Damn, Sometimes I Just Hate Myself

Ending The Year On A Politically Incorrect Note...


What is wrong with the world when a beautiful young girl that looks like this:





















would date an unemployed shit head that looks like this:





INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- A Missouri woman is out of a hospital and recovering at home after a cell phone was shoved down her throat last week.

Melinda "Mindy" Abell was rushed to a hospital Friday morning. She told police that her ex-boyfriend, Marlon Brando Gill, 23, became angry.

Abell told detectives that Gill grabbed her by the mouth and shoved the cell phone until it became lodged in her throat. Surgeons had to remove it.

Gill is charged with first-degree assault, which is a felony.

Police initially issued a statement saying Abell had swallowed the phone. A spokesman later explained that investigators weren't able to talk to her until after the surgery.

Abell's father, Don, said he hopes Gill will be able to find God.

"Everybody takes steps in the wrong direction. Everybody has the opportunity to take steps in the right direction," Don Abell said.

I'm sorry people, but our politically correct, color blind society is a place that I'm glad I don't have to live much longer in.

Another thirty or so years is about all I can stand, and since I don't have any kids I guess that I will be able to stumble through the process and remain reasonably unscathed.

And by the way, if "Mindy" was MY daughter, I would kick her ass for even attempting to socialize with someone that looked like that useless punk, and I would ensure that he found God because I would personally introduce him to his savior with a 9 MM round or two placed where they could do the most good--

in his stupid skull.

My Last Nerve

The Artist Idiot Formerly Known As Prince Garnett…


Who the heck are these morons that run around supporting PETA?

You know, P-E-T-A…the panty waisted vegetarian or vegan fools over at the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Who ARE these idiots, and why don’t they go home and watch Oprah or go to bed and suck their thumbs or big toes or something and shut the hell up?

Didn’t these fools ever read the book of Genesis in the Bible--particularly the part about man having “domain” over all of the beasts of the Earth seems to come to mind here?

I, personally, love to eat BEEF. I will even eat steak Tartar, properly prepared—RAW.

I eat raw Oysters.

I eat Sushi.

I eat Chicken.

I eat Pork.

I will eat (gasp) Veal.

I eat Goat.

I eat Lamb.

I eat Alligator.

I eat Squirrel.

I eat Rattlesnake.

I eat Emu.

I eat Ostrich.

I eat Bear.

I eat Bison.

Heck, I might eat YOU if you would take a bath first and then marinade yourself in some good balsamic vinegar and possibly some olive oil.

Well…maybe not.

Any way, look at this story about some rocket scientist who changed his name to KentuckyFriedCruelty.com.

NEW YORK -- A 19-year-old PETA staffer has legally changed his name to KentuckyFriedCruelty.com.

Chris Garnett, youth outreach coordinator for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said he changed his name in support of the group's anti-KFC campaign.

"People don't believe me at first when I tell them my name, but it never fails to spark a discussion," Garnett, er, KentuckyFriedCruelty.com, said in a statement. "Many vow to boycott KFC after I explain the company's indifference to cruelty to animals."

Let’s take up a collection and send the former Mr. Garnett a couple thousand quarters so that he can call someone that actually gives a damn.

I swear that my head is going to explode over crap like this…

2006

Decisions...Decisions...

Just in case you haven’t noticed, I’ve had a little trouble coming up with anything to say the past couple of days.

That’s OK, however, because when you write for free. and you own the newspaper, you can produce as many or as few words as you want at any given time without fear of repercussions.

With the beginning of the year 2006, I find myself facing several opportunities (and a few realities) that I haven’t addressed at any time in my past.

My health has gone from an atrocity to a miracle in a matter of months, but I really don’t know that I can rely on continuing at my present physical pace for any length of time.

I’ll certainly enjoy my strength while I have it, however.

In the theater department, I’m starting construction on the set for a dinner theater production of “You’re a Good Man, Charley Brown” next week, having spent some of my time this week discussing the casts’ requirements and doing the drawings and bill of material for the project.

I’m also reading a script and attempting to develop a character I want to do in a play called “A Bad Year For Tomatoes” at the CAPE Theater over in Brunswick this winter.

My characterization is loosely based on a cross between Billy Bob Thornton’s “Slingblade” character and Ernest T Bass on the TV show Andy Griffith, with a little of Mr. Haney from Green Acres thrown in for good measure.

I haven’t tried acting in two years, but this part is definitely ME and I really want to give it a good go if they will let me.

In the writing department, I am resolute to get off my ass and continue to develop my cookbook and my Sci-fi novel projects. The cookbook is past the 50% point, but the novel is still in the outline stage with only a piece of the first chapter and the concept development completed. No one has published a book using my idea yet, so I really want to produce a thick stack of paper in 2006 that a publisher can use to slap me on top of the head with, if nothing else comes of it.

Regarding my Blogging, I am going to use 2006 to get serious in my news analysis and reporting with the rollout of regular stories in my local blog called the Brunswick Blues. Having established a relationship with the mayor–elect on a first name basis and corresponding with my county commissioners, I think that Glynn County is ready for a serious blogger to start pushing around the facts and details that The Brunswick News and even The Islander can’t seem to follow.

ORGANIZATION and MOTIVATION…that’s what I need.

I can see the goal posts, I just have to figure out how to get the ball across the line…

Bob

We're keeping a friend's Siamese Fighting Fish for a while over the holidays in their absence.

In the process of the brief introduction and the hustle of getting her off on the airplane, we forgot his name, so we call him Bob.

Here is my new buddy, Ba ba baaa, ba ba baa ba Bob.









He comes up to the surface of his bowl and looks at me like I'm crazy when I sing to him.

He might be right...

Nerd Alert

Bring your camera...

I've mentioned this a couple of times before, but I thought that I would bring it up again--hoping that the weather holds out so we can all see it.

Last winter I was wandering around on the waterfront waiting for something, I don't recall what, to happen down at the old Casino Theater, when right there in the evening twilight I saw a brilliant slice of the Moon setting right behind the sun.

The scene was amazing, butI had left my camera at home so I missed the photo opportunity.

Since that time I have found this web site that provides sunrise and sunset data for any location and any day of the year.

After several false starts, I think that the next two days here on the Georgia coast will provide a similar photo opportunity, or an opportunity to just sit on a bench and watch a nice sunset and moonset coincide.

