People I Miss

Sometimes I wonder about people I knew from before. Like some of my associates from my old office. I so enjoyed having Shirley Kinsey, Shirley Smith, Rae Rockafellow, Henrietta Ugorowski, and Carol Holcomb around to make me feel needed.

Then there was Lana Patenaude who used to bring her son Brian Patenaude into work. I'd carry that little guy around the office all day while his mother worked. Someday I hope I have the opportunity to sit down with him and tell him some stories from those days. I know it'll blow his mind. And of course if I can't mention Lana without talking about my friend Denise, who turned into one of my best friends. Joyce Prybycien, Marie Krolikowski also come to mind.

Also there was Mike Niemann who left us a few years ago, and Joe Herska that was the best 80 year old associate you'd ever want to meet. Marge and Maury Young were always there to help people too.

Old memories, good thoughts, on a cold fall day.

A Ton of Truth Lies In These Words

Have I told you I love Craigslist? Especially "Rants and Raves". Yes, it is inhabited by a ton of trolls but it also has a ton of regular contributors that often provide good sources of information too. If you read between the lines on many posts you can get a feel for what people are thinking and what is important to them. I like to posts words here that make people think and I have used several sources, including Craigslist R&R, to accomplish that desire.

By the OP (original posters) comments it would appear this is an email circulating around the web but I haven't seen it yet, and it's possible you haven't either. It's says a lot:


REPOST From CL

Please take a few minutes to read and absorb just what this woman had to say, and then hopefully everyone will pass it to their entire mailing list, and theirs to theirs until it circles the nation! Time is short and arrogance, stupidity and ignorance abound.............. Americans everywhere identify with this 53-year-old woman. She has given us a voice. Once you read this, you will want to forward it to all of your true American friends

"I am a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. Instead, we are burdened with Congressional Dukes and Duchesses who think they know better than the citizens they are supposed to represent.

There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now.

You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would feel so horribly disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut-job am I? Well, these briefly are the views and issues for which I seek representation:

One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This is not to be confused with legal immigration.

Two, the STIMULUS bill. I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you No, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.

Three: Czars. I want the circumvention of our constitutional checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution, and honor it.

Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There are many conflicting opinions and it is too soon for this radical legislation. Quit throwing our nation into politically-correct quicksand.

Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision that will burden me, my children, and grandchildren. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night without even reading it. Slow down! Fix only what is broken -- we have the best health care system in the world -- and test any new program in one or two states first.

Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. More is not better! Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real [Constitutional] obligations. Why don't you start there.

Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes -- how did they pull that one off? Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with any of our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.

Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs -- and that is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person! Why do you want me to hate my employers? And what do you have against shareholders making a profit?

Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.

Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Every company must sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. (Have you ever ripped off a Band-Aid?) We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.

Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please stop trying to manipulate and appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.

Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now. Take a breath. Listen to the people. Slow down and get some input from nonpoliticians and experts on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed-reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.

I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not.

It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is needless urgency and recklessness in all of your recent spending of our tax dollars.

From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on bringing our concerns to Washington . Our president often knows all the right buzzwords like unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.

We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented.. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work, pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone... and we are now looking at you.

You have awakened us, the patriotic freedom spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office.

We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us who will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.

Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution, and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them.. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you.

If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming.

'We the People' are coming."

The End

Now many of you may read these words and think "Great, another conservative gimmick email", and you may be right. But for a minute try to pull out your broad paint brush, eliminate the words Obama or Democrats, and insert the words "Elected Officials".

It takes on a new perspective, don't it? And when you apply the context in that manner, then it becomes not only more understandable but it is believable. I agree with much that was said in those words. Our politicians, long ago, stopped representing the electorate, they only serve the "party" and you and I pay the price.

I guess you might just want to save this and read it the next election day.

I Hate To Say This....

But I told you so. Several months ago on this blog I addressed the "Stimulus Package" saying it would create few jobs due to the allocation of money. I said the construction jobs would go to the same players that always get it.

Below is an article that appears in today's Detroit Free Press that I thought was worth sharing:

Posted: Nov. 15, 2009
FREE PRESS SPECIAL REPORT

Billions for state, but where are jobs?
Majority of stimulus awards have brought little help

BY TODD SPANGLER
FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF

WASHINGTON -- Seven months into the massive federal stimulus program, the vast majority of government grants, contracts and loans in Michigan so far have created or retained virtually no jobs, a Free Press analysis shows.

The analysis also revealed that others who have been promised or have received stimulus money have overstated -- in some cases greatly -- the number of jobs created or protected.

Obama administration and state officials say it's too early to draw conclusions about the overall impact of the $787-billion nationwide program to stimulate the economy and generate jobs. They promise that job growth will follow as more funding arrives.

"It looks to us like the program is unfolding much as we hoped in Michigan," said White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein.

The Free Press examination of more than 1,800 government reports of those who have received or expect to receive stimulus money found the biggest impact was spurring or protecting public-sector or summer jobs -- not private-sector jobs. Michigan has the nation's worst unemployment rate.

Officials reported that by Sept. 30, some 22,500 Michigan jobs were created or retained thanks to the promise of $5.2 billion in stimulus money for the state, $1.2 billion of which had arrived.

The analysis also found:

• Three of every four stimulus grants, contracts and loans approved in Michigan created or retained one job or less.

• Fewer than 700 awards had received some money, and nearly half of those -- 327 -- had created one job or less, at a cost per job of $2.7 million.

• Some job estimates were wrong: General Motors Co., for instance, reported 105 jobs saved or created for a government purchase of 5,000 vehicles but later said no jobs were saved or created. The City of Detroit reported 342 jobs it now says were projections -- not jobs already created or retained.

Peter Morici, a University of Maryland economist, said the results suggest the stimulus won't deliver promised results.

"All those claims," he said, "are ridiculous."

Flawed reports raise questions about how stimulus has helped

At first glance, the impact of the federal stimulus act so far in Michigan looks like cause for celebration -- some 22,500 jobs created or saved in about seven months, $1.2 billion received to date and promises of $3 billion more to come.

But closer inspection reveals flaws in the claims and raises doubts about the mammoth spending bill's impact to date.

A Free Press analysis of reports on more than 1,800 awards to agencies, departments, municipalities and firms in Michigan under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act found huge inaccuracies in job estimates of several recipients and millions of dollars in errors in their reports.

It also found that the vast majority of jobs reported or created -- 85% -- were tied to 15 primary recipients, with three-quarters of all stimulus awards made to date in the state creating or saving one job or less. Most of those funded still were awaiting checks, which could help explain the lag in job creation. Still, hundreds of awards led to reports of job creation before stimulus money arrived.

Some are clearly wrong.

Detroit reported on a grant award -- $10 million for work on 14 improvement projects in the city -- saying 342 jobs had been saved or created, despite none of the money actually reaching the city yet. Last week, city officials told the Free Press those were only projections -- not jobs saved or created.

