, comment, enjoy.

MGrafiushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10118698144604130661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6257756830994000734.post-10680420789779789292009-06-23T00:36:00.000-07:002009-06-23T02:14:03.162-07:00

It's 3:30 am and I'm at work. Don't expect anything profound in the following bit. I'm just going to ramble for a while to kill some time.My job is to sit with old people and help them with various tasks. Sometimes it's just companionship, sometimes it's cooking meals and doing light housework, sometimes it's changing diapers and assisting with hygiene.Tonight's client is one of the more hands-on

MGrafiushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10118698144604130661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6257756830994000734.post-34127563791805876332009-03-18T09:58:00.001-07:002009-03-18T15:26:05.983-07:00

It looks like the governor of Louisiana is going to decline stimulus money. Here's a transcript of his radio interview:Hugh Hewitt interview with Governor Jindal of LouisianaKeep in mind, he's only refusing money that mandates changes in state law. Those monies that help the state without changing laws will still be accepted. Here's his official legislation proposal. It's dry reading, but near

MGrafiushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10118698144604130661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6257756830994000734.post-10764133487278786182009-03-16T08:55:00.000-07:002009-03-16T08:56:14.404-07:00

Earmarks. That word has been popping up a lot since Obama got his $410 billion omnibus bill put through. It contained nearly 9000 earmarks.Republicans are slamming Obama for not following through of his promise to cut earmarks. Democrats are slamming Republicans for having so many earmarks in the bill. So on and so forth.Do you know what an earmark is? Our good friends at Wikipedia define a

MGrafiushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10118698144604130661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6257756830994000734.post-61762939043354122982009-03-16T06:28:00.001-07:002009-03-16T06:49:36.965-07:00

My wife found, thanks to her mommy friends on JustMommies.com, a terrific website with educational games for young kids.It's called Starfall. Preschoolers seem to be the target audience, but there are more advanced activities.We were starting to get concerned about our 3 year-old son's lack of progress with his verbal skills. Within days of his using the site, they began to improve dramatically.

MGrafiushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10118698144604130661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6257756830994000734.post-15151388294154437512009-03-10T21:47:00.000-07:002009-03-10T21:55:10.213-07:00

As mentioned in my previous article, many states (up to 30 at last count) are considering invoking the 10th Amendment which allows states to ignore Federal laws which they find to be Constitutionally outside the authority of Federal government.Keep in mind, the Constitution clearly states which areas the Federal government may enact laws governing. As stated earlier, these areas are finite and

MGrafiushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10118698144604130661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6257756830994000734.post-17593930184319056472009-03-10T21:44:00.000-07:002009-03-10T21:47:10.301-07:00

The 10th Amendment to the Constitution states:"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."What this means is that the powers of the Federal government are clearly defined and finite. They may not appoint themselves more powers. Any powers not given to the Federal government are

MGrafiushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10118698144604130661noreply@blogger.com0