"Size Matters!"

I lived in Chicago for many years before I retreated to small town America. I used to drive through the "Down Town" area of the city regularly. I became used to the skyscrapers and vast "Lake Front". I've had friends from small towns visit me when we lived in the city, and on occasion, we would go into the "Loop" and the caverns of tall buildings. Many of our visitors would stop and look up in awe at the size of these mammoth edifices. I'm sure they all saw large buildings in movies and on television shows; but it is a different experience when you are actually standing next to them.

I remember being at a bar in the "burbs" one evening when Dick Butkus, Bobby Douglas and Doug Buffone came in (these were Chicago Bears). I was sitting in a raised booth when they passed by and even in a raised booth, they still towered over me, they were bigger in person than on television! Sometimes we don't grasp the size of things when we are "looking from a distance".

We are in a debt that is 14 trillion dollars. Now, as I look at this printed on this page the word trillion has only 8 letters, not too large, it looks manageable. Let's look at a trillion a little differently today.

Thousand: 1,000

One Hundred thousand:100,000

One Million:1,000,000

One Billion:1,000,000,000

One trillion:1,000,000,000,000

One trillion is a thousand "billions"! Wow! If you make $100,000 a year it will take you 10 years to make a million dollars. It will take you 10,000 years to make a billion and it will take you 10 million years to make a trillion! What does this say about the debt this nation has accumulated? America cannot continue on this path; and furthermore, we must take swift and severe action to change and it must be done now! We can no longer "bankroll" any other nations; we need to clean our own house, or our house will be foreclosed!

Many Americans don't understand the magnitude of this debt! Our leaders need to act NOW! Believe me everyone; Republicans and Democrats, this is your responsibility! SIZE MATTERS!

(I will be off tomorrow for personal business, see you Monday. T.P.)

"New and Improved!"

"New Improved", "Advanced Formula", "Secret Ingredient" and "New, Space Age Technology" are just some of the phrases we have seen on products in our grocery stores, seemingly, since the beginning of time. We are always in pursuit of the next big product improvement; we always want the latest "Hi-Tech" contraption that is put on the market. I like improvement, it appeals to my entrepreneurial spirit. In America, we reward those who come up with the next great idea; we also reject those products that "look good on T.V." but turn out to be over-priced garbage. I won't name any products, because I don't want to invite a lawsuit; but I'm sure you have all purchased a product only to find out they are far from the miracle they promised to be. I believe we do this to make our lives better, to achieve our goal of "the good life". Sometimes people purchase things to "keep up with the Joneses"; they feel they must be better than their neighbors. Some people don't like their neighbors; some people make "improvements" just to make their neighbors uncomfortable.

Yesterday, Iran announced that they are doing something that is "New Improved" for their neighborhood! Iran, that bastion of peace and tranquility, is installing better nuclear centrifuges! I, for one, applaud their efforts to continue in their pursuit to stabilize the Middle-East. I'm sure Israel feels really good about this rogue nation improving their nuclear capabilities. Iran has stated that the United Nations will have "supervision" over these proposed improvements, and I'm sure the U.N. will do their usual stellar job (yuk, yuk, yuk!). Iranian spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, said this new action is in pursuit of "peaceful nuclear activity..."; and I'm sure it is! We all know how trustworthy the Iranian government has been in the past. I have to admit, I'm having a little trouble believing Iran in its statement about "peaceful nuclear activity" as I remember their leader saying "Try to imagine a world without Israel" and seeing him attend a rally where the crowd chanted "Death to Israel" (he was chanting too).

Don't worry Israel, the U.N. is on the job! Honestly, if I were you, I might be a little suspicious of Iran's "peaceful nuclear activity". I believe that Iran's idea of a "New and Improved Middle-East" will include the destruction of Israel; all in the name of peace, of course. As an American, I'm ashamed to say, don't depend too much on our current leadership for help; I'm sure you know what I mean. Israel, watch out for those "New Improved Neighbors"; their products are "dangerous"!

"Honorarium Revoked"

Do you like honorariums? I watch the "Hall of Fame" inductions in football and baseball every year with great interest. As I get older, I have more interest in the "old-timers" as I am now an "old-timer" myself. People who attain a measure of success are often rewarded with honorary degrees; usually this will mean more donations from alumni because of the notoriety of the honored recipient. Some folks get honors that, in retrospect, people regret. Obviously, O.J. Simpson is a prime candidate for this regret. O.J. is in the NCAA Hall of Fame, the Buffalo Bills Hall of Fame and the NFL Hall of Fame. I'm sure he was given honors from the city of Oakland, California as a famous citizen. Yes, O.J. has had a plethora of honors. O.J. now has the honor of room and board for several years as a guest of the Nevada Penal System.

Mel Gibson has been a big movie star for many years. Mel has received Academy Awards for best director and best picture for "Brave Heart"; a terrific movie which I highly recommend. Unfortunately, we have seen sides of Mel that were less than flattering. We have seen drunken Mel; anti-Semitic Mel and misogynist Mel, not Mel at his best! I'll bet there are people in Hollywood who would gladly strip Mel of his Academy Awards. Sometimes awards come back and bite the givers in the butt!