The best time will be New Years eve when the moon sets a little over a half hour after the sun.

Meet me on Kings Way about 5:15 PM, if you will.

I'll bring the Brie and Wine...

Those Who Fail To Learn From History

Are Forced to Re-Live It…


As I recall, it was President Jimmy Carter that oversaw the second “energy crisis” during his presidency in the late 1970’s.

I was just an idiot kid back then, driving my second car, a Chevy Camaro, and worrying about gas prices jumping from 60 cents a gallon to 93 cents a gallon.

We were all told that we had to do our civic duty by conserving energy…buying crappy cheep shit cars like Datsuns and Toyotas and turning our home thermostats up to 78 in the Summer and down to 68 in the winter.

Then Jimmy produced the famous national speed limit laws requiring states reduce the speed limits on their highways to 55 and 65 MPH in order to be eligible to receive federal funding.

Oh Boy…

Police departments, county and state coffers bulged at the seams with the revenue originating from the speeding tickets that resulted, but meanwhile oil prices and availability settled down and in 1995 the Fed’s decided to get out of the speed limit business…

So good, so far…

Unfortunately, today we seem to be having a bad case of relapse:

Washington, DC--- On December 8, 1995, the repeal of the National Maximum Speed Limit (NMSL) went into effect. The repeal ended the federal requirement that states keep speed limits at a maximum of 65 miles per hour (mph) in rural areas and 55 mph in urban areas. A recent survey of Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) members indicated that 40 GHSA jurisdictions had increased their speed limits since the repeal. Of particular concern is information from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) indicating 31 states have increased their speed limits to 70 mph or higher on some portion of their roadways.

While national statistics indicate fatalities have remained level since the NMSL repeal, this is hardly cause for celebration. According to GHSA Chair Lt. Colonel Jim Champagne, "The nation should have experienced a significant decline in total fatalities and injuries given the tremendous increase in safety belt use coupled with the increasingly safe design of vehicles. However, it appears these benefits have been offset both by increasing speed limits and the public exceeding these increased posted limits." He says, "Drunk driving, failure to wear safety belts and speeding-these are the big three killers on our roadways. These three issues deserve priority of attention if we are going to make significant progress in reducing deaths."

I used to drive around with a radar detector in both of my cars.

I was an idiot.

I used to operate my vehicle like I was a fighter pilot in a combat zone.

I was an idiot.

Today I own a ten year old Chevy Suburban with a 454 cubic inch engine that gets 10 MPG.

I might just die driving that Subruban because I love it, and I bought it out of necessity in 1995 to support my construction business rather than as a fashion choice to drive to the mall and to church.

My selection of a vehicle and gas mileage is my choice as an individual citizen, but my behavior on the public roads and highways is a matter of law. If it cost me $2 to go 2 miles, so be it, but I would appreciate a little help in other areas of motor vehicle operation.

Today I see people routinely run roughshod over basic driving laws like using turn signals, running stop signs/signals, and generally ignoring the “rules of the road,” but all the Governors’ Highway Safety Association (GHSA) can worry about is lowering the speed limits to those of the Carter legacy.

Where is the GHSA's stand on stupid, arrogant, discourteous drivers?

Instead of limiting my driving rights, what about going out and kicking the stupid asses of the stupid assed idiots I see driving around me?

Personally, I want to replace my headlights with 50 caliber machine guns, and possibly a grenade launcher.

That aught to solve the problem with discourteous drivers, at least locally…

Germans Increasing In Value

Want to Buy Your Own Frau or Heir?


Now that the Germans have established their willingness to negotiate with terrorists, it isn’t surprising that the value of German citizens has greatly increased on the world market of terrorism in the past few weeks.

BERLIN, Dec. 28 -- A former German ambassador to Washington and four members of his family were reported missing and apparently kidnapped Wednesday while vacationing in a remote part of Yemen. It was the latest in a string of tourist abductions in the Arabian desert.

Juergen Chrobog, ambassador from 1995 to 2001, his wife and three adult sons were declared missing by the German Foreign Ministry. In Yemen, government officials said the family had been taken hostage by tribesmen who regularly seize Western tourists as bargaining chips in dealings with the government, according to news service reports from Sanaa, the capital.

(snip…)

The German Foreign Ministry had posted a travel advisory for Yemen, warning visitors that they could be abducted by ransom-seeking tribesmen and noting a general risk of terrorist attacks against Western interests in the country.

Yemeni officials said Chrobog and his family arrived in the country on Saturday at the invitation of the former Yemeni ambassador to Germany. Chrobog and his Egyptian-born wife, Magda, have an avid interest in archaeology.

The Reuters news agency reported from Yemen that the group was seized during a trip to the eastern province of Shabwah from the port city of Aden. "They are safe," one of the kidnappers, from the Abdullah tribe, told Reuters by telephone. "But if force is used to free them, the hostages' lives will be put in danger."

He said he hoped the kidnapping would put pressure on the government of Yemen to free five of his fellow tribesmen who are in jail on criminal charges, including murder.

So there you have it folks—look at the value of being a wealthy, civilized member of a society of terrorist appeasing Surrender Monkeys.

I don’t care if your county does build excellent cars with lovely black paint jobs, when your government craps in the world’s punchbowl and develops an economy that relies on selling technology to criminals and terrorists, you and your tattooed eighteen year old daughter with the bellybutton ring are worth SQUAT when you sashay out onto the world stage on “holiday.”

Hah...

I'm Not Stupid

Are You?


I stopped my subscription to the local newspaper last year by accident, but I haven't managed to find a good enough reason to go to the trouble to restart it since.

Instead I rely on reading the free online edition of The Brunswick News and I buy an occasional "dead tree" copy when the notion strikes me.

Likewise with the Atlanta Journal and Constitution (locals lovingly call it the “Urinal and Constipation.”) Pat hates it when I buy a copy because I usually spend the next three days sweating, shivering, and screaming about things written on the editorial page and about local news stories showing the stupidity of the Atlanta area politicians.

What I want to know is this: “is there some kind of competition among stupid people for positions as elementary school teachers and "lamestream" media jobs like TV correspondents and newspaper reporters?”

This isn’t just a rhetorical question—I WANT AN ANSWER.

Don’t you see what I mean here?

It seems like our culture and society has an invisible line running through the middle of it that divides our citizens into two classes. TOTAL DUMBASS IDIOTS and ROCKET SCIENTISTS.

