Anyway we don't have the money nor the time, but what the hell we are off to take our son to his freshman year of college. It is crazy,,,, heading into earthquakes and hurricanes for one weekend. Tried to tell him it was a sign from God that maybe he should have gone somewhere else... not really, good opportunity for him and I hope he takes advantage of it and gets off to a better start in life than I ever had. Way too short of a trip for where we are going and especially with no money it really takes away from the adventure we thought we were going to have a couple of years ago when things were better,,,, anybody care to pay our electric and mortgage this month
Cheers
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Another sweltering Saturday
Bit hard to go out and about in Dallas nowadays, still hotter than heck,,,,but if you can stand the heat there are many great things to do.Thought I would mention one, not the best place in the heat, but just east of Dallas there is a spot called the Harbor in Rockwell. It is on a man made lake so it has a nice vacation feel to it. Mostly restaurants, but nice walking area, for people on the lake they can dock boats, has some entertainment bars, hard pressed to be real busy since the heat dominates, but in the late evening now or spring or fall it can be a nice place to hang out. Nothing super fancy, but great place to spend an evening.
We are getting close to being down to one child. We leave soon to take another child to college.Been a bit tough lately since the economy over the last few years zapped our savings. So right now not the best time to be taking a trip to drop off a child for college.Very excited though,great opportunity for the child.Over half paid for by scholarships, financial aid, but still a bunch coming from the parents we don't have. We are still debating whether we drive or fly, flying is easier and we are gone less time,but added expense. Either way though pretty big hit to the budget that we really cannot afford. Some benefits to driving, we run across family on the way we haven't seen in awhile, but it is a long drive.In other times we would be super excited about the trip. Got the older kids in town to help watch the house and the youngest so we only have to worry about the trip itself. There are times when having a large family, married children, etc can be a blessing, well it has always been a blessing, but for times like this, an added benefit. Gonna cook some brisket for the big family meal before the child leaves. Anyway these thoughts have been dominating the brain for the last few weeks.
Originally I was going to discuss some thoughts that came up when reading about the disaster that is Parkland Hospital.This is our county hospital and it is in the news big time lately, and not for the best of reasons. Instead I decided to keep it light tonight since everyone needs a bit of good times nowadays. Some of it's problems really irk me not because of the problems themselves, but how they reflect about our situation in society as a whole. The problems are bad and yes they bother me also, but it seems to reflect bigger problems, but all in all if we address them we come out ahead in the big picture.
So a couple of quick hits,
If people cannot do their job, their are millions of people out there who might be able to do it better, even though you don't want people to lose their job now, if they aren't performing well there are many who would like the opportunity to try and do better. It is sad to see so many examples of piss poor performance when executives in charge have the ability to get new blood. For myself I have been to some interviews where I am thinking I could be doing a much better job than the person interviewing me, but for some reason no one in charge wants to step up and hold people accountable for their performance. And the point about the people in charge is important since this seems to be a problem too,,,,,see the Parkland example.
And another topic to discuss is medicare and medicaid. There is some much talk about cutting budgets etc, but lets first work on better accountability to how the money is spent. I have read so many examples of money being spent by medicare and medicaid that was fraud. Again see the Parkland example, you seem to read about this kind of stuff all the time. We need to take care of people's health so better management is the first key to savings that is so desperately needed in our federal budget. It is easy to cut, but we are talking about people's lives. Much more to discuss here, but this evening didn't want to go overboard.
Pray for rain.
And again think about the concept of progressive conservatism. Actually this isn't a new idea if you know your American history. What is it for the 21st century?
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Dog days of summer
Well we lost the string of 100+ days the other day, we came within 2 days of breaking a record. Oh well, it got below 100 for a couple of days, then wham back to 100 and a new streak begins. We still need rain like crazy all over Texas and other parts of the country.Of course it is flooding somewhere else.Nature isn't into balance lately.
oh yeah have I mentioned desalination before,,,,it boggles me that we aren't leading the world in developing this process. Helps agriculture, helps overall water situation, reduces pressure on our lakes, creates jobs, directly and indirectly,,,,, yeah there are some hurdles to overcome, but other countries are making breakthroughs.
