No Surprise Here; Castro Succeeds Brother
Feb 24, 2008 General
Raul Castro has been selected to lead Cuba a week after his brother Fidel resigned. This comes as no surprise as Raul has been running the country during Fidel’s illness.
It is possible that Fidel Castro has been dead for some time and the resignation letter was not written by him. This would keep Cuba from suffering riots and civil upheaval. I think that if he is dead it will not be long (now that Raul is in) before they announce he is dead, stuff his body and put him on display.
Fidel Castro led the Cuba for nearly 50 years and is the longest ruling Communist dictator. Ironically, his socialized health care system, the one touted by Michael Moore, is what killed him. The surgeons botched his surgery and they had to call in doctors from other countries to clean up the mess. It appears as if the mess was too much for old Fidel to handle.
This is what Hillary and Obama want to give us.
I don’t know if Fidel is dead but I certainly hope he is and if not, that he dies soon. The world will be a better place when he is gone and Cuba will be a better country if they can get rid of his brother Raul.
Once Again, Government to the Rescue
Feb 22, 2008 General
The housing market has taken a bath and there are people who can no longer afford their mortgages because they bought more house than they could afford and then adjustable rates kicked in and buried them. This is one of those things that should be between the borrower and the bank from whom he borrowed but not in the nanny state. The government is trying to force mortgage rates down and is injecting itself into this “crisis.” Government does not belong in the mortgage business. Sure, it would make great sense (and help prevent foreclosure and a loss of money) for the banks to sit down with homeowners and work on some kind of fixed rate mortgage or extending the term to 40 years but this should be between the two people who signed the contract and the government should not be involved.
Today, there is word out that the government is looking at ways to fix the problem of lost equity on a home. Many people out there paid too much for their home and did not put anything down and now the price they can sell it for is less than they owe on it. Basically, they would sell their house and still owe money at closing. Many of these people make really good money so it is not like we are talking about the poor having problems. What we actually have here is a bunch of people who think it is wrong for them to take a loss. They believe they deserve to sell their homes for a profit and they think that the government should step in and fix it so they get what they want. It is that attitude that got them in the financial mess in the first place.
There are some banks that want the government to buy up the loans and then refinance them at a better rate for these people. It is amazing that people want the government to make up their losses. Any money spent by the government has to come from other taxpayers which means that once again responsible, taxpaying people will be bailing out those who were not so responsible. It is not the job of government to run a mortgage business and it is not the job of government to bail people who made bade decisions out of their jam.
If people are having trouble with their adjustable mortgage they should find a way to refinance at a lower, fixed rate and they should pay the closing costs associated with the transaction. It is up to the individual to do this and not the government. If people are upset because their house is worth less than what they paid for it then they need to just stay in it and keep paying the mortgage. If it will hurt financially to sell then don’t sell. Stay where you are and keep paying the house payments. The next time the market goes up your house will be worth more and taxpayers will not get soaked paying for your selfishness.
A recent commenter indicated that I had a bad upbringing and must not be loved because I think it is criminal to take a worker’s money in taxes and then pay for social programs like universal health care for everyone. This person, without even knowing me, said it would not hurt me to pay a little more in taxes so that the kid who pumps gas down the street can have health insurance. This person lacks the ability to see that it is wrong and immoral to do this. If I am to pay these things it should be voluntary, not coerced. Additionally, I am only obligated to provide for my own children.
I asked what was next, I had to pay more taxes so the kid at the gas station could have a house like me because he deserves it. It would appear that I was not very far off if our tax dollars will go to bail out homeowners who made bad decisions.
Pretty soon the government will have people to clean up after us when we use the bathroom because we will not be capable of taking care of ourselves at all.
The sad thing is, there are people who would like that and who would believe that it was a God given Constitutional right…
Source:
NYT
Tags: bad decisions, government bailout, nanny state, responsibility, socialism
What Changed Hillary?
Feb 19, 2008 General
This picture came off the web and it is reported to be a picture of Hillary when she was a young lady. Probably back when she was preparing to go to college and before she became a Democrat.
