Edna III

This past fall I had several exposures to GPS while traveling around the South going to FSU football games. My daughter had Edna 1 and son had Edna II, our names for the Star Trek like computer voice that has become so ubiquitous throughout the world of travel. Of course I don’t need one in Florida where I AM the GPS but……..out of state is a different story.

I wanted a voice enabled GPS device I thought. However during some after Christmas exploration I found that it made much more sense to renew my ongoing wireless contract with AT&T and purchase a Samsung Iphone. After 3 days of steady learning I have mastered the basics of its operation. It is very intuitive and user friendly unlike many of the previous palm and windows based PDAs that I have used. It has the processing capability of my Toshiba laptop but is much more portable. It does much more than I will ever use it for but most importantly it does EXACTLY what I want from it.

It is voice operated, that’s the big thing. I touch one tap and search screen and that’s it. Everything after is voice control. It is my GPS, email, text messaging, phone, and google search. I never have to take my eyes from the road, or touch anything else. I can leave it on speaker or use my Bluetooth for private conversation. It tells me when I get messages and will read them if I choose.  I added a Navigation Vehicle Mount attachment which attaches to the dash or windshield and is the secure docking/charging station.

 

http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxys2/html/feature.html

We Have Seen The Enemy……………..

What is socialism? In order to identify it one must first define it. One of the best and simplest essays I have read was written by a Frenchman published in 1850; Frederic Bastiat The Law. His definition of law is justice. Justice that protects each individual’s right to life, liberty and equality. Sounds familiar. That is the sole purpose of Government to protect citizens and provide the opportunity for justice. Law makers (legislators are a 4 letter word for him) often put themselves above the law and taking a patronizing persona pass laws that cause systematic inequality by taking from one to give to another.

 

“The delusion of the day is to enrich all classes at the expense of each other; it is to generalize plunder under the pretense of organizing it. Now legal plunder may be organized in an infinite number of ways. Hence come an infinite multitude of plans for organization: tariffs, protection, perquisites, gratuities, encouragements, progressive taxation, free public education, right to work, right to profit, right to wages, right to assistance, right to instruments of labor, gratuity of credit, etc., etc. And it is in all these plans, taken as a whole, with what they have in common, legal plunder, that takes the name of socialism.”

“But it is the law that socialism evokes legal plunder not extralegal.”

“Legal plunder has two roots….human greed and philanthropy.”

Socialism cannot organize these systems without disorganizing justice

If we except these words as a true description of what socialism is and why it is unjust (and I do) then it becomes simple to assess what exists in America today, identify the legal plunder and call it what it is not cloak it as “progressive and enlightened”, it is regressive and deceptive and designed to  pacify those who do not relish liberty and freedom more than security through theft.

It began in the 1850’s with Union activities and has progressed through many systems of legalized plunder; progressive taxation, welfare, unemployment benefits, massive unions, and has reached a zenith in Obamacare.

Obama is the chief architect of the total transition from a Republic to a Socialistic State. We still have the bells and whistles of democracy hanging about but they are drying up as the legislators scramble to find more legal plunder. The process discourages American Exceptionalism through excessive taxation of success and destroying the underlying principles of innovation, invention and hard work.

Last week in Kansas he scoffed at the idea that some called him a Socialist while in the same breath he touts legal plunder as the centerpiece of his administration.

As Pogo said “we have seen the enemy and it is us”

11/22/63 II

Overall it’s about as good as an 849 page novel can be. It has all the elements of dramatic rhetoric, pathos, logos and ethos. Written in first person narrative, the trip through time to save JFK is an adventure fraught with dangers that are revealed more and more as the fateful moment approaches. This time portal always goes back to the same day in September 1958. One can live in the past as long as one chooses it seems with only a time lapse of 2 minutes in the present. However the actual aging process occurs normally so for example, if a 35 year old leaves at 11:58 on April the 28 and goes back and lives from September 1958 to December 1963 upon return it would be 12:00 April 28 and the traveler would now be 40.

History can be changed but……it doesn’t like being changed and resists by creating obstacles to prevent significant change; the bigger the change the bigger the obstacles. Since saving JFK is a pretty damn big change the obstacles are enormous. There are also lasting ripples in the fabric of time that come into play. Each time one goes back time “resets” so that the changes that resulted from a previous trip are negated and time reverts back to the way it was.

