Why be Thankful?

Thanksgiving is upon us once again and this year I want to just mention a few things I am thankful for.

1. Jesus Christ, first and foremost. Only Christians will understand this one of course.

2. My lovely wife Janet. She puts up with me, what a trooper!

3. Family and friends. I have some good people in my life who care about me. That's priceless! A special mention to my Grandma, she been ill lately, bless you granny!

4. A successful business. Been working my buns off this year! Thanks to my customers and my #1 driver!

5. Being born an American! What else can I say!

6. Our armed forces. Without them we'd be speaking German or Japanese.

7. Our President! W - Love him or hate him he's trying to save us from terrorists and has a great economy
working for us thanks to some wisely crafted tax cuts.

8. My new Mustang. Gotta love a man's first new sports car.

9. Finally, a good attitude. I thank God I was born an optimist!

Price Gouging?

While talking about the price of gasoline and so called price gouging with my wife I came up with a good analogy of why the oil companies are and should make billions in profit.

Here's my explanation. Tell me where I am wrong.

If I had a large delivery business that covered the USA and abroad like say, UPS (let's check their profits by the way) and I made 50 million deliveries per day charging $20 per delivery that would equal 1 billion dollars per day or 365 billion per year. Now that would be gross profit. Once you back out operating costs of $15 per delivery it would leave me a net profit of roughly 90 billion dollars per year.

Now look at the Oil company Exxon. They sell a product that is used all over the world, including America. You can look on just about every other corner in Charlotte and any other major city and find an Exxon station. They sell gasoline and many other products and by-products of oil. Let's say that any given day around the world the sell 50 million gallons of gasoline at 10 cents net profit per gallon. That would be 100,000,000.00 or 100 million dollars per day profit which in turn would be over 3 billion dollars profit per year just on gasoline sold here in the USA. Again they sell oil, gas and the by products from each barrel.

My point is that when you have a large company that is spread out over the world and sells a product that is purchased by millions of consumers each day you will make huge profits!

So, the US Congress who in fact has blocked legislation for over 25 years to drill for more oil here at home and build refineries in order to process more fuel (increasing supplies in the USA which would in turn lower prices) all the while putting restrictions and regulations on the oil companies and how they can produce and refine their product is going to hit Exxon and others with a windfall profits tax. Why then should they not go after any other company that has made billions in profit?

(Don't forget that the federal tax for a gallon of gas is 18 cent. They pool billions per year in Washington from this single fund and spend it as they wish. It's supposed to be for roads but take a look in your city and tell me if that's where it is being spent.)

I suppose they already have. Microsoft and Phillip Morris comes to mind. When will they get UPS or GE.? Who's next? When will they decide in their socialist wisdom that no company should be able to make too much profit and once you reach a certain point of profitability you have to turn over the rest to the government? Where do we live in America or North Korea????

Then go a step further and ask yourself what does the government do with the money they confiscate from You, me and Exxon? They spend it like a drunken sailor on every stupid little thing they can find in order to buy votes in their home district. They give it away to foreign countries like it was candy at Halloween. They enter into contracts with companies they have under the table deals with and buy millions of $300 hammers. They have a blank check book and can spend, spend, spend with no regard for a balanced budget.

No, no, no! I think we may have it backwards here! We have to fight against these so called public leaders and let them know we will not stand for their legal thievery. It is Congress who is stealing from you and I not Exxon. Exxon is creating millions of jobs and providing a very important product to us so we can get to our own jobs and make a living.

All the while Congress is constantly patting us on the back smiling and whispering in our ear how much they care for us and want to help us while they slip their hands in our back pockets lifting money from our wallets!

Whew!

That feels better...

The Pendulum Swings

Greetings

If you have kept up with the news the past few months you will know that the old media has been in a feeding frenzy when it comes to President Bush and his Republican administration. The poll numbers reflect that his popularity has taken a dive and the press has taken to the water, feasting on Bush like a bunch of hungry Pirana. I must admit it was looking pretty bad for a while but if history is a guide it looks as though the President will survive this hit and rebound.

Lately there have been some good signs. The lack of an indictment of Carl Rove may have been the beginning of this turnaround but some important events have happened in the past few days that may really increase the momentum of this upswing. The recent bombings in Jordan have produced a backlash against the terrorists by Muslims who are sick of being the targets of these murderers. They have taken to the streets protesting. Only this time instead of Muslims protesting America, they are screaming for the death of the terrorists. There also has been a video released of the Kurds in Iraq thanking America for setting them free. President Bush stepped up to the plate and scolded the left just yesterday for making ridiculous false claims that he manipulated intelligence in order to go to war with Saddam all the while knowing everything that he knew and voting to approve the Presidents actions. Also the current riots in France are a good illustration to Americans and the world of what leftists policies can lead to and that bodes well for the American right. The way I see it there is a change coming and you will see the approval ratings of the Bush team climb back up from the current lows.

The President has some bold ideas and wants to change America and the world for the better. The American left stands in his way as they do not want to see Republicans get and credit for such bold and positive change in the world. Since they have no good ideas of their own their strategy seems to be to do everything they can to slow down and stop Republicans from making forward progress.

This is a bad policy and will lead to more of the same from the Democrats in years to come should they take control back from the Republicans. Just think about all we could accomplish if the left would work with us instead of against us. We could reform Social Security, the Tax Code and make America less dependent on foreign oil if only the left would help us. We could also continue to make America a more prosperous place economically but if the left gets control of the purse strings they will only tax us more and spend even more than the Bush administration has.

