Charlie Crist of Florida should return all contributions made to him by Republicans during the past 18 months.
There's one thing I admire about diplomats because I'm absolutely sure that being polite to people who have insulted you and your country would be beyond me. Case in point: Mr. Cameron from the UK after the rude brush off they received the last time they were here and the examples of the Obama administration from Day 1. Remember the first gift the Prez game the Queen? An IPod with Obama speeches on it? And one of the first official acts of the President was the return of the Churchill bust?
The press conference after their visit was a sham. Mr. Cameron made a series of remarks and instead of just politely agreeing with him, the Prsident proceeded to make a speech of his own trying to make it look like he sort of agreed but wanted to show that he was smarter than his guest. Good grief!
And last, this business of the racist remarks of Shirley Sherrod being taken out of context. This was a total faux pas by the White House and Mr. Vilsack, her boss at the Ag Dept. I'm sure you know the story. Apparently this is kicking off a silly season on how the President will handle the topic of racism that he will now not be able to avoid because the press is going to make a big deal of it. Especially since he has had to personally apologize to her--somewhat similarly to the Beer Conference on the White House grounds after the fiasco when he called a Connecticut cop stupid.
My prediction: that anything he does or doesn't do, says or doesn't say will not be his fault. He is surrounded by all of his Marxist Socialist advisors whose opinions are at least 180 degrees from either whites or blacks in this country. He has a Cabinet full of Yes men and women who are knee jerk liberals and think we're all racists plus all the Czars, again whose opinions don't make a darn bit of difference to you or me or anyone else in the country. So President Obama cannot be faulted for anything given that he will be taking advice from "all of the above." And we certainly won't be able to tell if he has a personal opinion at all. Bottom line, he will get a pass. No harm, no foul. No responsibility taken, always the buck passer.
Today's storms were different in that it was just as hot after as before and there were at least two of them--
God bless...........
Friday, July 23, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Released Today by WSJ--"Oldest kid" resource sent it a few days ago--
CONTAINMENT SYSTEM TO IMPROVE CAPABILITIES IN EVENT OF FUTURE BLOWOUT IN GULF--
A JOINT VENTURE BETWEEN CHEVRON, CONOCO PHILLIPS, EXXON MOBIL AND SHELL
Complete with diagrams showing the Capture Vessel, with Off Loading Line connected to the Shuttle Tanker. Connections to underwaterequipment/machineryconsisting basically of Umbilical cord from Capture vessel to Riser which is connected to a Manifold and to Subsea Containment Assembly including Dispersant System and Accumulator Unit. You engineering types probably understand this kind of system without a diagram. The rest of us can visualize equipment connected with tubes leading from one unit to another and with the following explanation can get an idea of how this will work.
"The system offers key advantages to the current response equipment in that it will be pre-engineered, constructed, tested and ready for rapid deployment in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Its primary objective is to fully contain the oil with no flow to the sea....It will be responsive to a wide range of potential scenarios, depths up to 10,000 feet, weather and flow rates exceeding the size and scope of the current spill....." In case of another incident this can be launched within days and fully operational within weeks.
SUBSEA COMPONENTS consist of: containment assembly creating a permanent connection and seal to prevent oil from escaping into water; interface points include wellhead, blowout preventer stack, lower marine riser package and casing strings with interchangeable equipment; prevention of hydrate formation and blockage; capture of caisson assemblies if required to enclose connector or leak outside well casings with watertight seals; capture and move flow through flexible pipe to riser assemblies made of seabed foundation, vertical pipe, buoyancy tanks and flexible connectors; systems supplied with hydraulizc/electric controls and chemical injection; riser assemblies and cords designed for quick disconnect from capture vessels so all subsea equipment stays in place in case of hurricane.
SURFACE COMPONENTS include the surface vessels, construction of modular process equipment to assist in connecting the riser assembly, separate oil from gas, flare the gas and safely store and offload oil to shuttle tankers which will be U.S. flagged and Jones Act compliant.