There is little ground to occupy in between, and almost ALL of the people that elect to choose jobs in media and MOST of those of those in education fall in the former class due to pay issues or gravity or Newtonian physics or possibly some other as yet to be determined mystical reason.

As the latest example of MEDIA STUPIDITY, I submit to you this false story published in Tuesday’s LA Times:

GREEN RIVER, Wyo. - A quote in a fake news release that was intended as an April Fool's joke ended up in a front-page story in the Los Angeles Times. The story in Tuesday's editions of the Times noted how successful the reintroduction of wolves had been 10 years ago, but said the predators remained controversial.

"In Wyoming, for example, Gov. Dave Freudenthal last April decreed that the Endangered Species Act is no longer in force and that the state 'now considers the wolf as a federal dog,' unworthy of protection," the story read.

The Times printed a retraction and correction in their Wednesday edition.

It is UNBELIEVEABLE that the LA Times could allow something like this to make it to their front page, but they did.

As I said before, they’re either stupid, or they are incompetent IDIOTS.

Next time that you’re sitting around watching TV or reading the newspaper, would you please remember that this kind of crap can happen—and that it does with apparently much greater frequency that most people realize?

Now where did I put my really big hammer...

German Surrender Monkeys Get Their Due

I’m laughing My Ass Off…


I’ve traveled to Alaska, Japan, Guam, and the Philippines when I was in the Navy. I’ve been all over most of the United States and Caribbean in my personal travels as a child and adult. Even with the current terrorism risks for American Rednecks like me, I would still consider going to Australia and places in Central America like Costa Rica and Belize.

One place I’ve never been and probably will never go, however, is EUROPE.

Don’t get me wrong here, I would love to go to Portugal, Italy, and Greece, possibly ending up in Turkey, but as for the tourist traps of London and Paris I’ll settle for watching the Discover channel and my videotape of the movie Casablanca.

Perhaps the saddest thing about my self imposed travel embargo is that I will probably never get to go drink some Spatlese and “Icewine” in Germany, but I am willing to suffer this indignation alone quietly because the Surrender Monkeys that they call the German Government make me sick with their policies and I therefore refuse to spend my travel dollars in their miserable little piece of this planet.

Just in case you weren’t paying attention, last week the Germans released Hizbolla terrorist member Mohammed Al Hammadi who had served 15 years of a life sentence for killing Navy diver Robert Stethem while hijacking a TWA flight in 1985. I remember this story when it happened, and Al Hammadi killed Stethem just because he was in the US Military.

Why, you might ask, did the Germans let this killing Islamic bastard go?

The answer is obvious.

They released him as part payment of a ransom to gain the release of kidnapped female German Archaeologist Susan Osthoff who was taken hostage in late November.

Of course the Germans deny any connection to these events, but now the German Surrender Monkeys get their due because Miss Osthoff has announced that she will not return to Germany, choosing instead to remain in Iraq with her Arab husband to continue her efforts to set up a German cultural center.

The German Government angrily rebuked a former hostage yesterday who is determined to return to Iraq despite being held captive for three weeks by a Sunni gang.

Susanne Osthoff, a 43-year-old archaeologist, announced this week on al-Jazeera television that she would go back to her work in northern Iraq, trying to set up a German cultural centre in Arbil.

Angela Merkel’s new Government, which regards the freeing of Frau Osthoff this month as its first foreign policy triumph, is furious. It made huge efforts to secure her release and is widely believed to have paid a ransom.

It has now blocked all funding for her project and has told her that she should leave the region immediately. She is believed currently to be in Jordan, with her 12-year-old daughter, preparing to return.

“I would have little sympathy if Frau Osthoff puts herself again in danger considering the intensive efforts made by many people to secure her release,” said Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German Foreign Minister, who headed a team that negotiated her release.

You are so right, Heir Steinmeier, and I say that they should let the stupid bitch take her chances…ALONE next time.

And by the way, I wonder what the heck one does at a “German Cultural Center” in an Islamic country?

Drinking German beer is obviously out of the question.

And wouldn’t eating a load of Knockwurst and Schnitzel made with PORK probably break a few dozen Islamic laws and cause an uproar?

When are the Spanish, French, and Germans going to learn that you can’t negotiate with TERRORISTS?

Never?

Well, as long as there are people like Frau Osthoff around, I don’t have to worry about teaching Surrender Monkeys the world over a good lesson.

I say that the Germans deserved the humiliation that they received here.

What do YOU think?

I Made It

Who Knew?


I’ve been an amateur photographer for nearly 40 years now.

Until the past few years there has been a heavy emphasis on the word “amateur,” since the subjects of my photos were mainly of family events, travel scenery, and hobbies.

Back in 2001 when I moved to Mexico Beach, Florida I bought my first digital camera and started shooting beach scenes and sunset photos. Boy was ever I surprised when people started asking to purchase copies of some of my work. I never managed to get organized enough to actually make any money with the exercise, but I did get a bit of encouragement that I had some talent for photo composition.

Even more recently Pat gave me a Cannon G-3 Digital camera—something that at the time was WAY above my head and technical skills, but I’ve kept working at it and last week I received some news that made me very excited.

This photo has been selected to be displayed in the “Coastal Georgia Heritage Exhibition” running February and March in a local gallery.

All of the works are supposed to be "theme" based, but I don't want to waste your time trying to explain my theme here at this time--just be assured that it is historical and that this photoshopped composite image has a lot of history represented in it.

It’s a juried, mixed media exhibit, which means that they have already reviewed the entries and selected the winner from among the thirteen artists represented. I've also heard that only about 25% of the entries are selected for exhibition in past years.

I don’t expect to win a prize, I’m just glad to have the chance to show my work to the public and have the opportunity to possibly sell a few prints.

Lock Your Doors

Better Yet, Take Them With You When You Go…


I’ve personally seen some strange stuff in my day regarding theft and vandalism. Still, like most people that have always lived outside the “inner cities” of America, I continue to have a general expectation of security and safety when it comes to my person and my property.

I also realize that our law enforcement system, while having admirable intentions, is totally &%@$* useless when it comes to preventing most crimes. Unless someone is dead or dieing, it’s difficult to get them to even show up long enough to fill out a report so that you can make an insurance claim.

If someone bothers to steal your kitchen sink out of your duplex (it happened to me) or breaks out your truck windows and steals your “stuff” (twice so far) you have to go to the police station to get a report filed—forget getting them to dust for fingerprints or collect any evidence that might actually allow them to catch the responsible parties.