Here we are suppose to be the greatest country in the world and the most common sense projects are left by the wayside. If we want to continue to lead the world economically we need to step up and show leadership with action.
Haven't seen a Ranger score this evening yet, but we are now in mid August. I promised myself I wouldn't pay attention till Sept,,,, but I hear good things coming out of Arlington.
oh yeah have I mentioned desalination before,,,,it boggles me that we aren't leading the world in developing this process. Helps agriculture, helps overall water situation, reduces pressure on our lakes, creates jobs, directly and indirectly,,,,, yeah there are some hurdles to overcome, but other countries are making breakthroughs.
Here we are suppose to be the greatest country in the world and the most common sense projects are left by the wayside. If we want to continue to lead the world economically we need to step up and show leadership with action.
Haven't seen a Ranger score this evening yet, but we are now in mid August. I promised myself I wouldn't pay attention till Sept,,,, but I hear good things coming out of Arlington.
Friday, August 12, 2011
The times they are a retchin'
There is a difference between being conservative and being right wing.Unfortunately right now the conservatives are losing.
Wasn't the whole purpose of our fore fathers writing the constitution was to get rid of tyranny and nowadays our so called conservatives are handing the country over to an economic oligarchy.
So what is progressive conservatism in the 21st century?
It isn't more social welfare, it isn't another great society, or more govt interference in our lives, but it isn't handing over our rights to others under the concept of a stronger central govt, it is not letting big business make their own rules, it isn't the idea that more money means more free speech,
It can be less govt, but more effective govt, it can be holding corporations accountable for their actions so we need less regulatory bodies...think about it; if corporations treat lawsuits as a cost of business how can they be expected to regulate themselves. You can choose more taxes and more govt or you can chose corporate accountability at the highest level. People like making money; they will figure it out.
It can be better and more effective help to the less fortunate, think about the last few years, we kept extending unemployment benefits, but really didn't hold anyone accountable for retraining,,,, less time looking for a job up front and more time learning new skills to fill the jobs available. You can hold people accountable to showing up for training classes while receiving unemployment then finding them jobs without taking away their rights because they can still look for jobs they want while working in the new career, or eventually they may find success in the new career,,,,,, things like aptitude tests etc for retraining do not infringe on people's rights if they are receiving help from tax payer money.
Free speech should be open, we don't need lobbyists telling Congress what to do, they should be required to give advice and guidance in open session committee hearings so all can hear and then address their views to Congress. Free speech is one thing, undue and behind the scenes influence destroys open democracy.
It is the responsibility of our country to protect individual rights, to not hinder individual success, to stand up and help those in need so they can stand on their own instead of relying on society, and we don't need intrusive govt, but we also don't need a self selected few replacing the rights of people to install their own views for their own benefit.
Our government was set up to protect the rights of people, not to manage people, but in protecting rights it does mean protecting them for all possible harm. Again we were founded on the belief that all humans have rights, and that no one king or power has the right to supercede those rights, but it is our responsibility to protect them, not to hand them over especially due to ignorance or apathy.
Progressive conservatism now is supporting job growth, economic growth, less government based on more participation by the middle class, equal distribution of taxation, simpler tax laws, it is not social redistribution of wealth,but maintaining the opportunity for people to create wealth for themselves and not be interfered by govt or elements of society not wanting others to succeed.
There are some so called conservatives that mouth certain ideas,but their actions have a completely different bent.
Oh by the way I hear Gov Perry is running for President,God Save the Constitution, the constitution is dying.
Wasn't the whole purpose of our fore fathers writing the constitution was to get rid of tyranny and nowadays our so called conservatives are handing the country over to an economic oligarchy.
So what is progressive conservatism in the 21st century?
