Government bailouts...

I'm tired of hearing the talk about "The government needs to help out these poor people with the adjustable rate mortgages". They knew what they were getting into. If they didn't know, they should have.

My brother is one of the people who got one of these loans because he and his wife's credit wasn't so hot and it was the only financing they could get. He knows they shouldn't have gotten it but he wanted to make his wife happy. They got divorced, he ended up getting the house after some bills hadn't been paid, and he busted his butt and got it caught up and, to the best of my knowledge, he refinanced. Was it my fault that he got that loan? Nope. Wasn't yours either? Should we have to bail him out? Nope. Good thing is, my brother is responsible and is taking care of his own house. There are apparently quite a few people who aren't.

CNN.com had a survey up this evening asking "Should the U.S. government step in and back up troubled mortgage loans?". 68% of the respondents said no. Now CNN usually has a more liberal lean to it and it's reader's responses usually lean more to the left also. If a CNN.com pole is showing that we shouldn't be paying for other people's mistakes, I think it's a safe bet that we could find a consensus saying not only no but hell no.

This morning on one of the morning talk shows they were having a round table about this and one of the panelists compared the victims of Katrina to the people in the "mortgage crisis".


Do you remember those "Katrina Victims" like this outstanding citizen on the left? Looting beer from a convenience store?
Maybe from the store on the right? This business owner went through the same disaster and you can see what the fine citizens of New Orleans did to him. Yes, I understand there were a LOT of true victims in the Katrina disaster. My wife spent time taking care of elderly people who were bussed out of New Orleans to our town. She was feeding them, changing their sheets, even had to change one poor little old lady's "diaper". The lady was so embarrassed. It was really sad. The yahoo in the picture with the beer, he's not a victim. He's an able bodied adult man who should have been smart enough to get his sorry butt out of town. Don't blame the government that you didn't listen to the radio and see the news on TV and hear your neighbors talking and still didn't act and get up and go. Ray Nagin did screw up by not using those school buses to help the elderly and the sick but there were plenty of parasites in New Orleans who just sat around waiting for the government to pick them up when they delivered their food stamps. Yes, I'm a former social worker. I've sat behind the desk and looked at FS receipients finances and heard their stories. Maybe a third of them really need the help. I didn't mind giving it to them. Over half of them I'd kick off right now and tell them get a job or starve.

Back to the main topic, so many of the people in New Orleans were victims only in they lost their homes, the places they worked were destroyed, maybe a family member who couldn't get out didn't make it. There should have been a lot smaller number if the people who were able would have just gotten up and left. We live 100 miles inland and we still took precautions for a hurricane that was supposed to roll over us. People up here were boarding windows, moving pets, and heading to relatives houses in other towns.

All it takes is a little common sense. So many in New Orleans didn't show it and so many with these stupid mortgages aren't showing it. I got tired of hearing about all the arrests in Houston of "Katrina Refugees" and I'm tired of hearing about victims of the mortgage crisis. Times are hard. Suck it up and figure out how to get by.

Obama and his racist, hate-filled pastor

Barack and his mentor. My mentor, a presbyterian (I'm baptist), a small business owner (I worked for him), a father of two boys my age, his wife watched our boys for years and his wife is a mentor to my wife, my mentor is someone I look up to. He teaches me to love people. He teaches me how to be a good father. He teaches me how to do business. He serves as a deacon in his church, he leads an organization on the college campus. He gives of himself constantly and gives all the glory to God. Here's what Barack's "mentor" says.

Barack said in an interview that he would not go on Don Imus' show. Imus made one rude remark about the NC State women's basketball team I think it was. Personally I think Imus is an oaf and I wouldn't go on his show either, but is there a double standard here? Barack won't set foot in Imus' studion but he has attended the church of a man who preaches hate for 20 years. He says he didn't hear Jeremiah Wright preaching these sermons and that these were only a handful. Really? Could Wright's hate of whites and the U. S. A. be one of the reasons that Barack's wife Michelle recently said that she "for the first time in her adult life, is proud to be an American"? You can't be around someone for 20 years and not notice something that is obviously so important to them. Wright has an obvious chip on his shoulder when it comes to whites and America.

