Twisted Musings

T-SPLOST Expert Reveals It’s Not About  Transportation

Following is a quote from an AJC article concerning T-Splost. “The ARC also projects the transportation improvements will put more money in people’s pockets.” My question is whose pockets, because last I heard a tax takes money from my pockets. It seems to me like there is a lot of hyperbole and fluff regarding this tax, but are the results going to be worth it?

If it truly is so important and so self evident that we need this, then why is the referendum worded as follows “Provides for local transportation projects to create jobs and reduce traffic congestion with citizen oversight.”  The wording is obviously intended to make you think you would be foolish to not vote for it because who doesn’t want new jobs and less traffic, especially if citizens are going to provide oversight. Well friends let me know if any of you are asked to provide oversight. I sincerly doubt if I will be asked. Seems like three years ago we were told something similar on a federal level and how has that worked out for us? Well at least unemployment is almost down to what we were told it wouldn’t exceed. But I digress.

I certainly think that traffic and congestion is an issue in Atlanta and statewide, but is approving a tax with an iffy list of projects and which doesn’t return to most counties the money they put in it, the  way to go? I think not. Let’s vote No on this and rethink the issue.

I know that this is only going to apply to Georgia residents but I feel it needs to be discussed. On July 31, 2012 Georgia voters will decide on whether to implement a 10 year one percent sales tax which will be used to fund transportation related projects. I cannot remember the last time, if ever, that I voted for a new tax, and so far, I haven’t seen any reason to do so at this time.

Many things are being said about it, with a lot of it focused on making us think we are doomed if we dont pass it. Yes there are issues getting around Atlanta, and other areas in Georgia, but is a new tax the way to fix it? Furthermore, we are talking about billions of additional funds being funneled to the state, with no clear idea of where these funds are being used, and how they will be controlled. We are already at a disadvantage with other nearby states  because of our high income tax rates, and now the state wishes to increase the burden with additional sales tax. Maybe I would be more appreciative of the effort if our legislature would make some serious efforts regarding our income taxes, but that doesn’t appear to be in the cards.

Even their own website doesn’t provide a lot of comfort for those who would like a reason to vote for the tax.  T Splost Fact Sheet

Bottom line, I don’t see any reason to change my stance on not voting for new taxes. I welcome your input.

“Pelosi is a reptile – watch their eyes,”  Guess who said that. The same person that said this. “Pelosi is a criminal too – insider trader with Visa,”

No it’s not some old, white Republican declaring war on women, or some right wing fanatical Tea Party member. It is however, someone running for office. Check it out!

http://www.wnd.com/2012/06/who-said-this-pelosi-is-a-reptile/

This person is equal opportunity though, having slammed Palin in the past as well. Isn’t it amazing how hard you have to dig for something like this, but let Rush Limbaugh say the slightest thing, and it’s everywhere!

Isn’t it easy to slam “fat paychecks” and “corporate jobs” when you are the recipient of a fat paycheck yourself?

This past weekend, speaking at Oregon State University, Michelle Obama spoke to the graduating class about giving up her fat paychecks and corner office.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/washington-secrets/2012/06/michelle-obama-slaps-%E2%80%98corporate%E2%80%99-work-%E2%80%98fat-paychecks%E2%80%99/744261

I noticed she didn’t discuss giving up her law license though. I have a professional license that hasnt been job required for more than 15 years, but there is no way I would give it up…..voluntarily.

I’ts been awhile since I posted and it’s time to quit sitting around thinking about it. I know I will probably piss off some people but this years election is too important to stay on the sidelines and just hope something happens. There is so much to write about I don’t know where to begin.

Should I talke about how it’s okay to bring up how Romney maybe bullied someone in high school, but you are considered evil if you talk about Obama’s high school years, which he in his own words, said he spent in a marijuana and alcohol  daze?

Another fun item would be to discuss how Obama has apparently decided to add himself to other presidents biographies. He has actually become a part of Reagan, Johnson, and others bios.  Pretty incredible, you have to admit.

Maybe we can talk about his disdain for Romney and his Bain Capital days as a vampire sucking jobs dry. Meanwhile Obama is raising money from Wall Street, extolling the virtues of J P Morgan.

Oh so much to talk about. Where shall we begin?

Let me preface this by stating that I am a Tide fan and extremely happy about it! I was watching the countdown tonight and was thrilled when Bama was selected number two! Should they be? Maybe yes, Maybe no…but guess what, they are!!