The picture picture below features the many faces of Hillary as we know her now:
What changed her from an attractive young lady into an old crumpled, mean, nasty lady who picks her nose in public?
In one word, LIBERALISM.
Mothers and fathers take note and do not raise your daughters as liberals or they will suffer the same fate!
Tags: Hillary, liberal, young picture
Things that Make You Wonder
Feb 18, 2008 General
I wonder what Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Muhammad Ali Jafari meant when he said that the cancerous Israel would vanish soon “by means of the Hizbullah fighters’ radiation [therapy].” If Iran is not developing nuclear weapons, what could he have meant by “radiation therapy?”
I wonder why, at the US-Islamic forum, Muslims embraced Barack Obama: Many Muslim delegates said they hoped to see Obama win the Democratic nomination and go on to be elected next November to succeed US President George W. Bush. I wonder if it is because Obama worshiped as a Muslim with his father (a child of Islam takes the religion of his father) and that we have never seen that he “changed” religions. If he did, why has there been no call for his death as is the law when one changes from Islam? What change and hope do these folks really want to see?
I wonder why we can’t get all the members of the UN to do this. A woman fell from the 16th story of the UN building (fell, jumped or thrown?). It is tragic that she died this way but given that the UN is useless, wouldn’t it have been better if all those who hate the US and those who continually work against us had jumped instead? There are a lot of people there who enjoy living here because of our freedoms but fail to embrace us as a country. They fight us every step of the way and allow people like Ahmadinejad and Chavez to come here and talk bad about our country and our president.
Tags: Ahmadinejad, Muslims, Obama, united nations
Baltimore Cop Suspended after Video Surfaces
Feb 12, 2008 General
A Baltimore City police officer has been suspended after a video of him surfaced on You Tube. The officer is shown harassing a 14 year old kid who was skateboarding. It is not clear in the video but it appears that the police officer, Salvatore Rivieri, told the boys earlier that they were not allowed to skateboard there and then they did it again. Rivieri get pretty abusive and he assaults one of the children.
The video, available here, shows Rivieri verbally abusing one of the skate boarding kids (the others, according to the officer, had sense enough to shut up). Rivieri is seen yelling at the kids and threatens to smack one of them around and then he confiscates the skateboard and throws the kid to the ground. When the kid tries to get up the officer is there to ensure he stays on the ground.
It appeared to me that this cop had an attitude and that he has this ego problem where he believes that people are required to show him respect because he wears a badge. It is no secret that I have no use for most cops and that I find them irritating and egotistical. They think that because they carry a badge and a gun they are hot stuff when many are nothing more than corrupt (case in point) abusers of their power.
This incident could have ended quickly and without the drama if the police officer, the supposed adult in this situation, had not kept goading the kid and going after him. If the cop felt it was necessary to confiscate the skateboard then he should have done so without assaulting the kid. Kids are a pain in the rear end but that does not give the police officers license to abuse them.
Paul Blair of the police union said that a video only shows one part of the story. Perhaps so (no one ever looked at the other story in the Rodney King video) but it is pretty clear in this video that the cop was abusing the kid and trying to assert his authority in a fashion not warranted by the situation. The kid’s biggest offense was calling the cop dude.
Mr. Blair should also pay attention to the end of the video. Officer Rivieri notices the person with the camera and asks “is that camera on?” The person must answer no and Rivieri says “I better not see myself on…” just as the camera goes blank. It is obvious he knew he was wrong and he did not want it taped.
Well it was and I hope he pays for violating the civil rights of this kid and for assaulting him. Unfortunately for the kid, he is white so Jackson and Sharpton will not be organizing marches and protests on his behalf. If the kid had been black we would be having a field day here with the race baiters.
I hope this kid learned a lesson. Always carry donuts when skateboarding. Another thing to remember, these kind of jackass cops are all over and they are just as disrespectful to the adults who pay their salaries.
Story at WBAL
Tags: baltimore cop, child abuse, ego problem, suspended cop