Hope for the future.

Barack Obama and I disagree on almost every issue of this campaign. I had some significant problems with McCain, as well. I voted with my conscience last night. I voted for a 3rd party candidate.

Obama was elected anyway. I still believe that he'll lead us in the wrong direction. HOWEVER, I do agree that he dynamically changed the election by getting more people involved. I also pray that he that he proves me wrong.

I finally understand women and men

I explain this to my wife, and she rolls her eyes and says, "sure you do..." Which tells me that I'm probably facing an uphill battle. Ho well. Both women and men are governed by certain overriding traits. Some of these traits are learned, some are tallent, but all are of equal value. If one realizes these driving traits, one can use them to manipulate the situation to their advantage. The key is finding out what they are. (And I'm not talking about skeletons in the closet.)
I've heard these traits called love languages and personality traits. Neither is correct for the point of this discussion. People are motivated any of the following: the need to feel in control, the need for accomplishment, the need to feel actual love from another person not of their immediate family (mom/dad/sibs) or any combination of the three.

Take a mother, for example, some are motivated by a desire to accomplish having a family. Or possibly, to feel love from her husband or kids. Mothers are often the disciplinarians in older style families, which satisfies the need for control. Or an executive, who is having marital problems. At work, he's the boss, who has subordinates who do what he wants. Yet, at home he is powerless. At work, he has a sense of accomplishment and the acclaim of his peers. But at home, he only has heartache & disappointment. In neither situation does he have the love of another. Continuing this analagy further, where is he going to want to spend his time? In this case, it would be at the office. The only thing he could hope for would be to eventually have a female coworker who is either single or in the same circumstance, fall in love with him. This used to be called the secretary syndrome. Simply put man with bad homelife spends many hours at work with his secretary who falls for him.

If that were the case, I hope he doesn't have kids at home. If his wife were to find out about his love affair with his secretary, she would probably leave him.
Please keep in mind that the genders in either of my examples are interchangable. Feel free to mix and match all you like.

Knowing what modivates people can help in understanding of basic human nature. Children who are recognized as good kids by their parents tend to want that recognition more often. Today, for example, my 9 year old daughter made breakfast. She made scrambled eggs. Note: my wife, I, and all of the older sisters were asleep at the time. She did it completely on her own. I may never know how close she came to burning down the house, or causing bodilly harm to herself or others. Did we yell at her and tell her how crazy she was? Nope. Did we get upset with her in any way (even though she could have caused terrible damage)? Nope. Instead when she gave us breakfast in bed, we praised her. Knowing that in so doing, she'll want to repeat that sense of accomplishment and that we will then have more influence over how she does things. She'll be more attentive to what to do, and that she'll improve.

Were we to have reacted badly, she would have been sad. She would have eventually developed a sense of disappointment with herself, and may have started to turn to other sources for the sense of worth that she so desparately requires for proper development. Also, it may have stemmed her desire to improve. This can be extended indefinitely. In this case, I'm extending it to internet usage.

Unlike many I know who believe in shielding their children from the bad things that are on the internet, I believe that children should be tought to distinguish right from wrong, and that not all things are either good or evil. Children should be tought how to use things properly. That goes for everything from safe cooking practices to internet usage. Parents don't realize how smart their children are. Being a computer professional and all around geek, I've been able to sheild my kids from the worst things on the net, but as they get older and more curious about the net, I intend to exert less and less controll to let them make decisions on their own as to what sites to visit, whom to chat with, and what to do while on the net. A few months back, my daughter, following the directions of one of her friends, created herself an email account, a myspace page, and a vume IM account. When she created her myspace page, it scanned our computers hard drive for images to put on the page, and immediately posted them to her page. The problem was that we also use that PC for sending/recieving internet faxes. I had some tif images there that were contracts, and had all my personal information, including our correct address, on them. They were posted to her myspace page. Needless to say that I was a bit upset with her when I found out. Instead of exherting my efforts to control her internet usage, we did several things to assist her in discovering the internet. We 1)purchased a good internet filter with reporting, 2) shut off her vume and myspace accounts, and 3)allowed her to keep her email address with the condition that we were able to monitor it at will, 4) explained to her what had happened, and why we were taking the action we took, and 5)allowed and showed her how to use the resources (such as IM) the internet has to offer to her advantage. The only condition for our generosity on the net is that if she has questions, that she goes to us instead of her friends. I also explained to her how what her friends were doing could cause harm to themselves and their families.