The White House Recovery Office warns against projecting jobs. It wants an accurate reflection of jobs created or retained to date.

There were other exaggerations.

The Ingham County Health Department reported 97.49 jobs retained, but an official with the agency said without the funding, six jobs would have been lost. The Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan in Sault Ste. Marie, which provides services to member American Indian tribes, reported 99 jobs created or saved thanks to $46,000 in cost-of-living adjustments for Head Start employees. An official with the tribal council said she believes no jobs would have been lost without the government money.

Promise of transparency

Signing the stimulus bill into law in February, President Barack Obama promised an unprecedented amount of transparency in how the money was spent -- even as officials warned that with so much money being poured into the economy so quickly, there was bound to be error and fraud. While few instances of the latter have been charted, there seem to be may indications of the former.

The $787-billion federal stimulus is the equivalent of about $6,800 for every American household.

Leslee Fritz, director of Michigan's Recovery office, spent two days in Washington, D.C., last week talking to stimulus officials from other states about how to improve reporting. Still, she said, she's pleased with the federal investments.

"In a state like Michigan, there's never going to be a situation where we feel they've moved fast enough" to get money flowing and jobs created, she said. But, she added, "I think we're off to a good start."

The spending

Jared Bernstein, an Obama administration economist, said the reports from agencies and larger contractors getting stimulus money make up a sliver of the stimulus act.

About a third -- $275 billion -- will be directly spent nationally in areas such as state stabilization funds to support government jobs; building and repairing roads, bridges and other infrastructure; investing in drinking water and wastewater projects; funding alternative energy projects, and much more.

Those are the areas where recipients must file reports on their spending. The rest of the stimulus spending goes for tax cuts -- the Making Work Pay tax cut was worth about $65 a month to the average household, for instance -- and entitlement programs, such as those increasing unemployment benefits and covering the government's commitment to pick up 65% of the premium for health insurance for laid-off workers.

Bernstein says those tax cuts and entitlements have already contributed to the 3 million to 4 million jobs expected to be created or retained through the stimulus.

Last month, the Recovery Office reported that $37 billion in checks had gone out for $159 billion in direct investment awards by the end of September. The estimated jobs created or saved: 640,000.

Errors in reporting

Since then, news media reports across the country have found errors. A Boston Globe review last week of claims of 12,374 jobs being created or saved in Massachusetts concluded the claim was "wildly exaggerated." The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel found that a report saying 10,000 jobs had been created or saved in Wisconsin was "rife with errors, double counting and inflated numbers."

"Are you surprised?" asked Peter Morici, an economist and business professor at the University of Maryland who is a critic of the stimulus bill. "Using this ruse, we now have unemployment" nationally "above 10%, and it's going to keep going up. In Michigan it's much worse, and worse is going to become terrible."

Morici's biggest complaint is that, despite Obama's claim last January that 90% of the jobs the stimulus created or retained would be in the private sector, it is set up to produce mostly public-sector jobs.

So far in Michigan, the numbers support his claim. Of 22,513 jobs reported, 13,555 were tied to state money for education, doled out to local school districts. Without a huge economic turnaround or more federal money after the 2-year stimulus ends, many of those jobs could be threatened.

Another problem: More than 3,000 were summer-only jobs for youths. Those jobs do little to bring down Michigan's highest-in-the-nation unemployment rate.

Both Bernstein and Fritz say what's missing from any snapshot analysis of the recipient reports to date is that the stimulus spending is still in its infancy. Investments in so-called shovel-ready projects, such as road and bridge building, are just now getting under way.

Job creation tied to high-speed rail improvements have yet to be felt, and $1.35 billion in grants for advanced battery and electric vehicle manufacturing and development are estimated to create 6,800 jobs in Michigan by the end of 2010.

If they're correct, the stimulus may deliver on its promise.

"We think the kind of time-release mechanisms built into the Recovery Act are very appropriate," Bernstein said. "This is not a program we would want either phasing out or fully up and running at precisely this moment. We need to be generating good jobs at least through next year."

Help for more than jobs

Fritz said she expects job creation to swing from the public sector to the private sector soon, but she also notes that much of the money is for purposes other than jobs. Rental assistance grants, for one, help people stay in their homes, she said, and justice grants help police purchase technology to keep people safe.

The Hamilton Community Health Network in Flint received $625,000 of a $920,000 award for equipment at a new facility serving growing numbers of people who have no or inadequate health insurance.

That award didn't create direct jobs, but Chief Executive Officer Clarence Pierce said without the equipment, the hires the network made for the facility would be irrelevant.

In Ingham County, Deputy Health Officer Jaeson Fournier said the department may not have really retained 97 positions -- but the funding it has received has resulted in nine new hires, with four more jobs being posted and more to come.

Perhaps more important, it received a designation that allows it to collect higher federal reimbursements to serve the growing numbers of uninsured people.

"We have not seen so much demand," Fournier said. "It couldn't have come at a better time for us as a community."

Contact TODD SPANGLER: 202-906-8203 or tspangler@freepress.com

Clearing The Cobwebs From My Mind

It's been a while since I sat down to write about anything serious but it's time to clean some thoughts I've been storing. In my life, just as in yours, events take place every day that impact the way I feel, live, spend, eat and sleep. Some of these events are within my control and some are not. This blog is my place to feel like my opinions matter to someone other than me. It's my place to rant at the big guys and point out how wrong they are or how right they may be. It's therapeutic at best and a good way for me to keep reality in check. By reading my thoughts perhaps it will help keep your world in check too.

FRIENDS, LOVERS, POLITICS AND RELIGION

My friends don't always know how to take me. To the conservative ones I'm a liberal and to the liberal ones I'm conservative. The truth is I am neither. As a brilliant woman I once worked for used to say about herself, I am every man. I am the middle of the road. I am the one that will stand in your face and ask questions that hundreds of others wish they could. I am not a sheep waiting to be led to the slaughter like so many others. I am a product of the generation that learned to question everything, and remained true to that ideal.

With that said I will also say that I am a person that does not believe I am always right, nor do I close my mind to any mans, or woman's, opinion. A closed mind has no chance to grow, it becomes a vacuum that lives with archaic concepts. A closed mind leads to a lack of progress, and it stifles personal growth and the advancement of society. Many have said a version of this thought before me, and they were certainly wiser than me, but the only certain thing in life is the uncertainty of constant change. Life is flux and to be a productive member of society, we too must be in flux, in our thought process, in our willingness to adapt.

Note that I said to adapt. No place did I say we had to put aside our values or our ideals, but in a democratic republic you do need to be willing to open those values and ideals to personal review. In our form of government there is no "It's all my way" or "I am against everything you stand for". That was never the intent of the founding fathers. If it were they never would have created such a complex system of checks and balances within our government. If they thought that "I'm right and you're wrong" attitude was the proper way to govern they would have created a parliamentary monarchy, or a theocracy, but certainly not a democracy.