THE COMMITMENT from the sponsor companies is to immediately start the design, procurement and construction of equipment for this system. Initial investment is expected to be approximately $1 billion.ExxonMobil is to lead the engineering, procurement and construction. Existing equipment will be secured within six months and the new system target completion date is 18 months. The project is to form a new non-profit organization, the Marine Well Containment Company (MWC) to operate and maintain the system. Other Gulf of Mexico operators are encouraged to participate in this new organization.
Hope this is not "too much information" and at the same time I hope there is enough to get a fix on the project and know that even though we don't like our gas prices to go up, we need our gas and oil products and it's good to know that these companies are working together not only for their benefit, but the general public as well. We sure don't want to go through this kind of disaster again.
Hope you escaped the turbulent weather this evening--
God bless........
A JOINT VENTURE BETWEEN CHEVRON, CONOCO PHILLIPS, EXXON MOBIL AND SHELL
Complete with diagrams showing the Capture Vessel, with Off Loading Line connected to the Shuttle Tanker. Connections to underwaterequipment/machineryconsisting basically of Umbilical cord from Capture vessel to Riser which is connected to a Manifold and to Subsea Containment Assembly including Dispersant System and Accumulator Unit. You engineering types probably understand this kind of system without a diagram. The rest of us can visualize equipment connected with tubes leading from one unit to another and with the following explanation can get an idea of how this will work.
"The system offers key advantages to the current response equipment in that it will be pre-engineered, constructed, tested and ready for rapid deployment in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Its primary objective is to fully contain the oil with no flow to the sea....It will be responsive to a wide range of potential scenarios, depths up to 10,000 feet, weather and flow rates exceeding the size and scope of the current spill....." In case of another incident this can be launched within days and fully operational within weeks.
SUBSEA COMPONENTS consist of: containment assembly creating a permanent connection and seal to prevent oil from escaping into water; interface points include wellhead, blowout preventer stack, lower marine riser package and casing strings with interchangeable equipment; prevention of hydrate formation and blockage; capture of caisson assemblies if required to enclose connector or leak outside well casings with watertight seals; capture and move flow through flexible pipe to riser assemblies made of seabed foundation, vertical pipe, buoyancy tanks and flexible connectors; systems supplied with hydraulizc/electric controls and chemical injection; riser assemblies and cords designed for quick disconnect from capture vessels so all subsea equipment stays in place in case of hurricane.
SURFACE COMPONENTS include the surface vessels, construction of modular process equipment to assist in connecting the riser assembly, separate oil from gas, flare the gas and safely store and offload oil to shuttle tankers which will be U.S. flagged and Jones Act compliant.
THE COMMITMENT from the sponsor companies is to immediately start the design, procurement and construction of equipment for this system. Initial investment is expected to be approximately $1 billion.ExxonMobil is to lead the engineering, procurement and construction. Existing equipment will be secured within six months and the new system target completion date is 18 months. The project is to form a new non-profit organization, the Marine Well Containment Company (MWC) to operate and maintain the system. Other Gulf of Mexico operators are encouraged to participate in this new organization.
Hope this is not "too much information" and at the same time I hope there is enough to get a fix on the project and know that even though we don't like our gas prices to go up, we need our gas and oil products and it's good to know that these companies are working together not only for their benefit, but the general public as well. We sure don't want to go through this kind of disaster again.
Hope you escaped the turbulent weather this evening--
God bless........
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Bouchard to Visit Jackson - two venues
Mike Bouchard will be in Jackson on Monday the 26th. He will stop first at the King Center on Adrian Street (a block west of Airline Drive just go South from Morrell until you see it--about 3 blocks.) He will be there from 5:00 until 6:00 pm. The second event will be at the McDonald's in Spring Arbor from 6:30 until 7:30. Everyone is welcome.
Just a couple of headline type comments which you will be able to google easily.
That visit to Kalamazoo by the President was shameful. The figures I see flung around indicate that between the Feds and the State gift packages the KOREAN company, not American company, will get over $250 million to build a plant that is projected to cost about $244 million. Give me a break.