In the end we will wind up with a more socialist government should they prevail. However I have a theory that I think will allow Republicans to make strides in years to come. I will share that with you next time.

Agree or disagree?

Feel free to leave your comments here.

Democrats gone wild!

The Impeachment of Sanity!

JD Pearce 11/3/2005

The Democrats in the Senate have decided to hold meetings to discuss issues related to the President's decision to go to war in Iraq, removing Saddam Hussein from power and establishing a front against terror. They say he manipulated intelligence and lied to the American people over reasons to go to war.

Funny but I seem to remember just about every single one of those pompous jackasses pontificating at the top of their lungs on the Senate floor about how bad Saddam was and how he was such a threat to the US and should be stopped! This kind of bloviating was in vogue in 1998 up until and after President Bush was inaugurated in 2001. Not only did the Senators now screaming Bush lied do this but their own President and Vice President in 1998 and 1999 both made speeches declaring Saddam had WMD as did the former Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor. Let us not forget every major newspaper and magazine in the country also proclaimed the danger and wickedness of Saddam. These Wackos seem to forget that they are caught on tape as it were and must be living in some drug induced dream world where they do not remember what they did or said past last week.

Let me assure you that the goal here my friends is to impeach President Bush! Yes that's right. Fortunately for the sane people in this country it ain't gonna happen. These dolts in Washington are all smoking crack if they think that they can win on this issue. (Fire it up Ted, don't bogart the pipe!)

My personal view is that this is nothing more than payback for the impeachment of their golden boy, their knight in shining armor, their chief cook and bottle washer, the first black President, William J. Clinton. They are so hell bent on paying the Republicans back for that embarrassing episode (hold on, I am lighting my cigar) that they will go to any and all ends to try and punish President Bush and his brilliant team of advisers. The fact that Bush defeated Gore (stole the election) in 2000 and their latest idiot, John (I have a plan) F. Kerry is also a bitter pill to swallow for this bumbling bunch of clowns on the left side of the isle in Washington.

Mark my words they want to impeach Bush but they do not have the votes and will not win enough seats in 2006 to

Git-R-Done.

What is so unforgivably sad about this is that we are at war with terrorism. This country is the lone super power in a struggle to stop the spread of terrorism in the free world and that world depends on us to win this battle. The leftist here in this country are undermining our ability to fight and win this war. It is treasonous in my opinion and the majority of people of this country want no part of their hypocrisy and foolishness!

Energy Prices and Big Oil

Many of us are suffering today due to high gasoline prices and home heating costs and it may get worse this winter, at least with the cost of home heating oil and natural gas. I have heard like most of you that the BIG OIL companies are reeking lavish profits during this time of severe energy problems for the average Joe. It is very easy to point fingers and jump up and down, crying foul. The Energy giants are gouging us, profiteering at it's worst is being spouted all over the news and at water coolers around the country. Blogs and webpages also mimics these ideas.

So, I am going to try and explain why this is not as bad as some would lead you to believe. First of all we do live in a capitalist society where companies are allowed to sell their products in a free market where prices fluctuate up and down. Any company has the right to charge what it can get for it's product as long as it does not break any laws in the process. BIG OIL does not have much competition so unlike the Walmart's of the world no one is going to slash prices to out sell the other guy. The oil market is a global market where prices are generally set by OPEC and by trading of oil on the world stock and futures markets. The BIG OIL companies from the USA use these prices as well to sell each barrel the pump out of the ground. The price of a barrel is way up now and that leads to profits that are way up.

In addition to this we are in the midst of a refinery crisis due to the latest batch of hurricane related weather disasters. Many refineries were damaged and pipelines were shut down so this proposes a large problem for those companies and for the end users of the products. Our refineries normally run at near full capacity so this kind of interruption creates supply and demand issues that drives up prices in a hurry.

Why do we not have enough refining capacity? You can thank congress and the environmental movement in the USA for that situation. There has not been a refinery built in the USA for nearly thirty years due to the pressure put on politicians to keep the BIG OIL companies from building these behemoth plants in any given city or town. Nobody wants one in their backyard yet everyone screams now that the price of gasoline as well as home heating energy is out of control.

What can we do about it? Well this is the question. Individuals can now buy smaller most fuel efficient vehicles if they choose to do so. You can also cut back on energy consumption around your home in a myriad of different ways. You might even carpool or ride a bike or bus to work. However if you are not so inclined to do these kinds of things you can invest in the markets and buy stocks or mutual funds with energy related holdings. This way you might pay more at the pump but you reap the rewards on the back end in dividends. Keep in mind too that the longer the price of gas stays high the more car companies will invest in alternative technologies to give you the consumer more viable alternatives to the gas guzzling SUV's you have grown accustomed too.

I will continue with this subject in the next blog!

Until then please feel free to give me some feedback on your ideas about BIG OIL and their windfall profits!

The War on Terror - World War III

I agree with Bill O'Reilly that this war is WWIII yet I do not agree with the way he spins the war news in his so called "No Spin Zone." In fact I think that 90 percent of the news coverage we get from the press here in the USA is negative and harmful to the effort.

Just imagine if the press were not anti-war in the country and if this was a war waged by a democrat such as Bill or Hillary Clinton. I'll bet the coverage would be vastly different by the so called "Main Stream Media." Instead of news reports each day saying, "Another US soldier was killed today when a road side bomb exploded as the unilateral US forces continue to combat the insurgents in Iraq. More and more people here in the US are voicing their concerns about high US casualties blah, blah, blah.

