I Still like a Good Western.... Watch Out for that Chair!

I must admit I didn't actually watch any of the Republican convention. But then again, I have to admit when I read the article today saying Clint Eastwood talked to a chair and told it to shut up I was kind of saddened. Really??? Clint is this what you've become??? You should have stopped with the Chrysler commercial that was an instant classic!! Imported from Detroit!! Man, you blew it, now people are talking about Eastwooding... I won't tell you what I thought when I heard that term this morning... So do you turn to the East when you are playing with your.... I have to admit I lost some respect for you Clint...and then you had to say the line... why did you say the line... Make My Day Punk. Please say it isn't so. I had to ask myself... did he lose his mind 5 times or 6....well did he? I have to admit I won't be able to watch a Clint Eastwood movie the same way again. I'm going to wonder now if he is actually talking to the other actor in the scene or maybe he's just been talking to the props all this time. You Clint became a senile old man last night and that saddens me. But hey I hear you stole the show at the convention... Actually, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo stole the show!! Yes that is a fact, the reality show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo had more viewers than the Republican National Convention. Just proves the Republicans are winning the war against intelligence. Have you seen the show? They actually have sub titles because you can't understand what they are saying... wait a minute.... HEY is that a reality show about Limbaugh and Hannity??? No wonder... which one is BOO BOO?

Let's dumb it down shall we

No really, let's dumb it down... what are we dumbing down? The American voter of course. Think about it for a minute... are you done thinking? I ask you, what do you think the real issues are when it comes to the current Presidential election? The economy? A balanced budget? Gross government overspending? Health Care reform? Taxes? Social Security and Medicare Reform? Welfare Reform? Can I get a big Hell NO! It's about Abortion rights and obviously the definition of Rape, because obviously there is a difference between forced and "unforced" rape. Let's pause and reflect on that last statement..."unforced rape" isn't that a contradiction in terms? Rape is defined as: the unlawful compelling of a person through physical force or duress to have sexual intercourse. any act of sexual intercourse that is forced upon a person. So, I ask what is unforced rape? I'll let the Republicans answer that they seem to be doing such a great job lately... by the way according to GOP Senate hopeful Tom Smith it's the same thing as having a baby out of wedlock.
Back to the program. So the major issue number one is Abortion rights, Number two is Mitt Romney's failure to disclose his taxes(this is payback for "Where's your birth certificate") but politicians have short term memories. Do you see what is happening here? Politicians constantly play a smoke and mirror game with social issues so they don't have to explain economic plans, health care reform plans etc. to the American voter. Do you know why they do this? Because there isn't a politician who actually has anything concrete when it comes to major issues. Have you ever tried to explain a plan when you don't actually have a plan? Ask Alpena's current Mayor how that works, you just say you are heading in a new direction and then fire someone so the story gets shifted. See how it works. Politicians want to cut spending to schools for one reason... Educated Intelligent People can see through the smoke and mirrors. Politicians already know what percentage of the populous will always vote for them the key is to know what social issues pull at the heart strings of the rest of the populous to swing the vote their way. Have you noticed that the abortion issue comes up every four years? And what usually happens after the election? It fades away, why, Roe V. Wade that's why. It has been settled and it would take one hell of a Supreme Court to overturn it. You my friends are being duped by both parties. Where do you think all that campaign money comes from.. Did hear everyone say the Republicans get theirs from Big Business... Uhmmm, So do the Democrats otherwise they would even come close to the same amount of money... So what does this mean.. There isn't really a left wing anymore, there has been a shift and the shift has been to the right so we are more of a center/right wing country. When you get money from big business you walk a fine line when it comes to policies and the people who give you the money always expect something in return so the democratic party is more along the lines of an independent party. I will say this much though.. why would you vote for someone who wants to take away your bargaining power, you health benefits, your pension, and raise your taxes while cutting the taxes of the rich. If that's what you think is right for you than vote for Romney. Sorry but if you can't see that ultimately this country will end up with two types of people, the haves and the have nots, Rich and Poor. That is what smoke and mirrors causes. Are you going to have your intellect insulted? Until there is a viable third party this country will continue to wallow in the current plutocracy. One more thing, don't blame just our current President for the state of our country.. it was well documented that the Republican party vowed to make sure that a Democratic President would not be able to accomplish anything whatever the cost... Well they did it and now they are betting that you will think the Democrats couldn't get the job done. Politicians are betting that you aren't smart enough to do your homework. Do your homework and make an intelligent decision based on viable issues before you vote. I don't care how you vote just make it an intelligent vote.

