Hello World

Try not to cry...I wasn't able to.

I think I found a new favorite band.  It's been a good weekend...lots of time to look around and love life.  There's plenty to be thankful for.

Was listening to my daughter's breathing as she was falling asleep tonight.  She was holding her stuffed "ducky" and sucking her fingers.  Is there anything so perfect?

I don't think so.

Thankful

I don't have enough minutes in the day to fully appreciate everything I'm thankful for this holiday.  I'm not really sure why we celebrate it with turkey, but I know "why" we celebrate it.  Because there's a helluva lot to be thankful for.

A lot.

Is your life tough right now?  Not sure what to be thankful for this Thanksgiving day?



Want to try again?  What is it you are thankful for?  Don't just shove turkey in your mouth.  Give yourself some time, and appreciate the things you have.

You have more than you think.

Sometimes life is not what you thought it would be.  Sometimes it just plain sucks.  Sometimes the wrong things happen to good people.  Sometimes you don't get rewarded for good behavior.  Sometimes you do the right thing and no one cares.  Sometimes you work hard and get nothing in return.  Sometimes you smile at people and get nothing but scorn in return.  Sometimes you get cheated.  Sometimes you make the wrong decisions.

Given this, is there still reason to be thankful?

While you're thinking on that subject, I'll be kissing my wife as she checks on the turkey, hugging my little girl as she laughs at "America's Funniest Home Videos", and tipping back a cold beer on a beautiful sunny day.  I may even go polish the chrome on the motorcycle.

I have my answer.  You?

Double Down

To "Double Down" in Blackjack: The player is allowed to increase the initial bet by up to 100% in exchange for committing to stand after receiving exactly one more card.

To "Double Down" in politics:

First Card:


The Double Down:



"Families like yours, young people like the ones here today--including the ones who were just chanting at me--you're the reason that I ran for office in the first place."

Even though the President is extremely smart, especially in politics, I don't think he'd do well at Blackjack.

You don't Double Down when you are given a very, very bad card.  Note to whoever is advising the President to embrace the OWS crowd.

Stop.

In my humble opinion (of course), the OWS crowd is destructive, not creative.  It's socialist, not capitalist.  It's negative, not positive.  It's backward thinking, not forward thinking.  It's a proven failed philosophy, not a correction to a masterpiece.  It's exactly what we don't need.  To think otherwise is to embrace insanity.  Really, I'm not kidding.  Let me put it this way...would you let anyone at the OWS rally look after your child while you're away?  No?  Then why are you taking their view on the economy...something that will shape your child's future?

This country has done magnificent things, and this economy has driven prosperity to all time highs.  Prosperity is relative, of course, but so is the definition of poverty.  The lack of a job is not the issue.  The real issue is the lack of incentives for businesses to create those jobs.

If government figured out that instead of "telling" business what to do, they "incentivized" business, the economy would flourish.

At the beginning of economist F.A. Hayek's "The Road to Serfdom", Hayek stated that when government controls the economy, what's more at stake is not our wealth...but our "alteration in the character of the people."  If the President believes that government should control all the "faults" of the economy, then we will fundamentally change as a people.

According to the Tax Foundation, 60% of the population now gets more in government benefits than it pays in taxes.  Over half of our population lives at the expense of the rest.

Is this truly what we want in our country?  60 will become 70%....and 70 becoming 80%.  Unless we change, this is not conjecture, it is fact.  Do we want a culture of takers or makers?  Do we want freedom and self-responsibility or do we want the tyranny of the Nanny State?

This is the true discussion.  All else is smoke and mirrors.

WTF ???

A friend of mine pointed this out and I thought I would pass it along.

"...if I were running a campaign with a low approval rating, the last thing I would do is have a re-election slogan whose initials are...WTF."

Yup, I'd say that would be a bad idea.  But then again, it's pretty funny.

So there's that.

No Cages

Motorcycle Dictionary:

"Cages":  Automobiles.  Those who ride in cars are often referred to as "Cagers".

This will help explain the following video.

I've said it before...go buy one.  Now.  Seriously, like, right now.

