Obama and Christmas

I am deviating from my normal blogs by devoting this one to a specific person. I am doing this because of it's importance. In an article from the Chicago Tribune it was stated that "Obama is between churches" and "expresses concern about bringing disruption of his security details into the lives of others". It goes on to mention that "Obama also made a stop at Marine Corps Base Hawaii to greet troops." This means that Obama is not concerned, and he should not be, about disrupting the lives of the Marines. The web, on a lot of newspaper sites, mentioned that Obama visited with the troops in the mess hall on Christmas day. Perhaps there was also a Christmas day religious service on the base? For a person who professes to be a Christian, missing the most important day in the Christian year is to me unimaginable. Datadiver, Dec 27, 2008

Nationalized Government Health Works!

Lately I have heard considerable traffic on radio and television expressing their opinion about nationalized health care. I am hear to tell you that nationalized health care works. Don't get mad and think I have lost my mind. You first have to wind your way through the convoluted facts and pseudo-facts to gain a grain of truth. What is the intent of nationalized health care?

Is it to take care of those without health care?

No one in the United States need to have a lack of health care. If health care insurance (no it's not free) is not included in the benefits package of an employer, the United States has many federal programs to provide health care as do many states. As a last resort, by law hospitals cannot refuse health care to those without insurance. Effectively this means that 100% of Americans have a source of health care.

Health care insurance is another story. It would be nice to have everyone covered by some type of private health care insurance, but this will never happen. To morf the entire health care system into a bloated government program to provide insurance to quite a small minority is the grossest overkill I can imagine. Therefore, concern about those without health care insurance is a smoke screen perpetuated by Washington liberals to hide their real reason.

As with everything in the Washington liberal agenda, power is the reason.

If they can take over another 15.2% of the U.S. economy that is currently spent on health care ( projected to rise to 19.5% of the GDP by 2017 according to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_the_United_States ) it will make us even more subjugated to the Washington elite.

Think about this carefully before it's to late. Make your views known to your state representatives and congressmen, especially if they are Democrats. Remember, very few people contact their representatives so you can have a disproportionate amount of influence with them.

Datadiver 12-25-2008

For whom do you really work?

Lately there has been considerable news in paper, television and radio about the proposed bailout of the big 3 auto makers. There is a proven process for handling financial problems. It's called bankruptcy. The process of how the situation is resolved is not the focus of this article. The question is for whom do we work? This may seem to be a straightforward question, but perhaps not. For now, lets not look into those who chose not to work who are of working age. That will be for another time.

• For individuals who own their own businesses the answer is easy. The work for themselves, although at tax time they may question this answer.
• Politicians work for the people. If you believe this, be sure to give them an honest review at the poles the next time there is an election.
• Religious leaders. If they really work for God, the retirement benefits can't be beat.
• Salaried and non union hourly workers. They work for the companies that give them a check (or electronic deposit) on a regular basis.
• Unionized employees work for their unions.

Lets examine each of these categories.

• Self employed individuals. They are the backbone of our economic system. As a group they are the largest employers in the United States. The not only feed goods to larger companies but they fuel the economy.
• Politicians. For the people. That should be the answer and for some it is the answer. Another time we will look at our system of career politicians.
• Religious leaders. I am addressing only mainstream Judeo-Christian religious leaders for the sake of this article. Perhaps you will find my opinions on the others in a future blog.
• Salaried and non union workers. These are the individuals who who day after day must prove their worth to keep their position. This does not mean those who have been "downsized" are not worthy of their positions, they may have been caught in the numbers crunch.
• The final category being addressed is union workers. The only other valid category to which they can be compared is the salaried and non union workers. Ask the basic question "who calls the shots" or "to whom do they answer" and you will see the difference. Salaried and non union employees answer to the companies for whom they work. Unionized workers are controlled by the unions. In my opinion this makes them employees of the union and in turn they are sublet to companies.

Another fallout of this discussion is that because unionized workers really work for the unions, unions should be treated just any other corporation complete with all deserved scrutiny.
Tell me what you think.
Merry Christmas.
Datadiver December 13, 2008

English PLEASE!

I bet you thought this was about having English as the official language of the United States. While that is a good idea, I want to address a different problem. We in the United States seem to have forgotten how to speak the English language properly. Let's take a multiple choice test. Select which of the following is correct. You and a friend have the choice of traveling to a destination with different parties. Your friend asks you the following question. Which is correct English?

1. Who do you want to go with?
2. With whom would you like to go?
3. Who with?

You have just purchased an item at a local department store. You say thank you to the clerk. Which is the proper reply from the clerk?