Children, like their parents, have very similar motivators. The key to life is showing your spouse and children how to achieve their motivators within the setting that you want. Wives, do you want your husband to spend more time at home? Make a quasi-big deal of the minor accomplishments he achieves, make yourself available for sex (it wouldn't hurt to be the initiator once in a while. Spontaniety is also nice sometimes.), and make him honestly feel like there's no place in the world you'd rather be, than by his side. Husbands, do you want more from your relationship? Use what you know of your wife's love language to your advantage, and MAKE SURE IT'S SUCCESSFUL. Make your wife feel an honest sense of accomplishment, (they'll smell a fake sense of accomplishment a mile away), and make her feel like an equal. Parents, do you want better children? Make sure they know that you're proud of them for their accomplishments, make sure they know they're loved (see love languages), and make them feel like they're in control of themselves (and to an extent, their lives). Children, do you want a better relationship with your siblings? Show them you care, be nice to them, have fun with them.
When problems arise, face them with a happy heart, united in your purpose, and give it your best.

Barak Obama: If this guy's got a vision, someone get him some glasses, quick!!!

If Barak is elected president, then we really have lost our way.

Let me start off this installment of my opinion by saying that I'm not racist. I've lived around blacks (People of color, colored, whatever...)all my life. I have great respect for them. They're hard working, honest, and a credit to the human race. In fact, the other day, I had a question on a project that I was working on between my department and another department and the fellow that I was working with in the other department was a black man. I asked my question and when his answer didn't make sense, we both examined the others work more closely, and discovered that the documents I had been given were the wrong documents for his project. What impressed me was the fact that he didn't treat my question as a stupid one and blow me off. He actually came over to my desk a few hours after I'd asked the initial question, brought his paper work, and we went through them both together. Actions say a lot without having to say anything at all.

Here are a few facts that I'm extreemly happy about:

1. That white americans are getting more color-blind as far as race is concerned. I just hope the Rev. Wrights of the world can become more color-blind as well.
2. That we had a really interesting primary elections race. In this race, we had a white woman, a black man, and a white man. Condoleezza Rice should have run on the republican ticket we'd have had the best of both worlds.
3. I saw some uproar from black leaders in regards to Rev Wrights comments about racial relations in America.

But it's issues that get candidates on the map. And sofar about the only place that Barak and I agree is that Families need reinforcing. That's about where our agreeing stops.

99% of what he's proposing is straight out of the communists handbook. Free this, Free that, etc...

Either way, you get what you pay for.

Thank God, I'm an independant!

It's been a while since my last post.

What can I say about this campaign? It's been an interesting ride. I'm confused by all the double talk. I'm a plain and simple person who doesn't understand why the plain and simple things that most Americans want can't be given to them. Simple things like:

• The War- It's amazing to me that we can't get a straight answer on this. Is it working?
• The Economy- I looked all over Hillary's site, and found nothing that resembles a national economy plan. I looked on Barack's site, and found a few interesting ideas, but are described in too general of terms to be worth paying attention to. I looked on John's site, and found almost exactly the same good idea/too general terms crap. This is simple, not rocket science. Tax those companies who utilize workers abroad, and reward them for hiring domestic workers. Eliminate all federal incentives for alternative fules. Let capitalism work. The oil companies are on their way out, and they know it. Eliminate all unnecessary federal spending, subsidies, & entitlements. Increase federal grants, loans, and scholarships. Dump Medicaid & "Universal" healthcare like it was a hot potatoe.
• Strengthening Traditional Families- No candidate wanted to touch this issue, directly. Hillary's site doesn't deal with families directly, but does mention the middle class.