The breakdown on the supposedly 400 jobs comes out to over $500,000 per job. Our kids and grandkids will be paying for this for the rest of their lives and one wonders if they will be able to afford a college education or to save for retirement or any of the things that we have come to believe is a part of the American dream.
For the first time I accessed Dick Morris' website because he worked in the Clinton White House at the same time as our next Supreme Court Justice, Ms. Kagan. It appears that she is a staunch supporter of Sharia law. Dear Lord, deliver us. We need to make sure that Obama doesn't have another crack at appointing a Supreme Court Judge.
Don't forget to take time to meet Mike Bouchard and tell your friends--
God bless........
Just a couple of headline type comments which you will be able to google easily.
That visit to Kalamazoo by the President was shameful. The figures I see flung around indicate that between the Feds and the State gift packages the KOREAN company, not American company, will get over $250 million to build a plant that is projected to cost about $244 million. Give me a break.
The breakdown on the supposedly 400 jobs comes out to over $500,000 per job. Our kids and grandkids will be paying for this for the rest of their lives and one wonders if they will be able to afford a college education or to save for retirement or any of the things that we have come to believe is a part of the American dream.
For the first time I accessed Dick Morris' website because he worked in the Clinton White House at the same time as our next Supreme Court Justice, Ms. Kagan. It appears that she is a staunch supporter of Sharia law. Dear Lord, deliver us. We need to make sure that Obama doesn't have another crack at appointing a Supreme Court Judge.
Don't forget to take time to meet Mike Bouchard and tell your friends--
God bless........
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
NAACP and Union Similarities
Just can't help comparing those two.
The structure in both cases is members on the lower levels who work their buns off and send in their dues which are used by the men and women in the upper echelons who make six figure salaries ostensibly to "represent" the membership when in fact there is apparently no "grass roots" and the agenda is set from the top down.
In the NAACP's case the locals plan, work and generate funds through projects and then they get to go to State meetings and in some cases National meetings to be told how to publicize the organization's good works. The leadership lives it up in style.
The unions take as much as they want out of the dues to pay themselves the big bucks, grease the palms of political movements and generally enjoy their exalted positions.
But let's talk about the dirty little secret: the local membership are our neighbors and friends who have the same goals and ideals that are common to all of us and have no resemblance to those nuts who think they have to make headlines. All they do is give the organization a bad name and the local membership is not just a little embarrassed by the whole thing.
I got through to a call in show the other day whose host declared that the NAACP is irrelevant and told him if you only look at the leadership it would be easy to come to that conclusion. But if you look around you there is evidence that there is still illegal discrimination in the workplace and other areas that need to be rectified. You don't hear about it but very quietly the problem is decreasing and it's due to just plain every day folks doing their jobs and interacting the way God planned it all.
Let's keep up the fight-
God bless.........
The structure in both cases is members on the lower levels who work their buns off and send in their dues which are used by the men and women in the upper echelons who make six figure salaries ostensibly to "represent" the membership when in fact there is apparently no "grass roots" and the agenda is set from the top down.
In the NAACP's case the locals plan, work and generate funds through projects and then they get to go to State meetings and in some cases National meetings to be told how to publicize the organization's good works. The leadership lives it up in style.
The unions take as much as they want out of the dues to pay themselves the big bucks, grease the palms of political movements and generally enjoy their exalted positions.
But let's talk about the dirty little secret: the local membership are our neighbors and friends who have the same goals and ideals that are common to all of us and have no resemblance to those nuts who think they have to make headlines. All they do is give the organization a bad name and the local membership is not just a little embarrassed by the whole thing.
I got through to a call in show the other day whose host declared that the NAACP is irrelevant and told him if you only look at the leadership it would be easy to come to that conclusion. But if you look around you there is evidence that there is still illegal discrimination in the workplace and other areas that need to be rectified. You don't hear about it but very quietly the problem is decreasing and it's due to just plain every day folks doing their jobs and interacting the way God planned it all.
