In an effort to save the planet I have purchased an 80 mpg Roketa scooter. Yea right! Save the planet? I'm just savin' money and lovin' the thrill of scootin' down the Treasure Valley's roadways.
Now I have to admit that I'm being emasculated by friends and co-workers at every turn. I'm affectionately called "Scooter" and told that all I'm missing is a "My Little Pony" tatoo. With my new calling as Primary Chorister (typically occupied by women) and all the scooter jokes tied to those with alternative lifestyles...it takes a deep confidence in my own masculinity, which I have an over-abundance of to say, "Laugh it up guys! I'm savin' money."
I am enjoying the exhillaration of driving again. There is a certain pleasure of being one with the road in the open air. I have found all my senses heightened to maximum due to my fear of becoming an organ donor. I have never felt so naked driving down the road. The wind rushing past me, bugs stinging my face as they splat on my cheeks at 50 mph, driving through the mist from sprinklers irrigating the farms, the smells of crops and farm animals, I love it. Its fantastic!
I am noticing tons of motorcycles on the road now, much to the chagrin of the old timer motorcylce dudes and dudettes. That fraternity of the low two fingered wave is something precious and not to be messed with by the likes of me on my 150 cc's. My scooter has an old-school front end with a Harley headligh, so it tends to confused the old-school motorcyclists and they wave to me too. But one guy I saw wave to me, jerked his two fingered wave right back as soon as he realized I was on a whimpy scooter and not on a respectable hog.
So here I am ridiculed by those around me and rejected by the biker dudes. Oh well. I love ridin' it and I love savin' cash.
miércoles, julio 23, 2008
martes, julio 22, 2008
Excellent Perspective on Immigration
The latest from Hillsdale's Imprimis...a must read if you care about immigration. The first article totally lays out the whacked out history U.S. citizenship upon birth in the United States. The second article establishes the importance of immigration measures to regain our sovereignty as a nation.
miércoles, julio 09, 2008
on a lighter note...
The restrooms in both of the places I work have those automatic air fresheners mounted high up on the wall. I don't really know how they work. I thought maybe they had a stink-o-meter that when a certain level of airborne chemicals associated with smelliness hits them, it does its little double spray. But lately I have been noticing that whenever I enter one of these bathrooms that the little air freshener does its little psst-psst thing. ...I don't know, maybe they are on timers and my bladder filling up just happens to coincide with the time that they squirt out their stink-masking fragrance.
The Welfare State
Just sittin' around chattin' with the boyz at RC Willey, discussing the government welfare programs of WIC (Women, Infants and Children) and Food Stamps. We looked up the Idaho eligibility requirements for food stamps and it just about made "blood shoot out of my eyes" (as Glenn Beck likes to say).
Check this out from their website:
If you can answer yes to any of the following questions, you may qualify to get Food Stamps within seven days of your application date:
Is your income this month less than $150?
Are your assets (cash, savings, checking), less than $100?
Is your monthly income plus your assets less than your housing and utility costs?
Is someone in your household a migrant or seasonal farm worker?
What?!!! Are you kidding me! Free money for illegal aliens! I think I need to go out and find me an illegal alien to come and live in my garage so that we qualify for food stamps!
Don't get me wrong. I love poor people. I feel like I am one of them. The good book says that the poor will always be with us. I don't want the poor and weakest among us to die out by natural selection. I just don't agree with the way the government administers "charity" by robbing money from my pocket and losing it in the beaucratic agencies or giving it to abusers. I much prefer the fast offering method administed by Bishops, which is much more likely to be administered to those truly in need and it is used as a hand-up not a hand-out. It also comes by my free will and from my heart rather than by the strong arm of the government forcing me to pay.
You might ask, What is wrong with people getting food stamps? Here's a little econ lesson about food stamps in an allegorical format (I promise I'm making this up as I go):
In the quaint little town of Utopia we find poor Bob who recently moved to town from a foreign country as a migrant worker. In spite of his income from working in the fields, his migrant worker status automatically qualifies Bob for food stamps, a wonderful program from the Utopian government in their response to hard times seven or eight decades ago. Bob uses food stamps to buy a loaf of bread for fifty cents while everyone else pays one dollar at the local bakery owned by Karen. Those food stamps are paid for by the increased taxes of Bob's fellow citizens. Don't we all feel good about chipping in to help Bob during his time of transition into Utopia? Sure we do, because in Utopia we all love and care for one another.