More to come later. I'll analyze John and Barack, then.

Progress is fine, but what are we progressing twards?

Liberals rejoice! Your ship has come in. Both Hillary & Barak have sworn to get legislation through that would force all americans to get health insurance. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE7G8XiWfg4) If you don't want insurance, you would be fined. Boy comerade, if you don't want something, why are they forcing you to pay for it? If you don't want coverage, you shouldn't have to pay for it. Also, you shouldn't expect to get coverage, if you're not willing to pay for it.

In the debate, Sen Clinton asks what if Medicaid and Social Security were optional? Note:Both were introduced by democrats. Both have become unconstitutional defacto parts to the government. I think both Medicaid and Social Security are bad ideas. There are inherant controls in capitalism that will make healthcare affordable. That's what we Americans are fameous for. If you have smaller government involvement (and thus less subsidies), then the healthcare profession will revert to simple supply and demand. Treatments that are prohibitively expensive now would eventually become affordable. Empty hospitals don't make money. Nor do hospitals that cater to the wealthy. The democrats would paint that as a return to the 1930s where Daddy Warbucks Republicans were obscenely rich, while the rest of America was barely able to cobble out a living. What tainted that era wasn't the rich, it was the fact that nobody saved for a rainy day. Those that did also lost all their money because of bank closures. The smart ones stuffed their money in a mattress. I'm not advocating a return to the depression. I'm advocating a return to common sense.

If I'm in the healthcare business, I want to provide as much healthcare to as many patients as I can for as cheaply as I can. I also charge as much as I can. But if you can't pay, it doesn't make sense to drop you on your ear. Financing is a good thing in this case. But who's to say that you won't skip out on the bill? Insurance Companies, that's who. They give you the opprotunity to pay it foreword. Thus, if I pay my premiums, I'm covered. But what if I can't afford the premiums? Simple, contact an insurance salesman or the company, and work out some deal. Once you have the deal, get it in writing. We Americans are smart. The insurance company that insures someone who's rich, would probably behappy to insure someone who's poor. Money is money, and a dollar a day for a policy term, is better is better than one for $5.00 per visit, if they only come in once a week. People should also learn to manage money better. Odds are they won't, but I hope this makes you think.

Until next time

Step into the meatgrinder, John

Ok, let's look at healthcare.
McCain: "Bringing costs under control is the only way to stop the erosion of affordable health insurance, save Medicare and Medicaid, protect private health benefits for retirees, and allow our companies to effectively compete around the world" (http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/19ba2f1c-c03f-4ac2-8cd5-5cf2edb527cf.htm, first bullet point)

Wrong Senator, Although bringing costs under control is important. You need to stem the tide of ILLEGAL ALIENS/ILLEGAL IMMAGRANTS from comming into this country. Lock down the borders.

"While we reform the system and maintain quality, we can and must provide access to health care for all our citizens - whether temporarily or chronically uninsured, whether living in rural areas with limited services, or whether residing in inner cities where access to physicians is often limited."(same page as before, bullet point 3)

Make up your mind, are you a Democrat or a Republican? Universal health care is a BAD IDEA. If doctors are forced to treat everyone regardless of their insurance status, because the government doesn't pay well, they will either go out of business, or be forced to raise rates for those who don't have universal healthcare. The rest of the healthcare issue is more of the same. On to the next issue.

The war in Iraq
McCain:
"Separate those who can be reconcilled from those who can't." (http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/fdeb03a7-30b0-4ece-8e34-4c7ea83f11d8.htm, multimedia blurb)
That would create myrtars, and embolden the enemy. We might separate them physically, but the fact that we'd now be viewed as another ruling class would foster and embolden our enemies. The failure in Iraq is only from the US side in that we want life and peace, our enemies want death for themselves and others. You can't pacify a group like that.