It isn't more social welfare, it isn't another great society, or more govt interference in our lives, but it isn't handing over our rights to others under the concept of a stronger central govt, it is not letting big business make their own rules, it isn't the idea that more money means more free speech,
It can be less govt, but more effective govt, it can be holding corporations accountable for their actions so we need less regulatory bodies...think about it; if corporations treat lawsuits as a cost of business how can they be expected to regulate themselves. You can choose more taxes and more govt or you can chose corporate accountability at the highest level. People like making money; they will figure it out.
It can be better and more effective help to the less fortunate, think about the last few years, we kept extending unemployment benefits, but really didn't hold anyone accountable for retraining,,,, less time looking for a job up front and more time learning new skills to fill the jobs available. You can hold people accountable to showing up for training classes while receiving unemployment then finding them jobs without taking away their rights because they can still look for jobs they want while working in the new career, or eventually they may find success in the new career,,,,,, things like aptitude tests etc for retraining do not infringe on people's rights if they are receiving help from tax payer money.
Free speech should be open, we don't need lobbyists telling Congress what to do, they should be required to give advice and guidance in open session committee hearings so all can hear and then address their views to Congress. Free speech is one thing, undue and behind the scenes influence destroys open democracy.
It is the responsibility of our country to protect individual rights, to not hinder individual success, to stand up and help those in need so they can stand on their own instead of relying on society, and we don't need intrusive govt, but we also don't need a self selected few replacing the rights of people to install their own views for their own benefit.
Our government was set up to protect the rights of people, not to manage people, but in protecting rights it does mean protecting them for all possible harm. Again we were founded on the belief that all humans have rights, and that no one king or power has the right to supercede those rights, but it is our responsibility to protect them, not to hand them over especially due to ignorance or apathy.
Progressive conservatism now is supporting job growth, economic growth, less government based on more participation by the middle class, equal distribution of taxation, simpler tax laws, it is not social redistribution of wealth,but maintaining the opportunity for people to create wealth for themselves and not be interfered by govt or elements of society not wanting others to succeed.
There are some so called conservatives that mouth certain ideas,but their actions have a completely different bent.
Oh by the way I hear Gov Perry is running for President,God Save the Constitution, the constitution is dying.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Reading someone else's blog
On Jack Cafferty's CNN blog today he asks what will it take to change things in Washington today. And there were some typical blame the other guy quotes or get rid of that group stmts., and a bunch about term limits.
Really though to fix what is going on in Washington you have to look at some of the root causes and there are many, but here are three quick topics.
1) People can't keep blaming the other guy, we need real honesty about who is at fault and that is everyone. Yes some at different levels,but we are all responsible and that leads me to
2) Distractions. Yes, more time is spent on facebook, reading about the local NFL team's training camp, Hollywood insider, you name it, but more Americans spend so much time on what distracts them than dealing with real problems how can you blame Congress for listening to lobbyists, they are the only ones talking to Congress.( unfortunately with way too much financial influence also. So instead of term limits we need lobbyist reform).
3) Education, back in the 1950's we had a chance to build the greatest education system in the world, instead we chose mediocrity and then mediocrity begat mediocrity etc till now, most Americans really don't understand what is going on and what it means to be a responsible citizen.
It is not that we have to give up what we enjoy,,, that is part of what makes our country so great having the time to do things, but we have to realize it is more than a financial crisis facing our country, but a fundamental understanding of what it means to hold our elected officials accountable to us the people.
Now hear is a fun complaint,,,I wish I had more time to read other blogs etc, I use to be a political junkie, read everything and even now would love to go back to school and finish or start a new Master's program or even a PhD. I even have tons of ideas for economic development here for this country. I need to force myself to find the time if this is what I love, ( again we all have to take our own responsibility)but this afternoon I am actually on hold with the IRS, yes the IRS and to have to be dealing with them with all the craziness in Washington,but I have been on hold with them for over an hour, so I started reading around the internet and of course thinking of my own comments. Actually it has been well over a hour, oh well they finally answered. Yeah,,, I think
Oh yeah and I am a little guilty about paying too much attention to my favorite teams also
Really though to fix what is going on in Washington you have to look at some of the root causes and there are many, but here are three quick topics.