I heard a black man on a radio show today say that when MLK was shot his mom started whining that "the white man is gonna kill us, we're all gonna die". The man's father told the mom that she could pack her stuff and leave if that was how she was gonna act. There would be no racism in his home. It wasn't until many years later that this guy found out his parents had staged that scene to show the kids that racism was not to be tolerated under any circumstance. That is a leader. That is someone who can be a mentor.

My own parents taught me to not tolerate racism. Have I fallen into it and made some crude jokes? Sure. I think we all have, but when it came down to affecting me, where it would cost me, I stood for what was right. I was dating a girl in junior college, a real cutie. She said that it was wrong for blacks and whites to date or to get married. I said it wasn't and we talked about it for quite a while. Needless to say, I didn't get another date. It cost me to not support a racist view when it really mattered. No, I'm not a hero and nowhere near perfect but it's an example that, if we know something isn't quite right, we don't stick around. Maybe Obama should have thought about that a long time ago because we're all gonna be thinking about it now.

Breaking News, Giraffes Made The I-35 Bridge Collapse (originally posted 8/8/07)

Giraffes shipped to a zoo in Shanghai were hauled across the I35 bridge over the Mississippi in 1972. The extra tall trailer containing the giraffes acted as a sail and caught high winds as it crossed the bridge and caused an unusual vibration. This vibration weakened bolt 1342A (in slot16D) causing it to break shortly after a tuna boat crossed under the bridge this week. The federal government will require giraffes to be shipped horizontally in the future to prevent another tragedy like this and there will be no more tuna fishing allowed on the Mississippi.

Makes about as much sense as the theories that are floating around on youtube and in the media. The tragedy is no joke. Minneapolis, you are in my prayers. However, the response from some people is absolutely absurd. I can't believe what people will say and I'm scared of what kind of assinine new laws will come out of this. Check out just two examples below of the absurd theories and accusations.

-Global warming caused it - Joseph Romm, former member of the Clinton Administration, and Melissa Hortman of the MN House of representatives. (It hit 90 degrees this summer, oh no the concrete and steel are melting!)

-Bush caused it - Lots of people on youtube posts, often followed with expletives (that helps make a point, right?!?!), Jesse Jackson (anyone surprised there?), etc. (Let's get back to government class, it's CONGRESS that writes bills to fund projects. Remember the bridge to nowhere in Alaska. http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-05-17-alaska-edit_x.htm Great article. Has anyone been cursing Don Young and blaming him for the bridge collapse? I didn't think so.)

Heard any other good ones?

As of today, the NTSB is suspecting design flaws in gusset plates. They are looking to see if the material was too weak or if the appropriate loads were miscalculated when the bridge was built - in 1967. Let's let NTSB make it's final analysis and cut out the nonsense.

Round one - Ding, Ding

"You are home, and believe me, you're welcome. If my remarks were a sermon, my text would be lines from the 126th Psalm: ``We were like those who dreamed. Now our mouth is filled with laughter and our tongue with shouts of joy. The Lord has done great things for us. We are glad.'' You've come home to a people who for 444 days suffered the pain of your imprisonment, prayed for your safety, and most importantly, shared your determination that the spirit of free men and women is not a fit subject for barter."
Those are remarks from Ronald Reagan in a speech from January 27, 1981 at a welcoming speech for the freed American Hostages. The hostages had been held in Iran for 444 days during President Carter's administration. Wasn't it funny that only 7 days after his inauguration Reagan was welcoming home the hostages. Why?
"Let terrorists be aware that when the rules of international behavior are violated, our policy will be one of swift and effective retribution. We hear it said that we live in an era of limit to our powers. Well, let it also be understood, there are limits to our patience."
That's from the same speech. I think the terrorists knew he meant it. Obviously they did - Carter had 444 days but he didn't welcome them home.
That's an example of what this blog is about. Common sense. Stand up for what you believe in. No whiny liberal crap. No political correctness. No freedom from religion - that's what the politically correct crowd tries to make it. Check the first amendment (Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;). Uh, didn't that say that congress cannot prohibit the free exercise of religion? I bet we'll discuss government prohibiting "free exercise thereof" more than once. This blog is about straight talk. Point out the absurdity in politics, the media, life. Call out the people who are being boneheads. You get the picture. There will be funny stuff, sad stuff, lots of absurdities, who knows where we'll go. Just jump in. Don't agree. Then argue. I don't care. I'm gonna say what I have to say. I might agree with you or I might say "you're full of crap". Whatever. Let's go.