You might here it reported like this. "Only one casualty today for the US in Iraq as the US continues it's war against the radical terrorists in the middle east. As we are well into our second year in this conflict we have only lost 2000 soldiers. Although all soldiers are important and their sacrifices significant if we compare this war to others from the nations history we have made some major progress in the way we conduct ground wars. In Vietnam for example where we had lost nearly ten times that amount by the 2nd year of the conflict. With the Iraqi's about to cast their historic votes for the first constitution in that country's long and brutal history we may see the beginnings of change sweeping through the middle east as the Iraq's embrace democracy with this vote...

Wow, you see how the perspective can change when you look at this war from another point of view!


Think about it....

JD

Racism in America - a frank discussion

Lately there has been much discussion of race relations in our country due to the aftermath of Katrina in New Orleans. Many blacks are crying racism, some black leaders are calling George Bush a racist and claiming he is our new Bull Conner. Louis Farakan has suggested that George Bush directed the levee's in New Orleans to be destroyed so the blacks would drown. Many others are saying blacks were left to suffer for days on end because and only because they were black. Hmmmm, ponder these accusations for a moment or two....

What side of the race fence do you come down on? Does racism exist in America 2005? Surely it does. Look at history, look around the world. Racism has been with us for many thousands of years and will more than likely always be a part of the fabric of the many societies around the world. Racism has existed in ancient Rome and Greece. Perhaps racism was a factor in Egypt when the Pharaohs enslaved Syrians, Nubians and even there own people. Can we forget the Iraelites who were enslaved by one of the Egyptian Pharaohs in 1200 BC.

Racism is in the middle east where many different clans or tribes constantly battle one another for power or land. They call each other dogs, vermin and worse even though many share the same religion. Racism is prevalent among Palestinians who hate Jews today. In many cases racism starts with a religious difference rather than skin color but after generations of hate have been passed down it becomes simply racism. Hate for the sake of someone being of a different race, tribe or origin than the other.

In Africa racism exits as one black tribe tries to exterminate other black tribes. Whites and blacks also kill each other in South Africa for racist reasons. In India racism is commonplace in the caste system and has been for centuries. I am convinced that racism is something that will be with us always sometimes in subtle forms other times in more deadly forms such as genocide, rape, murder.

What about the USA? We have had racism here for as long as we have been a country. Early in our history many whites had black slaves. Although it was a common practice at that time many whites thought it was wrong and should be abolished. Some say the war between the states was fought over slavery. In the end slavery was abolished in the USA yet racism was rampant. In the 20th century many whites wanted to be separate from blacks up until the 1960's when we had a civil rights movement. Surely there were terrible crimes committed against blacks by whites, hangings were commonplace for many years and blacks were treated as sub human.

However we have grown as a country and since then long strides have been made to even the playing field for blacks with whites and other races. Today crimes against blacks by whites such as in the early part of the last century are no longer tolerated. In fact a crime against a black by a white is usually given more press than the opposite. Blacks seem to be protected by a media who will make front page news if a white police officer beats a black man but if a black man beats or kills a white, many times it goes unreported or at least delegated to a far back page or short snipit on the evening news where race may not be mentioned. So a question arises.

Since blacks were mistreated, abused and murdered by whites for many decades in the past, is it OK now for blacks to treat whites the same way? Is this some kind of retribution by blacks that is tolerated by the media because they are sensitive to the plight of a long oppressed minority? Is there a mindset by the media and by some black leaders to justify or accept criminal behavior by blacks due to abuses made by whites in our history.

Today a black man or woman has endless opportunity here in the USA to reach lofty goals in education, government, entertainment, sports, etc.. If I had the time or space here I could give you names of hundreds if not thousands of blacks who have become rich and powerful here in the USA thanks to the opportunities here. A few examples are Bill Cosby, Oprah Winnfrey, Bob Johnson, Condaleeza Rice, Colen Powell, Dr. Walter E. Williams, Michael Jordan, Clarence Thomas, Julian Bond, Jessee Jackson, Al Sharpton, etc...

However due to a seriously flawed political structure many blacks are left to wallow in crime and drug infested inner city neighborhoods. Now some say this is due to racism. I tend to agree with that somewhat but my take is a bit different. I think the flawed policy is a leftist ideology of a welfare state that has caused generations of black people to be where they are today not Reganomics or George Bush's so called tax cuts for the rich. Social engineering by leftists have purposely kept many blacks locked in a state of depravity for political reasons. The struggle to keep power by the left has held people back who under more conservative philosophy could be pushed to achieve more and focus on personal responsibility which often leads to a more prosperous life with more opportunities to reach middle and upper class stations in America.

Racism exists today in the USA, no doubt but let's be honest and say Black racism is just as prevalent and ugly as White racism. Many blacks hate whites and the chaos in New Orleans has brought that to the surface. The rapes and murders of whites by blacks that have been reported are being swept under the rug in order to hopefully coax tourists back into New Orleans, yet European papers and web sites are reporting stories of white tourists that were targets of black criminals in New Orleans. Rape and murder ensued and much of it directed at whites because they were white. Again it is being hushed by a liberal media in this country but you can find these stories on the web mostly from countries where tourists fled back too after being trapped in New Orleans for a week of hell on earth. In the TV coverage how many stories did you see about blacks shooting at white rescue workers? How many stories did you see where whites were saving and rescuing blacks? Looks to me like the whites were not being the racists in these situations.

In my opinion racism is a bad thing and is a problem that needs to be dealt with in any society. I think all men of all races should be judged on their character and behavior not their color. However should we as Americans turn a blind eye to Black Racism and black on white crime because it is not politically correct to speak out against it?