That’s one of the reasons that we love living here on St. Simons Island—virtually no crime. I don’t believe that there has been a murder here on the Island in the past ten years. I just checked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation data for 2004 and there were only 4 murders in all of Glynn County in that year—an area that includes the “New Town” area of Brunswick that more resembles Haiti than rural Georgia.

Fortunately, our biggest problem here on St. Simons generally consists of arrogant assholes disobeying driving laws while cruising around in cars that cost more than my first house did, and idiot kids running around tossing eggs at cars rather than cooking them for breakfast.

That said, one has to wonder what the law enforcement situation is in NY when you return to your parked car and find one or more of the doors missing:

“A bizarre New York crime wave that leaves car owners doorless has investigators clueless.

The "Whole of the Door Gang" is swooping down on Toyotas across Queens, stunning car owners who find their vehicles with huge gaps where the back doors used to be.

Cops have investigated at least six cases of stolen doors in the last three months in the 109th Precinct, which mostly covers Flushing.

The expensive doors, which can cost up to $5,000 to replace, are nearly impossible to find at salvage yards, creating what some fear may be an emerging black market.”

And here I was, sitting around, worrying about my radio and tires being stolen.

Silly me…

On The Road Again

We're back in the car this morning heading east, away from reality—back to our little island. It’s been good to return to my family's farm for the holidays, but I must admit that I also miss my current nest in our condo on St. Simons.

Since I personally haven’t reproduced, I got to do something this Christmas I’d never done before. I got to see a four year old (my nephew) open Christmas gifts and wait for Santa Clause to come.

He was totally INTO the concept. He could recite all of the details (reindeer names, etc.) by memory.

He got up at 4 AM on Sunday.

Fun, Fun, Fun.

I didn't know that they made so many things that required batteries. The C cell batteries require AAA batteries just to get started. I think that everyone should buy stock in battery companies every November.

I also took two days off from writing. Looking at my site meter, I would appear that everyone took a few days off from reading, so I wasn't missed.

I’m almost in withdrawal now, so I’ll probably explode tonight after we get home with a few dozen pages of ranting and raving.

Stay tuned to this channel…

I’m A Ramblin’ Man

Holiday Travel woes...

My head is spinning around right now because I have so much to do by 6:00 AM. I’m trying to get a little quality internet time and some blogging in before I have to finish my chores left to be done so I can drive over to Alabama later this morning.

Last evening started out well enough—dinner consisting of a wonderful, giant Muffaletta sandwich that I had put together earlier in the afternoon so that the olive oil could have time to soak into the French bread. Provolone Cheese, Baby Swiss Cheese, Salami, Spicy Ham… one sandwich is more than a meal for two because you use an entire loaf of fat French bread cut in half, then smashed flat around the contents. I used a pre-prepared olive dressing mix that was included in a gift basket we received from some friends up north. (I didn’t know that people in New England ate cuisine from New Orleans, Miss Strader.)

Unfortunately, there must have been a sleeping pill buried somewhere in that olive dressing because I was asleep by 8:30 PM and I didn’t get back up until almost 3 AM.

What, a normal sleep pattern for ME? Six hours—in a row—it’s some kind of recent record.

Any way, as a result of sleeping so long I still have things to do. I’m getting out of making my Chewy double chocolate, chocolate-chip oatmeal cookies because I forgot to pull a pound of butter out of the freezer last night and I only have one stick in the fridge (the recipe calls for 2-1/4 sticks.) Oh well, we’ll make do without that contribution to the menu and I’ll not gain those two pounds this weekend.

I’m trying to learn how to make my own stuffed olives—you know, colossal “Queen” black olives filled with smoked red pepper, jalapeno peppers, and/or cream cheese. I did a test run on Wednesday and after sterilizing my bottles, boiling my brine mixture, and getting my cream cheese and peppers squished into the olives, I then made the mistake of pouring the brine into the first olive filled jar while it was still hot.

Wrong.

The jar immediately began to cloud up as the hot brine mixture dissolved the cream cheese. It looked like a chicken had crapped in my olives. Yuck!

It looked hideous.

It looked VERY unappetizing in appearance, but they tasted OK so we ate them ignoring the cloudy liquid surroundings.

Fortunately I had not damaged all half dozen jars worth. I tossed the olives and stuffing back into the fridge and let my jars and brine mixture cool off. Then I got distracted and didn’t finish them yesterday, so this morning I have to finish stuffing my olives else risk wasting five cans of perfectly good olives the size of walnuts.

Can’t let that happen.

After that I have to finish packing and drag everything out to the carport. I swear I’m worse than any woman when it comes to traveling. I can’t go anywhere without two suitcases, a hanging bag, and typically a box full of kitchen items (if I’m traveling by car) to support my cooking once I arrive at my destination. That’s just for a weekend trip to the beach—I need a couple of steamer trunks and a hand truck if I’m going for a week or more or the weather is cold.

I’ll be returning to the dark ages as far as internet access this weekend because my mom can’t get cable or DSL service out in rural Alabama. It’s slow “Alaweb” dial-up or satellite internet that costs about the same as a monthly lease on a new Cadillac. She elected to use Alaweb.

I will probably go into some sort of internet and information withdrawal and have keyboard DT’s or something. I’m taking a computer with me anyway and she’s got a notebook PC to use, so I’ll try to lurk around the internet late at night when everyone else is asleep and post a little here on the blog if I don't lose my mind over the slow connection speed.

Right now I have to look forward to seven hours in a car with no internet connection, surrounded by hoards of wild eyed drivers slapping at their kids and dogs as they trundle off over the river and through the woods.

Oh well, I guess it will be easier than dealing with the airport…

I Just Couldn't Resist This One

More Political Humor In Poor Taste...


I found this over at my fellow blogger James Hooker's site. Go check him out...

He borrowed stole it from someone else.

(Just in case you don't know, it's supposed to be Nancy Pelosi--in her dreams, I might add...)

(And just in case you don't know, James Hooker is a Grammy Award winning musician and songwriter that played keyboard with The Amazing Rhythm Aces on the song "Third Rate Romance," among other things)

(And just in case you didn't know, Mr. Hooker reads my blog occasionally--I'm honored)

Random Ramblings, Mumblings, and Lucent Cogitations

Talking To Myself...

