We Got a Kinder, Gentler Machine-Gun Hand...

1) Dad and I traveled to the county courthouse today to research the history of our house. The amount of information within the Register of Deeds office is incredible. Our research led us from a volume numbered in the nine-hundreds all the way down to the third page in volume three, which was the original purchase of the property written in hand in 1909. We even found the original lot lines for the neighborhood, which have changed considerably.


2) Dad purchased a re-manufactured carb for the Camaro! The electric vehicle idea is out the window....for now.


3) Being on Christmas break for the past week and a half has made me somewhat irritable. The first two days of break were spent wandering through the house searching for something productive to accomplish. Blegh. Car projects are limited because of funds, drawing lasted for only an hour, piano grows old quickly, schoolwork...Well, schoolwork has an appeal to it again.

“I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don’t have that too often….And that is an objective assessment...”

Media Research Center’s Best Notable Quotables of 2008!


http://www.mediaresearch.org/press/2008/press20081222.asp

This Place is Crackalackin'...

Happenings....


1) The carburetor on the Camaro died Saturday morning. Dad and I are hypothesizing about what should be done with the thing. The motor is still original and has oh-so-many miles, so rebuilding it is an option. However, considering the cost of such a project why not convert the entire drivetrain to electric power? (His idea, not my own...)

2) Three colleges have sent acceptance letters: Embry-Riddle, The Citadel, and VMI. NC State will not send out any information until January 31, so I am still playing the waiting game. And no, I do not have a top choice out of the five ROTC colleges that have I applied to.

3) My friend and I were preparing to leave for church this past Sunday. His parents left beforehand to prepare for music, so he and I were taking Little Wing. Upon turning the key in the ignition, the car would not start. "Great. My battery is dead and we'll have to jump it in this pouring rain." I called my dad to make sure my memory was correct on the procedure.

"I turned the key in the ignition and the car will not start. I think the battery's dead. Wait...my interior lights are on..."

"Make sure the car is in park."

"Oh! Never mind..."

Not only did I park the car in drive, but I also drove ten miles to church before I realized that my hood was not closed properly. I had pulled the latch thinking that we were going to jump the battery, so it was unlatched most of the drive.

4) Quantum of Solace was...uneventful.

Top Songs for this Week

Wild Horses - The Rolling Stones
America - Neil Diamond
Rockin’ in the Free World - Neil Young
My Jesus - Todd Agnew
Angel - Aerosmith
Macrotus (Batman Begins) - Hans Zimmer
Hey Jude - The Beatles
Copperhead Road - Steve Earle
Time - Pink Floyd
Some Kind of Wonderful - Grand Funk Railroad
Bullets - Creed
Last Breath - Creed
All I Want is You - U2
Soulshine - Allman Brothers
Save Me from Myself - Head
Love is Not a Fight - Warren Barfield
Burning the Past - Harry Gregson-Williams
Ecstasy of Gold - Ennio Morricone, Metallica (Both Versions)
O Come All Ye Faithful - Twisted Sister
O Holy Night - Josh Groban

My Pappy Said, "Son You're Gonna Drive Me To Drinkin' If You Don't Stop Drivin' That Hot Rod Lincoln..."

A brilliant piece by my man, Walter Williams.

A MINORITY VIEW

BY WALTER E. WILLIAMS

RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2008, AND THEREAFTER



Bailouts and Bankruptcy



Let's not allow Congress and members of the bailout parade panic us into allowing them to do things, as was done in the 1930s, that would convert a mild economic downturn into a true calamity. Right now the Big Three auto companies, and their unions, are asking Congress for a $25 billion bailout to avoid bankruptcy. Let's think about that a bit.

What happens when a company goes bankrupt? One thing that does not happen is their productive assets go poof and disappear into thin air. In other words, if GM goes bankrupt, the assembly lines, robots, buildings and other tools don't evaporate. What bankruptcy means is the title to those assets change. People who think they can manage those assets better purchase them.

Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, where the control of its business operations are subject to the oversight and jurisdiction of the court, gives companies a chance to reorganize. The court can permit complete or partial relief from the company's debts and its labor union contracts.

A large part of the problem is the Big Three's cozy relationship with the United Auto Workers union (UAW). GM has a $73 hourly wage cost including benefits and overtime. Toyota has five major assembly plants in the U.S. Its hourly wage cost plus benefits is $48. It doesn't take rocket science to figure out which company will be at a competitive disadvantage. Then there's the "jobs bank" feature of the UAW contract where workers who are laid off workers get 95 percent of their base pay and all their benefits. Right now there's a two-year limit but in the past workers could stay in the "jobs bank" forever unless they turned down two job offers within 50 miles of their factory. At one time job bank membership exceeded 7,000 "workers." GM, Ford and Chrysler face other problems that range from poor corporate management and marketing, not to mention costly government regulations.

