2 Bucks Worth

The New Civility?

2011-01-11T19:09:00.000-08:00

People are people, so why should it be,
You and I should get along so awfully?

People Are People - Depeche Mode

I have wondered for months if anything would motivate my lazy carcass to blog again, and now I have my answer. Before I go any further, I would be crass if I didn't say that which goes without saying: that myheart & my prayers go out to the victims of the shooting in Arizona, I wish speedy recovery to those injured and peace for those who have lost loved ones.

The shooting is in itself a national tragedy, but I fear a far greater one is unfolding...one promulgated by those who place politics above all else, and will stoop to any depth to damage the political or media figures they despise. I'm of course speaking of those individuals in the media, government and even in the general public, had taken to the airwaves and internet before the crime scene tape was up to blame the the acts of a violent madman on Sarah Palin and the Tea Party specifically, and on conservative commentary in general.

I'm sure that what I'm going to say here will cheese some of you off, and while I do not intend to upset you, I am at peace with it because I understand that while I can indeed control what I say, I can rarely control how people react to what I say. That is applicable to the debate raging today over "hate speech" and "rhetoric" that some are now wildly claiming practically put the gun in the shooter's hand and dared him to pull the trigger. In fact, the notion that politicians or talk radio made this nutjob shoot people is no more credible than claims years ago that rock music makes kids juvenile delinquents and playing Dungeons & Dragons will lead to suicide. Just because something isn't your cup of tea doesn't make it the very face of evil. Crazy people do crazy stuff, they really don't need a reason.

Now then, do politicians and pundits on all points along the ideological spectrum often resort to hyperbole or allegory to make a point? Of course, and they have since the invention of language. Are there those who could perhaps chose their words more carefully so as to make their point without all of the "over-the-top" showmanship? Absolutely, but often their intent is not to harm, but to get attention. And although the conservative mindset is the one most often touted on talk radio or Fox News, rest assured that they in no way corner the market on reckless, even unkind, talk. I could reel off a dozen quick examples of how those on the left, including our President, has framed political debates in confrontational, even violent, turns of phrase, but you've heard them before and I won't belabor the point.

So, do we have a civility deficit in this country? I believe so, and it may in fact be getting worse although it's been around a lot longer than I have. But is the answer to this lack of common decency to ferret out whomever you deem to be hatemongers and make a public example of them? Would our better angels surface if Sarah Palin were to retire to her log cabin and the Tea Party folded their signs and went home? Will lambs lie down with lions the day that we pull the plug on conservative talk radio? Is free speech a luxury we can no longer afford?

If you believe these things...well...I may be about to harsh your mellow. The real answer is much simpler to find, but infinitely harder to do. Civility, much like charity, begins at home. I can't bring about civility by pointing fingers and keeping a records of "wrongs", I will only provoke a defensive response. Instead, I first have to take a good, long look at myself and the things I do and say. Only once I change my own heart will I be able to reach out to my adversaries and say "We may never agree on some things, but you are my brother and I respect you as a person." That is how true healing begins; not by demanding that others change, but by changing ourselves and reaching out the hand of sincere friendship.

If you sit back in self-righteous indignation and demand that others conform to your definition of civility - or far worse, use a horrible tragedy as an excuse to crucify those you hate - you are not helping and you are not part of the solution. And if you call yourself a Christian, I challenge you to re-read what your Bible says about love. Or about hypocrisy. You want true civility? There's the blueprint, right there, if you can handle it. Until you can learn that people are people (and not politics or angels or demons), YOU my friend, are the real problem, if only to yourself.

Nolanbuck

Strong Brew

2010-09-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

I'll admit it, I've never been to a "tea party" rally. I don't have a Gadsden flag or a tricorne hat. But I do agree with a lot of the principles of the Tea Party movement, as I stated on this blog way back when the movement began last year.

It will come as no shock for you to learn that I am also a Republican...I have voted a straight GOP ticket in every election since 1992. I am not only a registered Repub, I am a dues-paying member of the local chapter of the party. Thus, it pains me to state the obvious today: the Republican party at large is run by blithering idiots.

How did I come to this conclusion, you ask? I had figured out by 2008 that the leadership of the GOP were mainly interested in staking out the real estate two inches to the right of the Democrats. They spent too much money, and acted like they were going to be there forever. I will never forget the night right before the 2006 election when I spoke briefly to a U.S. Congressman (who I will not name) while he was pressing the flesh at a high school football game. I shook his hand and said, "Fight hard, congressman, we need to keep that majority". With the look he gave me, I might as well have just said "By the way...I am the Walrus, koo-koo-kachoo."

That was the first sign that something in the minds of the GOP top brass was terribly awry. This man knew he was going to win handily (and he did), he was not concerned about the majority, and was more than a little perplexed as to why I'd care. But the final diagnosis came this Tuesday, when Christine O'Donnell - another Tea Party backed candidate - won the Delaware GOP primary. Among the GOP intelligentsia, wailing and gnashing of teeth immediately ensued. "Unelectable", they called her. "The senate majority is out of reach now," they moaned. "Balderdash!" I replied.

You see, here's the problem with Mike Castle, the GOP establishment's hand-picked candidate: He's been Congress since 1993. He voted for the stimulus, he voted for TARP, he voted for the car company bailout. He is part of the reason why the Tea Party formed, he supported the very bills that have so angered the American electorate and turned them against Democrats. Why would we want to replace a Democrat who will vote with the President to enact bad policy with a Republican who will do the same thing? Who gives a crap what letter is behind his name? In short: Castle is (or was) part of the the problem, not the solution.

But beyond all that, if he were the nominee, I would have supported him, if only tepidly. Christine O'Donnell would have supported him. But since he lost, he and his GOP upper-crust pals are turning their noses up at the will of the people. Pride goeth before the fall, fellas. Didn't you learn that in 2006? This election is not about parties, or even politics, it's about good governance and sound policy...or the lack thereof.

Nolanbuck

Long time, No blog...

2010-09-03T07:20:00.000-07:00

Well, due to both the forseen and unforseen, I have been away from this blog for months. I'm not sure anyone noticed, but...well...I'm back. And with football season cranking up, and the Dems looking to take a drubbing in November, I can't think of a better time to start back blogging.

The lovely and talented Debbiebuck may not be able to blog at all, due to taking some college courses added to her normal hectic schedule, but I may bring a brand new Buck up from the minors to fill her spot on the roster. More on that later.

Anyways, I'm back for now, and you can expect the normal high-quality useless crap here that you've come to expect from me. LOL!

Nolanbuck

Healthcare and The Rights of Man

2009-11-06T20:55:00.000-08:00

With our Congressional Democrats writhing about trying to find the votes to pass the latest version of so-called "Health Care Reform", I've been doing a lot of thinking about rights, obligations, and freedom.

Here's the thing: everyone having health care sounds good. Yeah. I mean, all things being equal, who doesn't think that's a good idea? And there may yet be a smart way to get there, but all the bills waved at us by the Dems so far aren't the way. Why not, you ask?

Ok, let's say that we agree that all citizens have the right to health care (I do not necessarily agree, but for the sake of discussion, I'll concede the point). Now, we have created a right, all shiny and new. But now there's a problem, some of us can't afford it. So we have to help them pay for it, because despite what you may have heard, it ain't free. Who's gonna pay for it? Why the government, or course.

But hang on..where does the government get their money? Well, they can borrow it or they can take it. Borrowing it means they took out a loan in your name (as a taxpayer) without your permission or signature, and you are partially responsible for paying it back. Or they can just raise your taxes, tax the health care plan that you worked hard for, or just take it out of your check...also without your permission by the way. Do you have a right to your money? Is your right to the money you earned more important than your neighbors right to health care they didn't work for?

Secondly, let's look at this notion of health care as a right. The government cannot create a new right, regardless of what they tell you. Rights are inherent in man from birth, you have them simply because you are alive...endowed by your Creator, you might say. Our Declaration of Independence says:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..."

Ok then, so rights come from God (or whomever you chose to call him). Did God give us the right to health care? And then if we already have rights, what is the government for? Most people don't read the next sentence in the Declaration, or they'd know:

"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,..."

Did you catch that? To secure these rights. Governments are supposed to protect our liberties, not create or enforce them, or even make us pay for them. And the consent of the governed is required...if you don't want government help, the Declaration of Independence says that's your choice, not Nancy Pelosi's. Read the rest of the document if you want to know what happens to governments that rule without the consent of the governed.

Rather that create a right that doesn't exist, or fund this new right by unconstitutional taxation, why not work to fix the problems that exist in health care now? Stop listening to the special interests groups and lobbyists, and start listening to doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals, and their patients. Find out why people can't get or keep health insurance, and remove the roadblocks where we can. Find out what makes health care so unnecessarily expensive (like baseless lawsuits) and let's work to streamline the process without adversely affecting cost or quality.

Why won't they? Because then they can't claim to have given us a new right, and claim victory. And because it makes too much dang sense.

Nolanbuck

The Fort Hood Shooting

2009-11-06T20:25:00.000-08:00

I'd like to begin by saying my thoughts & prayers go out to those who have lost loved ones in this unspeakable horror, and I pray as well that those wounded make a complete (and hopefully speedy) recovery. And thank God for heroes and heroines like this lady.

It is a shocking thing to know that our soldiers aren't safe on their own bases on U.S. soil, but I guess that just speaks to the dangerous world we live in.

We have been told by our President (the same guy who apparently nearly forgot to mention the shooting at all yesterday) not to jump to conclusions in this matter, and for the most part that's good, if mostly self-evident, advice. But a few conclusions can be made here based on what we know.

1. 13 unarmed people were gunned down in cold blood.
2. The killer was, by all reports, motivated by religious and political views.
3. That spells terrorism.

Terrorism does not have to be a grand nefarious plot cooked up in a cave in Waziristan, an act of violence to further a political or religious agenda is terrorism, even if performed by a lone wacko.

Don't tell me to wait and see, the forthcoming facts are just going to fill in the blanks. But the question of whether this was terrorism had already been answered when the first bullet left Hasan's barrel. And don't make this into an anti-muslim discussion. It's not terrorism because he's Muslim, it's terrorism because he did it because he was Muslim. This was not a "man-caused disaster" (the Dust Bowl was a "man-caused disaster") this was an act of terrorism...albeit by a lone crazed assailant.

Nolanbuck

Same Old Song & Dance

2009-10-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

Today I read this brilliant column and it encapsulated perfectly what I've been saying & thinking for months: this administration is using the financial crisis to make the social and governmental changes it wants by blaming the whole thing on Bush and saying their way is only undoing the wrong done by the previous administration. I call B.S.

[Nolanbuck's note - Most of you know where I stand politically, but for those who may not, I am a social conservative and a classical liberal in most other matters, including economics (which is not to be confused with modern liberalism, which is not true liberalism but rather progressivism...but I disgress.) I am a member of the Republican Party who has become increasingly disenchanted as the GOP turns out more & more to be "Democrat light".]
Everything that Mr. Obama has tried so far or proposed has been tried before, with mostly poor results. All of this "hope & change" is fancy wrapping for tired old progressivist ideas that didn't work in the previous century, and won't work in this one. Economic "stimulus" is creating a false recovery that has included a drastically weakened dollar and increasing unemployment, all of which will (if history is any indicator) lead to a second downturn in the economy in the coming months and years that I fear will be deeper than the first (see the late 1930's "second crash"). Regulation and government involvement in business during the 50's & 60's caused the stagnant economy of the 70's (also see the 90's in Japan, the so-called "lost decade"). This is nothing new, and most of the old ideas are the bad ones.
True laissez-faire, free-market policies will produce prosperity every time in the long run. Every. Time. I will grant you, free market capitalism is a dangerous beast sometimes, it can buck and thrash wildly on occasion and some companies and people will get hurt economically. But I will posit that many (if not all) of the undulations of the market are caused by our meddling and not by the market itself. And yes, corrupt businesses and people will taint the system and cause it to falter, but that is not the fault of the market, but of those unscrupulous few who would spike it for political or economic gain. In short, I am not pro-business, or even anti-government, but staunchly pro-market.
And I want to tear my hair out when the neo-con "borrow and spend" policies of the Bush administration are called free market or conservative ideals. Bush was not a conservative in the truest sense, he was a neo-con. Neo-cons began as liberals who abandoned the Democratic party in the 50s & 60s due to it's left turn on social issues. I was against Bush's spending and borrowing, his ridiculous immigrant amnesty bill, and a host of other things. The true conservatives biggest mistake was not loudly criticizing Bush when we disagreed, for fear of weakning the GOP's grip on power. Well, we let Bush crap the bed and the progressives now run the government, so in that we failed utterly. Lesson learned.

Nolanbuck

Building a Better Monster

2009-10-13T16:10:00.000-07:00

The end of the U.S. dollar as the world's go-to currency began this year, as world banks put 63% of their cash in Euros and Yen over the summer, a stunning reversal from all of recent history. With the Fed printing greenbacks like monopoly money to pay for the Obama administration's many spending programs that we can't afford, and low interest rates depressing the greenback's value, Fed chairman Bernake has killed the "meltdown" monster by creating a bigger one, making our dollar worthless to comsumers and foreign investors alike.

The problem is, we are paying off the massive debts incurred by Bush and Obama with dollars...dollars that are dropping in value, and foreign banks can't afford to overextend their dependence on the sagging greenback. But raising interest rates and slowing the printing of money to strengthen the dollar will slow down any economic growth we may be producing and extend our recession.

This, ladies & gents, is why you cannot fix a recession or depression with government spending. The governemnt can't afford this rampant spending that seems to be mainly going to Democrat-aligned groups like unions and the indigent (so much for "shovel-ready" projects). And the spending hurts our currency's value, and leaves the government in an ever-increasing portion of our lives.

And Congress is about to stick us with paying for a disaster of a healthcare bill,and even a second stimulus bill. Hang on to your wallets, folks.

Nolanbuck

We Come In Peace?

2009-10-09T12:51:00.000-07:00

Our President has won the Nobel Peace Prize today, in what was a shock to everyone including POTUS himself. Mr. Obama said in a speech today that he would accept the Prize as a "call to action". I'm sorry, but isn't that the political equivalent of giving trophies to every kid in little league whether they won a game or not? Whether you like the President's policies or not, you'll have to admit he hasn't done much yet, he hasn't had time to do much, even he said so.

Furthermore, in a cruel twist of irony, this award was bestowed upon our Prez of Peace the very same morning that he unleashed a brutal and unprovoked attack on our nearest celestial neighbor and constant companion, the moon. Yes! On the same day he was hailed as the bringer of peace, NASA rammed a "kinetic bomb" into the south pole of the moon, knocking off enough green cheese to supply salad bars the world over for years. No comment from the little green men on this unjust assault.

Seriously though, I guess our President is as deserving of the Peace Prize as anyone else in the running this year, I'm sure he's in favor of peace, even if he's done little to achieve it anywhere so far. I'm happy for Mr. Obama, for whatever the prize is worth...now that he shares it with the a peanut farmer, the guy who invented the internet, and the butcher of Palestine.

Nolanbuck

Crazy People

2009-10-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

(Nolanbuck's note: since I started using Blogger.com's new posting format, I inadvertenly saved a couple of posts as drafts without publishing them. Here's one)

I posted this vid on my Facebook awhile back, saying this is where jazz harmony came from. I stand by that statement. Even if this music isn't your cup of tea, the end of the song will impress you.

Those are the Boswell sisters, from the year19 and 32. The owner of those magnificent pipes seated on our left is Connee Boswell, who went on to have a successful solo career after her sisters Martha and Vet called it quits. She credits the legendary Mamie Smith as her earliest influence (and it shows), and Connee herself went on to be a huge influence on one Ella Fitzgerald (maybe you've heard of her).

And as if her talent and showmanship weren't impressive enough, our little songbird Connee there...she was a parapalegic from childhood, she always performed from a wheelchair or seated. Now that's moxy. Anyway, as you can tell, my tastes in music can be somewhat ecclectic. Check out more of Conne and her sisters on YouTube.

Nolanbuck

Make Mine Freedom

2009-10-06T16:36:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, even cartoons get it right.

The world has changed since this cartoon was produced, but the facts remain the same.

Nolanbuck

No Obamalympics for Chicago

2009-10-02T15:19:00.000-07:00

Despite reports of Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid being a "done deal" (being that it's Chicago we're talking about here, the pun is intended), not even Mr. Obama's last minute push was enough to win the Olympics for the USA.