Let's keep up the fight-
God bless.........
Monday, July 19, 2010
Tax Credits vs Tax Credits
Just want to point out a couple of basic thoughts about helping business with tax breaks and other kinds of subsidies and assistance.
We have such a good example in a recent Cit Pat piece describing a company who received credits/assistance and purchased the most modern equipment available to set up shop as Boar's Head. An established company, Koegel Meats, is in the same business and has been contributing to Michigan's and Flint's economy for a good number of years. Naturally the President of that company is a little miffed that his taxes are going to help his competition who has been helped by his government to have more efficient means of production than he.
Shouldn't we all consider that most, if not many, of the so-called jobs provided cost huge amounts of public funds are exorbitantly priced? It is truly difficult to find any kind of cost benefit study that will tell us whether or not these packages really are a benefit to all taxpayers.
The parallel that comes to mind is that after WWII through the Marshall Plan and other assistance we helped Japan and Germany get back on their feet--huge amounts of dollars shipped overseas to help the vanquished. Guess what happened? Just like the Boar's Head, they used the funding to build new plant facilities with much more modern tooling plus more efficient air and water pollution equipment.
And then, if you're old enough or grew up in a manufacturing family, you may remember that there was a vicious recession in the 80s due to the fact that our manufacturing facilities were forced to spend huge amounts of money to meet the EPA and OSHA requirements thereby rerouting Research and Development dollars and, as they say, the rest is history. Remember the foreign car influx? It wasn't much longer before the automobile companies gave up the right to manage to the unions. Downhill ever since.
Let's pray for wisdom from both voters and legislators-
God bless..........
We have such a good example in a recent Cit Pat piece describing a company who received credits/assistance and purchased the most modern equipment available to set up shop as Boar's Head. An established company, Koegel Meats, is in the same business and has been contributing to Michigan's and Flint's economy for a good number of years. Naturally the President of that company is a little miffed that his taxes are going to help his competition who has been helped by his government to have more efficient means of production than he.
Shouldn't we all consider that most, if not many, of the so-called jobs provided cost huge amounts of public funds are exorbitantly priced? It is truly difficult to find any kind of cost benefit study that will tell us whether or not these packages really are a benefit to all taxpayers.
The parallel that comes to mind is that after WWII through the Marshall Plan and other assistance we helped Japan and Germany get back on their feet--huge amounts of dollars shipped overseas to help the vanquished. Guess what happened? Just like the Boar's Head, they used the funding to build new plant facilities with much more modern tooling plus more efficient air and water pollution equipment.
And then, if you're old enough or grew up in a manufacturing family, you may remember that there was a vicious recession in the 80s due to the fact that our manufacturing facilities were forced to spend huge amounts of money to meet the EPA and OSHA requirements thereby rerouting Research and Development dollars and, as they say, the rest is history. Remember the foreign car influx? It wasn't much longer before the automobile companies gave up the right to manage to the unions. Downhill ever since.
Let's pray for wisdom from both voters and legislators-
God bless..........
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Barak on Campaign Trail - Unemployment Comp
The Republicans need to quickly come up with a way to pay for another 6 months of comp for the unemployed or we'll hear "mean spirited" all over the place.
I just can't see how difficult it would be to put out a universal cut on all departments with acronyms for just long enough to pay for it, whether it be 1, 2 or 5% for that same 6 months. EPA, OSHA, DOEnergy, Education and all the rest. I can't imagine you'd even have to dock their pay, just quit the mailings, postpone the hearings, you name it, it costs money. Everything they do in DC costs money.
And by the way, let's not let them get away with making anyone who wants to pay bills as they occur be categorized as selfish. The ones who are really selfish are those who want to just push the hard times onto their children and grandchildren (or some one else's kids if they are childless.)
It's just about time the Prez stops politicizing every little thing. AS we've said before, he just has no respect for the intelligence of the American public. The evidence in his past votes and positions on issues which are available all over the place certainly points to a quick change of mind if it's expedient.
