Please Ignore - Personal Rant

Sometimes when I read various things, I just get bummed.  For instance, one article was about  a job offer for an investment manager whose potential salary was $150,000.  It just struck me that was a crazy sum of money for someone who is basically a gambler.  No difference in trying to determine what the stock market might do in comparison to whether the Broncos are going to cover the spread this weekend.  It is disheartening that so much value is placed on someone who really does nothing of value.  Then of course this leads to the entitlement society we live in where people expect to make this type of salary without doing anything useful.  Which then got me thinking about the Republican debate the other night when one of the candidates was asked about how an uninsured 30 year old should pay for an unexpected hospital stay and the audience at the debate starting laughing and then cheering when one candidate indicated government shouldn't have to pay for it.

Again it is a sad indictment of our society when we can't care for all.  I understand it is about choices but when did we just become so wrapped up in our own lives that we can't care for one another.  Really do some of these people need another car, gun, 4-wheeler at the expense of making sure everyone has a cushion when it comes to medical care?

US Space Program RIP

This Sums Up our Country

US Space Program - Rest in Peace.  Our country's lack of imagination and desire to push boundaries is officially over.  Our country is broke and continues to spend money on wars to keep our military industrial complex humming.  Today while visiting a beloved museum, the Alabama Space and Rocket Center (Home of Space Camp!), I realized just how bad it is.  Pictured above was once a nice space program relic, a full scale mock up of Sky Lab, which once held a special place in the museum is now being rained on while the space it used to fill now has dinosaurs (?). 

In the past 5 years the museum has spent a tremendous amount of money on commenerating the Apollo Project having taken another old full scale model, once located outside, and turned it into a hallmark exhibit.  Very similar to what was done at the Kennedy Space Center.  Certainly an upgrade and a nice layout featuring the apex of our space program.  No real complaints until you start to look a little closer.  Some museum pieces just thrown into display cases without indicating what they were or who used them.  Dust bunnies on rocket engines, mismash of collections, and then blantant displays of "sponsors" thus indicating that we are so freaking poor we have to plaster a whole bunch of logos to display some of our countries greatest technial feats. 

Saddest part is they have this nice little story how we are going back to the moon...oh yeah that got canceled and everything else we thought we could do...canceled.  Sorry America your future has been canceled...

The Greatest Sting Ever...

The older I get, the more I wish I could be a kid and just tune out what the American Political System has become. In this article by N. Kristof, he sums it up pretty succinctly. The reason I call the latest election "The Greatest Sting Ever..." is that the Republicans, who seem to think tax cuts for gazillionaires is a good thing and oh by the way let's fight a couple of wars too is that these new Republicans were swept into office by the very people whose wages have stagnated, whose sons and daughters are off fighting our wars, and the ones who can at least afford what the Republicans seek. It is amazing how the once great middle class is becoming hemorrhaged so that the rich can get richer. Think any of those Wall Street execs who gambled our money away is going to give back their million dollar bonuses? Wake up America...there is nothing wrong with making money, but let's not equate working hard to just plain stealing.

Karma

If Tiger Woods is supposedly returning to his Buddhism roots then this weekend's Master's should be a good lesson in Karma. Sometimes even world events can be scripted so well as to tell a great story. Completing his 4th major win, Phil Mickelson, did so while his wife battles breast cancer as well as his mother in law. Meanwhile Tiger cheats on his family and has sexcapades with who knows how many woman. To think the media and public throw so much attention at his feet as if he was the second coming. Once again his true nature showed over the weekend while Phil played his style and ended up winning an emotional event. Nice to see real life make up a good ending!

Tiger Rant

I can't believe the hoopla surrounding Tiger's return to golf. Frankly I could care less about the golfer. Everyone is falling over themselves trying to say how great this is...to me it's just another case of missed priorities. I mean this guy is great at hitting a little white ball around but as far as a person, a role model...come on he is just a dirt bag. And we wonder why this country is a mess sometimes and you just have to look at this pathetic person. Why we continue to prop up these sports stars like they hold the key to success is beyond me. Very few athletes actually live like decent human beings. Most of the time they are egotistic, flawed people who without the ability at sports really wouldn't amount to anything. And then the pundits say it is life and redemption and blah blah...give me a break. When you are a billionaire and you can't keep your privates in your pants and can't remain faithful to your wife and mother of your children it ain't about redemption as if we were talking about the second coming. Come on and wake up...Charles Barkley said it best...when he said to parents that he ain't a role model. Instead of watching the Masters and Tiger's triumph return (again from being a sex addict...yeah wow what a victim he is) spend the time outside with your kids.

Second American Revolution

Is our system of governing broken? Has our Constitution not grown to meet the challenges of the 21st century? Could you fathom an uprising against our current government? What would be the tipping point (if you think this would be impossible did anyone see the fall of the Berlin Wall and communism?).

Politics and public sentiment are a fickle beast. In 2008 the current administration swept into power with a pretty clear majority. But here we sit a year later and what has happened? Political clout is no where to be seen from the majority, Democrats are running for the hills fearful of this year's election cycle, the opposition party is just sitting by doing nothing; offering no alternatives, and the American people sit with their financial futures in doubt while Wall Street takes home billion dollar bonuses. Now how much is enough for the average American to take? Does anybody care anymore or have we become so cynical, so ambivalent that we simply shrug our shoulders and say "meh".

Now you have your splinter groups that grab news headlines, the occasional individual that breaks, and politicians deciding that instead of being part of the solution they simply retire but is this just sensationalism and headline grabbing material or can it be the foundation of a new era? For my kids I hope maybe a new era of problem solving, stick-to-itism, and revitalization but unfortunately I think the power elite in this country, after years of tax breaks and sucking the middle class dry, is ready to take what they can get before the card house collapses.

Why might this be the case? In 2004 "the average after-tax income of the richest one percent of households rose from $722,000 in 2003 to $868,000 in 2004" and yet the average American during the period of 2000 - 2010 saw their income stagnate (lost decade). Enter 2008 when George Bush's ownership society created a perfect storm of banks using fancy derivatives and the middle class hungry for more capital to maintain their standard of living in an ever facing wage stagnation period. Obama sweeps into office only to face the worse economic outlook since the Great Depression. Billions of dollars are spent to bail out the banks and buying up ownership of failing companies and yet one year after this debacle Wall Street has the gall to hand out bonuses? Millions of taxpayers whose net worth has been laid waste by Wall Street's gamble and yet the rich get richer. Is it any wonder that this study (document) basically states that 1 in 4 Americans are employed to guard the wealth of rich. So when does the average American decide to wake up and stop living in financial slavery to the rich?

I love America, I think it is one of the greatest experiments going, but I think a "me" society has grown up and without some changes we are going to implode. There is no law against being rich. I don't hold any grudges against the wealth that has been generated. I am also not a fan of wealth redistribution. What I am not a big fan of is when that wealth is waved in my face and when that wealth is used to make policies in America. I won't even dare bring the health care reform into this argument...

Now in November America will once again vote. Sad part of all of this is that nothing will change. New politicians will say the right things and then once elected play the same scam that the outgoing politician was doing. It will all be packaged nicely but what gets me even more riled up is the what politicians say. You think the Democrats made this economy up? This is a direct result of bad policy decisions made from 2000 - 2008. Last time I checked this was Republican policies. How can Americans give them back the reins after putting us in this situation. I mean this is the greatest gig going, destroy the economy, lose election, let the opposition try to deal with your screw ups, and then use it against them to get reelected. Good God what a freaking mess...throw them all out...so again I ask do you think a second revolution is out of the question?