1. Buy low, sell high (duh)
2. Gold is HIGHER right now than it's been in my lifetime
3. So do NOT buy gold right now
Which, of course, means Glenn Beck truly is full of shit! But how many people are going out and actually BUYING gold right now? I know... I know... I might as well ask how many people are idiots. Anyhoo, an ad in the back of the VFW magazine caught my eye with a title similar to the one of this post and I just had to get this off my chest. You'd think an organization like VFW would be a little more careful about taking money from advertisers trying to swindle money from their clientele. But WTF do I know? I'm foolish enough to believe people will actually apply logic to things like this.
Luth
Out
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
but still... ya gotta vote!
Lest the subtitle of this 'blog fool you into thinking otherwise, you HAVE to vote. It is not just a right of citizenship, it is your duty.
Ya wanna know reason numero uno why politicians don't respond to their constituents these days? Cuz they don't have to! Only 40% of us bother voting for them, so what do they have to lose?
Next Tuesday, get off your asses and vote. I don't care if you vote like I do or not, just do it. Until we consistently show up in FAR greater numbers than we have in my lifetime, we'll never have any control over what these bastards are up to. Until we give them reason to fear us, they'll just continue with their own agendas.
And if you don't vote, don't bitch - just shut the hell up and deal with the results, cuz what we have these days is because of lazy hypocrites just like you! I'll actually be out of town next Tuesday, so Mrs. HorsePoup and I got up early on a Saturday and drove all the way to the board of elections in our county to make our voices heard. There were no lines. There was no waiting. Grandma HorsePoup got a ballot mailed to her and voted in the comfort of her home, where she had plenty of time, and a newspaper to consult if she wanted.
We can't make it any easier and there are no excuses. Even if you believe Obama should've been able to reverse two terms of horribly reckless fiscal policy in his first two years, even if you believe the party of NO hasn't blocked progress enough already, even if you're dumb enough to believe Gov. Strickland caused, rather than inherited a tanked economy and the highest unemployment since the Reagan era, I still want you to vote.
As Americans, we've been voting uninformed for years. That doesn't frighten at all compared to how scary our unaccountable politicians might become if our voter turn out drops even lower. Think they don't listen now? Then go ahead and surf the couch next Tuesday instead of stopping by the polls after "job hunting." If our turn out gets any lower, the current class will likely vote themselves 100% raises and extend their terms indefinitely cuz they know only 25% of us even give a shit.
I know it's only a mid-term election... no president to vote for or anything exciting like that, but next Tuesday is the day. Get off your butt and vote.
Luth
Out
Ya wanna know reason numero uno why politicians don't respond to their constituents these days? Cuz they don't have to! Only 40% of us bother voting for them, so what do they have to lose?
Next Tuesday, get off your asses and vote. I don't care if you vote like I do or not, just do it. Until we consistently show up in FAR greater numbers than we have in my lifetime, we'll never have any control over what these bastards are up to. Until we give them reason to fear us, they'll just continue with their own agendas.
And if you don't vote, don't bitch - just shut the hell up and deal with the results, cuz what we have these days is because of lazy hypocrites just like you! I'll actually be out of town next Tuesday, so Mrs. HorsePoup and I got up early on a Saturday and drove all the way to the board of elections in our county to make our voices heard. There were no lines. There was no waiting. Grandma HorsePoup got a ballot mailed to her and voted in the comfort of her home, where she had plenty of time, and a newspaper to consult if she wanted.
We can't make it any easier and there are no excuses. Even if you believe Obama should've been able to reverse two terms of horribly reckless fiscal policy in his first two years, even if you believe the party of NO hasn't blocked progress enough already, even if you're dumb enough to believe Gov. Strickland caused, rather than inherited a tanked economy and the highest unemployment since the Reagan era, I still want you to vote.
As Americans, we've been voting uninformed for years. That doesn't frighten at all compared to how scary our unaccountable politicians might become if our voter turn out drops even lower. Think they don't listen now? Then go ahead and surf the couch next Tuesday instead of stopping by the polls after "job hunting." If our turn out gets any lower, the current class will likely vote themselves 100% raises and extend their terms indefinitely cuz they know only 25% of us even give a shit.
I know it's only a mid-term election... no president to vote for or anything exciting like that, but next Tuesday is the day. Get off your butt and vote.