More on this topic later......

Hurricanes & Energy

WOW! Can you believe the massive hurricanes we have had this year? What is the deal here? Katrina and now Rita! Holy cow!

Many people say this is a natural phenomenon that happens in cycles as decades and centuries pass us by, others are screaming that it is caused by global warming. Some science says global warming is also a natural phenomenon that is cyclical as well but others dispute this and blame human kind for the problem. I am no scientist but I tend to agree with the natural phenom side of the argument. However I do think we should slow down on the fossil fuels and move towards solar, wind, water and others forms such as hydrogen powered energy as well.

The oil and gasoline problem is way beyond pollution and global warming at this point. Terrorism and economic reasons are enough for me. I have often wondered why we do not use the sun's power for more of our solution to our energy problem here on earth. It of course seems like and endless source of energy.

The following link is to an article I found on the future of solar energy it is quite interesting.

http://faculty.washington.edu/jbs/itrans/solar1.htm

In today's hi tech world it seems as if we have the ability and know how to move beyond the fossil fuels and start utilizing other more environmentally friendly forms and perhaps cheaper too!

May the Lord have mercy on those in the path of this latest storm...

Have a great day!

JD

Katrina disaster

It's hard to imagine the horror of what has transpired in New Orleans, Mississippi and Alabama. The CAT5 storm ripped into the gulf area and has left a severe wound in our country. The flooding in New Orleans which has been predicted for decades has come to pass and the damage is of biblical proportions. Many of you like me probably have watched the story unfolding on TV. It's sad and tragic, even gory. This stuff is real and it's very bad!

I have sat and watched as many people in this country from their safe and dry homes (me too) have started blaming our President for this mess. I am dumbfounded by this but I guess their hatred for him and the republicans in general have just surfaced again and they take every opportunity to try and use whatever means necessary to make President Bush and his cabinet look bad.

The facts are fortunately in the favor of the feds in this case. If you know how politics work at all you know that local and state officials are charged with first responder duties in this kind of disaster. The feds normal do not get involved until they are asked by the state to step in. However in this case President Bush was proactive and had contacted both the governor and the mayor to urge them to evacuate before the storm hit. He was also planning the relief effort during that time and had a convoy eight miles long in New Orleans by Friday after the storm. The massive amount of food, water, equipment and man power was a very large operation which took days of planning to put together. FEMA was on the ground as of Tuesday the day after the storm although it was unreported by the main stream media.

So take it all in and listen to the people who let thousands die, try and blame it all on the evil republicans. The fact is the mayor failed to follow his own cities standing evac plan and remove the sick, old and poor first before evacuating everyone else. In fact rumor is that he came out and told them all that they were on their own for the most part.

My heart cries out for America again. Yet this disaster has made me feel oddly sad and mad at the same time due to the looting and misery that many have suffered through all the while folks are trying to assign blame to a man who had nothing to do with it and has responded as well as any President could have. I hate to see folks use a tragedy for political gain but I guess that is the nature of the beast.

God bless those folks in the gulf who are homeless, jobless and hungry. They are going to need allot of help to get their lives back together. I hope something good can come from this but I'm not sure what it is yet. I had always wanted to go to New Orleans, in fact my wife and I were planning a vacation there in February of 06. I suppose that is a vacation we will never take now. I am not sure if I want to ever go there.

Reporting in from earth

Greetings

Just a quick note this morning. I am finally coming out of my cocoon and am back on the web again reading news, blogging and emailing friends. I took a break from it for about 6 months. Like many folks I go through stages in life and sometimes I pick up one habit and replace another. Then in time the cycle changes again much like the seasons are about to change. Wow, it is great to see fall just around the corner!

I played golf with my good friend Doug yesterday. The first time we have played in a couple of months. We both shot fairly well for the first time back. I had a 48 and I lipped out 4 putts. I'm not much for playing in heat above 90 degrees plus it has been raining quite a bit this summer so each time I had a desire to play it was either too hot or too wet. Anyway we are back at it and around here we can now play on through into December. Looking forward to many relaxing rounds after a hard days work.

The wife and I had a very wonderful weekend in Asheville just a couple of weeks back. Went to Biltmore and the Grove Park Inn. Very nice places. We hope to spend an anniversary at the Inn real soon! We have some great pics too...

The news is troubling as usual around the world. I looks as though the 911 commission was just a white wash to try and cover the butts of a bunch of Washington insiders. The news has come out the many people knew of Mohammad Atta long before 911 and nothing was done about it. They somehow failed to mention this in their report. hmmm, wonder why?

I can't really hold the Bush administration responsible as much as the previous President who tolerated 8 years of terrorist attacks and did literally nothing to stop any of it. Bush on the other hand was barely into office and due to the court case beset by Al Gore and the democrats, was unable to set up his cabinet in a timely manner so he was certainly caught off guard by the whole thing. I am sure that point is debatable but 8 years compared to 8 months is not much of a comparison.

Anyway got to get to work!

Many blessing on our country!!!

Life is Good but....

Greetings

Yes life is good much like Joe Walsh said in the song and I can prove it. I have a successful marrriage to a wonderful woman, a successful business that has grown each year since 1998. I own a home, a motorcycle and a new Mustang among other things and I live in the greatest country God ever created. I have a great attitude most of the time as I know how blessed I am to be an American and a Christian. Being a positive person who sees life from an optomistic point of view is a wonderful blessing and I am thankful God gave me this gift, however I have heard some news of late that really has shaken me somewhat from my lofty perch.