1. No big deal.
2. Yup.
3. You’re welcome.

When asked to sign your name to a credit card receipt, you are being asked to sign your;

1. John Henry
2. John Hancock

I know this was a short test, don't you wish they were all short. However, I think you get the idea. If you really need to know the answers, they are 2, 3, 2.

Here are a few tips that will help you be better understood in any situation.

• Don't use a long word when a short one will due.
• Don't use slang that with an age group other than your own.
• Don't use cultural references with persons of a different culture. Keep in mind that different parts of the United States have different cultures.
• Don't use "sayings" to make a point. This can be especially dangerous when in the company of persons from a foreign country. To illustrate this point I will use an example from my personal experience. I was in a business meeting with Japanese customers. The meeting was going very well. One of my colleagues, when summarizing the discussion, stated that we were all thinking in "parallel". Each of our Japanese guests in the room got a concerned look on their faces. One of them said, "I thought the meeting went well and we were in agreement?” My colleague who made the "parallel" statement explained that parallel lines go in the same direction meaning that our thinking is in the same direction. A relieved smile came over our Japanese guests face. He told us that in his culture "parallel thinking" means the exact opposite because parallel lines never meet. Be well and speak English correctly.

Datadiver08

Global Cooling?

I did a search on the Internet for 'global cooling'. I came up with some interesting facts. Here are some of the headlines.

• From January 13, 2008 - NASA: Solar cycle may cause “dangerous” global cooling in a few years time.
• NOAA: U.S. breaks or ties 115 cold and sets 63 new snowfall records – Meteorologist Anthony Watts - October 30, 2008
• From the Gainsville Sun October 30, 2008 - The record-breaking cold snap in Gainesville this week has been uncomfortable for many while creating a crisis for some of society's most vulnerable, the homeless.
• The Old Farmer’s Almanac is going further out on a limb than usual this year, not only forecasting a cooler winter, but looking ahead decades to suggest we are in for global cooling, not warming.
• From the Washington Times - Al Gore says global warming is a planetary emergency. It is difficult to see how this can be so when record low temperatures are being set all over the world.
• From the Bellingham Herold - Cold spring, summer stunts apple production in Washington State - October 27, 2008.
• UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - Cyclists ‘braved freezing cold temps’ to promote global warming awareness in New York - October 22, 2008.
• UK Register – October 29, 2008. Excerpt: Snow fell as the House of Commons debated Global Warming yesterday - the first October fall in the metropolis since 1922.

I could go on and on. Look it up for yourself. As for me, global warming is the biggest scam since indulgences by the Catholic church in the Middle Ages.

Datadiver 12-8-2008

Let's make voting easier?

Have your heard anyone say, let's make voting easier? Let's take a look at how difficult it is. What are the requirements for voting?

• You must be 18 years of age.
• You must be a U.S. citizen.

Seems quite easy so far.

What do you need to when registering to vote before election day? I will use the Wisconsin requirements as an example.

• Supply identification of who you are. This can be; (1) a valid drivers license, (2) a Wisconsin state ID card or (3) provide the last 4 digits of your Social Security Number.

Still sounds easy.

What do you need to bring with you to register the day of voting?

If you register the day of the election you will need; (1) A current and valid Wisconsin driver’s license (2) A current and valid Wisconsin identification card (3) Any other official identification card or license issued by a Wisconsin governmental body or unit (4) Any identification card issued by an employer in the normal course of business and bearing a photo of the card holder, but not including a business card (5) A real estate tax bill or receipt for the current year or the year preceding the date of the election (6) A residential lease which is effective for a period that includes election day (7) A university, college or technical institute fee card (must include photo) (8) A university, college or technical institute identification card (must include photo) (9) A gas, electric or telephone service statement for the period commencing not earlier than 90 days before election day (10) Bank statement (11) Paycheck (12) A check or other document issued by a unit of government.

Still no visible road blocks. I challenge you all to try and think of one person who would not have at least one of these identification documents. While you are doing this, count how many of these identification documents you have. Remember, a person requires only one of these forms of identification to register for voting.

Even if you don't bring any of these with you when registering the day of the election, by law you are allowed to cast a provisional ballot, which will be included in the count if by 4:00 PM on the day following the election you either in person, fax, email, or telephone your driver license number to the municipal clerk.

Doesn't this sound like they are bending over backwards to make it easy?

How does a person lose the right to vote? A person loses the right to vote if he or she is:

1. Judicially declared mentally incompetent.
2. Convicted of an “infamous crime,” and the person’s civil rights have not been restored. You may ask what is an "infamous crime"? An “infamous crime” is a crime punishable by death in the state penitentiary or imprisonment in a state correctional facility. There are ways a felon can have the right to vote restored, but it is to lengthy for this blog.
3. Death (except in Cook County Illinois).