You'll never see a motorcycle parked outside of a therapist's office.  Therapy is expensive.  Wind is cheap.

And It Begins

We better get our act together soon...or more of this will happen.

Via Drudge and Breitbart.

"A cyber strike launched from outside the United States hit a public water system in the Midwestern state of Illinois, an infrastructure control systems expert said on Friday....

...The network breach was exposed after cyber intruders burned out a pump.  'No one realized the hackers were in there until they started turning on and off the pump'....

The attack was reportedly traced to a computer in Russia and took advantage of account passwords stolen during a hack of a US company that makes SCADA software.

The US Department of Homeland Security has downplayed the Illinois cyber attack in public reports, stating that it had seen no evidence indicating a threat to public safetey but was investigating the situation."

Ok, let me be the first to tell you.  There is a significant threat to public safety and we've known about this for years now.  This is just the first public incident you've heard of.  

Our electronic infrastructure is not as sound as you think.  If you don't think it's a big deal, just wait until an entire city can't drink any water for a couple of weeks because some "hacker" has disabled a computer system.

This is one area where the Federal Government has an obligation to use our tax money for good purposes.  Hey Homeland Security...how about a little less patronizing comments and how about a little more action?

A Visual Contrast

So I like to pontificate...a lot.  Sometimes what I'm thinking doesn't quite come out on paper as expected.  My fellow MBA students would probably agree.

As a change, today I'll just let the pictures tell the story.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the following is almost long enough for my thesis!

What's Good for the Gander...

...is apparently not good for the goose.

A press conference was held today by self-ascribed millionaires.  They were demanding Congress tax them more...since, of course, they are not taxed enough.

Yes, these folks are not happy that they already give up a third of their income.  They want Congress to take more.

Well, so be it.  How about giving it now?  We'll help...here's a checkbook.

Oh wait...did they say voluntarily give more taxes?  Nope.  They want Congress to involuntarily take more taxes (not that taxes are voluntary to begin with).  But not starting with them.

After watching this video, I'm not too sure these guys are millionaires.  If they are, then I see something even darker.  Not only are these guys richer than you (and are probably pretty darn happy about it), but they also want something else they are not saying.

Power through tyranny.

I know it doesn't make sense initially, but think about it a while and then ponder, "Why won't these guys give up their own money voluntarily?  Why do they need Congress to force it upon others?"

Because these guys are in the minority.  The rest of the millionaires out there think these guys are lunatics.  And they are.

But there's only one way lunatics can get insane things done.

Through Congress.

Graphs to Explain the Unexplainable

Ever wondered why a drink feels so good at the end of a long week?  Let the graph help...

Ever wondered how all those people showed up as "friends" on Facebook?

Do you use Adobe?  Then no explanation needed for this graph...

Ever wondered how to fix insomnia?

The Beatles' lyrics were great.  Really?

How my P90X workouts are going....

How well a car alarm works:

And finally, what were those words again?...

A Different 1%

They are a different 1%.  Not the ones the Occupy Wall Street crowd rants against.

They are the 1% of the population who serves their country, and loves her to the core.

They are the 1% who asks for very little, but gives so very much.

They are a small group, but they are all around the globe and all around the country.

Find them.  And then thank them.

Honor our Veterans.

Is It Any Wonder?

Up-front disclaimer:  I like Herman Cain as a potential candidate for the Republican ticket.  I like the idea of a free-market, business type of guy running the country.  Someone who has been in the private sector longer than has been in the public sector.

Yet, I don't think he's the Republican's best ticket against President Obama.  I just don't think he could win.

All that aside, the attacks against Cain have been relentless the past week.  At first, I saw the "chink in the armor".  I figured it was adios, amigo.  Who's up to bat next?

But here's what's bothering me.  I don't usually listen too much to Ann Coulter.  She's pretty far to the extreme right for me...but...for argument's sake, let's just assume the following is "true" and then discuss:

"So it's curious that all the sexual harassment allegations against Cain emanate from Chicago: home of the Daley machine and Obama consigliere David Axelrod.

