It's lonely up here on my soapbox...

October 13, 2009
It has been awhile since my last posting, but I have recently found out some news that has me needing to share some of my thoughts with all of you.

I have wonderful friends. Friends that I would take care under the most difficult of circumstances and feel they would do the same for me. My friend Rich who I lost for 20 years is now back in my life. My friend Mark from college, who I was so incredibly fortunate to be a part of his wedding will forever be a friend. Then there are my friends that I have known from my days in Colorado. Regardless of who you are, my friend, I promise to try and be there for you. I may fail at times, but this is not because I don't care, it may just be because I am not listening hard enough. With news of new children, or strained marriages or anything in between, I want you all to know that I care about all of you.

With that being said, to my incredibly special friends that are struggling, I love you both. I am not looking to give advice, but instead please know that I have a shoulder for each of you. If you need a place to vent, sleep, cry or whatever, don't hesitate to call me.

To my wife Abby.....I am reminded that even the greastest of love stories have their struggles. I am far from perfect and I know that I can be difficult a lot of the time, but my wife...I love you. I am sorry for the inflexibilities, I am sorry for my countless inperfections. What I am not sorry is who I have chosen to share these with. I work constantly. I complain constantly. I am constantly at my desk at work or at home, and you continue to constantly love me. It's true what people say, I adore you. I may not show it all the time, but it's true.

June 1, 2009

I think we are seeing the calm before the storm. Our largest manufacturer (General Motors) just declared bankruptcy and people are cheering while our government takes a majority share, pulling any possibility for current bondholders to reap the benefits of their initial investments while the stock market soars. In ordinary times, such a bankruptcy would be seen as a collapse of a giant and the media would report on the shock waves we are about to feel as all the smaller veins crumble to parts distributors and all other entities related to GM. Not today. Today we are raising our hands in praise to a leader that has given $50 billion to a company that had not turned a profit in 7 years. A company that relied on the necessity of the people to spend more and be bigger than their neighbors. Our economic collapse has proven that our diversion from manufacturing our own materials has not been what is best for us. What are we doing about it? Nothing. We are doing nothing. We will close 14 plants, see countless jobs and entire communities spiral downwards and then when our leader proclaims that he has saved 3 million jobs and the media confirms it, we can sit back and relax knowing that all is well.

September 19, 2008

Socialism - Any of various theories or systems of social organization in
which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized
government that often plans and controls the economy.

To Date: (09/08/08) - Feds (Henry Paulson) release statement announcing the takeover of two mortgage juggernauts Fannie May and Freddie Mac, costing upwards of $400-$500 billion dollars. (09/17/08) - Feds (Henry Paulson) release statement that it will bailout insurance giant AIG with an $85 billion dollar investment, taking a 79.9% share in the company.(09/19/08) - Feds (Henry Paulson) release statement acknowledging plan to invest hundreds of billions of dollars into failing banks and acquiring bank owned mortgages. Somewhere here in the middle the auto industry has requested close to $50 billion to help them get through the tough times.

Question: How is someone who has a debt like ours able to issue as much as $1,000,000,000,000 (1 Trillion) in loans? What makes our government think they can do something the us citizens are not able to do. If you wanted to buy the house(s) up the street, but did not have the money, plain and simple, you could not buy them. In case you missed it, our government now owns a major majority of our countries mortgages, has its hands deep inside of insurance (AIG), soon Auto with Airlines not far behind.

Will someone please tell the Politicians in Washington that we no longer want to pay for others mistakes!!

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Are we just a tired civilization? Seriously, it's almost as if we just don't care anymore. We stand by and watch things happen without a second thought. We see a woman slumped over in a hospital, we witness a man laying injured in the street after being hit by a car that has crossed the double yellow line. Our elected officials gaze curiously at a woman pretending to be a patriot while singing the "Black National Anthem", when she was hired to sing our countries national anthem. The news recently reported on a story of how a grocery store worker did nothing while a person snatched a persons beloved pet by forcing down their car window and then drove off. Where are our heroes? Did we lose our will to act after 9/11? Are we just scared of stepping out and raising our voice for fear of being shunned or even sued? I say we recapture our days of chivalry and stop allowing these evils to penetrate our nightly news. Todd Beamer had it right..."Let's Roll".

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Why does the media report on what actors think about politicians? Is it because they are wealthy? Is it because they have famous faces? More importantly, why does the public care one bit what actors think? Sean Penn, the Baldwins, Barbara Streisand, Ben Affleck (sorry, bad example of an actor) all think for some reason their opinions matter more. Isn't it funny how we publicize the thoughts of Sean Penn, whose father was actually labeled a communist? What do you think would happen if my wife and I who are college educated, called the media and said we would like to endorse a candidate? Would anyone show up or even listen? Things have gotten a bit out of control. Stop the chaos!! I challenge you to turn off your televisions the next time Paris Hilton appears (convicted criminal), or Brittany Spears (deadbeat mother) is shown with their latest idiocy.