NEW RULES

New Rule – It’s Christmas, the time of year that Christians all over the world celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ it is not the Holidays!  The Holidays are: Labor Day, Memorial Day, 4^th of July, New Years Day and so on.  If you choose not to celebrate Christmas, that’s fine with me, but when greeting me, please refrain from saying happy holidays, it’s Christmas and the proper greeting is Merry Christmas!  Can anyone tell me what a Holiday Tree looks like? You can’t because there’s no such thing as a Holiday Tree, and if you believe there is, you probably believe in Santa Clause and the Loch Ness monster as well. 

New Rule – No more saying that the Denver Broncos have a winning record since Tim Tebow has been starting because he has a direct line to God; trust me while God may very well be a football fan, I’m sure he’s not rigging the games to help Tebow win.  It’s admirable that Mr. Tebow doesn’t hide his faith, and I have no doubt that faith has helped him believe that he can win at crucial times but, has everyone forgotten  that Tebow was an all American QB at Florida, he won the Heisman Trophy and a National Championship?  He also threw 93 touchdown passes in 4 years while at Florida, so it’s probably not a fluke or divine intervention that he’s a winner.   

New Rule – If you’re a person who hangs out in the Bad Boys room after golf on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday and find yourself still there after 2 or 3 hours with a person whose initials are CR, MC, MG, SD, GD, TN, JF, SP, BG, DM, LH, GD or MS, you’ve had enough to drink and must get up and go home immediately.  All of these people like alcohol way too much, and clearly so do you, and if you refuse to follow this advice, you could end up in one of the following situations:

·         You will need a ride home and possibly have to crawl up your driveway when you get there.

·         You r wife may have to wake you up from a drunken stupor, and yes you’re on the kitchen floor.

·         You may wake up in your car at midnight still sitting in the parking lot.

·         Your mind doesn’t work right for the next 2 or 3 days.

New Rule – No more political arguments about who’s better between the Democrats and Republicans!  Both parties are a bunch of Butt Holes who have no regard for the people who supposedly voted them into office.  The Democrats are only interested in keeping poor people poor and at each other’s throats so that they can continue to distribute nickels and dimes to the poor while lining their own pockets with millions.  The Republicans primary interest is in protecting the deep pockets on Wall Street and the fat cat bankers who they bailed out at the expense of the rest of the public.  No, I say a pox on both their houses.   

New Rule – People using cell phones without a hands free device and cause an accident should be treated the same as the person who points a loaded gun into a crowd and pulls the trigger.  A 4000 pound car is not the place to have an argument, love affair, talk to your momma, papa, boss, baby sitter or anyone else.  If you don’t care about your life, please have enough courtesy to care about mine and the rest of the people on the highway with you.  Anyone proven to be on the phone in an accident where someone is killed or seriously injured should be tried for depraved indifference and sentenced to the maximum jail term permitted by law.

Tune in next week for the week in review blog, and don’t forget to put your email address on the web page so that you get automatic updates when new post are made. 

Log onto I’m Just Sayin at:

http://crobrun-imjustsayin.blogspot.com/

THE OFFENDED

Has anyone besides me noticed how easy it is to offend people these days? I mean really, we're almost to the point that no matter what you say or do offends someone. We live in a world where Black people are no longer Black, their Africans, but you can't mix up the real Africans with the African Americans, because now you've offended two groups. We have people here from every country in Latin America, and they all expect that we should know they’re not all Mexicans! I grew up in North Jersey, where we had Cubans, and Puerto Ricans, which makes me much better understand why my parents confused my Cuban friends with Puerto Ricans, after all both groups spoke Spanish. I don't know about you, but I have no idea how to tell the difference between a Mexican and Honduran, and frankly but for the fact that most people from Africa have some sort of accent and don't comb their hair, I wouldn't be able to tell them from African Americans either.



Tried telling a joke lately? Well if you haven't, don't, because there will surely be at least one person in the crowd who's going to be offended.  Last month we were out having dinner with friends when the conversation turned to mowing the lawn. One person said that she had to get home to mow her lawn by the weekend, to which I replied "you need to hire a Mexican". A week later, I get a call from one of the people at the table telling me how offended someone was by my statement. For the record, the guy who does my yard work is a Red Neck. Do you think anyone would have been offended had I said she needed to hire a Red Neck? Probably not, since the only people it's still ok to insult in America are white males. Ever hear a joke that starts out, there were 3 guys, one white, one Polish and one ___________? I know you're tempted, but don't you dare fill in that blank! If you do, be prepared for someone in the offended class to report you to the PC Police.



Like a good Cigar, or do you smoke or chew, how about a good stiff drink? Those in the Offended Class can't stand that you're smoking or drinking, after all if they can't have any fun, why should you? In places like NY, MD and CA people have actually filed lawsuits to keep their neighbors from smoking in their own apartments or condos. In NY, you can no longer smoke in a public park, and most states (yes even VA) have banned smoking in bars and restaurants with the exception in VA being that a smoking area can be designated. Here's a novel idea, if I spend the money to open a bar or restaurant, how about letting me and my patrons decide if we want to smoke or not. Do you suppose it ever occurred to the offended that if they don't like what we're doing, they can eat and drink someplace where people aren’t drinking or smoking.  Oh, and let’s not forget about profanity (that’s cursing for the uneducated).  The use of profanity in any setting will surely be banned at some point, after all, profanity goes naturally with smoking and drinking.



RECAP - These are things that you can no longer say or do without being ridiculed by the Offended!

·          Either learn the difference between a Mexican and other Spanish speaking folks, or just call them all Hispanics.

·         Remember, Black people are now Africans and the best way to tell them from regular Africans (those from African countries) is to listen for the accent as some African Americans don’t comb their hair either.

·         All jokes must have 3 generic people in them; no longer can you make a joke that identifies anyone by race or gender.

·         The above goes double if the joke has a Gay person in it.