Luth
Out
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Money Equals Speech...
...but not for "games of skill" prizes in Ohio. So, my lawyer friends, explain this to me. When it comes to campaign contributions, the U.S. Supreme Court says money does in fact equal speech, and as such can't be limited without violating the constitution. However, the Ohio Supreme Court says when it comes to prizes awarded for a single "game of skill," this particular form of speech must be limited to $10.
Far be it from me to argue in favor of anything that might make gambling more enticing, but what's the difference? Why can't the owners of these increasingly ubiquitous storefront gambling operations exercise their "speech" the same way anonymous corporate donors get to exercise theirs during campaign time? I read somewhere that anonymous donors from all over the world are spending record amounts to influence Ohio's elections. (Repubs outspending Dems 7-1, for whatever that's worth) So why can't Ohio business owners spend more than $10 on a prize? Wouldn't this prize be a form of congratulations i.e. speech? And where are all the free-market, smaller-government, pro-business supporters to support these businessmen/women? What's wrong, exactly, with offering a bigger prize... especially if that prize (cash) has already been defined as speech by the U.S. Supreme Court?
Speaking of pro-business people and questions I'm having trouble answering as the elections approach, what is it Jim Renacci wants to provide for my congressional district? I mean, I've seen all the campaign talk - a flyer promising he'll protect my gun rights, commercials promising he'll support Ohio businesses, but what is it he's actually going to do. We all know that outside the context of a campaign, campaign speeches, commericals, flyers don't really mean much. If we go by past behavior, all I can figure is that when he says he supports businesses, what he really means is he ignores his constituents. The two things that stand out in my mind are two heated eminent domain decisions made in Wadsworth during, or shortly after his term as mayor there, and a vote by the city's electric linemen to unionize during his term.
I can see how the eminent domain decisions allowing Wal-Mart and CVS to evict property owners could be viewed as pro-business, or at last pro Wal-Mart and pro CVS, but what of the thousands of residents who voiced clear and strong opinions that the property owners evicted were more important to Wadsworth than a new Wal-Mart or a newly relocated CVS? If Renacci believes government should leave business alone, then why was he, as mayor, so involved in these businesses getting their way in Wadsworth?
As for the unionized electric linemen, they'd voted against unionizing for years until the mayor's business-ization of the city left them with no say in their operation - they who climb poles in storms to restore half-price power to city residents in less time than it takes for an Ohio Edison customer to even report an outage-drove them to finally give in to their union's bargaining power. I believe they're the first department in the city's history to unionize, and it wasn't a decision they came to easily.
Then there's that empty stretch of road that used to be Wadsworth's own little "auto mile," and which once included Renacci-Doraty Chevrolet - the dealership he bought from convicted money-launderer, Mickey Miller. Renacci claims he put up the good fight with GM to keep it open, and then he blamed Obama for closing it. I'm going out on a limb here to guess that the employees of that dealership lost a lot more in that deal than Renacci did.
Based on what I'm able to put together from all of this, what I guess Renacci means when he says he supports business is he supports that which makes him richer. And that's cool. We're capitalists after all, but I know plenty of pro-business people who have managed to survive these tough economic times without padding their own pockets at the expense of or with absolutely no regard for their employees. Renacci says he wants to bring jobs back to Ohio, but from what I can see, his only interest in creating jobs is creating wealth for himself...with absolutely no regard for, and quite possibly at the expense of, those who actually do the work of those jobs. Seems to be a theme.
The bigger theme that he and his ilk are foisting on us during this campaign is this myth that government would be better run like a business... by businessmen. I'm all for more responsible fiscal policy - seriously, it's the one area where I might even lean a little to the right, but there's simply no truth to the notion that government, which is clearly different than business- should be run more like a business. If Ohio's history doesn't demonstrate that, then perhaps our nation's pro-business handling of the banking industry should. (One might also compare Wadsworth's Electric and Communications services and prices to Ohio Edison and Time Warner's for another example.) Government has regulatory responsibility. Businesses don't. Ohio's government has responsibility for funding education, Ohio businesses don't. The so-called businessmen who ran Ohio for the past 30 years mismanaged education funds (and the general fund too for that matter) even while everyone else got rich. And the first governor to pay any more than lip service to righting three decades of wrongs came into office during the worst economy (note - "came into office during," NOT "created") since the Great Depression. We owe it to him to see past the "get rid of all the incumbents" BS and see what he can pull off as we continue to climb out of the economy our current leaders inherited from their "pro-business" predecessors.
