Chrysler's strong in bankruptcy! - Says Obama

The government gave $4 billion (thats with a 'B') dollars to Chrysler because the failure of the company would have a long and lasting negative effect on hundreds of thousands if not millions of people (or so it was said).

Now the company files for bankruptcy. Obama says this is not a sign of weakness. Then what is it? Since when did bankruptcy provide a sign of company worth and power? When you consider investing - do you look for the "strong" companies - who are filing for bankruptcy? I wonder if Obama does.

Now - the government will give the 'strong' company another $8 billion (yes, another 'B') to hold them through this bankruptcy.

I can't even express my disgust with this situation. The company won't operate plants during the bankruptcy which is said to be as short as 60 days. Uh huh - I'll put my money on 3 months at least. That's 90+ days of NO WORK for those employees. Those same 90+ days will not produce a single car, so part suppliers will have a significant decline in demand, if not go out of business themselves.

Maybe they should file for bankruptcy - I hear it's a sign of strength!

Media can't help but Sensationalize

Apparently, the Swine Flu is now 'Sweeping the Globe'. Yup - it's official. I read it in the news, on the Internet. Right here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30486742/ Yup - It's from MSNBC, a reputible news and reporting agency right? So it must be true right?!? Right?

Um - no. It's all hogwash!

Check this out: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30485593/ See that map? See the countries that are colored? What do you suppose the percentage is of infected countries vs non-infected countries? I don't have an actual number, but it look like less than 25% to me.

When did 25% become 'sweeping'? When did "JoNel Aleccia", the author of the article, become the person to decide that 25% is 'sweeping'? Where is the 'proof'? If this statement had come from some obscure blog - such as joeschmoe.blogspot.com, then that would be something else - that would be an opinion of someone. But I thought news reporters were supposed to be 'side-free'. I thought they were supposed to report the news, and nothing but the news?

It's no wonder that this swine flu has gone crazy across the world! The media says it has and it's just trying to fill the shoes the media made for it. And it will! Oh yes, it will grow and grow and grow and the media will continue to sensationalize it, and all other news particles so that they can sell more papers, get more hits, earn more money. Thats what it is all about - more money.

The CDC claims 36,000 Americans annually die from flu. No - not the swine flu - just the flu. Broken down - that would be Just over 100 PER DAY. Just over 100 people have died from the swine flu since what's agreed to it's start in March of 2009 in Mexico. That ws 2 months ago. Do the math!

I feel great sorrow to those who have lost their lives to this swine flu. I feel even more sorrow for those who lost loved ones, family members, children and what they must now cope with. I do not envy them at all, my heart goes out to all who struggle.

But this post is about how the media is using scare tactics to sell more papers, generate more hits, make more money. Gone are the days when reputible news agencies actually reported "the news, the whole news, and nothing but the news". Now are the days of the media sensationalizing anything they can to make a buck.

Keep your mind about you all - keep your wits too. Think - think alot - THEN react. Live smart, wash your hands, be careful, watch for symptoms, but for heavens sake - PLEASE don't freak out like the media is doing. Please, act smart.

Anniversary

Yesterday was my anniversary. It's been 9 years since I married my wife, Anna-Liisa in Billings Montana. In those 9 years, a lot has happened. A lot has been learned, many struggles have been overcome and, more importantly, some wonderful time has been spent together, learning and growing and loving.

I was informed on Sunday that Anna had plans for yesterday (Tuesday), but she wouldn't tell me what those plans were. She is very much aware that I like surprises. I don't like to peak at Christmas presents, I don't want her telling the kids anything by chance they 'spill the beans'. Fortunately, no one spilled anything to me so I was completely in the dark. From 3pm to 5pm on Tuesday was some of the longest hours I have ever spent at work. It was very difficult not to leave early.

I had to pick up our daughter from gymnastics at 6, so I wasn't in any hurry to get back to the house. I left work at 5pm and went to the Aladdins Floral Shop. I had picked up a card at Fred Meyer on Monday (you see my preparations??? Amazing - I am). I purchased a small bouquet of flowers and added an orange rose to the center. When it comes to flowers, orange means 'passionate thoughts'

I picked up my daughter and her two friends from Madison Gymnastic Center, dropped off my daughter at another friends house (as per instructed by my wife) and dropped off her two friends at their house. Then I went home.

When I stepped up onto our porch, I noticed my cast-iron flat griller was out of my grill. I thought "I wonder if she grilled". I got to the door and saw a large note posted on the door:

"Night of a Thousand Stars"

I stepped in the house and immediately noticed the difference. Anna had set up some curtains around the living room, dividing it into one small, cozy, and very romantic dining area. Soft music was playing in the background, lights were strung about the ceiling, laying on fabric-covered tables, and beautiful decor was all around.

In the middle of the area was a small table, table-cloth covered, with dinner plates, wine glasses, and candles. There sat Anna, awaiting my arrival, and welcomed me home.