I was not particularly against the President going to Copenhagen to lobby for the Olympics, but the timing (what with the raging healthcare debate at home, a partically nuclear Iran thumbing their noses at us, and thing rapidly falling apart in Afghanistan) was inconvenient at best. Leave alone the fact thatChicago politics is famous for being rife with corruption (this Olympic bid being no exception) and that some of Obama's shadier friends (*cough* Tony Rezko *cough*) were rumored to stand to make bazillions in new Olympic construction contracts.

But the fact that Mr. Obama staked his brand on this Olmypic bid, put his name on it, only to be eliminated in the first round of voting, is a hugely embarrassing blow to this Presidency, no matter how the media will try to spin it. This President, the one the world fawned over last year as "their" candidate, could not even get his own hometown into the final vote for the Olympics in 2016. Had this happened to George Bush, one could say, "Well, they hate his guts." But the 1st President of the World? Not even a finalist? Unthinkable.

Could this be the turning point, in a year where our President's frenetic policies have looked like they were though out by an ADHD kid who's run out of Ritalin, that defines a Presidency full of good intentions and high ideals, along with bad ideas and failed deliveries (shades of Jimmy Carter)? Could the epic fail of what was to be the crown jewel of Obama's 2016 "victory lap" put a bow on what will be a 4 year odyessy of ego-bruising falls for this administration?

We'll see, but at least he can claim how much money he saved our country in these hard economic times by allowing Rio de Janeiro to have the games. Wotta guy!

Nolanbuck

I Am Not Spam

2009-09-30T15:40:00.000-07:00

Apparently, the automated blog police at Blogger had the wrong man. I am in fact not a spammer. I cannot describe to you my relief. Not that they apologized or anything, but now I can post on my own blog without having to retype a sqiggly word.

However, should you be interested in refinancing your quality fake handbags full of male enhancement pills...

Nolanbuck

Spam, I Am?

2009-09-29T20:02:00.001-07:00

Just tonight, I've noticed that this blog has been flagged as spam by Blogger.com. Now I admit I tend to ramble abit, but spam? Seriously? SPAM? What in the name of all that good am I supposed to be selling (besides crackpot ideas, that is)?

This is a most disappointing turn of events. 2BucksWorth may not be the most popular blog on the interwebs, but to be accused of spamming by my own blog provider is disconcerting at best. I'll have to hope that Blogger comes to it's senses and starts picking on real spammers, or I'll be looking for greener pastures.

Nolanbuck

Marching Bands

2009-09-29T19:37:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, the lovely and talented DebbieBuck & I began our yearly series of pilgrimages to various and sundry high school marching band competitions. Our youngest son is a sophomore, and the section leader of the alto saxophones, a fact of which I am unabashedly proud. Debbie & I have been band-parents for 7 years (our Eldest was also a sax player), and I will freely admit to getting all geeked up about it this time of year. I myself participated in marching band in high school, one year as a trombone player, and three of the best autumns of my life as a percussionist (a drummer to you philistines who don't know the difference).

To fully comprehend how engrossing marching band can be, one has to have experienced it. For those who have not, I can scarcely describe the thrill of competing in a marching band contest, the pride and espirit de corps of working together as a unit to produce a product that is both musically and visually pleasing. It is not easy, it requires hours of practice on your insturment of choice to master the music, then more hours in the sun and wind and rain standing at attention and marching around a practice field learning each set until the movements become second nature.

It is at once a sport and art, physical and yet cerebral, beautiful but demanding. And to a band member, halftimes at Friday night football games are mere dress rehersals for the real show on Saturdays, when bands rule the field and clash in a contest of musicianship, skill, and pride. Every member must do his/her job, play every note, make every mark, or the whole band suffers. Each person has their own unique role to fill that no one else can do.

The only thing that comes close to being in a marching band is to be a band parent. God love band parents: working in concession stands, moving the equipment, riding the "yellow dogs" across the state, these folks are what makes the band work. But standing in the stands on Saturdays and cheering as your children do their best on the field, that makes it worth the effort.

October is the Superbowl of marching band, and only high school bands compete against one another (with the exception of drum corps, but that's on a whole different level). This month, is you find yourself with a Saturday free, I encourage you to go check out a high school marching band competition. All-day admission is reasonable, and there's always plenty of good food on hand. If you do go...don't be surprised if you find yourself cheering. And if you are fortunate enough to see our band perform, I'll be the nut in the stands with the very large yellow banner.

BTW, in case you're curious: our son's band won Reserve Grand Champion (2nd place) in two contests in the same day. Go Quistor band!!

Nolanbuck

Just Dancin'

2009-09-25T17:05:00.000-07:00

Weekend Family Feature

(Nolanbuck note: Since I concentrate on current events through the week, I'm going to make it a point to post a more family-centered post or two each weekend. Also, look for another Buck to perhaps make his debut as a contributor here at 2Bucksworth.com. More on that later...)

My oldest son recently reminded me of one of the more hilarious episodes in his childhood (he's now 20). Since he brought it up, I don't feel bad about sharing it with the rest of the planet. LOL

The year was 1995, and my wife, our sons (ages 6, 3 & 1) and I had just moved into the new house that we had built (there's a story in itself.). We had been wallpapering the kitchen earlier in the day, but the wife & I had left the Eldest (6) and Coppertop (3) in the living room watching tv while we went upstairs with the baby to move a piece of furniture into one of the kids' rooms.

We did not intend to be upstairs for long, and were only in the room for a few minutes when we heard Coppertop ascending the stairs, audibly upset. We waited for him to arrive to let us know the source of his discontent (3 year olds move slowly on stairs, unless they are headed down diaper-over-teakettle, in which case they make fairly rapid progress). When he found us he was wet from head to toe and not the least bit happy about it. When we asked him how he got so wet, he gave us a one word explanation, Eldest.

So we called Eldest upstairs to see what he knew. Obviously, he was as "shocked" as we were to see the soggy state of his middlest brother, and posited that perhaps Coppertop had pulled the dipping tray for the wallpaper down upon his own red head, thus releasing the torrent that drenched him.

Well, as the wet kid dripped dry, we all went down to the kitchen to unravel this whodunit. Two things became immediately apparent: 1) the tray had been empty and placed in the sink when we left the kitchen and 2) the tray in the kitchen sink was much too high for little Coppertop to reach without help. Faced with this evidence, Eldest never wavered, claiming he had not even been in the room. I was fairly certain Eldest had filled the tray with water and dumped it on his unsuspecting toddler of a brother, but I played along...

"Where were you then", I asked.

"In the living room", the oldest calmly replied.

Well, what were you doing in the living room", I queried.

Without batting an eye, he says: "I was dancin'. "

"Really?" I answered, choking down a chortle. Thinking I'd finally tripped him up, I went in for the kill... "Could you show me this dance?", I asked.

Without a word of protest, my 6 year old son launched into an impromtu flurry of intepretive dance that looked like a cross between "Swan Lake" and "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo". By the time he got to the big finish (he stuck the landing, BTW) I was laughing so hard I could not continue the cross-examination and I conceeded the field.

I knew he'd doused his brother, that wasn't the point. Coppertop was waterproof and all brothers do things like that to each other. But in trying to teach Eldest a lesson about honesty I learned a lesson of my own: smart kids are difficult to outwit, but smart kids with rythym win everytime.

Nolanbuck

For Future Reference, Democrats...

2009-09-24T16:37:00.000-07:00

this is what an unruly mob looks like:

Not this:

Any questions?

Nolanbuck

Her Body, Not Her Choice

2009-09-21T19:36:00.000-07:00

I know that this story is from the UK, but still I have to wonder when the prochoice groups are going to rush to this woman's aid. But then again, hypocrisy among left wing advocacy groups is nothing new.

After all, if a man puts an embryo in a woman's plumbing, he has no say in what the woman decides to do with it. But if a doctor puts it there, suddenly the donor gets a vote? What happened to "my body, my choice"?

Nolanbuck

It's a Tax!

2009-09-21T16:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, boys & girls, if the government takes your money without your permission...even if it's "for your own good"... it's a tax.

Nolanbuck

Good weekend in football!

2009-09-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

My Ole Miss Rebels are #4 in the land (in the AP poll, the USA Today poll has them at #5), and the Cowboys play the Giants tonight and can go to 2-0 and 1st in the NFC East. Go Cowboys!

Nolanbuck

Making Friends, Making Enemies

2009-09-19T06:34:00.000-07:00

I don't blame the Czechs and Poles for feeling a little betrayed at the Obama administration's decision to pull the plug on the Eastern Europe missile defense shield. And even though it didn't convince the Russians to help us put the squeeze on the nearly-nuclear Iranians, this backtrack did solicit a limp-wristed response from the Russians, who had been vehemently opposed to the missile shield in the first place.

The thing is: the mere fact that Russia would object to a purely defensive missile system makes their motives suspect. The only reason for the Russians being so upset at an antimissile system in a neighboring countries is that they may want to attack that neighbor someday. It's like me buying an assault rifle because the guy across the street put in a burglar alarm.

And the fact that the missile defense system was originally unpopular in these countries makes taking it out now all the worse, the governments of these countries worked hard to sell this defense to their people, now they look like fools. And on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland? Does the White House own a calendar? Tacky.

Russia may not be openly belligerent to the west, but they are no friend, and will not be in the near future. Low oil prices are the only thing keeping them from being a royal pain in the arse right now. And this defense system wasn't intended to protect against the paranoid Russians anyway, it was to defend Europe against Iranian and other rogue state ballistic missiles. And now that we have jerked around until Iran can tip those missiles with a nuke or two, the Obama administration seems to think those are no longer a threat. One has to hope they are right.

Nolanbuck

Free Speech Makes Nancy Cry

2009-09-18T13:16:00.000-07:00

Surely you've seen this tearful presser, but can you frickin' believe it?

Let's look beyond the crocodile tears for a moment and examine what she's really saying here...

"I wish that we would all, again, curb our enthusiasm in some of the statements that are made. Some of the people hearing the message are not as balanced as the person making the statement might assume,"

Translation: The right-wing rabble-rousers need to be careful what they say, because the tea-baggers are nuts. (no pun intended)

"Our country is great because people can say what they think and they believe,"

Isn't it interesting that when Liberals say things like this regarding conservatives, there's always a BUT coming next?

"But (told ya) I also think that they have to take responsibility for any incitement that they may cause."

Like when you compared townhall protesters to Nazis? By Nancy's logic, Jody Foster should take responsibility for Hinckley shooting Reagan. Yeesh.

"I have concerns about some of the language that is being used because I saw this myself in the late '70s in San Francisco," (*sniffle*) "This kind of rhetoric was very frightening."

Please notice the intentional vagueness here. Exactly which words are bringing her to tears? Freedom? No new taxes? Fire Congress? I must assume the late 70's violence in San Francisco she refers to is the anti-gay violence, particularly the the 1978 murders of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk by nutbag city Supervisor Dan White. While violence against homosexuals or any other group is utterly deplorable, one must concede that (in the long run) anti-gay violence in 1970's San Francisco backfired badly.

Madame Speaker to anti-war activists at a town hall in 2006: "Advocacy is very American, and very important...There's nothing more articulate, more eloquent, to a member of Congress, than the voice of his or her own constituents. I understand your anger...I'm a fan of disruptors, people who make change".

Madame Speaker regarding protesters at town halls in 2008: "These disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views — but of the facts themselves. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. "

Which is it, our-lady-of-the-perpetual-surprised-look? I suppose it depends on who's ideas are being criticized.

Nolanbuck

Back To It

2009-09-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

Just when you thought it was safe to turn on your computer again...lol

I took a break from blogging because a)I had alot on my plate besides this blog, and b)I was doing a rather poor job of it anyway. Well, I've come to the conclusion that posting my rantings and random thoughts on the internet is much too cathartic to give up on. So I'm gonna make this thing work.

I will do my best to make daily entries here, most will probably be brief, and you may find many of them not too terribly interesting. If you do find it interesting: I am pleased to have caught your attention, feel free to comment. If not, that's ok too, at least I got it off my chest.

Also, after this post I am killing the feed to Facebook. Frankly, it's not fair to my FB friends to have to put up with a daily intrusion by yours truly. And furthermore, I must admit that I find the fact that lots of people who know me are being forced to read my mind-ejecta rather somewhat constraining. So FB friends, rejoice, the end is near. :-)

If you are reading this on Facebook, and for some reason would like to see what I say or do next (or are still waiting anxiously for my wife's next entry, since it's her blog too), just go to 2bucksworth.com for more ( twobucksworth.com will get you to the same place, BTW).

So, thank you, goodbye, welcome back, on with the show, which ever sign off applies to your situation. God bless and good luck to you all, regardless.

Bad Medicine

2009-07-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

Nolanbuck's note: I have worked in health care for nigh on 20 years, and while I am no expert, I do know a thiing or two about how the system works, from both sides of the reception desk. This blog on the current health care debate is long overdue. My apologies to those who I told I would be addressing this issue earlier for failing to do so. But better late than never.

That is....unless of course you are President Obama or the Democratic congressional leadership, is which case later is always a bad idea when right the heck now is so much better. Later would cause so many nasty side effects, like congresspersons actually reading the bill they are voting on, or the "3 days of sunshine" that Mr. Obama promised (but has yet to deliver even once) for every bill before the Congress.

And now again they are in an all-fired hurry to pass a health care reform bill. I guess a bad idea is better if you don't stop to think about it. For crying out loud, even Lyndon Johnson took over a year to pass the legislative kidney stone that became Medicare. Why the big rush?

Why, of course, is because the previous big spending bills and an "apologize-first" foreign policy have this President and his pals in Congress staring at some sliding poll numbers, so better to ram all of the pet projects through before the American people wake up completely from their coma. And now even the so-called "conservative Democrats" in Congress have grown a spine and have started telling Speaker Pelosi that they will lose their job if they keep being led around by the nose toward a big government agenda.

But why not have health care reform, if we can just slow down abit and actually talk about it? Well, it depends on the kind of "reform" you are interested in. Does health care in America need some work? Absolutely it does. Don't I want everyone to have decent health care? Of course I do.

But the bill currently before the Congress does the wrong thing in the wrong way. Government health care coverage plans like Medicare and Medicaid already make health care cost more for everyone by demanding care that patients don't need (like a three day minimum hospital stay before a patient can be moved to an outpatient rehabilitation center) and then setting their own price regardless of the cost of the care they insist upon. And who makes up the difference in the cost? Those of us who have private health insurance or pay out of pocket.

Ask yourself: why can practically everyone afford car insurance (which is required by law) and home insurance (required by the mortgage company) but we can't afford our own health insurance without help from our employer, the government, etc? Because the government is already knee-deep in the health care system, and they are the ones driving up costs. I'm no fan of the insurance or drug companies, but it makes me want to laugh when people blame the corruption of the big evil corporations for the problems in health care, when our own government's health care appendages are rife with corruption, graft, and incompetence, all of which make health care more expensive and less available for all of us.

If this bill passes, you will be required by law to have health insurance. Don't want it? Tough. you will be allowed to keep your current employer plan if you have one. But if you resign or are fired, you will be forced into the government plan. The plan would also hurt those of us who already have insurance by either taxing our previously un-taxable health benefits, or providing a cheaper-per-employee government subsidized plan that would force many companies to abandon their own plan to save the company money. So much for keeping your own plan if you like it, huh?

This bill could also hurt those who currently do not have insurance through their employer, by forcing companies to extend benefits or pay a fine. Either cost will force employer to reduce work force size to compensate for the cost of the new legislation. So some Americans who now have a job but no insurance will soon have insurance but no job. Awesome idea. (Not)

The bottom line is this, health care in America needs some help. It needs to be streamlined, cleaned up of corruption and waste, made safer by increased infection control, and yes, made available to everyone. The question is, do we need the government to spend $1 trillion of our money to fix it? Or do we need to have experts from every discipline of health care and business come together to make a better plan? A plan that includes co-ops for the uninsured to buy insurance at lower group rates, limits on federal manipulation of heath care funding and maybe even an insurance for your health insurance, a few extra dollars a week to make sure you have coverage to bridge the gap if you are out of work or hurt.

What we do not need is a government-run health care system, at a time when countries like Canada and Australia that have socialized medicine are backing away in favor of more private care. We do not need just sit by and trust our very well-being to the government that gave us Social Security (bankrupt), Medicare (bankrupt) and welfare, or to the President and Congress that rushed through a stimulus bill so far has only allowed unemployment to rise higher (9.5%) than they said it would go without the stimulus (8%).