Although I am confident of what my fate is when the time comes I am worried about my country and many of my loved ones as I think of what may happen to the USA at the hands of the terrorists. There is a guy hitting the talk show circiut (can't remeber his name) who claims he has proof that Osama Bin Ladin and his bunch of terrorist murderers are in possesion of nuclear weapons they bought during the collapse of the old soviet regime and are planning to detonate them in the USA in what will be a coordinated attack in seven cities simultaneously.

If this is true and he can pull this off our country will be ruined and millions will die. I sure hope that President Bush is doing something I am unaware of around the borders to stop these maniacs from coming in but it may be too late as this guy thinks that they are already here inside the country laying in wait. We need to crack down on the muslim extremism in the USA and around the world. The only way to prevent this disaster is to start locking these nut cases up or killing them and sending them to their reward. (Which I believe is eternal damnation) I think the 72 virgins they wake up with will have fangs and scales. Their breath will smell like sulfur and rotten eggs and their fingers will end in jagged, dirty, razor-like nails. The virgin sex these terrorists are dying for is not going to be as pleasant and they imagine.

So should this happen we are in for some major trouble and this country may be history. As for me I am not troubled for my soul. Dying is a release and I will happily give up my mortal shell for eternal life in heaven with my Lord and Saviour but for those who have chosen a different path I hope God has mercy on them and will accept their last minute prayers, if they even have time for those.

Peace be with you

JD Pearce

Happy Independence Day

Wow! I knew I had been away for a while but I did not realize how long exactly. Took a break from the blogging world and email and news and all that. I just got sick of what I was reading and hearing everyday and needed a vacation from the world of news, politics and so on.

So today is the day we celebrate our independence from England. I heard that a so called TV anchorman compared our founding fathers to the terrorists just a few days ago. This is why I just can't take these people any more. Yes everyone is entitled to their opinion I guess, unless your a Christian conservative then your just a crazy, Jesus loving zealot. I don't seem to remember our founding fathers blowing themselves up or killing innocent civilians. Perhaps they loaded explosives on their donkeys and rode them into buildings or something like that, I'm not really sure, I wasn't there.

Anyway I will make this short and sweet today. I watched Black Hawk Down this weekend and I am reminded of what our soldiers do for us. God Bless them all those who fight, have fought and died or were injured to keep this country free. These are brave men and women, many are heroes and deserve better than what they get from this country's politicians, especially those from the left whose names are so profane I will not mention them here but you know who they are.

For the rest of you. God Bless America!

Happy 4th of July!

JD

Filibuster This!

Greetings Friends

I am so sick and tired of this filibuster talk I am about to throw my satellite radio out the window! Some republicans seem to have lost their courage on the issue and the democrats are acting like they are smarter than everyone else as they think they have won something here. I think it is all a big bunch of hooey! (Is that a word?)

Anyway I will give credit to Carrie Underwood for carrying the banner for us Red Staters last night in American Idol and her runner up Bo Bice who is also a red stater. I don't know what their personal politics are and I don't care. They are both great singers and I hope they will help rejuvenate the music business which has been on a down hill slide for many, many years now. (One of the reasons I left the DJ/KJ business.) Since Brittany SPears seems to be gone maybe there is hope after all! Keep in mind that 30 million plus people watch and vote on that show and out of all the hip hop, R&B, pop singers they voted for a Country singer and a Southern Rock singer as the two finalist. That seems to reflect something here that can be mirrored in politics.

Now to more important news. Golf!

I shot a 92 this week. Took off early one afternoon and played 18 holes for a change. I left a good 5 or 6 strokes on the front nine and a couple on the back as well so looks like breaking into the 80's is not out of the question this year. It's funny I have been playing this game since the early 80's and I am just now getting to where I can shoot in the 80's. Almost had my first eagle, made a birde out of it. I bought some new clubs last year and it seems they are paying off. Of course good putting is what did it for me this round. I made at least two putts over twenty feet and I was making just about all of the five foot or less putts. That is they key to a good score for a hacker like me.

A little vacation is in order this weekend. I am going to the beach with my lovely wife. I am leaving my two vicious dogs and my son here so don't even think about it! Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

God Bless our troops and vets!


Write on!

JD

Desecration of a Holy Book

You have heard this story over and over in the news lately. All the Old Media outlets here in the USA are doing their best to let everyone know how the bad Americans are desecrating the Muslim religion by destroying it's Holy Koran.

Yet, wait just a minute.

I seem to have stumbled across even another story about the desecration of a Holy book. Take a look and let me know if this gets reported by CBS, NBC, ABC, Newsweek, the NY Times, the Washington Post, etc.. This is a good story for Dan Rather to use to make his come back! Howard Dean (a deeply religious man) should lead the protests!

Hmmm, I wonder if right wing radical Christians will riot and kill one another once this gets out?

Saudis Do Destroy Bibles, Think Tank Affirms
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
May 23, 2005

(CNSNews.com) - A U.S.-based think tank critical of the Saudi government has added its voice to allegations that authorities in the kingdom routinely destroy Bibles.

"As a matter of official policy, the government either incinerates or dumps Bibles, crosses and other Christian paraphernalia," the Saudi Institute said in an article posted on its website.

"Although considered as holy in Islam and mentioned in the Koran dozens of times, the Bible is banned in Saudi Arabia, and is confiscated and destroyed by government officials," it said.

Last week a Christian pastor who worked in Saudi Arabia during the 1990s told Cybercast News Service it was widely known among underground Christians there that Bibles were confiscated -- and sometimes shredded -- by Saudi customs officials at ports of entry.