With that said our political arena today turns more venomous and hateful with each passing day. Personally I have lost three friends in the last 30 days due to political debate. How stupid is that? Now it so happens that these friends were conservatives and making statements about Obama, socialists, death panels, political lies and religion in a public forum. When I pointed out that many of the things they posted were untrue they took exception. When I asked them to back up their statements with clear facts, I was called names. And when I pointed out the hypocrisy of their sitting in judgement of others in the name of Christianity I was rudely dismissed.

How stupid was that? How ignorant have we become that people, friends, cannot express conflicting or different points of view without someone reacting like a 6 year old? In fact, to draw a parallel to a 6 year old is an insult to every elementary playground in the nation. Everyone knows when they get mad they take their ball and go home but they always return the next day.

Now, my three friends severed all ties. I feel bad for them and I feel bad for myself. For them because they live in a vacuum and they are destined to live a life filled with frustration because they can't always have it their way. I feel bad for me because I cared for these people, I sometimes agreed with them and other times I thought they were a few sandwiches shy of a picnic. But they were always entitled to their opinions because the more I saw someone else's point of view it allowed me to allow mine to evolve.

Oh, and before all of my liberal friends start high fiving each other, you're just as closed minded as the conservatives. How'd that taste?

WAR, HUH, GOOD GOD Y'ALL, WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR...ABSOLUTELY N'THIN'

Do you realize that our country, The United States of America, has not won a war or major conflict since WWII? And if you look at the amount of Toyota's on our roads or the products on the shelves at Walmart, that statement may not be so accurate either. But I digress.

No, we did not win in Korea, Viet Nam, Bosnia, Somalia, Desert Storm nor are we winning in Desert Shield. (All the other skirmishes we were involved with ( Panama, etc) were like pitting 280 pound NFL lineman against a little league football team so they don't count.) Now before you get your panties all up in a wedgie, think about it, we had no absolute victory in any of these wars named. They all resulted in political resolutions.

I believe it was General George Armstrong Patton that is credited with the quote " Wars should be fought by soldiers, not politicians", and if he didn't say it, well dammit, he should have.

We have seen time and time again the severe toll in human lives that takes place when politicians try to play soldier. Today I received a call from my niece and in the course of conversation she mentioned that her brother-in-law was hit today by a rocket in Afghanistan. The family is not aware of how he is doing but hope to find out soon.

Now I was one of the first ones yelling to invade Afghanistan, to kill Bin Laden, after 9/11. I objected to our invasion of Iraq because it served no purpose other than GWB cleaning up the mess left by his Dad in the last war run by politicians. But after 8 years of young people trying and dying to fulfill their mission, I need to say;

Mr. Obama shit or get off the pot! Play politics with your health care, green energy, electric cars, but let the Generals dictate how to win wars. They know, you don't! And if you don't want to be in this war then get our children out of harms way.

Sir, you are the Commander in Chief and as such it is your constitutional obligation and job to protect this country. But based upon your indecisiveness over the last 30 days about whether or not to send additional troops requested by your Afghanistan Commander I'm having serious doubts whether or not you're the right man for the job. Being a leader means you need to make snap decisions sometimes. You can't govern by quorum. It appears you want a quicker response to your national heath care plan than you are willing to give the soldiers dying on your watch.

Quit playing politics with young peoples lives.

THE CIRCLE OF LIFE

Just this last week I lost a friend to cancer, I had another friend diagnosed with cancer, and a relative continue his courageous fight against cancer. I also had a friend give birth to her first baby, a boy named Mason. I'm waiting to hear from another friend who is about to be a Grandpa for the first time. I have a dear friend with a daughter needing surgery and another child sick. One friend lost his job and another finally found work, and one friend is getting married.

This is life. This is what you and I share in common every day. We have those moments that make us laugh and those that make us cry but each moment is precious. Take the time every day to tell someone you love them, for you never know if it will be the last chance you have to say it.

Love Is A Verb....

.....As well as a Noun.





That phrase has been at the top of the list in my thoughts to live by for almost 30 years now. When I write it or say it you can see there are those that get it, both male and female, and there are those that don't have a clue. In simple terms it means that you need to show your feelings for your lover as often as you say them.

Now at this point I direct these comments to the guys, because as the years roll by we forget how to be creative. Science has proven, on numerous occasions, there is a direct correlation between the male sex drive and male creativity. At a young age there is nobody on the face of the earth more creative than a teenage boy in pursuit of a young woman. At that age we need to become creative because we do not have the resource material at our disposal that young girls have. They don't give us a book of "Guaranteed 'Get Lucky' Lines" in "Home Ec" or "Sex Ed" class, but every guy on the face of the planet knows you get that book...that cursed book, that they give out to you girls when you hit about 12 or 13 years old. Say it with me guys: "1001 Ways To Cause Him To Take A Cold Shower", now available in paperback, dvd and blu-ray disc.

Laugh if you will but that book has done more damage, and inspired more creativity, throughout the years than any other book in the history of mankind. Without that book how many 14 year old boys would have been shipping out tomorrow? How many Midwestern boys would have contacted deadly malaria or other incurable diseases that could only be cured with a tall glass of Dickens Cider? Think about it? How many bottles of Boonesfarm, Slo-gin, or Wine Coolers would have never been sold, if not for that damn book?

Anyway, I digress....

This piece today is to help my fellow man, to regenerate his creative juices, to put words to paper, yes guys I said words not pictures, in hopes that these ideas will promote a creative streak that is sure to get you lai....'er, that is sure to enhance the way you and your lover communicate. So guys, get out your crayons and take notes!

SIMPLE IS MORE EFFECTIVE:

That is the absolute truest statement that can be made when talking about men and romance. The reason simple works so well is that way we can't screw it up. It does no good to be creative and then look like a fool doing it. Keep it simple, keep it inexpensive! (Got your attention now, didn't I?)

1. The number one complaint with most women about their men is that men don't listen to them. You come home and either want to talk about you, you, you or you take a disinterested view on what they have to say. Try this, tomorrow when your significant other mentions something casually about a friend or family member, go write it down and put it in your wallet. Wait 4 days and then pull it out and ask her about it. Did it work out, how is she, show her what she said was important. You will sweep her off her feet.

2. Tonight, after dinner, get up and clear the table, tell her to sit and relax, you'll take care of it. Load the dishwasher or do the dishes together, or do it for her. There is no greater way to say I love you.

3. While she is in the shower tonight or in the morning, sneak her robe out and put it in the dryer for 5 minutes. Make sure it is toasty warm for her when she gets out of the shower.

