..........personal injury!

There's a lot to be said for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'll start this off by an admission that I deserved most of what I got in this story. Anyway, it all began as we were on our way to Disney World for Spring Break last week. I know you won't believe this; but, I can be a pest to my wife. Lisa was driving and I was in the navigation seat. Since our journey began right after church on Easter, we brought along the chocolate Easter bunnies to satisfy the sweet cravings during the drive. Somewhere in South Carolina, Lisa asked the girls for one of the Dove chocolate bunnies. I really like Dove chocolate. These things were packaged in some really stiff aluminum foil. Lisa began to tear away at the foil as I continued to aggravate her - you know, driving advice and the like. The bunnies have been in the car for a while and were soft, with some of the chocolate on the foil. Lisa had enough of my mouth and constant picking. She took the foil with some chocolate on it and swiped it across my forehead. She thought chocolate on my head would be funny. It probably would have been; but the hard foil sliced my head open instead! I was bleeding from the head! I told Lisa we needed to stop and get some stitches. In fact, I was confident that my skull was probably showing in the deep wound. Actually, it was a small cut and the bleeding stopped in about five minutes.

The story doesn't end there. Yesterday, Lisa and I went over to her school to carry some stuff in for her upcoming Book Fair. Now for a little more background knowledge. Lisa lost one of her last contact lenses yesterday morning and had to wear her glasses. She really looks great in her glasses and I asked why she didn't wear them more often. She told me that her depth perception really suffered when the glasses were worn. Back to the beginning of the story. We're now at Lisa's school with the back door of the Explorer up, and gathering the Wal Mart bags from the back. I was just pulling away from the door with the final bag in hand when, wham!!! Suddenly the door hits me on the top of the head and down to the pavement I go! At this point drinks are going everywhere and I'm trying to figure out what has happened. It seems the 'ole depth perception got the best of us.

Lisa really felt bad about the door incident, but I'm sure there was a little laugh going on inside once she knew I was okay. I milked it a little throughout the day. I stood up once and claimed that I was feeling dizzy. I also asked about the two objects on the counter when I knew there was only one. I guess I'm setting myself up for another accident, huh?

.........."whoooo hoooo. Thank's for keepin' me outta' Baghdad Grandpa!"

In case you're wondering; this is Pierce Bush. Pierce is the son of Dubya's brother Neil Bush. It seems like all those Bush's are real hard line Conservatives!!!!

..........the war!

I know I've made some pretty one-sided remarks concerning the current war; but, I think the following is true. Just put away your politics and consider what I'm saying, and think about it. I'm currently watching a rerun of Ken Burn's documentary, The War. If you haven't seen it, take the time to watch (on PBS). It's a three part series on understanding WWII. I thought it was outstanding, and it brings understanding to how Americans react to all the conflicts we've been involved in.

We are, of course, engaged in a very unpopular war in the Middle East. Much like the Vietnam War, the battle lines are often unclear and the mission not nearly as clear as we would like to see. Some of our citizens are for the war and some are not. We as nation, are definitely not on the same page. Sure, sure, it's politics. Our world in America changed greatly on Sept. 11, 2001. I lost a family member that day, and wanted to see justice done. We've never recovered from those attacks and we'll never regain what we lost; no matter what military actions we take against our foes. As a result of the attacks, our economy has suffered, we've lost some freedoms that we once enjoyed, and we've lost citizens and service personnel alike. Over 4,000 are dead, and some estimates even put the number of service personnel wounded as close to 40,000! So what's the deal? A statement made in the opening dialogue of The War puts things in a better perspective. "The war touched every family, on every street in America." Sure, 9/11 touched us all; but it didn't shock us enough to get us all involved. There were lots of flag waving, patriotic songs sung, rousing speeches, and a whole lot of "United We Stand" magnets sold in every convenience store nationwide. America was ready for revenge, and we wanted it now! We attacked with shock and awe. We killed thousands; but we haven't stopped the violence. The American people are growing weary, and the military is being stretched to limits never envisioned. So, what's the problem? America has not made sacrifices at home to warrant such a mission. What are we giving up? My gosh, the biggest news headlines today are concerning something as meaningless as the Davidson basketball team! Today, as I write, we have service personnel who are fighting and dying on the field of battle. Here at home, it's just business as usual. The same thing happened, but on a larger scale during the Vietnam War. World War II was won because America made sacrifices to victory. We drafted every available man to fight and we put all our resources towards victory. Our leaders won't admit it; but, they're at a loss for how to win, and for what will come. As long as it's business as usual, this thing may go on five or ten more years. Is it going to be worth the sacrifice of service personnel? I guess that's a matter of opinion. I highly respect and support anyone brave enough to halt their lives and go on to serve overseas in this conflict. They took the oath to serve at the pleasure of the Commander in Chief of the United States of America. I can't put into words the respect I have for them. I sure hope we can define a mission that will allow us to win and get out of this bloody conflict. Until every household in America makes that sacrifice, I don't see an end in sight.

