Happy Thanksgiving

No politics today... just reminding everyone that no matter what goes on in life, there's always something to be thankful for. Take a minute today to think about and count your blessings.

I, for one, am thankful that I live in the greatest country in the world and that I am not eating at my in-laws today.

Top 9 Catastrophes That Will Befall The Planet If The Auto Industry Is Not Bailed Out

This top-secret list of impending calamities was reportedly compiled by the CEOs of the Big Three Auto Makers in an effort to secure a $25 Billion bail-out from Congress.

9. The Earth will spin out of orbit, exacerbating global warming and turning the planet into a giant George Foreman Grill, slow-roasting its populace until dead, albeit delicious and heart-friendly.

8. People will start sincerely responding to Dennis Kucinich’s proposals with, “You know what, that’s a great idea!”

7. Baseball will extend its schedule to 300 games, and increases the games to nineteen innings. But on the positive side, the price of a beer at the ballpark will drop precipitously to $13.

6. Britney Spears stays sober, celibate, and leads a responsible life with her children, bankrupting all existing gossip magazines.

5. The discrepancy between the number of hot dog rolls and hot dogs per package will widen, with manufacturers opting to deliver their products in fractions, further befuddling consumers.

4. Cell phone companies will only offer two ring tones: Susan Estrich birthing a cape buffalo, and Barney Frank learning he has been forbidden from watching gladiator movies.

3. Every Friday and Saturday night will be declared “National Mother-In-Law Day” with government-mandated celebrations.

2. A remake of Waterworld as a musical starring Rosie O’Donnell and Harvey Fierstein.

1. Chuck Norris will wax his chest, tattoo it with a picture of Bea Arthur circa The Golden Girls, and for the rest of his life, only make topless infomercials where he sings the theme from Cats.

from tnoyf.com

...and yet more corporate welfare on the way

First, the airline industry in 2001/2002... next FNMA and Freddie... then the automakers are asking for handouts.... now it's Citigroup.

I did enough criticizing of FNMA and Freddie and by now you all know that I think these two corrupt organizations should be dismantled but I never discussed my feelings about the automakers and, now, Citigroup.

It's no secret that I believe that bailing out industry doesn't help anyone and is a bad use of tax dollars. Osama Bin Kanjo is authorizing the use of billions of dollars of your money to bail out companies that don't need the money to solve their problems. What these companies need to do is find better CEOs and put in better business practices.

If US automakers - the big 3 -really wanted to keep jobs in Detroit and other parts of the country then they should focus on making better cars. The reason why the big 3 have been losing ground, aside from the unions, is the fact that they refuse to make enough of the cars that the people want. In today's economy, people want affordability, durability, and great gas mileage. The US automakers are simply not delivering.

...and now for Citigroup. Osama Bin Kanjo wants to export our tax dollars to NYC to bailout another company that preys on people with little or no credit.

Corporate welfare needs to stop. What are these companies learning by getting a handout? Is it really Ok to hire substandard managers and hold a low level of ethics, force your stock price to go down, do nothing and wait for the government to give you a check because you feel you're entitled to it? I don't think so.

If the federal government really cared about boosting the economy, they would create initiatives for small businesses (you know, the ones that hire 80% of the people in this country). I'm not saying that small businesses should get a free handout, but rather offer low interest loans that are guaranteed and structured similar to student loans (offer defferment in the event of hardship, collectability through future refunds in the even of default, etc.).

Maybe the government should invest in programs like Main Street America that would create economic development grants and loans for areas where Main Street is crumbling. We have many here in NEPA, such as downtown Nanticoke, Exeter, Edwardsville, etc., where a revival in Main Street could produce some good. In many of these areas, the businesses are closing, and the local residents - especially the elderly - are forced to go elsewhere for their shopping needs. Without commerce, these towns are losing valuable tax revenue which forces an economic downward spiral. The tax revenue created by stimulating small business growth and employment (and offering our elderly an alternative to driving to Wilkes-Barre) would be justified by exceeding the initial investment in these businesses over the long run.

The solution to the economy is not to give out welfare checks to big corporations. It's also not to punish the little guy like Joe the Plumber by raising his taxes and taking away his ability to support his family. The solution is the exact opposite of the Obama and Bush propose.

When I ran for office, I said that the economy was going to collapse because of failed leadership in the White House, Senate and Congress. I said that the policies established under the current administration and Clinton's are dangerous for the economic stability of this nation. I predicted that our economy was going to choke and that we were going to see economic times in this great nation of ours that we haven't seen in 80 years. Unfortunately, nobody listened and the GOP's lack of leadership dismissed my common-sense ideas. Maybe now these morons can see that I was right after all. Like Rush Limbaugh always says... See, I told you so!