The border
McCain: ..."If we have learned anything from the recent immigration debate, it is that Americans have little trust that their government will honor a pledge to do the things necessary to make the border secure." Wow, a spark of the truth.

McCain:"Recognize the importance of a flexible labor market to keep employers in business and our economy on top. It should provide skilled Americans and immigrants with opportunity. Our education system should ensure skills for our younger workers, and our retraining and assistance programs for displaced workers must be modernized so they can pursue those opportunities."
A flexable labor force is important, but the educational system shouldn't have to provide retraining, assistance for displaced workers, or skills for younger workers. College and life provide those, and the majority of college should be privately funded, not publically. America was built on the fundamentals of being able to pick yourself up, and making things better. America wasn't built on the idea that those things should be provided for you. If you want to go back to school, do it the same as the rest of us. Get a few student loans, and go to the university.

The Economy:
McCain:
"A lower corporate tax rate is essential to U.S. competitiveness. America was once a low-tax business environment, but as our trade partners lowered their rates, America failed to keep pace, leaving us with the second-highest rate among the world’s advanced economies.[1]
Cutting the corporate tax will expand the U.S. economy, creating jobs and opportunities for prosperity. A recent analysis of tax policy options estimated that a cut less than half this size could increase long-term growth by 0.5 percent, or $100 billion in a single year.[2]
Lower corporate taxes leads to higher wages. Recent studies have shown that corporate taxes are in large part passed on to labor through lower wages. One study noted that a one percent hike in the corporate tax results in a 0.8 percent decrease in manufacturing wages.[3] Accordingly, cutting corporate taxes can increase wages for American workers. "

Uniform tax cuts won't result in the economic stimulus that he thinks it will. Anyone who ownes a larger business will more than likely try to get more value out of that extra 10% that he just got back, and invest that money through his company in other job markets overseas. As other countries try to vie for outsourcing contracts, the US technology worker faces lower and lower pay with more competition. The only way that extra 10% will make it into US coffers is by making it harder for US businesses to ship work overseas/out of the country.

Anyway it's late. Until tommorrow, be safe.

Continuing the analysis of Hillary Clinton

Hillary: Fighting the war in Iraq.
She brings up 3 good points in her 3 point plan to bring the troops home. (The multimedia blurb on http://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/iraq/)

1. Bring them home-- In countries like Iraq, nothing is as it seems. We should have officially declared war, then went in. But we didn't, because it's not what the people want. We should take the gloves off, and win.
2. Make it clear to the Iraqis that they need to do the political work--If they haven't done it yet, they won't. Saddam was another Hitler with little or no regard for his people. Even without the weapons of mas distruction, he thumbed his nose at 14 UN resolutions, turned in several different "full discolsure" documents. The difference between the Germans and the Iraqis, is that in Germany, we took over rule, completely. Then they learned how to govern, and today they reap the rewards of capitalism and prosperity.
3. Get back to Diplomacy--I'm not a big believer in diplomacy. One can and should be nice and considerate of others; but in my opinion, diplomacy is just another word for bullshit. If conflicts need to be resolved, they need to be worked out with honor and trust. Both sides must want the conflict to end. In the case of terrorists and insurgents, they don't want it to end. If we pull out, they'll play ball for a little while, but they won't respect us.

My BS detector went into overdrive when I read about her diplomatic initiative:

• Non-interference. Working with the U.N. representative, the group would work to convince Iraq's neighbors to refrain from getting involved in the civil war.
• Mediation. The group would attempt to mediate among the different sectarian groups in Iraq with the goal of attaining compromises on fundamental points of disputes.
• Reconstruction funding. The members of the group would hold themselves and other countries to their past pledges to provide funding to Iraq and will encourage additional contributions to meet Iraq's extensive needs.