·         No smoking or chewing within a mile of a non smoker.

·         No profanity within earshot of women, children or Christians, even if you are in your own car, home or office.

·         No female jokes.  This is especially true if the female is a race other than Caucasian.

·         Please never use the word Retard.  Yes, I know that we all grew up calling people Retards, but evidently that word is now on the banned list.

·         Finally, never use the following words that are so bad that we can only use the first letter of each.  They are: The N, F, B, S, R, H words.

 I'm, Just Sayin!!!

EVER BEEN TO CLOWN COURT?

In 2009, a tenant started a grease fire in the kitchen of a rental unit that I owned in Norfolk, and I ended up paying $5000 to cover the deductible as part of a $14000 claim.  Given my knowledge of the tenant’s financials, I decided that it would not be cost effective to file suit against her to try and recover the 5K, and since it didn’t put me in the poor house I dropped it.  Two years later, my insurance company had different ideas and decided to file suit to get their money back and of course my deductible was going to be a part of their recovery effort.  This blog is about my day in the Norfolk, VA General District court, or what I have dubbed “My Day in Clown Court”.

I get to court 30 minutes prior to our scheduled time, and meet with the two lawyers hired by the insurance company and all seems to be going well until they tell me that the judge is running about two hours behind schedule.   Once I sat in the court for a few minutes, it was painfully clear why she was behind, and thus I resign myself to the possibility that I could be here all day.  This judge may have been the most incapable person in her profession that I have ever encountered, and considering I’ve traveled the world and met thousands of people, that’s saying a lot.  It was clear from the very beginning that she had a serious distain for corporations, business people in general or anyone who appeared to have any wealth at all.  Let me give you some examples of how this judge settled cases, and I assure that while I cannot quote word for word what was said, this is pretty close to how things went.

1.       Attorney presents a case against a former tenant who departed owing the property owner approximately $3000.

Judge – Miss, do you agree that you owe the amount stated?

Defendant – Yes Judge

Judge to lawyer – This defendant would probably never be able to pay off $3000, would your client settle for $500? (Never heard a judge ask that question before, so I’m now officially worried)

Lawyer – I don’t think so Judge.

Judge – Can you call them? 

Lawyer – I can try, but they are out of the country. 

Judge - Try, I know she can’t pay, and $500 seems fair!  I (don’t know how it ended up, but really judge?)

2.       Attorney ask judge to enter Summary Judgment against a defendant who’s case was set for trial today, but he failed to file his defense documents prior to the stated due date.

Lawyer – Your honor, we request a Summary Judgment against Mr. X, based on his failure to meet the court’s filing deadline.

Judge – Mr. X, do you have a reason why I shouldn’t enter judgment against you?

Defendant – Judge, I went to my country for a visit, and when I got back, I had Jet lag.

Lawyer – Judge, his reason is not relevant, we are asking for Summary Judgment.

Judge – Ok, Mr. X, I’m going to give you until December 7^th to make your filing, but if you don’t file this time I can’t help you.  CAN YOU SAY JUSTICE DELAYED? By the way, she never responded to the attorney.

3.        Guy owes $14000 to loan company.  (Only Caucasian defendant of the day but don't worry, he got the hook up tooJ)

Lawyer – Judge, Mr. Y owes Capital One $14K for a car loan.

Judge – Mr. Y, do you admit that you owe this debt?

Mr. Y, Yes judge.

Judge – Ok, I am going to enter judgment fir 14K with 6% interest starting today against you.

Mr. Y to Judge – Judge, the original amount was $10K before they started tacking on interest payments, so I think that I should only have to pay back $10K.

Judge to Lawyer – We’re entering judgment for $10K with 6% interest starting today.

Ok, you’ve read enough, so I’m not going to bore you with the details of my case, but it suffices to say that when Rich Black Guy with Heavy Hitter Insurance Company shows up in this judge’s court against poor down trodden grandmother, the evidence really doesn’t matter!  This judge ignored the expert testimony of the fire inspector, claims person and everyone else in record time as she denied our claim in favor of the defendant.   As I said, I had written off my $5000, so not getting the judgment wasn’t a big deal, but the way that this judge handled her rulings all day was really disturbing. 

I’ve been in enough VA courts to know that thankfully this judge isn’t the norm throughout our courts.  This judge is a person who has determined that she’s going to protect the little people at all cost, even if it means that she has to deny justice to everyone else.  My guess is that she proudly voted for Obama, and believes much like he does that wealthy people are the problem in the world and that irresponsibility by most of the people who pass through her court really isn’t their fault.  She’s an enabler, she’s one of the reasons why there will always be an over abundance of poor and disenfranchised people in America, because she will never, hold any of the people who pass through her court accountable. 

Yes, I went to “Clown Court”, and the Court Jester was the judge!

I’m Just Sayin

YOU’VE GOTTA LOVE VEGAS

Las Vegas has got to be one of the greatest cities in America to visit if you’re an adult, it doesn’t really matter if you’re smart enough to control your gambling or not, but it sure helps if you can.  You just have to love a city where people still have the freedom to decide where they want to go and what they want to do.  Unlike Atlantic City, NJ where the smoking Nazi’s have taken over the entire state, including a ban on smoking in the casinos, bars and restaurants.  No,  in Vegas you can actually engage in adult activities like smoking cigars and cigarettes in the casinos, bars and restaurants, in Vegas, people can drink as much as they want (as long as they behave) and the place never closes.  The only place that comes close is New York, but those communist (like their neighbor New Jersey) have outlawed almost all individual freedomsJ

At 2 in the morning on a week night, I’m in a restaurant eating Thai food, smoking a cigar and drinking beer as I watch the ladies of the evening wander in with their latest prey, and not a single person is passing judgment, tongue wagging or worrying about the activities that others are engaging in.  Now I know that for someone reading this, you’re thinking that you wouldn’t want to be any place near people smoking, drinking or gambling their money away, but that’s the beauty of a place like Vegas.  It used to be that way in all of America.  We all actually had choices about what kind of behavior we chose to engage in, but over the last 20 years everyone seems to b e much more interested in controlling the behaviors of others that they deem not appropriate.  Whatever happened to minding one’s business?