King did an enormous amount of research on the assignation and builds the suspense of the fateful day to a feverish climax. While the protagonist is almost certain Oswald was a lone shooter he still can not be 100% certain until he arrives at the School Book Depository 6^th floor on 11/22/63. So he can’t take Oswald out ahead of time as there might be a conspiracy. The conspiracy ramifications are a major factor in the book.

One of the story’s themes is that time travel causes “harmonies” names are similar, in past and present, story lines converge and coincidences abound to the point of becoming the new reality. I found that to be personally amusing. In 1965 I desperately wanted my first car to be a 1957 ford sunliner . I have never really gotten over not having it. So of course that is the car the time traveler purchases. I am so envious.

http://www.classyauto.com/image449758.img

I loved the book and sad to have finished it.  And if you like a good love story you should read it, it has one for the ages (lol).

11/22/63 I

I could not not buy 11/22/63 by Steven King. The date that changed America changed many of us who lived it and viewed it. While I am neither a total king fan nor a Kennedy apologist, that day was emblazoned in mind. We heard the news while on a Band Bus from Fort Walton to Tallahassee for a HS football game. The game was played but the halftime show was scrubbed for Taps played by a FSU music faculty member. And America changed gradually from enthusiasm and optimism to anger and nihilism.

“It is virtually not assimilable to our reason that a small lonely man felled a giant in the midst of his limousines, his legions, his throng and his security. If such a non-entity destroyed the leader of the most powerful nation on earth, then a world of disproportion engulfs us, and we live in a universe that is absurd.”  Norman Mailer/Steven King

But it is not a biography or documentary it is a fiction about my favorite topic. Time Travel. I have read only 100 of its 849 pages and am enthralled. It helps me remember the simple pleasures of American life in the 50’s. Such as sweet root beer without preservatives, you HAD to drink it before it spoiled….dang. The small glass was a nickel and the large tankard was a dime. Women were nice and wore hats. Men would joke about silly things and wink.

But it will get more serious soon as the school teacher protagonist experiments with changing history with the goal of saving JFK.

http://books.usatoday.com/book/stephen-king-112263-a-novel/r562663

BRB

Social Security in Plain English

This is the best article on the status of Social Security I have seen to date. Krauthammer  gives a solid unemotional, and straight forward assessment of the situation. If pols would speak this way they would have a higher approval rating of the voters (perhaps). As opposed to the fear mongering they so often resort to.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-ponzi-scheme-that-should-be-fixed/2011/09/15/gIQAn6EfVK_story.html

Tea Time in America

The Tea Party is apparently scaring the decency out of political rhetoric of the liberals today. Representative Maxine Waters angrily condemned them last week saying Tea Party members could go straight to hell.   Representative Andre Carson says that the Tea Party wants African Americans Hanging from a tree. Yesterday, in a warm up speech for Obama, Jimmy Hoffa drew a rousing ovation when he shouted that we need to take the sons of bitches out.  I fail to see anything liberal in these remarks; they are demonizing a grass roots political movement because it is impacting their voting blocks. Obama did nothing to downplay these remarks, tacitly validating the verbal abuse.

Lets look at who the Tea Part really is.

• Interestingly, 41% are independent. They are older, whiter, educated, wealthier and religious. What in the world is so scary about that group of people? Here is their platform.
• Eliminate Excessive Taxes
• Eliminate the National Debt
• Eliminate Deficit Spending 
• Abide by the Constitution of the United States
• Protect Free Markets 
• Promote Civic Responsibility
• Reduce the Overall Size of Government
• Believe in the People
• Avoid the Pitfalls of Politics
• Maintain Local Independence

I Think liberals (progressives) are indeed angry at someone, they just can’t direct their anger to the one in charge so they demonize the opposition to build and maintain an environment of racism and hatred. And here I thought liberals were  tolerant and progressive. What was I thinking?

You’re Out Of Touch or Another Fine Mess You’ve Got Us Into

Congress is so out of touch with the real thoughts of America one can only laugh or cry. Just thinking of what they have done to solve the debt crises makes my head hurt so I have chosen to laugh about it. Tis a classic example of no one being accountable for anything.

The US  Constitution enables all of the power of the government to be given to 545 people. That would be 1 President, 9 Supreme Court Justices and 535 members of Congress (435 in the house and 100 in the senate) The President tells us that we should write our congressman if we are unhappy because he can’t get them to do anything (thereby abdicating all responsibility/accountability for the mess). And they have given all their power to fix the deficit to 12 people…… a Super Committee of 6 Democrats and 6 Republicans. That means that the financial fate of over 300 million  people hangs in the hands of 12 people to do what they were unable to do in full session(for 4 decades)……….and they have to do it in 3 months. Does this remind anyone else but me of Laurel and Hardy?