Since Bob can buy his bread at half the price the other citizens can, the value of the Utopian currency goes down and Karen has to raise the price of a loaf of bread to $1.50 to cover her shortfall. All the citizens of Utopia are now paying higher taxes and a higher price for bread to take good care of good ol' Bob.
As time goes on the value of the currency continues to diminish and the salaries of the Utopian citizens cannot keep up. Their ability to purchase bread from Karen continues to slip. Bob also realizes that the price of bread has gone up and that even though he is only paying half price he is now paying $0.25 more than he was before and this hardship is just not fair. Bob petitions the government to increase his food stamp benefits. The other citizens, with their now less powerful income, also begin seeking food stamp benefits. Karen continues to raise the price of bread as more and more people buy her bread with food stamps.
After a few months Karen is charging so much for bread that no body can afford it, even with government assistance, and she can barely afford to bake it. The people cry to the government for help to solve this bread crisis. The Utopian goverment steps in and nationalizes Karen's bakery, meaning that they take over control over the bakery. They inform Karen that she must produce 100 loaves of bread per day and that she must sell them at their specified price of $0.75. If she does not comply, she will be imprisoned. The citizens of Utopia rejoice at the new government program that has reduced the price of bread! All is well in Utopia again...right?
Because Karen can't afford to make that required number of loaves on her own, the government raises the taxes of the Utopian citizens to help Karen pay for ingredients to bake the bread. Even more people are getting food stamps to help them buy the bread. Long lines of 300 people wait outside her little bakery every day, but most of the people in line for hours go home without a single crumb. Afterall, Karen can only make a 100 loaves as dictated by the all-knowing government. Yet certain government officials seem to have plenty of bread in their homes due to their darkroom arrangments with Karen's brother who secretly steals loaves which he sells to them and pockets the money himself.
Everyone in Utopia is now in poverty and there are rumors flying around that the government is not able to take in enough money from taxing the poor citizens to continue to provide food stamps and bakery subsidies. The government and the people are broke. Skirmishes start between hungry citizens and crime becomes rampant. Utopia is not such a happy place any more. Children are crying in the streets.
Three valient young men, Georgie, Johnny, and Tommy return home to Utopia after having been away at college and serving in the military. When they see the state of their quaint little Utopia, they can't take it anymore! They fight with a lot of sacrificed blood, sweat, and tears, but eventually they succeed in abolishing the Utopian government. They teach people about self-sufficiency and self-government. They help set up a government focused on national defense and punishing injustice (Karen's brother and the corrupt former regime have all fled Utopia or have been banished). They encourage people to create and sell products at fair market prices, and they promise that the government will never again be involved with administering welfare or in dicating how people run their businesses. Taxes are rare and only come in the form of assessments when needed to defend Utopia from the evil Mal-estados. Even roads and schools are run very efficienty and very affordable prices by private citizens.
Karen rebuilds her business and people are happy to pay her what the bread is worth and she is able to meet the demand. In Utopia, Bob gets hurt in the fields and his family falls on hard times. The people from their church rally around them and give them a helping hand. Georgie, Johhny, and Tommy provide the kind of passionate and strong leadership that motivates sucessful business people like Karen to find ways to help the poor and needy, but they never compel Karen by force to do so. Bread sales have been good, so Karen hires Bob's children to deliver discounted bread to the elderly and disabled. Karen is very profitable and she feels good about giving from her heart to those in need.
All is well in Utopia!
Check this out from their website:
If you can answer yes to any of the following questions, you may qualify to get Food Stamps within seven days of your application date:
Is your income this month less than $150?
Are your assets (cash, savings, checking), less than $100?
Is your monthly income plus your assets less than your housing and utility costs?
Is someone in your household a migrant or seasonal farm worker?
What?!!! Are you kidding me! Free money for illegal aliens! I think I need to go out and find me an illegal alien to come and live in my garage so that we qualify for food stamps!