I don't know about you, but if a person cannot meet the above mentioned requirements, then they don't really care about the election or the issues. I don't want them to vote!

I think we should work on making voting harder. The most worthwhile things in life aren't easy.

Datadiver 12-7-2008

Kids gone bad: Students lie, cheat and steal, but say they’re good people

The title of this session of my blog is from an AP story. The point of the story is to show that even though;

• 30 percent of U.S. high school students have stolen from a store
• 64 percent have cheated on a test
• 23 percent said they stole something from a parent or other relative

Despite this, 93 percent of the students said they were satisfied with their personal ethics and character, and 77 percent affirmed that “when it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know.”

Most of the above I have shamelessly copied from the AP story, but it is important to repeat the statistics so we can all have a basis for my comments below.

Lets look at the reasons that this story is such a valid reflection of our society.

• We have stopped taking responsibility for the actions of others in our society. Of course there are many reasons for this such as law suits and the like.
• Parents have stopped taking responsibility for the behavior of their children. I volunteer at a local elementary school reading to kindergartners. From my experience I can almost always match the children to their parents. The kids imitate the actions of their parents. If a parent is a good person the child is more than likely a good child. Pulling no punches, if the parent is a loser, the child will most likely be a loser. To call a child a loser is a terrible thing. To have it be true is even worse.
• The school teacher should be a parents helper in the education process and not have the primary responsibility. Traditional 'school' should be only one part of the educational process. Religious education is a very important part of building a balanced child. Family and neighbors are another important part.

Stealing, cheating and lying can only be stopped with the parents involvement. It is time that parents step up to their responsibility and not excuse their child's bad behavior.

Datadiver08

Interesting U.S. foreign aid statistics.

Do you know which countries are the largest beneficiaries of charitable giving for the years of 1999 through 2006 by the United States? You may be surprised. The below statistics are courtesy of the Heritage Foundation ( http://www.heritage.org/ ).

• Number 1 is Iraq. They have received 31.54 billion dollars. An interesting fact is that on United Nations issues Iraq voted on the same side of issues as the United States only 7.9% of the time. I will provide the same statistics below in an abbreviated format.
• Number 2 is Israel. 26.49 Billion. 90.6% of the time voted on the same side of issues as the U.S.
• Number 3 is Egypt. 16.77 Billion. 12.6% of the time voted on the same side of issues as the U.S.
• Number 4 is Afghanistan. 10.62 Billion. 11.0% of the time voted on the same side of issues as the U.S.
• Number 5 is Russia. 8.35 Billion. 23.1% of the time voted on the same side of issues as the U.S.
• Number 6 is Colombia. 6.38 Billion. 19.2% of the time voted on the same side of issues as the U.S.
• Number 7 is Jordan. 5.44 Billion. 14.1% of the time voted on the same side of issues as the U.S.
• Number 8 is Pakistan. 4.39 Billion. 14.1% of the time voted on the same side of issues as the U.S.
• Number 9 is Sudan. 3.11 Billion. 13.5% of the time voted on the same side of issues as the U.S.
• Number 10 is Ethiopia. 3.09 Billion. 18.8% of the time voted on the same side of issues as the U.S.

Total for the top 10 countries. 116.18 Billion. 22.5% of the time voted on the same side of issues as the U.S. The aggregate for countries ranked 21-30. 10.12 Billion. 23.4% of the time voted on the same side of issues as the U.S. Isn’t it interesting that the countries receiving 116.18 billion dollars voted on the same side of issues less than those countries receiving 10.12 billion dollars. Think about it. It appears the United States is giving foreign aid to countries not based on their political bias, but on the needs of their citizens.

Draw your own conclusions and let me know your comments. Datadiver 11-28-2008

Good Words Gone Bad

Green

• In the past this was the color of Kermit, the jolly green giant, and grass in the summer. Now its meaning has changed to represent a movement that grew out of the fertile (remember what you mix with soil to make it fertile) imagination of Al Gore in his quest to blot out failed presidential candidacy. I will give him credit for his hand in creating the largest global scam in history. Of course I am referring to carbon credits. If you are wealthy, and enough of a scoundrel, you can now spend money to sooth your conscience while polluting in whichever way you please. Leave the real work to the little people. The GREEN movement can also be used (and it has been used) to intimidate business by threatening to boycott their products unless they purchase carbon credits. I think they call this extortion.

Gay

• In the past, according to Roget’s International Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases 1922, the synonyms of gay were genteel; well-bred, well-mannered, well-behaved, well-spoken; gentlemanlike, gentlemanly; ladylike; civil, polite…. In the present, according to Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition 1995, the synonyms for gay are; lacking in moral restraint: abandoned, dissipated, dissolute, fast, incontinent, licentious, profligate, rakish, unbridled, unconstrained, uncontrolled, ungoverned,...