One more thing: I have little sympathy for BP, but there appears to be an issue coming up where the folks who depend on the oil industry for their livelihoods will expect to have BP pay for all their future lost earnings. Well, the one BP shouldn't have to pick up is whatever results from Salazar and Obama's moratorium on drilling which will send the rigs to other locations resulting in the permanent job loss in the Gulf.
Let's hope for a little cooler week ahead-
God bless.......
ps-If you want to know who Rick Reed is, click on the July 9th post. He left a comment with contact information and a few other bits.
I just can't see how difficult it would be to put out a universal cut on all departments with acronyms for just long enough to pay for it, whether it be 1, 2 or 5% for that same 6 months. EPA, OSHA, DOEnergy, Education and all the rest. I can't imagine you'd even have to dock their pay, just quit the mailings, postpone the hearings, you name it, it costs money. Everything they do in DC costs money.
And by the way, let's not let them get away with making anyone who wants to pay bills as they occur be categorized as selfish. The ones who are really selfish are those who want to just push the hard times onto their children and grandchildren (or some one else's kids if they are childless.)
It's just about time the Prez stops politicizing every little thing. AS we've said before, he just has no respect for the intelligence of the American public. The evidence in his past votes and positions on issues which are available all over the place certainly points to a quick change of mind if it's expedient.
One more thing: I have little sympathy for BP, but there appears to be an issue coming up where the folks who depend on the oil industry for their livelihoods will expect to have BP pay for all their future lost earnings. Well, the one BP shouldn't have to pick up is whatever results from Salazar and Obama's moratorium on drilling which will send the rigs to other locations resulting in the permanent job loss in the Gulf.
Let's hope for a little cooler week ahead-
God bless.......
ps-If you want to know who Rick Reed is, click on the July 9th post. He left a comment with contact information and a few other bits.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
What is the Definition of "Unemployed?"
Why do I ask?
There was an article in today's paper reporting on the quarterly political contributions to the 7th district candidates for Congress. The amounts were about what you would expect but the examples of categories, though limited, certainly piqued my interest.
Why or how would you explain the fact that 25 people who were listed as "unemployed" managed to contribute $14,225? That is an average of $569 each. Those of us who are retired do not list our occupations as unemployed, but "retired."
I guess I can see that there might be a couple of independently wealthy people who really didn't want to divulge their personal income information, but I can't quite figure out the rest of them who would be expected to be drawing unemployment compensation either being able to afford to make a sizeable contribution or who would be living off their savings and unemployment and make a decision to give away that kind of cash.
There's one other scenario I can think of. That would be that money changed hands from a wealthy source, PAC or business ending up in the hands of someone who is unemployed signing the check. Just saying, it's a possibility.
Am I missing something obvious? If so, I apologize and stand corrected, but I just can't help wondering...
Again, try to stay cool and maybe think of elderly neighbors without a/c-
God bless.......
There was an article in today's paper reporting on the quarterly political contributions to the 7th district candidates for Congress. The amounts were about what you would expect but the examples of categories, though limited, certainly piqued my interest.
Why or how would you explain the fact that 25 people who were listed as "unemployed" managed to contribute $14,225? That is an average of $569 each. Those of us who are retired do not list our occupations as unemployed, but "retired."
I guess I can see that there might be a couple of independently wealthy people who really didn't want to divulge their personal income information, but I can't quite figure out the rest of them who would be expected to be drawing unemployment compensation either being able to afford to make a sizeable contribution or who would be living off their savings and unemployment and make a decision to give away that kind of cash.
There's one other scenario I can think of. That would be that money changed hands from a wealthy source, PAC or business ending up in the hands of someone who is unemployed signing the check. Just saying, it's a possibility.
Am I missing something obvious? If so, I apologize and stand corrected, but I just can't help wondering...
Again, try to stay cool and maybe think of elderly neighbors without a/c-
God bless.......
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