I found it disheartening to read two editorials over the course of a week stating that Alpena is not likely to entice and is not shelf ready to entice a large manufacturer to the area in order to create family wage supporting jobs. Although I think it is a great thing when local people open local businesses I also think it doesn’t necessarily create the “family wage supporting” jobs we need. It is my opinion; these types of businesses more than likely create minimum wage types of jobs and in a sense recycle local money. Tourism aside, if a business does not have a statewide, national, or global presence it recycles local money. The issue with this process is, it creates a stagnate local economy. In other words, we need the influx of the external dollars a large company operating on a global scale would bring to jump start Alpena, entice one, more will come. Kind of like the “if you build it they will come” philosophy.

Here is the other problem. We as a community need to stop thinking that we are solely a manufacturing community. Manufacturers have been leaving this community slowly over the last decade so it is now time for the community to think outside of the manufacturing box. Last I heard there was a pretty good broadband infrastructure being installed in the area. Has it occurred to anyone to entice someone along the lines of a Google, Yahoo, or other internet based service? We can leverage our Community College and our Hospital (think billing services), not to mention our natural resources. Not everyone wants to live and play in the big city! By enticing these kinds of companies you will eliminate logistic and warehousing issues while increasing Alpena’s national and global base giving us an influx of external dollars.

I believe Alpena and our surrounding communities, if handled correctly, could be on the verge of something great and exciting. Stop thinking manufacturing and start thinking and embracing internet style services. Start thinking globally.

I Got a Call Today...

I complained about an ache, about being tired, about not having enough money, about having to pay too many bills and then I got a call today...

I grumbled about having to wake up this morning and go to work, I got irritated about not getting what I wanted and then I got a call today...

Yes, I got a call today... that call got me thinking, thinking about life, thinking about others, thinking about what's important. Thinking about gratitude, attitude, and appreciation. Appreciation for the little things. Gratitude for what you have and being able to have a positive attitude about everything.

I've seen it, you've seen it... we've all done it.. taking things for granted, taking life for granted.

Todd it is obvious from what I have read today; in life, you have touched many lives some knowingly maybe some not knowingly. In your passing today, I do not doubt that you will touch many more.
Thank you for being you and always being you. Yes, you deserved better, but you continued to smile all the way through it and taught many of us a lesson we can carry with us for the rest of our lives.

Rest peacefully.

Have We Really Evolved???

On this faithful day in 1669 Mt. Etna erupted on the island of Sicily. It rumbled, it grumbled, it burped, burped burped and then it threw up(we've all done it, think porcelain bus). And what do you suppose all the fine people from Catania living around the volcano do... they pulled up easy chairs, bucket 'O beers, some smokes and kicked back and watched the show. What a show it was!! Along comes Diego de Pappalardo and his band of fifty lava loppers. Diego shouted "Afferra la tua mucca nascondere ragazzi screpolature e godersi em down! Stiamo andando a correre su questa montagna e qui deviare questo Lava! " ( "Grab your cow hide chaps boys and soak em down! We're going to run up this here mountain and divert this Lava!") With metal rods, picks and shovels the boys managed to poke a hole in the hard lava and low and behold make the lava head west!! Yeah Lardo! Then along come the boyz from Paterno(no not happy valley) and what do they say about the whole thing. "Non si può fare che la testa il nostro modo di lava! ora dobbiamo a calci in culo!"(You can't make that lava head our way! now we have to kick your ass!) Hey they said it... and they did it. So the hole plugged up and the Lava headed back toward Catania and the good people of Catania watched it come screaming toward them at a break neck speed!!! The lava was flowing at such a tremendous speed that several weeks later when the lava reached the city 17,000 Catanians were killed! What...??? Wait a minute... it took several weeks for the lava to reach the city of Catania and 17,000 people were killed??? Oh, I see... no, actually I don't see. They didn't leave! There were only 20,000 residents in the city at the time(3,000 that survived were in Rome on Vacation). The moral of the story... the next time you hear a rumble, grumble, burp, burp, burp... don't wait to get hit with the spew help put the hair back and then get out of the way.

Anyone Have A Goat?

