Over Four Years Later..........

...............I decided to finally write another post.  It's been an interesting few years, to say the least, and I make no promises that I'll blog again "full time".  It's just too time-consuming, and there is too much going on in life for me to devote all that much time to this (not that anyone is paying much attention, anyway!).  Let's see, where to start?  Well, for one thing, I am no longer a resident of the Garden State.  Last year, I moved from New Jersey to Florida.  Timing is everything, and I'm missing the worst winter in my old state in close to 20 years.  Still, I really miss my friends and the familiar sights from my old stomping grounds, and I wish that all of those friends were down here with me.  Love the weather down here, but I have to say, southern hospitality is largely a myth.  Yeah, sure, the people are friendly to your face, but that's about the extent of it. We've been here for eight months, and no "real" friends yet.

What else?  After 15+ years at my old firm, I left that job in April of 2010, and went to a firm that specialized in commercial litigation, bankruptcy and foreclosure work.  I don't know that that was such a great decision on my part.  In any case, I left THAT job in June of last year, before moving down here and taking a new job doing what I used to do at my old firm. So far, so good, as far as that's concerned.

Politically, I have done the proverbial "about face".  I left the Republican Party in 2012, mainly because I couldn't stand its positions on social issues or guns.  Very simply, I am "pro-choice" when it comes to abortion.  While I am personally opposed to abortion, I do not believe that I have a right to enforce that belief on anyone, and I don't think that the government should be in the business of banning it, as many Republicans seem to want.  I am also pro gay marriage.  Basically, if two people love each other, what business is it of mine to tell them that they shouldn't get married? Go, be happy--it has no effect on my life if two homosexuals tie the knot.  On guns, well, the Republicans seem to be completely beholden to the NRA. I am NOT a fan of that organization.  Maybe it's my Canadian upbringing, but I think that the prevalence of guns in the United States, and abject failure of our legislators to do anything about the level of violence that flows from these guns is completely unacceptable.  I had thought that maybe the massacre of 26 people, including 20 children, in Newtown, Connecticut, in December of 2012 might represent an opportunity for real change, but even that didn't do anything to change the attitudes of our government officials.  Hell, they couldn't even agree on background checks, which is something that the NRA itself favoured as recently as a decade ago (like the Republicans themselves, the NRA has grown more radicalized over the past decade).

And, then we get to the unemployed, for whom the Republicans, at least at the national level, seem to have utter contempt.  Full disclosure:  My wife lost her full-time job near the end of 2012, and was ardently looking for work from that point on.  While she looked, she collected unemployment benefits, but yes, she never stopped looking for jobs.  Unfortunately, she didn't get one (though I'm happy to say that she now has a job, and an exciting one at that).  In late December, her unemployment benefits were cut off, leaving us in a very precarious position financially.  We rode it out, but it for January and much of this month, until she landed her job, it was truly "touch and go" for us as to whether we would be able to make it.  Those benefits were the only "buffer" for us, and yet when they ran out, the Republicans started playing games............at least where they weren't expressing outright contempt for those who were collecting them (I won't forget or forgive Rand Paul for his asinine comments that the people collecting those benefits were "lazy".  Yeah right, Senator, because my wife WANTED to make 70% less than she was when she had a job.).  They demanded that before they would agree to a three-month extension, the extension had to be "paid for" (i.e., extending them would not add to the absurdly large and still-growing deficit).  That had never before been a demand when any benefits program was extended or enacted, but fair enough, with the deficit being as large as it is, I can understand that.  To their credit, the Democrats figured out a way to do it, and then the Senate Republicans STILL wouldn't let it come to a vote.  Bottom line, the Republicans don't want anyone to get these benefits.  Period.  Well, screw them.  This has a real world impact, and people are now losing their homes, or getting evicted, etc., because of this decision.  That was the final straw for me.

So, where do we stand now? I'm not a Republican anymore, but I'm not a Democrat, either, mainly because the Obama Administration's foreign policy is so horrendous that I can't ever see myself supporting it.  That foreign policy can best be summed up as follows:  Treat your friends/allies like crap and treat your enemies with deference.  So, that's why we have the Administration sucking up to Iran, letting Syria gas its own people and treating Israel and the UK with utter contempt (if not outright hostility).