The Saudi Embassy in Washington has yet to respond to emailed queries about its policies regarding the Bibles and the shredding allegations.

Saudi Arabia was one of the first governments to protest after Newsweek reported earlier this month that U.S. troops had thrown a Koran into a toilet to fluster Muslim terror suspects being detained by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

A statement issued on May 12 said the Saudi government was "following with great concern and apprehension reports that the sanctity of the Holy Koran has been violated on several occasions at Guantanamo Bay."

Following rioting in Afghanistan and protests elsewhere in the Muslim world, Newsweek retracted the report. It said its unnamed government source was no longer certain about his original claim that he saw the Koran flushing mentioned in a military report of abuse at the base.

Home to Islam's two most revered sites, in Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia views itself as guardian of the religion. The kingdom is committed to the fundamentalist Wahhabi ideology, and non-Wahhabi Muslim traditions are frowned upon.

Human rights campaigners name Saudi Arabia as one of the world's most egregious violators of religious freedom.

In another article posted on its site -- and published as an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Friday -- Saudi Institute director Ali Al-Ahmed wrote of his fellow Saudis: "As Muslims, we have not been as generous as our Christian and Jewish counterparts in respecting others' holy books and religious symbols.

"Saudi Arabia bans the importation or the display of crosses, Stars of David or any other religious symbols not approved by the Wahhabi establishment," he continued. "TV programs that show Christian clergymen, crosses or Stars of David are censored."

Based in Washington, the Saudi Institute describes itself as an independent organization that provides information relating to "terrorism, democracy, human rights, charitable organizations, religious freedom and the House of Saud."

Wire services reported Saturday that 18 Saudi Muslim scholars have demanded that "those involved in the alleged desecration of the Koran at the U.S. detention facility of Guantanamo Bay be tried by an Islamic court."

FIN

I will close this with a prayer.

Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
Luke 23:34

Star Wars

In 1977 my Dad took me to see the original movie when I visited him in Lakewood, California for the summer that year. I was 16 years old and he let me drive his car around while he was working. I had a great time that summer driving that old Chevy. If I remember correctly it was a blue Malibu late 60's model. I know it had an eight track tape player in it because I listened to Pink Floyd and Aerosmith, tapes I had brought along with me.

My Dad is gone now and though we had somewhat of a strained relationship throughout our lifetimes I do have some good memories and seeing Star Wars in the summer of 77 is one of them. I was amazed by this movie like most other people. The special effects were dazzling at the time and I always looked forward to the next movie. I think I lost my eagerness to see Star Wars by the third movie but when I heard that this latest and last Star Wars movie was coming out I told my son who is now 18 that we should go see it together in honor of my Dad taking me to see the first one.

Well we did and I must say once again I was amazed by the special effects. I enjoyed how Lucas wrapped everything up in a nice, neat package from this movie to the very first one. We get to see the creation of Darth Vader and the beginning of life for Luke and Leya. Now the acting in this movie is rather wooden, the dialog kinda stupid but Star Wars has always been about the special effects for me anyway. This is not something you go see for the fine acting. With the story being told in retrospection from the first movie to this movie actually happening before the first movie it was an ingenious way to make people want to go see it so that we could all see what happened to get us up to the start of the first picture. I wonder if Lucas has this in mind from the start or if it just turned out this way? Anyway if you are even a casual Star Wars fan I think you will enjoy this movie. It is somewhat darker and more violent than anything else in the series so you might want to keep the young kids at home. Maybe 12 or 13 will be OK. Oh yeah, I read this morning that it has made 303 million dollars world wide since it opened Wednesday at midnight. Wow!

I give it a 3.5 out of 5 light sabers over all but for the special effects I would have to give it 5 out of 5!

FDR - President

With all the talk about Social Security I decided to do some research on the man who created it. It has been a long time since I have studied US history and I really did not remember much about President Roosevelt.

We had two Presidents named Roosevelt of course and they were related, very distantly. The first was Theodore or "Teddy" Roosevelt 1901 to 1909. He was made President after the assassination of William McKinley in September of 1901. Teddy Roosevelt was a legendary war hero from the Spanish, American war where he charged up San Juan hill as a Lt. Colonel of the Rough Riders. He was a big game hunter, loved the outdoors and was known as a man's man. One of his most remembered accomplishments in office was creating or setting aside millions of acres of land for our National Parks system here in the USA.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a different sort of man altogether. Born and raised in a wealthy family in New York he attended Harvard and Columbia Law School. He was into politics at a young age and when he was 39 he was stricken with Polio. He struggled but persevered and with the help of the warm waters of a natural spring in Georgia was able to cope with his illness. He eventually bought the place and turned it into a resort for those afflicted with Polio so that they could learn to cope and receive therapy in the healing waters.


FDR, President from 1932 to 1945 was the only American President to serve more than two terms. Soon after he was elected in 1932 we were hit with the great depression and then had to deal with the beginnings of W.W.II. So you see this was a man who was faced with major historical problems right from the start. He obviously was made of strong stuff as he endured and was known as one of the greatest Presidents. His New Deal legislation was key to bringing the nation through the depths of the depression and was the birth of Social Security. The war was also a big boon to the country in helping to bring us out of depression. It is said he did his best to keep us out of the war but eventually had to relent. He is also credited for the creation of the United Nations. He died in 1945 on the eve of a complete military victory in Europe. Perhaps the stress of war and major domestic problems finally took it's toll on him.

To read more about this President you an visit the FDR library website.