Let's revisit my proposal to boost the economy, introduced October, 2007:

• Stop corporate welfare and reserve a portion of the money that would have gone to big companies to the smaller businesses that employ over 80% of the American workforce through a new loan program as described above.
  
• Offer of long-term tax incentives for businesses expanding and/or relocating operations to areas such as NEPA
• Invest in Main Street America
• Extend small business tax relief deadlines
• Eliminate the self-employment tax for businesses in operation less than five years
• Eliminate the capital gains tax
• Eliminate the Alternative Minimum tax
  
• Adjust the Internal Revenue Code to include an exemption to the penalty for early withdrawal of retirement savings for people who use that money to start a small business.
  

If you notice, our esteemed idiots on Capitol Hill are doing the exact opposite, and our economy is going down the crapper.

Thanksgiving isn't here yet, but...

...stores are already holding Christmas sales and liberal atheists are trying to pervert the true meaning of Christmas. One such group is the American Humanist Association (AHA), which launched a campaign in DC for the Christmas season with the message:

Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake.

The AHA is a lobbyist group to promote humanism (AKA atheism). They are a bunch of liberal yahoos who are trying to attack Christianity. These are the same people who are trying to tell those of us who believe in God (including myself) that it's wrong to have Santa in the mall, have cards that say Merry Christmas, tell store managers that they can't have Christmas sales, put mangers in public places, etc. They are pushing weak-minded politicians and other leaders to keep Santa from saying Merry Christmas, tell Hallmark to write cards that say Happy Holidays, tell Macy's to have holiday sales, and to take down the manger from your county courthouse. These libs have a clear agenda: to persecute Christians, take away your right to celebrate your religion as you see fit, and destroy the very moral fiber our country was founded upon. If these leftists had their way, churches wouldn't be able to put crosses on their front lawns, kids wouldn't be allowed to see Santa at the mall, the pledge would be rewritten, and the Constitution would become nothing more than a piece of paper, more worthless than our dollar.

If these people didn't have an agenda to destroy Christianity, then why didn't they launch their campaign during Ramadan (or any other time of the year for that matter)? I am sick of the 8% of the population who doesn't believe in God to try to ruin it for the rest of us who do. Let them try to stop me from saying Merry Christmas. They can take their "happy holidays" and shove it up their asses.

Catherine Baker Knoll dies at 78

Catherine Baker Knoll, who at age 72 became the first woman to be elected as

Pennsylvania ’s lieutenant governor, died Wednesday. She was 78.

Knoll died at National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, D.C. , where she was recovering from treatment for cancer, Gov. Ed Rendell said in a statement.

“Today we mourn the passing of one of the strongest, most dedicated public servants in Pennsylvania ’s history,” Rendell said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Catherine’s family. She will be deeply missed.”

Knoll was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer in July 2008 and began radiation and chemotherapy treatments. She returned for the start of the fall Senate schedule in September, but showed signs of fatigue and on Sept. 22 announced she would heed the advice of doctors, family members and colleagues and take time off.

“Even as she fought cancer in recent months, she remained upbeat and dedicated to serving the commonwealth,” Rendell said. “Catherine was a very passionate and exuberant advocate for many worthy causes. Her passing is a tremendous loss for the many people whose lives she touched.”

A former schoolteacher and Democratic veteran, Knoll served two terms as state treasurer beginning in 1988. When she won re-election in 1992, she received one of the largest vote totals ever for a statewide Democratic candidate.

“I happen to think that Pennsylvania is like a 10-speed bicycle,” Knoll said on the day she was sworn in as the state’s 45th lieutenant governor in 2003. “We have gears we haven’t even tried yet.”

As lieutenant governor, she presided over the state Senate and chaired the state Board of Pardons and a local government advisory committee. Rendell also asked her to serve as chairwoman of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Council.

Knoll was born in Sept. 3, 1930. Her father, Nicholas Baker, was the mayor of McKees Rocks, a Pittsburgh suburb. She originally tried nursing school, but disliked it, and went to Duquesne University to study history and education.

She met her husband, Charles Knoll, while she was a student and married him just before graduating.

She worked for local Democratic candidates, became a member of the party’s state committee and started working for PennDOT in the early 1970s.

In 1976, the party asked her to run for state treasurer. She lost to Robert E. Casey, a Cambria County official who was unrelated to future governor Robert P. Casey.

She ran for treasurer again in 1984, losing in the primary by fewer than 15,000 votes.

She pledged to never run for office again, but changed her mind when her husband, a postmaster, died in 1987. All four of their children encouraged her to do so.