It is time to say no....time to say ENOUGH. Stop spending our children's money and our national prosperity on your own Voltairian social welfare-state dreams and start doing your jobs...which is looking out for the best interests of the people who hired you. The country needs some fixing, but it needs a tune up, not a new paint job and tinted windows. Call your congressperson, call the White House, tell them to slow down and stop trying to pull the wool over our eyes, act like adults and maybe they can do us some good for a change.

Nolanbuck

Just Leave Him Alone

2009-07-08T18:05:00.000-07:00

originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

Leave Me Alone-Stop It! Just Stop Doggin' Me Around

"Leave Me Alone" - Michael Jackson

First of all, I'd like to apologize for not blogging for awhile, but that's what a full life and a borderline addiction to Mafia Wars will get you. I'm sure some of you wondered if I had given up blogging, and for a few it may have been a welcome respite.

Speaking of welcome respites, I for one will be glad when everyone stops talking about Michael Jackson. I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't a fan back in the 80's, when Michael was the biggest thing in music. I remember when I got Thriller for Christmas and played it from first to last over and over.

But all the talk about Jacko is beginning to make me both fed up and a little put-off. Firstly, it has been incessant for over a week now, and it's gets old. But more than that, the way some people are talking about the man strikes me as way over the top.

Some are hailing him as some sort of demigod, which is of course ridiculous and insulting to my intelligence. Michael was a supremely gifted individual, his talent and entertainment acumen are undeniable. He broke the color-barrier at MTV at a time when they did not play African American artists' videos. He was one of the first black men who could say he was the biggest star of the time. He was not, however, the greatest performer of all time - not even the greatest African American performer - Sammy Davis, Jr was better. And MJ was no Elvis, Jackson was around longer, but Elvis was the most famous person alive for over 25 years. I know it's hard to keep our perspective when we've recently lost someone so talented, but "all-time" is a long time.

Then there are others intent on reminding us of Michael's failings, and they are many. Calling him a weirdo may be close to the mark, but it's more than a bit uncharitable at this point. Michael was an odd-duck, to be sure, but most of it was harmless if distracting. And those who call him a child molester are being unfair to a man who was never found guilty of anything. And no, paying a kid to keep the secrets of a very private man is weird, but not proof of wrongdoing.

Now let me be clear, many of Michael's interactions with youngsters, even those he admitted to like sleeping in a bed full of kids, were very inappropriate, wrong, selfish, and not in the best interests of the kids. I have to wonder where the parents of these kids were and why they allowed their children to be put in this situation, but Michael should have known better and he can't be excused for inappropriate behavior. Did he ever cross the line with these kids? I don't know, and neither does anyone who wasn't there. I hope to God not, but we don't know.

Michael Jackson is neither a god nor a devil, he was simply a very talented and very damaged man who had a very hard time making good choices. He was robbed of his childhood and spent the rest of his life chasing what he could never have back. He was a study in indulgence, a cautionary tale of the pitfalls of no self control. Even though he veered into areas that we find inappropriate and reprehensible, in many other ways he is us, writ large. The reasons why Michael ruined his health, finances and career are the same reasons why America is a nation of overweight, in-debt couch potatoes...our access has outrun our self control. We eat too much, watch too much tv, stay on the internet too long, spend too much money...because we can. Sometimes we too have a hard time making good choices with our time, health, and money.

What we need to learn from Michael is that in this world of instant access and abundance... enough is still enough, too much is still too much, and wrong is still wrong.

Nolanbuck

You'd have to be crazy to be a dad!

2009-06-20T04:58:00.000-07:00

originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

As we approach another Father's Day, I find myself a mix of emotions and thoughts. Those who know me well would not find that different from any other day, but at this time my heart and mind are travelling one particular road together, that of fatherhood.

Firstly for my own father, whom I love, respect and admire. For years now I have know we are two very different men; on the surface of it, I am probably the least like my father of his three sons. But with the wisdom of some years and the benefit of their reflection, I have come to find that we are not so different at all, he and I. He passed on the best of himself to me: his work ethic, his love of laughter, his quiet strength. I am my father's son, and I honor him for allowing me to stand on his shoulders like the trunk of a mighty oak and cast my branches skyward.

Speaking of said branches, my other thoughts this weekend are of course for my own offspring. I am intensely proud of my own sons; as they reach their late teens and early twenties I marvel at the men they are becoming and I cannot help but indulge in a little pride at my contribution to this miracle. And yet I know that much of what they have become, much of the wonder that I marvel at in them is not of my doing. Their wonderful mother, grandparents, countless teachers and coaches, and their heavenly Father have all played a role. And it strikes me that, in retrospect, my job as a father has been not only to have good influence on them myself, but to surround them with the best influences for their minds and hearts to soak up. I know I have failed at times, but I hope on the whole I have served them well.

I will spare you all that my heart is full of today, but I would like to pass along a some of what I have learned as a father for 18 years, particularly as a father of boys.

Walk uprightly before them. When you walk through their view, there is an "S" on your chest and a cape flowing behind you. You are their hero, act like one. Treat your wife like a lady, show them how a gentleman behaves. Know that every step you take and every word you say, you are training little men. The cameras are always running, gentlemen.
Love them freely. So many men in this country still suffer from emotional constipation in this day & age. Your kids crave your love and acceptance, pine for your approval, most of them well into adulthood. Be free with the hugs, liberal with the "L" word, an never, ever let them forget that you love them like crazy.
Be proud of them and let it show. Let them hear you tell someone something good about them. Take an interest in their lives and show them that they can shine. Tell them that you are proud of them and never stop, even when they are grown.
Be slow to wrath, and quick to forgive. Children need constant discipline, but always remember that discipline has nothing to do with how you feel about it. Resist the temptation to take revenge, even when they deserve it; and don't hold their mistakes over their heads. Deal with it appropriately and move on. Trust me, they will remember their mistakes longer than you will.
Admit when you are wrong. You will be wrong, alot. Stop trying to be perfect, every Superman has his kryptonite. When you do wrong, acknowledge it, ask for forgiveness and try to learn from it. Isn't that what we expect from our kids?
Share your beliefs with them. Take them to worship, talk to them honestly about your deeply held beliefs and opinions. Some people call it brainwashing, I call it engaging them as a fellow human being. Mark my words, they will chose their own way, so you need not worry your head over indoctrinating your kids, you aren't programming a robot here. Your beliefs are only the footing, they will build their own house. Let them roam freely in your house of thought and someday, wonder of wonders, you will be invited into theirs.
Teach them to work. Let them help you do things, encourage them to put their hands on work, get the feel of it. Mowing the yard, fixing a leak, whatever you are doing that they can be involved in. It's not about being a lawnmower or a plumber, it's about learning to do work, whatever it may be. Safety first, to be sure; but let them help...especially while they are willing...even if it would be easier to do it yourself.
Lastly, delight in your children. Enjoy every moment, even the frustrating ones, and yes, even the painful ones. I know it's cliche', but all to soon they will be gone, and those moments will go with them. So gawk with feigned amazement at every hand-scrawled drawing, clap and cheer like a fanboy at every game or concert or recital. No need to pressure them, just support them 100%. Let your children know they are awesome, and they will go out and be awesome someday.

Happy Father's Day everyone. If you are luck enough to have your dad still around, go see him or call him. And if you are lucky enough to have your kids within reach, hug them and tell them you love them. Like crazy. :-)

Nolanbuck

How The (Middle) East Was Won?

2009-06-05T18:56:00.000-07:00

originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

By now, my disagreements on policy and politics with our President are legion and well documented. But, as a fair-minded individual, I have to give the man credit when it is due him.

His speech in Cairo this week, while containing a few items I disagree with and a couple of minor historical inaccuracies, was on the whole brilliant and well-worded. After a couple of days of reflections upon it, I'd like to mention a few passages from the speech.

"I am grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt.
I am also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a
greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: assalaamu alaykum."

Excellent greeting, but it would be nice for him to convey a greeting of peace from all Americans. Just a thought.

"We meet at a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the
world - tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy
debate...Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small but potent
minority of Muslims. The attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile not only to America and Western countries, but
also to human rights. This has bred more fear and mistrust."

Excellent, if perhaps self-evident, point.

"And I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States
to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear." (huge
applause from crowd)"....But that same principle must apply to Muslim
perceptions of America" (mixed reception). "Just as Muslims do not fit a
crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested
empire."

Bam! Best line of the speech. Brilliantly written and delivered.

"Much has been made of the fact that an African-American with the name Barack
Hussein Obama could be elected President. But my personal story is not so
unique. The dream of opportunity for all people has not come true for everyone
in America, but its promise exists for all who come to our shores - that
includes nearly seven million American Muslims in our country today who enjoy
incomes and education that are higher than average."

Even though his estimate of Muslims in the US is about two times too high, the thought behind the statement still rings true.

"In Ankara, I made clear that America is not - and never will be - at war with
Islam. We will, however, relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a
grave threat to our security. Because we reject the same thing that people of
all faiths reject: the killing of innocent men, women, and children. And it is
my first duty as President to protect the American people."

A well-made contrast, putting a fine point on an issue that is too often broad-brushed.

"America's strong bonds with Israel are well known. This bond is unbreakable. It
is based upon cultural and historical ties, and the recognition that the
aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in a tragic history that cannot be
denied."

I'm glad to hear him say this so unequivocally. The entire Israel/Palestine portion of the speech was bold and searing in its frankness and truth. It was an even-handed rebuke in front of a biased audience, and he did not wilt from its delivery.

"No matter where it takes hold, government of the people and by the people sets a
single standard for all who hold power: you must maintain your power through
consent, not coercion; you must respect the rights of minorities, and
participate with a spirit of tolerance and compromise; you must place
the interests of your people and the legitimate workings of the political
process above your party. Without these ingredients, elections alone do
not make true democracy."

(emphasis mine). While I agree with this statement, his relationship with groups like Acorn belie his adherance to this high-minded ideal.

I will not belabor the point, but the President went on to touch on nuclear weapons, democracy, religous freedom, and women's rights in the Middle East. Some will see this speech as kowtowing to Muslims, some will wonder why now it is ok to mention President Obama's muslim heritage when it was an outrage to do so a year ago (a fair point). This President has made his share of foreign policy gaffs in his brief tenure, many of which I have pointed out myself...but this wasn't one of them.

This speech took the moral high-ground without glad-handing or butt-kissing, but by simply stating right as right and wrong as wrong. It's nice to be able to say without reservation: "Well done, Mr. President". I don't expect it to last, but I'll enjoy it while I can.

Nolanbuck

I'm 4 Sotomayor

2009-05-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

There has been alot of sound a fury from the right over the nomination of federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme court. I've given it alot of thought and frankly I can't see the reason for all the fuss.

Yes, she is a liberal judge (what did you expect? President Obama is a liberal...President Bush appointed two conservatives to the court, why does this shock anyone?) No, she is not a strict constructionist (again, neither is the President, and he won the right to make the appointments). But some food for thought for my conservative brethren & sistren before they go hammer & tongs after this woman.

1. She's replacing a liberal justice, so it's not like this is tipping the balance of the court.
2. She's going to get confirmed anyway. the GOP doesn't have the votes in the Senate to do anything about it.
3. She'll be the first Hispanic justice. Now, I know that shouldn't matter, and it truly doesn't matter to me. But if you think it won't matter at the ballot box if you savage the lady in the Senate, you're nuts.
4. She's turning out to be more conservative-ish than originally thought. While she'll never put Rush Limbaugh out of work ,she has sided with the conservative member of the appellate court more often than her liberal colleague. And she has made some very strong anti-abortion statements (she's a Catholic, you know...and she'll make 6 Catholics out of 9 justices. Again, that shouldn't matter regarding her confirmation, but it can't make pro-choice activist groups very comfortable.)

So if I were running the show for the senate GOP (which I decidedly am not), I would make sure she was asked some tough questions and given a chance to explain some of her more controversial remarks; then I would not only vote for her confirmation, I would applaud it. It's a win-win for Republicans. If she turns out to be far left, we got what we expected. But if she is indeed closer to the center than originally suspected, the court shifts to the right even more.

Nolanbuck

Obama's Gitmo Plan Falls Short

2009-05-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

In his first week in office, President Obama declared that the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base would be closed. He didn't say how he was going to pull it off, but you have to give him credit for trying to keep a campaign promise.

From that day to this week, his opponents have been allowed to frame the argument about the closing of the controversial prison, and his lack of details led to Congress refusing to fund the closing of the facility.

Now yesterday, the President gave a speech at the National Archives to take back control of this issue. I'm not going to break down the whole speech (which was very long) but here's some thoughts...

1. I find it tacky at best to give a political speech at a sacred place like the National Archives. Make no mistake, the plans he talked about in this speech are political calculations to endear us to other countries and please the U.S. left.

2. While I agree that "enhanced interrogation techniques" are not always the best option, they are occasionally a better option than waiting for something bad to happen. We know that water-boarding revealed a plot for a 9-11 style attack on Los Angeles. If the President thinks that our "torture" could be a recruiting tool for terrorists, what do you think successful attack on a major U.S. city will do for terrorists recruiting?

3. For a guy who says he is not interested in rehashing the past 8 years, the President spent an awful lot of time taking about the last 8 years.

4. I'm all for deporting some of the illegal combatants if other countries will take them and can assure us they will not be released or escape.

5. I'm all for reviewing these cases, as the President proposes, and getting on with prosecutions where warranted.

6. Some of these terrorists cannot be tried here in the U.S., and should not be housed here, even in federal super-max prisons. Even if they can't escape (there's a 1st time for everything), these baddest of the baddies are rock-stars in the terrorist and anti-U.S. crowd, they will preach their hate to the most willing listeners and radicalize those who will someday be released (like the home grown terrorists who were recently caught trying to blow up New York synagogues and military planes, they were radicalized while in prison).

One more point: I know that some of you think I hate President Obama, but nothing could be farther from the truth. He's a very smart man who probably really does want what he thinks is best for the country. The "he thinks" part is where I begin to disagree. Despite all of Mr. Obama's charm, he's still a politician...which means I probably won't trust him; and he's a liberal...which means I probably won't agree with him often. Trying to make that disagreement into hate, or worse: racism, only cheapens the tradition of debate that our country holds so dear.

Nolanbuck

The Prez Snubs Kindergarteners

2009-05-22T06:09:00.000-07:00

originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

I thought President Obama was for the "little people", but apparently that doesn't apply if you're little because you are five years old.

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Kindergarteners-Snubbed-for-Steelers.html

That's just cold. They're little kids for crying out loud (and apparently, they were...crying out loud, that is).

Best line in the story:

"Here we have President Obama and his administration saying, 'Here we are for the common, middle class people,' and here he is not letting 150 5- and 6-year-olds into the White House because he’s throwing a lunch for a bunch of grown millionaires," Stine said.

Ouch. Good thing he won't be running for reelection in 2022.

Nolanbuck

California Dreamin' Turns Into a Nightmare

2009-05-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

Originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

The voters of California yesterday turned down a budget initiative full of tax hikes and borrowing put forth by Democrats in the state legislature and their RINO governorator. Apparently, those silly Californians didn't get the memo about people wanting bigger government from that other famous RINO, Colin Powell.

Now there's even talk of the rest of the country having to bail our most populous state, a state with an economy the size of the UK. So the rest of us will get to pay for California's irresponsibility? That sounds familiar.

Not that theses point haven't been brought up before, but some things come into my mind about this Cali mess:

1. Don't they have enough rich liberals in California to pay for all of these programs they can't afford? Why don't they do what Joe Biden calls their "patriotic duty" and pay more taxes voluntarily?

2. When people are leaving California in droves, did they really think more taxes was the answer? Hint: It's the taxpayers that are leaving, not the people you're spending it on.

There's a reason why we don't all live on what might be the most beautiful stretch of land on the planet, some of us can't afford it. Apparently now, neither can Californians.

Nolanbuck

Epic Failure

2009-05-11T19:17:00.000-07:00

Originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

Back in January, Rush Limbaugh created apoplexy in the media, the Democratic party, and half of the Republican party by saying that he hoped Obama's presidency fails. I know that he's an entertainer and I didn't make a big deal of it...plus if you listen to the entire clip, I kind of agree with him.