Happy Lupercalia Day! C'mon shout it out loud... HAPPY LUPERCALIA DAY!!! WAHOOSKI!(that's polish for wahoo.. no, no ... Polish not polish). The really good Christians no what I'm talking about. Let's take a trip back in time shall we, back to a simpler time... say.. 753 B.C. or there abouts. So, there I am lounging around in my tunic eating a couple of grapes thinking to myself... Damn this marble lounger is hard(You, yes you over there. You lazy boy get off of your tuckis and o make me a more comfortable chair!) Boredom... what to do... what to do...Got it! You two noble boys over there, go fetch me a dog and a goat and meet me by Lupecal Cave, you know the place, the one where Romulus and Remus got caught doing that beastiality thing with Rumina the she-wolf. What do you mean what kind of dog? I don't care... get me a Roman Shepard or a St. Roman, no make it a small dog.... a Vatican Terrier will do. Mean while I'll set up the beer tent cause boys we are going to have ouselves a Festival.. No, wait, we are going to have ourselves a Pagan Festival and we are going to purify all of these hot women of their curses, bad luck, and infertility!
Okay, here's how we're going to get this party started. I'm going to sacrifice the dog(Hey, not a festival without fido roast).Now I'm going to sacrifice the goat(you didn't think one dog was going to feed all of those people did you). Now I'm going to smear the blood on your face and then wipe it off(done with the hazing) What a good laugh that whole blood on the face thing was. Okay, you two boys put these loinclothes on.. take this goat skin and soak it in the blood really good. Now, run around like crazy and see how many women you can flog!!! Then meet me back at the beer tent ... don't worry we'll tell the women getting flogged gives them the best results for fertility.. they'll fall for it.
A short time later.... back at the beer tent with Romulus, Remus and the Roman V kicking out the jams the revelry, drinking, rowdiness and horseplay began and it didn't end until 1200 years later. Hell, even the Pope got on board, of course he got the marketing rights so he got to change the name of the festival. In 494 A.D. Lupercalis became known as "Feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary". After all, a Pope can't associate with a Pagan Festival...or can they....

ask, believe, receive.

Birth Control...OH, MY!

Let’s see…. Today I’m either going to make you really think about something or I’m going to get you really ticked off. Here it goes…. Drum roll please…. Are you ready?

Let’s talk about Birth Control, Catholics, and Politicians. (I’m off to a good start.) I saw where the Obama Administration is making it mandatory for “Faith Based “ employers to provide birth control as part of their health insurance plans and Catholics are pissed because it goes against their beliefs or shall I say it goes against what the less than 10% of those who choose to practice that belief believe. Along with that the Politicians are saying it’s a violation of Religious freedom and under no circumstances should there be a mix of church and state (Unless of course I’m running for office and need the money from your congregation).  Well, that’s that in a nut shell. It’s really just political fodder in an election year.

On to the good part where I screw with your mind and Catholics… by the way I’m a non-practicing Catholic so I get to do this and after all it is my blog…. Freedom of speech and all that.

So, the Catholic Church doesn’t believe in Birth Control (we’ll see about that), they believe in Abstinence (boring) and the rhythm method (now we’re talking). But most of all they believe in being hypocritical, yes I said hypocritical. Let’s take a look shall we….

Most Catholics have already said they practice other forms of Birth Control other than those stated above or should I say, Catholic women, and they do so under secrecy so the Catholic Church won’t send them to hell. I heard the number is around 98% but I don’t know that for fact so don’t quote me.  So even though most of the clergy doesn’t follow the rule the Catholic church won’t change it,  but oddly enough  they don’t have an issue with Viagra and Cialis…hhhmmm  Why, because it promotes conception which in turn increases the potential clergy and that’s all good. Here’s a twist. If the Catholic Church doesn’t approve of Birth Control than it must not approve of Hysterectomies and Menopause for that matter because both would prevent women from bearing children hence, both are forms of Birth Control. I’m kind of wondering… How many Catholic Men have had a vasectomy?? Last time I checked this would be another form of Birth Control so the Catholic Church must have a rule on Vasectomies… right? I’d be willing to bet you that hysterectomies and vasectomies are surgeries covered under the current health plans provided by the same Catholic institutions that are fighting the Birth Control issue.