You can complain all you want to about there shouldn’t be rematches, or there shouldn’t be teams playing that didnt play in their conference championship, but their are no rules against that. The system worked like it was supposed to work. Winners were rewarded, losers were punished, and Bama is playing for the National Championship!!!

Oh and OK State talking about you only have one loss as well. Well if you beat an unranked Iowa State then this is a moot point!

But you didn’t!

ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!

I loved the way the following article starts out. “At McDain’s Restaurant, in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, kids don’t eat free. And starting next week, they don’t get to eat at all.   Mike Vuick, owner of the Pittsburgh area eatery has just announced a ban on children under 6 at his casual dining establishment.”

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/parenting/restaurant-bans-kids-under-6-discrimination-or-smart-move-2509487/

Well Mr. Vuick, I only have one thing to say to you…”Kudos to you, sir” I applaud your decision. Many times I have gone to a restaurant and had to listen to whiny kids. If the parents dared say anything to them, they simply scream and argue back. It’s the most unbelieveable thing. I hope more establishments will follow suit.

What do you think?

Leave it to the media to ruin this moment. No one will ever confuse me for a Obama supporter. I don’t agree with his tax, health, or fiscal policies. His handling of foreign affairs is atrocious and seems to worry about appeasing others more than supporting our own country. So I was finally happy when I found out he had ordered a special forces team in to where Osama Bin Laden was purported to be hiding. The special forces, in the dark of night, crossed into Pakistan, breached the walls of  Bin Ladens hideout, broke into his house, and shot him dead. Initially it was reported that they ran into resistance before they shot Bin Laden. Now the story has evolved that he was unarmed when he was shot. The media seems to be relishing picking the story apart. So here’s where the title of my post comes in.

If Osama Bin Laden was sound asleep, and the special forces shot him then and there, I DON’T CARE! I don’t care, if he was dreaming his little Islamic terrorists dreams when the bullet entered his brain. They did a great thing, ridding this planet of his evil and it matters not to me one bit, if there was not a gun in the house. If anyone else got killed as they made their way to his bedroom…I DON’T CARE. It has even been reported that the forces captured him, then killed him. Since that is coming from his daughter, it’s somewhat doubtful, but even if true….I DON’T CARE! Obama did a good thing ordering this and he needs to quit defending his actions.

“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies.”

I wish I could say I had written that, but alas I cannot take credit for that statement. No that was said by someone a lot smarter than me. Someone with great credentials. Someone high on the national scene. Nope, I’m not talking about Jim Demint, I’m talking about our President, Barack Obama.  This was in 2006 and he was explaining his vote against raising the debt ceiling. Now we flash forward 4 years, and the same person who voted against doing so then, is criticizing those who would vote against raising the debt ceiling today.

Personally I think it is time to take a stand on this issue, draw a line in the sand, and see where it goes.  As Jim DeMint said a government shutdown isn’t something anyone wants, but “it’s not something we should be so afraid of that we’re willing to cave in to more debt.” He thinks Americans “expect us to fight more spending and more debt.” I could not agree more.

I would like to wish a Merry Christmas to all and to thank everyone for their visits to my blog this past year. I have had fun doing it and I hope I can keep posting articles that people are interested in.

I know its been a rough few years but I hope things are improving, and I believe 2011 is going to be a great year!

Good luck to all and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Today I was driving home from work, listening to the Hannity show. As he often does, he had a couple of non celebrity guests on his show, pitted against each other. One of the was Fernando Mateo, president of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers. By his own statements he is mixed race with a Hispanic mother and a black father. I only bring this up because it is relevant to the story.

He was quoted as saying “I don’t care about racial profiling. You know sometimes it‘s good that we are racially profiled because the God’s-honest truth is that 99 percent of the people that are robbing, stealing, killing these drivers are blacks and Hispanics. So if you see suspicious activity, you know what, don’t pick the person up.” This had come about after a driver had been shot seven times in a robbery that netted the shooter about 12 bucks. After listening to what he had to say, I don’t think he truly meant racial profiling, but rather character profiling within certain races. He was basically saying that if a driver doesn’t like the way someone is dressed or is acting, such as gang colors or face covered up with hoodies and glasses, then bypass them and look for someone else. He acknowledged that a large percentage of their customers are black and Hispanic, but that the drivers should use their judgment on who to pickup or not pickup.

Now of course Al Sharpton and others have jumped all over this because Mr. Mateo  used the word racial profiling, but if we are to be honest, many if not all of us has done similar things. When I say this I am referring to blacks and whites, because that is where my associated experiences come from, but I am sure it applies to most, if not all groups.