In approaching the New Year and looking back over my 18 months of blogging, I’m pausing to take a minute or two to attempt to identify what I’ve accomplished (if anything) and what I would do different if I had the chance.

In the accomplishments category, I have to say that I have exceeded my own expectations—that standard, of course, being that I had no criteria at all when I started. I just jumped in with both feet to see what would happen. Now I feel guilty if I don't write every day--that statement coming from a guy that absolutely HATED despised LOATHED English class in High School and College.

I have successfully produced two websites that I can use to develop my analytical and creative writing skills, hone my internet research abilities, and which at the same time provide me with venues where I can publish my writing and photographic work for public consumption.

In retrospect, I find that my writing falls into three or four different categories.

The first category is easy. My cooking blog-- The Redneck Gourmet.

It’s well defined, and self sufficient in that I get the majority of my hits from people doing searches for various recipes. I think that I will in the future continue along the same path and that I shouldn’t tinker with my limited success enjoyed to date. I’m trying to fine tune the content for publication on paper next year possibly.

This blog, Coastal Companion, also known as “What I’d Liked To Have Said”, has a bit of a schizophrenic personality. I find myself vacillating between periods of using it as a personal diary filled with photos and satirical rants, and then there are my serious periods when I tend to produce long winded, four page political diatribes full of statistics and links to the Congressional Budget Office Website or Junk Science.

I’m having a serious conversation with myself (talk about schizophrenic…) about splitting the two halves of my brain, and by default Coastal Companion, into two separate blogs. I’m still thinking about the name for the sister blog—stay tuned to this channel for future developments…

Then there is my secret-to-date and much neglected local interest blog—The Brunswick Blues.

While the name is a parody of our local newspaper, “The Brunswick News,” my intention was to seriously address local political issues. I’m embarrassed that my last posting was in May and consisted of a letter I wrote to the editor of the News, and nothing original has been published since

That’s about to change.

I have great aspirations for Brunswick Blues in 2006. I intend to start covering the local city and county politics in a detailed manner. My national and international readers and casual visitors to this blog could probably care less, but I believe that there is a local blog market that is entirely untapped and I want to be the one of the first ones to fill it.

I have been in correspondence with my two county commissioners about a potentially explosive issue that has yet to be publicly covered, and I’m now on a first name basis with the new mayor elect, Bryan Thompson, so I have the connections in place and I want to be the Drudge Report of the Golden Isles.

I guess what I'm saying here is that I think that 2006 is going to be a record year for bloggers, and I don't want to just ride the existing wave--I want to make the wave even higher. I want to write high quality, ACCURATE, stories based on well researched information and more importantly--I want to tell the truth. That's something that you are generally hard pressed to find in much of what you read.

I also want to scream and rant and rave and lay on the ground and kick my feet (in writing, of course.) If I'm editoralizing, I'll be the first to tell you.

And by the way, why don't YOU start your own blog? It's free, and all you have to do is click here to get started.

NY Times Keeps On Keeping On

Cutting Through The Partisan Crap

Have you heard the hysteria going on claiming that President Bush has been illegally authorizing “officials” sneak in and listen to you doing your heavy breathing prattle on the telephone with your "significant other”

I, personally, wonder how much the government “officials” really like having to listen to conversations between people doing things like talking to their proctologists about colon polyps and hemorrhoids. And I’m sure that they certainly don’t enjoy recording and transcribing those mindless cell phone conversations that I hear one-half of while standing in the grocery store check out line behind some clueless moron.

So what is really the big deal here, you might wonder?

Well, let me distill this thing down for those of you that don’t have the time to do anything but listen to TV sound bites and read the headlines in the newspapers.

If I had to write an Executive Summary, it would contain just two words:

TOTAL BULLSHIT.

Having said that, let me supply you with some independent details so that you can form your own opinion.

About a year ago the NY Times found out about President Bush’s authorization of the use of electronic “eavesdropping” to intercept telephone communications and E-mails between US citizens and persons overseas suspected to have ties to al Qaeda and other terrorism groups. Technically this falls under the category of collecting “foreign intelligence, and it is only allowed on international communications or communications between the US and foreign locations.

This existence of this top secret program was illegally “leaked” by someone in the government or the CIA to the Times, but after meeting with the President and discussing the issue, the Times management and editors chose to not publish this non-story in the interest of national defense.

What really bothers me is that the “leaking” of this type of information is a serious federal crime, but typically, in their never ending quest for truth and justice, the NY Times isn’t interested in that part of the story—trashing Bush is their intentions and they are protecting their sources to the bitter end as a result. (Can you say “Valerie Plame”?)

The big deal here apparently is that the program, called the NSA Intercept program, did not require that the investigators and security agents wait three days to a week (or longer) to get a federal judge to issue a search warrant. When they found out that someone was suspected to be up to something that could affect national security, the Attorney General could implement the measures necessary to listen in on their communications and find out what was going on.

The idea seems reasonable enough to me, as long as the law allows it.

The really interesting thing is that this EXACT SAME THING has been done in at least three prior Presidential Administrations. Let me explain this assertion.

The first thing that you should know is that the applicable law, The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, was passed by the US Congress under the auspices of Democratic President Jimmy Carter. The NY Times should be quite happy with that little detail.

On May 23, 1979 President Carter signed Executive Order 12939 allowing EXACTLY the same kind of surveillance that President Bush is criticized for today.

Among other things, the order said:

1-101. Pursuant to Section 102(a)(1) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1802(a)), the Attorney General is authorized to approve electronic surveillance to acquire foreign intelligence information without a court order, but only if the Attorney General makes the certifications required by that Section.

I don’t see any mention of requiring a judge to do electronic surveillance. Click on the link and go read it for yourself if you want to check me. Apparently Carter only chased foreigners with his order, but he could have used his order for at least 72 hours against Americans if he wanted to.

Next, Republican President Ronald Reagan produced Executive Order 12333 allowing Judgeless surveillance on December 4, 1981. His order stated:

2.5 ATTORNEY GENERAL APPROVAL

The Attorney General hereby is delegated the power to approve the use for intelligence purposes, within the United States or against a United States person abroad, of any technique for which a warrant would be required if undertaken for law enforcement purposes, provided that such techniques shall not be undertaken unless the Attorney General has determined in each case that there is probable cause to believe that the technique is directed against a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power. Electronic surveillance, as defined in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), shall be conducted in accordance with that Act, as well as this Order.