I suppose that going forward, I'll pick and choose the people for whom I vote based on how they stand on various issues.  I don't really know what else to do.  I'll save the sports commentary for another post.............

It's been a while

Blogging has been light of late as I take care of issues at work and at home. Sorry about that. Here are some random thoughts about what has been rattling through my pea-sized brain over the last few weeks.

1) That "cease fire" in Gaza has really worked out well for Israel, hasn't it? Only one side has ceased firing (that would be Israel), while rockets and mortars still get launched regularly from Israel. Gilad Shalit is still a hostage, and the public opprobrium against the Jewish state has if anything increased--we now have the spectacle of possible "war crimes" trials starting in Spain against Israeli leaders and officials. Funny how no one on the left seems very concerned about what Hamas did (and is continuing to do). Well, something will change in the next few days, if only because Israel is about to hold an election. Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party currently holds a slim lead, but Ehud Olmert's Kadima Party is rapidly closing the gap. Given Olmert's miserable leadership over the last 3+ years, I have to wonder what Israelis are thinking, but maybe this is more a commentary on the opposition that he is facing.

And we thought that it was bad over here?

2) It's old news now, but the Pittsburgh Steelers won their sixth Super Bowl title eight days ago with a 27-23 come-from-behind win over the Arizona Cardinals. After a fairly dull first three quarters of the game (with the notable exception of James Harrison's 100-yard interception return for a touchdown to end the first half), the fourth quarter featured 23 points, two lead changes and Ben Roethlisberger stamping his name among the great Super Bowl quarterbacks with a defining 88-yard touchdown drive that rivaled any done by Montana, Elway or the other NFL greats.

Here are some interesting Super Bowl Facts: The Cowboys and 49ers have five apiece. The Patriots, Raiders, Packers, Giants and Redskins each have three. That means that a total of eight franchises have won 31 of the 43 Super Bowls played, leaving the other 24 franchises to share the other 12 titles. When you add in Miami's two titles and Denver's pair, that means that the other 22 franchises have combined to win eight titles.

3) The Montreal Canadiens of 2008-2009 are officially the "Hab-Nots". As readers of this blog, I am a die-hard Montreal Canadiens fan. I grew up in Montreal, and being a Habs fan is in my blood. But, this year's team is as dislikeable as any team in recent memory, because it is wildly inconsistent and, more importantly, the players as a group seem to not even care if they win or lose. Right now, the Canadiens are lollygagging in fifth place in the conference, playing well below their potential, and not even within shouting distance of the first place Boston Bruins. In fact, even making the playoffs is lock for this collection of underachieving stiffs. In a year which had so much in the way of expectation, compounded with it being the 100th anniversary of the team, that is simply unacceptable. There will be blood in the streets of Montreal (figuratively speaking, of course) if that happens.........

4) The Iranians have for the first time launched a satellite into orbit. Yes, yes, I know that this is no ICBM, and that the technology used to launch is closer to that which the Russians used to launch Sputnik into space 52 years ago, but the fact that they did it is worrisome to say the least. I know that it won't make a bit of difference to the Obama Administration in its rush to "engage" with the Mullahs who run the Islamic theocracy, but this is a warning shot across our bow, and it is especially troubling--or, it should be, anyway--to Israeli leaders. Iran is not launching satellites and pursuing nuclear technology because it has nothing else to do. There is an end-game for the Iranians, and that end game will, if the Iranians have their way, involve a direct military confrontation with Israel and then the United States. Like it or not, Israel is the canary in the coal mine here, and the Iranians are going to gauge how we will react to its actions by how we respond to what it does vis-a-vis Israel.

5) There are reports out that New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids (A-Roid?) in 2003, when he was still with the Texas Rangers, leading a friend to e-mail this to me:

TEXAS RANGERS' ALL-JUICED TEAM

It goes from the position to the player and how they are linked to steroid use:

CF
Gary Matthews Jr.
Mitchell Report
C
Pudge Rodriguez
Teammate allegation
SS
Alex Rodriguez
Media report
RF
Juan Gonzalez
Teammate allegation
1B
Rafael Palmeiro
Tested positive
3B
Ken Caminiti
Acknowledged
DH
David Segui
Acknowledged
2B
Randy Velarde
Mitchell Report
LF
Chad Allen
Mitchell Report

A-Rod of course is the biggest "fish" to be linked to steroid use since Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. He is also the most prominent player on the most prominent franchise in the sport. I guess that if you needed another reason to cheer against the Yankees, here it is.

