Well, it’s official. I’ve been sworn in as a VISTA volunteer, and right now I’m waiting for the bus to take me to the airport. Now begins a period of at least a years service, maybe as long as three, just because that’s how long the project is. Anything can (and probably will) happen over the next year, so I’ll know around April Fool’s Day 2007 if I’m going to continue or move on to something else.
The experiences and friends I have made over the past 3 days will last a lifetime. I am glad to have picked this, as this training has provided a new point in my life. The experiences and challenges I will face over the next year will provide me with valuable training to do anything I want once my service is done.
See you back in Memphis.

I am sick of this whole “gas crisis” thing.
Sure, the oil companies are having record profits, but that’s because they are taking a small slice of a very big pie. If you look at the price relationship between a gallon of crude and a gallon of gas, the finished product should actually be higher than it is. So if the gas companies really are out to screw us, why aren’t the prices more relational?
And you know, this “investigation” is just another step towards Socialism. The next thing you know, the gas companies will be “nationalized” so as to “better protect the consumer.” Which of course, never works. Putting something driven by market forces into the hands of bureaucrats will only exacerbate the situation. Price controls will lead to shortages or rationing, and a return to the long lines of the 70’s.
If you want to do something about “getting gouged” by high gas prices, invest heavily in oil company stocks. That’s where all of the “obscene” profits are going.

You know, I had a devil of a time finding my original post on this subject, and that was because I didn’t put the proper key words in it.
Now comes the news that the University of Washington Student Senate has unanimously agreed to let Pappy Boyington and four other U of W alumni who won the Medal of Honor be memorialized.
Good for them.

We had a turning point happen on 9/11. A point where there will never be another hijacked plane in this country. The American Male will say “Never Again” and charge into the muzzle of a gun if need be. That started on Flight 93.
The men who charged the terrorists are all heros. They should be honored with laurels and accolades for years to come. They proved the true nature of the American Male. We don’t acquiesce, we don’t negotiate, we don’t wait for someone to rescue us. We get up and kick ass.
And now, Congressman Charles Taylor, R-NC, is opposing the formation of a memorial to the brave souls of Flight 93.

Multiple messages left Tuesday at Taylor’s congressional and campaign offices by The Associated Press were not returned. The Washington Post, which reported on the issue Tuesday, said Taylor believes no more tax dollars should be used to buy federal land for memorials.

The men of Flight 93 were just as brave as the heros of NYPD and FDNY. They charged in when others would have run away and they paid with their lives. You can say they were dead either way, but I prefer to say they tried to take back what was theirs.
This monument should be just as important as Mount Rushmore, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and a dozen more historical sights. It shows the world just what Americans can do when they put their minds and hearts to it.
Write this idiot an email and tell (politely) tell him to back, not oppose this funding request.

My itinerary said there would be a shuttle from the hotel to pick me up at the airport. When I get here they tell me I have to take the train to the downtown station, then call for the shuttle. Well, I spent about 45 minutes and 4 phone calls waiting at the train station before the shuttle guy arrived.
So now I’m in the hotel, with wireless access, and reporting to you. I’m off to find something to eat before the fun begins, so talk to you tonight.

Well, I made it past the dreaded TSA Anal Probe. I thought for sure I was going to get the rubber glove treatment. I had a laptop, steel toed shoes and a big old metal belt buckle. I had to leave my knife, multi-tool and flashlight at home, I knew they wouldn’t make it through security and I didn’t want to put them into checked baggage.
I’m at the terminal right now, and I have about a 90 minute wait before boarding, so I’m catching you up. Actually, I’m off line because I don’t have the spare money to pay the access fee to use the airport wireless network.
I’m feeling a bit of trepidation, this is the first time I’ve flown since I lost my job with Olivetti North America. That was a job where I flew 1-2 times a month. I had so many miles with Delta I could have flown my family to Hawai’i, but I never did and they expired.
Well, I’m going to save my battery power and shut off for now. See you in Atlanta.

I’m up on time, and everything is almost done. I’ve got to go and finish and I’ve got an hour to do it. I’ll see you all on the road.

I am paranoid about security. So, I have created this limited blogging account so no one can get into the guts of my blog and lock me out. This has only been a test.

