Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we
are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most
frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and
fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing
small doesn't serve the world. We were born to make manifest the glory of God
that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let
our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the
same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically
liberates others. - Marianne Williamson

What's a birthday post without me getting a little sappy? I watched "Coach Carter" the other day and was reminded of a passage from a book by Marianne Williamson that never ceases to inspire me when I get frustrated. One of the characters in the movie is a gang-banger who knows he has to get out of that life and sees basketball as the only way out. But Coach Carter makes him play by his rules, not by the undisciplined rules that he knows. Plus, I kept expecting Samuel L. Jackson to bust out the "English mfer, do you SPEAK IT?!?!" Decent flick that I'd recommend. Nothing too in depth, but still a decent way to spend 90 minutes of your life.

It is based on a true story and is an example of what can happen when we expect the most out of people instead of making life easy for them. Set goals for people, expect that they will have to work to reach them, and celebrate it when they succeed. And never set those goals too low. A worse failure than not achieving your goals is to set them too low and achieve them easily. Self-esteem is never greater than when you achieve something you never thought you'd be able to do.

It's tough being right all the time

Actually, it's not so tough. Hell, lots of people wish they were me, so I can't complain.

What have I been right about that the liberal media and liberal politicians are finally admitting to?

Well, let's see...the Iraq war and the surge. Is it working? Of course it is. You can see that it's working by the media's inability to really push all the bad news from Iraq to the forefront and focus on it, and instead they're focusing on bad news elsewhere. And the New York Slimes this past weekend finally acknowledged that there are lots of good things going on in Iraq, writing a complete article about how Dimwitocrats are shifting their tone on the war after seeing the successes of our troops there. Just listen to the tone of even the most liberal of the Dimwitocrat candidates and they've slowed their call for a full pullout. Funny how success is something that the Dimwits cheered against so strongly. Shows their overall love for country, huh?

Global Warming - ok, the libs still aren't turning around, but people are becoming more and more skeptical of all the doom and gloom that the advocates for it are pushing. Look at the Telegraph article (one of the more liberal London papers) today where they really slam the transparent mouthings of the Gordon Brown government to reduce carbon outputs through the banning of plastic bags. Yep, that's it. Nothing else. Doubling the flights from Heathrow and expanding the size of the airport is fine, but those evil plastic bags must be stopped.

Illegal Immigration - John McCain could have had this nomination wrapped up with a golden bow on it, with Giuliani as his VP, they could have blown away anyone the Dimwitocrats put up there. Not that it would have made me happy, but that's the way it could have gone. Instead, McCain came out in support of illegals and amnesty, contrary to the majority of the country and conservatives and he languishes behind Giuliani, Romney, and depending on the state, Thompson. Illegal immigration is the one issue where the Republicans can capitalize on the majority opinion that we need to control our borders and deport people who are here illegally. But are we doing it? Nope. Ron Paul has a common sense proposal for Illegal Immigration reform that would not only help us secure the borders, but would also give legitimate immigrants the opportunity to enter the country legally. And he does it in the right order. Secure the border, THEN reform immigration.

Jennifer Granholm = worst governor evah
If you live in Michgan you know. If not, pray to God and give him thanks that you live in a state with someone who has an IQ higher than room temperature running it. No imagination, no leadership, no initiative. Blame everything on the Republicans and conservatives because they are easy targets and the Detroit Free Press will blindly mimic whatever Jenny says.
Update on the post from over a year ago on the U-Haul economic measurement used to measure the success of a state:

26' Truck from Kalamazoo to Nashville - Dec 2007: $709 Sept 2006 - $1,326
26' Truck from Nashville to Kalamazoo - Dec 2007: $211 Sept 2006 - $318

26' truck from Kalamazoo to Orlando - Dec 2007: $1041 Sept 2006 - $1,997
26' truck from Orlando to Kalamazoo - Dec 2007: $1484 Sept 2006 - $615

It's still much more expensive to move from these cities to Michigan, but there's some discrepancy as to the prices now. Not sure exactly why..will have to look into it.

Anyway, they say that with age, comes wisdom. Could be that I'm finally getting that, or I coulda got lucky. Starting my fifth decade on this ball of mud, hopefully it's the latter.

Google

One thing I really hate are people who complain about something and when that something gets fixed, they don't acknowledge it.

As much as I hate to give them props, I have to say that Google finally came through. I'll give them the props that I've given to other sites in the past. Not the most inspirational logo, but at least they are acknowledging Veterans Day. I'll give them credit for that, since they've not at all over the past three years. At least, not on their American servers.

Economic boom times?

As much as the media would love for you to believe the stories of recession and malaise, so far, other than Michigan, the economy is still booming. Despite the slowdown in the housing market and difficulties of the sub-prime housing market, manufacturing is rolling. The week's economic releases were decidedly positive. The top story was the continuing reduction of the U.S. trade deficit, which fell for the fourth straight month in September and reached its lowest level since May 2005. Meanwhile, nonfarm productivity grew at the fastest pace in more than four years and activity in the services sector improved in October.

Now, I live in Michigan, where all this doesn't matter, since we're stuck in the 70's. 4th highest gas prices in the country (behind Hawaii, California, and Washington), highest unemployment in the country, and now joining the northeast as one of the highest taxed.

Thanks Jenny and the crew...nice work.

Gay Marriage

Honestly, I could care less whether gay people are allowed to marry or not. Why the hell should just us straight people lose 50% (or more) of our shit every time a relationship fails? Gays should enjoy that sort of horror equally with us. As well as the misery of having to deal with the same fat ass getting fatter the older we get. And waking up to the same nasty morning breath and bed-head every single morning. Welcome to it boys and girls. Enjoy it. Hell, I say MAKE 'em marry. That'll teach 'em. Fuck that bouncing from bed to bed, stuff. Get their asses in the same bathhouse every day with the same guy/girl. See how enthusiastic they are for gay marriage THEN!

Either way, the govt or some busybody down the street doesn't have any business telling me or my gay neighbor what we can do as long as it's not hurting others. And keeping with that same theme, I thought I'd post this list of reasons why gay marriage is bad.

1. Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.
2. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.
3. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
4. Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can’t marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.
5. Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Brittny Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.
6. Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren’t full yet, and the world needs more children.
7. Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
8. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.
9. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That’s why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.
10. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

Yep...makes sense to me....