Facebook

At the urging of my daughter, I now have a facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1554824395. I have to admit it is fun and seems to be the current rage.

Taxes

Kentucky just passed an increased tax on cigarettes and booze.

Being a leper (smoker), I find the liquor industry’s effort to defeat the tax amusing. When one is not affected by a cost increase (cigarettes), one jumps on the bandwagon and vehemently praises all efforts to raise the price. When one is affected (booze), one denounces any effort for any increase. In my opinion, neither will offset Kentucky’s financial problems and they will find additional things to tax.

This opinion is not a support for smokers. I wish I didn’t and I agree with everything they say about the hazards. However, when the government starts taxing life styles, watch out!

Rupp Arena

Kentucky basketball has a program this year where a person can sign up on their website to sit in Bill Keightley’s seat for a portion of the game. Bill Keightley was the long time manager of the team and was loved by all.

I was chosen to do that on December 29th when Kentucky played Central Michigan. It was quite impressive. My wife and I were met at the pass gate at Rupp Arena by Leon Smith, an administrative assistant of Kentucky basketball. He escorted us to great seats which were to used for the entire game by my wife, and where I would join her later. They were great seats.

Leon then showed me what all went all before the start of the game. I met the coaches and some of the players, was on the floor while the players warmed up, sat in during the pregame briefing, was introduced to the crowd, and then sat on the player’s bench until the 16 minute mark of the first half. I was then escorted to my seat by Leon and joined my wife for the remainder of the game. A great experience!

2008

This was sent to me by Bob Watson and I thought it was very interesting.

Things I Learned in 2008
by Bill O’Reilly

Tough year, 2008. Many Americans got badly hurt by the economic chaos, which hit them like a back alley mugger. What a disgrace. Wall Street hustlers gamed the system by trafficking in bad loans, while Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission looked the other way. Awful.

So, I learned a painful lesson from all that: Big Brother is not watching out for us. Orwell had it wrong. We are pretty much on our own as the federal government simply cannot or will not protect the folks from danger. Never again will I assume the feds are looking out for me.

I understand that sounds cynical. And I do believe that the Bush administration did apply very tough policies that made it much more difficult for terrorists to attack us. But on the home front, the federal and state governments continue to tax workers to the max while wasting much of the revenue on foolish projects designed to get politicians votes. If this continues, it is only a matter of time before America’s economy completely tanks.

But many Americans, perhaps most, have not learned that lesson. They still believe the federal government should “provide” for them. President Obama has promised many things, most of them expensive. Of course, the United States does not have the money to pay for those things. Just like many homebuyers did not have the money to pay their mortgages. I hope Obama has learned from that. If he has not, duck.

The past year also taught me that the media can no longer be trusted. This has been developing for a long time, but media bias reached critical mass during the presidential campaign. Many in the press slanted their reporting to help Barack Obama, every independent study shows that. And all you have to do is compare the treatment Obama received to how the media portrayed Sarah Palin. That’s all you have to do.

So, the lesson here is clear: No longer can the American media be relied upon to bring us fact-based information. The news media has entered the ideology business much like talk radio. This will greatly harm the nation, as unbiased information is critical for an informed citizenry. The collapse of journalistic standards was a huge but largely untold story in 2008.

Finally, I learned last year that despite the terrible economy, Americans continue to be a generous people. My website has been able to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to help poor children, wounded vets and their families, and the homeless. We were able to do this because folks bought stuff on the site knowing the money they spent would flow to the less fortunate.

That’s a big positive story of 2008. Despite the cruel economic blows, the generous spirit of Americans remains intact.

Pet Peeves in 2008

• Any business which thinks they are doing you a favor by taking your money
• Cashiers who say “There you go!” after you pay a bill
• Tailgaters
• TV commercials
• Movie stars who think they know everything and the people asking their opinion
• Interviewers on TV who ask a question to a professional and then know more about the subject than the person they asked, thus not letting them answer
• Entertainers who quit to spend more time with their families and then return because they miss the spotlight
• Anyone who likes either Duke or North Carolina basketball (g)
  

On Sale?

You can buy about any automobile or truck now and get thousands of dollars off the sticker price. Even at this low price, I think they still make a profit. You can imagine how much profit they were making in the past.

This would also apply to the plasma television set I bought a couple of years ago. The same set now sells for about one half of what I paid. I thought I had gotten a great deal!

Some stores have all their items on sale every day. The discounts usually run in the 50% to 75% off retail price. If the discounts they advertise are true, the original mark up was 100% so it can’t be a sale at all.

A lot of service businesses (plumbers, electricians, gas suppliers, etc) are adding a fuel surcharge to their bill. This started when the price of gasoline and diesel was in the $4 – $5 dollar range. These prices have now dropped by over half, but the surcharge is still there.

Famous Quotes

12-19-08

• Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it. Ronald Regan (1986)
• If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free! P.J. O’Rourke

ESL (English as a Second Language)

Just for fun I’ve decided to takes notes of announcers using incorrect English. Today I watched a couple of NFL football games and heard the following:

1. They don’t get no rest…..
2. …there is hands coming in…
3. …beats him real quick…
4. Him and Aaron….
5. That defensive line, they…..
6. I didn’t want to be nowhere near you….
7. Me and Jim Zorn…..

Monday September 29th:

1. NBC Today show …..the greatest and most softest…..
2. CNN: There is lines…..
3. Local Channel: They could be beat…..
4. ESPN: …common denominator with he and Ed …..
5. Two and 1/2 Men: …staying with Judith and I.

October 9th Headline

1. Pope Benedict is supporting a pope accused of ignoring the Holocaust for sainthood……

October 10th Story in Local Newspaper

1. Danville police arrested a fugitive Wednesday suspected of attempted murder in Pennsylvania who’d allegedly been hiding in Danville for some time. (Pennsylvania had been hiding in Danville?)

More from the NFL Today (October 12th)

1. Somebody should have broke that route off.
2. Arizona, they ………
3. If I was with the Dallas Cowboys…
4. There is fines…..