Have you ever avoided a certain section of town because you assumed, probably correctly, that you weren’t welcome there? That’s profiling. Have you changed the sides of a street you were walking on because a group of youth, acting rowdy, looking you way, were between you and where you had to go? I have and that is profiling. Prejudice is simply pre judging and many times we do that based on experience and knowledge. Is it always right? Probably not. Has it saved people from harm or danger? No doubt it has!

I will be the first to admit at times I use forms of prejudice and profiling and I will continue to do so in the future. Do you?

Ahh yes it’s that wonderful time of the year again. The time of the year when I can decorate outdoors with seasonal lights and greenery. Indoors I can put up my winter tree with its brightly colored lights and ornaments. All the kids will be out of school for winter holidays and eagerly waiting winter solstice day when they get to wake up and receive all the toys and games their parents were instructed to purchase for them. Shopping is fun as well with all the merchants cheering us with “Happy Holidays” and other generic greetings. We get to see displays of snowmen and reindeer, and we can bake wonderful treats like gingerbread men. Of course what’s missing in all this, is that it’s the Christmas season. Not the Winter Solstice season or Winter Holidays, but Christmas.

I wonder if anyone even remembers what it used to be like when you could say Merry Christmas and not wonder if someone was being offended by it. In the first place, why in the world should anyone be offended? Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus, the son of God. If you are Christian then it certainly will not offend you. If you are not Christian, then take it in a spirit of someone being nice and greeting you. It’s not like someone is wishing you a “Happy Hope You Get Run Over By A Bus” day.

Now we have all kinds of nonsense with some schools even telling kids they can’t wear red and green this time of the year because they are Christmas colors and someone might be offended.  By colors???

For many years I have watched the Charlie Brown Christmas show. I heard that network executives were leery about broadcasting it because of Linus reading passages from the Bible. When Linus recites Luke 2:8-14 and tells Charlie Brown “That’s what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown”, he truly was doing so. We would all do well to remember that spirit, both believers and non believers.

UPDATE: The number below has at least doubled and is now over 220 and rising!!!!

Apparently everyone! So far 111 companies have applied for and received waivers from implementing the plan. Some of the companies that have been granted waivers include McDonald’s, Darden Restaurants (owners of the Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurant chains), Aetna, the United Federation of Teachers Welfare Fund in New York, and Dish Network.

http://www.hhs.gov/ociio/regulations/approved_applications_for_waiver.html

Why do you suppose these companies have been exempted? It’s supposed to be a great plan? Why do they not have to implement. It all seems to be big companies too, you know companies that could take this to court if they had to implement this plan. Make you wonder huh?

It’s kind of ironic when you consider that this was Obama and the Dems crown jewel of their “accomplishments”. Looks to me like this is proof that it is a failure.  What do you think?

I was listening to President Obama give his “My fellow democrats got their butts handed to them” speech today, and three letters came to my mind and those were WTF!  He’s blabbering about having congratulated John Boehner and how he hopes that they can all cooperate together because America doesn’t need another two years like we have had the past two.

 He speaks of cooperation but where was cooperation when he and the Democrats rammed a “stimulus” package down our throats. Ditto when they did the same thing with the Health Care bill.

He speaks of honesty but where was that honesty when for months; he talked about transparency in his administration. He talked about putting the Health Care hearings on CSpan while Democrats and Republicans both sat around a table a hammered out a plan. What happened? None of that! Instead we get thousands of pages cobbled together with the (soon to be Ex) Speaker Pelosi telling us “We need to pass the bill so we can see what’s in it”. Forget about putting it out there for public review so that we could see it and discuss with our legislators. No just ram it through while the votes are hot.

He was asked if the Republican Tidal Wave was a mandate from the people against him. Well of course, Mr. Obama, being smarter than all the rest of us had to tell us why we voted out so many Democrats. It’s because he inherited a large deficit ( yes he still is blaming Bush) and the “emergency situation required an emergency response” that had to be pushed through rapidly. Americans voted him in because they were tired of the way things were done in Washington and he did this the same old way.  We confused his emergency response with a “big agenda”.  Again we are not as smart as him, and we are confused.

He did say that different elections bring different emotions. Some leave you excited, some leave you humbled. He never did say he was humbled though. I don’t know if we can ever expect a straight answer from him but I do know two things. He thinks he is smarter than anyone else, so therefore everyone else is supposed to accept his answers at face value. He is and always will be blameless. After all its Bush’s fault.