Don't get me wrong. I love poor people. I feel like I am one of them. The good book says that the poor will always be with us. I don't want the poor and weakest among us to die out by natural selection. I just don't agree with the way the government administers "charity" by robbing money from my pocket and losing it in the beaucratic agencies or giving it to abusers. I much prefer the fast offering method administed by Bishops, which is much more likely to be administered to those truly in need and it is used as a hand-up not a hand-out. It also comes by my free will and from my heart rather than by the strong arm of the government forcing me to pay.
You might ask, What is wrong with people getting food stamps? Here's a little econ lesson about food stamps in an allegorical format (I promise I'm making this up as I go):
In the quaint little town of Utopia we find poor Bob who recently moved to town from a foreign country as a migrant worker. In spite of his income from working in the fields, his migrant worker status automatically qualifies Bob for food stamps, a wonderful program from the Utopian government in their response to hard times seven or eight decades ago. Bob uses food stamps to buy a loaf of bread for fifty cents while everyone else pays one dollar at the local bakery owned by Karen. Those food stamps are paid for by the increased taxes of Bob's fellow citizens. Don't we all feel good about chipping in to help Bob during his time of transition into Utopia? Sure we do, because in Utopia we all love and care for one another.
Since Bob can buy his bread at half the price the other citizens can, the value of the Utopian currency goes down and Karen has to raise the price of a loaf of bread to $1.50 to cover her shortfall. All the citizens of Utopia are now paying higher taxes and a higher price for bread to take good care of good ol' Bob.
As time goes on the value of the currency continues to diminish and the salaries of the Utopian citizens cannot keep up. Their ability to purchase bread from Karen continues to slip. Bob also realizes that the price of bread has gone up and that even though he is only paying half price he is now paying $0.25 more than he was before and this hardship is just not fair. Bob petitions the government to increase his food stamp benefits. The other citizens, with their now less powerful income, also begin seeking food stamp benefits. Karen continues to raise the price of bread as more and more people buy her bread with food stamps.
After a few months Karen is charging so much for bread that no body can afford it, even with government assistance, and she can barely afford to bake it. The people cry to the government for help to solve this bread crisis. The Utopian goverment steps in and nationalizes Karen's bakery, meaning that they take over control over the bakery. They inform Karen that she must produce 100 loaves of bread per day and that she must sell them at their specified price of $0.75. If she does not comply, she will be imprisoned. The citizens of Utopia rejoice at the new government program that has reduced the price of bread! All is well in Utopia again...right?
Because Karen can't afford to make that required number of loaves on her own, the government raises the taxes of the Utopian citizens to help Karen pay for ingredients to bake the bread. Even more people are getting food stamps to help them buy the bread. Long lines of 300 people wait outside her little bakery every day, but most of the people in line for hours go home without a single crumb. Afterall, Karen can only make a 100 loaves as dictated by the all-knowing government. Yet certain government officials seem to have plenty of bread in their homes due to their darkroom arrangments with Karen's brother who secretly steals loaves which he sells to them and pockets the money himself.
Everyone in Utopia is now in poverty and there are rumors flying around that the government is not able to take in enough money from taxing the poor citizens to continue to provide food stamps and bakery subsidies. The government and the people are broke. Skirmishes start between hungry citizens and crime becomes rampant. Utopia is not such a happy place any more. Children are crying in the streets.
Three valient young men, Georgie, Johnny, and Tommy return home to Utopia after having been away at college and serving in the military. When they see the state of their quaint little Utopia, they can't take it anymore! They fight with a lot of sacrificed blood, sweat, and tears, but eventually they succeed in abolishing the Utopian government. They teach people about self-sufficiency and self-government. They help set up a government focused on national defense and punishing injustice (Karen's brother and the corrupt former regime have all fled Utopia or have been banished). They encourage people to create and sell products at fair market prices, and they promise that the government will never again be involved with administering welfare or in dicating how people run their businesses. Taxes are rare and only come in the form of assessments when needed to defend Utopia from the evil Mal-estados. Even roads and schools are run very efficienty and very affordable prices by private citizens.