1) People can't keep blaming the other guy, we need real honesty about who is at fault and that is everyone. Yes some at different levels,but we are all responsible and that leads me to
2) Distractions. Yes, more time is spent on facebook, reading about the local NFL team's training camp, Hollywood insider, you name it, but more Americans spend so much time on what distracts them than dealing with real problems how can you blame Congress for listening to lobbyists, they are the only ones talking to Congress.( unfortunately with way too much financial influence also. So instead of term limits we need lobbyist reform).
3) Education, back in the 1950's we had a chance to build the greatest education system in the world, instead we chose mediocrity and then mediocrity begat mediocrity etc till now, most Americans really don't understand what is going on and what it means to be a responsible citizen.
It is not that we have to give up what we enjoy,,, that is part of what makes our country so great having the time to do things, but we have to realize it is more than a financial crisis facing our country, but a fundamental understanding of what it means to hold our elected officials accountable to us the people.
Now hear is a fun complaint,,,I wish I had more time to read other blogs etc, I use to be a political junkie, read everything and even now would love to go back to school and finish or start a new Master's program or even a PhD. I even have tons of ideas for economic development here for this country. I need to force myself to find the time if this is what I love, ( again we all have to take our own responsibility)but this afternoon I am actually on hold with the IRS, yes the IRS and to have to be dealing with them with all the craziness in Washington,but I have been on hold with them for over an hour, so I started reading around the internet and of course thinking of my own comments. Actually it has been well over a hour, oh well they finally answered. Yeah,,, I think
Oh yeah and I am a little guilty about paying too much attention to my favorite teams also
Sunday, August 7, 2011
One final thought on this hot afternoon
There has got to be more discussion on balancing the trade deficit. New industries help, agricultural products have always helped, but we need more.
Trade balance,not trade treaties, but new products, and jobs will do much more to helping our economy than anything Wall Street or Washington DC has done for a long time.
We need more investment banking for new industries not trading profits from volatile markets out of wall street, just a thought.
Trade balance,not trade treaties, but new products, and jobs will do much more to helping our economy than anything Wall Street or Washington DC has done for a long time.
We need more investment banking for new industries not trading profits from volatile markets out of wall street, just a thought.
a bit of local flavor
False alarm on the last post, it is only intermission for the circus.
Anyway will hold off on the previous rant for another time.
Another aspect of the economy we really need to support is small business, either individuals, individual companies, or small chains. Empires of the past have fallen due to too much concentration of wealth and power.
So if are in the mood try Tony's in northeast Dallas on East Northwest Highway, small restaurant that serves Italian food. If you are from the northeast part of the country probably not that big of a deal to make much noise over a family owned local neighborhood spot, but with Dallas being so spread out you do have to look a bit to find them. Tony's has great customer service, good food at a really good price, nice specials, you can bring your own wine, so this helps to hold down the cost. I have been going there for years and should have recommended it a long time ago.There are a few other small Italian places like it in Dallas, but this is my family's spot.
And if you are from out of town and you want some Mexican food try Calle Doce.There are two locations, one in Oak Cliff and the other in Lakewood. Neither are in high tourist areas, but if you can get around look this place up.Not your typical tex mex you find in the chains. You do get some enchilladas etc, but there are other menu items much more worth trying. Also Lakewood area has some other nice places to eat, many local establishments.
Anyway will hold off on the previous rant for another time.
Another aspect of the economy we really need to support is small business, either individuals, individual companies, or small chains. Empires of the past have fallen due to too much concentration of wealth and power.
So if are in the mood try Tony's in northeast Dallas on East Northwest Highway, small restaurant that serves Italian food. If you are from the northeast part of the country probably not that big of a deal to make much noise over a family owned local neighborhood spot, but with Dallas being so spread out you do have to look a bit to find them. Tony's has great customer service, good food at a really good price, nice specials, you can bring your own wine, so this helps to hold down the cost. I have been going there for years and should have recommended it a long time ago.There are a few other small Italian places like it in Dallas, but this is my family's spot.