See, once again Regan said that the Attorney General can order electronic surveillance without a judge—the same thing Bush says today. Click on the link and see for yourself. The key wording here is the difference between gathering “data to prosecute a crime” and gathering “intelligence for national security.”

And finally, citing the same federal law, media darling Bill Clinton issued Executive Order 12949 dated February 9, 1995 stating this:

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including sections 302 and 303 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ("Act") (50 U.S.C. 1801,et seq.), as amended by Public Law 103- 359, and in order to provide for the authorization of physical searches for foreign intelligence purposes as set forth in the Act, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Pursuant to section 302(a)(1) of the Act, the Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order, to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year, if the Attorney General makes the certifications
required by that section.

At the time that Clinton issued his rather nonspecific order (for instance, what exactly does a “physical search” entail) there was a bit of public debate as outlined at that time in The Washington Times:

“Administration Backing No-Warrant Spy Searches
July 15, 1994

"The Clinton administration, in a little-noticed facet of the debate on intelligence reforms, is seeking congressional authorization for U.S. spies to continue conducting clandestine searches at foreign embassies in Washington and other cities without a federal court order. The administration's quiet lobbying effort is aimed at modifying draft legislation that would require U.S. counterintelligence officials to get a court order before secretly snooping inside the homes or workplaces of suspected foreign agents or foreign powers."

Click on the links, darn it, and check me out---I’m not making this stuff up.

Further, I would like to point out that I think that the “draft legislation” was a good example of the Congress previously having it’s chance to make this type of activity specifically subject to a judge’s approval, but the Congress didn’t act then and therefore the activity is still legal now.

So what are Harry Reid and the balance of the Democrats and media bitching about today? There is NOTHING to this story.

Having shown you how these prescedents, you have to wonder why last Friday the NY Times published the story in an article written by James Risen and Eric Lichtblau.

Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials.

Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an effort to track possible "dirty numbers" linked to Al Qaeda, the officials said. The agency, they said, still seeks warrants to monitor entirely domestic communications”

Oh My (shudder)…the President SECRETLY authorized eavesdropping on AMERICANS…how about eavesdropping on illegal immigrants if we could understand what the heck they were saying?

Can SOMEONE honestly tell me what this uproar is about? Am I missing something?

Regardless, the proverbial feces has been hitting the fan ever since, and the most damning thing is that Times hasn’t bothered to publish the facts I just told you—that the Carter, Reagan and Clinton Administrations allowed EXACTLY THE SAME METHODS TO BE USED TO GATHER FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

In today’s edition the Times follows up with another article by the same two gentlemen.

In it you will still find no mention of similar prior programs, all they can do is talk about some accidental capture of purely domestic calls.

Boo hoo hoooooooo…Oh The Humanity.

As I said before this whole story—lock, stock, and barrel—is complete and utter BULLSHIT. If Bush had really broken the law the times would have wet their pants rushing the story to press no matter WHAT the white house asked them to do. Now they claim that they delayed it’s publication in “the interest of nation security.”

I have a question for the Times editors: “If they didn’t publish the story because it would hurt our security when they first learned of the NSA Intercept Program in 2004, why does publishing it this week not also risk hurting the USA’s security today?”

I’ll tell you the answer myself. The story has absolutely no underlying substance, the NY Times knows it, but they had to publish it this week because Bush’s popularity was soaring after the Iraqi election and another very significant thing was happening soon that they didn’t bother to tell you in any of their writing to date.

One of the story’s writers, NY Times Journalist James Risen, is publishing his new book The State of War in January and in this book he addresses this exact issue—the Bush Administration’s and the CIA’s data gathering methods used for foreign intelligence. Those familiar with the book say that, as would be expected from a NY Times writer, it provides a less than friendly point of view of President Bush.

I expect the hysteria to continue for months and CBS’s 60 Minutes to pick it up and bring James Risen on their show to televise his furrowed browed, long faced comments on the insidious, unpresidented attack on our personal privacy that is (not) happening under the Bush Administration.

Now where's my really big hammer...

Ten Thousand "Hits"

It's probably happening as you read this...


I'm expecting my 10,000th reader to stop by sometime this morning.

Gee whiz, who knew?

YOU might be number 10,000.

Sorry, but there isn't a prize available other than allowing you to partake of my sharp wit and insightful commentary on the state of humanity...where's my mirror...

When I started this blog fifteen months ago I really didn't expect to ever develop much traffic, and by the standards of many of my better known fellow bloggers, my thirty of forty daily "hits" is peanuts. I'll just keep writing and hopefully the readers will keep coming.

I do appreciate everyone that stops by, even if they don't agree with what I have to say, and in the words "The Beverly Hillbillies" theme song:

Y'all come back now...ya hear?

There’s No Question…

And Possibly No Answer


There is an old adage I love that goes something like this:

It’s better to remain silent and let people assume that you might be stupid…

than to open your mouth, thereby removing all doubt.

This latest airline crash down in Miami, or rather, I should say, the news coverage thereof, could benefit from adherence to this train of thought (excuse the unintentional pun.)

I walked back into my house about 4:15 this afternoon to find FOX News showing aerial footage of the accident scene and interviews with eye witnesses and authorities in the area.

Within minutes I was cringing and wincing at the horror as I viewed the results of the accident, and I’m not talking about the loss of twenty lives including three infants when I say this.

What I’m referencing as “horrible” was the news coverage and associated live commentary of the incident that was even more disastrous than the details of the deaths.

Like the recent Gulfstream landing gear incident out in Oregon and the even more recent 737 runway incident at Chicago’s Midway airport, the reporting commentary was inane and down right irresponsible.

I think that there aught to be a law that when anything technical happens that is considered newsworthy, bad or good—things like air accidents and toaster oven explosions—that the media hierarchy should be required to send three quarters of their employees home for the day and use a generous portion of duct tape to cover the mouths of the other twenty five percent of their staff, being careful to leave their EARS uncovered so they can LISTEN before they start “REPORTING” on whatever news story they're doing their "reporting" about.

I, for one, want to hear NEWS, not the BS du jour.