Karen rebuilds her business and people are happy to pay her what the bread is worth and she is able to meet the demand. In Utopia, Bob gets hurt in the fields and his family falls on hard times. The people from their church rally around them and give them a helping hand. Georgie, Johhny, and Tommy provide the kind of passionate and strong leadership that motivates sucessful business people like Karen to find ways to help the poor and needy, but they never compel Karen by force to do so. Bread sales have been good, so Karen hires Bob's children to deliver discounted bread to the elderly and disabled. Karen is very profitable and she feels good about giving from her heart to those in need.
All is well in Utopia!
martes, julio 08, 2008
What's new and exciting?!
Just a little update on my world...
I loved the week off of work to enjoy family reunions and the mountains with my family. It was just what I needed. Jessica is a total stud camper. She gets right in there with the setting up and taking down. She would have been a good pioneer woman! The kids did great too and even let us get good nights sleep.
Now I am over-run with work at SunCor, not because I was gone, but because one lady is out on disability and I have a huge stack of invoices to pay.
RC Willey is going well and they're keeping me busy enough that I don't have a lot of blogging and reading time right now.
The presidential race just ticks me off. I don't like anyone running. Feel free to write me in rather than vote for Comrade McCain or Comrade Obama. Can you believe McCain wanted to cap CEO salaries?!
If you are in my ward and reading this, stop now (unless it is after July 13th). I just got called to a new position in the ward and it has me scared to death...Primary Chorister. First of all, I've only seen two other men with this calling and they were dang good, but I am truly intimidated by this calling. What happened to the easy callings like Bishopric and EQP? Gone are those days.
Our stake presidency also issued a challenge on Sunday that we all avoid TV, movies, and video games for a whole month. I am so addicted to certain shows that this will be tough. Thank goodness for DVR! We've been encouraged to replace screen time with good literature time and good family time. You mean I actually have to talk with my wife when I come home from work rather than vegging in front of the small screen HDTV with DVR and hundreds of channels all for my viewing pleasure?! Aren't you glad you don't live in my stake? You should feel guilty anyway.
Speaking of guilt and TV's. Sometimes when I'm flipping channels I come across the BYU channel and one of the church leaders is speaking or its a education week talk or something. I always feel like I have to pause and watch it for a little while or I just feel so guilty, even though I really want to get back to that Ultimate Fighting match. Isn't that weird?!
I loved the week off of work to enjoy family reunions and the mountains with my family. It was just what I needed. Jessica is a total stud camper. She gets right in there with the setting up and taking down. She would have been a good pioneer woman! The kids did great too and even let us get good nights sleep.
Now I am over-run with work at SunCor, not because I was gone, but because one lady is out on disability and I have a huge stack of invoices to pay.
RC Willey is going well and they're keeping me busy enough that I don't have a lot of blogging and reading time right now.
The presidential race just ticks me off. I don't like anyone running. Feel free to write me in rather than vote for Comrade McCain or Comrade Obama. Can you believe McCain wanted to cap CEO salaries?!
If you are in my ward and reading this, stop now (unless it is after July 13th). I just got called to a new position in the ward and it has me scared to death...Primary Chorister. First of all, I've only seen two other men with this calling and they were dang good, but I am truly intimidated by this calling. What happened to the easy callings like Bishopric and EQP? Gone are those days.
Our stake presidency also issued a challenge on Sunday that we all avoid TV, movies, and video games for a whole month. I am so addicted to certain shows that this will be tough. Thank goodness for DVR! We've been encouraged to replace screen time with good literature time and good family time. You mean I actually have to talk with my wife when I come home from work rather than vegging in front of the small screen HDTV with DVR and hundreds of channels all for my viewing pleasure?! Aren't you glad you don't live in my stake? You should feel guilty anyway.
Speaking of guilt and TV's. Sometimes when I'm flipping channels I come across the BYU channel and one of the church leaders is speaking or its a education week talk or something. I always feel like I have to pause and watch it for a little while or I just feel so guilty, even though I really want to get back to that Ultimate Fighting match. Isn't that weird?!
Suscribirse a:
Entradas (Atom)