Which way was north again?

Not that I want to give the President any assistance in winning a second term, and I doubt he is taking my calls anymore, but perhaps I can make a few suggestions. I used to have a friend that couldnt tell left from right or north from south. Whatever direction you asked him about, you would always take the opposite of what he said. I'm sure the Democrats will do the opposite of these recommendations, so we don't have much to worry about.

Here's how Obama can serve the people of America, and by doing so, save our country and potentially get re-elected. Funny how I put these things in that order, as opposed to getting re-elected first.

Simple things they won't do, but here goes.

1. Stop ridiculous spending. Do the line item budget review like you promised in 2008  (I know - promises during elections are not promises, but work with me here)
2. Get rid of ridculous entitlements for welfare, medicare. workfare, bloatfare. You don't contribute in a meaningful way according to your ability, then you don't get rewarded for it.
3. Abolish public sector unions in gov't at the federal, state and municipal levels, or at the very least remove their ability to negotiate salaries, benefits and retirement programs.
Immediately dissolve teacher unions at the state, federal and local levels and abolish requirement of a student to live in a district to attend a school. Good schools grow, bad ones die off, taking the bad teachers with them.
4. Create a flat tax situation of 20% - FOR EVERYBODY. Not just the rich. Tax all benefits.
5. Abolish death and estate taxes. Create an impetus for intergenerational wealth building and investment.
6. Abolish the ability of the gov't to "Invest" in private corporations. Even a constitutional lawyer can see that Solyndra smelled of the faeces it was conceived in. You aren't smarter than us, so don't try - or even pretend.
7. Create a national, OPTIONAL unemployment insurance program. If a worker doesn't want coverage - then they don't pay. Easy. Cap benefits at 120 days. Period. You'll be amazed at how many people can find work all of a sudden. Or create work.
8. Immediately dissolve the EPA and replace it with the Environmental Jobs Creation Agency who will be tasked with first proving that an initiative creates jobs and wealth as a reason to do it, as opposed to a reason NOT to do it. Sorry hoot owls. You pollute, you get fined perhaps out of existence, but the mere potential of pollution does not automatically dissolve a project. Sorry minnows.
9. Reward corporations that create jobs with a lower corporate tax rate. Leave Gibson guitars alone. Protect jobs here, not in Zimbabwe.
10. Zero sum all gov't dept. budgets every year.

This simple 10 step plan makes it fair for everyone, and can get you re-elected.

Now which way was was north again?

It Ain't Easy Being Green - Tales from Tree Hugger Hell!

I think it is reprehensible that cities across the US are actively laying off firemen and police because they can't afford to pay them - yet they spend millions on "recycling" programs that don't have any economic value, don't "save the earth", don't create jobs and make things more expensive.

Perhaps they are influenced by the smarmy marketing that the greenie weenies use to promote their cause.

"Why it's a Smart car" meaning that mine is a "dumb car" I guess, and I'm a dumb driver who hates mother earth. Or "Smart Thermostats" or even my favorite "Sustainable living". Like me eating a steak or regulating the temperature in my house is "unsustainable". Putzes.

It goes back to the silly leftist mindset that wealth isn't created, but taken - usually off the backs of the "working class". In their gray, hopeless world, if I am comfortable, it isn't because I worked for it, or that I deserve it and it is my choice, no, it is because I must have "stolen" it from someone less fortunate.

Environmentalism plays well in this new socialist order - and underneath it all, is just a new way to extract guiltly penance from those that have and redistribute it to those that cannot manage on their own.

Environmentalists are against growth and prosperity. Power is power - and they resist any kind of effort to create better, cheaper and safer power supplies. Heck - they are even against wind and solar energy when push comes to shove.

If we give into this guilt trip we won't be so "Smart" after all. I just turned my AC down a couple degrees. I find cooler temps improve my productivity.

And I'm eating a baby seal sandwich. Yum.

Peruvian Nights and Inca Days, Macchu Picachu

My kids just got on the plane to head to Peru for their volunteer time at a medical clinic there. Seems like a fun place to visit, I only saw the inside of bars when I went to University. Actually, I saw the floor of a lot of bars when I went to University.

So I decided to leverage my investment in their trip and learn a litte about Peru:

1. The Nacza lines (outlines of animals in the desert hundreds of feet long) are in Peru
2. The guinea pig is a favored dish in restaurants along with ceviche
3. The population of Lima is about 7.5 million people
4. The domestic currency is the Sol - and $100 USD buys you 275 Sol - enough for 2 slave workers!
5. The Atacama desert is the driest in the world. Drier even than Harry Reid's soul.
6. Peru is south of the equator, almost straight due south from Miami
7. The potato is from Peru - but so is the Avocado! Lima Beans too, so 2 out of 3 is pretty good
8. There are 1701 species of birds recognized in Peru - the most in any country in the world
9. Peruvian coffee is now recognized as the best in the world. Period.
10. Oddly enough - the Peruvian national anthem is based on "Enter the Sandman" by Metallica

My grandfather always wanted to visit Peru, so the kids are taking the torch for him. Enjoy the guinea pig, I hear it tastes like chicken. With fur. Named "Snaps".

Amy Winehouse - 4 days sober!!!

Thanks to my sister for this one, I had to laugh about it. I read an article from the BBC that said that "some of the mourners at the Winehouse funeral appeared to be visibly upset......" Duh. Half were her family, half were her entourage of hangers on upset that the gravy train was over, and the other half were her dealers. I suppose there were a tear or two!

I also noted that even her family wasn't really shocked about her death - to them it was just a matter of "when" and not "if". Talk about dead man walking. Amy, we didn't set a place for you for Sunday dinner - we weren't sure you could make it!