It was fun to just walk the strip and take in the sights while you dodge the people trying to get you to take business cards for the local Strip clubs, or the young people trying to sell you on free tickets to a show if you stop by and spend a couple of hours listening to someone try and sell you a Timeshare.  I always find it amusing that the folks with the stripper cards could care less that you’re holding hands with your wife or girl friend as you walk, they just want to get that card into your handJ  It’s also fun to watch the obvious visitors walk around as they cross the streets in hoards trying to get to the next casino or shopping mall.  Vegas also has some of the best entertainment in the world, and we always take in a show or two while there, so on this trip we decided to see Donnie and Marie at the Flamingo, and they were both fabulous.  Ok, before any of you comment, yes I went to see Donnie & Marie and I actually enjoyed it, so there!   I also got to play a little 3 card Poker and some Roulette, but the truth is that I’m an awful gambler, and thus my time at the gaming tables was very limited.  While I didn’t gamble much, I did spend some at the bar people watching and drinking Tennessee High Balls, which is absolutely my new favorite drink.  Here’s the recipe just in case anyone would like to try one:

TENNESSSE HIGH BALL

1 oz Jack Daniels, 1 or 2 dashes of bitters, 1 part orange juice and 1 part ginger ale, over ice, shake and enjoy.

Yes, I highly recommend Las Vegas, but I wouldn’t take minor children, however as a lover of freedom for all, I’ll leave that up to you.  If you get there stop in one of the bars and have a Tennessee High Ball for me, and if I get there before you, I’ll have one for you.

Finally, just remember the new Las Vegas motto:

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS STAYS ON FACEBOOK AND YOU TUBE

I’m just sayinJ

NEW RULES

I don’t know how many of you watch Real Time with Bill Maher, but Bill has a segment called New Rules that I really need to borrow this week.   During the course of the week, I have numerous conversations with people about any number of subjects, but there is one subject that I find people constantly distort the truth, lie and just make crap up is with politics.  Now I know that we all want to think that the guy we voted for is honest, he’s really working for all of the people, doesn’t take special interest money, and when he/she talks, you can take their word as gospel.  As a rule, I get my news from a number of sources, which include but are not limited to Fox News, ABC News, CNN, Yahoo and a free subscription to news papers in other English speaking countries.  As I read and listen, I hear all kinds of statements made by politicians and their supporters that at best are only half true or a repeat of some other false statement they’ve heard some other knuckle head make.  As an example; I had a conversation with someone recently who tried to convince me that OSHA, at the direction of President Obama has established a rule that says if a construction worker is using a ladder to get to a space more than 3 feet off the ground that the ladder must have safety lines.  Now, I’m going to give this person the benefit of the doubt and say that he was simply misinformed, but because he was so passionate about his position, I decided to pull the OSHA rule on ladder height, and it’s listed below for all to view.

If the total length of a climb on a fixed ladder equals or exceeds 24 feet (7.3 m), the following requirements must be met: fixed ladders must be equipped with either (a) ladder safety devices; (b) self-retracting lifelines, and rest platforms at intervals not to exceed 150 feet (45.7 m); or (c) a cage or well, and multiple ladder sections, each ladder section not to exceed 50 feet (15.2 m) in length. These ladder sections must be offset from adjacent sections, and landing platforms must be provided at maximum intervals of 50 feet (15.2 m).

Now because I don't know anything about construction, 24 feet might be a stupid rule, but it's a long way from 3 feet.

Ok, now that we’ve cleared up the ladder height thing, let’s get to my New Rules.

New Rule – If you’re on the payroll of a State or Federal Government, you don’t get to complain about deficits, after all, you’re part of the reason we have deficits.  It really doesn’t matter what you do for government, I’m still paying for it, so shut up and cash your check!

New Rule – If the tax payers are paying for your Health Insurance, you don’t get to be against Obama Care.  After all, if government sponsored health insurance is good enough for you, it’s good enough for the rest of the population that wouldn’t have health insurance without government assistance.

New Rule – If you make more than $250,000 a year, you don’t get to complain about your tax burden.  Unless you would just rather not have the 70% that’s left after paying taxes.

New Rule – Unless you’ve actually lived in a Socialist country, you don’t know what Socialism is really like, so stop calling people who don’t agree with you a Socialist.  By the way, that goes for Communist as well.

New Rule – If you’re truly a Christian, try reading the bible, I think you’ll discover that god wasn’t a Democrat or a Republican.  Jesus spread love, not hate, and contrary to what you might think, judgment is not yours.

New Rule – If you’re waiting for the good Union Jobs to return to America, get a grip, those jobs are gone for good, and they are not coming back.

New Rule – If you’re an employer who hires illegal workers because their cheaper, just be honest enough to say that.  Don’t add to the lie that American workers would rather collect welfare than work.  The truth is that Americans would take the job if you paid a living wage.

New Rule – If when you shop you look for the cheapest price, knowing that it couldn’t have been made in America, stop complaining because the unemployment rate is 9%.  If you took the time to look for the Made in America label and purchased those items, you could help create thousands of jobs in this country.  By the way be careful, the next job shipped offshore could be yours!

I’m Just Sayin, if you like New Rules, send me yours and I’ll try to publish another segment in a few weeks.

THE BACK NINE ON MONDAY

Every now and then, I see or hear something that I walk away thinking was really great, but I let it marinate for a few days before writing about it.  I take this approach because sometimes when you think something was great, after a few days or weeks, the shine wears off, and it turns out it wasn’t that great after all.  So now that I’ve had a chance to let the FSCC Club Championship Match between my friends Mark and Rob marinate for over a week, it’s time to share it with you.