This is 2011, a long way from May 1945. There is a town in Austria called Braunau that is having second thoughts about an honorarium which was given many decades ago. A man of humble beginnings who rose to world prominence was made an honorary citizen by Braunau; but now, Braunau is reconsidering this honor, which this man has held since the early 1930s. We have already talked about O.J. Simpson and Mel Gibson and their faults; who is this man and how bad could he have been to have this honor revoked after so many years?

If you haven't guessed by this time, the man is Adolf Hitler. Poor guy, this is probably the only honor left to him and now it is being taken away! I find it humorous that it took only about 70 years to consider this action. This is a great example of the government moving slowly in taking action. It took 70 years to rethink Hitler as an honorary citizen! Now I understand why our budget talks are taking so long!! We don't want to rush into anything boys! Unlike the Hitler citizenship issue, our budget needs immediate action; and we must employ policies that will stop this continued pursuit of debt permanently; we can't wait 70 years! Hitler is dead; our debt and deficit is not. Soon there will be another election, and soon Americans will choose who to "honor" at the polls. To those in Washington, I say this "America will not wait 70 years to revoke your honorarium, so let's get with it boys!"

"Planet of the Apes!"

I watch "Animal Planet" on a daily basis; it seems my dogs like it too, as they stop what they are doing to watch every barking dog on the screen. I've seen countless PSA commercials about the protection of animals, and I agree that animal abuse is an important issue. I lived through the first days of the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s, and I've seen big changes in race relations during my life (we still have problems). The Black population needed equal protection under the law, as do all minorities. We now have the Gay and Lesbian Alliance which protects the rights of the homosexual community, another minority group. There are groups for people who are too fat, too thin, too short and too tall. I don't know if there are any groups to protect ugly people yet, but I wouldn't be too surprised to find out there was one. We already have "La Raza" to protect criminal illegal aliens. We want everyone to have a "voice" in our republic. After all, these groups are all voters (with the exception of criminal illegal aliens). These are all minorities and they should be heard from and spoken for. I'm glad I live in a society where we are concerned about the words and thoughts of those that are outside the majority population. It's all about diversity.

Yesterday, I read an article from BBC NEWS: it said that there is a chimpanzee that recognizes synthetic speech! The article goes on to say that perhaps the apes could understand in the same way that humans do! The chimp in question can understand about 130 words; about as much as a congressman, only with better memory retention. I'm wondering how long it will take for this chimp to get a lawyer and start asking for rights as a protected group? After all, generations of chimps, gorillas, orangutans and monkeys have been imprisoned for years against their will in zoos the world over! How were we to know they understood the whole deal from the beginning? I soon expect to see demonstrations and protests for "Ape Rights", and perhaps the vote! I'll bet the White House is carefully monitoring this situation. I'll bet they even have a focus group to get a handle on public sympathy to this issue. I'll bet Barack Obama is trying to find out how many chimps, gorillas, orangutans and monkeys reside in America (a voter is a voter).

My fellow Americans, it's time to rise up in support of our "hairy cousins". They now have a voice, let them speak! We need one more protected group!!

(I'll be on vacation for a week, so this is my last blog until a week from Tuesday. Keep the faith! T.P.)

"And Justice, For All!"

Today culminates the Casey Anthony debacle. Ms. Anthony will be sentenced for four counts of lying to a police officer; a misdemeanor charge. Ms. Anthony has been in the Orlando jail for about three years, mostly in segregated population. I have watched virtually the entire trial, and I am aghast at the verdict that was returned by the Florida jury. It is obvious to me that those people didn't understand the term "reasonable doubt"; it doesn't mean "any doubt". Any person who can put together a child's puzzle could have assembled the chain of events in this case and come to the conclusion that only Ms. Anthony had the motive and opportunity to commit this crime. As the closing argument said "only Casey Anthony had access to every piece of evidence in this crime". Not since O.J. Simpson have I seen such a miscarriage of justice.

I should not really be too surprised by this recent judicial disappointment, after all, didn't we see our Justice Department ignore voter intimidation in Pennsylvania, and countless illegal aliens failed to be prosecuted for crossing our borders? Have we not seen Arizona property owners sued for damages by illegal aliens; and lose in court!? This latest verdict has just proven to me how Alan Grayson was elected in Florida! What has happened to American justice; and what has happened to our ability to discern what is overwhelming evidence?

Fortunately, in the world today, there is a nation which has dedicated itself to truth and justice, to a judicial system unafraid to deal with a real criminal element in an open courtroom; with swift and sure justice! Iran has indicted twenty-six United States officials for human rights violations! Yes, my fellow Americans, Iran has shown the courage of its' convictions. Several former United States office holders, Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz are among those charged by the democratic government of Iran! These charges are not just over alleged war crimes, but extend to our treatment of criminal illegal aliens. I'm willing to wager that the U.N. will stand firmly behind Iran, as they put Iran on their Human Rights Committee. I hope TRUTV will broadcast the trials; it's got to be as compelling as the Anthony case!