Gotta Getta Guru!

Again - I'm not much of a product endorser, but I know what I like. If you haven't checked it out - http://www.guru.com/ has some pretty cool offerings on it. Freelance workers from all over the world bid on your projects and you get quality work, super fast turnaround, and low, low prices. I had a logo designed for a website of mine for $50. I posted online what I wanted, got 18 bids on the work within 5 hours ranging from $25 to $200 (you can establish the range you are willing to pay) and chose a fellow from England for $50. A couple of questions answered, some colors chosen, and 2 days later I had a fully developed logo, with web design colors and letterhead design thrown in for free.

There are people that will do any sort of admin task that you don't want to do, or don't find a productive use of your time. Right now, I'm paying somebody to go through all 3,000 of my contacts, clean them up, fix spelling, weed out the dupes and make one big CSV file I can populate all my devices with. 2 day turnaround. I've seem people get drawings/cartoons done, to creating a book with all their recipes in it, to a virtual assistant who will answer your phone, manage your appointments and plan your day with you.

Some of the freelancers are overseas, and some are in Europe and North America. Heck, they are all over the place. So if you want somebody to transcripe an audion recording or send out your Christmas card list or even manage your wedding invitations - check out http://www.guru.com/

I now return you to your regularly scheduled life......

The Deficit, Netflix and Obama-rama-lama-ding-dong

If given enough rope eventually the guy is going to hang himself. I thought Barry Sotaro's performance over the past few weeks on the debt issue has been as expected. Bleh. I thought Boehner's speech today was pretty good on top of it all. It now looks like Hussein will be facing off for the election in 2012 with Tweety Bird from the Bugs Bunny cartoons. Tweety is preparing his/her acceptance speech. I never did figure out if that bird was a man or woman. I mean, it never laid an egg or anything. But I digress.

With this impending social crisis - how are Americans feeling? What are they concerned about? You guessed it - the top issue by far was the hike in NetFlix fees.

On the other hand, I see the last point has more points than BO. I'm not sure math was one of the strong suits at the news networks.....Anyways - I feel for our overall well-being if the people of these country are more worried about the delivered price of the Wiggles than they are about the economy. "It's about the Yellow Wiggle Stupid". Sorry about that James Carville.

Thrift Stores - Survival of the Fittest

I like going to thrift stores in my area to seek out treasure. You wouldn't believe the stuff that you can get. I resell quite a bit on ebay, and usually at an average markup of 400% from what I bought it at. One of the special items I look for is music and guitar equipment (rack gear in particular) - along with 3000000 other folks who are lookong for the same things as I am. I have a few tips you can use to beat them!

1. Check every few days, the good stuff turns over pretty fast.
2. They don't put out new stuff until mid afternoon, going early doesn't do much for you.
3. Make friends with one of the workers, and tell em what you are interested in.
4. A lot of time people don't know how to work the gear, so they can't test it, so they dont buy it. I found a brand new Korg guitar effects pedal and when I tested it, it wouldnt power on. I remembered that some higher end pedals won't turn on unless a cable is attached to them (so the battery won't drain!). Found a cable, plugged it in, and bingo! Paid $7.99 - sold for $79.00.
5. Take your smartphone with you and look at prices on Ebay - even if you don't know what it is for, you may find someone else might - and you can find the value.
6. Clothes at a thrift store suck. With the exception of music tshirts. Concerts shirts from the 80s and 90s are going for $50 to $70!
7. Make sure you get the right power supply with the units, some are hard to find and are valuable in and of themselves.
8. Just because a unit powers on, doesn't mean it works. Most stores will allow you to return something that is totally hatched. I've found stuff that powered on, but didn't display properly and the knobs didn't work. Back it goes.
9. Be very careful with LCD screens - they can fail very quickly. I power units on for 2-3 hours to let them warm up. Some of the capacitors die if the unit has not been used for several years. It will kack in the first few hours if they are bad.
10. It doesn't happen a lot - but get the boxes and manuals if possible. Some of the older ones are a bugger to track down online, and units sell for a premium if you have 'em - even print out PDF copies.
11. Bonus tip - every goober looking to score is looking for names they recognize (Martin, Gibson Fender) . They won't know about boutique names and always overlook them. Look for Korg stuff, Marshall, Digitech, Roland, Macintosh, Behringer, Rack Rider, BBE.......

Happy hunting, and now, back to your regularly scheduled life.

Can't get enough Amy April Winehouse!

So in the midst of the Amy Winehouse situation (I guess being dead is the ultimate "situation"!) I saw a picture of her that looked awfully dog gone familiar!

I have been an April Wine fan since I was old enough to turn on a radio by myself, and Myles Goodwyn taught me how to play guitar. (figuratively at least!) In any event, you gotta believe that the graphic designer that did the Winehouse logo had to have at least seen the April Wine logo? I mean - even the angle of the dangle is the same? Too bad their album is called "Live in London", hers is the opposite. (I couldn't resist that one - too easy)

It is now painfully obvious to me that I don't have enough to do.

Ka-ching! Celebrity Dead Pool Hits Gold!

Well - another one bites the dust. Or snorts it. I picked this one right on, and while it may seem macabre, these dead pool things can be a lot of fun. Watch out Betty White!


Seriously - I do worry that when these types of things happen that a lot of people see that lifestyle as glamorous and it gets in their head that they died a pure, clean death, like Marilyn Monroe. It is unfortunate that a young person like Winehouse does this to herself, but as usual it is the enablers in their life that actually are the ones that tighten the noose.


By my calculation 3 coalition soldiers will die in Iraq and Afghanistan over the next week. They won't even get a mention in the news, fighting for their lives as opposed to throwing them away. It's a pretty sad state of affairs.