In the last 25 years, I’ve traveled extensively, and I’ve had the good fortune to see lots of live sporting events, both professional and amateur.  Some were good, some not so good and a few were really great, but nothing more so than the 36 hole club championship match that I had the pleasure of watching  this past Labor Day.  In the interest of full disclosure, I competed in this event and was eliminated in the second round.  With that said, I don’t know if I or anyone else could have put on the kind of show that these two competitors gave those in attendance that afternoon.

I went to the club to meet a friend that afternoon and try to get 18 holes in myself, but because I was a little early, I decided to go out and watch a couple holes of the Championship match.  I caught up with the guys as they were approaching the 12^th green and was one of about a half dozen folks following the match at that time.  When I asked how things stood, I was informed that Rob was up either two or three holes, so I decided to ride along and watch for a while.  By this time, my friend showed up and agreed to watch for a while as well.   As we followed the match, it seemed to get more and more interesting as Rob’s lead was never more than three holes, and never less than one through the first 18 holes.  At the end of 18, Mark was still down 2 or 3 holes, and the tide had not yet started to turn, but he was hanging tough.  As other golfers finished their matches in the other flights, others started to join us in following Rob and Mark, and although Mark was still down, it was starting to become clear that this match would go deep into the second 18. 

After the first 18, the competitors agreed to take a 15 minute break to eat, use the facilities and so on.  Although I really wanted to play golf, I and a number of others were really invested in this match, and thus decided to grab some beer, scrap our plans to play ourselves and watch what would ultimately become our version of Ali/Frazier.   I know, Ali/Frazier is pretty strong, but if you had seen it, you would absolutely agree, it was that good.

As they started the final nine holes, Mark was still down either 1 or 2 holes, and it was obvious that both guys were starting to show some nerves.  Mark wasn’t putting well, and Rob had made a couple of very uncharacteristic mistakes, but both were still playing spectacular golf.  At some point, I heard someone say that if Mark could just get to even that he would win the match, and I remember thinking “that’s going to be a tall order”.  In all honesty, I don’t remember which hole the match got back to even, but I know it was very late on the final nine (I think maybe hole 35).  I do know that going to the 36^th and final hole, the match was even and I said to my cart mate that we were probably looking at extra holes.   By now, the nerves seemed to be gone from both guys, replaced by a resolve to win as both hit their drives and second shots into almost perfect positions.   Mark was out, and hit his third shot to the right rear of the green, leaving what most of us considered the putt from hell.  Rob hit his third just past the flag and it rolled back to within 4 or 5 feet, leaving one of the fastest downhill putts on the course.  By this time, there had to be between 50 or 60 folks or more watching around the 18^th green.  When Mark lined up his putt, he turned to his caddy Mike and pointed to a line to which Mike said that looks right and walked away.  The crowd went completely silent as Mark placed his putter behind the ball, and despite leaving a number of putts short all day, this one was hit hard enough, and seemed to be tracking from the moment it started rolling right up to the thud in the bottom of the cup for birdie.  The crowd went wild!  Now it was Rob’s turn, and although my vantage point wasn’t great, we could all tell that all he needed to do was touch it to get to the hole.   As he stepped up to the ball, the crowd once again went silent and not a sound was heard until the ball burned the edge of the cup, and all anyone could hear was the sigh of the crowd as it rolled by. 

Rob’s missed putt ended what for many of us was one of the best live sporting events professional or amateur we have seen.  I know that there ultimately can only be one winner, but both of these men played their hearts out, and gave those of us watching a super show.

Mark and Rob, thank you for not only putting on a great show, but also for the sportsmanship that you showed, you both represented yourselves with honor and distinction and that is truly appreciated.

“I’m Just Sayin”

THEY SHOULD LOVE HIM - BUT THEY DON'T

In the interest of full disclosure, I voted for a republican for the first time when I was 19 years old, and continued to vote that way in all but two elections for the next 35 years.  I finally gave up on the Republican Party and became an Independent, two years ago when folks started showing up outside venues where the president was speaking carrying guns.  Please don’t get the wrong impression, I am all for gun ownership, I actually own a few myself.  I just could not see myself continuing in a political party in which people think it’s acceptable to express their displeasure with the president in way that by all appearances was designed to intimidate not just him, but anyone who supported him.    
As an Independent, I think that Republicans should love Obama after all, like every president before him he continues to do their bidding.  Before you decide that I’ve lost my mind, let me outline a few of the things that he’s done that conservatives should love.

1.        Wars – When Obama was elected, there were two wars in process, and although he campaigned against both, he has ultimately decided to continue to prosecute both.  Not only did Obama continue the war in Afghanistan, he sent an additional 40,000 troops into that war, and more than ten years into the war, we’re still there with seemingly no way out.  In addition, we’re still in Iraq with seemingly no way out of there either.  Never mind that we really had no good reason to go to Iraq in the first place.   Not only did Obama continue the two wars that he inherited, he actually decided it would be a good idea to follow the French into Libya.  But don’t worry now that the rebels are in charge, we have someone else to sell arms to, so that they can be used against us in some future war. 

2.       Taxes – Despite all of his talk about the poor and disenfranchised, Obama has not only done nothing to help those folks, he has continued to give tax breaks to the wealthiest among us.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take the tax break, but for a president who was elected on a platform to help the poor and middle class, Obama has failed miserably.  The extension of the Bush tax cuts is a direct subsidy to the richest Americans, at the expense of the poorest among us, yet the very people receiving those tax breaks hate him.  Can you say hypocrite?

3.       The Banks& Wall Street – Prior to leaving office, Bush 43 signed off on bailing out the banks and Wall Street, and yes once again, Obama went along with the program.  Not only did he bail out the Banks and Wall Street, he used tax payer funds to bail out the automotive industry as well.  Yep, this man who campaigned on helping those most in need of help, continued to help those who don’t really need it, while ordinary Americans continued to lose their homes, and stand in unemployment lines.  The very people in big business and the Wall Street crew are Obama’s chief critics, while taking advantage of his policies to line their pockets.   Obama’s policies all seem to be designed to help the wealthiest among us, to the exclusion of those who continue to support him despite the fact that he continues to fail them. 