Oddly, I find the idea of these trials interesting. I'm wondering what the American Left will say about them? These people are some of the "demons" which they have castigated in the past. Do those on the left want to align themselves with Ahmadinejad for the sake of further persecution of the George Bush administration? I'll bet they are secretly saying "Three Cheers for Iran; you go for it Baby!" All I can say is "Ah, justice in action!"

"Undo Influence!"

When I travel, I prefer to drive when it is at all possible. I like to do whatever home improvements and repairs I can do myself. I almost always wash my own car, and clean my own house. I like to be in control of most situations, if I can. I have my own standards when I speak about sports, politics and God; and anyone who knows me, knows how verbose I can be. There are things that are beyond my control, which I must accept. I must accept the reality that we all have the same rights listed under our Constitution, and given by God. I must accept that I can't change the weather; although I wish I could when it's 15 degrees in January. I could use my influence to sway other people with my position at church, but that would be unethical and against God's will. We all hold some influence on the lives of others. Our children look to us for honesty and guidance; our co-workers look to us as an example of character on the job, and our fellow citizens look to us for integrity in our Americanism. We must be ever watchful of those who choose to influence us in our daily lives; their motives may be questionable.

Over the last few weeks, we have seen an unfolding story about MEDIA MATTERS having an agenda to discredit FOX NEWS. It has been shown that the Soro's controlled tax exempt organization is making a conscious effort to cast a shadow over FOX NEWS, in an attempt to drive them out of the public forum. David Brock, "big wig" from MEDIA MATTERS, admitted to launching a program of "guerilla warfare and sabotage" against Fox. Does this statement mean by "any means necessary"? Is MEDIA MATTERS willing to use lies and innuendo to destroy an organization that doesn't agree with the political philosophy of George Soros? Would they be willing to do something illegal to accomplish their purpose?

Over the holiday week-end, "somebody" hacked into the FOX NEWS Twitter account, releasing a spurious announcement that President Obama had been assassinated by two gunshot wounds. A group called "Script Kiddies" have appeared to have taken credit for the incident. I wonder who instigated this incident? I wonder whose influence was used to cause an untrue statement to appear on a FOX account? I don't have any proof of MEDIA MATTERS influence in this incident, but I do find it curious. Does MEDIA MATTERS deserve a tax exempt status if it engages in open warfare against the free speech rights of, not only FOX NEWS, but any organization or individual?

I don't like MEDIA MATTERS, or George Soros; they are abusers! This is a direct attack against our Constitutional Rights. I don't care whether you like FOX NEWS or not, FOX gives Americans an alternate voice in the media, and it should not be attacked for its' different viewpoint. If MEDIA MATTERS wants to be a strictly political organization, then they should be subject to the same laws and taxes as any private business. MEDIA MATTERS should get NO SPECIAL TREATMENT: and no TAX EXEMPT STATUS! Save our 1st Amendment!

"Danger, You May Become A Republican!"

Yesterday was Independence Day; I hope everyone had a great time. I don't know if we understand how great this country really is. I don't know how many of us understand how many places in this world won't allow open protest; won't allow equal rights to all people or won't allow freedom of worship. America is like an island of free thought, surrounded by a sea of oppressive ideological demigods, who use their people as tools to achieve their own purposes and objectives. I worked with some men from Uruguay many years ago, and we talked about what their lives were like. I remember a friend named Jose; he told me that he worked in a factory, and on several occasions, government security people would come into the factory to "question" certain employees who seemed unhappy with "company policy". He told me most men were very "apologetic", while others continued to protest. Those who persisted in protest were walked out the door; usually never to be seen again. Thank God we live in America! I knew some men from Cuba; and I remember one of them saying to me, "Joe, you tell me why you don't see boats full of people sailing to Cuba from Miami!"; then he would laugh. We have those parades for a reason folks; America is a great place and the rest of the oppressed people of the world know it. This could be why we are patriotic!

Last week, an article was published saying "If you go to parades and celebrations over the Independence Day holiday;" you may be in danger of becoming a Republican". Is this the most ludicrous thing you've ever heard? What a nightmare, becoming a Republican! This comes from Harvard University. I guess being patriotic must be a quality only present in the Republicans! I guess only Republicans are stirred by the strains of "God Bless America" or the sight of the "Star Spangled Banner!" Jack Kennedy went to Harvard; well, I guess if you look at JFK and his policies, he probably had more in common with today's Republicans than today's Democrats.

The left will take almost anything and use it to divide this country. Are we united against criminals crossing our borders, are we united in our fight against fiscal irresponsibility and are we against proper behavior and character from our representatives? I'm sure all of you can answer these questions yourselves. In every instance, these issues have been used to divide America by the leftists. Now, the ultimate divisive issue has been brought up; patriotism! Harvard's leftist leaning has concluded that patriotism is not all inclusive in America! When I read this, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. If we believe the premise of the Harvard article, then we must surmise that patriotism is bad, and hating America is good. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to go to Harvard University; this is how they spend that money. I wonder if JFK would approve?