How come you never hear a politician talk about banning vasectomies?? If you think about it it’s a form of abortion… nothing gets fertilized without the sperm. Any snipped right to lifers out there… shame on you, you got to choose how come the women can’t??? How come you never hear the Catholic Church’s point of view on vasectomies? My thought, it’s because you have a bunch of old men who have old fashioned thoughts and are still under the belief a woman’s place is in the home making babies, or,  it’s because you have an old religion that can’t figure out how to recreate itself for the 21^st century in a dignified way. I’m sure even Jesus would have changed with the times after all; he seemed like a pretty righteous dude.

One last thing, we are afforded a lot of freedoms and you have to decide what is right and wrong for you but remember, just because it is your belief doesn’t mean it’s everyone else’s and that’s okay, because differences of opinion and great debates are what make this country great.  

Ask, Believe, Receive.

Green with Envy??

It's nice to see a person of such stature and prominence finally throw their hat into the Presidential ring...aaahhhh.... Such the perfect candidate after all. The ability to sing an undaunting rendition of our country's National Anthem and to have such a connection with America's lower class even though they are perceivably more wealthy. Yes America I give you Roseanne Barr the first female President of the United States of America! Kind of has a nice ring to it doesn't it.
In case you haven't heard she wants to be the Green Party candidate and according to her platform we need to start taking care of business here at home. Well I guess I can agree with her on that aspect. I mean after all, the $800 billion the Nation has spent fighting two wars overseas could have built a pretty nice base alternative fuel infrastructure and last time I checked we had some intelligent individuals living within our borders that probably... and I'm reaching here... could have designed some things that would utilize that alternative fuel. What? The design phase has been done...hhmm... so there is a possibility that we don't have to rely on OIL??? What's the world coming to.
Imagine $800 billion being invested into our economy to create a Greener(see the connection) more diverse society... Healthier, cleaner air, the creation of jobs(somebody has to build that infrastructure), new types of businesses popping up everywhere. What a unique concept... this concept of paying yourself first and then being charitable.
Now for those of you sitting there thinking.... "They should just take that $800 billion and divide it up and give me my share!!" Here's your $2.59.. now shut up!
Have you heard what the political pundits are arguing about these days? Chrysler's Clint Eastwood super bowl ad... Didn't you know it screams of political undertones and it's pro Obama... GASP!! Supposedly it is Chrysler's way of saying thank you for the bail out Mr. Obama and we will do this ad for you but we will be so subtle about our support for you that really nobody will see it except for Karl Rowe. By the way The bail out program was started by Bush and finished by Obama so everyone relax it was a bi-partisan thing.
I understand using Clint Eastwood, everyone knows his face and voice, but he lacked one thing for me... He isn't from DETROIT!! The message, although a great one, would have had a greater affect if Chrysler would have used a lineup of famous Detroiters like Aretha Franklin etc...
Anyway at the end of the day regardless of your political affiliation do some research and don't fall prey to the Social Issue rhetoric being spewed by both parties. Force yourself to get to ground level and see the whole picture. Go Green! I mean Roseanne Barr... really.. is this what this country is coming to??? Heard her running mate is going to be Andy Dick... can just see the BARR DICK bumper stickers now.... just kidding..

Ask, Believe, Receive.

It's not always about Lasagna!

You really have to wonder... Are there warning labels on the dashboards of these big oil tankers and cruise ships that read " This vehicle is intended for water use only, Do Not attempt to operate on any type of land mass." Just so you know, running into rocks is not the same as running the ship aground. Really, the Captain of the ship that ran aground in Italy said " I made a mistake when I hit the rocks but I ran it aground to keep from sinking.... No I was not going to fast." Quick thinking on his part, No really..... he actually saved a lot of lives. Just imagine how many more he could've saved if he wouldn't have hit the country of Italy in the first place.... 17!
Carnival did try to make things right though.... they offered every passenger a "settlement" of 11,000 euros, that's $14,534 U.S., in case you were trying to do the math. Oh, wait .... this just in...A N.Y. law firm is filing a class action suit against Carnival and Costa Concordia on behalf of "hundreds of passengers." That's right, the NY law firm of Napoli, Bern, Ripka, Shkolaik has stated they represent "hundreds" of passengers and for their "6" (six) that's SIX named plaintiffs they are seeking $10 million in Economic and Compensatory damages and a mere $450 million in Punitive damages and when it is all said and done each plaintiff will receive approximately 11,000 Euros or, yep, about $14,534.00 U.S. ten years form now after all of the appeals. Oh, and I almost forgot, the lawsuit also includes (2) John Does??? I'm thinking they must have long Italian names that the law firm can't spell so they filed against Carnival, Concordia, and (2) John Does not 3 or 4 just 2 (is that anything like 2 players to be named later?)
One passenger stated he and his wife "the nurse" would just like to be reimbursed the $6000.00 for their lost possessions and a little something extra cause they had to swim to shore and they helped calm people down.. one person even had blood on their face. I feel for them, I really do but last time you went on a trip did you pack $6000 worth of stuff??? What the hell did they take with them? Sounds like someone needs a new living room set.... Hey genius, take the 11,000 Euros it's more than $6000 U.S. You can get the living room set and have a little extra for a "Nice" cruise.
Don't even get me started on the Peruvian Crew member who filed a lawsuit Not in Peru, Not in Italy, but in Illinois!!! That's right, Illinois!! How in the...
As far as the Captain is concerned.. he faces charges of Manslaughter and Abandoning ship.
Remember, the Captain must go down with the ship you can't just simply leave the keys in the ignition, run screaming to a life boat and be the first one off the dingy. So much for women and children first, I guess nobody has ever really defined the "first" in that statement.... first to be saved, first to be left behind.