Have a blessed day.

Write on!

JD

What The ?????

I don't get it! I have complained about the media in this country for years along with many other conservatives and it seems the left continues to deny that the Old Media here in the USA is biased towards or in favor of Democrats. Let me give you a really good example of what I mean then I'll shut up.

Recently the Democrats have had a really good time with the media going full throttle to try and damage Tom Delay and his reputation. Fortunately Mr. Delay is a courageous man and has not backed down from these character assassins but the media and the Democrats in Washington did their best to try and make him resign. Turns out that many Democrats and Republicans in Washington were guilty of doing what Delay did and worse but the Old Media wanted no part of reporting it.

Hmmmm. Leftist Media Bias anyone, anyone????????

Anther huge story of late is David Rosen the man who managed Hillary Clinton's money in her Senate campaign is on trial for fundraising impropriety. Seems he mis-reported about $800,000.00 that was spent on a Gala Hollywood event thrown for Mrs. Clinton and in the ensuing investigation some tapes were made that have revealed even more seedy activity in that ordeal that may include prostitution. Yet the Old Media does not want to report on this story. When it does, it is not front page news but buried somewhere in the paper. I also heard that the Judge in this case made it plain to the jury that this in no way reflects on Mrs. Clinton. Double hmmmm.

Not only is this a fine example of Old Media bias it seems we have a little problem here with bias in the court room with a Clinton appointee. Now let me ask you an honest question. If this was a Republican, let's say Dick Cheney or Tom Delay would it be front page news??? How about the lead story every day for a week or two on ABC, NBC, CBS or Newsweek? Have you even heard anything about this trial in any of these venues????

I suppose I have made my point but hey, I'm just a right wing whacko!

Here is a link to a story about the Clinton/Rosen scandal from CNN. Take a look at the angle they use to report the story. It is amusing and points to my assertion.

Just for fun do a search on Tom Delay. Take a look at the news outlets that covered the Delay story and the words used in the approach to the story. Then do the same on the Clinton/Rosen story and compare the two. You will find that most all major Old Media outlets covered the Delay story. Wonder what you will find about the Clinton story?

Have a blessed day!

Write On!

JD

The Leftist Media

You often hear or read folks like me on the right lambasting the Old Media for being a liberal mouthpiece for the left side of the political force here and abroad. Perhaps we have not made it clear in the past how dangerous it can be when these so called reporters print a story citing something our military did such as the Abu Grahib prison scandal. However the fact that someone prints an unvetted story can have serious repercussions. When a reporter lies or prints something false people can die due to their lack of professionalism. We have had a terrible incident recently of Newsweek printing an article that accused some of our interrogators desecrating a Koran in Guantanamo by flushing it down the toilet of even worse by urinating on it first. Turns out this was a false story but this reporter did not verify the story was true and Newsweek printed it just because?

This single story has sparked violent protests in many Muslim countries and many deaths have been reported. Now let me ask you, do you think this magazine went with this story because it was a good story or because it fit their anti-war agenda? You decide. Here is the link to the latest report on this story.

America Today

I love my country! Praise be to God that I was born here in the USA and not in some third world country where food is something not easy to come by and electricity is considered a luxury. I hear plenty of people here in this country bitch and moan about this and that (me too sometimes) but we should all be happy as pigs in a mudhole that we are Americans because we have so much to be thankful for. With that said I want to bitch and complain a bit. hehehe

Politics - Most of you who know me know that I am a guy who follows politics on a national level as well as local. I am a conservative so I support many of the Republican issues (not all) however let me say this. I am sick and tired of the Democratic party and some Republicrats (my word) who are fighting this President tooth and claw just because they do not want him to have any more successes while in office. Here we finally have a guy in the White House with enough guts to try and accomplish BIG things unlike many of his predecessors and he his being stifled at every turn by people who want to keep things as is in Washington so that they have political issues to use against the other party.

Social Security - We truly need to fix it and Bush is leading the way. Do you know that most federal employees have their own private accounts that they can invest in like the ones Bush is proposing for every American as an option yet Democrats oppose it. Do you know that the teachers unions who oppose this plan also have their own private accounts? Yet they oppose every American having that option. Can you tell me why having the ability to invest some of YOUR OWN MONEY in the market instead of turning it all over to politicians in Washington to spend on their favorite pork projects is a bad idea? Can you tell me why average Americans having MORE money at retirement is a bad idea? Can you tell me why Americans having some of their OWN MONEY to leave to their spouses or children instead of just giving it to Washington politicians is a bad idea? Why do you think Democrats oppose Bush on fixing SS? In my humble opinion they want to keep the issue alive so solving the problem would hurt them politically. They have offered no solutions so far and have only tried to stop Bush from fixing the problem. It seems that they DO NOT want more Americans keeping more of their own money because that would make them less dependent on government. This makes me sick and angry that people elected to the government are not acting in the best interest of the people but in the best interest of their party.

Government Schools - The public school system in the USA is a tragedy. Day after day, story after story comes out about kids who are out of control in these schools. Parents who could care less drop these kids off at what has become one of the most dangerous and humongus day care centers in the universe. No discipline in schools has lead to kids having sex in school, (oral sex in the public school system is out of control) carrying guns and using them in school, fighting teachers and doing everything but learning. Republicans want to offer parents options so that they can pull their kids out of these so called schools and put them in proven effective private schools yet the democrats want no part of it. Why? Because they want kids to be ignorant so they will continue to vote for Democrats and live in liberal sponsored ghettos? Teachers are in bed with the democrats because the teachers union is one of the largest democrat voting blocks that exist today. In the meantime kids are raped, beaten, shot, bullied, and fed liberal crap instead of being taught reading, writing and math. They continue to be forced to go to terrible schools where they cannot learn. Private schools are the only solution. Democrats want your kids in horrible public schools no matter what the consequences are. You do the math.