6) Being an Obama government appointee doesn't mean never having to say you're sorry. What it does apparently mean is that you don't have to pay your taxes (those same taxes that Vice-President Biden told us it is patriotic for us to pay--I guess that Tim Geithner, Tom Daschle and Nancy Killefer aren't very patriotic). The MSM has reported on the story, which has led Daschle and Killefer to withdraw their names from consideration. However, the inevitable tone of the reports has been to complain about Republican opposition to confirming these individuals. You can be sure that if this had been a Republican President seeking to name his/her government officials, this would have been Page One, above-the-fold headlines in virtually every newspaper in the country for days on end. MSNBC would probably have devoted at least one specific show to the story every day...........

7) On Saturday, January 31, I took the oldest BHG child to his first ever Hockey game in Montreal for his tenth birthday. I have to say, even as ticked off as I am at the team this season, there is no sporting environment--none whatsoever--which equals watching a Montreal Canadiens game live in Montreal. The Canadiens won the game 4-3 over the Los Angeles Kings by scoring two goals in the final two minutes of the game. He now has a memory that will hopefully last him a lifetime, and the best thing about it is, so do I................

8) The Australian Open tends to be the least regarded of Tennis' four "Majors", but I always try to watch at least some of it. On the men's side, Rafael Nadal stamped himself as the clear #1 in the world with an impressive five-set victory over Roger Federer. Last year, we witnessed Nadal take two of the four Majors, including the monumental five-set win over Federer at Wimbledon in what many are already calling the greatest tennis match ever. Down Under, they went five sets again, and Nadal emerged victorious one more time. He now has a 5-2 record against Federer in the Majors, and he has proven to be Federer's superior on clay (where he never loses. Period.), grass and hardcourt. He also has six Major titles, and even assuming that Federer does as expected break Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles (he's only one away), one has to wonder how long that record will last anyway. Nadal is still in his early twenties, and his best tennis may still be ahead of him.

On the women's side, we saw what happens when Serena Williams is serious about playing tennis. When she is, she wins Majors. Nobody else on the women's side can play with her when she is focused. She now has 10 Major titles, and while I don't think that she'll catch Steffie Graf's record of 19, she may come close.

President Obama

It is official; Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States a few minutes after noon today. The Bush Administration is no more. I thought that President Obama's Inauguration Speech was masterful. To use a baseball cliche, he "hit a home run". Now, we will see if his actions match up with his soaring rhetoric.

I may dismay or anger some of my fellow conservatives, but I'm going to give him a chance, a chance that the left in this country NEVER gave President George W. Bush. Even now, now that President Bush is an "ex-President", the left's hatred for him endures, and if anything, is intensifying. I'm on Facebook and have about 260 "Facebook friends". A fair number of those people are on the left politically, and as I scroll through their status updates, I can't help but be struck by how mean-spirited and even vicious their comments are. Certainly, they are entitled to be gleeful that their candidate won the Presidency, but can't they exhibit SOME graciousness?

I know, I know, this is something that the left never showed during the eight years of the Bush 43 Administration--hey, for all you morons who kept screaming that "Bush is a fascist", blah, blah, blah, how do you explain that your candidate is now the President? And to those who loudly and insistently proclaim that President George W. Bush is "the worst President ever", I would only remind you that one James Earl Carter held the Presidency from 1977-1981. The angry comments about President Bush show historical ignorance that is simply unforgivable. As far left as my late mother was politically, she was a Nazi refugee, and she would have told the left in this country what REAL fascism was like.

In any event, and to come full circle, I truly do wish President Obama success. It's what would be best for all of us, like it or not. Time will tell over the next four years what kind of President he will be..................

Where will this go?

After more or less non-stop rocket attacks from Hamas up through the entire "ceasefire", and then a sharp increase after that non-existent "ceasefire" ended, Israel has apparently finally had enough: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,473408,00.html. Hundreds have died (the MSM won't tell you this, but most have been Hamas officials, soldiers, leaders, etc.). The Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which can hardly be considered hawkish, believes that Israel had little choice and that Hamas badly miscalculated by continuing to push Israel: http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050405.html.