4.       Entitlements – Let’s be clear, Social Security is not an Entitlement, most of us paid into it for 30 to 50 or in some cases 60 years.  It’s our money, the government was supposed to invest it in a way that earned interest for our retirement years.  Entitlements are subsidies to big oil companies, bailing out banks and other financial firms, entitlements are in my view things like farm subsidies, grants to the family members of congress people, disability to people who could work, but won’t.

5.       Stimulus – Every Republican running for president accuses Obama of running up the deficit, and criticizes his stimulus plan, yet every one of them live in a state that took stimulus money.  Rick Perry’s rails against the stimulus, yet Texas got over 24 million in stimulus funds, that’s second only to California.  Listen, I don’t care of states took Federal money, but if you did, just shut up, you have no right to complain when you’re stuffing your state coffers with the very money that you’re complaining about.

Those who hate Obama, blame him for the deficit and claim that he has increased the debt more than any other president, which is not only an outright lie, those who make those statements know it’s a lie, but they continue to say it because their audience is ignorant!   Did you know that when George W took office, he inherited a surplus from Clinton?  Yep, that’s right, a surplus.  When Obama took office, he inherited a deficit of 10.26 Trillion dollars. The deficit t is currently projected to be around 14 Trillion next year.  Now for those of you who can’t count, when Clinton left office, the surplus was approximately $236 Billion dollars, which means that not only did Bush blow the small surplus, he ran up over 10 Billion dollars in debt.   Fact is that 4 Trillion of that debt was for the two wars that Bush kept off budget during his administration, and Obama put on budget when he was elected. 

UNEMPLOYMENT - Did you know that when Clinton left office, the unemployment rate was 4.1%?  The day that Bush 43 left office, the unemployment rate was 7.5%, and our current unemployment rate is 9.1% which means that Obama s responsible for 1.6% of the current rate.  Yeah, I know, if Obama wasn’t president, somehow all of those businesses that he continues to give tax breaks to would move those jobs back from China, India and Pakistan, and our unemployment rate would instantly drop to 2%.  No one wants to face it, but the new full employment in this country will never be 5% again, unless the corporations can find a way to get us to work for the same wages as folks in Pakistan, India and China, and there is absolutely nothing that Obama or any other president can do about it.

You may not agree with my assessment, but facts are facts.  In my lifetime, only Carter was a worse president than Obama has been thus far, but given what he inherited, and the fact that he doesn’t seem to have much of a back bone, he’s doing the best that he can. 

“I’m Just Sayin”

WHO IS MICHAEL WEBERT?

Twice a week, I receive a flyer or post card in my mail box from candidate for the House of Delegates Michael Webert, unfortunately I have no idea who Mr. Webert is, or what his true views are.   I had actually hoped to learn more about Mr. Webert at the debate held at the John Barton Payne building last night, but he failed to show up.  Mr. Webert’s opponent Kevin Kelly was there ready to debate, and there was a packed house filled with what will be Mr. Webert’s constituents  should he be elected, yet it appears we aren’t important enough to warrant ninety minutes of his time.

Mr. Webert’s mailers say that he is a farmer and small business person, yet according to the Fauquier Democrat, he spent the last three years in college and now runs his grandmother’s farm.  To be clear, I’m not against someone getting a job in the family business, but does that really qualify as experience running a business?  Hell, my dad was a mechanic, so by Mr. Webert’s logic, the fact that I occasionally handed him a wrench, makes me qualified to be a mechanic! 

Mr. Webert’s opponent Kevin Kelley not only attended the debate, he was gracious enough to stand and answer two rounds of questions from each of the panel members.  Mr. Kelley told us about his background as a Small Business person, his upbringing and his family. He talked about his time serving with the Chamber of Commerce, and his work in the community.  I don’t know about others in attendance, but frankly I found it refreshing to hear someone running for office refuse to duck and dodge when asked a direct question.  Mr. Kelley answered every question directly and without providing the kind of spin that so many politicians attempt to do.  You may not have liked his answers, but they were direct and to the point!

As voters, we all have to ask ourselves; if the candidate is not accessible and accountable to his constituents prior to being elected, how accessible will he be once in office?  Kevin Kelley will be accessible to the people who live in our communities and helped put him in office.  His opponent is invisible to us now, and we should he be elected, we can only expect more of the same.

I’m Just Sayin!!!!!

SUCKING THE GOVERNMENT TIT?

Ok, so I’m sure that like me you’ve been following the negotiations over raising the debt ceiling with bated breath, and like me, I’m sure that many of you have wondered why some in our congress refuse to raise taxes, while others don’t want to cut programs for the poor and disenfranchised.  Well this article will hopefully give you some insights into why unless you and I wake up and vote every single person currently in office out, we’ll never be able to balance the budget.

Twenty years ago I was a Federal employee working under a retirement system called the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS).  Now you have to understand that CSRS was without question the greatest retirement system ever created aside from that provided to the House and Senate of the United States.  You see unlike people in traditional private sector employment who paid into Social Security, with CSRS, I didn’t have to contribute a single penny to my retirement.  In addition, had I stayed in government service, I would have been able to retire at age 55 with 25 years of service and collect full retirement and have full health insurance benefits at the expense of the American Taxpayer for the rest of my life.  I don’t tell you this story to pick on Federal Employees, I’m telling you this as an example of why our government can’t balance the budget or get spending under control.  I personally know of a number of Conservative Americans collecting retirement under CSRS who believe in their hearts that we have to cut spending, however if you mention limiting Cost of Living Increases for them, they squeal like pigs.  You see, when these folks think about cutting spending, their thinking about an entire different class of people, they can’t fathom a world where they would have to sacrifice so that others might benefit.