Two vital marketplace signals are the profits that come with success and the losses that come with failure. When these two signals are not allowed to freely function, markets operate less efficiently. To be successful a business must take in enough revenue not only to cover wages, rents and interest but profits as well. In order to accomplish that feat executives must not only satisfy customers but they must do it in a manner that efficiently utilizes all of their resources. If they fail to cover costs, it means that resources are not being used efficiently and/or consumers don't value the good being produced relative to some other alternative. When a firm routinely fails to turn a profit, there are bankruptcy pressures. The firm's resources, workers, building and capital become available to someone else who might put them to better use. When government steps in with a bailout, it enables executives to continue mismanaging resources.

How much congressional involvement do we want with the Big Three auto companies? I'd say none. Congressmen and federal bureaucrats, including those at the Federal Reserve Board, don't know anymore about the automobile business than they know about the banking and financial businesses that they've turned into a mess. Just look at the idiotic focus of congressmen when the three auto company chief executives appeared before them. They questioned whether the executives should have driven to Congress rather than flown in on corporate jets. They focused on executive pay, which is a tiny fraction of costs compared to $73 hourly compensation to 250,000 autoworkers. The belief that Congress poses the major threat to our liberty and well-being is why the founders gave them limited enumerated powers. To our detriment, today's Americans have given them unlimited powers.

Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.



COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.

And All Through The House...

Twas the month before Christmas,
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying,
Nor taking a stand.
See the PC Police had taken away,
The reason for Christmas - no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing,
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
"It might hurt people's feelings," the teachers would say,
December 25th is just a "Holiday".
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks, and credit,
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it.
CDs from Madonna, an XBOX, an I-pod,
Something was changing, something quite odd.
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa,
In hopes to sell books by Franken and Fonda.
As Targets were hanging their trees upside down,
At Lowe's the word Christmas was no where to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears,
You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.
Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty,
Are the words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen,
On Boxer, On Rather, On Kerry, On Clinton!
At the top of the Senate there arose such a clatter,
To eliminate Jesus in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word as they took away our faith,
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace.
The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded,
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate "Winter Break" under your "Dream Tree",
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.
Choose your words carefully, choose what you say,
Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS,
Not Happy Holiday!


(Ya Politically correct idiots...)

When You Lie With Dogs...

You Get Their Fleas....


http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081206/D94T8T200.html


By TOBY STERLING

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - Amsterdam unveiled plans Saturday to close brothels, sex shops and marijuana cafes in its ancient city center as part of a major effort to drive organized crime out of the tourist haven.

The city is targeting businesses that "generate criminality," including gambling parlors, and the so-called "coffee shops" where marijuana is sold openly. Also targeted are peep shows, massage parlors and souvenir shops used by drug dealers for money-laundering.

"I think that the new reality will be more in line with our image as a tolerant and crazy place, rather than a free zone for criminals" said Lodewijk Asscher, a city council member and one of the main proponents of the plan.

The news comes just one day after Amsterdam's mayor said he would search for loopholes in new rules laid down by the national government that would close marijuana cafes near schools citywide. The measures announced Saturday would affect about 36 coffee shops in the center itself - a little less than 20 percent of the city total.

Asscher underlined that the city center will remain true to its freewheeling reputation.

"It'll be a place with 200 windows (for prostitutes) and 30 coffee shops, which you can't find anywhere else in the world - very exciting, but also with cultural attractions," he said. "And you won't have to be embarrassed to say you came."

Under the plan announced Saturday, Amsterdam will spend euro30 million to euro40 million ($38 million to $51 million) to bring hotels, restaurants, art galleries and boutiques to the center. It will also build new underground parking areas.

Amsterdam already had plans to close many brothels and some coffee shops, but plans announced Saturday go further.

Asscher said the city would reshape the area, using zoning rules, buying out businesses and offering assistance to upgrade stores. The city has shut brothels and sex clubs in the past by relying on a law allowing the closure of businesses with bookkeeping irregularities.

Prostitution will be allowed only in two areas in the district - notably De Wallen ("The Walls"), a web of streets and alleys around the city's medieval retaining dam walls. The area has been a center of prostitution since before the city's golden shipping age in the 1600s.

Prostitution was legalized in the Netherlands in 2000, formalizing a long-standing tolerance policy.

Marijuana is technically illegal in the Netherlands, but prosecutors won't press charges for possession of small amounts. Coffee shops are able to sell it openly.