You don't have to agree with his statement, but let's all agree on two things: 1) the backlash to his comments was overdone political opportunism, and 2) his ratings go up every time the left has a fit over something he says, so he doesn't care if you're offended. And again, the man is only a talk show host, even if he's right sometimes.

Fast forward to last week at the White House Correspondent's dinner when Wanda Sykes, an admittedly talented if acerbic comic, had some jokes about race, terrorism, drug addiction, and what she'd like to see happen to the President's critics.

Rather that being shocked, or at least maintain a sense of decorum, my President laughed at these crude remarks. So do you still want a President who thinks, terrorism, drug addiction, and kidney failure is funny, do you? Well I can't speak for hope, but this is a change, I'll give you that.

Nolanbuck

The Picture Worth 1,000 Screams

2009-05-08T17:20:00.000-07:00

Originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

After scaring the crap out of lower Manhattan and costing the taxpayers over $350,000 for what $800 worth of PhotoShop could have accomplished, the White House today finally released the now infamous Air Force One-Statue of Liberty flyover pic.

You may remember the debacle that the photo op caused, a panic in downtown New York as people evacuated buildings and ran through the streets thinking it was another 9-11 attack, only later to find it was just the President's plane buzzing their office buildings.

The photo came out, after the White House had originally said they weren't going to release it. Apparently someone in the administration realized that this was not in keeping with Mr. Obama's campaign promises of a "more open government", and furthermore that not releasing these embarrassing shots, while at the same time releasing CIA "torture" photos that will probably get some government employees killed, was hypocritical at the very least.

So, enjoy your $350,000 photo, America. And look to the skies, your town might be the next one to hold a Presidential photo-op/disaster drill. Or it could be real terrorists; apparently you never know with this bunch.

Nolanbuck

Britian Bans 16 "Least Wanted"

2009-05-05T16:16:00.000-07:00

Originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

I have always been a Britophile. Not merely our mother country, the UK has also been the US's closest ally and best friend for a century. I am loathe to be critical of such a normally outstanding nation, but sometimes they do things that make me scratch my head.

This week, the British Home Office released the names of 16 very bad people that it doesn't want to come to their fair isles. Ever. Some of them are no-brainers...

Artur Ryno and Pavel Skachevsky (Russian skin-head racist murderers)
A gaggle of various and sundry Muslim extremists and terrorists
Mike Guzovsky (a Kahanist/Jewish fundamentalist)
Erich Gliebe (neo-nazi)
Stephen Donald Black (former grand wizard of the KKK)
American Baptist pastor Fred Waldron Phelps Snr and his daughter Shirley Phelps-Roper (nutballs who protest soldiers' funerals because they were supposedly fighting for gay rights)
and Michael Savage (conservative talk-show host)

What? Michael Savage? WTH did he do? When is saying things you don't agree with the same as killing people or rasing money for terrorist front organizations? I don't agree with some of the things Savage says, but I'd never censor him or bar him from the country for speaking his mind.

Even the Phelps, who are twisted, disrespectful and generally disreputable, are only expressing their right to free speech. Yes they are annoying and embarrasing, but enemies of the state? Hardly.

IMHO, any country that starts banning spewers of vitriol and leaves Janeane Garafalo off the list calls their own good judgement into question at the very least.

This is starting to remind me of certain liberal groups in this country, those who will say that if you don't agree with them you are evil. If you don't support President Obama's policies you are a racist (per Garafalo), if you are pro-life you are a misogynist (or a religious zealot), if you support traditional marriage you are a homophobe (or a religious zealot). Or maybe, maybe we just disagree, in a country where that is still allowed. Nah, can't be that.

Yes, a few people are incurably violent or hateful. But for the rest of us, trying to win an argument by labeling someone as a hater is the coward's way to debate a point you can't defend otherwise. Debate and disagreement never hurt anyone, it's when debate is no longer tolerated that things get dicey.

Nolanbuck

Things That Make Me Go WTHeck?

2009-05-03T05:38:00.000-07:00

Originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

Riddle me this: why did the media and congressional Democrats have a hissy fit over the the supposed outing of supposedly covert agent Valerie Plame, and why did we need a special prosecutor to charge Scooter Libby (although we later found out it was Democrat Richard Armitage who blabbed); when the Obama Administration and ABC News outed the two CIA contractors who oversaw the waterboarding program?

Valerie Plame hadn't done anything more covert than mowing the lawn for two years before she made herself news by sending her husband to Niger (who was not a spy) when then wrote a column about it, yet the mere mention of her name (which was widely known in Washington) was a breach of national security. Where's the outrage now that the White House has signed these two men's death warrants?

You can argue the merits of waterboarding as an interrogation technique all you want, but how has putting these two men's name, picture, and life's story in the public eye making us any safer? If fact, I would posit that doing so makes the two contractors much less safe, open to the attacks of nutball activists or worse, jihadis bent on revenge.

Remember, when the Democrats gained majorities in congress in 2006, the Valerie Plame incident was examined as possible grounds for impeachment of President Bush. I suppose now they'll be looking into giving President Obama the same treatment. I won't be holding my breath.

Nolanbuck

Swine Flu Redux

2009-05-01T18:15:00.000-07:00

originally posted at 2BucksWorth.com

Science being my livelihood and history being my favorite hobby, I always find it interesting when the two intersect. The current flu pandemic, admittedly, has been over-hyped by the media (what isn't these days?) but also I think that based on history and our knowledge of the virus, the public response has so far been mostly appropriate.

First of all, every health official lives in fear of a repeat the 1918 flu pandemic, the so-called "Spanish Flu", which lasted for over two years and killed somewhere between 20 and 100 million people worldwide. Adding to the horror of the sheer numbers was the pathology of the disease, frightening effects like the cytokine storm that made it so deadly. That's why health officials err on the side of caution.

But they have overrated in the past too. For those to young to remember the 1976 Swine Flu outbreak (I was 6 years old), it was a study in too much, too soon. The U.S. government rushed a vaccine into production, and the resulting immunizations killed far more people than the flu did. They even used TV spots to push the vaccinations:

Ultimately, only one person died of the 1976 Swine Flu, the vaccine killed 25.

Even the recent Bird Flu scare had it's usefulness, the plans put in place for the Bird Flu outbreak that never came our way left us more ready to quickly react to this new flu. This time, a rapid but reasonable response seems to be working, and may have saved countless lives.

Apparently, we do learn from history. Sometimes.

Nolanbuck

"Torture" Cases Now Tormenting Democrats

2009-04-24T16:43:00.000-07:00

Originally posted at 2BucksWorth. com

Just last week, even as he kicked the chair out from under the U.S. intelligence community by releasing memos regarding the interrogation of terrorists, President Obama stated that he had no interest in prosecuting officials of the previous adminstration that were involved in using or sanctioning so-called "aggressive interrogation techniques". That was last week, and with each week dawns a brand new approach in the current administration as the political winds have now shifted to a blistering hot gale out of the left.

This week, in a transparent cave-in to the far-left, the President did an about-face and called for the prosecution of certain individuals involved in what we now call "torture" (Of course, many veterans and military academy grads still call water-boarding "hazing".) Also, please keep in mind that these "torture" methods where only used on a handful of detainees...such princes among men as Khalid Sheik Mohammed, who masterminded the 9/11 attacks, and Abu Zubaida, who was invloved in many foiled terror plots and has already been sentenced to death in Jordan.

This latest pronouncement by the White House unleashed a pack of ravening congressional Democrats who had been plotting such prosecutions for months, including House Speaker Pelosi and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, who were almost giddy at the proposition of raking these neo-con fascists over the coals for all of their secret plots to torture innocent terrorists and besmirch the reputation of the U.S. as the largest, richest pansy on the globe.

But, alas, in every rush of self-indulgent euphoria there is often a catch, like the fact that Nancy Pelosi has known about the water-boarding for 7 years... and said nothing until it was too late to prevent any "torture" but just in time to make political hay out of the subject. Yes, you read that right, she knew about it. There were over 30 meetings in which this subject was discussed, one in which the cherub-like Khalid Sheik Mohammed was discussed in particular, and yet Madame Speaker (then a mere ranking member) did not bat an eye, much less go to the press or demand investigations.

One has to wonder: why the sudden case of congressional scruples now? And also one wonders how long it will take for the Dems to spin this issue now that they've been exposed for frauds who are demagoguing our national security for political gain. Again.

Nolanbuck

Happy Lab Week

2009-04-21T15:34:00.000-07:00

National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, known in the lab world simply as "Lab Week", is an annual celebration of the scientists and health care professionals (like myself) who work behind the scenes in hospitals, clinics, and research facilities to bring everyone better health through laboratory analysis and scientific research.

It is also a time for us to come out from behind the curtain and showcase who we are and what we do to the world. If you have ever had blood drawn or sent any medical specimen for analysis, your life and well-being has been touched by one of my colleagues. And chances are, you have never seen us, and never gave it a second thought.

But we don't mind, we're not in it for the glory. We chose to work in medical laboratories because we love science, but we also love helping people. We are only one part of a larger family of health care disciplines that all work together to help keep you in tip-top shape; but we help every other healthcare professional do their jobs, and to provide you with better, more focused care.

So, I raise a test tube in salute to my fellow lab rats: may your Erlenmeyer flasks always be full, may your crossmatches always be compatible, and may your titrations never go too far past their end point.

Nolanbuck, BSMT, CLS (NCA)

Two Books Everyone Should Read

2009-04-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

Originally poster at: 2BucksWorth.com

If you want to have some perspective on the way things are going in the world today and where they are headed, check out these two books, one looking at the past and another looking to the future.
The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shlaes

You may have heard about this on tv or radio, as it is getting a lot of buzz recently. I read a lot of history (by a lot I mean nonstop for decades), and this is the best account of the Great Depression I've read. It's balanced and very informative, without all the New Deal kool-aid. Some of the themes of the government response to the Great Depression bear great similarity to ideas being touted today.

The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century by George Friedman

A fascinating forecast for what the rest of the 21st century holds by a man who makes his living helping companies and government stay ahead of the historical curve. The predictions range from entirely plausible to some real head-scratchers, but if half of what Mr. Freidman predicts happens, it will be an interesting century to say the least. Oh and if you don't like America or you think the U.S.'s best days are behind it, this book will probably tick you off.

Feel free to suggest some of your recent favorite reads, I'm always looking for a good book. :-)

Nolanbuck

Tea Parties "Shameful" and "Dispicable"?

2009-04-16T16:13:00.001-07:00

Originally poster at: 2BucksWorth.com

Apparently, the we the people speaking our minds does not sit well with some in the halls of power, like Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), for instance, who referred to the peaceful gatherings as "being held today by groups of right-wing activists, and fueled by FOX News Channel, are an effort to mislead the public about the Obama economic plan that cuts taxes for 95 percent of Americans and creates 3.5 million jobs."

There's an old saying that goes something like this: "If you throw a rock into a pack of dogs, the one that barks is the one it hit." Apparently, someone got Congresswoman Schakowsky's attention, and she was none too pleased. Now she knows how we feel. Mission accomplished.

Nolanbuck

Dad To The Rescue

2009-04-10T18:50:00.000-07:00

originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

It is an intrinsic part of parenting to be on standby for rescue operations for your children; more so I think for dad's, since a man's natural inclination is to fix something. From righting upturned strollers to the time one of my kids fell out of a second story window (there's another story you gotta hear), I have upheld the proud Buck tradition of fathers rescuing their children from various snags and tight spots.

My oldest son got stranded in strange part of town last night with a broken down car. Between his description of the problem and my cursory knowledge of car anatomy, we diagnosed the problem and after I arrived on the scene we devised a plan to get him & his car back home safely, which we did. Some people would call it an inconvenience (which it was), but I call it an adventure.

Which reminded me of another "adventure", in which my dad rescued me from a much worse predicament almost 20 years ago. Oh yes, being stranded with a broken down car is familiar territory for me...

I lived in Jackson, MS for two years while I was in school there, and in day in December 1990 I left work and headed north to my parent's place 200 miles away for Christmas. The only problem with this plan was, between me and my folks was a raging ice/snow storm that had driven most sane people indoors for the weekend. But, being 21 and invincible, I struck north.

With most of my meager possessions in the back seat (including my 20 gallon tank of tropical fish), I soon ran into heavy snow. Despite the weather, I was making good time until, quite without preamble, my car engine died. On the Interstate, in the driving snow, four miles from the nearest exit. Needless to say, my prospects turned grim in a hurry.

I was in luck, however, as a father and son in a pickup truck picked me up (may God bless them forever) and dropped me off in the next town, the booming metropolis of Vaiden, MS. At a local truck stop, I found a payphone and did what every 21 year old should do in a situation like this, I called dad. He told me he was on his way and he set out through the maelstrom while I sat tight for three hours of stale coffee and disapproving glares from the waitress.

When he arrived, we set out to find the car. the way was not easy going, since it was still snowing (and dark by then), and his truck's radiator iced up (it was that freakin' cold). So we fixed that (the only liquid water we could find was in the bathroom sink at rest stop)and pushed on to the car. The problem was found to be a thrown engine belt, so we returned to Vaiden to buy a belt (try that on a snowy Saturday night) and then back to the car to repair it.

Once the car was running again (and the heat was thawing out my poor fish) we made for the north once more on what was now a 200 mile long sheet of ice. As we clawed our way home, car after car spun out of control and into the ditches, it was like a bad action movie. At one point, my dad spun out on an icy bridge, from my viewpoint it looked like a flashlight thrown across a frozen pond. Round and round he spun in a terrifying dance, to come to rest safely on the median just beyond the bridge. Whew!

I made it to my parents' house 11 hours, two good Samaritans and one dad later, tired but safe. Do I regret my decision not to stay in Jackson that day? Nope. I had a truly death defying adventure and to top it all off: a week later, on New Year's Eve, I met the woman who would someday become my lovely bride, the one and only Debbiebuck. Now if that's not worth driving 200 miles through the ice & snow, I ask you what is?

Nolanbuck

President Obama Visits The Troops

2009-04-07T19:58:00.000-07:00

originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

Ok, you may not hear me say this very often for the next 4 years, so you might want to take note. In fact, the faint of heart might even want to sit down. Here it goes:

Well done, President Obama!

Thank you for swinging by and visiting the troops. You didn't have to do it, but you did, and I salute you for it. A very classy move, Mr. President.

It's obvious that the troops love you. Now, please sir, don't let them down.

Nolanbuck

I See Red!

2009-03-31T16:34:00.000-07:00

originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

"I see red

And it hurts my head

Guess it must be something

That I read" - Red Lenses (Rush)

I've recently been having very frank and stimulating on-line discussion with a long time friend of mine about the charges of Socialism that have been leveled against President Obama (actually, Obama was still a candidate when my friend posted his original blog topic). The discussion has ranged from the relative merits of the differing degrees of socialism versus those of capitalism, to whether in fact Mr. Obama himself is a card-carrying soviet.

As to the later point, my friend wisely cautioned against snap judgements before the election, and I have forced myself since the election to try to wait until the new President has a chance to show us what he's all about. And while there is scant evidence that Mr. Obama is a full-on Commie, it is becoming increasingly apparent that our President and the Congress sees capitalism as more the problem than the solution, and they earnestly believe that if a little government is good, a lot is even better.

I will save my opinions on why capitalism is the nearest to the perfect economic system that man will ever devise for another day, but I must address the few holdouts who are not true-believing liberals, but neither have sufficiently opened their eyes to the fact that Mr. Obama is. When the socialist democracies of Europe are lecturing the U.S. government on the evils of deficit spending and constant bailouts, you know that something profound has happened. It's as if the big kid that everyone teased for never swimming in the socialism pool suddenly does a swan dive into the deep end, all at once socialism isn't as chic as it used to be.

Dependence on government spending to move the economy, government control of major components of our economy like the auto industry and health care (socialism mandates government control of the means of production), and confiscatory taxation of the wealthy to spread the wealth around ("From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs" - Karl Marx) ... is it any wonder that it's not only right-wing wackos like myself that are seeing Red?

No one thinks the next red scare is around the corner, but maybe people are starting to remember some former community organizers that were put in charge of a country. Like Lenin, and Mao.

Enjoy, comrades.

Nolanbuck

Off With His Appendix!

2009-03-27T17:38:00.000-07:00

originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

On Monday night, while Debbie & I were out & about, our middlest son called us to inform us that he was having terrible pains in his lower right abdomen. (I sometimes refer to him as the middlest son, because why should the 2nd of three kids be the only one without a superlative?) Having been through one bout of appendicitis and an appendectomy with our oldest son in 2006, I immediately thought "appendix". Obviously, having seen what his brother went through 2.5 years ago, #2 son was not thrilled at this diagnosis.