..........Oh, good. The circus is in town.

..........let's talk "Chicks, Man".

.........."ummmm, deep fried bunny hearts.

I sure hope we're having kittens for desert."

.........."Me . . . and my shaaaaaaadow. . . ."

..........Alabama building can't shake swastika shape.

By JAY REEVES, Associated Press Writer

DECATUR, Ala. - From the ground, the Wesley Acres Methodist retirement home looks like any other building. But fly over in an airplane, and the outline is unmistakable: It's one big swastika.
Prompted by complaints from a Jewish activist, the agency that owns the government-funded building is planning to alter its shape to disguise the Nazi symbol. The move comes just a few years after a $1 million design modification meant to quiet similar complaints from a U.S. senator.

"The difficulty is there are a limited number of options for fixing a building that has been there for some time," said Mike Giles, counsel for the Methodist Homes Corp. of Alabama and Northwest Florida. "We have to come up with a way to fix an appearance that we want solved and not hurt our residents."

Wesley Acres provides government-subsidized housing for 117 low-income people ages 62 and above. Most have no reason to suspect their hallways take on a sinister shape.

Wow, talk about your garden variety SNAFU!!!

..........Cheney On Two-Thirds Of The American Public Opposing The Iraq War: ‘So?’

This morning, on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, ABC’s Good Morning America aired an interview with Vice President Cheney on the war. During the segment, Cheney flatly told White House correspondent Martha Raddatz that he doesn’t care about the American public’s views on the war:

CHENEY: On the security front, I think there’s a general consensus that we’ve made major progress, that the surge has worked. That’s been a major success.

RADDATZ: Two-third of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.

CHENEY: So?

RADDATZ So? You don’t care what the American people think?

CHENEY: No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.

Now, on this one I'm going to have to agree with the Sith Lord. We; er, ah, some of you, elected this guy to public office to help; er, ah, control the nation. At any rate, he's doing his job; which is to lead as is to his best vision of what is best for the country. I wouldn't let the public opinion polls sway me either. After all, it'll be someone else's problem soon. That vision I spoke of - I think it must be on a sliding scale. First it was WMD's, then it was saving us from Al Queda, and then it morphed into bringing democracy to the Iraqi people. Miscalculation doesn't even touch this mess that has been created for us by "our" administration. At some point, we have got to establish a clear mission and finish the job. At any rate, we won't be able to pull all our combat troops out anytime soon. The chaos that would ensue as a result of that would blow our minds! We're in it now; and we'll have to stay in it to the end. The hell with public opinion - plan a strategy that will cost us the least amount of our brave service men and women, and communicate a clear mission that we can believe in - THAT'S YOUR JOB.

.........."Privatizin' the profits, an' soshalizin' the losses. Ah like that.

Step 9 of the Financial Meltdown: "one or two large and systemically important broker dealers" will "go belly up"