So, the questions are, where do we go from here? Is Israel determined to really hammer Hamas this time? Is part of its goal the freeing of Gilad Shalit, who has been a prisoner for over two years? Will this spread beyond Gaza? Iran has already said that it is the "sacred duty" of every Muslim to defend Gaza. Libya's Moammar Khaddafy has screeched that the Arab response to the "Israeli aggression" has been cowardly. On the other hand, Hezbollah has said "Thanks, but no thanks" to requests that it open a northern front. Egypt has laid the blame for what is going on squarely at the feet of Hamas.

I'm not sure where this will end up, but I do know that the cowardly members of the U.N. Security Council, who have demanded that Israel call off the dogs, would never put up with a neighbour launching rockets at their cities, regardless of whether anyone died or not. But, when it comes to Israel, that seems perfectly acceptable to them. Then again, dead or injured Jews never bother anyone at the U.N., do they?

I truly hope that Israel finishes the job this time. How will we know that Israel has done so? When no more rockets fall on Sderot, Netivot, Ashdod, Ashkelon or any other Israeli town or city. We all know that Israel is going to be condemned no matter what it does, so it may as well do what it has to do to protect its own people. Nobody else is going to do it for them, and with the Obama Administration almost certain to adopt a more pro-Arab foreign policy, Israel had better get the job done now...........

Barack Obama, President-Elect

It's over now. Barack Obama decisively won yesterday's Presidential Election, as I predicted months ago would be the case. As of this morning, he has 349 electoral college votes to 162 for John McCain, with Missouri and North Carolina still in the balance. Obama's victory was decisive--he captured every swing state that he contested; Virginia, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Colorado, Florida and turned states that weren't supposed to be swing states into ones that John McCain had to defend (eg., North Carolina). He won 52% of the popular vote, become the first Democrat to capture that high a percentage since LBJ in 1964. This was no fluke and it was no upset.

So, the question becomes "Now what?", not only for the Republicans but for the country in general. The Republicans have been given a thorough beating in this election. In addition to the Presidency, they lost 20 House seats. They have lost at least five Senate seats, with several still being decided. The RNC needs to examine its strategy as to what it did wrong here, because it can't all just be blamed on Bush 43 or the economy. The primary process itself needs to be evaluated, because forcing people to constantly appease certain interest groups obviously isn't working.

As far as the country is concerned, well, I've been pondering the question as to how I feel about this. I just posted an entry about 40 minutes ago or so on Little Green Footballs where I said that I wasn't sure what to think. My initial thought was "Obama won, so he's MY President, too", but then I thought about all the comments I have heard from people on the left over the past eight years about how Bush 43 was not their President, and it gave me pause. I don't know if that type of thinking is helpful, but I certainly understand it now.

I guess that I'll end by saying this: President-Elect Obama is going to have a tough road down which he will have to travel to earn my confidence. He has made many promises, and I don't know how he'll be able to keep them. But, I'll be watching to see if he does. And, if he DOES keep them (without hiking my taxes to absurd levels or bankrupting the country), I'll give him credit. If he doesn't, I'll certainly point it out, and I'll keep my eyes on the prize, which is the next General Election, in November, 2012..........

Why I think that it's (almost) over

The fat lady may not have started to sing for the McCain-Palin Presidential campaign, but it appears as though she has finished warming up and is waiting just offstage. Tracking polls are giving the Obama-Biden campaign a nearly insurmountable delegate lead: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_vs_mccain/?map=5. Most of the so-called toss-up states are leaning the Democrats' way. As well, it looks to be more or less certain the Republicans will lose even more seats in the Senate and the House. While it is unlikely that the the Democrats will get to the 60+ seats they need for a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate (they're going to come very close, though), they will add to their majority in the House of Represntatives, probably by at least 10-15 seats.

Republicans will talk for years about this election the same way our grandparents talked about the 1932 election.................