And if you are from out of town and you want some Mexican food try Calle Doce.There are two locations, one in Oak Cliff and the other in Lakewood. Neither are in high tourist areas, but if you can get around look this place up.Not your typical tex mex you find in the chains. You do get some enchilladas etc, but there are other menu items much more worth trying. Also Lakewood area has some other nice places to eat, many local establishments.
a bit of two cents on being conservative
Or how do you survive calling yourself conservative if you don't believe the crap out of Fox News all the time and the Republican machine.
I didn't vote for Obama and won't next year, but it amazes me the amount of misconception Fox spills out. I was going by a tv set the other day and Fox was discussing the possible Republican Candidates and their responses to the current economic crisis.One comment caught my attention was that the President Obama was responsible for the crisis,, no, not the debt debacle over the last few weeks, but the whole crisis facing our country. Really...... this crisis has been building for decades and both parties are neck deep in responsibility. And even more currently Obama inherited the current recession, he didn't create it.
I haven't voted for a democrat or republican since Carter and Reagan and yeah I have had to vote for some real interesting characters to vote and not vote main stream. I am not a tea party supporter because they are coming out of the machine with just more extreme right wing views, not truly a grass roots movement as they proclaim to be. Now do I get to say I am not to blame for our current fiscal disaster, no, all of us are to blame, but for the so called leadership of our country to push off blame on each other and a so called news organization helping to polarize this problem is sometimes too much to put up with nowadays.
Being conservative doesn't mean you should let others do your thinking for you, but I see way too many Republicans parroting what they hear without any true critical thinking of what they are saying. Yeah some of the ideas are great, as a conservative you do want smaller and less government, less taxes, more encouragement of economic growth, and there are very specific conservative social values like right to life. What kills me is if you try to convince someone to understand how conservatism can work you run up against the fact that Fox and the Republican leadership are short on facts, short on new ideas, short on ownership of their responsibility, and short on credibility. So any decent argument is torn apart by trying to distance yourself from them and say there is more to conservatism than what they are doing.
Another issue I run up against is the business issue. Way too much energy is spent on doing things they way we have always done it. You cannot expect to maintain economic growth on a dynamic planet with the same old thing. Times change.Corporate America is big on telling its workers you need to be flexible, but in reality this is a smoke screen to basically squeeze out more profit from a shrinking market. There is nothing wrong with working hard and driving to be more efficient. This does help corporations be more successful, but an economy as a whole needs to be ready to adapt to changing markets not squeezing out what is left from the last economy.
An example is the current economic situation in our country. Times are changing and yet we keep expecting to rely on the same energy sources as last century. As a true capitalist you have to see change coming and become part of the change. We became great because of the railroads in the 19th century and automobiles in the 20th century and yes oil had a huge role in this growth. ( and yes this wasn't the only driving force behind growth in our country, but it was huge). Now though people want to invest more and more in finding more oil and even to the point where people were saying a few years ago that oil at $150 barrel and gasoline at $4-5 gallon was good because it would now be worth it to invest the billions needed to get new sources of oil. Quite frankly I don't get why we should ramp up the price of something to spend excessively to keep it going where there are other alternatives. Oil is going to be part of our energy mix for a long time to come,but if we develop other sources of energy we can help moderate energy costs, which in the long run helps our economy. And a lot more people win. There is an obsession with us relying on oil completely that is madness.
Yes I know some people equate alternative energy with a social agenda, but you have to get over this kind of thinking. Really alternative energy is not about tree hugging anymore, okay yes there maybe a side benefit of less pollution etc, but why not take advantage of a good thing. One of my issues is I would like to vote for Green Party candidates, but there social agenda is way too liberal. So where does a person go to develop support for business models for alternative energy in a conservative world. So a bit of thanks does have to go out to Mr Pickens here in Texas, but we need much more.