War on Terrorism - Bush lied people died. Blah, blah, blah. So what. Do you know that we have been at war for two years and only about 1500 of our soldiers have died in combat? Most of them accidents or friendly fire. God bless them all and their families but in the scheme of things this is an amazing statistic! Compare these numbers to WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam or the Civil War and you have no comparison. This is a remarkable victory. Bush and his team have begun to change the face of the middle east by removing Saddam Hussein and routing the Taliban. The war on terrorism is a BIG SUCCESS but democrats want you to believe it is a failure. It is shameful how these people will exploit anything to try and make the other party look bad in the eyes of ignorant, uninformed people all over the world. Folks we are in the first throes of a Holy War here between radical Islamic terrorists all over the world and everyone else. They want the entire world to conform to their sick way of life and they will kill every Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or Jew that they can. They really want to take down America because they know we are the ONLY ones who can defeat them. Let me ask you this. If the fundamentalist Islamic radicals think we are such infidels and perverts why is their religion based on a principal that when you die you go to paradise and spend eternity with 72 virgins? What do you think these people intend to do with these virgins? It's all about sex! They want to deflower these young girls in heaven! That my friend sounds perverted to me. I don't know about you but people who think it is OK to blow up your own body and kill dozens if not thousands of innocent people just so you can have sex with 72 virgins is about as sick and idea of life and afterlife as I can imagine. We must fight these people and destroy them before they destroy us. Democrats want us to talk to them, make peace with them, try not to upset them. Again the party of peace is short sighted and would rather use your anger against Bush to defeat Republicans at the polls than protect America from death and Terror at the hands of these crazy Islamic radicals!

The Media - Wow! Some of the crap that comes out of the media today is really overwhelming. However there is good news. The OLD Media no longer has the power it used to have. Thanks to the New Media. That is Talk Radio, Cable news (FOX) the internet, blogs, etc.. It used to be when we were younger that if we heard it on the news (CBS, NBC, ABC) we took it for the truth. The same with news papers. If we read it there we thought it must be true. AAANNNNK! Wrong! Turns out that all this time they were spinning and telling us the news they wanted us to hear, Their own special version of the news. Now we get both sides of the story and can make up our own minds. No longer can Dan Rather get on TV and lie through his teeth to try and bring down a President that he does not agree with. I am still stunned at some of the crapola I hear and read coming from the OLD media (as I like to call it) but onward they march to the tune of the democratic party doing their stalwart best to denounce Republicans, Conservatives and Christians. Yet we have our own Generals fighting for us in this war against abounding ignorance. Now in the NEW media, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Neal Boortz, Glenn Beck (that sick freak) Bill O'Reilly and dozens of others get out each and every day and counter the leftist media sycophants who love democrats and all things that hurt Bush or anyone who supports him.

George W. Bush - As you know I am a supporter. He has done a great job in many respects and is trying to fix major problems here in the USA including Social Security and the Tax Code. He is also doing a great job in the Middle East. Unfortunately for him and us there are politicians in Washington who are hell bent on stopping anything Bush proposes. These people such as Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Howard Dean and many others are the worst politicians I have ever seen. These people are very dangerous to this country and should be sent home not reelected. Most of them have not an ounce of common sense.

Border Problem - Now Mr. President if I could bend your ear I would tell you this, thanks for all you have done but hear this!. PROTECT OUR BORDERS!!!!! Until you does this I see it as a major mistake. Your lack of concern for the borders leads me to believe that you care more about votes for the party than keeping thugs and terrorists out of this country. If a nuke is detonated in the USA and it is found out that it was brought in here due to your lax stance on the borders your legacy will be just that. WAKE UP!!!! Take care of this problem and you will go down in history as one of the greatest Presidents of all time. If you don't you will be seen as a man who had great vision but in the end politics clouded your vision and you ultimately failed to protect this great country. Your swore before GOD and all of us you would uphold and defend the Constitution and America.

DO IT!!!!!!!!

Peace be with you

Write on!

JD

State of Fear

Greetings

Recently in Florida there have been two high profile cases of horrifying child abduction, molestation and murder. These of course are just the two most recent of the endless cases of these types of crimes. They happen again and again in this country and for some unholy reason child molesters are continually paroled where in many if not most of these cases the offenders are found to be ex cons who are sexual predators.

So tell me something. What is wrong with a judicial system where a woman (Martha Stewart) who is a millionaire, creating thousands of jobs and paying tons of tax dollars into the system is arrested and then paroled with a tracking device on her ankle for a white collar crime yet these scum of the earth child molesters are turned loose into society and hardly even kept track of. Many never heard of again until they murder or molest another innocent victim? What kind of screwed up, upside down, parallel universe are we living in?

I don't know the answer to this question but I wish someone would tell me what in the hell is going on here! I think it is time we all started calling, emailing, marching or whatever it takes to get the court system to wake up in this country and use some common sense when it comes to this kind of perverted crime. These are the worst kind of people and the closest things we have to demons that walk, talk and breath here on God's green earth. We need to eradicate them from the planet and if we can't do that then at least keep them in jail forever or force them to wear collars, bracelets, or embedded tracking devices.

Tell the ACLU to get over it and let's just do it!

What do you think???

Write On

JD