The Tea Party – Many in the Tea Party ran on a platform of cutting spending, and during the Debt Ceiling Negations, they made a point of ensuring that none of their rich friends, neighbors or contributors paid one penny in additional taxes.  Now please don’t get me wrong, I like the rest of you don’t want to pay any more in taxes than I have to, but before you elevate the Tea Party Congress men and women to hero status, consider the following.

Michele Bachman, the queen of the Tea Party and presidential candidate also happens to be the queen of sucking on the Government Tit.  Yep, that’s right, good ole Michele’s family farm has collected more than $251,000 in farm subsidies between 1995 and 2006, yet she describes programs to help poor people as Socialism, and oh by the way, her husband’s counseling service also receives subsidies from the Federal Government.  I guess that to Michele if you’re trying to help folks who can’t help themselves, you’re a Socialist, but if you’re helping yourself to the tax payer’s money you’re a (___________________________) you fill in the blank!

In addition to Bachman, Chuck Grassley of Iowa who describes Obama as a Socialist has taken over a million dollars in Farm subsidies, although most of that amount ($699,248) went to his son and the remaining $239,000 going directly into Grassley’s pocket.  I could go on for a couple of days like this, but let me just give you some additional examples and we’ll move on:

Sam Brownback (R) Kansas $500K over 11 years, Rep Stephen Fincher (R) Tennessee who’s bio says he’s a farmer and gospel singer has pocked over 3 million dollars between 1995 and 2009, Rep Vicky Hartzler (R) MO got $775K and the list goes on and on.  These people are your Tea Party Patriots, they are the people you’re relying on to cut spending, yet they and their consistutiant's continue to suck on the tit of government subsidies to the tune of billions of dollars a year.  Make no mistake, while my focus has been on Tea Party members, there are also a number (about half as many) Democrats sucking on that tit as well, however they for the most aren’t the ones banging the monkey about controlling spending on one hand while pocketing millions in taxpayer subsidies with the other, but make no mistake, their all guilty. 

Last year the US Congress spent over 4.8 Billion dollars to prop up corporate farmers, all the while trying to make you and I believe that we need to cut Social Security, Medicaid, Food Stamps and Head Start in an effort to keep us out of default with our foreign creditors.  

Most of my friends are Conservatives, and whenever I talk to them about welfare, or other government assistance, I almost always walk away with the feeling that unfortunately they don’t see the face of people getting government assistance looking anything like theirs.  You see, in America, we tolerate Corporate Welfare, tax breaks and loop holes for those who don’t really need them because those folks create jobs!  Really, how many jobs have been created in the last 4 years?  When George Bush entered office, the unemployment rate was around 4%, when he left office it was close to 7.5%, and after 2 years of Obama, it’s slightly above 9.2%.  Bush cut taxes and continued to give corporations subsidies, and Obama continued the Bush Tax cuts, yet there are no additional jobs and every day I read that major corporations are laying off additional workers. 

As long as the politicians can keep the middle class and poor at each other’s throats, this country will continue to decline.  Most people have no idea what those they vote for stand for, or many of those in office would be out making honest livings like the rest of us.  Did any of you knowingly vote for folks telling you that you or your parent’s social security benefits need to be cut while they were taking subsidies from that same government?  If your answer is yes, at best you’re an idiot, worse case, you’re misinformed. 

Stop watching ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX and find other ways to inform yourself, or you’ll continue to make the same mistakes when you vote.  If you’re rich, you can afford to put people into office who don’t have the best interest of the country at heart.  If you’re not rich, you had better wake up and realize that the next poor face that you see might be staring back at you in the mirror someday soon!

I’m Just Sayin!!

WINNERS AND LOSERS

The older I get and the more of today’s world that see, the more I realize what great parents I had.  My parents taught my siblings and I that sometimes life isn’t fair, and more importantly, we learned that there are winners and losers in the life.  When I was in high school, I was on both the track and football teams, but our school had one of the best basketball teams in the state, and I really wanted to get on that team.  I knew that I wasn’t a very good basketball player, but I figured that since I was such a hot shot football player, and All American track star that surely the basketball coach would want me on his team right?  I was 16, and I’ve never forgotten the day that coach sat me down and told me that I really wasn’t a very good basketball player, he wouldn’t even put me on the practice squad for fear that one of his starters might get hurt.  Basically, the coach told me that I Sucked at basketball and should stick to the sports that I was good at.  When I told my dad what had happened, he told me that if I wanted to play basketball that I should practice more and maybe tryout again at some future point.   I never made the team, but I did learn that I wasn’t going to be great at everything, and that no one was going to make exceptions for me if I wasn’t good enough.   I can’t begin to tell you how many times over the years that lesson has pushed me to work harder so that I was on the winning side of life.

I told you my story to set up the following story: 

I’m driving down the highway last week, listening to ESPN when they start talking about a parent in Iowa who is suing her daughter’s high school because she failed to make the cheerleading squad for the third time.  Never mind that the young lady did not have full use of her legs and arms and could not perform even close to the level of the other girls on the team, her parents felt like she should be put on the team anyway.  When the coach refused, the parents headed straight for their lawyers office and filed suit.  What a great country!  Unfortunately, this young lady along with so many other youngsters are being taught that you don’t have to accept losing or being rejected, you can run to court and claim that you were discriminated against.

If you’re a parent reading this, please do us all a favor, and teach your children that there are Winners and Losers in the life.  Please explain to your children that those participation trophies they get in the local sports league even when they finish last, just isn’t the way the real world works.  Please let them know that despite the fact that some teachers might grade on a curve so that no one fails the class isn’t how the real world works.   People there are Winners and Losers in life, and the sooner that people recognize that, the better off they usually are.  I know lots of people who worked their way to the top, but I don’t know anyone who sued their way there and got any respect! 