I want to say more on this so will try and come back to it, but got to go pick up the wife and granddaughter, they are at the circus,,,, one thing every child should see is the circus.
Keep praying for rain, we need it for way too much of the country.
Again think about desalinazation,,,,, wouldn't hurt our agricultural output right now.... way too many cattle being sold to market too early this year.
I didn't vote for Obama and won't next year, but it amazes me the amount of misconception Fox spills out. I was going by a tv set the other day and Fox was discussing the possible Republican Candidates and their responses to the current economic crisis.One comment caught my attention was that the President Obama was responsible for the crisis,, no, not the debt debacle over the last few weeks, but the whole crisis facing our country. Really...... this crisis has been building for decades and both parties are neck deep in responsibility. And even more currently Obama inherited the current recession, he didn't create it.
I haven't voted for a democrat or republican since Carter and Reagan and yeah I have had to vote for some real interesting characters to vote and not vote main stream. I am not a tea party supporter because they are coming out of the machine with just more extreme right wing views, not truly a grass roots movement as they proclaim to be. Now do I get to say I am not to blame for our current fiscal disaster, no, all of us are to blame, but for the so called leadership of our country to push off blame on each other and a so called news organization helping to polarize this problem is sometimes too much to put up with nowadays.
Being conservative doesn't mean you should let others do your thinking for you, but I see way too many Republicans parroting what they hear without any true critical thinking of what they are saying. Yeah some of the ideas are great, as a conservative you do want smaller and less government, less taxes, more encouragement of economic growth, and there are very specific conservative social values like right to life. What kills me is if you try to convince someone to understand how conservatism can work you run up against the fact that Fox and the Republican leadership are short on facts, short on new ideas, short on ownership of their responsibility, and short on credibility. So any decent argument is torn apart by trying to distance yourself from them and say there is more to conservatism than what they are doing.
Another issue I run up against is the business issue. Way too much energy is spent on doing things they way we have always done it. You cannot expect to maintain economic growth on a dynamic planet with the same old thing. Times change.Corporate America is big on telling its workers you need to be flexible, but in reality this is a smoke screen to basically squeeze out more profit from a shrinking market. There is nothing wrong with working hard and driving to be more efficient. This does help corporations be more successful, but an economy as a whole needs to be ready to adapt to changing markets not squeezing out what is left from the last economy.
An example is the current economic situation in our country. Times are changing and yet we keep expecting to rely on the same energy sources as last century. As a true capitalist you have to see change coming and become part of the change. We became great because of the railroads in the 19th century and automobiles in the 20th century and yes oil had a huge role in this growth. ( and yes this wasn't the only driving force behind growth in our country, but it was huge). Now though people want to invest more and more in finding more oil and even to the point where people were saying a few years ago that oil at $150 barrel and gasoline at $4-5 gallon was good because it would now be worth it to invest the billions needed to get new sources of oil. Quite frankly I don't get why we should ramp up the price of something to spend excessively to keep it going where there are other alternatives. Oil is going to be part of our energy mix for a long time to come,but if we develop other sources of energy we can help moderate energy costs, which in the long run helps our economy. And a lot more people win. There is an obsession with us relying on oil completely that is madness.
Yes I know some people equate alternative energy with a social agenda, but you have to get over this kind of thinking. Really alternative energy is not about tree hugging anymore, okay yes there maybe a side benefit of less pollution etc, but why not take advantage of a good thing. One of my issues is I would like to vote for Green Party candidates, but there social agenda is way too liberal. So where does a person go to develop support for business models for alternative energy in a conservative world. So a bit of thanks does have to go out to Mr Pickens here in Texas, but we need much more.
I want to say more on this so will try and come back to it, but got to go pick up the wife and granddaughter, they are at the circus,,,, one thing every child should see is the circus.
Keep praying for rain, we need it for way too much of the country.
Again think about desalinazation,,,,, wouldn't hurt our agricultural output right now.... way too many cattle being sold to market too early this year.
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