Neither were the wife & I excited at the prospect of another appendectomy in the family so soon after the first. If you've never had a teenager have to have surgery, you must believe me that at some point you will contemplate offering to undergo the procedure yourself as a less painful option.

However, so as to not jump to conclusions, we gave our son some (admittedly woefully inadequate) over-the-counter medication, and asked him to try and get some rest...hoping it was gas or some other transient dyspeptic condition. As with the eldest son, this strategy was to prove wildly optimistic.

By the wee hours of the morning, the pain in my son's stomach had intensified and had awakened him from what little sleep he'd managed to grab. So after the other boys were off to school, my wife made a walk-in appointment (which is an oxymoron, isn't it?) with our doctor. After examination, my son was sent to a radiology clinic to confirm the preliminary diagnosis, appendicitis. The CT scan showed that his appendix was in fact inflamed, so off to the ER he went.

At the ER he awaited the arrival of the surgeon, and then it was on to pre-op and into surgery; where his belly was shaved, carved, relieved of one useless and rather unattractive internal organ, and stapled shut with what appeared to be the same staples you'd use to hang fiberglass insulation. Then to recovery and finally to a hospital room where he convalesced for two days. He is currently at home resting and trying not to walk around like an old man.

I must give the young man his due: not being known for having a high pain tolerance, my 2nd son was a real trooper, maintaining a stiff upper lip and a "can-do" attitude throughout the whole ordeal and it's aftermath. He did very little complaining, and was eager to do his best to get moving again and not lie around and suffer. After almost 20 years in the health care profession, I must tell you that the maturity and determination he showed is rare among patients twice his age.

I'm glad my son is healthy and on the mend, but I'm also proud of the character he displayed during this illness. My sons are growing into fine men, and nothing could make me prouder than that.

(BTW, for those of you keeping score at home, that's two appendices down, one to go)

Nolanbuck

Please Stand By...

2009-03-26T04:41:00.000-07:00

originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

The blog has taken a back seat for the Bucks recently, due to one of our sons recovering from an emergency appendectomy. He's resting & healing...doing better all the time, and we'll be back to blogging in a few more days.

Thanks, everyone for the well wishes.

Nolanbuck

Another Ray Of Hope

2009-03-20T17:41:00.000-07:00

originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

The 912 Project - TV & Radio host Glen Beck's new project to bring Americans of all persuasions together and bring a sense of purpose back Washington, the way it was on 9-12-01.

Check it out.

Nolanbuck

Tea Time in America

2009-03-18T16:31:00.000-07:00

originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

Groups of citizens across the fruited plains are getting together to party like it's 1773, tossing tea into any available body of water to protest poorly-planned corporate bailouts, wasteful gub'mint spending and confiscatory taxes.

Regardless of who you voted for in November (or whether you voted at all), it's time to stand up for our country and send a message to both parties. Speak up, fellow Citizens!

Nolanbuck

Everybody's Irish! (Just Don't Pinch Me)

2009-03-17T15:37:00.000-07:00

Originally posted at: 2BucksWorth. com

Faith and Begorrah! It' St. Paddy's Day! The day when people all over the world drink green beverages, wear green clothes, dream of leprechauns, and wonder what in the heck "Begorrah" is. (It's a euphemism for "By God", BTW)

Me? I love the Irish. Not a better, friendlier, more likable folk in the world. Then again, maybe the only Irish people who will talk to me are the extremely friendly ones. But the few genuine Irish folk I know are top notch.

But back to this holiday, it is remarkable that one country's national holiday has taken on such a worldwide appeal. When you see a man named Tyrone in Memphis, Tennessee dressed like he's in County Tyrone, you know that people everywhere take this holiday seriously.

Speaking of taking it seriously, the tradition I find most appalling about St. Pat's Day is the wearing of the green, or rather the ridiculous tradition of pinching people who forgot to wear something green. Oh, I know the "I'm wearing green underwear" excuse may work occasionally, but especially when I was a kid, if you forgot the green, you were getting pinched. (Never mind that for centuries the color blue was more closely associated with Ireland's patron saint).

I mean, really? You are assaulting me for not dressing up for an ethnic holiday? Fine then, since I am of Scottish extraction, if you don't wear a kilt on St. Andrew's Day, I get to give you a wedgie (wedgies are impossible if you are wearing a kilt, BTW).

But seriously folks, enjoy St. Patrick's Day, and please be careful. And if you happen to see a leprechaun in a bar, do not try to catch him or ask him where his pot of gold is. He's probably just a festive wee midg...uh..."little person", and you've had to much to drink.

Nolanbuck

Wake Up, Republicans!

2009-03-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

originally posted at: 2BucksWorth.com

After the sound thrashing the GOP received in the last two national elections, a certain amount of soul-searching was to be expected...in fact, it was long over due. But now four months after the 2008 election, the Republican Party seems to be stuck in the doldrums and satisfied with nibbling at the edges of the Democrats' power structure. Some, like Senators Collins, Specter, and Snow, have decided not to wait on the GOP resurrection and have begun cutting their owns deals with the Obama administration.

Now all illusions of having the luxury of time to form a coherent opposition message while the Dems sort out the spoils of victory are quickly disappearing as well. The Obama administration is marshaling it's expansive campaign machinery to push the President's budget plans. Add to this that the disparate factions of the left are lining up behind Obama's legislative agenda, and it doesn't take a genius to see another political butt-whipping coming for the hapless GOP.

Conservatives in particular, and Repubs in general, need to decide where they will stand on the issues of the day, and bring forth viable alternatives to the Democrats policies. They need to find new leadership and their old values, stop trying to outspend Democrats and act like Rebublicans are suposed to: in support of smaller, less intrusive government, individual liberty, and the empowerment of every citizen to fulfil their own dream without the hand of governemnt on their shoulder.

To continue to act as if nothing has changed, and as if time is on our side, is to go the way of the old Federalist party: detached, inflexible...and extinct.

Nolanbuck

Obama Cancels the Catastrophe

2009-03-13T17:39:00.000-07:00

Originally posted on 2BucksWorth.com

I suppose I should be breathing a sigh of relief, now that President Obama yesterday struck an uncharacteristically optimistic tone regarding the economy.

"I don't think things are ever as good as they say, or ever as bad as they say," Obama stated. "Things two years ago were not as good as we thought because there were a lot of underlying weaknesses in the economy. They're not as bad as we think they are now."

So things were worse that we thought they were, but are better than we think they are...and we think our thinking was worse than we think it is now. At least we think so...

Not only did he begin a strategic withdrawal from his earlier talk of impending financial doom, but he gave us the entire Obama shimmy-sham in the one paragraph quoted above: qualify, blame Bush, then top it off with little bit of Hope tm. The only thing more breathtaking than his brevity and vacillation is his blatant hypocrisy.

Just a few scant weeks ago, our President warned Republicans that the current financial crisis would become a catastrophe (his word, not mine) if Congress paused to actually read, let alone debate, the Obama-Pelosi stimulus bill. So all the Democrats (save a stouthearted few in the House), and 3 turncoat Republicans, pushed the massive emergency stimulus bill through in record time. In case you're wondering, my own "conservative" Democrat congressman, Travis Childers, voted for the massive spending bill, because he answers only to Nancy Pelosi and not to the people who elected him. But I digress.

Then the President let it sit for four days before he signed it into law. Apparently, the mere threat of stimulus is enough to put catastrophes to flight, so there was no rush to spend the hundreds of billions, just waving it at the problem will suffice for a few days.

Now that we can stop wondering when the recession will end, we can move on to guessing how much longer we're going to buy the BHO bullcrap.

Nolanbuck

Happy Birthday, Debbiebuck!

2009-03-06T08:28:00.000-08:00

originally posted on 2bucksworth.com

On this day, sometime in the early 70's, God was in a particularly good mood. The heavens opened up, the angels sighed, and the Lord made the world a better place (especially for one particular schmoe named Nolanbuck).

Happy birthday to the woman of my dreams and my best friend. I love ya!

Nolanbuck

That's Just How I 'Roll'

2009-02-28T12:04:00.000-08:00

originally posted at 2bucksworth.com

I'm not ashamed to tell you, one thing I will never skimp on is good toilet paper. In fact, I bring my own when I travel, because even good hotels don't have the good stuff. About 15 years ago, I discovered that they could put lotion in my TP, and things have never been the same since.

For all my fellow aficionados of fine bathroom paper products, here comes a story that will really chap your...um...hide (Literally!) Turns out, soft wipeage is more destructive to the planet than SUV's or even Al Gore's carbon-belching mansion. That's right, Francis - every time you squeeze the Charmin, a baby seal dies. Not even turning on the exhaust fan will help this time.

Are they serious? Is this the most important thing we have to worry about now? Aside from the fact that I think anthropogenic climate change is for the most part so much balderdash, if we saw trees down to make TP, we can plant more! With the economy in the crapper, do we really have time to discuss what else is in there?

Maybe we should start using reusable potty wipes, so we can all be stinky hippies and our houses can permanently smell like the daycare at changing time. Whata load of...you know what.

Nolanbuck

Senatobia Boycott: 22 Years Ago Today

2009-02-27T16:22:00.000-08:00

On this very day twenty two years ago, during my senior year of high school, something happened that would change how I viewed race relations forever. A large majority of the African American students of the Senatobia Separate School District were held out of school by their parents, and an African American boycott of white-owned businesses soon followed, as did a civil rights rally. What sparked this series of boycotts and protests was a white assistant superintendent was hired over an African American candidate for the same position.

Being only 17 at the time, I did not know the whole story surrounding the hiring decision (and I still don't), but I did see how it affected my school and my friends (both black and white) and that I did not like. This month-long holdout effected athletes in spring sports, and the band who was preparing to go on a trip to Gatlinburg, TN to compete in a few weeks, not to mention the disruption in the studies of hundreds of students.

And what things occurred beyond the school room also gave me reason to ponder. As an employee of a white-owned grocery store, I had to escort little old African American ladies to their car with even one item, because certain persons had threatened to confiscate any goods from anyone breaking the boycott. But set against that type of intimidation, there were signs of hope and friendship; like brave classmates of mine..black kids who just wanted to go to school, and their white friends who escorted them as they walked to school and back.

As a part of the first generation to begin school in Mississippi after integration in the early 1970's, I had never known school without people of both races and found the boycott month at school somewhat surreal and, frankly, a little boring. I won't criticize the cause that led to this boycott, I am ignorant of the circumstances..and ultimately the school district caved, so there must have been some merit to the claim. But I saw that racial tensions made everyone's life (even those for whom skin color no longer mattered) more difficult.

I learned that being right is good, but being good to one another is better. I hope some of my classmates from SHS will share their thoughts and recollections on my blog or the Facebook feed.

Nolanbuck

Ghosts of Ole Miss

2009-02-24T16:50:00.000-08:00

Featured on the front page of ESPN.com today is a great retelling of the terrible story. It is the story of the riots on the campus of my Alma Mater, Ole Miss, in 1962 during the enrollment of James Meredith, the first African American to attend Ole Miss. This dark narrative is juxtaposed in the piece with the story of the 1962 Ole Miss Rebel football team, one of the best in the college football that year, and probably the best in Ole Miss history.

This story was written by a fellow Mississippian, and it tells the truth of how very far we have come since those dark days, and how far we have yet to go. I am proud to be a Mississippian, I'm proud to be an Ole Miss alum, and I'm proud that my kids are growing up in a Mississippi, where black and white alike live together like never before, and in many ways, like nowhere else. We in the South, both black and white, have had to confront our issues of race, and we are all the better for it.

Sure we have a ways to go yet, but I love that most of the players for Ole Miss's football and basketball teams today are African American, my wife's best friend is African American, and my sons can chose who they befriend, hang out with, love, date and marry based on the content of their character, and not their race.

Alot of things have happened in my home state that make me want to cry, and we're still not perfect. But man, how I love progress.

Nolanbuck (Ole Miss, Class of '91)

Freedom of Speech, or Pro-Choice?

2009-02-21T17:56:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, an Oklahoma City man was pulled over by local police for a sign affixed to the rear of his vehicle that read "Abort Obama Not the Unborn". The sign was confiscated as possibly threatening to the President, and the Secret Service dropped by his house for a little chat. Soon it was acertained that the man and his sign was no threat to the POTUS, and he was reunited with his sign.

Now I'm foursquare in favor of keeping our President safe, but two things are troubling in this case. First of all, the man has a 1st Amendment right to free speech and that includes witty signs about the President. As for the sign being construed as a threat, that is simply not possible...because as we all know: abortion isn't murder, it's a choice. Not only was the poor man's free speech infringed, but his freedom of choice was stripped away as well. His bod...er...bumper, his choice.

I'm sure the ACLU is thumbing through the phonebook for this man's number as we speak.

Nolanbuck

Hoover Reloaded

2009-02-21T13:07:00.000-08:00

According to a Washington Post story today, the Obama administration is preparing to unveil it's budget plan for fiscal year 2010, which includes plans to slash the federal budget deficit by half in the next four years. And how does the President plan to accomplish this Herculean feat? Why, by raising taxes, of course!

Putting the time-worn label of "tax & spend Democrat" behind him, the President has apparently hit upon a fresh approach: Spend...then Tax. Well, he promised change, people. Just days after signing the huge $1 trillion + spend-ulous IOU, our President has announced that he plans to complete his class-warfare model by soaking the rich and big business. All the while framing this new spend-and-tax plan as fiscal responsibility. If Mr Obama wanted fiscal responsibility, he should have started with cutting the $30 million for the salt marsh harvest mouse or the $200 million to "design and furnish" the new Department of Homeland Security headquaters.

The script of the U.S. government's to this economic downturn so far is frighteningly familiar. In 1929, President Hoover poured billions into banks to prop them up and prevent illiquidity, just like President Bush did last fall. Hoover also signed the Smoot-Hawley Tarriff Act, a protectionism scheme not unlike recent noises being made by the current administration to "Buy American First" and renegotiate our trade treaties. The result of Smoot-Hawley was a trade war with our former trading partners which robbed our economy of vital trading partners that could have helped us get the economy revved up again.

Then, Hoover obliterated the tax cuts of the Harding & Coolidge administrations, by raising the top marginal rate from 25% to 63%. Thats right folks, Hoover raised taxes on the rich and big business. It was right after this tax hike that the Great Depression reached it's nadir, and the Hoover Administration met it's end.

Obama's tax hikes will bode no better for our generation, tax increases stiffle spending, which in turn costs jobs of people who make things people aren't buying anymore. And there's no such thing as a corporate tax in reality, businesses are not going to pass the costs onto their shareholders, so they will offset the expense by raising prices or cutting costs (i.e - jobs.) You can blame the rich or big business all you want for this current mess, but trying to punish them with higher taxes may make us feel better, but it will cost working people their jobs.

Despite the Democrats painting Bush as the Hoover of this century, it is now the Dems who are turning to the failed policies of Hoover to deal with the present day crisis. Change, more and more, looks like an unoriginal rehash of the bad ideas of the past.

Nolanbuck

A Nation Of Cowards?

2009-02-19T18:37:00.000-08:00

AG Holder & President Obama are prime examples of the fact that it is not their race or discrimination toward that race that keep many African Americans in a life of poverty, abuse and moral decline. It is what many do or fail to do with the opportunities that are available to all of us. What we need to be asking ourselves is what makes an educated, successful black man different from a poor, uneducated & unsuccessful black man. It isn't the color of his skin, so…what is the real problem? Until we can all have an open & honest dialog about race relations in this country, about what the issues truly are and who or what is responsible, then we cannot solve the problem. Although the new Attorney General and I probably have very different views on the majority of issues, I accept the challenge that he put forth today; the challenge to embrace racial understanding, to break out of our “race-protected cocoons” and I believe in turn to begin the journey to true racial equality and harmony. This is a battle that I have been passionate about my whole life and one that I believe can be won in my lifetime. Can we change the mind and heart of everyone? Of course not, but we can still achieve our goal in spite of those that choose to live with the cancer of hatred and bigotry. It may destroy them, but we cannot allow it to destroy us all.