Knoll, affectionately known as CBK, won handily and pledged to clean up a treasurer’s office that she said was a mess. She said she was proud the agency provided $25 million in loans to small businesses through development centers at colleges and universities, as well as $100 million in low-rate first-home mortgages to single parents, first-time buyers and veterans. She also oversaw the startup of a college savings program for parents.

We've come a long way...

My wife brought this obituary to attention, and as I read it I thought about how far we have come as Americans...

Richaleen Ray Atterbeary
Richaleen Ray Atterbeary was born in Denmark, S.C., on March 12, 1903, the third daughter of Richmond and Hattie Ray. Sadly, her father died before she was born. Richaleen was delivered three months prematurely, and the midwife said the baby was too tiny to survive. She advised Richaleen’s mother to keep the baby close and warm. Consequently, Richaleen was a sickly child, so Hattie moved her daughters to the country to nurse her ill child back to health with fresh air and homegrown vegetables. During Richaleen’s teen years, Hattie moved her and her sisters, Portia and Ernell, back to the city. Richaleen met and later married the late Whaley John Atterbeary in 1919. They had one child, a son, the late Knowlton Richefield Atterbeary Sr., born March 7, 1921. When her son was 4, the family moved to Philadelphia. They were employed by a prominent family, the Weavers of West Mount Airy. Richaleen was a pioneer in desegregating the C. W. Henry School, near where she and her family lived and worked. When their son was of school age, Richaleen attempted to register him, but received negative responses from the school. At that time there were no blacks in the C. W. Henry School. Yet, she persisted until she was successful. Knowlton became the first black child to be admitted to the C. W. Henry School. For many years, the family summered in Ocean County, N.J., where they remained employed by the Weavers and enjoyed the country lifestyle. They eventually homesteaded in Toms River, Manitou Park, along with Hattie. Under Richaleen’s guidance, her son went on to become the first recognized African-American orthodontist in the state of Pennsylvania. Her family’s successes are a source of continuing pride for Richaleen, and she has been known to sometimes rise in church and proclaim their accomplishments. Later, her family lived in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, when her husband, a Baptist minister, was called to a church there. Although Richaleen and her husband were in their 70s, shortly after arriving there, they adopted an infant boy, John. After the demise of her husband, her sister urged her to return to Philadelphia with John. She reinstated membership with Canaan Baptist Church, and a few years ago, her vision of Canaan’s Children’s Church came to fruition. Richaleen was always a very active person. She loved swimming, bicycling, fishing, traveling, and driving a “fast” car. In fact, she had to be urged by the family to give up driving at the age of 85! This lovely, great lady refused to live in the assisted-living building at Germantown Home and retained her apartment until after her 100th birthday. Until that time, she continued to help others, from preschoolers to the elderly, most of whom were younger than her. It was difficult to catch her because she was constantly on the go, by car, train, or airplane. On Tuesday, November 4, 2008, at 105 years of age, Richaleen proudly cast her vote for the first black president of the United States of America. On Sunday, November 9, 2008, she departed this life. Richaleen was very proud of her descendants, who all strive to emulate her. They include her grandchildren, Knowlton Richefield Atterbeary Jr. (wife Rosalynne), and Marlyn Atterbeary Oatts; her great grandchildren, Knowlton Richefield Atterbeary III, Vanessa Elaine Atterbeary Esq. (husband Paul), Cian Atterbeary Oatts, Curan Xavier Oatts and Courtnay Richaleen Oatts (husband Raynell); her great-great granddaughter, Ciana Renee Oatts; her nieces, Ernell Jones, Hattie Rice and Richaleen Draine; her nephew, James Hall; her son, John Whaley Atterbeary; and her many grand, great-grand and great-great-grand nieces, nephews; and friends.

Iran has a new missile

Iran has a new missile that can reach as far as southern Europe with precision. "The Sajjil is a solid fuel high-speed missile with a range of about 1,200 miles, Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammed Najjar said on state television. Najjar said the missile was a defensive weapon and not a response to threats against Iran. He didn't name any country, but Israel has recently threatened to take military action against Iran to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb. Najjar said the missile was part of a "defensive, deterrent strategy ... specifically with defensive objectives" but refused to address the issue as to whether the missile is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. My guess is... uhmm.. yeah.

In a speech coinciding with the missile launch, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that his government would act against any threats. "The Iranian nation defends its dignity. Should any power stand against the Iranian nation, the Iranian people will crush it under its foot and will strike it on the mouth," he said in a speech broadcast live on state television." When asked about the US, Ahmadinejad added "that it doesn't matter who comes to power in America because the important question will be how a future U.S. administration will behave."

I am curious as to which President will respond to this threat? Will Bush do the right thing and bomb Iran and put in a missile defense system, or will he wait for Obama to respond with coffee table talks and mere sanctions?