If you teach your children that, “THE PERSON MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR DETERMINING IF YOU WIN OR LOSE IN LIFE IS STARING BACK AT YOU IN THE MIRROR EVERY MORNING OF YOUR LIFE”, you may be surprised how they turn out!  At best, they’ll realize that not everyone makes the teamJ

WHO REALLY CREATES JOBS IN AMERICA?

The first thing that everyone should understand is that no matter who the President is,  he is not responsible for job creation.  George Bush wasn’t, and Barack Obama isn’t.   So, if the president isn’t responsible for job creation then who is? 

In my view, you, I and American Business are all responsible for the unemployment rate being so high, and the lack of job creation.  Don’t believe me?  Take a look around your house, and in your garage and it’s easy to see why the employment rate is so high.  Virtually everything that we buy these days is made in another country, and nothing that those folks use is made in America.  When I was a kid, I still remember people laughing if you wore a watch or had a radio or TV made in Japan.  Until the mid 1970’s, no self respecting American would be caught dead in a car made in Japan or any other country, the exception being the rich guy in the neighborhood having a Mercedes to show his status in life.   Take a moment and just walk through a portion of your house, pick up ten items.  I bet that none of the items were made in this country. 

You see, in America, both consumers and business like for things to be cheap.  Business wants cheap labor, and knowing that they can’t pay people slave wages in America they move their factories to other countries.  They’ll tell you that it’s because taxes in America are too high, yet a closer look shows that corporate taxes are lower today than they were 30 and 40 years ago.  If a company has a choice between hiring an American for $12 to $15 an hour, or moving that job to China or Taiwan for $2 or $3, there went your jobJ  We all continue to do business with the companies that have moved their call centers off shore for less money, while our bills for their products and services continue to go up.  Try to get service on your computer or cell phone, that guy named Sammy with the funny accent is actually in Pakistan or India.  I have to wonder what would happen if people decided to start doing without some of those products unless those companies brought the jobs back home?

It’s easy to blame businesses for moving jobs off shore, but you and I are just as much at fault as they are.  Yep, that’s right; you and I could create American jobs, if only we would be willing to spend a few pennies more to Buy American.  We don’t even look for American made any longer, we just look for lowest price, yet we know that products made in sweat shops by children overseas are almost always going to be cheaper than products made in America.  We love Wal-Mart, and Wal-Mart loves shit made in China, yet for most of us if we need something, that’s our first (and usually) last stop. 

So, what can we do?  Well in the interest of helping my fellow Americans, this is what I’m going to do! First is that when I go to make my next purchase and every purchase from now on, I plan to look for a product made in America, I have changed my telephone, TV and internet to Comcast, because unlike Verizon,  their workers and call centers are in America.  Except for my motorcycle, my garage is filled with foreign made vehicles, but my pledge is that the next vehicle that I purchase will be an American brand, or if it’s a foreign brand, I will make sure that I check the VIN, and purchase one assembled in the United States.  Finally, I will refuse to support any politician who supports NAFTA or any of the other half dozen Free Trade Agreements; I will not support any candidate who has voted to allow tax breaks for businesses that have moved jobs to another country.

If we all commit to simply buying American and doing business with American companies, we can create jobs in America, because if you’re waiting on the Democrats and Republicans to do it, you may have a very, very long wait.

THERE IS NO PARTY LIKE A FAUQUIER SPRINGS PARTY

This week, Fauquier Springs CC had their annual Member Guest Golf Tournament for Men, and quite honestly, it was like no other Member Guest that I’ve ever played in.  First, I’d like to send shout outs to some of the people who made it so successful.

First and foremost, let’s thank the entire Golf Shop Staff, Andy, Brant, JD and the Cart Dogs who worked from before sun came up and well past sun down every day to make sure that every member and his guest was taken care of and enjoyed the event.  Also, thanks to Angela and her staff, with special thanks to Dani and Adam who seemed to always be in the right place at the right time to ensure that we had whatever we needed, and more importantly, what we wanted.  Thanks to the Grill Room staff, and the cooks out on the course for great food and drink, always served with a smile. Also, let’s not forget Mike and his grounds crew who had the course in spectacular shape for the event.  Thanks also to the members who signed up and made this a full field event.  Finally, thanks to the guest, starting with my good friend Sam, the other members of the Oakmont Flight and all of the other guest who helped make this such a successful and fun event.  

Have you ever gone to a golf tournament where a party broke out?  Well, that’s what happened at Fauquier Springs this week.  As someone reminded me on the first day, if your focus is on winning, you’ll ruin the entire experience.  Sure, we would all like to win, but quite honestly, this wasn’t a tournament about just winning, it was much more about getting re-acquainted with the guys you’ve gotten to know over the years, catching up on their lives, and getting them caught up on yours.  It’s about meeting and getting to know the guys you didn’t have a chance to meet or get to know better last year, and meeting and getting to know those for whom this is their first FSCC Member Guest. 

On Thursday, we played our first 9 holes, followed by a Pairings Party, but this was no ordinary Pairings Party.   Our club manager and her spouse opened up their home to host the party, complete with great food and Adult beveragesJ  Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t know of many clubs where the Club Manager opens up their homes to the membership for a party that goes in to the wee hours of the evening, but I’m Just Sayin.  There was something for everyone, even the cigar smokers could sit on the porch and partake of a little Scotch and a good smoke.  I hear that there may have even been a little trash talk and possibly a couple of bets placed, but I can’t confirm any of that.  Well maybe the trash talks part.