Speaking of education funding. If there's one area where we can tackle jobs, the economy, and slipping test scores all in one swoop, it's getting behind our public schools. No business yet has come up with a solution to educate every Ohio student the way Ohio's public schools have. Anecdotal evidence from a handful of private or religious schools whose roles are filled with the top students prove only that good students beget good schools. Public schools don't have the luxury of kicking out less than profitable students, low performers, or kids whose parents aren't even remotely involved. Ohio's schools, like all schools have some issues, but there's simply no better alternative for most Ohio students. A for-profit education system will never be able to serve the range and number of students like our public system has. It needs help and Gov. Strickland is the first governor in over thirty years who has focused on it outside of a campaign speech. Hmm, sounds like another example of how government's responsibilities are different from, and thus require different leadership, than business.
One look at Ohio communities whose public systems are sound (and look quickly cuz even they won't last the way things are looking) tells you that jobs and good schools go together. Pick a place you'd want to live and it'll have a good school system. Parents choose to move there. Employers locate there knowing they'll have a solid workforce and a supportive, involved community - people who can afford to buy shit. The way our past "education governors" have rewarded this effort is by siphoning state education funds into the general fund to balance their budgets leaving the burden on those communities to support their school system. This violates Ohio's constitution and leaves those successful communities indirectly subsidizing communities who've given up on their school system. Talk about socialism! That's exactly what Ohio's past governors have chosen as their preferred method for school funding. It's not what our founders had in mind. It's also what critics of Strickland have accused HIM of doing... but he's the first guy who's tried to UNdo it!!
So it's time to look a little closer at the whole business argument. I'm all for good businessmen (and women) running Ohio's government, but good businessmen have integrity after the campaign ends. They consider more than just what they can take from the backs of their employees. I'm reminded of an old saying, "those who can run a business run a business, and those who can't run for office." How about we leave business to businessmen, and leave public office for those who actually want to serve the public, which, when you think about it, should include the public involved in business as well. Anyone who feels the need to separate those two, and especially those who stake their claim solely on such a separation, don't seem to have much to offer the general public.
Luth
Out
Far be it from me to argue in favor of anything that might make gambling more enticing, but what's the difference? Why can't the owners of these increasingly ubiquitous storefront gambling operations exercise their "speech" the same way anonymous corporate donors get to exercise theirs during campaign time? I read somewhere that anonymous donors from all over the world are spending record amounts to influence Ohio's elections. (Repubs outspending Dems 7-1, for whatever that's worth) So why can't Ohio business owners spend more than $10 on a prize? Wouldn't this prize be a form of congratulations i.e. speech? And where are all the free-market, smaller-government, pro-business supporters to support these businessmen/women? What's wrong, exactly, with offering a bigger prize... especially if that prize (cash) has already been defined as speech by the U.S. Supreme Court?
Speaking of pro-business people and questions I'm having trouble answering as the elections approach, what is it Jim Renacci wants to provide for my congressional district? I mean, I've seen all the campaign talk - a flyer promising he'll protect my gun rights, commercials promising he'll support Ohio businesses, but what is it he's actually going to do. We all know that outside the context of a campaign, campaign speeches, commericals, flyers don't really mean much. If we go by past behavior, all I can figure is that when he says he supports businesses, what he really means is he ignores his constituents. The two things that stand out in my mind are two heated eminent domain decisions made in Wadsworth during, or shortly after his term as mayor there, and a vote by the city's electric linemen to unionize during his term.
I can see how the eminent domain decisions allowing Wal-Mart and CVS to evict property owners could be viewed as pro-business, or at last pro Wal-Mart and pro CVS, but what of the thousands of residents who voiced clear and strong opinions that the property owners evicted were more important to Wadsworth than a new Wal-Mart or a newly relocated CVS? If Renacci believes government should leave business alone, then why was he, as mayor, so involved in these businesses getting their way in Wadsworth?