Mr. Holder said in a statement to hundreds of Justice Department employees, that the United States was “a nation of cowards” on matters of race, with most Americans avoiding candid discussions of racial issues. Although not the most diplomatic approach, his comments were certainly provocative. He did not say that white Americans were cowards; he said that we were a nation of cowards. Both blacks and whites shy away from addressing issues of race in a dignified manner. The only time you hear about race relations is when someone is pointing a finger. That will not accomplish anything except to further divide us. We all need to take an honest look at ourselves and where we truly stand in regards to this devastating problem. Part of Mr. Holder's statement has been largely ignored. He says "If we're going to ever make progress, we're going to have to have the guts, we have to have the determination, to be honest with each other. It also means we have to be able to accept criticism where that is justified," -- He didn't say that only whites need to accept justified criticism. That honesty is also an opportunity to address the strides that have been made and where the current problems lie. He also said that we must be tolerant enough of each other to have these frank conversations. I take that to mean that we ALL must be tolerant...blacks & whites. While it is true that this issue will not be resolved through conversation, it can open doors that will make other changes possible. Many politicians have proven for the most part that it is more beneficial to them to keep the simmering pot of racial issues stirring, so it is up to the rest of us that want true equality to address this. If we all do our part to break down the walls that divide us and balance the scales by which we are measured, one day soon we can ALL have equal and unweighted opportunities based not on the color of our skin, but by the content of our character.

There are many white people that are also living the same pathetic lives that many blacks live; lives filled with the same poverty, abuse and moral decline that are seen in our black communities. The difference...we don't defend them or try misplace blame. People of all races have to take personal responsibility for their failures just as they would accept the rewards of their successes. Again, open and honest dialog on the part of ALL Americans is the first step to bridging the gap between us. The second is identifying and addressing the true source of the problems and demanding personal accountability for those responsible - no matter their race. The greatest strides will be made when successful African Americans begin to speak out and challenge other African Americans to step up and embrace excellence over excuses. Together we stand…Divided we fall.

Debbiebuck

New NY Senator Has To Move Her Guns

2009-02-17T18:26:00.000-08:00

The recently appointed replacement for Hillary Clinton's vacant U.S. Senate seat, Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) mother of a 5 year old and an infant, recently came under fire from New York anti-gun groups when it was learned that she kept two rifles under her bed for protection of her family. Nevermind that it was later disclosed that the rifles were stored in a locked case away from any ammunition, the New York anti-gun machine went into full-automatic and has been letting her have it with both barrels.

One of her most vocal critics, Joyce Gorycki, co-chair of Long Island's New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, summed her opposition to the guns under the bed this way: "I don't know why she needs two rifles." According to the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Ms. Gorycki, it's none of your dang business.

Now that savaging Sarah Palin is no longer trendy, the Dems have turned on one of their own. What is it about powerful women packing heat that drives the left so crazy? I know that it's too much to ask for liberal groups not to make a political football out of this, but the fact is if Senator Gillibrand has legal guns stored safely in her home, she has every right to do so, political backlash notwithstanding.

So, buckling to political pressure, the new senator has moved the rifles to an undisclosed location for "security reasons". I'd love to see the gun control gestapo's faces when they find out the guns are under the 5 year old's bed now. ;-)

Nolanbuck

Thank you!

2009-02-16T19:10:00.000-08:00

We at 2 Buck's Worth deeply appreciate those of you who stop by and browse our growing new blog. We would also like to read your opinions, so please feel free to voice for point of view by commenting on any post here. Even if we disagree, we believe in your freedom of speech and want to hear your voice.

One favor we ask is that you refrain from using foul language. We dispense pointed commentary here at 2 Buck's Worth, and don't mind the same in return. But we're a family blog, and I don't want to have content that I wouldn't want my kids to read.

If you would like to comment on the blog in general, or have any questions, please feel free to email us at the link in our profile. Thank you, and please visit us often.

Nolanbuck

Bill Clinton on Economy: "Don't look at me!"

2009-02-16T18:36:00.000-08:00

In a recent interview with CNN's John Roberts, Bill Clinton flatly denied that his administration had anything to do with the current economic crisis, save of course that he should have regulated derivatives more closely. Really? Is that all? Nevermind that derivatives are at the heart of the problem we now face.

Derivatives, or financial instruments whose value is based on that of another financial instrument, are the very same toxic assets that the banks are being rescued from as we speak, namely the MBS's I discussed in a previous entry. Had derivatives been regulated in the 90's (or under Bush 43 for that matter), this crisis would not have reached the depths it has now tumbled to. I'm usually a free market laissez faire true-believer when it comes to economics, but as we have seen in recent months, some things (and people) bear watching.

He deftly dodged on the repeal of Glass-Steagall; specifically his role in the repeal and it's unintended consequences. He's technically correct that the New Deal era act that created the FDIC and limited speculation by banks had been being rolled back since 1980, but it the last nail was driven into the law's coffin in 1999 by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. And although the GOP in congress had enough votes to ostensibly override his veto, Clinton did not voice any serious reservations, and signed the bill. I agree with Clinton that the 1999 law did not directly cause this crisis, diversification of assets is a good thing. However, the derivatives market was the Achilles' heel of this new era of deregulation, and it wounded us...though hopefully not as badly as Paris' arrow wounded the Greek hero.

No one can claim that the 8 years of Bill Clinton's presidency caused this economic meltdown. And furthermore, it is obvious that Bush 43's intervening 8 years did not prevent this crisis. Both men, as well as Congress, and a host of bad managers in the financial world share the blame. But Bill Clinton's "who, me?" attitude we grew accustomed to during his impeachment is more than a little insulting at a time when so many people (who mostly still love his for some reason) are in dire straits.

Nolanbuck

Spend-ulus Is Bad For Your Health

2009-02-12T11:05:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not talking about panic attacks from seeing so much money spent by the government with so little discussion, although I'll grant you that is a concern. Rather, I reference the sneaky health care measures that were tucked into this bill while we were all distracted with how much we hate Wall Street and President Bush.

My favorite part is the apportionment of funding based on age. Old people (who by the way will have paid a larger share of taxes by the time they reached old age) are apparently less deserving of health care than the young. Unbelievable.

As a health-care professional myself, I can tell you that while a portable and accessible electronic medical record is a great idea, adding another layer of bureaucracy to health care will only serve to drive a wedge between doctors and their patients. And the slowing of new technologies and medicines is crazy talk, why have the best health care in the world if you can't benefit from it?

As we take the first step down the long-anticipated path to socialized medicine, one wonders how much longer having the best in health care will even be an issue.

Nolanbuck

Prolife Platform of a 12 Year Old

2009-02-12T10:20:00.000-08:00

As seen on Hot Air...

Brilliantly stated. Adults should make so much sense.

Hammering it home with "Horton Hears A Who"! You go, girl.

Nolanbuck

Illegal Immigrants Leaving The US...To Find Work

2009-02-10T14:36:00.000-08:00

Just when these days seemed as surreal as they could get, now we hear that some of our unwelcome guests are packing up and leaving the country . The downturn in the economy (specifically the construction sector) has left them under-employed, so they are going back where they came from. Turns out, all we had to do to solve the illegal immigration problem in this country was ruin the economy. Who knew?

While my first impression was something along the lines of "Don't let the door hit you on the way out", I have to give the ones that are leaving some credit. I can't fault them for doing whatever it takes to feed their families, especially when they don't mind doing a hard day's work...I honestly can't say I would do the same in their shoes. Plus, now that the gravy train is off the tracks, they are going home to those families instead of jumping on the welfare rolls and becoming a burden to society. I guess in a way some thanks are in order.

Maybe we could seize this opportunity to striek a deal with the jobless ilegals: if they agree to leave now we will put their name on a list and they will be first in line to come back legally when the jobs are available again. I know, I know...there I go making sense again.

Nolanbuck

Obama Grabs The Census

2009-02-09T14:49:00.000-08:00

I did not vote for President B.H. Obama (big shocker, eh?), but I realize that he is a very smart and likable man, so I have tried very hard to be open-minded and give the man a chance. The problem is, he won't let me,

As if the spend-ulous plan that he, Pelosi & Reid are going to saddle our children with paying for wasn't bad enough (and trust me, it is bad enough), at least they are attempting to wreck what's left of the economy within the rules of the Constitution. Now apparently, their not even going to let that paltry document slow them down.

Today, the Obama administration quietly moved the census bureau from the Commerce Department to the White House, placing the once-a-decade enumeration of We The People directly under his political operatives.

"So what?" you may ask. The census is once of the most important and far reaching functions of government. No mere counting of heads, the census decides how many representatives each states get in the House of Representatives, and how funding and entitlements are apportioned.

This is no mere political maneuver, this is a power grab. As the Executive Branch's control over the economic sector grows daily, now the White House seeks to corner the political market as well. Where are all of those who decried President Bush's "abuses of power". Not even the evil Bush II had the unmitigated gall to take over the census. We are moving closer to a one-party system, with no room for dissent or even debate.

Nolanbuck

The Brotherhood Of The Splitting Pants

2009-02-06T16:27:00.000-08:00

Chances are, at least once in a man's life he will suffer from the most embarrassing of male wardrobe malfunctions (with the possible exception of a complete public de-pants-ing), the rip in the pants. Even if it was in childhood, all of us have been there at least once. Nothing, not even an all day fly-open fail, can quite compare with the feeling of complete powerlessness and confusion of a sudden separation of your trousers in a place and a manner in which they were not intended to open.

Not long ago, this very event happened to your humble correspondent. I was all dressed up for an appointment, and I was on time and well prepared. As I left my vehicle in the parking lot, I decided to check my appointment printout so that I could point myself to the correct room. As fate would have it, another important piece of paper fell out of my briefcase/manpurse, and as I stooped to quickly grab it the unthinkable happened.

As I bent toward the earth, I heard the horrible ripping sound from behind me that could only mean one thing...I had ripped my friggin pants. Apparently, in my haste to retrieve the wayward document, my cat-like reflexes overwhelmed the tensile strength of my normally well-fitting trousers, resulting in a rutpure. As I shot bolt upright, all hope of the rip being a small one was soon extinguished by the unwelcome zephyr that greeted my hindquarters. Oh no, dear friends...this was no mere tear...this was total, catastrophic pantaloon breach. To put it in nautical terms, we're talking from stem to stern, below the waterline. In public no less, and far enough from anything to hide behind that a dash for cover would have been unseemly. Thinking quickly, I shifted my shoulder-hung manpurse behind me so as to hide the new crack that had formed on my tuckus from public view while I calculated my next move.

Fortunately for me, as I scanned my surroundings with darting eyes, it appeared that no one had noticed my personal little Hades that was unfolding in the middle of the parking lot. I rapidly assessed my dwindling options in this crisis as my rear-end hung in the proverbial breeze...the appointment would have to wait, that much was plain. I briefly (no pun intended) considered making for the nearest bathroom to assess the trouser damage in a mirror, but I did not want to risk sauntering past more prying eyes who might see past my makeshift manpurse-shield and spot my skivvies peeking out at them.

So I decided that a retreat to my vehicle was the best option left to me, as it was close-by and private; and best of all it provided me with a means of escape. Not wanting to cancel the rest of my schedule, I made for the nearest store for a quick replacement for my shattered garment.

I tied my coat around my waist to hide the breach in my breeches and tried to enter the store as if the butt of my pants wasn't torn asunder. I quickly found a suitable pair of replacement pants and after "trying them on", I sheepishly asked the attendant if I could wear them out of the store while I went to pay for them. I was allowed to do so without any awkward questions until I reached the checkout, where the friendly clerk conversationally asked me why I would want my new pants "to go", as it were. Slyly, I told him that the new ones fit much better.

Which was entirely true. If he didn't believe me, I had the proof lying hidden in the bottom of the shopping cart.

Nolan (what's that sound?) buck

The Whole Mess, And What To Do About It, part II

2009-02-04T05:52:00.000-08:00

In the first part of this series, I described (as best as I could make the words tell it) how the current economic FUBAR we find ourselves in came to pass. Now, for reading all of that drivel, I give you my plan for fixing said FUBAR.

Well then, here we are… the banking world in tatters, and people holding on to their money for fear of worse times to come. Which brings me finally to my plan: The two things we need to do and do immediately are 1. Get the banks lending again and 2) Get people spending money again.

Bank loans are the life blood of business, especially small business. They need them for payroll, inventory and for other expenses. But many of the banks’ assets are so damaged by the MBS collapse that instead of lending they are holding onto their cash to cover their own liabilities. This hurts business and the banks themselves, who need to lend to make money. Therefore, instead of just buying stakes in the banks or loaning them more money, the government needs to convert the TARP fund into a buyback fund for bad assets to remove the bad assets from the banks ledger and give them liquid cash to lend, and we need to stipulate that the money must go to lending and not to internal expenditure. If the bank doesn’t agree, it is left to its fate.

And to get people spending again we need to boost consumer confidence, much like the banks they are “hording their cash”. So, the government should not make them wait for some spending program that might take two years to see any benefit, Uncle Sam should give the people an immediate tax holiday…no payroll taxes for 2 or 3 months and watch my materialistic brothers & sisters get the gears of capitalism moving again. Also, why not cut the corporate tax rate (ours in the US is among the highest in the industrialized world) to give business a little breathing room to grow and create wealth & jobs.

Congress, by borrowing & spending on useless projects, is mortgaging our kids’ future with a debt we can’t afford to repay. Haven’t we learned anything about debt from this current crisis? Eventually, the government will be forced to raise taxes or print more money to pay off this gargantuan debt, either of which will only serve to deepen and lengthen this recession. Or worse, push it into the next depression. Learn from the Great Depression and the 1990’s economic collapse in Japan: Unemployment and temporary aid are fine, butthe government can’t spend us out of a recession or depression. However; if it will get out of our way and let us…We The People can.

Nolanbuck

The Whole Mess, And What To Do About It

2009-02-04T05:51:00.000-08:00

In my previous post, I opined about the current spending bill that Congress is kicking around as a solution to the current economic crisis…a bill that is less of an economic panacea and more of a huge series of political payoffs and pork barrel crap.

This then begs the question: If I have such a problem with Congress’s solution, what do I think should be done. In order to understand my answer, one must understand where the problem came from and why it is continuing to fester. In this post, I’ll briefly describe (by way of gross over-simplification) how the troubles began. In the next post, I’ll tell you my plan to deal with the problem. So, you’ll have to stay tuned.

This current economic crisis has been decades in the making, with wrongheaded policies from both political parties contributing to the impending mess. But the ball really got rolling when two things happened:

The banking industry was deregulated, allowing them to merge and grow into multinational corporations that were “too big to fail”. This deregulation was not a bad idea in itself; it certainly aroused some serious money-making in the financial sector, and should have made the banks even more solvent by allowing them to diversify into other areas like insurance and stock brokerage. It should not have been so bad, but it left the door open for the other shoe dropping…

…which was the new laws and regulations that Congress and its two ugly step-children Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac foisted upon the mortgage lending universe. The original idea seemed innocent enough; to allow more people of lesser means to partake of the American dream of home-ownership, a piece of real estate that was the ultimate investment in their future. These new rules, which even allowed alimony, child support, welfare and unemployment payments to be counted as income for loan consideration, were enforced under penalty of law. And this new artificially-created market of people who could now “afford” their dream home, combined with years of low interest rates, sent the housing market to the moon; with home values climbing at historic rates. This new equity, in turn, allowed home-owners to borrow still more against their steadily appreciating real estate assets.

Now these blazing hot mortgages were then sold off to other banks (some discount mortgage brokers sold 100% of their loans immediately after they were finalized) and bundled into mortgage-backed securities (MBS’s), literally these bundles of debt markers were sold as assets much like bonds, and held as assets by these “too big to fail” banks. Everyone was fat and happy until the unthinkable happened. Some of the common folks who had been allowed to borrow against their real estate (sometimes for even more than the house was worth at the time) got behind on their mortgages…especially those who had taken out adjustable rate mortgages (ARM’s) who after the salad days of the low interest in the beginning, got hit with the balloon of interest at the end that they had not budgeted for. Then some more people got behind, more got foreclosed upon.

So then the banks were left with a lot of mortgages that were either in arrears or in foreclosure, only able to recover a fraction of the value of the loan by seizing the collateral. This was bad enough, but it also affected the value of the MBS’s that stood upon the integrity of the mortgage debt. When the mortgage market began to falter, and house prices started to slip, the MBS assets the banks held began to crumble as well. This affected their cash on hand to pay their own debts to other banks, and like a windmill when the props are kicked out from under it, the whole thing began to sway precariously in the breeze.