Friday morning started early with the first matches starting at 8:30 (you’ll understand the significance of the time later) and to my amazement, everyone was ready to go on time.  We played two 9 hole matches on Friday, and when we finished and all scores were posted, the pros had a multi station Skills Challenge set up for us.  The skills consisted of the usual stuff, like hitting a 130 yard shot, chipping and putting as well as a long drive contest with your partner.  I know, so far it’s kind of boring, but now to the challenges that we only seem to have at the Springs Club.  Following the skills challenge, a group of about 30 of us decided to place wagers on who could hit what appeared to be a 1950’s 1 iron and a Balata ball the farthest off the number one tee.  Small wagers, but if you get enough people involved, it adds up, and given the amount of alcohol floating around, it was clear, this was more about fun than money.  If you’ve never hit a 1 Iron, give it a try some day, it’s quite a challenge. After a couple of rounds of the Blades and Balata challenge, 18 of us decided to put a little more in the pot and have winner take all three hole challenge.  Now, I know what you’re thinking! What’s the big deal about 18 guys playing 3 holes of golf right?  Well, when all 18 are starting on the same tee and playing together, that’s specialJ  Yes, we all started together and finished together, dropping the high scorers along the way.  By the time that we got to the third hole, there were only 6 of us still in the competition, none were totally sober, so it was amazing that two of us got par on the final hole and decided to split the money, or we could continue until dark and miss the Boat Challenge.    

By now, it was almost 8pm, but our pros still had one more challenge set up for those of us who weren’t too tired to continue on.  It was the Ball in the Boat Challenge.  Yep, that’s right, they had a boat in the pond at the 7^th hole and you had to hit a 61 yard shot into the boat to cash.  Problem was that by now, the 15 or so of us remaining were completely toasted and in the no pain zone, every one of us had a drink in hand, and some could hardly stand, but we were all determined to give it a try. I did manage to hit the boat twice in 4 attempts, which was pretty good considering how good I feltJ  Two others managed to duplicate my feat,  my friend Kirk and Tom (a guest and really good guy) both hit it twice as well.  By now, it’s pretty dark, but Andy, JD and Adam were still with us, making sure that we were all ok, and that we got all of the carts back to the Pro Shop without incident (really good idea).  I went home after the Boat challenge, but I heard a rumor that some of the guys didn’t get to bed until around 4am, but I don’t want to spread rumors, so you didn’t hear that from meJ  All I know for sure is that 6am Saturday morning came really fast for me, so it had to be super fast for the late nighters.

Saturday was another great day of golf and fellowship, from the opening round, right down to the Ball Toss at the end of the evening.  In the three days of the tournament, I didn’t meet a single person who wasn’t enjoying himself, and that’s a major accomplishment.  Every guest that I talked to complimented the event, and the condition of the course, every one of them seemed to be having a great time and was looking forward to returning next year. 

Now, I’m Just Sayin, every club has great Member Guest, but this is our place, and we can all be proud of our club, it’s members, management and staff for a great event.     

AIN’T NO CHEESE LIKE GOVERNMENT CHEESE

As most of my friends know by now, I am a pretty conservative person, and have been since my late teen years. I have always also always believed that we should have systems in place to assist those who are poor and disenfranchised however, sometimes I see things that are so outrageous they make me want to shut down every safety net ever created and leave all those folks on their own without any help from government or anyone else.  This article is about a couple of those outrages.

So, I’m watching Judge Joe Brown one day last week, and there’s this guy being sued by his ex girlfriend for a cell phone bill that he’s run up to over a thousand dollars, and no that’s not the outrage.  As the case goes on, Judge Joe is asking this lazy A-Hole if he works to which he replies; No, I get SSI.  For those of you not familiar with SSI, it stands for Supplemental Security Income, which is the government’s term for Disability payments to people who by all accounts should be disabled to the point that they cannot work and care for themselves.  However, I digress.  Judge Joe then says to the guy, you get SSI? To which he replies yes, I have trouble reading.  Judge Joe says you have trouble reading, what kind of disability is that? To which the guy replies, well I get some words mixed up.  By now, Judge Joe and I are about to leap out of our skins!  I was so angry that I thought my head might actually explode.  So, here I am a good American tax payer, watching some smuck on national TV who by all accounts could be working at something, but NOOOO, he’s collecting SSI and you and I are paying that Butt Hole not to work, un-F___ing Believable.

I have also recently encountered a “Grown Ass Man” who is perfectly capable of working who is collecting $200 per month in Food Stamps.  Get this folks he was approved because he works for a Temp Agency, which in some communities make you eligible for public assistance like the Food Stamp Program. Yes, and you get to pay for that too.

I personally know a young woman (age 32) who had a massive stroke while at work back in December of last year, who’s vocabulary is now limited to the word “OH”.  This woman has to be taught to read, write and perform all of the other functions of daily life, and thus she’s not able to take care of herself.   In the meantime, her benefits from her job have been cut off, so now she has no income, Health Insurance or Disability Income.  You would think that a person like this would be able to easily get SSI right? Nope, it seems that our government is so busy giving aid to people like the two dopes described above that she’s been waiting almost six months, and she still hasn’t been approved.  And they wonder why so few have any faith in government.

When I was growing up, there used to be government trucks that would sometimes go into under prividgledged neighborhoods and hand out things like Cheese, Powered Milk and mostly Stale Bread.  My mom and her sisters used to joke when they saw people running to get in line at these trucks by saying “Ain’t No Cheese like Government Cheese”.  People really loved getting that free food, and yes some of them didn’t really need it, but they took it anyway.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used my mom’s phrase over the years to describe people sucking on the tit of government, but SSI system make the old school Welfare Queens look like saints.  I’ve discovered that there are people on SSI because they drink too much to hold a job (say what?), some have drug problems, so clearly they can’t work either, and yes many are homeless, but don’t worry, you and I are paying for Post Office Boxes so that they can have their checks delivered.  What a great country!!

My purpose isn’t to say that we should stop helping those in need, however there has to be a better way.  It seems that the people who know the system well enough to abuse it are the only ones getting help under the current system, and that has to stop.   We have to somehow work out a system that identifies those truly in need and weed out the frauds taking advantage of the system, thus taking advantage of you and I, the American Tax Payer.

Now, I'm Just Sayin, Let's Help the Needy, not the Greedy.