As for the unionized electric linemen, they'd voted against unionizing for years until the mayor's business-ization of the city left them with no say in their operation - they who climb poles in storms to restore half-price power to city residents in less time than it takes for an Ohio Edison customer to even report an outage-drove them to finally give in to their union's bargaining power. I believe they're the first department in the city's history to unionize, and it wasn't a decision they came to easily.
Then there's that empty stretch of road that used to be Wadsworth's own little "auto mile," and which once included Renacci-Doraty Chevrolet - the dealership he bought from convicted money-launderer, Mickey Miller. Renacci claims he put up the good fight with GM to keep it open, and then he blamed Obama for closing it. I'm going out on a limb here to guess that the employees of that dealership lost a lot more in that deal than Renacci did.
Based on what I'm able to put together from all of this, what I guess Renacci means when he says he supports business is he supports that which makes him richer. And that's cool. We're capitalists after all, but I know plenty of pro-business people who have managed to survive these tough economic times without padding their own pockets at the expense of or with absolutely no regard for their employees. Renacci says he wants to bring jobs back to Ohio, but from what I can see, his only interest in creating jobs is creating wealth for himself...with absolutely no regard for, and quite possibly at the expense of, those who actually do the work of those jobs. Seems to be a theme.
The bigger theme that he and his ilk are foisting on us during this campaign is this myth that government would be better run like a business... by businessmen. I'm all for more responsible fiscal policy - seriously, it's the one area where I might even lean a little to the right, but there's simply no truth to the notion that government, which is clearly different than business- should be run more like a business. If Ohio's history doesn't demonstrate that, then perhaps our nation's pro-business handling of the banking industry should. (One might also compare Wadsworth's Electric and Communications services and prices to Ohio Edison and Time Warner's for another example.) Government has regulatory responsibility. Businesses don't. Ohio's government has responsibility for funding education, Ohio businesses don't. The so-called businessmen who ran Ohio for the past 30 years mismanaged education funds (and the general fund too for that matter) even while everyone else got rich. And the first governor to pay any more than lip service to righting three decades of wrongs came into office during the worst economy (note - "came into office during," NOT "created") since the Great Depression. We owe it to him to see past the "get rid of all the incumbents" BS and see what he can pull off as we continue to climb out of the economy our current leaders inherited from their "pro-business" predecessors.
Speaking of education funding. If there's one area where we can tackle jobs, the economy, and slipping test scores all in one swoop, it's getting behind our public schools. No business yet has come up with a solution to educate every Ohio student the way Ohio's public schools have. Anecdotal evidence from a handful of private or religious schools whose roles are filled with the top students prove only that good students beget good schools. Public schools don't have the luxury of kicking out less than profitable students, low performers, or kids whose parents aren't even remotely involved. Ohio's schools, like all schools have some issues, but there's simply no better alternative for most Ohio students. A for-profit education system will never be able to serve the range and number of students like our public system has. It needs help and Gov. Strickland is the first governor in over thirty years who has focused on it outside of a campaign speech. Hmm, sounds like another example of how government's responsibilities are different from, and thus require different leadership, than business.
One look at Ohio communities whose public systems are sound (and look quickly cuz even they won't last the way things are looking) tells you that jobs and good schools go together. Pick a place you'd want to live and it'll have a good school system. Parents choose to move there. Employers locate there knowing they'll have a solid workforce and a supportive, involved community - people who can afford to buy shit. The way our past "education governors" have rewarded this effort is by siphoning state education funds into the general fund to balance their budgets leaving the burden on those communities to support their school system. This violates Ohio's constitution and leaves those successful communities indirectly subsidizing communities who've given up on their school system. Talk about socialism! That's exactly what Ohio's past governors have chosen as their preferred method for school funding. It's not what our founders had in mind. It's also what critics of Strickland have accused HIM of doing... but he's the first guy who's tried to UNdo it!!
So it's time to look a little closer at the whole business argument. I'm all for good businessmen (and women) running Ohio's government, but good businessmen have integrity after the campaign ends. They consider more than just what they can take from the backs of their employees. I'm reminded of an old saying, "those who can run a business run a business, and those who can't run for office." How about we leave business to businessmen, and leave public office for those who actually want to serve the public, which, when you think about it, should include the public involved in business as well. Anyone who feels the need to separate those two, and especially those who stake their claim solely on such a separation, don't seem to have much to offer the general public.
Luth
Out
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