4. Stop by her office in the middle of the day and take her, her favorite candy bar or snack.

5. Put a brief love note in her shoe. Nothing fancy...just I love you, have a great day.

6. Stop on the way home and pick her some wild flowers. Now gentlemen let me be specific here, by wild flowers I mean from a field. Do not come home and hand her a bouquet of cut flowers with a card hidden inside that says "Forrest Lawn Cemetery", it'll spoil the whole mood. Women don't always want $40 roses, they want to mean enough to you for you to stop and pick some free ones yourself.

7. If flowers are her thing, again stop by her work and place a single rose on her front seat. If you want to have extra fun deny doing it when she gets home and ask to see her cell phone. No don't do that!

8. Start a date night. One night out of the week with no kids, no work, no cell phones, just you and her. Alternate weeks as to who decides what you will do. Try new things, go roller skating in the park, it doesn't have to cost a lot of money, it just has to allow you both to dream again.

9. Rent "Play Misty For Me" or another old time scary movie, turn off all the lights, light a single candle, cuddle and watch the movie.

10. Hold her hand while driving together, get lost in her eyes the way you did when she was 25 and compliment her. Be her Knight in shining armour.

11. Send a card to her Mother thanking her for having such a wonderful daughter.

12. Spent an evening massaging her feet and her shoulders, without a single move towards an erogenous zone. She may help direct your hands.

13. Buy her a $10 ring at a store or flea market. Think back to the times when you struggled together to make ends meet. Those were the best of times.

14. Stop home on your lunch hour, and set out her favorite beverage or treat so it's ready when she walks through the door.

15. Save every card she ever gives you from now on.

16. Walk up and kiss her in the mall and let everyone stare, then tell her you don't care.

17. Let her know that the most beautiful sunset you two have ever shared pales in comparison to how beautiful she is in your eyes.

18. Ask her how she feels about something? Seek her guidance, her input.

19. Buy her something sexy because she still wears it well.

20. Help her with the laundry.

21. Write her a poem, even a lousy one.

22. Clean the bathroom.

23. Make her laugh.

24. Tell her you love her!

There you go guys. I've got you started now it's up to you to custom tailor your actions to HER needs. If you master that, then you'll have mastered "Love is a verb"......

"You Lie" The Exclamation Point

This is a reprint of Mitch Alboms column from the Detroit Free Press dated September 13, 2009. In it he sums up what I have been saying for about 10 years now, and he does it better than I could. Enjoy!


Yell at Obama a new low but not the last

It was just two words.

"You lie!"

Two words. Not even curse words. But the where and the when made those two words significant.

"You lie!" It was screamed from the floor of Congress, by an elected official of the state of South Carolina, and aimed at the president of the United States.

"You lie!"

In the history of American politics, no one could recall a similar act. Not with all the fudged truths that have been told by American presidents. Not with George W. Bush and the Iraq war, not with Bill Clinton and his private life, not with Ronald Reagan and Iran-contra, not with Richard Nixon and Watergate.

Yet somehow last week, during a speech on, of all things, health care, Joe Wilson, a Republican congressman, was unable to control himself. He yelled those two words loudly enough to be heard in the chamber, on national TV and around the world.

And in so doing, he lowered the bar of American behavior another few feet.

Never mind that Wilson was incorrect. The president had said that under his health care bill, the benefits would not apply to illegal immigrants -- and they would not. The bills before Congress declare that. You could argue that illegal immigrants still could buy insurance or sneak through, but that hardly supports a liar charge, does it?

Never mind that. Never mind that Wilson apologized that night.

Something bigger was at work.

A culture of confrontation
Hate breeds hate, anger breeds anger, and I have been arguing in this space for years now that the American discourse -- fueled by the Internet, talk radio and cable TV -- has turned so mean it has nowhere to go but get meaner. Little wonder that immediately after Wilson's unforgivable outburst, it was being justified by certain Republicans not because it was correct, but because Democrats had been equally insulting to Bush.

Hate breeds hate, and there is money and fame in yelling louder and angrier. You don't get on TV by asking thoughtful questions at a town hall meeting, but you sure can get there if you curse, holler and scream like a captured banshee. Come to think of it, that applies to TV hosts as well.

Is it any surprise such behavior eventually finds its way into a room with the president? We were abhorred when an Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at Bush. We called it barbaric, typical of a country hopelessly behind us on the civility scale.

Where does Wilson rank on that scale?

Clearly near the bottom. But why did he yell those two words? Why did that speech and this president cause a veteran politician like Wilson to lose control?

The right to actually lead
I have a theory. For all the fawning popularity Barack Obama enjoys in certain circles, he is equally vilified in others. Those who don't like him truly don't like him. And there seems to be an element in this country that doesn't want to accept him as the president. From the kooks hollering about his birth certificate to the paranoids insisting he is a closet Muslim, there are people who just don't want this guy in that office.

The fact that he is half-black is not wasted on them, either. Let's be blunt. Nobody can use the N-word in public anymore. But they can use socialist, anarchist, alien.

And somehow it's now acceptable to deem a guy who has been in office barely eight months unfit and unworthy. It's acceptable to suggest he's taking us straight to hell. It's acceptable to yell "You lie!" at the commander in chief in a place where it has never been yelled before.

Hate breeds hate. Two days ago, I boarded a plane heading for New York City. As we descended over the Manhattan skyline, I realized it was Sept. 11. I thought back to the emotions that followed that day eight years ago, a feeling of unity, a feeling a patriotism, a feeling that no enemy, no matter how evil or determined, could ever tear us apart.

The enemy doesn't have to. The way we are going, we'll do it ourselves.

For tickets to Mitch Albom's charity book launch for "Have a Little Faith" on Sept. 30 at the Fox Theatre, call 800-745-3000 or go to ticketmaster.com. Contact MITCH ALBOM: 313-223-4581 or malbom@freepress.com.


http://www.freep.com/article/20090913/COL01/909130431/1318/-You-lie---a-new-low--but-not-the-last&template=fullarticle

I Believe...

In God the Father Almighty and Jesus Christ, his son, my Lord.

In the United States of America and despite all of the things that could be improved about her, she is still the greatest country on the face of the earth.

That God and Christianity are an integral part of the history, culture and character of this country.

That there is nothing wrong with "in God we trust" on our money or in our federal buildings.

That if a community decides to celebrate a religious holiday, be it Christmas, Easter, Passover, Hanukkah, Dewali, Ramadan or whatever, it can be displayed on a government building provided it is done in good taste.

That you have the right not to believe in God but if you make that choice don't expect me to alter my life to please you. It was your choice after all.

That you have the right to your political point of view.

That you have the right to express your point of view, provided it is done in a courteous manner.

That is is my obligation to honor your right of free speech.

That I have no say over a woman's personal decision about reproductive rights.

That if a politician lies or reneges on a campaign promise he forfeits the right to run again for reelection.

We should bring every American soldier home tomorrow. Use them to provide for the common defense, and save the billions of dollars we spend overseas to house our military.

