OMG, They're Everywhere!

I've been in my loft working. Hub has the radio on in the shop just for noise. Monica Crowley is on.

According to her and Hannity and Glenn Beck, among others, the Muslim Brotherhood is everywhere. Here in this country. Behind every corner and under every rock. Just waiting to pounce. Man, I'd better get that carry permit and the weapon to go with it!

Why is it this group is just becoming known to us if they are here and such a threat? Where has Homeland Security been? They sure haven't been taking care of our southern border!

Here I thought Secretary Napolitano's switch from "our border has never been safer" to "we've never been at more risk" was because hearings to fund her department are underway and she has to justify it.

I don't know. I'm beginning to look at things in a more abstract mode these days. If these intenders of evil are already here, lurking, why are we still mugging grandmothers and babies in airports? They obviously aren't the enemy and such tactics didn't work anyway!

It makes about as much sense to me as the suggestion planted this morning that the Democrats run Gabrielle Giffords for retiring Senator John Kyl's (R-AZ) seat in 2012! Please!

I live here in my little corner of the world where the only thing that crawls out from under the rocks with any regularity are the skinheads and the militias. I guarantee there isn't a Muslim among them. I also don't see them joining forces with the communists and socialists, of which there are also many they'd have us believe.

Since we haven't a clue how events in the mid-east are going to take shape, it seems to me these diatribes by the right wing media are nothing more than fear mongering. If that's what they consider substance, well, that's their choice. And their right.

If such a conspiracy does exist, they should know one thing. If anyone loves their freedom more than the Egyptians, it's Americans. Those who dare to challenge it will find out that we are a land of laws and elections.

We also know how to fight. The challengers should know that. We've been doing enough of it in their home countries!

Inflation And Dueling Headlines

I had to laugh this morning when one headline read Bernanke downplays risk of higher inflation and right next to it was one that read Expect food prices to increase this year!


There is no appreciable inflation.  I know it to be true because the government told us so and because of it we seniors have received no cost of living increases in our social security checks for the second year in a row.

It's because they don't count food or energy.  Is it my imagination that the cost of food and energy are sky rocketing?  No, the Consumer Price Index bears me out. Both food and energy have increased.

We seniors aren't a real needy bunch except for a few necessities.  One is a roof over our heads.  The second is heat to keep what's under that roof warm.  Third is fuel, whether it be for our own cars or public transportation, to get us back and forth to our doctor appointments - and food to sustain us between visits.  These are the items rising the most!

That leads me to wonder why we continue to subsidise corn producers so their crops can go to basically useless ethanol.  Ask anyone who knows cars and you'll find that it depletes gas mileage and does harm to the inner workings of engines.  Yet we not only continue to produce it, we want to raise the amount mixed into the gas.  Corn farmers are the only ones getting rich. And maybe those Obamamotor dealers who will be selling them their Caddies.

Forget about corn as a food for us.  I've been told humans don't digest it, but it sure tastes good.  Other critters do digest it, however, and the lack for them will raise our cost of consumption even more.  Think beef, chicken and pork.

Other food stuffs are also in short supply thanks to Mother Nature unleashing  everything known to man around the world.  Prices are indeed soaring.

It strikes me as mildly amusing when the Fed chairman says he's confident the Fed has the "political will" to stop inflationary forces before they take hold.

I doubt ole Ma Nature gives a fig about political will.  If I'm wrong and she does, then I know what will happen.  More years will pass without our seeing that increase to keep ourselves in essentials.  That being the case, the fact that seniors won't have doctors to treat them after Obamacare is in place, won't matter.

We'll just fade away to mere nothings.  Some might call it starving.  Never-the-less, out of sight, out of mind!

High Speed Rail Won't Fix The Infrastructure!

I love trains. Really. As a youngster I rode them with my family from Pittsburgh to Chicago and on to Fort Madison, Iowa to visit family. Often. My love for the rails has never waned. I've sat for hours on the back deck of the General Palmer in Durango watching the trains come and go to Silverton. On occasion I'd head for the tracks to get pictures, dodging fiery coals and belching steam. There is no better way to travel in Europe. At least there wasn't when we did so.

The fixation on high speed rail by this administration is a whole different scenario. The $53 billion they want to allocate sure could be spent better elsewhere. Like on our disintegrating highways and bridges. Infrastructure that is already in place and in sad need of attention.

As for the trains, look at the proposed routes. You'll note they are all in places of high congestion and short hops. The cross country routes, where one might like to speed up the process, are left untouched.

The process of condemning property, then clearing it for dedicated tracks will be time consuming and costly. There will be resistance.

