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Friday, November 9, 2012

Check new polls and keep the old, but some are from Nate Silver and others are Jamie's Gold

The heck with Nate Silver. I think my poll was the most accurate of all. 28 of the 36 voters on my blog said they not only wanted President Obama to win, but they predicted he would win.

Only one person said they wanted Obama to win, but didn't think he would, and I have a feeling that may have been me after the first debate. :-)

Once again, I am so out of step with majority opinion

Among my many thoughts about the recent election, all of which I wish I had written here as I thought of them, was this:

I think that TV political ads have come to be like political yard signs. When there are as many as we've seen in the past 6 months, they all blend together and only have an impact if the other side doesn't keep up.

I may be the only one, but I don't mind the political ads because I don't watch ads anyway. In fact,I wish there were more of them. I figure most of the funding for them comes from billionaires and corporations anyway, so it's a redistribution of their wealth to the media, who of course have such a left-wing bias, it helps the good guys promote the correct agenda anyway.

On the other hand, taking the low road, it has been found, will in fact get you to Scotland before me.

One will never truly lose an argument in which one takes the high road.

Monday, October 22, 2012

I mean, not me, but some guys!

It struck me while Cheryl and I spent a few hours cutting up and stacking a very large pile of wood on Saturday:

Funny how the older a man gets, the faster some body parts stiffen up compared to other things that take longer than they used to.

I'm sure there's another apropos observation relative to the size of one's wood...pile, but I'll think about that another time.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

All I want is this one thing, and nothing else! Well, and this paddle game! I need that!

When I was around 12 years old, give or take a bunch of years, but since Trev is 12, I'll go with that, my Mom told me she only had one request for me that she wanted me to keep to, the rest of my life.

And that request was that I never ride a motorcycle. And so far, with the exception of one time when my neighbor friend Stuart Quillman took me out for a spin through the fields along Black Horse Road, which may have happened before, or possibly to inspire, Mom's request, I've kept to her request.

Over careful consideration and much discerning over the past weeks or maybe even even longer, I think I have one request for both my kids, and Trev in particular, given the predilections of other teens I've seen, and that is to not get high any more than once a week at the very, very most.

From what I've seen in other teenage (and older) males I very much care about, it has hurt them in so many ways, almost to the point of keeping them from being productive members of society, and I don't just mean in the capitalist sense. I also mean in terms of relationships with family and starting a family. And it just rips me up inside. They are such amazing kids, on so many levels, but there is one thing I can see (though conceivably there are others) that has held them back, and that is their love of getting high, in any of a number of ways.

As for Emma, my main request is that she not marry, or get in a long term relationship with, a dolt. Set your standards high, Emma, as you already do for all of us lucky enough to be in your life!

I read recently a great quote: "Kids don't always listen, but they do always see." I just hope they're looking at the right people.

I love you, Trev and Emma!

Would you like a list?!

The criticism that hurts the most is the criticism that has some truth to it, especially if we hadn't previously observed it about ourselves on our own.

And, in my experience, it hurts even more when it is said in anger by friends or someone we love.

Wonder why I'm such an expert on this? Probably because my friends seem to have no qualms about telling me about my shortcomings!

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Why is this a big deal again? Because a Dem had it passed, that's why

OK, so imagine this scenario:

Imagine our current system of health care in this country was Obamacare and had been for many decades, where the government requires everyone to have health care, although 90% of the population is covered through their employer's plan, and if not, the government either picks up the tab, if you are a low wage-earner, or, if you make over a certain amount, you can instead pay a fine and then would have to be responsible for any costs you incur at a hospital or doctor in full. In other words, a plan whereby every is accountable for their own coverage, unless they are among the bottom rung of wage earners. And all preventative care is covered 100% and kids can be covered on their parents plan up to age 26, along with all the other benefits of Obamacare.

Now, a Democrat running for President suggests that we should abandon that entirely and says if you have insurance through your work fine, but otherwise, it's going to cost you ten thousand or so a year to get coverage, but if you don't want to do that, you can just go get free care at any hospital and the rest of us will pick up the tab for you. Oh, and kids are off their parents place after college or high school and you have to pay a deductible for preventative care.

Think that would go over well? I call that socialized health care, where the rest of us pay for people who don't think they need to have to pay or can't afford it.

On the other hand, when you look at it that way, it seems like the only difference between Obamacare and the current system in the big picture, not including the coverage up to age 26, and free preventative care, all of which is great, is that in one scenario, hospitals pick up the tab and in the other, the government does. And in the end, we all pay more as a result.

A few recent quotes I read and loved: “The problem with nostalgia isn’t just that it makes the past out to be better than it was; it’s also ...