Why supply a putrid stream of rumors, innuendo, and speculation, live and in color, for hours as the story develops and call it reporting? OK, show me the video of the scene, broadcast the news conference with “the authorities”, but spare me the blithering, inarticulate verbal essays from wetsuit clad “eyewitnesses”:

“Dude…It was flying real low, and then it blew up with a loud ‘boom’, then it was covered up with flame and it did three barrel rolls and a loop the loop and pieces started falling off before it almost landed on top of my surfboard.”

The persons responsible for such technically articulate commentary usually wouldn’t know an aileron from a rudder trim tab or an engine nacelle from a nosecone if one landed on the sofa beside them during the 11 o’clock news.

Most of the time they don't know what they were seeing when they saw it, and listening to some layman try to tell me about things like this never ceases to cause my eyes to glaze over and my hair to fall out of my ever balding head.

I don’t recall the “reporters” names, and during the press conferences they weren’t identified, but the factual evolution of the story in my opinion ran somewhere between comical and absurd.

First the airplane was postulated to have been returning to the US from some destination in the Bahamas so the fuel tanks should have been near empty and the reported explosion could “possibly” have been the result of a “bomb.”

Could it have been terrorism?

Well…Possibly, but not probably, even though the customs office at Walkers Cay and many other Bohemian points of origin consists of an open air hut under a Magnolia tree. In the end, it turned out that it had just taken off from the nearby Chalks Air water terminal heading for Bimini, Bahamas

The number of dead jumped repeatedly between 12 and 21. Does it really matter what the actual number of people that were killed is at this early point in the so called “reporting” of the story?

What I need to know is what they know is true…something like this:

“An airplane crashed near the beach in Miami in full view of hundreds if not thousands of eye witnesses. The airplane was a seaplane and, while it was believed to not be empty of passengers—we do KNOW that it had at least one person on board (the pilot) when it hit the water in an uncontrolled manner.”

At that point the reporters should just shut their stupid mouths. They should stop talking and do some actual investigating before they tell the public further details that turn out to be completely WRONG.

But Noooooooo—they can't do that

Instead, in an effort to get the “scoop,” to be the FIRST to say something, they seem to be willing to say ANYTHING and EVERYTHING.

After reporting that the airliner had exploded and lost a wing in midair, FOX News also reported that the pilot seemed to have “diverted” the aircraft at the last minute to avoid hitting a bunch of surfers and fishermen on the jetty at Government Cut.

WRONGGGGGG!

Neither Orville and Wilbur Wright, Amelia Airheart, The Red Barron, Billy Mitchel, or even Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne could have “diverted” a 20,000 pound wad of plummeting aluminum and steel after one wing falls off.

Those surfers and fishermen better all go home and hug their Mamas and wives and go to church this Sunday and thank God or Allah or somebody that they weren’t killed in the moments after that airplane stopped flying and starting acting like a big giant flaming rock.

Later in the afternoon and last evening the big story appears to have focused on the AGE of these old Grumman airplanes—averaging nearly 60 years.

“Yeah, they’re old airplanes, that’s the problem they say—Ohhhhhhhh Myyyyy”

I say, yes they were old…“so what?”

There are literally tens of thousands of old airplanes flying around out there every single day, all over the world. Some carry only the owner/pilot while others are routinely filled with paying passengers. Things like old DC-3’s that were built in the 1930’s and military C-130’s that also originated in the 1940’s.

It’s not the AGE of the airplane that matters as much as WHO is operating it and how it is MAINTAINED that makes a difference. If you buy a brand new Boeing 777 and park it out in the salt air at Miami International and ignore it for three months, then jump in and try to take off on your way to Las Vegas, I can almost guarnatee you that one engine probably won't run properly and that the working engine will be quite capable of taking you directly to the scene of the upcoming crash.

Chalks Ocean Air operates under FAR (Federal Aviation Regulations) Part 121 rather than the slightly more lenient FAR Part 135. FAR Part 121 governs the operations of all of the larger airline carriers flying the bigger airplanes like the Airbus and Boeing jets we all know and love.

For this reason, they are subject to the same pilot training and qualification standards and aircraft certification requirements as Delta Airlines. They can’t get away with paying just any old one eyed, bearded, beach bum, pilot wanna-be like me with an expired third class FAA medical certificate to grab the throttles and yolk and blast off into the “wild blue yonder.”

I did some checking with the NTSB Website just to see what Chalk Air’s safety record looked like, and it’s DAMN GOOD. They’ve actually been flying passengers since 1919, but they’ve only had 7_reportable incidents and they haven’t killed or injured anyone prior to yesterday’s crash according to the online records that have been kept since 1962.

Being an aviation enthusiast, I happen to know that Pan Am also flew the same Grummand G-73’s until they went bankrupt back in 1991. Chalks Air acquired their airplanes and before this accident, there are only EIGHT total fatalities reported in Grumman G-73’s and G-73T’s since 1962 (including Chalk Air’s operations.)

Get the picture?

The Grumman G-73’s and G-73T’s are OLD airplanes, but they are also SAFE airplanes. Age might have been the cause of this crash, but the media also needs to be looking at turbine engine failure and foreign object damage and any one of a thousand other causes…Stop worrying…

I’ve actually flown to Walker’s Cay Bahamas with this airline on this exact type of airplane, a 1948 Grumman Mallard, in 1997. We successfully landed and took back off from the ocean, and returned safely to Ft. Lauderdale without once causing me to believe that my life was in any kind of unacceptable danger.

These airplanes have been immaculately rebuilt and restored, with new modern turboprop engines replacing the old Pratt & Whitney radials (thus the G-73T versus the G-73 designation.)
The Chalks pilots get to wear kaki shorts and boat shoes with starched white shirts and Ray Ban sunglasses, and they pipe 1940’s period music into the passenger cabin on old fashioned headphones just to recreate the antique feel of getting to fly in an earlier era.

I loved every minute of the experience, and if I had to die in a plane crash I would rather it be on an old Grumman on my way to the Bahamas than on a 767 on my way to Cleveland or Milwaukee.

Please don’t misunderstand me here. Twenty souls dispatched at one time in a fiery trail of smoke ending in the ocean is a first class tragedy for the individuals and their families. It’s a loss that deserves a thorough investigation in order to prevent it happening again—IF that is possible.

My heart goes out to the victims and their families, but my ears and eyes can also be considered to be the weary victims of the hyperbolic phenomena that we call the MAINSTREAM MEDIA.

I offer a hearty “Bah Humbug” to all of the media, including FOX News.