Some of the routes make no sense either. Take the stretch between Orlando and Tampa. By road it is approximately 85 miles. A train that travels between 125 and 250 mph wouldn't get out of idle! Besides, by the time you got to the station, parked your car, checked your luggage if any and passed through security, you know they'll have it, you might as well have driven. Not unlike flying. You'd have your car at your destination and be there before the train even left the station!

The same goes for the Los Angeles/Las Vegas hook up. I notice it's not on this map. Hmmm.  Have they nixed the one that almost makes sense?  Anyway, depending on where you live in the greater LA area, it might take you longer to get to the station than Vegas itself. That one would no doubt have riders, but whether or not enough to make it pay is questionable.

All the talk about jobs and economic recovery makes no sense to me. The jobs are needed now. The economy needs to recover now. Not decades down the road.

One of the biggest problems I have with this administration is their grand pie in the sky notions that are questionable undertakings in the first place and not doable in this time of immediate needs.

The argument that it will be the best alternative to flying and driving because it won't be as costly doesn't mesh with the fact they're touting electric powered locomotives. Last I heard, electricity is power and unless we go nuclear, it isn't going to be cheap.

Look at your electric bill.  Does it give you a clue?

It's NOT About Us!

What the people of Egypt are demanding bears about as much resemblance to what we're being told as Elizabeth Taylor resembled the real Cleopatra. There is a lot to sift through.

I'm not even going to get into the Muslim Brotherhood again. Egypt is a secular country. It is likely they do not plan on taking a step backwards to a potentially violent theocracy. They have enough violence to contend with right now.

The above sentiment means I cannot consider anything coming from the FOX news channel. Every time I go there the first words I hear seem to be the Muslim Brotherhood. It's almost as if they want to see that scenario play out.

Our government, on any given day, seems to have mixed feelings as to whether or not Mubarak should actually go and when. The old school, Biden, Cheney, still consider Mubarak a good friend to the U.S. Therefore easing him out seems to be the humane thing to do. He doesn't deserve it. Nor do those who serve under him.

What the Egyptian people realize and we don't want to recognize, is the new Vice President, Omar Suleiman, is cut from the same cloth and as head of Intelligence is responsible for the brutality still being shown by the secret police.  They hold any compromise or placation offered nothing more than a ploy to buy time.  It isn't working.  They don't trust him any more than they trust Mubarak. And rightfully so.  Consider the mid eastern despots who are encouraging Mubarak to hang on! There but for the grace of Allah go they.

Anderson Cooper was correct in suspecting that when the coverage stops, Mubarak wins.  He's bargaining on time and fickle news cycles.  That's why the people are still there.  Because, too, if they leave Mubarak wins and they will be hunted down like animals to face fates we don't even want to think about.

What goes on behind the scenes is any one's guess.  I would guess that our government doesn't know everything themselves, having been caught flat footed.  Their path is a tightrope and they're not known for having good balance.  Perhaps it's best to just stay grounded and quiet.

Strength to the people and those who would lead them.  Not an El Baradei who is no more than a carpet bagger.  But men and women of the opposition who  are the true patriots.  I have to believe they are there and the people know who they are.

If we are to continue to insinuate ourselves and our interests into the drama, I hope for once we side with the people.  It may not be exactly as we would have it, but it is also not our decision to make.

Do YOU Hate The President?

It was a tough question to be asked of the President by Bill O'Reilly. "Does it disturb you that so many people hate you?"

The image we so often see of him, reading from his teleprompters, chin raised and seemingly looking down on us flashed through my mind. Arrogant? Maybe. Maybe not.

Having never used a teleprompter, I don't begin to understand the body language. That he does at times display a degree of arrogance, I agree. That he has a sizable ego, I agree. On both counts, what politician doesn't?

To suggest that people hate him may be a disservice. It is to me. I disagree with so many of his policies I can't begin to count them. But do I hate him? No. I don't even dislike him.

I see him with his kids and I can't. He flashes that grin and I can't. I get mad at him for being inflexible, for leaning too far left, for that arrogance but it's like getting mad at Hub.

Oh, I do. But we've this commitment you see, and we work things out. Obama is our President. We'll work things out. We always have and I suspect, on a scale far different than that of Hub and myself, we always will.

I should hope that no one in this country hates him. Like me, fiercely disagree, but hate is too strong an emotion. Too dangerous an emotion. Too exhausting an emotion. Better to be spent working toward what's right and agreeable.

Our enemies harbor enough hatred for lifetimes. Let us not be our own worst ones.