Vice-Presidential Debate Recap

I watched the debate last night between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden from beginning to end, and then flipped channels watching the various pundits and talking heads babble about who they thought had "won" the debate. Surprisingly, there was a consensus, albeit a weak one, that Sarah Palin may have won. I didn't see it that way at all--in my mind, the floundering McCain campaign needed a sharp boost from a strong Palin performance, and that's not what I saw last night. Rather, I thought that she was evasive, to the point of occasionally being stubborn in her refusal to answer the questions which were put to her. Now, Joe Biden had the same problem at times, but let's not forget, Barack Obama and he are in the lead. They didn't need a great showing last night. Coming out of the debate where they were when they went in was good enough for them, and that's exactly what happened.

The only explanation I have for the perception that Sarah Palin may have won might be that expectations of her were so low that she couldn't help but exceed them. Ultimately, I think that she needed to clean Biden's clock last night for John McCain's campaign to regain the momentum, and she didn't accomplish that.

This ought to scare everyone

It sure scares me. There are reports that at least some of the pirates who commandeered that Iranian arms ship have become ill with what seems to be signs of radiation poisoning: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,430681,00.html. If so, that means that the Iranians are apparently in the business of exporting things that could clearly be used in terrorist attacks (likely against us or our allies). If so, the Iranians have gone way over the line from just being a hostile adversary. They are now bordering on something much more ominous and dangerous, not only for us but for the world at large. Maybe someone should pass this information on to Barack Obama, seeing as he wants to sit down and sing kumbaya with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad......

Trashing Sarah Palin, part 2,398,050,572,375

The MSM is nothing if not relentless, so I guess that the latest attack on Sarah Palin shouldn't be a surprise. Now, it's going after her foreign policy experience, screeching that she has only negotiated with one country, Canada: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081001/ap_on_el_pr/palin_foreign_policy. Well, first of all, given that Canada is by far the largest trading partner for the United States, that's kind of a big deal. Second, I don't recall seeing similar attacks on Bill Clinton when he ran for the Presidency, and I am fairly certain that President Peanut Farmer's credentials weren't scrutinized this way in 1976. Third, she's NOT at the top of her party's Presidential ticket; John McCain is. Fourth, what is Barack Obama's experience in this area? Other than his "world tour" this past summer, it's not too impressive.

Nope, no bias at all, just keep moving along, nothing to see here................

Come again?

Representative Alcee Hastings, a Democrat from Florida, offered Jewish voters in Florida a "good" reason not to vote for the McCain-Palin ticket, which is that she's a moose-hunter: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/24/florida-congressman-points-to-palin-to-rally-jews-to-obama/. Here is the one quote that jumped out at me: “Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through.”

Is Hastings suggesting that Sarah Palin would go hunting Jews and Blacks? What in the world is he trying to say here?

Presidential Debate #1

Last night, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama had the first of their three debates. Frankly, I thought that both came across well. McCain kept true to his theme that Obama lacked the experience and wisdom necessary to be the President, Obama responded by arguing that for all of his supposed judgment, McCain had come down on the wrong side of many issues. Both scored points, but neither delivered a knockout blow. Media reports are all over the place; some have McCain as the winner (http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=PluckPersona&U=3a86a5c341684631abb59d87c02a2df8&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3a3a86a5c341684631abb59d87c02a2df8Post%3aec9d034f-e49d-4a39-9420-976a206ad4a6&plckCommentSortOrder=TimeStampAscending&sid=sitelife.desmoinesregister.com), others saw an Obama win (http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1845114,00.html).

Here's the problem for John McCain: He trails in the polls, and more importantly, he trails in the majority of the so-called battleground states of Ohio, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico, Colorado, Virginia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. In those states where he is leading, i is generally within the margin of error and he has not made any inroads into any of the leads that Obama has held in those states where the Democratic nominee is leading. In fact, Obama has been slowly but steadily increasing his leads.

So, ultimately, John McCain can't afford ties in the debates. He needs wins. BIG wins. Last night, his first chance to get one went by the boards. Now, the attention will turn to next Thursday's Vice-Presidential debate. The bump that Sarah Palin gave the Republican ticket has worn off, and this will be her first real chance to try to regain the momentum. Given the way the campaign is playing out, this could very well represent the last, best chance for the Republicans to keep the White House in 2009.

So, it's racism again.....