I’m going through last-minute preparations for my trip. I thought I would be flying out today, so I was under a lot of pressure, but now I find out that I’m taking the first flight out tomorrow, so while I’m not under as much pressure, I still have to finish the preparations so all I have to do is wake up and go to the airport.
I’ll see you sometime tomorrow, as I will be flying all morning and maybe in-between moments I will be able to find a moment to let you know what is going on.

I just learned this from a message board that I am a member of. Fran O’Brien’s Loses Lease: Steakhouse Caters to Walter Reed Patients.
This steakhouse, which is in a Hilton hotel, serves free steaks to wounded vets, in honor of their service. When the lease came up for renewal, the Hiltons balked on making the place ADA compliant. The Hiltons doubled the rent and then canceled the lease.
Such classy people.

Well, the holder of this ticket is a certified idiot. Either they lost it or threw it away, thinking it was worth nothing. But someone in Kentucky let a Powerball ticket worth $853,492 expire. For a ticket of this magnitude, they must have matched every number but the Powerball number.
Idiot.

Just because you sent in that check to Uncle Sam (or you are expecting a check), you think your dealings with taxes are over for the year, right?
Wrong.
While it’s true you’ve paid your Federal income taxes, then there are lots of other taxes. Gas taxes, property taxes, wheel taxes and so on. I hope you’re sitting down, because your knees will get weak after this one.
If you paid all of your taxes up front, 100% of your income went to paying taxes from January 1 until this date I’m about to tell you, that will tell you your true tax burden.
Ready?
If you paid everything to the government up front, Federal, State and Local, you would be working for them until:
June 3rd.
That’s right. 154 days. 22 Weeks. 42% of the year, you are paying taxes.
How does that make you feel?
And look at it this way, if you are getting a big refund check back from Uncle Sam, that means you’re sending him too much money. You’re loaning it to him on an interest free loan.
Say you’re getting a $1200 refund. If you adjusted your withholdings so you didn’t get a refund (and didn’t have to pay anything on April 15th) that would mean you could have an extra $50 each paycheck. What would you rather do? Get a “bonus” check that you will likely blow on something frivolous, or have an extra $50 a paycheck to pay the day to day expenses of life?
It’s your money, it should be your choice.

Just to let you know, I got up early this morning, at the time I have selected that I need to get up and be able to do my morning chores and get to work on time. The bad news is, blogging doesn’t fit in the time allotted. So it looks like I will be blogging either during lunch or after work.
Just to let you know.

Liberals like to talk the talk, but fail every time to walk the walk. They claim to celebrate “all points of view,: but when you mention anything that doesn’t agree with them, the ideas are shouted down, the person denounced and reviled, and so on.
Case in point (H/T to AlphaPatriot):
Ohio State University was holding a meeting. It was to determine a “recommended reading list” for freshmen to the school. Scott Savage, a rather gentlemanly person, and a member of the Circle of Friends (otherwise known as the Quakers), a librarian spoke up and suggested four books:

• The Marketing of Evil: How Radicals, Elitists, and Pseudo-Experts Sell Us Corruption Disguised As Freedom by David Kupelian
• The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America by David Horowitz
• Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis by Bat Ye’or
• It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good by Senator Rick Santorum.

These books, made three other professors feel “unsafe” and the administration let them file sexual harassment charges against Mr. Savage.
And yet, in their own words:

At Ohio State we celebrate and learn from our diversity and we value individual differences. Academic freedom is defended within an environment of civility, tolerance, and mutual respect.

So once again, Liberals are caught in their own lie. They claim to “celebrate diversity” but yet they feel “unsafe” and need to file charges when someone comes up with books that don’t agree with them.
Go figure.
By the way, the Alliance Defense Fund threated to sue OSU over this. OSU quickly backed down.

And I don’t mean Teddy Kennedy.

“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American…There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag… We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language… and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.” Theodore Roosevelt 1907

This goes to the very heart of the immigration debate. These illegal immigrants have no want or need to become American citizens. They will, however accept amnesty, as it means that they (and their extended families) can stay in the United States, where working at dirt poor wages beats living in Mexico.
We do not need amnesty, we need to regain control of our border with Mexico. We need to stop this influx of people who by and large provide a drain on our society. Don’t give me any bull about “we’re all descendants of immigrants.” My family came over legally, not over the border in the middle of the night.