Every trade treaty we have with a foreign nation should have the same restrictions here on them as they put on us there.

The government should forget a national health care program and instead pay private providers to supply health care to every American. They already know what they are doing.

We need to cut all current foreign aid by 75%, take that money and invest it in America.

Schools should once again have the right to administer corporal punishment. The experiment of Dr. Spock is a miserable failure, most parents do not discipline properly and we have several generations of people that have no respect for authority or rules.

We need a national primary so that everyone has an equal voice on who runs for President.

That the following cabinets/departments should be eliminated and their powers consolidated in other cabinets or, better yet, turned over to the individual states. Health and Human Service, HUD, Transportation, Education, Homeland Security, EPA, and the Department of Labor.

That State Government should become larger and the Federal Government smaller. This would give us all a bigger say so in how we are governed.

Truth in advertising return to what it was in the 60's.

Gasoline and oil should be regulated as a utility, and removed from the commodities markets.

All oil reserves in this country should be explored to their highest potential and output.

We should rescind NAFTA.

We need to reestablish our supremacy as an industrialize nation again, limit imports and have American made products or options available.

We should return to being the breadbasket of the world, encourage farming, ranching and stop importing foods that make us sick.

Every illegal alien in this country should be deported, then allowed to apply for immigration following the legal process every other American had to follow.

We need a death penalty in this country that provide for one appeal, and only one appeal.

Every child needs to be provided with a proper education, and to have funds available for college.

We should return to life before 9/11. Airlines free of scanners, crossing into Canada or Mexico as we did before.

We need to do away with political correctness. We have become a hypersensitive nation of cry babies. Someone called you a name, live with it.......our parents did.

People need to move beyond hate, racial and other stereotypes. Contrary to what some of you Neanderthals believe, we are all made of the same organs, genes, and feelings. I quit a job back in '91 that paid me $55k a year because they wanted me to fired a man solely because he was black. And you know what? I'd do it again today. Racist people, homophobic people, are ignorant people.

Children with special needs deserve all of the help we can provide. It was probably many of the contamination's that are throughout our society that led to those needs. We caused it we should own it.

In showing respect and manners. I believe in please and thank you, yer ma'am and yes sir, standing when a lady enters the room, holding a door for a lady, opening her car door, removing your hat at the dinner table, or standing for our national anthem. I believe we should respect our elders and those who served our nation, be it in the military, police, firefighters or other parts of public service.

Wars should be fought by Generals, not politicians and fought to win.

I believe everyone should own a firearm but handguns should be banned. (No, NRA guns kill people, people just aim them)

Teachers aren't underpaid. If I could make $50k for 9 months work I'd be damn happy.

Helmet and seat belt laws are against the Constitution.

The secret to reducing insurance rate is to follow Shakespeare's lead. (First, let's kill all the lawyers).

Everyone that is qualified to become a Doctor should be allowed to be a Doctor.

A 19 year old boy with a 16 year old girlfriend is not guilty of rape, or vice versa.

All advertisements for political causes should reveal who REALLY paid for the ad.

Women get sexier with age.

It is healthy to laugh and tell jokes. We all take this thing called life way too seriously.

The only term limits that should be imposed are done at the voting booth.

We should have electronic voting so that everyone has a voice. (If Federal Express can track a package across the country this should be a snap)

The Federal Government exists to provide for the common defense, monetary regulations, and to negotiate treaties.

We need to hire mercenaries to kill Bin Laden and pay the guy who does it $1 billion.

We need to slow down technology. As soon as a operating system or cell phone come out it is obsolete.

Cell phones should not have cameras or text features.

Long hair and bangs makes a woman look hot and a man feel young.

Love is a verb as well as a noun.

It's easy to fall in love. Falling into like is much harder and is necessary for a lasting relationship. It's liking our mate, or our friendship, that allows us to forgive the mistakes that happen in a relationship.

Cell phone should have larger displays and numbers! LOL

Parents get smarter the older we get.

Family and friends make a person complete.

Now, what do you believe?

Politics Makes For Strange Bedfellows

It's been a while and there are a myriad of topics running through my brain, but the one that won out was politics. So I decided to use a quote as the title of this little rant and rave that I have heard numerous times in the past. But before I begin could someone please tell me: What the hell does that quote mean?

One of the things I learned while working in management is there are a few things you never discuss around the water cooler. Things like taxes, religion, and politics were pretty much off limits because they are so volatile, and there is no absolute right or wrong. The truth, as with much in life, lays somewhere in the middle.

Lately I have become more outspoken on political issues, as have my friends, and I think that is a normal progression as we age. Maybe it's because we have something to say, maybe because now we have the experience to back up our thoughts and maybe now because we worry we are running out of time.

Those that have known me a long time, know my political background. I came from a working class, Republican household that believed the less government involved itself in our lives the better off all of us were. I was a Milliken Republican, a Romney Republican (George not wimpy, 'er Mitt). Were they conservative? Yes but they were also moderate or progressive in their thinking. Both were excellent Governors in the Great State of Michigan during my childhood and their accomplishments are renown. They understood that it took give and take to make our political system work. Hell, they were Republican Governors in the most unionized state in the country, and they held the highest office for the better part of 16 years. They were politicians that served the people first, and the party second.

As I grew older there were changes going on all around me in both the political arena and society in general. Like many my age I experienced Viet Nam, Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Watergate, Free Love (such a great idea), Dr. Spock, Timothy Leary, Chicago 7, Ollie North, the Black Panthers, Jane Fonda, Charles Manson, Mohammad Ali, Patty Hearst, and the Moral Majority. So many events molding how we looked at the world. We became a generation that questioned everything, and rightfully so. But then something went terribly wrong. We evolved from an "us" society to a "me" society. And in doing so we became a society that forgot the merits of debate and compromise.

I moved out of the Republican Party about the time the Moral Majority moved in. First because I do believe in the separation of church and state, but mostly because those that professed to be moral seemed to pontificate an inordinate amount of hate. They said Liberals were "Godless" and socialist which I'm sure came as a shock to the many millions of Americans that lean towards the Democratic Party yet go to church, pray and tithe on a regular basis. It's that old adage God is on the winning side of the war. The problem is he isn't on either side because he loves us all. The MM hated gays, they hated reproductive rights, they espoused the dangers of the liberal government involved with every aspect of our lives then wanted to legislate a ban on personal reproductive choices of a woman and capital punishment. Is there anything more intrusive? They spoke of the "drive by liberal media" controlled by the left, yet I found it ironic I never heard someone from ABC, NBC, or CBS call a Republican Politician a Magic Negro, or Fem Nazi, or Shemale, or a Fag, but I have heard those terms used by Rush, Hannity and the like. So much for love your neighbor.