To those who lost their lives..... R.I.P.
To those who lived..... be thankful.
To the lawyers.... be ashamed.
To the Captain.... be honest.

ask, believe, receive.

Biggest Sale Ever! No.. Really, Ever!

It's absolute pure genius! And I ask you why they hired a new CEO when they could've hired me for probably less than half the amount! Seriously, after spending what has to be millions of dollars each year on an obsessive amount of ad campaigns it took someone from outside of the J.C.Penny organization to come up with the novel idea of just marking the price at 40% less than original and keeping it there! No more sales of the century, no more of our biggest sale of the year, even though we had our biggest sale of the year last week, this one is bigger! But if you wait a day... well that's Presidents day and we will have an even bigger sale. Anybody who has ever walked into a Jacque Panae with me over the course of the last ten plus years had heard me say.... "Why don't they just price everything at the lower price and save a ton of money by not having to spend so damn much on marketing all these damn sales." But hey we love sales,Don't We!!! I just saved $350 on this T.V. ... How much did you pay for it.... $1200 hhmmm.. Sounds to me like you spent $1200... yeah, but it was marked down from $1550!!! Would you have paid $1550? NO... Then you didn't save anything! YOU DON'T SAVE MONEY BY SPENDING IT!! Did the clerk hand you $350? NO. Did you come out ahead $350? NO. You spent $1200!!
Sales are a con job on the American Mentality. Companies like J.C. Penny's mark an inflated price on their goods then tell the consumer they will mark 20% off and we fall for it hook, line, and sinker!!!
My questions; How do you think our Economy would look if companies were only allowed to realize a 20% profit max? What would the price of consumer goods look like? We all know there is a 200 to 500% mark up on furniture and jewelry, apply the above.... how does the price look... or would they just add more middle men to drive the price up? A little something to think about.

Ask, Believe, Receive.

Coffee Talk

I have a question... when you grill a steak, be it rare, medium, or well done does anything about that piece of meat change aside from the flavor? How about Beer? What changes from a light beer to a dark beer? Color and taste. Does the alcohol content increase? Ahh depends on the ingredients and the amounts of certain ingredients. I know sugar content will increase the alcohol level. What's my point you ask? Sitting on the counter at work are two cans of coffee. In one can Folgers in the other.. fresh roasted/ground Columbian Supremo. Here's my question.... which one would you make? My co-workers will 99.9% of the time make Folgers. The comment I hear 99.9% of the time is.... I like my coffee, But I don't like my coffee to knock the hair off of my chest. My response... well... if you are making Folgers than you don't like good coffee or you just don't know what good coffee is.
Lesson one: When a green coffee bean is roasted and kept in bean form it becomes stale after 2 weeks. Lesson two: Once you grind the beans they become stale after 2 days, so when you buy Folger, Maxwell House or any other ground or whole bean coffee in a grocery store chances are it's stale.
Now all the roast signifies is Flavor... the darker the roast does not mean more caffiene. It means more flavor in my book.
All I ask of you is one thing... Don't tell me you're a coffee drinker and know what good coffee is when you're buying and drinking one of the many major store brands cause your coffee is stale and frankly you don't know what a good cup of coffee taste like. In case you wonder, I have a roaster and roast my own coffee and you can't get any fresher than that. Have a great day.