Check back later tonight for the rest of the story…my solution to this mess. Perhaps my wife, being the banker in the family, will make an appearance to set me straight where I went awry.

Nolanbuck

Americans Find Stimulus Not So Stimulating

2009-02-03T18:32:00.000-08:00

In our newly-minted government's rush to do something, anything about the recession, it begins to appear that they may have leaped before they looked. Now that the particulars of the $900 billion spending bill (let's call it what it is) have come to light, more & more Americans are scratching their heads & saying "Why was this a good idea again?"

That Nancy Pelosi has this huge government payoff package loaded in the breach for the day after the election is now obvious. Even with the removal of such vital economy-stimulating items such as birth-control and resodding the National Mall in Washington, D.C; the bill still managed to pass the House of Representatives 244-188. Not one Republican voted for this monster, and 11 Democrats also voted against it, however, my new supposedly "conservative" Democrat congressman voted for this bill...the largest federal expenditure in the history of our republic. What happened to holding the line on spending, Mr. Childers? (I am scoffing at you, Travis. You, sir, are no conservative!)

Now that people can see this bill for the trainwreck that it is, President Obama (to his credit) has realized that he was sold a bill of goods by the House and seems willing to work with the Senate GOP to take problem sections out of the bill (an act unheard of in Washington).

We have a huge problems on our hands, that much is undeniable. And we cannot afford to do nothing, that is also clear. But we have a equally huge opportunity to make smart decisions ahead of time and learn from the mistakes of the New Deal in the 1930's or the economic collapse in Japan in the 1990's that government spending programs alone cannot end a recession and may in fact prolong it by causing inflation. Add to this that the Congressional Budget Office has said that at least half of the spending won't even have an effect for at least two years. That's too late!

If the GOP in the senate and the President can keep common sense the order of the day, this bill (as vile as it is) may come to some good after all.

Look for what I would do instead of this crappy bill in my next post.

Nolanbuck

8 babies - Part II

2009-02-03T15:32:00.000-08:00

After reading more about the mother of the octuplets and her situation (including her recent book deal negotiations), I wanted to reiterate that I am not condoning what this woman did or is now doing by trying to profit from it.

My main point is, it is none of our business. The militant reproductive rights movement has told us for the past 35 years that what's in a woman's plumbing is her property, no matter how it got there. Never mind someone else (like the father or the taxpayers) may have an emotional or financial stake in her decision, it is hers alone to make.

And for those who call the octuple-mom irresponsible: I will not disagree with you there. But is it any less responsible to have yourself implanted with 8 embryos that you want to raise - and then have them, than it is to have casual sex and get knocked up with 1 child you don't want, so you kill it?

The only positive here is that those who have fought for decades for no-questions-asked abortin on demand will have to do some soul-searching as to the ramifications of reproductive freedom without reproductive responsibility.

Nolanbuck

8 Babies, A Million Opinions

2009-01-31T15:35:00.000-08:00

I'm sure everyone has heard about the ongoing saga of the woman who delivered octuplets on Monday. The fact that eight babies came out of one woman is mind-boggling enough, it's only happened one other time that we know of in the U.S. But the controversy that continued to swirl around this large delivery confuses me even more.

Only later did we learn that the mother of this recent litter was already a mother of six, making her the proud parent of, I think buttload is the technical term, of kids. 14 children.

Ho

Lee

Crap!

Beyond the seeming insanity of wanting more than a carload of offspring, it has to be said that it is this woman's right to have as many kids as she wants, and if her & her husband can afford them, more power to them. It is none of our business how many kids they have or wish to have, a fact that seems to escape the media and most of the public.

Many have criticized the mom's choice to add eight more kids to an already larger-than-average family. But I will submit to you that there's nothing wrong with having a large family if you are prepared to deal with the challenges inherent to large broods of young-uns. If fact, some extra-large families - like the famous Duggar family - have made a science of stripping away all the unnecessary and worthless junk we give our kids and are raising an (albeit huge) family of well-behaved and hard-working kids. It's all a matter of commitment, if you want enough kids to fill a school bus...and you are willing to make the sacrifices required, God bless you and your legion of progeny.

But further ridiculous is the criticism of this mother's decision to have all of her in-vitro fertilized embryos implanted in her womb and her decision to carry all of the fetuses to term. How shocking that many of those now standing in judgment of this woman would tell me that I have no right to an opinion as to whether they had an abortion. But when this woman makes a choice not to employ practices that she may have equated with abortion, suddenly she is insane, or at the very least reckless.

What happened to "my body, my choice"? This woman chose to have a number of her eggs fertilized in-vitro, chose to have all of the resulting embryos implanted in her uterus (the normal procedure is to implant only a few), and she chose to have all of her babies. If a woman's decision to have end a pregnancy is between her & her doctor...then why doesn't the same rule apply here? Does "Pro-Choice" now mean that the woman's choice is subject to the qualms of others? If so, everyone really needs to lay off he Pro-Life crowd for having qualms of their own.

I say we leave this woman and her kids alone, unless it's to volunteer to change diapers. Any takers?

Nolanbuck

Michael Steele, New RNC Chairman

2009-01-30T16:39:00.000-08:00

Today, the Republican National Committee picked former Maryland lieutenant governor and current GOPAC chairman Micheal Steele as the new RNC chairman. Mr. Steele is a moderate conservative, a political visionary, a brilliant public speaker...oh, and by the way...he's an African American.

I have watched his career for a few years now, and this man is the breath of fresh air that the deflated Republican party needs right now. Here's a sample of his brilliance. Notice he never said "Republican"? The best part is, Steele wasn't even a member of the RNC when he was elected.

Fresh air, indeed.

Nolanbuck

Obama to Arabs: We Are Not Your Enemy

2009-01-27T16:16:00.000-08:00

President Barrack H. Obama chose Al-Arabiya, an Arabic satellite TV network, for his first formal TV interview as President. I guess Fox News was busy that day. And he also announced that he had sent former senator George Mitchell (of the baseball steriods investigation fame) to the middle east as his personal envoy. Apparently, there was some concern that performance-enhancing drugs may be giving the terrorists an unfair advantage.

Ok, two quick things...

1. How many muslims do you think watched this, slapped their heads and said, "Now he tells me!"?

2. How come President Obama can trot out his muslim heritage to suit his purposes, but when anyone else wants to talk about it, that's racist?

But back to the interview:

I'm all for talking with the leaders of the Islamic world, and perhaps more importantly, reaching out to the people of the Middle east; but I am afraid it will do little good and only make us appear weak in their eyes. Then they will all treat us like the house of Saud does, they will extend us the hand of friendship while their other hand is doling out oil money to the Wahabbis.

We support Israel, as we should. The Arab world hates Israel with a passion few of us can even fathom. It doesn't matter what we do or say, as long as we support Israel, the Muslim "street" will hate us too (even if their goverments play nice because of the money or favors we'll give them). It's not about Arabs being subhuman or us being imperialist dogs...it's about a blood feud that goes back thousands of years that we picked a side in.

As for how I feel about the situation, I know many wonderful, kind and patriotic muslim Americans. But they aren't in the middle east anymore, where every woe is blamed on the great satan. I know generalizations aren't fair, but I have a hard time getting these images out of my mind...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWYOO1oNmDU

3000 or so of our brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, wives, and children dead in moments (many muslims among them, btw)...and they danced and passed out candy. Someone remind me...why is it we who are coming with hat in hand?

Nolanbuck

Goodbye Gitmo, hello havoc

2009-01-24T16:32:00.000-08:00

With the stroke of his newly presidential pen on Thursday, Barrack H. Obama ordered the closing of the prison for illegal enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba...a move which was immediately hailed by the left and the left-leaning media as a triumph of American values. But larger and more serious questions loom than those of esoteric and lofty ideals of the safe, warm liberal; questions like what is the Obama administration plan for the detainees who will be homeless in a year, and do they even have a plan beyond the feel good move of closing the prison?

Beyond a couple dozen truly frightening human beings housed at Gitmo, the rest are illegal enemy combatants...not criminals, not POW's, but a seemingly nebulous category of limbo that no one can quite describe. But the designation of illegal enemy combatant is neither new or untested, but is both legal and applicable in a time of war. In fact, it has been used before.

In 1942, two groups of German saboteurs were secreted onto our coasts by U-boat for the express purpose of wrecking havoc on the war effort on US soil. Operation Pastorius was the code name for this brain-child of Hitler, and if not for an alert Coast Guardsman on Long Island, the nefarious plot may well have worked. But what happened after the Nazi's were captured in of more interest here.

After their capture, the German saboteurs were put on trial before a military tribunal (sound familiar?). Counsel for the defense tried early on in the trial to get the case moved to a civilian court, and petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for a change of venue. In the Ex parte Quirin case, the lawyers for the saboteurs were dealt a blow, and the ground work was set to deal with illegal enemy combatants in US custody. SCOTUS said:

…the law of war draws a distinction between the armed forces and the peaceful populations of belligerent nations and also between those who are lawful and unlawful combatants. Lawful combatants are subject to capture and detention as prisoners of war by opposing military forces. Unlawful combatants are likewise subject to capture and detention, but in addition they are subject to trial and punishment by military tribunals for acts which render their belligerency unlawful. The spy who secretly and without uniform passes the military lines of a belligerent in time of war, seeking to gather military information and communicate it to the enemy, or an enemy combatant who without uniform comes secretly through the lines for the purpose of waging war by destruction of life or property, are familiar examples of belligerents who are generally deemed not to be entitled to the status of prisoners of war, but to be offenders against the law of war subject to trial and punishment by military tribunals.

(emphasis mine)

Six of the eight saboteurs were executed one month after their capture, the other two were sentenced to life in prison at hard labor, but their sentences were commuted in 1948 by president Truman and they were deported to Germany.

So over 60 years ago, the Supreme Court of the United States delineated the category of illegal enemy combatants, and a democratic President (FDR, one of Obama's purported inspirations) subjected these men to a military tribunal, denied them a writ of habeas corpus, and ultimately sent them to their death for their crimes. Would that the Democratic party of today had the stones for such decisive action.

The U.S. is at war. The men being held at Gitmo were captured out of uniform waging war against the US and it's interests. No amount of feel-good policy can change those facts, or solve the daunting problems that face our nation.

Nolanbuck

Roll with the changes

2009-01-23T17:38:00.001-08:00

Due to the pressures of the bad economy, and also due to the fact that I am a consummate cheapskate, we have decided to move our blog to Blogger.com.

We have been on a bit of hiatus of late, dealing with some real life issues (which may become blog-fodder someday...) but I'm back and hopefully soon my lovely bride will be as well. In the meantime, I'll keep things humming by blogging about whatever is on my mind...which given my ADD, may be a bit of a buffet to say the least.

Anyway, the original url's will still work, but they will come here now instead of the old digs. I will be moving the archives from our former habitation to this new place very soon. We're proud to be a new part of the Blogger.com community, and we look forward to a bright future and a healthy exchange of ideas.

Nolanbuck

Happy Holidays?

2008-12-27T18:44:00.000-08:00

For the past few years I have noticed a backlash among my fellow religious conservatives over the phrase "Merry Christmas" falling into disuse and being replaced by the more sanitized "Happy Holidays". I grew up saying Merry Christmas, I still say Merry Christmas, but until a few years ago when the whole holiday greeting debacle erupted I thought that Happy Holidays referred to Christmas and New Year's Day.

Little did I know that the old phrase had been turned into a nefarious plot by the politically correct liberal establishment bent on destroying all things Jesus. Now, I am as against PC bullcrap as the next conservative, and I think Merry Christmas is a perfectly good greeting for the holiday season, but I can completely understand why some people would chose to say Happy Holidays instead. In a world full of things for Christians to get worked up over, I'm afraid this just isn't the hill we need to die on.

I've even heard of some people refusing to shop in places that don't wish them a Merry Christmas. While I admire their dedication to the beloved holiday I think some of my brethren & sistren are missing the point. First of all, not everyone is a Christian, and even among those who are, not all of them celebrate Christmas. Secondly, nowhere in my Bible do I find the Merry Christmas greeting requirement. In fact, you won't find Christmas in there at all, because it's a made up holiday that we co-opted from the old world pagans to coax them into the church by letting them keep their winter solstice festival. No one is sure what time of year Jesus was born, but nearly all Bible scholars agree that it wasn't on December 25th.

So, am I against Christmas? Of course not. But we have to realize that when someone is trying to run a business that caters to all different sorts of people, or when it comes to government officials who serve us all, "Happy Holidays" is the best way to be inclusive of everyone without having to ask each person for their religious affiliation at the door. And those of us that are Christians need to remember our first job as believers is to "seek and save that which is lost". How many non-Christians would want to know more about a religion that gets so hung up over a holiday greeting? Are we really doing to Lord's work by making a living on being offended?

So whatever you celebrate this time of year, or if you celebrate nothing in particular, I hope that this time of year is filled with warm and happy memories. And for my fellow Christians, I hope that the birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection of our Lord is part of your life every day, and not just on the day the fat man in the red suit stops by.

Happy Holidays everyone, whatever that means to you.

Nolanbuck

Bush's final flip-flop

2008-12-15T15:13:00.000-08:00

While President Bush was dodging flying shoes in Iraq, he was dropping the other shoe here at home. I can almost understand the Iraq man's frustration at a President, who I genuinely believe is well-meaning, that has the annoying ability to leave people twisting in the wind.

Take his latest rug-jerking act on the Republicans in the Senate, who opposed the automaker bailout on the grounds that the unions had not given enough ground in the bailout deal...a reasonable position that the President had claimed to be sympathetic to. Then just after the bailout died in the Senate, the President revered course, saying he might be willing to use T.A.R.P. funds to make loans to the automakers; thus circumventing congress and leaving the Senate Republicans out on a limb, looking like a bunch of idiots.

How can anyone take the Republican party seriously when their own President won't back them up? Is it any wonder that the GOP is so despised right now, when even when they try to do something right, they get undercut by their own leader? You can Blame Bush for the war, the economy, or your bunions; but I blame W for the ruin of the Republican party, something that make take longer to fix than either Iraq or GM.

Nolanbuck

Regrets

2008-12-12T19:58:00.000-08:00

This blog has been about politics and current events so far, but that's not all we're here for. I've been in a strange mood lately, a reflective mood. Perhaps it's just the Christmas season, or the approach of another birthday, but I've been doing some outside of the box thinking. One of the things I've been thinking about is regrets.

Now, I don't want you to get the wrong idea...I've had a great life up to this point, it's been an interesting ride - and not always easy or fun - but I have been very, very blessed. But haven't you ever taken stock of things and seen some stuff you wish you'd done differently? I suppose we all have, just most of us are smart enough not to put it on the internet. Anyway, not complaining, but there are some things I regret.

* I regret not trying harder. No matter what you tell yourself or what you're doing, you could try harder.

* I regret not telling people how I really felt when it would do some good. I don't just mean telling people "I love you", or "I appreciate you", but also things like "you're ticking me off", or "what you're doing is wrong and I'm not going to stand for it". Discretion may be the better part of valor, but some things need saying,...right then, right there.

* I regret not taking some things more seriously, and not taking other things less seriously. The tricky part there is, they often look like the other thing at the time.

* I regret not taking better care of myself. It occurred to me recently that I'd been extremely healthy and fit for the first half of my life up to now, and spent the second half of letting things slide. Now I don't drink or smoke, and I'm not sick or infirmed...or even in terrible shape...but I will be sooner than I'd like if I don't do a better job of being healthy.

* I regret not giving some people more credit for being truly great people, and I regret not giving others more blame for being wretched human beings.

* I regret not realizing that sometimes when someone says they are behind you 100%, it's because their taking aim at your back. I don't hold grudges, but it would just be nice to see it coming once in a while...I never do.

* I regret that even though I love my wife with my whole heart like none other, I'm still not as good as she deserves. I may never be, but danged if I'm gonna stop trying.

* This may sound silly, but I regret the few Christmases when my kids were younger that we didn't "do Santa Claus". Oh they got gifts galore and they had lots of fun, but there was no fat man with magic reindeer, just mom & dad. If you have little ones and you celebrate Christmas - even if you have legitimate reservations about it - I ask you to consider always doing the "Santa Claus thing" for them. Childhood is a magical time, and it should be filled with as much wonder as you can cram in to every day, because it ends all too soon....and never returns.