Now with that said I couldn't move on to the other end of the spectrum either. As much as Newt Gingrich (who is a brilliant man, by the way) made my skin crawl, the likes of Kerry, Dukakis, Ferraro, Gore and Biden didn't necessarily strike me as leaders. I look at this whole global warming debate with tongue and cheek. This theory was pushed into the limelight by the "Father" of the Internet, Al Gore. Of course they've had to change the term from global warming to climate change because of the holes in the theory, but hey, we didn't need those gas guzzlers anyway.

It seems Nancy Pelosi, while on the way to making this a greener world, has neglected to figure out how to prevent her home state from having it's annual 3 month marshmallow roast in the fields and woods of California, spewing tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and would rather put a couple of hundred thousand auto workers out of a job. They even had a cash for clunker program recently and the DOT did some creative accounting to show the biggest seller was Toyota, proving once again that Americans want small, fuel efficient cars. The problem with that is the NADA did there own tally by accepted sales recording methods, and it turns out Toyota was not only not first, the Ford Focus held that honor, Toyota finished 5th behind the Ford F-150 pickup truck! So much for that fuel efficient thing Nancy.

I watch Republicans say Bush did no wrong and that this recession has nothing to do with his lack of a domestic monetary policy for 8 years. He was a saint that could do no wrong. Water boarding isn't torture it's just aggressive conversation. He didn't lie to a nation, take advantage of the underlying fear of 9/11, just to have an excuse to invade a sovereign nation to clean up daddy's mess, did he? The hell he didn't! We are coming up on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and Saddam is dead, so are 4,000 young American men and women, and Bin Laden probably has 10 more kids. Yet the Conservatives want to tell me George did everything right? I defy any Conservative to list for me 7 things George Bush did wrong during his Presidency, without stuttering.

Then we have the recent passing of Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy. He was eulogized as a saint by the Liberals much as the Conservative do for Bush. Ted was a dedicated public servant, he believed in his causes but he was hardly a saint. Yes we all know about Mary Jo. It was a tragedy and he never owned it properly. In any event I thank you Mr. Kennedy for your efforts.

You have a new breed of Democrat in public office today. I like to call them Republicrats, liberals with an attitude. You have there leader, no not President Obama, it's Nancy Pelosi who makes Hillary Clinton seem warm and fuzzy, and she believes that just because America grew tired of George Bush she has a mandate to radically alter our way of life. She is on record as saying she doesn't need the Republicans, and with help from the Great State of Massachusetts she might be right. The problem with it all is power is fleeting. And power is never absolute in a democracy!

Our nation is in a stalemate. We have elected officials that serve the party first and the people second. You have elected officials that no longer know how to negotiate. When in doubt tell a lie and the people will blindly support you has become the mantra of the modern politician. We are a nation of lemmings, sheep, that will blindly support a party doctrine because we don't have the backbone to force a change.

No, not an Obama change. I mean real change. Obama is a disappointment. He had a window of opportunity to really change the course of modern politics in this country and what did he do? He recycled the Clinton Administration. That's not change! His policies are not those of a free thinker but are the policies of the Democratic Party, no more, no less.

Change will never come from the politicians, it has to come from the people. People need to demand honesty, accountability, and integrity from their elected officials. There is a need for a third party in this country as well because the difference between the Democrats and Republicans is negligible.

We need politicians like Bill Milliken and George Romney again. Politicians that understand name calling and being a standard bearer for a political party results in failed attempts for change. We need to embrace the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and return our political process to what it was, to what allowed us to evolve over the last 200 years. A system of government that focuses more on a mans political point of view than how much dirt we can dig up on him.

The next time you feel like spewing hate upon a political opponent, stop and think, will this accomplish anything positive or is this just more self gratification. See, that's what it's really about. Do "we" want this country to be about "us" or "me". If we choose to stand alone, we will fail.

Try something refreshing, admit you might be wrong. If you will, I might too.

Love Thy Neighbor?

I have to be careful how I write this because I don't want this to sound like I'm fishing for compliments, and I'm not, but I need to sound off on this topic.

Where I grew up we played outside from dusk til dark, we never locked our doors, and we had events like block parties throughout the year. You knew every neighbor for blocks, their names, their jobs and yes, even their naughty little secrets. When a neighbor was sick or suffered a loss it impacted us all and we responded with charity. I lived in an age where people cared about people, you care about them and you cared what they thought about you. We were raised to believe we should contribute to our community and our society, and that a man was judged by those he helped along the path of life. I took those childhood memories and lessons to heart, I cherished them and carried them with me throughout my life, and they have served me well.

Now this may be a rhetorical question but when did those things change?

I've lived in my home for 28 years and I'm ashamed to say I probably only know about 12 of my neighbors. But those that I do know I have, over the years, developed a good relationship with and tried to be that neighbor I remember from growing up.

As an example; my neighbor to the west had a bad hip and for four years I cut his lawn every week. In return, he'd plow my drive during the winter with his pick-up truck, he got it. Whenever it stormed the tree in the front yard of the widow next door would drop huge limbs and I would cut them up. When she passed away I cared for the house for her niece that lived up north who inherited it.

When my neighbor across the street lost his job and moved to Florida I cut his lawn for almost two years until the house sold. Some in the neighborhood thought I'd fallen on hard times and was cutting lawns. Little did they know I did it because I'm a good neighbor they paid for nothing. My other neighbor kitty corner from me asked to park his boat in my drive while he tried to sell it and I said sure, and then when he lost his job and went to Tennessee for job training I trimmed his lawn and watched over his family. When he got back I called a friend in a related field and tried to help him get a job. He was astounded, he said he owed me...I said no, you're my neighbor.

The young kids that just moved in behind me were unprepared for being without power for two days and were about to loose everything in their refrigerator so I hauled over an extension cord from my generator and plugged them in, they were so grateful they didn't have money for more food.

Over the years I have done things for them and some have done nice things for me, but what puzzles me is the majority look at me like I'm goofy. To me it's simple you reap what you sow...I believe in karma, and I believe the lessons my community taught me as a child.

When did those lessons go out of fashion? And more importantly how do we get them back? Perhaps you know....

The Real Estate Market The True Story

Sometimes it's a curse to be burdened with being right all the time. Over the years I have amazed many of my family, friends and contemporaries with the things I have predicted. A large part of the burden is people tend to blame you for everything that goes wrong. In fact, I have two ex-wives and several former girlfriends, plus a current one, that will tell you it's almost always my fault. Just ask them! So accurate am I, that many that know me have taken to calling me by my other world name, Nostradumbass.

But today I want to convey to you a discussion I had back in 1995 regarding the future of real estate in this country.

Back in '95 I was a Sales Manager for one of the largest, privately held, real estate companies in the United States. It was a job I did well. I not only recruited and trained sales associates in my office but I also trained throughout the company at different times. I was one of their "go to" guys when it came to building an office up or making it profitable.