Nouriel Roubini Mar 14, 2008
In my February 5th piece on 12 Steps to a Financial Disaster I predicted - as Step 9 of the meltdown - that "one or two large and systemically important broker dealers" will "go belly up" and that other members of the "shadow financial system" - i.e. non-bank financial institutions that look like banks in terms of liquidity/rollover risk - will also go bankrupt. As I put it then:
Ninth, the “shadow banking system” (as defined by the PIMCO folks) or more precisely the “shadow financial system” (as it is composed by non-bank financial institutions) will soon get into serious trouble. This shadow financial system is composed of financial institutions that – like banks – borrow short and in liquid forms and lend or invest long in more illiquid assets. This system includes: SIVs, conduits, money market funds, monolines, investment banks, hedge funds and other non-bank financial institutions. All these institutions are subject to market risk, credit risk (given their risky investments) and especially liquidity/rollover risk as their short term liquid liabilities can be rolled off easily while their assets are more long term and illiquid. Unlike banks these non-bank financial institutions don’t have direct or indirect access to the central bank’s lender of last resort support as they are not depository institutions. Thus, in the case of financial distress and/or illiquidity they may go bankrupt because of both insolvency and/or lack of liquidity and inability to roll over or refinance their short term liabilities. Deepening problems in the economy and in the financial markets and poor risk managements will lead some of these institutions to go belly up: a few large hedge funds, a few money market funds, the entire SIV system and, possibly, one or two large and systemically important broker dealers. Dealing with the distress of this shadow financial system will be very problematic as this system – stressed by credit and liquidity problems - cannot be directly rescued by the central banks in the way that banks can. [bold added]
And today the first one of these large broker dealers - Bear Stearns - in on the verge of bankruptcy. Let us be clear: given its massive exposure to toxic MBS and ABS product Bear Stearns is insolvent; the decision by the NY Fed to try to bail out Bear Stearns would make sense if this firm was only illiquid; the trouble that it is insolvent and thus such attempted bailout is altogether inappropriate. It is true that Bear is a large broker dealer; but its systemic importance is much smaller than that of much larger institutions. The world and financial market can survive if Bear disappears.
So the only possible justification for such Fed action is to engineer an orderly rather than a disorderly shutdown of this institution. But unfortunately the Fed is behaving as if Bear Stearns is illiquid but solvent. That is delusional and the official sector support of an otherwise insolvent institution will end up - like many other recent Fed actions - being paid for by the US tax-payer.
As discussed months ago in this column non-banks institutions don't have access - based on the Federal Reserve Act - to the lender of last resort support of the Fed unless a very special and unusual procedure and vote is taken. So for the first time in decades - possibly since the Great Depression - the Fed had to rely on this exceptional rule to bail out a non-bank financial institution. So what is next? Bailing out hedge funds, bailing out money market funds, bailing out SIVs? When is enough enough? This when the Fed has already committed this week to swap 60% ($ 400 bn) of its balance sheet of Treasuries for mortgage backed securities of dubious quality and value.
And Bear is only the first broker dealer to go belly up. Rumors had been circulating in the market for days that the exposure of Lehman to toxic ABS/MBS securities is as bad as that of Bear: according to Fitch at the beginning of the turmoil Bear Stearns had the highest toxic waste ("residual balance") exposure as percent of adjusted equity on balance sheet; the exposure of Bear was 54.5% while that of Lehman was only marginally smaller at 53.3%; that of Goldman Sachs was only 21%. And guess what? Today Lehman received a $2 billion unsecured credit line from 40 lenders. Here is another massively leveraged broker dealer that mismanaged its liquidity risk, had massive amount of toxic waste on its books and is now in trouble. Again here we have not only a situation of illiquidity but serious credit problems and losses given the reckless exposure of this second broker dealer to toxic investments.
We will leave aside for today the fact that a growing number of members of the "shadow financial system" have gone belly up in the last month alone: the entire SIV scheme is being wound down and brought back on balance sheet; a few hedge funds are now closing shops (for details see the web site The Hedge Fund Impode-O-Meter) ); a few money market funds that had exposure to toxic MBS have experienced runs and had to be bailed out; a highly leveraged private equity bond fund has gone belly up; a major near prime mortgage lender is bankrupt. In all these cases a poisonous combination of liquidity risk and credit risk was exacerbated by reckless leverage.
So the question is: if Bear Stearns screwed up big time - as it did - with huge leverage, reckless investments, lousy risk management and massive underestimation of liquidity risk why should the US taxpayer bail out this firm and its shareholders? First fully wipe out those shareholders, then fire all the senior management and have the government take over such a bankrupt institution before a penny of public money is wasted in bailing it out. Instead now the use of public money to bail out financial institutions is spreading from banking ones to non banking ones. The Fed should at least give a clear and public explanation of why such extremely exceptional - and almost never used - intervention was justified.
Unless public money is used on a very temporary basis to achieve an orderly wind-down or merger of Bear Stearns this is another case where profits are privatized and losses are socialized. By having thrown down the drain the decades old doctrine and rule that the Fed should not lend or bail out non-bank financial institutions the Fed has created an extremely dangerous precedent that seriously aggravates the moral hazard of its lender of last resort support role. If the Fed starts on the slippery slope of providing massive liquidity support to non-bank financial institutions that have recklessly managed their risks it enters into uncharted territory that radically changes its mandate and formal role. Breaking decades-old rules and practices is a radical action that seriously requires a clear public explanation and justification.

..........interesting.

..........outstanding!!!