Let's be honest about this. Is there a segment of the American population who will never vote for Barack Obama under any circumstances because he is Black? Absolutely. However many people that may be, it is too many. Of course, the flip side of that question, one that never seems to receive any attention at all, is why Obama has essentially completely locked up the African American vote, and no one at all is calling them racist for supporting Obama purely based on his race.

That said, I have another question: Why is is that for all of the cries of racism, it is only the left that seems to be obsessed with it: http://www.progressive.org/mag/comment1008.html. I have plenty of friends and acquaintances on both the left on the right, and it is inevitably those on the left who bring up the subject of race, who focus on it, and who preemptively blame their candidate's loss next month (as an FYI, I think that Obama is going to win, but that's neither here nor there) on racism. To me, this is a sign of a defective mind, one that cannot debate ideas, policies or candidates on their merits, so it must fall back on shrill, bitter claims that the adversary is evil. It's pathetic, frankly.

Actions speak louder than words

Barack Obama claims to support Israel, but very simply, I don't trust him. Look at his foreign policy team, which originally included Samantha Power and Robert Malley, two prominent anti-Israel academics. They were forced to resign when their presence on the Obama team became a source of embarrassment to the Democratic Presidential candidate. Now, we have Zbigniew Brzezinski, a steady critic of Israel (and the former Secretary of State under President Peanut Farmer) who has recently spoken out in defense of the Walt & Mearsheimer screed claiming that those nefarious Jews were manipulating American foreign policy for their own ends: http://www.nysun.com/national/dershowitz-obama-should-repudiate-brzezinski/62439/. Funny how Brzezinski , who asserted that the Israeli military was engaging in actions that amounted to "killing hostages" in the Second Lebanon War in 2006, seems to have absolutely problem with the Saudis or other Arab states lobbying the U.S. government.

In any event, Senator Obama seems to have this unfortunate tendency of associating himself with people who don't like Israel too much (does the name Jeremiah Wright ring a bell to anyone?), so I really have to wonder how any supporter of Israel can at the same time support him?

Once again, I'm a racist

The attacks grow ever more strident as Barack Obama supporters decry anyone who would dare vote against their candidate as being a racist: http://www.vindy.com/news/2008/sep/16/democrats-accuse-locals-of-being-racist-toward/. I'd love to say that this is an isolated incident, but the truth of the matter is that the very converse is true. I'm frankly sick of being told that there can be no reason to oppose Barack Obama's candidacy other than racism. It's wrong, and only people who can't argue intellectually with their adversaries would make this argument. So, why do Democrats keep doing it?

Greed is good! Greed is right!

I remember that line from Gordon Geckko's speech to stockholders in the movie "Wall Street", and it seems particularly prophetic as I (and everyone else in the United States) ponder Wall Street's collapse over the past week, and in a more specific sense, the failures over recent months of Bear Stearns, AIG, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, FannieMae, FeddieMac, etc., etc., etc.: http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/. Here are some numbers for one and all to ponder: The Dow Jones Industrial Average ("DJIA"), which is considered by virtually everyone to be the bellweather for the health of the stock market, closed yesterday at 10,609.66, dropping almost 450 points. This followed Monday's 500+ point drop. On October 9, 2007, the DJIA closed at 14,164.53, its all-time high. After yesterday's close, it has dropped in value since that date by 3,554.87 points, or 25.1% (and those figures are even worse overseas), and that's despite the government pouring almost half a TRILLION dollars into the market to rescue some of those failed corporations. Like so many others, I have a 401(k) plan. That means that my investments--my FUTURE--are worth that much less today than they were 11 months ago. Given that so many people in the country have similar plans, that goes for them, too.

So, the inevitable question becomes, "Who is to blame for this mess?". To me, the answer is "All of us." At the risk of offending my conservative brethren, we overly deregulated in the late 1990s (thanks to a Republican Congress and a Democratic President). We the people over-leveraged our properties. Our banks got caught up in the property speculation boom and lent money to people who never should have received loans and then were shocked when those people couldn't repay the loans. The Federal Reserve pursued (in my opinion) a borderline idiotic policy regarding interest rates, making it far too easy for people to obtain loans that as noted above they could not repay. SOME CEO's (not all) looted their companies and then took golden parachutes as the company's employees were left hanging when the companies failed. We all followed Gordon Geckko's mantra; Greed is good, greed is right........