A particular note - there was not a child to be found!

Anna had cooked dinner, Rib-eye steaks on the grill, mashed potatoes and gravy, grilled corn on the cob, and garlic Texas toast, with sparkling cider and water. Dessert was frosted cupcakes and milk. Fantastic!

I gave her the flowers, gave her a kiss, and we went straight to eating. Dinner was to die for and it was a shame when the food was gone, I could have eaten all night long. The food was perfect, the atmosphere ideal, and the company - like no other I could ask for.

We spent a wonderful 30-40 minutes talking about whatever we wanted, not once being interrupted, eating, and enjoying the time together.

Of course, despite how wonderful the time was, we are still parents with obligations, so we took off, got some ice cream at DQ and picked up the kids. After getting them home and into bed, we spent some quiet time cuddling on the couch watching Deadliest Catch.

Nine years ago, yesterday, I married my wife. 10 years ago today, I met her for the first time at the then Ricks college Bookstore. Next year, I'm in charge of the anniversary so I'm already in planning stages. I'm going big for sure.

Discovery Channel - Doing Davinci

Oh how I was interested in in this show when I saw it was going to begin. So I have seen barely a total of 1 episode.

Fair Warning! This show is NOT about building a Davinci concept, this show is about a bunch of iditos fighting - ALL THE TIME!

yuck. So I'm no longer interested until they show how they build things and stop showing the garbage fighting.

That's it.

Food Network - Last cake standing

Last night, Anna and I watched the final segment of Food Networks Last Cake Standing. We had caught a previous one too. I have some issues with them.

#1 - in the first episode, we enjoyed the challenge, enjoyed meeting the contestants. But at the end, the 'twist' was that the contestants had to send someone home - no judging, just personal choice. My issue with that? How can the show be considered to offer the best cake decorator in the end, if the other competitors are kicking off the one who offers them the biggest challenge - who are probably the best?

#2 - We missed the whole episode when they did the super hero cakes, but we saw the end of it just before the final episode. What I saw of the two cakes made it clear to me that the flying superhero guy should have won. But nope - they gave it to the other cake.

#3 - Courtney should have won this by far! The final 3 cakes were OK, but Bronwens cake was falling over, and Mary's cake was nasty messy. Courtney's however, was VERY clean, very beautiful and I felt covered the interests of the kids very well. So why did Mary win? I think the whole thing was rigged. I think Mary had an insider and probably offered the judges money.

It was rigged. Left me very unhappy.

Absurd numbers

"Ford posts better-than-expected results" was the headline. I thought - oh good, maybe they've turned it around.

No.

"[Ford] posts smaller-than-anticipated $1.4 billion Q1 loss amid auto sector downturn."

Whew - I it was going to bad news. $1.4 Billion loss. Thats 1,400,000,000 dollars, or roughly 40,000 average US incomes for a year. Things are looking up!

uh huh.

A REALLY old email

I pulled up one of my email accounts today and this is what I saw:







Wow - besides all the spam, I've never received an email from 1969 before.

Ok - it's more likely a programming error on somebodies mail server, but it still caught me off guard.

The next big thing.

Have you ever wondered what it might be? Years ago, when I was first getting into the internet, it was geocities, which is no longer available, (Check: Yahoo! Web Hosting) and YChat. Oh but did I spend hours on Ychat. That was it then - that was the big thing, build your ugly website on Geocities, and chat with people on YChat.

Now, its blogs, blogs and more blogs. Everyone has a blog. "Hi, whats your name? And whats your blog address?" But what's next?

How about MySpace? Or maybe Facebook? Other Social networking sites? Big.

Ever heard of Twitter? Of course you have. Who would have thought that 'tweeting' would become so huge? And why?

So what's next? What's the next big thing?

Where is your tax money going?

So I read this article this morning. Entitled "Bailed-out firms spend millions on lobbying." Yes, it is as bad as it sounds.


"Top recipients of federal bailout money spent more than $10 million on political lobbying in the first three months of this year,"

"... General Motors ... spent nearly $1 million a month on lobbying, and Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase, which together spent more than $2.5 million in their efforts to sway lawmakers and Obama administration officials ... "


So what are they lobbying for? What is so important that these firms/companies will spend more in a month than the heavy majority of Americans make in a year, or two , or three?

They don't want executive pay caps.
They don't want tighter financial restrictions.
Or - in other words, they want to continue to operate in the way they have in the past, but still want our money.

" ... several company representatives said yesterday that none of the money borrowed from the government has been used to fund lobbying activities ... "

Uh huh - can someone try and prove that to me? How much of the first bailout was burned up before anyone even knew where to write it down in their books?

" ... After Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase, top lobbyists included American Express, Wells Fargo Bank, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. "


If they have the money to lobby - why don't they use it to keep themselves alive and quit taking the American Taxpayers money.




The article can be found here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30340700