* I regret most of all not being consistent. It is the bane of my existence, my biggest flaw (other than being annoyingly awesome, of course). I am at times capable of bursts of inspiration, creativity, productivity, and - dare I say - occasional genius. But most of the time I'm not doing any of those things, I'm just cruisin' through like your average dullard. It has cheated me out of a better walk with God, being a better husband, becoming a more productive employee, being a better friend, and (perhaps most painful of all) has make me at times a bad example to my kids. (Try being inconsistent and telling your kids they have to do their homework. Teenagers will pounce on hypocrisy like sharks on a side of beef. Who can blame them?)

Whew! Glad I got that off my chest! Regrets aren't always bad, they tell you that you're still human, and you've got room for improvement. They help us remember not to waste time being the way we are now, but to get better. The best thing about old regrets is they help you not to make new ones. Do you have any regrets? If so, embrace them, and then make them lonely.

Nolanbuck

Obama Administration's 1st Big Scandal?

2008-12-09T21:58:00.001-08:00

President-elect Obama's home state governor and fellow Democrat Rod Blagojevich was arrested by the FBI today on charges of political corruption so severe that the prosecutor called it a "political corruption crime spree". Among the crimes with which the governor is charged is trying to garner a profit from his ability to name Mr. Obama's replacement in the U.S. Senate.

The charges are sweeping and the evidence is apparently quite compelling. Governor Blago is accused of everything from trying to arrange a post for himself in exchange for the senate appointment, to conspiring against members of the Chicago Tribune editorial board to get certain of his critics fired, to shaking down state contractors for campaign contributions. And a lot of his wheelings and dealing were caught on tape by the feds.

Now none of this is to say that Obama had anything do to with any of these alleged offenses or that he even knew they were going on. But it is a telling reminder that the Chicago political machine that gave rise to Obama's power base giveth, and it taketh away. It's influence can vault promising young politicians to the very pinnacle of power, but it's greed and corruption can taint the cleanest of souls. After using Chicago luminaries like Ayers, Wright, and Flager to climb from relative obscurity into the light of public awareness, Obama may now have to deal with the unfortunate residue of a dealing with the devils in the Chicago political scene.

Regardless of his actual involvement in these alleged crimes; after benefiting from the "quick" of quick & dirty Chicago politics, Mr. Obama will waste a lot of his first year in office dealing with the "dirty".

Nolanbuck

Gay Rights, Civil Rights, My Rights

2008-12-09T16:21:00.000-08:00

As I've said before, I am a Christian conservative and stand firm on my belief in the word of God as the guide for my life. If you don't share my conservative views or appreciate a spirited debate, you may want to click off now. You've been warned!

I recently read a couple of articles in Newsweek that really got my blood pumping.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/172653

http://www.newsweek.com/id/172399

Debbiebuck

Blaming Barney Frank

2008-12-05T17:39:00.000-08:00

Barney Frank on YouTube 12/5/08

Can you believe the nerve of some people? Barney Frank, who has had as much to do with the current economic crisis as anyone else in the U.S. government, stoops to lecture the Congress on the foolishness of not sending pork barrel tax dollars to the auto makers the way Barney Boy sends it back home to Massachusetts...by the billions, that is. And where's the money coming from? Why, taxing the rich, of course!

Is he serious? Frank, his backroom dealings with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and some of his fellow liberals in congress, started this ball rolling back in the Clinton years, by using Freddie and Fannie to force lending institutions to be more lenient in their mortgage criteria, particularly among lower income Americans. The logic being, purportedly, that home ownership is a good thing for everyone. It can be, but only if you can afford the home you're owning. To quote Barney's home town newspaper:

"All this was justified as a means of increasing homeownership among minorities and the poor. Affirmative-action policies trumped sound business practices. A manual issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston advised mortgage lenders to disregard financial common sense. "Lack of credit history should not be seen as a negative factor," the Fed's guidelines instructed. Lenders were directed to accept welfare payments and unemployment benefits as "valid income sources" to qualify for a mortgage. Failure to comply could mean a lawsuit."

Year after year, Barney Frank, the Elmer Fudd of Capitol Hill, insisted that Fannie & Freddie were just fine, and blocked any attempt to regulate or investigate their practices as a wascally, wacist, Wepublican plot. So far, Barney has blamed President Bush, Republicans in general, and even our free market itself for the curent money mess. But why doesn't he point that finger right back at himself, for running interference for Fannie and Freddie's failed social engeneering thatthe tax payers funded and will pay still more before all is said & done. Why Barney? Why are you still carrying water for Fannie & Freddie? Was it the campaign contributions? Was it that your former longtime gay lover, Herb Moses, was a senior executive at Fannie Mae, who helped spearhead the relaxing of loan standards that caused this problem? Yet he still proclaims his innocence and blames everyone else.

Why is none of this being discussed in the media (except on the O'Reilly Factor )? Why is Congress not investigating one of their own members who is so obviously corrupt and is culpable in what he himself calls "the worst economic situation since the Depression"? Too many questions, and no answers from the liberal media or the equally liberal Democrats running Congress. Before the legislature calls the failed companies and the executive branch on the carpet, why don't they come clean with their own guilt in the mess? Don't hold your breath, folks. Being a Democrat in this Congress means never having to say you're sorry.

Nolanbuck

Has Christmas Got You Down?

2008-12-03T13:57:00.000-08:00

Christmas, with all the joy and excitement that it brings, can also be a source of undue stress and even depression. How is it that a holiday created to celebrate the miraculous birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ, can become such a burden on some? That is simple…we have forgotten the real reason for the season.

Most of us are guilty of consuming ourselves with the commercial side of Christmas as opposed to the emotional side of Christmas. We get so busy shopping, decorating, cooking, and going to parties & programs that we lose our focus. We spend money we can’t afford, cook more than we can possibly eat, and take time away from our families to spend with people that make no real contribution to our lives. These things have, over time, have grown to signify what Christmas is about. So often we approach the season with the best of intentions and somehow get caught up and wind up with stress, regret, and miss the wonderful opportunities that this holiday offers.

I have a simple solution for those of us that struggle with this; Look up and Reach out. Look up, make a concerted effort to acknowledge and honor Christ each day, even more so during this holiday season. Imagine how you might feel if, on your birthday, your children were so busy shopping, partying with friends, and putting in their requests for the newest “toy”, that they forgot it was your birthday. It would be heartbreaking to think that the children you brought into the world would be too busy for you. How much more important should it be for us to remember the birth of the one that not only brought us life in this world, but eternal life. Since all Christ asks from us in return is to obey his word, perhaps we could honor his birth by obeying his request to give to those less fortunate. Reach out. Give a gift to a needy child, a single mother, a widow, a man who is unemployed and unable to care for his family. If you can’t afford to give monetarily, give a little of your time. It is after all, better to give than to receive. I guarantee you that the joy that you receive, will far outweigh the sacrifice of giving. How rewarding to bring a bit of happiness to a child who may not otherwise receive a gift at Christmas, or to a family that might not otherwise have a warm meal or a coat. As the recipient of the kindness of strangers when I was the child of a needy family, I can tell you that it does make a difference. You can affect a life.

If we will Look up and Reach out this holiday season, we will not only be more open to reflect on the true reason for the season, but will become a reflection of the savior we celebrate. Best Wishes for a very Merry CHRISTMAS!

Debbiebuck

The Media Plays the Blame Game -- Who Loses???

2008-12-02T11:37:00.000-08:00

For generations there have been media outlets that were suspect in their news reporting. Publications like Rolling Stone that although they include "News" stories, we all recognize that they are actually entertainment quality journalism or The New York Times that many of us just know to take with a grain of salt. The most recent election; however, has caused many of the mainstream media outlets that we have always trusted, to slant the facts so far, that the true news value has been lost. .

This morning, I was totally caught off guard when I read an article from the Associated Press on MSNBC's website. In large red type, the headline read Bush Administration Ignored Clear Warnings. The article goes on to say that "The administration’s blind eye to the impending crisis is emblematic of a philosophy that trusted market forces and discounted the need for government intervention in the economy. Its belief ironically has ushered in the most massive government intervention since the 1930s."

I honestly believed that after the election was over, the media would return to their senses and actually report the news. Unfortunately, this article may suggest that they have abandoned reality for good...at least when it comes to holding Democrats accountable. I found it very ironic that the article never mentioned Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Maxine Waters, Rep. Gregory Meeks or even Bill Clinton, who all contributed to the this extraordinary failure of our financial system.

The financial collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is not a failure of the free market because lending institutions in a free market would not have taken on the high-risk loans. They were forced to by the heavy hand of government.

Bush Administration Ignored Clear Warnings

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28001417/

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/09/lessons-from-the-bailout/

Obama's new team

2008-12-01T18:04:00.000-08:00

Those of us who have been politically opposed to Barack Obama worried most that, despite his platitudes of forthcoming centrist policy, he would follow his prior track record of a liberal legislator. Imagine my surprise when after his election he began to assemble a cabinet consisting almost entirely of people to the right of himself politically (a category which, I'll grant you, includes 95% of the general population). Oh, how the MoveOn.org crowd and the rest of the venomous left must be howling at this turn of events.

Now the appointment of Rahm "table-stabber" Emanuel, a brilliant but divisive partisan with a reputation for a nasty temper and furniture mutilation, was not a good start for Obama's supposed new age of "bipartisanship". However, now that the Obama camp has moved beyond the campaign strategy of blaming George Bush for everything from global warming to male-pattern baldness, the President-elect of late has started making more pleasant noises to the conservative ear. These dulcitones include his wise backing-off of his campaign promise to tax the rich during a recession, and his recent statement after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai that terrorism remains a "grave and urgent threat". But most fascinating of all are who he has chosen (and not chosen) for his major cabinet positions.

Of his economic advisors, none of the major players include people of extremely liberal (or what one might call "socialist") schools of economic thought. The Treasury Secretary-to-be Timothy Geithner is one of the leading minds behind the Bush administration's strategy for the current economic crisis. His mentor, Larry Summers, an academian and former Sec-Treas himself, will be the White House's chief economic advisor. Newly minted Director of the Council of Economic Advisors Christina Romer, another academic economist, is one of the foremost authorities on the Great Depression, and she has done some brilliant work on how tax increases during economic downturns further damage the economy. (Sound like Obama's read her work?)

On the National Security front: Bush's Sec-Def Robert Gates, has been asked to remain over the DOD and has accepted. This nod to continuity apparently signals a change of heart in the Obama camp, a tacit admission that the "surge" in Iraq has worked and conditions are improving markedly in that country. It also may make the intelligence community breathe a little easier knowing that a man who worked his way from entry level CIA employee to Director of Central Intelligence has been retained at DOD.

The most intriguing Obama cabinet appointment of all has to be Hillary Rodham Clinton for Secretary of State. After being perplexed as to why Obama would pass her over for Vice President only to give her the reins at State, I have come to the conclusion that she was quite simply the best person for the job of those who Obama would have selected. While her domestic policy ideas make my blood run cold, she is decidedly hawkish and to the right of Obama on foreign policy. She will wield the diplomatic might of the US, perhaps not in the stark black-or-white manner of the Bush administration, but in a decisive and no-nonsense fashion. Add this to the fact that Obama banished lefty Bush-hater extrordinaire Susan Rice to the UN ambassadorship speaks volumes about how Obama intends to frame this administration.

Also fascinating were the decisions to announce the most potentially troublesome of Obama's cabinet appointments, Attorney General in-waiting Eric Holder, along with the rest of the National Security team, so that the supernova of Hillary would block Holder entirely from view of the media. Expect Mr. Holder to face a Republican revolt in the Senate unless a full hearing in given to his involvement in the Mark Rich pardon and the Elian Gonzales raid among other questionable dealings. This will be especially important since many expect Holder to go hammer-and-tongs after the our own intelligence operatives who have engaged in aggressive interrogation (or "torture" as Mr. Holder will call it) on illegal enemy combatants who had information that may have thwarted recent terrorist plots.

I was admittedly one of those voices during the 2008 Presidential campaign that decried Barack Obama's past as an extremely liberal politician and his associations with questionable and even dangerous figures in the Chicago political scene. However, it would appear that when faced with the reality of doing the job he's sought for the last two years, Obama has begun to take a much more pragmatic approach. Will this new dawn of centrism continue once Obama assumes the mantle of the Presidency, and will it survive the coming onslaught of demands from leftist congressional leaders? We shall have to see what we shall see, but it would appear at this early hour that Obama's recent metamorphosis from liberal activist to moderate leader may finally be a "change I can believe in".

Nolanbuck

A quick intro...

2008-12-01T15:47:00.000-08:00

For those of you that don't know me, I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself and to thank you for checking out our new website. Nolan & I are very excited about this endeavor and hope that you will all enjoy our commentary and participate in our blog as often as you can. We are always interested in your thoughts and views, even if we don't always agree. Opposing views often make for a livelier discussion.

Many of you already know Nolan from his involvement in various online sites, but believe it or not...I am the louder, more opinionated, and possibly more conservative part of this duo. Nolan & I are both strong Christian conservatives who hold fast to our biblically based morals, our family values, and our desire to be responsible stewards of all that we have been blessed with. We place the highest value and faith in our God, our country and each other. We are not perfect and certainly don't have all the answers, but we continually strive to be better tomorrow than we are today and to always keep an open mind and an open heart.

Thanks again for allowing us the opportunity to share our thoughts on the issues that we are passionate about and occasionally about things that really don't matter much at all. I look forward to getting to know all of you in the days and weeks to come.

Debbiebuck

Let's Keep Our Priorities Straight

2008-12-01T14:17:00.000-08:00

The recent attacks in Mumbai have again sparked debates about the global war on terror and just how vulnerable we all are to attacks by the Islamic extremist who place no value on human life. With recent CNN poll results ranking the threat of terrorism at the same percentage as health care (9%) and well below the economy at 62% as the most important concern for Americans, I can’t help but question how we can separate these issues. I understand that the economy is first and foremost on the mind of every American as we face this once in a lifetime crisis, but to separate the economy from the war in Iraq or terrorism is extremely naive. With 9/11 having an overall cost to our economy at over $1 trillion, can you imagine what our economy would look like today if even one or two of the attacks that have been foiled over the past seven years had succeeded? We must remain vigilant and our national security must always be a priority otherwise our economy, our healthcare, and our unemployment percentages will be the least of our worries.

Debbiebuck

Egg Bowl 2008

2008-11-29T15:03:00.000-08:00

Sports is not the primary focus of this blog, but I couldn't let this weekend pass without mentioning the monumental 45-0 beatdown that my alma mater Ole Miss put on arch-rival Mississippi State in this year's Egg Bowl game.

So bad was the humiliation, one day after the crushing loss State's head football coach up and quit! This game was fun to watch, but the beating was so thorough, I can't even bring myself to gloat to the State fans in my family. Maybe in a week or two, once the sting wears off, I can't pass up the opportunity altogether. (heh heh)

Nolanbuck (Ole Miss, class of '91)

'Black Friday' Grows Blacker

2008-11-28T18:10:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most of you have heard by now of the tragic events during this biggest shopping day of the year. My prayers go out to the poor Wal-Mart employee's family and friends.

Now, I'm a well-known cheap-skate, and I don't like waiting in lines anymore than the next person, but it seems a bit ridiculous to join a thundering herd to get $10 of a Wii. I'll go later and pay more, thank you just the same. And as for those must have items, there's no such thing. I love giving my kids things that make them happy, but they have had to wait until after Christmas a time or two to get an out-of-stock item. Maybe if the people in the Wal-Mart stampede had been taught to wait for what they want back when they were kids...well, I'm just sayin'.

And I don't know what to say about the duel/gunfight at Toys'R'Us, other than it's a shame they couldn't find a more appropriate place to slap leather. Pistols at 10 paces in the Barbie aisle? What's next, knife-fights at Chuck E. Cheese?

Enjoy your holidays, folks. But please be careful.

Nolanbuck

In The Beginning...

2008-11-25T03:37:00.000-08:00

Hello, and welcome to 2 Bucks Worth! Please bear with us over the next few days while we turn this space into a daily dose of discussion on politics, culture and everyday life from a down-to-earth, conservative point of view.

We are a happily married couple (17 years in January) with 3 kids, a mortgage, and a lot on our minds. We may agree, we may disagree, we may even argue...but you'll never be left wondering where either of us stands. So we hope you'll visit us often for a fresh perspective on the news of the day, and you can always feel free to offer your opinions as well.

Feel free to bookmark us and see what happens!

Nolanbuck