Non interferance? She might want to let Iran know that they're not supposed to interfere with Iraq. Of course, she might want to let Syria know as well. I'm sure if they handle it with the traditional Clinton diplomacy. You know, the one that let bin Laden go 3 times.

Mediation? We tried that with Saddam, and somehow it just didn't work out too well. I try that with my kids and get about the same results. In successfully mediated disputes, both sides

And of course, give them money. Let's be honest, that's money we wont ever see again.

I say that Hillary is Hillariously wrong. If she's serious about it, her three points should be:

1. Stableize the region FIRST--Let the newly elected government take the time to get started using the same time table that was used with Germany in WWII.
2. Route out the spys and corruption in government.
3. Help Iraqs neighbors realize that they can benefit from the new government.
4. Then bring the troops home LAST.

Reducing our dependance on foreign oil.- invest in green technologies for homes.

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/energy/ she's just a bit off, again. I'm not interested in buying homes that are more efficient. I'm happy with the one I've got. I don't think I need the government trying to legislate my choice of homes. Nor do I want a "Connie May" to help me pay for it. Though it's a good feel good way of doing absolutely nothing. I think we could make our cars more energy efficient and get them off gas. I don't have any problems with that.

Families and Children:

One child does not an expert on child raising, make. As I read down through the points on that page, I see more and more about training the parents. While I think it's a good effort, but government "training" isn't what parents need. What they need is good "training" from their own parents. As you grow up, you learn to be parents from your own parents. (Note the word parents is plural, as you'll need both a mother and father to do it right). The next logical step, as the parents will continue to be kids as opposed to actual adults, is to simply require that the government takes your child just after it's born, and put it in government "life training". There's only one source that people can turn to for correct principles, and that's God & faith.

Imagration reform--(from her page on imagration reform)

"Along with these changes, Hillary believes we need to repair those broken portions of our immigration system that irrevocably damage families and force citizens and lawful immigrants to choose between their newly adopted country and living with their spouse or children."

What she's really saying is that she not only wants you to pay for the illegal workers, she wants you to pay for the families of legal ones to come over here, as well. How does she propose we do this? Set up travel agencies in every country, and offer free travel? The right immagration policy is a simple one. close the borders with walls, guards, guns, and checkpoints. Deport all the illegals and allow them to take their children with them.

Anyway, that's all I have time for tonight. I'll move on to the republicans tommorrow. (Thank Goodness that I'm and independant)

Yesterday Continued

Today, my victim is Hillary Clinton. Since her big "cause" was health care, I think I'll start there.

Hillary: "Unlike the current health system where insurance premiums send people into bankruptcy, the plan provides tax credits for working families to help them cover their costs. The tax credits will ensure that working families never have to pay more than a limited percentage of their income for health care." (http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/healthcareplan/ under the section Affordable)
Sorry, Hillary. This is NOT how the capitalist system works. Businesses are in business to make money. It's simple. If there's a need, there is some business willing to serve that need, and make a profit. There are systems in place to handle almost all foreseeable healthcare problems. If you don't like your HMO, make a difference, and start your own insurance company. Under the existing system, I was unemployed for 6 months and all my kids were covered.

Hillary:"No discrimination. The insurance companies can't deny you coverage if you have a pre-existing ondition. " So, if you remove a company's ability to refuse service, essentially, you're requiring them to cover people unless they can't pay the premiums. For the sake of argument, let's say that I'm 70 years old, not a single hospital stay in my life. Thus I don't have insurance, because I'm retired. I'm diagnosed with an untreatable form of cancer. I suddenly need insurance. Now, insurance companies HAVE to take me. Net result: Phenominal increases in premiums for those who can pay. Thanks Hillary!

Hillary: "It's portable. If you change or lose your job, you keep your health care." Wow, I don't need to work to get healthcare? This means that the doctors who participate in government programs won't get paid much.