..........the president of the American Stock Exchange reacts to Bush's latest speech on the economy.

Yes, we're all wondering where he's getting his information. No doubt, from someone in their undisclosed location (Death Star)!!! Yeah, why should we be worrying about the economy? Diesel fuel is only $4/gallon, and none of the products we use in our homes will be shipped to us via diesel powered vehicles. This economy thing is just a fabrication of the evil liberal media. Oh, wait, I'll be back soon...........I'm going out to help JP Morgan buy some Bear Stearns stock!!!

..........Bush "Envious" Of Soldiers Serving "Romantic" Mission In Afghanistan

President Bush let his inner adventurer out while discussing the state of the war in Afghanistan with military and civilian personnel. While those in Afghanistan detailed the logistical and diplomatic problems via teleconference, the President took a much more whimsical approach to their mission. Via Reuters:

"I must say, I'm a little envious," Bush said. "If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed."

"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks," Bush said.

What an idiot! He actually did have the opportunity to become part of actual combat; but, chose to run from it and let those of less financial fortune do the fighting for him. He should drop down and give us all fifty for these less than intelligent statements. In fact, his words are an insult to all who serve overseas right now!

Meanwhile, over 40 Taliban insurgents were killed in a battle in Southern Afghanistan, and six Afghani civilians were killed in a suicide bombing aimed at an American convoy.

..........different thoughts.

This post is not of the norm with me. I'm usually bashing some political idiot(s) for what they are doing, what they have done, or what they have left undone. This is a little bit from my life that I thought I may write about.

I like to take walks when the weather gets warmer. I did just that yesterday; although, the weather was not as warm as I had anticipated. It was about 50ish with a wind gusts of 15-25 mph. At any rate, I had my three mile walk. What I like best about walking is that I do it myself and I have the opportunity to just think and reflect about many things. We had a great day last week, in which the temperature was over 60. It was a couple of days before state band contest, and I spent the entire time going through the music in my mind. That usually helps me in preparing the band. I need that unobstructed time. (side note: we scored a Superior at the contest last Thursday). This most recent walk found me thinking about my oldest daughter. She's going to graduate from high school in a couple of months, and I don't want to miss a single experience with her. Our family is very close, and I feel we can talk about anything and solve any problem with the support of each other. I'll miss her when she goes off to college, but I also know that it will be the beginning of a different part of our relationship. I look forward to that even as I dread the change. We are going on a short vacation next week, and I really look forward to spending time with all three of my girls (mom and daughters). Family is so very, very important to me.

Last week, we had a death in our school community. A student committed suicide. Even if you don't know the person well, it still hurts. You see all the kids wondering; "why?". You see all the adults scrambling to make sure they were not at fault by not seeing the warning signs. I don't think I ever spoke to the student the entire time he was here at the high school. He was a popular athlete and didn't take any of my classes. It still hurt. I think one of the hardest things was to see the students realizing their own mortality. My wife and I talked to our girls in detail about the incident and tried our best to help them deal with the loss. This has happened to our school community before, and it never makes any sense. It's impossible for me to imagine that there would never be anyone there for me to confide in. I have my family and my church. I know that I'm never alone. I wish this boy would have felt the same way. He had little family structure and there were drugs and alcohol involved.

Wow, let's get to something more uplifting! I love to have our school steel drum band perform. We had the opportunity to perform this past Saturday at a local arts council event, and the people just loved them! It's great to see people having fun with music. A couple of weeks ago, I thought outside of the box for a performance, and I think it's really going to happen for us. I contacted our Congress Representative about performing for some of our recovering war veterans. She was most helpful in supplying me with several numbers to call and arrange something. I called Walter Reed Army Medical and got a performance scheduled there for next month. The Walter Reed folks were very helpful and excited about the gig. We're going to play a concert in their dining facility during the lunch hour. They told me that is where the biggest gathering of soldiers and their families will be. I hope we are able to bring a little joy into a very difficult situation for the soldiers. There are many, many wounded who are coming home only to deal with the most difficult situation they have ever faced. I'm also going to contact Bethesda Naval Hospital and see if we can work out something there as well. Wish me luck!

This is Holy Week, and I wish all of you the very best as we prepare to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I always look forward to our Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday worship services. May the Grace of Jesus Christ be with you all during this very special time of the year.

..........client #9.

