Riding with the window down…

Power is back on at my Houston home!!!  There was much rejoicing!

The documentary Street Fight is an excellent watch.  It chronicles the 2004 mayoral race for Newark, New Jersey pitting incumbent Sharpe James against reformer Cory Booker - both Democrats.  It is a tale of old school corruption versus new-age naivety and hope.

I am a big fan of political/election documentaries and have seen a boatload of them.  Street Fight ranks up there with the best of them.  This one takes political parties out of the mix which is cool because often these films are viewed through the lenses of which party you belong to.  It makes it easy for you to take your personal politics out of the equation and simply enjoy the coverage of our political system.  It is as much an education about how flawed that system is and how it needs major improvements as it is about how there is still hope for new blood and an end to the cronyism and corruption.

RATING 8 out of 10

“You’ve got to have an ace in the hole
A little secret that nobody knows
Life is a gamble, a game we all play
but you need to save something for a rainy day

You’ve got to learn to play your cards right
If you expect to win in life
Don’t put it all on the line for just one roll
You’ve got to have an ace in the hole”

So what does all this mean for me? Well, if I told you then I wouldn’t really have that ace now would I? Let’s just say that an ace has just been played and the result is going to be a big win. I promise I will fill you in later.

Well, they have reached a deal on the bailout plan - yippee! It isn’t a deal about what is right for the economy. It isn’t a deal about the hypocrisy of the entire idea of bailing out their campaign contributors. It isn’t a deal that bails out Joe Citizen. It’s simply a deal about who’s political cronies get how much money.

How did they pull off the single largest fiscal scam on the American public? Well pretty much the same way the pulled of the longest-running fiscal scam (the War on Terror) - they simply scared us. Our elected officials (which is debatable in itself) have learned about the power of fear. A scared populace doesn’t ask questions. A scared populace doesn’t even question actions that they know feel wrong.

In their move to “save the economy” Washington goombahs are going to put a serious hurt on the economy. Don’t worry though, the press will spin it to read “Whew, can you imagine how bad it would have been without the bailout.” Puh-leese

It is time once again for my debate report card.  I have been doing these for some time when an important debate is aired.  The criteria for grading is purely based on my opinion.

Every time a candidate says the right thing (i.e. something I agree with) he gets a check in the “Right” column. Every time something wrong is said, a check in the “Wrong” column. Also, every time there is an attempt to spin or dodge the question, there was a check in the “Spin/Dodge” column.

This debate turned largely on foreign relations and the economy.  If you read some of my recent posts, you would understand that I think these subjects are more sizzle than steak and just a spin move being used by both sides to avoid talking about some of the more important issues that affect us.  If I were grading on the Bell Curve, Obama would pass and McCain would fail, but the prospects for either one winning looks to me like a whole lot of politics as usual.  The lesser of two evils however, is clearly Senator Obama.

Keep in mind that I am as completely independent as they come.  In fact, both of these candidates rated extremely poor when it came to their individual party debates. (see Rep’in the Right and Dem’s the Breaks)

Let’s start with a pet peeve of mine - spin.  This is how the two candidates fared across the entire debate as to their habit of avoiding the question.

45% Spin - John McCain is the king of spin.  Nearly HALF of everything that came out of his mouth in this debate was an attempt to avoid or obfuscate the issue.
27% Spin - Barrack Obama is no stranger to spin.  One third of is much better than McCain’s tally, but still, coming in second place in the Ugliest Pig Contest is nothing to be proud of.

Lets talk simple “right and wrong.”  Here Obama, who performed dismally in the Democratic debates a year ago (see above link) blew away McCain.

56% Correct - Just over half of the time, the things Senator Obama spoke made sense and represented standing up and doing the right thing.
29% Correct - For shame…  if over two-thirds of a person’s yapping is either dead wrong or misdirection, he/she is a poor choice to lead anything.

Some other interesting numbers:

On the subject of Foreign Affairs/Relations in general Obama spanked McCain (62% Obama - 27% McCain)  McCain fell woefully behind Obama with respect to relations with every country covered (Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan) with the exception of Russia.  Both candidates found it easy to say the right thing here.  (63% Obama - 60% McCain)

Both Obama and McCain failed to pull a passing grade on the Economy (combined score of 45%) and the Bailout (combined score of 34%).

Overall, there was a lot of smoke and mirrors.  Only lip service was paid to the major issue of energy independence and renewable sources for the same.  If the bailout is such and big emergency that can be addressed IMMEDIATELY with $700 BILLION, why do both candidates only come up with 10 year plans to address something MORE vital to US security AND the economy - the energy issue, and why do both candidates choose the most “you guys have to be retarded to buy this” of all new energy solutions - clean coal.  That is like saying “dry” water.  If you buy that as a solution - then I guess you deserve the politicians you elect.