For those of you that don't remember the real estate market back in 1995 it was pretty darn good. We had just come out of the "Bush Senior" recession and the market was alive with a pent up demand. Homes and real estate experienced appreciation at a double digit rate in most communities, and it wasn't unusual to sell a home within a week of it hitting the market. All and all it was a good time to own and sell real estate.

I always kept things loose in my offices. There was a lot of joking and kidding, but my people were also the most Professional Realtors you could find anywhere. They had an insatiable thirst for knowledge because they understood that knowledge was power. And as such we would frequently discuss the current market, and the "what ifs" about the market as well.

I recall one day towards the end of the weekly sales meeting we got into a discussion about what the market would look like 10 years from now (1995).

I remember watching my Associates jaws drop and they looked at me like I was on recreational drugs when I said "at some point in the next 10 to 15 years the bottom was going to fall out of the market". I went on further to say; "When it happens I will feel bad for all of these people today, especially the young people, that are over extending themselves to buy these $300, $400 and $500 thousand dollar homes because they were going to take the biggest hit".

Of course even though they chuckled in disbelief, they did understand I was "Nostradumbass" and, therefore, they respected my opinion so they asked me to elaborate. Now before I go farther, let me say I did not foresee the man made energy crisis, nor 9/11, nor had any thought about our latest recession that borderlines a depression. None of these factors came into play, it was merely the basic laws of supply side economics.

I explained to them that within the next 10 years the "baby-boomers" were going to start to retire and as such they would begin a massive exodus to downsize and migrate. In doing this there would be a tremendous void left in the high end of the market place and when this happens the only result will be a glut of product and falling prices.

I could see the light turn on as I reminded them that the "baby-boomers", with a demographic population somewhere in the neighborhood of 78 million people, were about twice the size of the "Gen-X'ers" which was estimated at about 41 million people. Then behind them the next two generations combined barely equal the "baby-boomers".

When you start to realize that at some point there will be 75 million homes for sale with approximately 50 million buyers, what do you think the end result will be? Of course they said falling prices.

And that is what we are watching and experiencing today. You can blame the sub-prime mortgages, the banks, the auto industry, Bush, Obama, oil, politics, foreign cars or Larry, Daryl and Daryl, and you'd still be wrong.

The culprit simply is too many homes and not enough buyers. It is the basic principle of supply and demand, and that isn't going to change any time soon. The irony is, it isn't going to change because the real estate market is as much to blame for people being unemployed as anything else. The politicians can stimulate us all until we're orgasmic but until people are employed with a good paying job they won't be buying houses any time soon.

For those of you waiting for the market to turn around, for your home to regain the value and equity it once had; I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it you don't have at least ten years, you've got a problem. Or at the very least a tough decision to make.

Because even if this country gets back to work, with unemployment down to a respectable 3%, the basics will not change. You have workers, in this new "green" society that the Republicrats are molding, that will earn about 2/3 of what their parents did. That fact alone works against any rapid recovery of home prices because they flat out can't afford that $400,000 shack mom and dad owned. Secondly if you have 100 hamburgers for sale and only 10 people hungry, the odds are pretty slim you're going to sell more than 20 burgers. The best thing the government could do, if they really want to help the homeowners, is plow down those foreclosed homes. At least then you would reduce some of the inventory.

It's a bitch always being right! Well wait, I can think of 3 or 4 times I made a mistake......

Craigslist Rants and Raves

I enjoy reading Craigslist. If you are not familiar with CL it's a worldwide bulletin board where people can buy and sell anything, it has a singles section, a kinky section, a real estate section, chat rooms, and my favorite Rants and Raves.

Now R&R is a great idea in concept. It's a message board where you can go to praise something you think is worth while or to rant about something that ticks you off. And, of course, like most message boards it has been taken over but those dregs of society we affectionately term trolls and flamers.

Trolls and flamers are basically people with no life. Their sole purpose is to sit around all day posting stupid things in an attempt to get a rise or reaction out of someone. They all went to the same troll academy and the insults usually follow a topic pattern of racial, fat, death, gays, children, and ethnic backgrounds.

Despite the proliferation of these flamers on a place like CL, there are still some that make interesting posts. They make comments designed to make you think or that are topical in nature. You can find me on the Detroit Cl and my handle is (sitting here reading).

Now, typically I will post things on CL much as I will post them here. Topics that I believe are worthy of discussion. Of course sometimes, when I stumble across an idiot, I can't help but respond in a way to let them know they're a few sandwiches shy of a picnic. I especially like when they reply to another persons post and resort to name calling....that almost always will get me going is the original poster (op) made any sense at all.

Here is an example of a post I made tonight. The OP told anti-smokers to be careful what you pray for because if it comes true the state of Michigan will have to find a revenue source to make up for the $2 billion dollars in taxes they now collect from smokers. The follow is a typical sequence on R&R.

This was the reply to that post:

RE: non smokers, careful what U wish for (Michigan)

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Reply to: pers-ra5ny-1254288338@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
Date: 2009-07-05, 12:05PM EDT



Just a couple of comments. Can you tell us some of the programs that are paid for by the sacrifice your making to your life for the better of mankind? Perhaps we'd be better off without some of them. It would be a good way to cut some of the over spending this government does in the first place. You have every right to smoke, hell.....smoke until lungs shrivel up into a raisin, and emphysema has you breathing from a tank of oxygen you have to cart around with you. Go ahead jackass puff down all you want.

You said "They have also forgot to tell you that alcohol, risky sex practices, obesity, auto & motorcycle accidents are a far bigger drain on medical resources than smokers could ever be".

None of those have any effect on my life, and health. What you don't have the right to do is endanger MY life or MY children's lives. Every time you smoke down in a public restaurant or some other enclosed place you endanger everyone around you with no regard. Don't try to make yourself out to be some type of martyr either. Acting like your doing a public service by slowly rotting yourself from the inside out by sucking on a cancer stick to the betterment of Michiganders everywhere. Dick.

To which I replied:


Re:RE: non smokers, careful what U wish for (Michigan) (sitting here reading)

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Reply to: pers-xkjdc-1254838921@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
Date: 2009-07-05, 6:50PM EDT



***None of those have any effect on my life, and health. What you don't have the right to do is endanger MY life or MY children's lives. Every time you smoke down in a public restaurant or some other enclosed place you endanger everyone around you with no regard. Don't try to make yourself out to be some type of martyr either. Acting like your doing a public service by slowly rotting yourself from the inside out by sucking on a cancer stick to the betterment of Michiganders everywhere. Dick.****

Can you say Baaaaaaaa? I think you can.

Before you go calling people a "dick" maybe you should enlighten us.....which test was it that verifies that smoking causes cancer? In a 5,000 square foot restaurant with 50,000 cubic feet of air at what point is the concentration of cigarette smoke enough to cause cancer when ingested? Can you name me three research scientists that have said, conclusively, that cigarette smoke causes cancer in everyone that smokes? These are trick questions because you can't. There are no conclusive tests. Not for lung cancer or any other form of cancer.