Ultimately, the situation will iron itself out--it always does. However, the road back will be long, painful, and it will be years for the market to recover the ground lost since October of last year. That said, here's what I want out of our "leaders" in Washington: SHUT UP. Stop the posturing. Stop the finger-pointing. This isn't a Democratic problem. It isn't a Republican problem. It is an AMERICAN problem. Do your jobs and work for us. Figure this out. Or, am I asking too much of them?

Very well said

Somebody by the name of Joseph Epstein has a fascinating piece on what it is like to the that most incongruous of people, a Jewish Republican: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122143719228934301.html?mod=djemEditorialPage. He's right, too. Other than perhaps African Americans, no group is identified more with the Democratic Party than Jews, going back to the days of Franking Delano Roosevelt.

The thing is, that Democratic Party is not today's party, which has taken a fairly sharp turn to the left and which is now home to many people who don't hold what I would call "Traditional Jewish Interests". For example, Jews are high achievers, by and large, yet the Democrats stridently support quotas which have the effect, albeit unintended, of keeping them out of certain positions. Jews support Israel by an overwhelming majority, yet the Democratic Party is home to the President Peanut Farmer ("Israel is an apartheid state!") and the denizens of the Daily Kos and Moveon.org, who regularly and loudly villify Israel in the most vile language.

Those are but two examples, and I don't know that anyone will agree with either Mr. Epstein or myself, but it's interesting nonetheless.

Some political humour

Ice Fishing

The Presidential election was too close to call. Neither the Republican candidate nor the Democratic candidate had enough votes to win. There was much talk about ballot recounting, court challenges, etc., but a week-long ice fishing competition seemed the sportsmanlike way to settle things. The candidate that caught the most fish at the end of the week would win the election.

Therefore, it was decided that there should be an ice fishing contest between the two candidates to determine the winner.

After much of back and forth discussion, it was decided that the contest take place on a remote frozen lake in northern Minnesota .There were to be no observers present, and both men were to be sent out separately on this isol ated lake and return at 5 P.M. with their catch for counting and verification by a team of neutral parties. At the end of the first day, McCain. returned to the starting line and he had ten fish.Soon, Obama returned and had no fish. Well, everyone assumed he was just having another 'bad hair' day or something and hopefully, he would catch up the next day.

At the end of the 2nd day McCain. came in with 20 fish and Obama came in again with none.

That evening, Harry Reid got together secretly with Obama and said, 'Obama, I think McCain. is a low-life, cheatin' son-of-a-gun. I want you to go out tomorrow and don't even bother with fishing. Just spy on him and see just how he is cheating.'

The next night (after McCain. returns with 30 fish), Reid said to Obama, '"Well, tell me, how is McCain. cheating?'Obama replied, 'Harry, you're not going to believe this, but he's cutting holes in the ice ! '

Experience Counts.

Twice the reason to not care!

Bob Barr, the former Republican Congressman from Georgia who is now running for President under the Libertarian banner, has asked current Republican Congressman and one-time candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination to be his Vice-Presidential candidate: http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/09/10/barr_paul_veep.html. I only care about this story to this extent--Barr and Paul will inevitably draw some voters away from John McCain. The question is, will they do so in enough numbers to flip some states over to the Democrats? Of course, the flip side of that question is, will Ralph Nader do the same thing for the Republicans?

And how many electoral college votes do they have?

A BBC-commissioned survery of some 22,500 people in 22 countries across the world found that those polled overwhelmingly favoured Barack Obama over John McCain: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7606100.stm. Well, well, well, what a shocking development THAT is! Obama would defer to everyone, so why wouldn't those living in other countries like that in a U.S. President? The problem is, he's elected to represent US, not THEM. Ultimately, they have no stake in this election. They won't be the ones paying the taxes or the consequences of his policies. So, at the risk of sounding arrogant, I really don't care what they think.

Like he has a clue

Ron Reagan, Jr., has opined that his father, the late President, would not have backed a ticket on which Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was a candidate: http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=74558. Of course, there is no way to know that for sure, but something tells me that Junior has no clue what his father would have done. After all, Ron Reagan, Jr., is unquestionably a Democrat, and his view of things is slightly skewed, to say the least.