The entire debate can be viewed here and if you are interested in getting my complete breakdown in Excel format, just shoot me an email. cdoelle@gmail[dot]com

Now get out there and make informed decisions. Don’t believe me, decide for yourself.

Let me start by saying I do NOT believe that letting some financial institutions fail is a bad thing.  Yeah, I know - people lose their jobs, but I am sick and tired of this corporate welfare under the banner of “saving the economy.”  Nothing could be further from the truth - bailing out companies who fail to perform in a capitalist system HURTS our economy.

If you mismanage your personal money, where is your bailout?  If small business makes dumb moves (and ALL of this mortgage crisis is due to making dumb moves) who bails them out?  The free market decides who wins and who fails based on a company’s ability to make a better mousetrap and then sell it at a profit.   When you bail out companies that do stupid things - you take us out of a free market democracy to a collection of fat-cats protected by their chronies in office.  It is the WORST POSSIBLE THING you can do in a democracy.  Freedom succeed by your own efforts has to include freedom to fail from them as well.

SEVEN HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS!!!  This is craziness and corporate welfare at the worst level.   Not only is it an amount that is nearly as much as the entire “War on Terror” has cost us, but it doesn’t do one thing for the PEOPLE that have been hurt by the poor business practices or to protect the taxpayers from this HUGE abuse.

Get this right people -IT IS YOU AND I ARE BAILING THEM OUT!  There is NO such thing as government money - it is taxpayer money.  It is YOU that are footing the bill for these bad business practices.  It is YOUR money going to reward the very people that created this situation.

Sometimes when you review a movie, you have to take your own beliefs out of it - this is just such a case.  Go Tigers! is the story of high school football in Massillon, Ohio.  It chronicles the 1999 season, but the subtext is the city and its passion for high school football.

Being a huge fan of ‘Texas’ high school football (the gold standard) and football in general, I figured I would like the film.  Where it fell short for me was not in the claims I dispute, but in the craft of film making.   Too many of the scenes were staged to tell the story - this is the first rule of documentary films - don’t ‘make’ the story, ‘find’ the story.

It actually took me two viewings to finish watching Go Tigers! because I fell asleep the first time.  This is not wholly the film’s fault as I was tired when sitting down to watch.  In the end, it was an interesting film - nothing particularly moving about the content, but something to watch if you are a big fan of high school football.

Now as to my disagreements with the claims - the best football town in America?  Come on.  There was nothing in that city that I haven’t seen in HUNDREDS of small towns in Texas.  Towns getting behind their high school team is a phenomenon across all states.  And yes, I have seen cities that make a BIGGER deal of their team than Massillon.

I think it mentioned that the Tigers were 22 time state champions and that they had won it like 11 out of 13 or something like that (don’t quote me on the numbers.)  All that says is that there isn’t much good competition.  The best in Texas just won their 8th state championship - partly because football is SOOO much better in Texas and partly because of the sheer volume of teams you have to get through to win it in the Lone Star State.

Just ask 23 time Louisiana state champions, John Curtis Christian.

RATING 6 out of 10

In case you have been doubting it recently - life is good.  Even a day that begins somewhat like a sh*t sandwich can turn around and end up pretty darn good.    Such was today.  A lot of positive things happened from around midday on.

I just have to take second to praise those friends and coworkers that are hard-working and honest. Sure, everyone expects that and because of it - I think it is something we take for granted sometimes. When you encounter someone who is selfish, greedy, dishonest, and/or any other version of a slimebag, it makes you appreciate the amazing number of good friends and associates you have.

I am not talking Mother Theresa here - just the people who stand up for what they say, people who look for win/win situations instead of “me, me, me” all the time, people who’s word you can count on. I’m not going list them in fear of forgetting to put someone on it and risk hurting a good person’s feelings - let’s just say that you folks know who you are. You know that you have been honest in your dealing, you know that when you say something you will do everything in your power to make sure it comes to pass, you know that your conscience is clear when you go to sleep at night.

Thank you. Thank you for proving the adage that “man is good” despite what some people have done to disprove it. Thank you for being you.

That’s how I described my first taste of Big Red soda in over two decades. It has literally been that long since I had a sip of one. Noticing Blake drinking about one a week or so for the last month got me to wondering about the taste. I really couldn’t remember the flavor and since our tastes run pretty similar, I mentioned to him that I was going to have to try one. Ever the enabler, he handed one over… wow, it was nothing like I was expecting.

Maybe I was imagining something with more of a cinnamon flavor, but I was hit with the most overwhelming sweetness I can remember from a soft drink. It was as if someone has liquefied cake frosting and injected carbonated water into it. Will I be a regular Big Red drinker? Not likely - I am in no hurry to become a diabetic.

If you ever need a sugar rush - you couldn’t find anything sweeter even if you added a drop of red food coloring to a cup of sugar.