Cancer is caused by a predisposition genetically "dick". Not by smoke. Smoke may be a trigger but so might after shave, cologne, hair spray, bug repellent and breath like a buffalo fart. It is people like you that run like lemmings to the cliff then ask why am I falling. Because you don't question, you believe what anyone in authority tells you and you fail to research a topic.

I don't know what the OP's first post was because I haven't read it yet, but if it has anything to do with warning fools like you to beware of your rights running out the door, you better thank him. Let me ask you something....did you know that in the new Senate Health Bill for President Obama's proposed national health program there is a clause that allows the government to fine you up to $1,000 a year if you fail to provide yourself with health insurance? And as a result of these fines that expect to collect $38 billion dollars a year. You do the math. Then show me where in our Constitution it gives the government the right to dictate to us that we have to have health insurance?

Your rights are being reduced on a daily basis and you sit there and nod your head like a plastic dog in the back window of a real car.....not one the government tells you, you want.

Now back to the smoking question....do you know where second hand smoke came from? It came about when doctors and scientists couldn't come up with a reasonable answer to why do people that don't smoke get lung cancer and die! And they had no answer and it was a big hole in their anti smoking campaign...then suddenly, viola, second hand smoke kills babies from 100 feet away. Lemming.........




•Location: sitting here reading

To which someone replied to me:

re:Re:RE: non smokers, careful what U wish for (Michigan) (sitting her (yeah, right)

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Reply to: pers-uuwkm-1254877119@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
Date: 2009-07-05, 7:21PM EDT



Whether or not second hand smoke causes cancer is irrelevent. kinda like you.

Smoking STINKS. Smokers STINK. Second hand smoke burns your eyes and irritates your lungs.

Around people with lung desiese it could be dangerous, even causing a fatal asthma attack.

Smoke all you want, just do it in your own stinky house.

Fuck all you stinky smokers. I hope you all die painfull cancerous deaths.

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To which I replied:

re:Re:RE: non smokers, careful what U wish for (Michigan) (sitting her (sitting here reading)

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Reply to: pers-v4cf2-1254910122@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
Date: 2009-07-05, 7:48PM EDT



Dear Functional Illiterate,

It was the other poster that said it causes cancer not me. As for my smoking I quit 3 years ago after 42 years of smoking. I had the will power to see that I was doing something that could harm my body and decided to change that. Unlike you that, based upon your grammar and spelling, probably decided school wasn't your thing somewhere around 8th grade. Good luck with that!

Anyway, you're entitled to your opinion but it may mean more if you understood what it was you were responding too, versus finding new and unusual ways to put "fuck you" into a reply.

Carry on as if you were normal.....


•Location: sitting here reading

This could go on all night but even I know you shouldn't argue with a fool...but it's good for the occasional giggle. I'm betting you wish you had the last 4 minutes of your life back, huh? Anyway, if you want some interesting reading log into your local CL and take a peak. But be careful you just may want to post!

Happy 4th of July

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

This Is Scarey

More and more I look and see our individual rights being subtly taken away by our government. The worst part of the whole scenerio is "we the people" are allowing it to happen. I don't have time to comment on this at the moment but here is a reprint of an article from this mornings Detroit Free Press. If this doesn't scare you...than you are either a special kind of stupid or dead:

Uninsured would face fines under Senate health bill
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR • Associated Press • July 2, 2009
http://www.freep.com/article/20090702/NEWS15/90702064/Uninsured+would+face+fines+under+Senate+health+bill

WASHINGTON — Americans who refuse to buy affordable medical coverage could be hit with fines of more than $1,000 under a health care overhaul bill unveiled today by key Senate Democrats looking to fulfill President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated the fines will raise around $36 billion over 10 years. Senate aides said the penalties would be modeled on the approach taken by Massachusetts, which now imposes a fine of about $1,000 a year on individuals who refuse to get coverage. Under the federal legislation, families would pay higher penalties than individuals.

In a revamped health care system envisioned by lawmakers, people would be required to carry health insurance just like motorists must get auto coverage now. The government would provide subsidies for the poor and many middle-class families, but those who still refuse to sign up would face penalties.

Called “shared responsibility payments,” the fines would be set at least half the cost of basic medical coverage, according to the legislation.

In 2008, employer-provided coverage averaged $12,680 a year for a family plan, and $4,704 for individual coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s annual survey. Senate aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the cost of the federal plan would be lower but wouldn’t provide specifics.

The legislation would exempt certain hardship cases from fines.

The new proposals were released as Congress neared the end of a weeklong July 4 break, with lawmakers expected to quickly take up health care legislation when they return to Washington. With deepening divisions along partisan and ideological lines, the complex legislation faces an uncertain future.

Obama wants a bill this year that would provide coverage to the millions of Americans who lack it and reduce medical costs.

In a statement, Obama welcomed the legislation, saying it “reflects many of the principles I’ve laid out, such as reforms that will prohibit insurance companies from refusing coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and the concept of insurance exchanges where individuals can find affordable coverage if they lose their jobs, move or get sick.”

The Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions bill also calls for a government-run insurance option to compete with private plans as well as a $750-per-worker annual fee on larger companies that do not offer coverage to employees.

Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said in a letter to colleagues that their revised plan would cost dramatically less than an earlier, incomplete proposal, and help show the way toward coverage for 97% of Americans.

In a conference call with reporters, Dodd said the revised bill had brought “historic reform of health care” closer. He said the bill’s public option will bring coverage and benefit decisions driven “not by what generates the biggest profits, but by what works best for American families.”

The two senators said the Congressional Budget Office put the cost of the proposal at $611.4 billion over 10 years, down from $1 trillion two weeks ago.

However, the total cost of legislation will rise considerably once provisions are added to subsidize health insurance for the poor through Medicaid. Those additions, needed to ensure coverage for nearly all U.S. residents, are being handled by a separate panel, the Senate Finance Committee. Bipartisan talks on the Finance panel aim to hold the overall price tag to $1 trillion.

The Health Committee could complete its portion of the bill as soon as next week, and the presence of a government health insurance option virtually assures a party-line vote.
In the Senate, the Finance Committee version of the bill is unlikely to include a government-run insurance option. Bipartisan negotiations are centered on a proposal for a nonprofit insurance cooperative as a competitor to private companies.

Three committees are collaborating in the House on legislation expected to come to a vote by the end of July. That measure is certain to include a government-run insurance option.

At their heart, all the bills would require insurance companies to sell coverage to any applicant, without charging higher premiums for pre-existing medical conditions. The poor and some middle-class families would qualify for government subsidies to help with the cost of coverage. The government’s costs would be covered by a combination of higher taxes and cuts in projected Medicare and Medicaid spending.

End of article

Extorting fines against Americans that may not be able to afford health insurance? This from the party that cruxified John McCain for suggesting taxing health benefits?