That's all I have time for tonight, I'll continue with Hillary tommorrow.

Why I'm an independant.

I'm a registered independant. This means that I have no loyalties to any parties. For the most part, my personal views are constitutionalist. Our government is too big, and in everyones life. It's like the government is assuming the roll of mother and father in many Americans lives. If you stubb your toe, rather than use common sense solution of simply mumbling about the pain, and moving on; Americans today call on the government to remove what they stubbed their toe on. When Katrina happened, rather than accept what help was given and find a way to move on, they expect the government to deal with their problems. Note, the previous charactarization doesn't depict all victems of Katrina. Many were asked to leave their homes to find lives in other parts of the country. The same thing happened with the families of the 911 victims. They complain that the government didn't do enough or give enough. First of all, the government didn't cause Katrina, nor did we cause 911. Yet, the government (and by extension, the tax payers) was asked to pay for it.

Now to keep power, the politicians promise to make the government give you more. Obama just happens to be a convenient target. At this point, I have no love for Bill Clinton's third term, or anyone in the GOP.

Obama: "Obama supports guaranteeing workers seven paid sick days per year." (source: http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/ObamaBlueprintForChange.pdf, Page 42, last line)
Isn't that nice? Obama will give me a paid sick week off. Problem is, who pays for those days? The government (and by extension, the tax payers) through higher taxes? Or the Employer through higher business expenses?

Obama: "The Nurse-Family Partnership provides home visits by trained registered nurses to low-income expectant mothers and their families." (source: http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/ObamaBlueprintForChange.pdf, Page 42)Wow, low cost health care at my home. What if I don't need it? Logic would dictate that I simply wouldn't get the benefit. But I would still pay for it through my taxes. Who would do it? trained registered nurses? But how experienced would they be? The logical answer is to contract the work out to companies who would provide the service. Which means that they would pay a lot for a $10.00 per hour newly graduated nurse.

Obama: "Obama will double funding for the main federal support for afterschool programs, the 21st Century Learning Centers program, to serve one million more children." (source: http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/ObamaBlueprintForChange.pdf, Page 36) There should be absolutely no need for a government program of this nature. Mothers should be with their kids at home. The funny thing about that is that I have friends in the child care industry, who are telling me that not only do parents leave their kids with them durring the school day, they want to drop them off on weekends, and while they're on vacation as well.

Obama: "Obama believes the government needs to take steps to better enforce the Equal Pay Act, fight job discrimination, and improve child care options and family medical leave to give women equal footing in the workplace." (source: http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/ObamaBlueprintForChange.pdf, Page 36) Obviously, this guy doesn't understand businesses. You pay your workers whatever they'll settle for. If they negotiate for more, they might get more. If you choose not to negotiate, the employer shouldn't need to pay you the difference just out of the sheer kindness of their hearts. If the work you do doesn't pay the bills, do something about it yourself. Go to school while working at the craptacular job, then get a better job. AND NEGOTIATE FOR BETTER PAY.

Obama: "Obama will make safeguarding women’s rights under Roe v. Wade a priority. He opposes any constitutional amendment to overturn that decision." (source: http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/ObamaBlueprintForChange.pdf, Page 36) Sorry, Obama. I'm a believer in the "you do the crime, you do the time". If a teen gets pregnant while having consentual sex, I'm in favor of removing her right to an abortion, completely. If she didn't want a baby, she shouldn't have sex. It's as simple as that. The excuses don't matter. The "pro-choice" people think I'm not pro choice. I simply believe that the choice should be made before sex. If you do make an error in judgement, Give the baby a fighting chance with an intact home with a father and mother by adoption. It's not pushing your problems onto others. For some reason, some couples simply can't have children. You happen to have one that you don't want. I say it's a match made in heaven.

There are positive aspects to Obama, but since I'm a conservative, I put in what's wrong with his plans, and why I don't plan on voting for him.