Yes they have a trigger that kicks in with” draconian” cuts if they fail. But you have to ask yourself will they really let it kick in when they fail to do the impossible? Of course not ………they will find a way around it because it’s an election year and even though they have tried diligently to avoid losing any votes to angry victims of their ineptness they will have to sell it as somehow needing more time to fix………until after the 2012 elections.

So let’s review, the President abdicates to congress while reminding us that we should have a shared burden to reduce the deficit. Congress can’t figure out how to “share the burden” so they pass the ball to a SC with a purposely & impossibly contrived timeline armed by a doomsday trigger that they never intend to pull.  And btw………….it’s all the tea party’s fault.

Mo Meets Her Match

Maureen Dowd has reined as the master of  snark for the NY Times for a long time. She can actually be funny on occasion, showing off her erudition with seeming superhuman invulnerability. If she weren’t so one dimensional she would be funny. As it is,  most take her with a grain of salt and move on. Laura   Ingraham  has chosen to rebut Dowds latest rant against the tea partiers. It makes for hilarious  stuff. My personal favorite is “Barack The Ripper.” You Go Girl!

Dhttp://www.lauraingraham.com/b/Beasts-of-bureaucracy/46644986904540179.html

Classic Elitist Leader

https://www.uschambersmallbusinessnation.com/take-action/geithner-taxes-on-small-business-must-rise-so-government-doesnt-shrink++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Tim Geithner is one of the best educated, bred to be a leader “Washingtonians” in DC. I’ll bet his IQ puts him in the genius category. There has to be a spot in public service that he could do great service for his country. I hope someday he finds it. It sure ain’t anywhere near Secretary of Treasury. He so believes that increased taxes and continued government growth is the solution to our financial crises that he is the poster child for our National disconnect. The MSM so loves the elites (cause they all think of themselves as smarter than John Q Public too) that they keep quiet on the scary disregard for common sense our current elite administration advocates.  He comes off arrogant and haughty in most of his interviews, and as Congresswoman Renee Ellmers says here “just wrong.” We need more leaders like Renee who worked her way through nursing school. She didn’t have the luxury that Geithner had of a silver spoon heritage so she has more the common man touch with her constituency; she knows how to run the family budget. Geithner never had to scrimp; anytime he wanted a new toy he simply spent other people’s money (Mommy and Daddy’s) just like he is doing now with his Uncle’s.

In Search of Atticus Finch

There was a time in the South when it hung all about us, when we felt it with all our senses. It was a mist and fog of a land untouched by thorny past that marred its beauty.  Walking down a road in the hot, musty summer days was as much an adventure as the eventual destination.  The canopied dirt or clay or asphalt two laner seemed like our own private path. Verdant greens enveloped us and gave off delightful aromas, honeysuckle floated out over the sweetness of decomposing leaves falling amidst brown rich soil steaming from the dissolving rains. Dripping canopy and chirping melodies accompanied us. A sprig of sassafras pulled from the soft earth, washed in a stream, satisfied the urge to completely immerse ourselves in the land. It was an intoxicating addictive brew that generated a peaceful welcoming sense of place.

Perhaps there was a house at the end of the road or path. A wood framed house with a wraparound porch and a rusty old tin roof. Maybe it was painted once, years ago, maybe it had been white. It smelled of wood smoke and cracklings, hard fried in a sculptured iron skillet on a top burner soon to be dumped into a pone of cornmeal and buttermilk and dipped in molasses or cane syrup.

The old folk that lived in these houses knew the past and some could tell it in ways that have been mostly abandoned now. It was the old folk that had to tell because the middle ones still had to forgo the front porch in order to pay the mortgage and buy groceries and other such mundane stuff.  They had to speak quickly with others that were in a hurry too and had no time to speak in harmony with their heritage.

Sometimes we were lucky and we found one already looking for us and we drew one another on to the front porch. We ate the pone and washed it down with cold rich sweet milk that had been chilling in the creek and listened.

Kathryn Tucker Windham was one of those story tellers. I did not meet her but I know her, she sat on the front porch and taught me, with style and grace, to be Southern . RIP Kathryn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j2Omlyu00E