Now Watch every single aircraft incident that occurrs in the next few days jump to the front pages of newspapers and into your living room on the TV every night, even though an average of 116 people will die each day in auto accidents and probably won’t get an ounce of ink or video time on the evening news, except on an individual local basis.

Get a GRIP, people…

Ignorance, Insolence, or Stupidity?

I'll Let You Decide...

I swear that I really need to get a wireless notebook computer to use in the car. If had a keyboard and an internet connection on board I could write and post at LEAST ten pages of blogging “live from the scene of the crime” practically every single day.

By “scene of the crime” I don’t mean crimes in the actual law and order sense, I mean crimes of IGNORANCE, INSOLENCE, OR STUPIDITY.

Let me describe three situations that I witnessed recently and let you decide what the answer is…


Situation #1:

I was walking through the parking lot this afternoon at our local grocery store with my elderly friend “Bucky” (Dartmouth class of 1942.) When we reached the vehicular lane running in front of the store entrance, a driver that had just entered the parking lot from an adjacent road was kind enough to pause and motioned for us to cross the lane in front of him.

As we traversed the thirty or so feet of asphalt between us and the sidewalk, an SUV occupied by a solo woman, the driver, mindlessly blithering on her cell phone, also entered the lot and was forced to come to a stop behind the vehicle that had stopped and yielded to Bucky and I.

Once we had crossed about two thirds of the distance to the relative safety of the store entrance, the second driver proceed to sit on her horn, producing at least a three second long loud blast that caused Bucky and I and another half dozen shoppers to stop in our tracks and look to see what was happening.

We then hurried our progress as much is as possible for an 85 year old man walking with a walking stick. (Once I recovered from leaping three feet into the air, I also quickly moved to get out of her way as best as I could.)

Once we reached the curb, and as our lovely antagonist passed by us with her head turned convenantly away from our glare, I yelled “GET OVER YOURSELF.”

Another lady shopper laughed and said “good job.” Everyone was lucky that I was in Bucky’s company or my delivery might have taken a significantly more coarse verbal tone.

So how would you describe the source of this problem?

Was it Ignorance, Insolence, or Stupidity?


Situation #2:

After finishing Bucky’s twenty minute shopping spree and arriving at the register area, I volunteered to process his dozen items through one of the self service checkout isles.

I love the self service isles for their usual speed and convienance. I can run them almost as fast as the store’s cashiers. The only thing I haven’t accomplished is memorizing all of the barcodes for fruit and vegetables, although I know that Chiquita Bananas are #4011

What I didn’t notice when we got started was the middle aged man accompanied by his teenaged son who apparently thought that they were too important to wait in one of the other lines consisting of one or two persons “backed up” at each the full service registers.

Their actions were possibly acceptable in theory because there were four self service registers, but the problem arose when it became apparent that they had ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE—NO IDEA WHATSOEVER how to scan and bag their own groceries- an entire shopping cart full of food and drink.

The problem I had with this situation was that there is only one attendant monitoring the four self-serve registers.

The attendant was forced to hold their hand through the entire tedious process. She basically ended up doing their checkout for them, thereby turning the “self serve” checkout into their own personal “full serve checkout” because they refused to wait their turn.

To add insult to injury, the first item that I scanned was a bottle of wine, so I was forced to wait for the attendant to complete our co-shoppers expedited experience so that she could check my ID and allow our register to proceed with the process.

I see this kind of behavior at Home Depot and the grocery store all of the time. Please tell me if it is a symptom of IGNORANCE, INSOLENCE, or STUPIDITY?


Situation #3:

Finally, I saw this little incident a few weeks ago. As I turned into the grocery store parking lot I was forced to immediately come to an abrupt stop only a few car lengths inside the entrance.

What the heck?

As I slowly crept into the parking area I observed that the source of the delay wasn’t a middle aged Redneck and his elderly escort, but rather it was yet ANOTHER woman driver, talking on her cell phone while proudly displaying her shiny new Volvo station wagon and her poor parking skills adjacent to the fire lane/curb directly in front of the store between the two entrances.

The vehicular lane was effectively reduced to a one way flow pattern, causing the traffic jam at the entrance of the store lot.

What really got me was that I had time to park my truck, go into the store, pick out and purchase a half dozen items, and return to the parking lot to find Miss./Mrs. “Important” still sitting there blocking traffic.

Again I ask you, is THIS behavior an example of Ignorance, Insolence, or Stupidity?

I have developed a solution for this particular situation. The next time I find someone camping out in the fire lane on the curb for any substantial length of time I’m going to walk right up to the offending vehicle, tap on the window, and ask the driver for their autograph.

When they ask me "why?", I’m going to answer:

“BECAUSE YOU MUST BE A FAMOUS OR OTHERWISE DAMN IMPORTANT PERSON TO SPEND THIS MUCH TIME ILLEGALLY PARKED WHERE YOU ARE PARKED.”

That aught to do it…


Answer key: Situation #1-Ignorance; Situation #2-Stupidity; Situation #3-Insolence

C.E.O.

A Lose/Lose Proposition

Say you’re a highly paid executive that has been brought in to run a company that’s having very specific problems. You have a bulging retirement liability, soaring healthcare costs, increasing competition from foreign companies, and threats to your security from outside forces wanting to steal your secrets and take over your operations.

In addition to an Ivy League education and a great deal of experience in government, you have also been previously employed at a high level in private industry. Your father even served as CEO of this same company years ago, so you have some intimate knowledge of the problems relating to the day to day operations this giant corporation.

Now suppose that you present a list of things that you as CEO want to do in an effort to solve your company’s problems, but the members of your board of directors hyperventilate, faint, and scream bloody murder to the shareholders over every single one of the line items in your plan. Some ideas save money, some are costly, and some require that your employees and shareholders accept some limitations in an effort to improve your overall situation.

After years of dissent, in the end your board only allows you to implement about half of your ideas, they limit and change the ones you do get to enact, and as time moves on they continue to kick and scream and criticize your efforts and nit-pick the results you obtain.

Finally, as the company slides toward insolvency, a group of your hostile competitors comes in and takes over operations—leaving you and your board of directors out of a job and causing your shareholders to lose all of their investment.

The board blames ALL of the failure on you, in spite of their responsibility in preventing you from implementing your plans. You lied, you mislead, you were incompetent, you didn’t have a plan, they say.

That would SUCK royally, wouldn’t it?

Now you know how President Bush probably feels…