The Daley-controlled Illinois Restaurant Association works hand-in-glove with the National Restaurant Association.  And strangely enough, Cain's short, three-year tenure at the NRA is evidently the only period in his decades-long career during which he's alleged to have been a sexual predator.


And now, after a week of conservative eye-rolling over unspecified, anonymous accusations against Cain, we've suddenly got very specific sexual assault allegations from an all-new accuser out of...Chicago.


Herman Cain has never lived in Chicago.  But you know who has?  David Axelrod!  And guess who lived in Axelrod's very building?  Right again:  Cain's latest accuser, Sharon Bialek.


The reason all this is relevant is that both Axelrod and Daley have a history of smearing opponents by digging up claims of sexual misconduct against them.  John Brooks, Chicago's former fire commissioner, filed a lawsuit against Daley six months ago claiming Daley threatened to smear him with sexual harassment accusations if Brooks didn't resign.  He resigned--and the sexual harassment allegations were later found to be completely false...


...one month before the 2004 Democratic primary for the US Senate, Obama was way down in the polls, about to lose to Blair Hull, a multimillionaire securities trader.  But then the Chicago Tribune--where Axelrod used to work--began publishing claims that Hull's second ex-wife, Brenda Saxton, had sought an order of protection against him during their 1998 divorce proceedings...Hull's substantial lead just a month before the primary collapsed with the nonstop media attention to his divorce records.  Obama...won the primary."

Ok, now that that's out of the way, let's ponder for a moment.  Is it a stretch of the imagination that dirty politics are played on the national stage?  Is is a wonder that "anything goes" when one is fighting for the top jobs of US government power?

If the answer is "yes, I assume anything goes", then is it a wonder why good people don't run for office?  Have you ever wondered why better choices are not given in an election?  Have you ever wondered, "gee, not much of a choice here...guess it's the better of two evils"?

There are better people out there.  There are exceptionally qualified people who should run.  There are better choices.

But, like any good parent and spouse, they choose their family over politics.  They know that fairness is NOT a part of our political "game", and that their loved ones could be the true victim in the road to the White House.  I don't know the truth of what happened with Herman Cain and the women that are, 15 years later, coming out saying, "oh, he's a bad guy."  What I do know is, if a true crime occurred, the evidence to exonerate Cain is long past...and the political operatives know it...and love the fact he can't possibly defend himself.  Guilty until proven...well, there is no fair process in the court of public opinion.

How very sad.  How very sad for his family.  How very sad for our country.

Those Evil Corporations

You have probably noticed already, but I am not a fan of the Occupy Wall Street movement(s).  Why?

First, they lack a coherent argument.  Most of their sputterings arguments center around either socialist or communist platforms.  Second, they lack a sustainable vision for the country.  The effects they call for would not only make the economy worse, they would cripple it. Third, they offer no reasonable, rational, or executable solutions.  Most of these folks have not considered the secondary and tertiary effects of their solutions...and those effects are the most important for long term economic viability.

And they are just plain weird.  That should count for something, right?

And if that doesn't make sense, maybe this will.  Enjoy!

Happy 10,000!

This little blog started with a pretty simple idea...vet my ideas in the open blogosphere and hopefully add a little humor sometimes.

I thank everyone who has visited my site (although, not sure why the Russians and Chinese are visiting...must be the economics), and I hope we have many fun-filled and enlightening posts in our future!

Happy 10,000 blog hits, Skippy Maximus fans!

My Other Sign Is a Yacht

Some Saturday fun for you.  I love this little guy.

"That's Who We're Creating"

I am not a regular watcher of Judge Judy, but I must admit...I might start.

Below is a great video clip from the Judge Judy show (now on You Tube...because it's been pulled by CBS from their site?)

Summary:  Guy gets government money for rent.  You see, he's a student (already receiving $22,000 from the government to go to school) and he doesn't have a job.  Therefore, the government gives him an extra $400 for rent.  If we just stopped there, it wouldn't sound so different than what we have become accustomed to from the government.

Yet, this man decides to live with his girlfriend and spend the money on...other things.  Judge Judy has a few words for this...uh, upstanding young man.

Judge Judy...yes, send it to Congress.  In the meantime, the rest of us will remember this debacle when we vote.