What, another sex scandal involving an elected official? Yes, and this one's a Democrat!!! The only thing I'm glad to see is that at least it didn't involve a Congressional Page or lude same-sex behavior in a public restroom. Client #9, Eliot Spitzer, the Governor of New York, recently spent $4,300 to fly a prostitute from NYC to Washington, D.C. for some hanky panky the night before Valentine's Day. What an idiot!!! Not only is he an elected official; but, he has also been quite involved in shutting down several big prostitution rings when he was Attorney General of NY. He may even face criminal charges under the Mann Act, which prosecutes those who traffic individuals across state lines for paid sexual favors. That liberal rag, The New York Times, reports that Spitzer didn't use his real name on the hotel reservation; rather, that of a good friend and contributer; but, he (Spitzer) did use his own 5th Ave, NYC address. Wow, all that time as an AG really taught him the finer points of keeping his identity a secret. I would have expected better from a womanizing Democrat!

..........is she still hooked on Obama?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENCRu-2d35g

..........who's on top?

While steering American conservatism in profound directions, lover of American patriotism, Rush Limbaugh has this to say:

.........."Yeeeeeesss, maaaaaster!
More flies for Renfield, maaaaaster? He, he, he, he."

..........what does Miss Teen South Carolina Lauren Caitlin Upton and President George Dubya Bush have in common???

That's right, they're hooked on Phonix! Verbal expression has been a real boundry for the both of them; but, America is smart. America would never elect an idiot to the highest office in the land or put up with a dumb Miss Teen USA. Well, one out of two ain't bad!

Ok, grammar geeks, feel free to diagram this garbled gibberish collection of sentence fragments from The Mangler in Chief.

"I'm focusing on, you know, protecting America, and succeeding in Iraq, and dealing with the North Korea, and dealing with the Iranian, and dealing with the issues around the world where we're making a difference in terms of keeping peace."--George W. Bush to reporters (just click on the link above).

"I appreciate the fact that you really snatched defeat out of the jaws of those who were trying to defeat us in Iraq."-- George W. Bush to Lt. General Ray Odierno on March 3, as quoted by the Associated Press.

.........wow, I'm glad I don't see this sign as I'm driving into my hometown!

What a CF!!! There was a bit of an "incident" near the Bush ranch, where a Danish journalist was walking down the road talking to his editor on his cell phone:

"I was just so occupied dictating my story that I didn't really see where I went," Svensson said. "I was just walking and talking. "What Svensson didn't realize was that he had stopped walking a couple hundred feet away, on the front lawn of an elderly woman. An elderly woman who looked through her window and didn't like that a strange man was standing outside her house. An elderly woman who had, um, a gun. Next thing you know the woman is outside, no more than a few dozen feet from the journalist, demanding that he leave. "Suddenly she comes out and she says, 'Get off my property. You're trespassing,'" recalled Svensson. Svensson was too preoccupied to notice the pistol, and was not aware that Texas law gives homeowners leeway on using a weapon when someone is trespassing on your property. All of us journalists across the street were too far away to see the pistol at first, until a Danish photographer with a telephoto lens announced to a bunch of us that there was indeed a weapon in the elderly woman's right hand. As word spread that the lady had a gun - which she did not use - I can tell you it's a severe understatement to say White House and Secret Service officials were a bit concerned about the fact that they had just dodged an international incident. Ditto for Svensson, who was alarmed when he safely crossed the street and was shown dramatic still photos of the lady holding the gun. "I will show the photos to my wife and children," Svensson said. "They thought I was on a safe trip." Well, you were on a safe trip Mr. Svensson. Heck, you're in Murika! No gun play here - move along; nothing to see here.

.........."I did it all by mahself."

..........I'm truly at a loss for words!

I think this about sums up the whole "thing" with these two, and I don't even want to imagine what happens next. The Huckabees make anyone in the Bush clan look like celebrated brain surgeons.

..........the latest from Homeland Security.

A system for training your toddler in the event of a national security situation.

..........now is when we need to begin being frightened!!!

Check out these links: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL02355657

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/03/03/iraq.iran/index.html

Both stories tell essentially the same thing. A united Iran and Iraq? You talk about oil going for over $103 dollars per barrel. If this happens, the United States is in for a world of hurt. I can only guess what Limbaugh and Beck will say on their shows today. No doubt, this will be a major topic of discussion. I can only guess that it will be filled with death, destruction, and ultimate doom senarios. That may be true; but, we need to act on this immediately; even if diplomacy is not our best hand to play, we had better learn! Troops and missle strikes won't bring this situation in line; in fact, it would further unite it.