I don’t think I need to add any further comments. In the future you may see more "Good Words Gone Bad".

Datadiver

In the spirit of giving.

I have been thinking how I can put into words my thoughts on the comment Barack Obama made about his tax plan.

Quote"John McCain and Sarah Palin they call this socialistic. You know I don’t know when, when they decided they wanted to make a virtue out of selfishness."Unquote

The opposite of selfishness is generosity, not taxes. In both the Christian and Muslim faiths generosity is highly regarded as a virtue. True generosity comes from the heart and is meant to thank to God for all the things he has done for us. The government taking money from my pocket to give to others by no definition can be called a generous act on my part. The government by its very nature cannot be generous. The definition of generosity in Webster’s dictionary is “The trait of being willing to give your money or time”. The government does not have any money other than what it takes from the tax payers. Giving away others money cannot be deemed a generous act.

If each of us were to have less taken from us in taxes, we would have the ability to;

• Give more generously. I know that some do what they can for charities and that other do nothing, however that is a personal choice.
• We could give to charities that reflect our personal values and beliefs. I know that many times the government most definitely does not use my money in ways that reflect my values.

The last point I will make on charitable giving is that we all must be sure that we give to charities that use contributions wisely and spend as little as possible on administrative costs. By selecting such charities we can be sure our contributions will do the most good. I have no confidence that the governments funding of officially sponsored charities (which includes all government welfare programs) would meet my definition of efficient giving.

The American Institute of Philanthropy’s charity rating guide (http://www.charitywatch.org/) provides ratings of charities. Each charity is rated A through F. I urge each of you to visit this website before making future charitable contributions.

Datadiver

Political Haiku

He is black and white He is but an empty suit Great confusion reigns Datadiver

Bailouts

As a person who is on the wrong end of bailouts (a giver, not a receiver) I am quite tired of those who were caught in self created bad situations wining about getting their share from the government trough, First up to bat we have the persons who had no business owing a home agreeing to mortgages they could not afford. You noticed that I used the term “agreeing” as the action of the individual. They are not a victim. They spun their own web in which they are now stuck. Oh, I forgot there are not stuck, they are reaching into my back pocket because they deserve to own a home even if I pay for it. Forget the home mortgage bailout and let home prices adjust themselves to their real value. Second up to bat are the UAW and BIG 3. Bail them out or the world will end. What needs to end is the foolish labor agreement between the BIG 3 and the UAW. For the BIG 3 costs per hour are not competitive in their manufacturing operation. Big surprise, they are losing money. Don’t mistake me, I have no problem with their labor agreements, only that I as a person who was not a party to those agreement is being asked to forcefully contribute to the resolution of the problem. I have always bought cars made in the U.S., yes even in the 70s and 80s, but that could change. I have heard the argument that foreign auto manufacturers are subsidized by their respective governments and that may be true. However, when I purchase a car I expect that I have covered all the details of payment and costs and will not be asked to pay an additional “bailout”. This bailout is the real cause of the “giant sucking sound” that I have heard of for years. Who knows who is next up to bat? Once the trough is open the little pigs will come running. My problem is that it is me they are running over to get to the trough. Datadiver08

The world as it is today. It's Monday. Need I say more. Datadiver

World opinion of the United States

Much has been written lately in the U.S. press concerning how the world looks at the United States. Some say we are a bully, some say we are egotistical, and others say we are not doing enough to help the world (as in we have more than our fair share and should give more to others).

1. My first response is that the U.S. is factually the most generous country that ever existed on the fact of the earth. The Unites States is the largest contributor to the United Nations, which is remarkable since the United Nations has latest not been an actual or verbal supporter of the United States.
2. When there is a disaster anywhere in the world, who is the first to respond with substantial assistance. You guessed it, the United States.
3. Many polls taken in countries around the world show that the dislike of the United States is growing, but when asked if the United States should "take their ball and go home" the resounding answer is no!
4. I will paraphrase former Prime Minister Blair in a statement which was a reply to the question of what he thought about the United States. He stated that he likes to measure a country by how many individuals want to get in verses how many want to get out. This is a rather profound way of looking at things.
5. The idea of placing an extreme emphasis on how the world views the United States most certainly should be tempered by knowing who it is that respond unfavorably. If the countries who respond unfavorably are dictatorships, socialists, communist, or any other 'ists', we as a country should be proud that they don't approve.

Should the United States be concerned about the opinion of other countries of the world? Perhaps interested, but certainly not concerned. I think instead we should be concerned about what is driving our own citizens to have an overwhelming need to be 'liked' by the world.

Datadiver